Tottenham Court Road, London

Tottenham Court Road is a major road in central London, running from St Giles Circus (the junction of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road) north to Euston Road, near the border of the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, a distance of about three-quarters of a mile. It has for many years been a one-way street: all three lanes are northbound only, the equivalent southbound traffic using the parallel Gower Street. It is generally regarded as marking the boundary between Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia, linking Somers Town with Soho at either end. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry makes reference to the road in the 1940 Under The Volcano; Peering at nothing with a telescope, save the Tottenham Court Road, counting the waves.." (Pg. 75).

Lowry makes reference to the road in Chapter 2 of his novel Under The Volcano; "very good on the bridge of a British Q-ship — peering at the Tottenham Court Road through a telescope, only figuratively speaking of course, day in and day out, counting the waves...." (Pg. 64) and again in Chapter 6;  "What about the way you treated poor old Bolowski,the music publisher, remember his shabby little shop in Old Compton Street, off the Tottenham Court Road?" (Pg. 157) and "He had not played one, and Hugh could play almost any kind of guitar, for four or fiveyears, and his numerous instruments declined with his books in basements or attics in Londonor Paris, in Wardour Street night-clubs or behind the bar of the Marquis of Granby or the oldAstoria in Greek Street, long since become a convent and his bill still unpaid there, in pawnshops in Tithebarn Street or the Tottenham Court Road....." (Pg. 158)

Lowry also refers to the road in a letter to Jan Gabrial; "“My darlingest Janl…I write this about half an hour after leaving you, eating a steak pie with your half crown in a thieves’ kitchen. It is only to say that I love you and that I shall never love anybody else. Outside, the fiends of Tottenham Court Road are howling in the blackness, imprisoned in the crewless winds.There is comfort in just speaking your name…” (Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 36)

New Compton Street, London.

New Compton Street was named after Henry Compton who raised funds for a local parish church, eventually dedicated as St Anne's Church in 1686. Once linked to Old Compton Street via Little Compton Street which has been lost at Charing Cross Road at its junction with Old Compton Street.

Lowry refers to the street in Chapter 6 of his novel Under The Volcano; "Hugh had started writing songs at school and before he was seventeen, at about the same time he lost his innocence, also after several attempts, two numbers of his were accepted by the Jewish firm of Lazarus Bolowski and Sons in New Compton Street, London. (Pg. 157) and "Whatever prompted the ungenerous act did not prevent his somehow finding his way that night to New Compton Street and Bolowski's shabby little shop. Closed now and dark: but Hugh could almost be certain those were his songs in the window." (Pg. 172)

As Chris Ackerley points out; "An address mildly inconsistent" (Malcolm Lowry Project) as Lowry later refers to the shop being at New Compton Street.  Lowry may have known New Compton Street due to Worton David Ltd, the publishers of one of his songs, being based at No. 6. (See photograph of building on Collage)

Victoria Docks, London

The Royal Victoria Dock is the largest of three docks in the Royal Docks of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry arrived back at the Victoria Dock, London on 26th September 1927 after his voyage to the Far East aboard the Blue Funnel ship Pyrrhus.

Lowry refers to his return to England in 1927 in Chapter 6 of his novel Under The Volcano; "Hugh hadn't waited to discover whether the journalist who came aboard at Silvertown liked to play his songs in his spare time. He'd almost thrown him bodily off the ship." (Pg.172). Hugh's memory is probably based on Lowry's own experiences of returning to London after his Far East Voyage in 1927 when he arrived at Victoria Docks in Silvertown.

Silvertown, London

Royal Docks 1935

Silvertown is an industrialised district on the north bank of the Thames in the London Borough of Newham. It was named after Samuel Winkworth Silver's former rubber factory which opened in 1852. In the early 20th Century the area lay between the Thames and the Royal Docks, then the largest and one of the busiest dock groups in the world.

Lowry refers to the district in Chapter 6 of his novel Under The Volcano; "Hugh hadn't waited to discover whether the journalist who came aboard at Silvertown liked to play his songs in his spare time. He'd almost thrown him bodily off the ship." (Pg.172). Hugh's memory is probably based on Lowry's own experiences of returning to London after his Far East Voyage in 1927 when he arrived at Victoria Docks in Silvertown to be interviewed by a journalist from the Daily Mail .

Gravesend, Kent

Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex.

Lowry refers to the town in Chapter 6 of his novel Under The Volcano; "They lay at Gravesend waiting for the tide. Around them in the misty dawn sheep were already bleating softly. The Thames, in the half-light, seemed not unlike the Yangtze-Kiang." (Pg. 172). Hugh's memory is probably based on Lowry's own experiences of returning to London after his Far East Voyage in 1927.

Fitzroy Tavern, Charlotte Street, London

The Fitzroy Tavern is a public house situated at 16 Charlotte Street in the Fitzrovia district of central London, England, to which it gives its name. It is currently owned by the Samuel Smith Brewery. It became famous during a period spanning the 1920s to the mid 1950s as a meeting place for many of London's artists, intellectuals and bohemians such as Dylan Thomas, Augustus John, and George Orwell. It is named either directly or indirectly after the Fitzroy family, Dukes of Grafton, who owned much of the land on which Fitzrovia was built. Read more on Wikipedia.

