Namesake (Totem) Animals in the Swallows & Amazons Books
Molly McGinnis
Between late 2003 and late 2005, Molly McGinnis wrote this series of six
articles for the TARS U.S. Newsletter, Signals from TARSUS. They were
published under the title "Namesake Animals", but in the last article she says
When I first started thinking about natural history in Ransome's
life and books, I gave the working title, "Totem Animals" to my thoughts about
title animals and animals that drive the stories.
These articles provide a great deal of information about the animals which are
so important to Ransome's stories, either in real life or as Totems, and about
their situations in the times and places of the stories. They especially serve
to inform AR enthusiasts in Europe and North America about the
variations (and similarities) between the birds and animals we are familiar
with and their counterparts elsewhere.
Molly McGinnis and her husband, Dr. Samuel McGinnis, are biologists and
endangered species consultants in Manteca, California, and their company, McGinnis Biological
Consultants, is a Corporate Member of TARS.