 Cover of an 1899 edition by Frederick Warne & Co | |
| Author | Charles Kingsley |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Adventure fiction |
Publication date | 1855 |
| Pages | 378 |
| ISBN | 1500778745 |
| OCLC | 219787413 |
| Text | Westward, Ho! at Wikisource |
Westward Ho! is an 1855 historical novel written by British author Charles Kingsley.
Set initially in Bideford in North Devon during the reign of Elizabeth I, Westward Ho! follows the adventures of Amyas Leigh, an unruly child who as a young man follows Francis Drake to sea. Amyas loves local beauty Rose Salterne, as does nearly everyone else; much of the novel involves Rose's elopement with a Spaniard.
Amyas spends time in the Caribbean coasts of Venezuela seeking gold, and in the process finds his true love, the beautiful Indian maiden Ayacanora. During the return journey to England, he discovers that Rose and his brother Frank have been burnt at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition. He vows revenge on all Spaniards, and joins in the defence of England against the Spanish Armada. When he is permanently blinded by a freak bolt of lightning at sea, he accepts this as God's judgement and finds peace in forgiveness.
The title of the book derives from the traditional call of boat-taxis on the River Thames, which would call "Eastward ho!" and "Westward ho!" to show their destination. [1] [2] "Ho!" is an interjection or a call to attract passengers, without a specific meaning besides "hey!" or "come!" [3] The title is also a nod towards the play Westward Ho! , written by John Webster and Thomas Dekker in 1604, which satirised the perils of the westward expansion of London. [1] The full title of Kingsley's novel is Westward Ho! Or The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight of Burrough, in the County of Devon, in the reign of Her Most Glorious Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, Rendered into Modern English by Charles Kingsley. This elaborate title is intended to reflect the mock-Elizabethan style of the novel. [4] Viola's use of "Westward ho!" in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is an earlier reference.
Kingsley dedicated the novel to Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, and Bishop George Selwyn, whom he saw as modern representatives of the heroic values of the privateers who were active during the Elizabethan era.
Westward Ho! is an historical novel which celebrates England's victories over Spain in the Elizabethan era.
Although originally a political radical, Kingsley had by the 1850s become increasingly conservative and a strong supporter of overseas expansion. [4] The novel consistently emphasises the superiority of English values over those of the "decadent Spanish". [1] Although originally written for adults, its mixture of patriotism, sentiment and romance deemed it suitable for children, and it became a firm favourite of children's literature. [5]
A prominent theme of the novel is the 16th-century fear of Catholic domination, [5] and this reflects Kingsley's own dislike of Catholicism. [4] The novel repeatedly shows the Protestant English correcting the worst excesses of the Spanish Jesuits and the Inquisition. [4]
The novel's virulent anti-Catholicism, as well as its racially insensitive depictions of the South Americans, has made the novel less appealing to a modern audience, although it is still regarded by some as Kingsley's "liveliest, and most interesting novel." [6]
In April 1925, the book was the first novel to be adapted for radio by the BBC. [7] The first movie adaptation of the novel was a 1919 silent film, Westward Ho! , directed by Percy Nash. [8] A 1988 children's animated film, Westward Ho!, produced by Burbank Films Australia, was loosely based on Kingsley's novel. [9]
The book is the inspiration behind the unusual name of the village of Westward Ho! in Devon, the only place name in the United Kingdom that contains an exclamation mark. [10]
J. G. Ballard, in an interview with Vanora Bennett, claimed that being forced to copy lines from the novel as a punishment at the age of eight or nine was the moment he realised he would become a writer. [11]
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia was first used in 1572, and often thereafter, to mark the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that inspired national pride through classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph over Spain.
Charles Kingsley was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working men's college, and forming labour cooperatives, which failed, but encouraged later working reforms.
Alfred Leslie Rowse was a British historian and writer, best known for his work on Elizabethan England and books relating to Cornwall.
Sir Richard Grenville, also spelt Greynvile, Greeneville, and Greenfield, was an English privateer and explorer. Grenville was lord of the manors of Stowe, Cornwall and Bideford, Devon. He subsequently participated in the plantations of Ireland specifically the Munster plantations, the English colonisation of the Americas and the repulse of the Spanish Armada.
Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford, and Bude. It lies at the south end of Northam Burrows and faces westward into Bideford Bay, opposite Saunton Sands and Braunton Burrows. There is an electoral ward with the same name. The population at the 2011 census was 2,112.
Appledore is a village at the mouth of the River Torridge, about 6 miles (10 km) west of Barnstaple and about 3 miles (5 km) north of Bideford in the county of Devon, England. It is the home of Appledore Shipbuilders, a lifeboat slipway and Hocking's Ice Cream, a brand of ice cream only sold in North Devon. There are numerous shops, cafes and galleries. The local football club is Appledore F.C. The ward population at the 2011 census increased to 2,814.
City comedy, also known as citizen comedy, is a genre of comedy in the English early modern theatre.
Melmoth the Wanderer is an 1820 Gothic novel by Irish playwright, novelist and clergyman Charles Maturin. The novel's titular character is a scholar who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for 150 extra years of life, and searches the world for someone who will take over the pact for him, in a manner reminiscent of the Wandering Jew.
Richard Topcliffe was a priest hunter and practitioner of torture during the reign of Elizabeth I of England. A landowner and Member of Parliament, he became notorious as the government's chief enforcer of the penal laws against the practice of Catholicism.
In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, and included the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with the reign of Henry VII. Historian John Guy (1988) argued that "England was economically healthier, more expansive, and more optimistic under the Tudors" than at any time since the Roman occupation.
Admiral Sir Richard Hawkins was a 17th-century English seaman, explorer and privateer. He was the son of Admiral Sir John Hawkins.
Westward Ho may refer to:
Elizabethan literature refers to bodies of work produced during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and is one of the most splendid ages of English literature. In addition to drama and the theatre, it saw a flowering of poetry, with new forms like the sonnet, the Spenserian stanza, and dramatic blank verse, as well as prose, including historical chronicles, pamphlets, and the first English novels. Major writers include William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, Richard Hooker, Ben Jonson, Philip Sidney and Thomas Kyd.
Ruled Britannia is an alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove, first published in hardcover by New American Library in 2002.
Amyas is a surname and male forename thought to be derived either from the Latin verb amare or the French city of Amiens.
Westward Ho! railway station was a railway station in north Devon, north-west of Bideford, serving the village of Westward Ho!; a tourist community within the parish of Bideford.
Sir Charles Arundell, was an English gentleman, lord of the manor of South Petherton, Somerset, notable as an early Roman Catholic recusant and later as a leader of the English exiles in France. He has been suggested as the author of Leicester's Commonwealth, an anonymous work which attacked Queen Elizabeth's favourite, the Earl of Leicester.
The Preston–Somers expedition, or the Capture of Caracas, was a series of military actions that took place from late May until the end of July 1595 during the Anglo-Spanish War. The English expedition headed by George Somers and Amyas Preston sailed to the Spanish Main initially intending to support Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition which set out at the same time.
The Church of St Margaret of Antioch is the Anglican parish church for Northam near Bideford in Devon. Dedicated to Saint Margaret, the church has been a Grade I listed building since 1951 and comes under the Diocese of Exeter.
Westward Ho! is a 1919 British silent historical adventure film directed by Percy Nash and starring Renee Kelly, Charles Quatermaine and Irene Rooke. It is an adaptation of the 1855 novel Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley, set during the Spanish Armada (1588).
The full text of Westward Ho! at Wikisource
Media related to Westward Ho! (novel) at Wikimedia Commons