The tavern was manged by in the early years of the 20th century, Judah Morris Kleinfeld, a [Savile Row]? tailor and naturalised British citizen originally from Polish Russia, decided that he wanted to become a pub licensee, and started the work of persuading the brewery that owned the Hundred Marks, Hoare & Co., that he was the man for the job. the  History of Fitzroy Tavern

Lowry refers to the Fitzroy in Chapter 6 of his novel Under The Volcano; "No, the idea was to camp outside a pub down a back alley, and that not any pub, but the Fitzroy Tavern in Charlotte Street, chock full of starving artists drinking themselves to death simply because their souls pined away, each night between eight and ten, for lack of just such a thing as a hot dog. That  was the place to go!" (Pg. 156) and "And--not even the hot-dog man was the answer; even though by Christmas time,obviously, he had been doing a roaring trade outside the Fitzroy." (Pg. 156)

Lowry frequented the Fitzroy Tavern during his time in London between 1931 and 1933. (See Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pgs. 140-41). Lowry refers to a brawl at the tavern in a letter to Conrad Aiken dated Summer/Autumn 1932; "I would have written you before this only I got beaten up in an Ulyssean brawl near Kleinfelds' in Charlotte street the first night of my arrival..." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 81). The fight occurred while Lowry was staying with John Davenport in London when they started a fight with a group of Welsh miners. (Bowker Pg. 118). Paul Ferris records that Lowry met Dylan Thomas at the Fitzroy in July 1933 on Thomas's second ever visit to London (Dylan Thomas Pg. 166).

Oxford Street, London

Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate, City of London, and was known as the Oxford Road.

Lowry refers to the street in Chapter 6 of his novel Under The Volcano; "Nor yet the poor little hot-dog man. That bitter December night he had met him trudging down Oxford Street with his new wagon—the first hotdog wagon in London,and he had been pushing it around for a whole month without selling a single hot dog." (Pg. 156).

Old Compton Street, London

Old Compton Street runs east-west through Soho in the West End of London off Charing Cross Road to the west of Tottenham Court Road. Once the centre of the music-publishing industry. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the street in in Chapter 6 of his novel Under The Volcano; "What about the way you treated poor old Bolowski, the music publisher, remember his shabby little shop in Old Compton Street, off the Tottenham Court Road? (Pg. 155)

As Chris Ackerley points out; "An address mildly inconsistent" (Malcolm Lowry Project) as Lowry later refers to the shop being at New Compton Street.  Lowry may have known New Compton Street due to Worton David Ltd, the publishers of one of his songs, being based at No. 6. (See photograph of building on Collage)

Jack London The Jacket

The Star Rover is a novel by American writer Jack London published in 1915 (published in the United Kingdom as The Jacket). It is a story of reincarnation. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to The Jacketin his novel Under The Volcano when Hugh muses in Chapter 6; "..and perhaps it was true too he had been reading too much Jack London even then, The Sea Wolf, and now in 1938 he had advanced to the virile Valley of the Moon (his favourite was The Jacket)...." (Pg. 161)

Chris Ackerley states; "The novel, perhaps London's best, is about a condemned man, Darrell Standing, an ex-professor of agronomics, who is in San Quentin for murder. He is forced to undergo long spells of solitary confinement inside the "jacket", a straitjacket into which he is tightly laced for up to ten days in a row. His way of surviving is to go "star-roving"; that is, force his mind to eliminate all thoughts of the body and take off into its astral world, transcending the limitations of time and space and getting in touch with its previous existences. The novel celebrates "man's unconquerable will", which even Standing's final death cannot denigrate; the chief irony for Lowry, however, is the relevance of the title to the Consul's fate." (Malcolm Lowry Project)

Jack London Valley of the Moon

Frontispiece to the 1913 first edition.

The Valley of the Moon (1913) is a novel by American writer Jack London (as well as the mythic and romantic name for the wine-growing Sonoma Valley of California). The valley where it is set, is located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in Sonoma County, California, where Jack London was a resident; he built his ranch in Glen Ellen. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to Valley of the Moon in his novel Under The Volcano; "The bag, decanted on the faded rustic seat, disgorged into its lid....a second-hand copy of Jack London' Valley of the Moon, bought yesterday for fifteen centavos at the German bookshop opposite Sandborns in Mexico City." (Pg. 99) and later when Hugh muses in Chapter 6; "..and perhaps it was true too he had been reading too much Jack London even then, The Sea Wolf, and now in 1938 he had advanced to the virile Valley of the Moon (his favourite was The Jacket)...." (Pg. 161)

Chris Ackerley suggests; " Lowry's ‘virile’ implies a judgment on Hugh’s "maturity", the essence of the book being the transition from the fiercely individualist struggle depicted in The Sea-Wolf towards a socialist theory of return to the land as a next step in human evolution." (The Malcolm Lowry Project).

