[alberg30] Re: Childers and The Riddle Of The Sands

[SandersM at aol.com]

From: SandersM at aol.com


In a message dated 1/21/00 11:21:11 AM, Sunstone at idirect.com writes:

>Erskin Childers was executed for High Treason against the Crown for
>smuggling arms into Ireland.  

Okay, I hate to sound pedantic, and I'm not about to advocate revolution 
(although a little now and then hasn't been such a bad thing over the 
centuries), but as a former resident of Ireland and holder of a degree in 
Irish literature from Trinity, I cannot let Erskine's shadow be 
misrepresented in such a manner.  Erskine Childers was an Englishman who 
harbored strong Irish nationalistic sympathies.  He did run guns for the 
Irish rebels in 1914 aboard his yawl, ASGARD, but the English never caught 
him -- or if they did, they certainly didn't execute him.  That nasty task 
was left to the Irish themselves.  Ireland fell into civil war following the 
south's independence from England in 1922, when hardliners formed the IRA to 
fight those who had advocated the "compromise" that led to the division of 
Ireland as the price of her independence.  

Like many revolutionaries before him, Childers was ultimately consumed by the 
forces he helped unleash.  Dissatisfied by the division of of Ireland as the 
price of independence, Childers joined the IRA (a very different group then 
than now) and became its official propagandist.  (Hey, it's a title to which 
I aspire.)  The Irish Free State, disregarding his many contributions to 
Irish independence (imagine, for example, running rifles in your Alberg 30, 
out of principle, to be used in armed revolt against your own country of 
birth), arrested and executed him by firing squad on November 24, 1922.  
Despite (or, to some, because of) his fate, Childers is today seen as 
something of a martyr/hero in Ireland.  

For a giggle -- I do NOT endorse the IRA! -- surf over to 

http://members.aol.com/ifcnj/

where you can see the home page of the "Irish Freedom Committee of NJ," and 
which features a nice picture of Erskine titled, "An Englishman who was one 
of Ireland's proudest sons.  A true fallen son of the Republic." 

Okay, enough!  The bottom line is that Riddle of the Sands is just about the 
only book I've ever read that gives an authentic sense of cruising aboard a 
30-foot sailboat.  Childers isn't Joyce or Shaw; the writing has more in 
common with Ambler or Le Carre; but it's a great way to put yourself on the 
water without leaving the warmth of your living room.  If anyone has any good 
suggestions for others that do the same, I'm all ears!

Sandes McNew
WILD ELF  (# 297)
Oyster Bay, New York

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