"Literary Links" - Pirates and Peter Pan.

 "Literary Links" is a series of posts celebrating Britain's wonderful links with great authors, dramatists and poets.

William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) was born in Westgate, and educated at the Crypt School, Gloucester.  At the young age of 19 his left leg was amputated below the knee.  His friend, Lloyd Osbourne, described him as “a great, glowing, massive-shouldered fellow with a big red beard and a crutch; jovial, astoundingly clever, and with a laugh that rolled like music; he had an unimaginable fire and vitality…” 

Now compare that description with this fictional man:

“As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, ... His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham—plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling. Indeed, he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, whistling as he moved about among the tables, with a merry word or a slap on the shoulder for the more favoured of his guests…. And falling on a bench, he laughed until the tears ran down his cheeks. I could not help joining, and we laughed together, peal after peal, until the tavern rang again.”

If you have not guessed already this is describing Long John Silver – one of the main characters in Treasure Island.  Lloyd Osbourne was Robert Louis Stevenson’s (1850-1894) stepson.  After the novel was published in 1883 Stevenson wrote to Henley "I will now make a confession: It was the sight of your maimed strength and masterfulness that begot Long John Silver ... the idea of the maimed man, ruling and dreaded by the sound, was entirely taken from you."

Besides inspiring good pirate material Henley was a respected journalist, poet and editor.  His most famous poem is Invictus the last stanza of which reads:

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) used to share this poem with other prisoners as they waited out the apartheid years in Robben Island.

William Henley’s  family went on to inspire yet another fictional character.  A family friend was James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937) who loved Henley’s young Daughter Margaret (1888-1894).   Young Margaret, who died when just six years old, had trouble pronouncing her ‘R’s so when she called Barrie her “Friendy” it became  “Fwendy”.  A few years after Margaret’s death “Fwendy” became ‘Wendy’ in the adventures of ‘Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up’ (1904).   

This is an excerpt from the tour Gloucester City Tour - Part One which explores the streets around the Cathedral.  The full tour is found on  www.obelisktours.co.uk