Jack London The Sea Wolf

The Sea-Wolf is a 1904 psychological adventure novel by American novelist Jack London about a literary critic, survivor of an ocean collision, who comes under the dominance of Wolf Larsen, the powerful and amoral sea captain who rescues him. Its first printing of forty thousand copies were immediately sold out before publication on the strength of London's previous The Call of the Wild. Ambrose Bierce wrote, "The great thing—and it is among the greatest of things—is that tremendous creation, Wolf Larsen... the hewing out and setting up of such a figure is enough for a man to do in one lifetime... The love element, with its absurd suppressions, and impossible proprieties, is awful." Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to The Sea Wolf in his novel Under The Volcano when Hugh muses in Chapter 6; "..and perhaps it was true too he had been reading too much Jack London even then, The Sea Wolf, and now in 1938 he had advanced to the virile Valley of the Moon (his favourite was The Jacket)...." (Pg. 161)

Jack London

John Griffith "Jack" London (born John Griffith Chaney, January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916) was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. He is best remembered as the author of The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to three Jack London novels in his novel Under The Volcano when Hugh is musing about Jack London in Chapter 6. Chris Ackerley states; "Hugh seems at times almost consciously to imitate his life. London's life and socialism was fraught with contradiction, and he is at his best when depicting the ferocious individual struggle rather than the collective human dream." (The Malcolm Lowry Project).

Hugh refers to three of London's books; "..and perhaps it was true too he had been reading too much Jack London even then, The Sea Wolf, and now in 1938 he had advanced to the virile Valley of the Moon(his favourite was The Jacket)...." (Pg. 161)

Lowry probably read Jack London while still at school and we must assume that London helped create in the mind of the young Lowry a vision of the sea and adventure which is reflected in Hugh's musings. Chris Ackerley suggests; " Lowry's ‘virile’ implies a judgment on Hugh’s "maturity", the essence of the book being the transition from the fiercely individualist struggle depicted in The Sea-Wolf towards a socialist theory of return to the land as a next step in human evolution." (The Malcolm Lowry Project).

Odhams Press

Odhams Press was a British publishing firm. Originally a newspaper group, founded in 1890, it took the name Odham's Press Ltd in 1920 when it merged with John Bull magazine. The firm was based in Long Acre, London. occupying he whole area on the north side from Neal Street to Arne Street from about 1890 to 1970.

Lowry refers to the firm in a letter dated April/May 1926 to Carol Brown when he is outlining how to get work published; "I am always capable of putting on a tout cap slipping to Fleet Street or Odham's Press, Longacre and finding out." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 19)

The Passing Show Magazine

A weekly magazine published by Odhams Press bewteen 20-Mar-1915 – 19-Mar-1926 before becoming between 26-Mar-1926 – 14-May-1926, as The New Passing Show then reverting between 21-May-1926 – 25-Feb-1939, as The Passing Show. Edited between 1920 – 1924 by Augustus Muir and between 1925 – 1939 by W.A. Williamson.


Lowry refers to the Passing Show Magazine in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 when he discusses the merits of being published by various magazines; "But 'Gaiety' 'The Humorist' 'The Passing Show' 'John O'London's Weekly', 'John Bull', and 'The London Opinion' are only too glad to receive and print jokes illustrated artistically." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 19)

Gaiety Magazine

A monthly magazine subtitled 'A Magazine of Humour' published by the The Gaiety Magazine Publishing Company between Dec 1921 – Nov-1927 before merging with with The Sunny Mag. Edited between  1921 – 1926 by T.A. Price and between 1926 – 1927 by Arthur M. Turner.


Lowry refers to the Gaiety in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 when he discusses the merits of being published by various magazines; "But 'Gaiety' 'The Humorist' 'The Passing Show' 'John O'London's Weekly', 'John Bull', and 'The London Opinion' are only too glad to receive and print jokes illustrated artistically." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 19)

The Humorist Magazine

A weekly magazine published George Newnes that run between 29-Jul-1922 – 20-Jul-1940 before merging with London Opinion.

Lowry refers to the Humorist in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 when he discusses the merits of being published by various magazines; "But 'Gaiety' 'The Humorist' 'The Passing Show' 'John O'London's Weekly', 'John Bull', and 'The London Opinion' are only too glad to receive and print jokes illustrated artistically." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 19)

The 20 Story Magazine

A monthly all-fiction magazine (companion to Pan and Romance) with an emphasis on adventure and mystery stories, and later on romantic fiction. Authors included E. C. Vivian, Edgar Wallace, Guy Dent, H. Bedford-Jones, Achmed Abdullah, A. M. Burrage, Edmund Snell, Hylton Cleaver, Leo Walmsley. published between Jul-1922 – Oct-1940 by Odhams Press. The editor between 1923 – 1927 was W.A. Williamson.

Lowry refers to the 20 Story Magazine in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 when he discusses the merits of being published by various magazines; "The 20 story is a second-rate magazine with first-second-third-fourth-fifth, and sometimes tenth rate stories. That the beauty of having twenty stories" (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 19)

The London Magazine

In 1900 Harmsworth's Monthly Pictorial Magazine was renamed the London Magazine by Cecil Harmsworth, proprietor of the Daily Mail at the time. The publication continued until 1930 when it was renamed The New London Magazine. The Australian scholar Sue Thomas[disambiguation needed] referred to it as "an important informer... of popular literary tastes in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods". Despite its acclaim, the magazine closed in 1933. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the Strand in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 when he discusses the merits of being published by various magazines; "The Strand, I suppose, Pearsons, and The Grand, and perhaps the London, are all more less first class magazines with second-rate stories..." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 19)

The Grand Magazine

The Grand Magazine was the first British pulp magazine. It was published monthly between February 1905 and April 1940.  Published by George Newnes, it initially emulated Newnes's highly successful Strand Magazine, featuring a mix of fiction and non-fiction. In 1908, it was renamed The Grand Magazine of Fiction. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the Strand in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 when he discusses the merits of being published by various magazines; "The Strand, I suppose, Pearsons, and The Grand, and perhaps the London, are all more less first class magazines with second-rate stories..." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 19)

Pearson's Magazine

Pearson's Magazine was an influential publication which first appeared in Britain in 1896. It specialised in speculative literature, political discussion, often of a socialist bent, and the arts. Its contributors included Upton Sinclair, George Bernard Shaw, Maxim Gorky, George Griffith, and H. G. Wells, many of whose short stories and novelettes first saw publication in Pearson's. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the Strand in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 when he discusses the merits of being published by various magazines; "The Strand, I suppose, Pearsons, and The Grand, and perhaps the London, are all more less first class magazines with second-rate stories..." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 19)

The Strand Magazine

The Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues,[1] though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890. Its immediate popularity is evidenced by an initial sale of nearly 300,000. Sales increased in the early months, before settling down to a circulation of almost 500,000 copies a month which lasted well into the 1930s. It was edited by Herbert Greenhough Smith from 1891 to 1930. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the Strand in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 when he discusses the merits of being published by various magazines; "The Strand, I suppose, Pearsons, and The Grand, and perhaps the London, are all more less first class magazines with second-rate stories..." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 19)

I Never Knew (I Could Love Anybody Like I'm Loving You)

Lowry refers to the above song in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926; " Honestly, Carol, I never knew I had it in me to love somebody like I love you. I'm afraid those are more or less the words of a comic song, but in that case I take off my hat to the comic song - It expresses exactly my state of mind. I can't believe that anybody loved like me." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 18).

The song Lowry is referring to is I Never Knew (I Could Love Anybody Like I'm Loving You) written by Tom Pitts, Raymond B. Egan and Roy K. Marsh published in 1920:


I never knew I could love anybody, 
Honey, like I'm loving you; 
I couldn't realize what a pair of eyes 
And a baby smile could do; 
(Oh tell me why) I can't sleep, 
(O tell me why) I can't eat, 
(and why) I never knew 
a single soul could be so sweet, 
I never knew I could love anybody, 
Honey, like I'm loving you.

William Henry Schofield English Literature: From the Norman Conquest to Chaucer (1906)

Lowry refers to a "comic song", which is mentioned in the William Henry Schofield's book, in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 as he describes to her his love saying that the song; "....expresses exactly my state of mind. I can't believe that anybody loved like me. 'For her love I cark and droop' Another comic song. (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 18)

The quote's context is detailed below:

"Refrains from, folk -songs seem to have been adopted by trained writers to accompany their art-lyrics, which were probably composed with popular airs in mind To a charming poem of  the troubadour style, for example, is attached the following refrain :

Blow, northern wind, 
Send thou me my sweeting, 
Blow, northern wind, blow, blow, blow 


The author of this poem offers a very graceful, somewhat allegorical, description of his lady. He appeals to Love for counsel in trouble; and is advised to plead with his sweetheart and implore her to relieve his pain. Thus he concludes :

For her love I cark and care, 
For her love I droop and dare (decline). 
For her love my bliss is bare, 
And all I wax wan. 

For her love in sleep I slake, 
For her love all night I wake, 
For her love mourning I make, 
More than any man."

Schofield's book is most likely Lowry's source for the song though there was an earliersources e.g. New Monthly Magazine, Volume 11 edited by Thomas Campbell, Samuel Carter Hall, Edward Bulwer Lytton Baron Lytton, Thomas Hood, Theodore Edward Hook, William Harrison Ainsworth (1819) Pg. 338 and Thomas Campbell Essay on English Poetry (1819) as well as various other 19th Century texts. It is possible that Schofield's book was a text book at The Leys School.

Rudyard Kipling Stalky & Co

This was the cover of Kiplings Stalky and Co. It depicts Stalky, Beetle and M'Turk. One of them is smoking a pipe which was not allowed at school

Stalky & Co. is a book published in 1899 (following serialisation in the Windsor Magazine) by Rudyard Kipling, about adolescent boys at a British boarding school. It is a collection of linked short stories in format, with some information about the charismatic Stalky character in later life. The character Beetle, one of the main trio, is partly based on Kipling himself. Stalky is based on Lionel Dunsterville, M'Turk is based on George Charles Beresford, Mr King is based on William Carr Crofts. The school, which is referred to as the College or the Coll. is based on the United Services College in Devon which Kipling attended. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to Kipling's stories in a letter to Carol Brown dated April/May 1926 when he tells Carol that he has formed a group with Ley's school friends Tom Macmorran and Nichol; 'We formed between us, a sort of stalky & Co..." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 17).

PG Wodehouse Rodney Fails to Qualify 1924

PG Wodehouse with his wife and daughter at Le Touquet in 1924

Lowry refers to a P.G. Wodehouse in a letter to Carol Brown dated 27th April 1926; "..well it was predestined. I did  -- I mean, rather, that it was, really. (Quotation. P.G. Wodehouse) I knew you, in other words before I met you." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 14). Lowry is possibly quoting from Wodehouse's short story 'Rodney Fails to Qualify' which may have appealed to him given the golfing connotation; "And he suddenly took me in his arms, gazed deeply into my eyes, and cried, "I love you. I worship you! I adore you! You are the tree on which the fruit of my life hangs; my mate; my woman; predestined to me since the first star shone up in yonder sky!' (P.G. Wodehouse Fore! The Best of Wodehouse on Golf).

James Elroy Flecker

James Elroy Flecker (5 November 1884 – 3 January 1915) was an English poet, novelist and playwright. As a poet he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to James Elroy Flecker  in a letter to Carol Brown dated 27/4/1926; "..... young lovers of the present generation are helped greatly in awkward situations by the use of words which have been used by their fictional heroes in similarly awkward positions, or position, helpful matter which would have been denied to those who lived before the days of shall we say, Charles Dickens, James Elroy Flecker, and Michael Arlen". (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 14).

D.W. Griffith's Isn't Life Wonderful? 1924

A silent film directed by D. W. Griffith for his company D. W. Griffith Productions, and distributed by United Artists. It was based on the novel by Geoffrey Moss and it went under the alternative title Dawn.

A family from Poland has been left homeless in the wake of World War I. They move to Germany and struggle to survive the conditions there, during the Great Inflation. Inga (Carol Dempster) is a Polish war orphan who has only accumulated a small amount of money from the rubble and hopes to marry Paul (Neil Hamilton). Weakened by poison gas, Paul begins to invest in Inga's future and he serves as their symbol of optimism. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to the film in a letter to Carol Brown dated April 1926; "I say: isn't Life wonderful? (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 12).

Sherrill Grace in her annotations to the Collected Letters Vol 1 states that the film is:

"....about two young lovers who respond to being robbed with the cheerful remark: 'Isn't Life Wonderful?'. They end up living happily married in a pretty cottage. The film stayed in Lowry's mind, and he used it as a thematic motif in October Ferry to Gabriola. See my discussion of the allusion in The Voyage That Never Ends (88-89)."

Stamboul Borstal Institute

Stambul or Stamboul is the ancient quarter of the Turkish city of Istanbul formerly Constantinople.

Lowry refers to the quarter in a letter to Carol Brown dated 2nd June 1926 when he is describing a classmate named Garnett from the Leys School; - a sweaty shiek in horn rimmed spectacles expelled from the Stamboul Borstal Institute." Lowry's racist description which would not have been uncommon in middle class English schools in the 1920's. The use of Stamboul is an early example of Lowry using exotic locations in his early works which are drawn from his reading.

Shaftesbury House, Cambridge

Shaftesbury House, 4 Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge was a hotel in the 1920s. The former hotel is now called Lutheran Church House and occupied by the German Lutheran Church.

Lowry refers to a visit to the hotel during his time at the The Leys in a letter to Carol Brown dated 2nd June 1926 to see whether he could find somewhere for Carol Brown to stay on a proposed visit to Cambridge:

"So I rallyed round some - and eventually ran to earth a sort of Look-at-our-tennis-court-nice-bathroom place, with a thin manageress with positively no teeth at all: bearing the intriguing title of 'Shaftsbury House' in (what is not altogether unexpected) Shaftesbury Road - There are trees in Shaftesbury Road. Willow trees? I am not sure. Anyhow trees. And a man in white painting gates green.

Well at any rate, I popped into this place and saw the manageress and the tennis court and a bedroom and a full set of magazines.

And some washing spread over the tennis court to dry - which gave quite an expressionist effect." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 38)

Lowry's use of the term expressionist is worthy of note demonstrating his knowledge of modernist movement  as early as 1926 when he was 15 years old.

Traffic

A lost play written by Lowry circa 1926 while he was at The Leys School. Lowry's only reference to the play is in a letter to Carol Brown dated 2nd June 1926; 9.30 pm, I've just completed a one act play entitled 'Traffic'. It is nothing about material traffic at all - it refers to human traffic. The careless roar of material traffic can be heard (off) all through. It is not bad - but by no means good, as yet." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 39).

This is probably the play that Lowry had referred to earlier in another letter to Carol Brown dated May 1926; "..and the first act of a rather unsatisfactory play, which by the way I have decided to be the only act (this play is undergoing a French translation at the hands of Monsieur Georges Yardley, who being a knowing bird, actually entertains hopes of smuggling it into the 'Theatre du grand guignol' for me: home of 1 act plays." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 24).

Thomas Meighan

© Arthur Khales / Fondation John Kobal 

Thomas Meighan (April 9, 1879 – July 8, 1936) was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading man roles opposite popular actresses of the day including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. Read more on Wikipedia


Lowry refers to Thomas Meighan in a letter to Carol Brown dated 2nd June 1926; "Thanks awfully for the snap, GloriabetogoodnessBebedaniels-Swanson. I wish I could be a Thomas Meighan to you. But unfortunately my hair is untidy. My shoes always dirty. My face is a Z 15 model and above all - I am not Six Foot Two." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 39).

Malc's joke about gloria-be-to goodness, includes the names of the film stars Gloria Swanson and Bebe Daniels who along with Thomas Meighan starred in Cecil B. De Mille's film Male and Female 1919. Its main themes are gender relations and social class. It is based on the J. M. Barrie play "The Admirable Crichton". Read more on Malcolm Lowry @ 19th Hole

Bebe Daniels

Bebe Daniels (January 14, 1901 - March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent movie era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such as 42nd Street, and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain. In a long career, Bebe Daniels made over 230 films. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to Bebe Daniels in letter to Carol Brown dated 2nd June 1926; "Thanks awfully for the snap, GloriabetogoodnessBebedaniels-Swanson. I wish I could be a Thomas Meighan to you. But unfortunately my hair is untidy. My shoes always dirty. My face is a Z 15 model and above all - I am not Six Foot Two." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 39).

Malc's joke about gloria-be-to goodness, includes the names of the film stars Gloria Swanson and Bebe Daniels who along with Thomas Meighan starred in Cecil B. De Mille's film Male and Female 1919. Its main themes are gender relations and social class. It is based on the J. M. Barrie play "The Admirable Crichton". Read more on Malcolm Lowry @ 19th Hole

Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson  in a scene from Male and Female 1919 

Gloria Swanson (March 27, 1899 – April 4, 1983) was an American actress, singer and producer, who is best known for her role as Norma Desmond, a faded silent film star, in the critically acclaimed film Sunset Boulevard (1950). She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the Best Actress category. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry refers to Gloria Swanson in letter to Carol Brown dated 2nd June 1926; "Thanks awfully for the snap, GloriabetogoodnessBebedaniels-Swanson. I wish I could be a Thomas Meighan to you. But unfortunately my hair is untidy. My shoes always dirty. My face is a Z 15 model and above all - I am not Six Foot Two." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 39).

Malc's joke about gloria-be-to goodness, includes the names of the film stars and Bebe Daniels who along with Thomas Meighan starred in Cecil B. De Mille's film Male and Female 1919. Its main themes are gender relations and social class. It is based on the J. M. Barrie play "The Admirable Crichton". Read more on Malcolm Lowry @ 19th Hole

De Mille's Male and Female 1919

Lowry refers to the above film in letter to Carol Brown dated 2nd June 1926; "Thanks awfully for the snap, GloriabetogoodnessBebedaniels-Swanson. I wish I could be a Thomas Meighan to you. But unfortunately my hair is untidy. My shoes always dirty. My face is a Z 15 model and above all - I am not Six Foot Two." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 39).

Malc's joke about gloria-be-to goodness, includes the names of the film stars Gloria Swanson and Bebe Daniels who along with Thomas Meighan starred in Cecil B. De Mille's film Male and Female 1919. Its main themes are gender relations and social class. It is based on the J. M. Barrie play "The Admirable Crichton". Read more on Malcolm Lowry @ 19th Hole

Fascinating Rhythm 1924

Lowry refers to the above song in letter to Carol Brown dated May 1926; "every time I hear "Fascinating Rhythm" it reminds me of that evening by the gate" (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 27)

The song is from the musical Lady, Be Good written by Guy Bolton, Fred Thompson, featured music by George and Ira Gershwin. It debuted at the Liberty Theatre on December 1, 1924.

It is a musical comedy about a brother and his sister who are out of money and each eager to sacrifice him- or herself to help the other. It originally starred brother and sister performers Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire. It ran for 330 performances in the original Broadway run.

What is difficult to gauge is how Lowry would have been aware of the song? Perhaps, he picked up the song via his elder brothers Stuart and Russell or did he hear it on a visit to Carol Brown's house Hilthorpe in Caldy or could he conceivably seen the musical at the Empire in London? The last premise is unlikely as he was writing to Carol in May 1926 and the musical only opened Prince of Wales Theatre, London on 14 April, 1926.

We must assume that Lowry's reference to "by the gate" refers to the gate outside Carol's home Hilthorpe in Caldy where Carol and Malc spent sometime together in 1925 or 26. We can only speculate the significance of the moment.

Hard Hearted Hannah 1924

Lowry possibly refers to the above song in a letter to Carol Brown dated May 1926 when he compares the song to the Reveler's song 'Oh Miss Hannah!'; "If ever you'e going to get a new record there, get 'Oh Miss Hannah!' - great fun, believe me. And think of me while you play it if you can and reflect that it has a better moral than H.H.H." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 27); this reference comes after Lowry had recalled; "You accuse yourself of being a Vamp from Savannah. Why?...."  (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 25)

"Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah)" is a popular song from Tin Pan Alley. The music was written by Milton Ager, the lyrics by Jack Yellen, Bob Bigelow, and Charles Bates. Hard Hearted Hannah tells in humorous fashion the story of a "vamp" or femme fatale from Savannah, Georgia "the meanest gal in town." Hannah is "a gal who loves to see men suffer." Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry reference to the lyrics centre around him realising that his love for Carol Brown is not being reciprocated. Perhaps Lowry recall the song about Hannah as he muses on his lost love while writing to Carol. Feeling guilty he prefers to recall the Revelers song 'Oh Miss Hannah! rather than the harsh sentiment contained in the lyrics of 'Hard Hearted Hannah' below:


In old Savannah, I said Savannah
The weather there is nice and warm
The climate's of the southern brand
But here's what I don't understand

They've got a gal there, a pretty gal there
Who's colder than an arctic storm
Got a heart just like a stone
Even nice men leave her alone

They call her, "Hard hearted Hannah"
The vamp of Savannah
The meanest gal in town
Leather is tough but Hannah's heart is tougher
She's a gal who loves to see men suffer

To tease them and thrill 'em
To torture and kill 'em
Is her delight they say

I saw her at the seashore with a great big pan
There was Hannah pourin' water on a drownin' man

She's hard hearted Hannah
The vamp of Savannah, G A
( From: http://www.elyrics.net )

The call her, "Hard hearted Hannah"
The vamp of Savannah
The meanest gal in town
Talk of your cold refrigerating mamas
Brother she's a polar bears pajamas

To tease them and thrill 'em
To torture and kill 'em
Is her delight they say

An evening spent with Hannah sitting on your knees
Is like travelin' through Alaska in your BVDs

She's hard hearted Hannah
The vamp of Savannah, G A

Can you imagine a woman as cold as Hannah?
She's got the right name, "The vamp of Savannah"
Anytime a woman can take a great big pan
Start pourin' water on a drownin' man

She's hard hearted Hannah
The vamp of Savannah, G-A

Ooh, she's sweet as sour milk

Lowry again refers to the subtitle of the song in another letter to Carol Brown dated May

Revelers I'm Gonna Charleston Back To Charleston

Lowry refers to the above song in a letter dated May 1926 to Carol Brown; "They also record 'I'm Gonna Charleston Back To Charleston' (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 27).

Read more about the Revelers on Malcolm Lowry @19th Hole

The Revelers "Oh Miss Hannah" 1925

Lowry refers to the above song in a letter to Carol Brown dated May 1926; "Talking about Hannahs. There's another tune, "Oh Miss Hannah!" on the other side of "Collegiate", sung in the most original manner by the Revellers on HMV. It's absolutely the world's best sung tune, and they sing it in Fox Trot Time as though they were a band. (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 27). Note Lowry's mis-spelling of the Revelers.

Oh, Miss Hannah Fox Trot (Hollongsworth-Deppen) played by the Revelers Victor Record Company with Orthophonic Scroll label 19796-A Electrically Recorded in 09.15.1925 with the A-side Dinah. The 78 playing record was issued in England on the HMV imprint. The 78 would appear to have been a hit with the young Lowry while at the Leys School in Cambridge.

The Revelers were an American quintet (four close harmony singers and a pianist) popular in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The Revelers' recordings of "Dinah", "Old Man River", "Valencia", "Baby Face", "Blue Room", "The Birth of the Blues", "When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba", and many more, became popular in the United States and then Europe in the late 1920s. Read more on Malcolm Lowry @ 19th Hole

Susquehanna Mammy

A fictional song created by Lowry for Hugh's repertoire in Chapter 6 of Under The Volcano; "Well, he had other songs, the tides to some of which, Susquehanna Mammy, Slumbering Wabash, Mississippi Sunset, Dismal Swamp, etc., were perhaps revelatory, and that of one at least, I'm Homesick  for Being Homesick (of being homesick for home), Vocal Fox Trot, profound, if not positively Wordsworthian." (Pg. 169).

The song title related to Lowry's own juvenile song writing but is possibly inspired by James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Pioneers, or the Sources of the Susquehanna: a descriptive tale which makes reference to the American river and uses the derogatory word mammy - "a black woman serving as a nurse to white children especially formerly in the southern United States" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Lowry may have also had in mind the Joe Young/Sam Lewis song "My Mammy" plus Conrad Aiken's recollections of having a black nurse.

The California Ramblers Dromedary Columbia 1925

Lowry mentions the above track to Carol Brown in a letter to her in June 1926 when he realises that his love is not going to be reciprocated by Carol.

Lowry asks her to remember the song on the other side of "Just A Little Drink" - on Columbia. This can only refer to the California Ramblers track "Dromedary" which is the other side of the 78. I am not certain why he refers to the track as a reference to be be remembered by except that a dromedary is an Arabian camel and Malc used the alias 'Camel' when he wrote for the Leys School magazine Fortnightly.

One of the most popular jazz outfits of the 1920s, the California Ramblers were also certainly the most prolific. Though signed with Columbia Records they waived all royalties with the label for the right to record for other companies under differing names. Throughout the decade they recorded for practically every label in the United States, Canada and Great Britain using 111 different pseudonyms, however they most often worked under the Rambler's title and the nom de plume ''Golden Gate Orchestra.'' Read more on Malcolm Lowry @19th Hole

Drei Segelmann

Lowry refers to the song in his novel Ultramarine when Dana and Popplereuter are on their drunken drift around Dairen sing several songs including Drei Segelmann; We sang. We sang Drei Segelmann, which I don't know, but I joined in the chorus. We sang Mademoiselle from Armentières, Deutschland uber Alles, and Lisa; For He's A Jolly Good Fellow, and God Save The King; Lisa again, and The Bastard King of England, with which Popplereuter was unfamiliar..." (Pg. 89). Lowry later refers to the song in the 1940 Under The Volcano; "He began to sing: "Drei Segelmann, drei Segelmann ( Pg 368).

Lowry's memory of the song probably relates to his visit to Germany in 1928 which he recall in letter to Clemens ten Holder dated 23rd April 1951:"were celebrating the defeat of Essen Verein at hockey, I having played inside left for Bonn Verein, a refrain that went, every now and then: Zwei null! we having defeated them 2-0. Also there was another song to the refrain Drei Segelmann (Collected Letters Vol 2 Pg 375).

To date, no German song has been identified called Drei Segelmann. The title of the song translates in Lowry's poor German as 'sail man' which is probably incorrect. Lowry could have possibly Germanicised a sea shanty called We be Sailors Three by Thomas D'Urfey (1653-1723):


Chorus:
We be sailors three,
Pardonnez moi je vous au prie
Lately come forth of the Low Country
With never a penny of money

Here good fellows, I drink to thee,
Pardonnez moi je vous au prie
To all good fellows where-ever they be
With never a penny of money.   (Chorus)
And he that will not pledge me this,
Pardonnez moi je vous au prie
Pays for the shot, whatever it is,
With never a penny of money.  (Chorus)

Charge it again, boys, charge it again,
Pardonnez moi je vous au prie
As long as you've got any ink in your pen
With never a penny of money (Chorus)


Further sea shanties/songs relating to three sailors are discussed here.

Central Park, Liscard

Liscard Hall, Wirral and the surrounding parkland was home of Sir John Tobin, ship owner, merchant, African trader and one-time Mayor of Liverpool. On the death of his successor, son-in-law Harold Littledale in 1889, Wallasey Local Board bought the estate and opened it to the public on Whit Monday 1891.

Lowry refers to the park in his novel Ultramarine; "...in search of the tobacco pouch, the last birthday present you gave me, Janet...do you remember? It was in the Central Park, a year ago tomorrow, when we paused to watch the children playing on the swings, and then, 'Look, would that be any good to you dear? Many happy returns of the day..' " (Pg. 123). We must assume that this reference is based on an actual event   between Lowry and his girlfriend Tess Evans as the park is less than a mile from her former home at 26 Thirlmere Street (now Drive).

Richard Eberhart

Richard Ghormley Eberhart (1904 – 2005) was an American poet who published more than a dozen books of poetry and approximately twenty works in total. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Selected Poems, 1930-1965 and the 1977 National Book Award for Poetry for Collected Poems, 1930-1976.

Eberhart was born in 1904 in Austin, a small town in southeast Minnesota. Eberhart began college at the University of Minnesota, but following his mother's death from cancer in 1921—the event that prompted him to begin writing poetry—he transferred to Dartmouth College. After graduation he worked as a ship's hand, among other jobs, then studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, where I.A. Richards encouraged him to continue writing poetry, and where he took a further degree. Read more on Wikipedia

His first book of poetry A Bravery of Earth was published in London in 1930. It reflected his experiences in Cambridge and his experience as a ship's hand voyaging to the Far East similar to Lowry's 1927 voyage. It is possible that Lowry and Eberhart knew each other while they were both a Cambridge as they both published material in the Experiment magazine as well as Conrad Aiken knowing Eberhart. Eberhart published the following poems in the Experiment :

'For a Lamb', Experiment No. 4 (November 1929), poem, p. 19
'Fragments', Experiment No. 3 (May 1929), poem, p. 6
'Necessity', Experiment No. 5 (February 1930), poem, pp. 4 - 5
'Poem', Experiment No. 7 (Spring 1931), poem, p. 16
'Quern', Experiment No. 6 (October 1930), poem, p. 39
'Request for Offering', Experiment No. 2 (February 1929), poem, p. 23
'This Is', Experiment No. 3 (May 1929), poem, p. 44
'To Maia', Experiment No. 3 (May 1929), poem, p. 48

Lowry alludes to Eberhart's poem A Bravery of Earth published in 1930. In a letter Lowry wrote to John Davenport dated 27th October 1930; "The third - (Richard Ghormley Ebehart!), unamazed in meditation looked up from Persia - more likely sailing down the coast by Iloilo, Zamboanga, Sabang, anywhere, Eberhart Icarus at this time". (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 73-74).

The references to Iloilo, Zamboanga, Sabang reoccur in Lowry's short story 'Goya The Obscure' and novel Ultramarine.There is no documentary evidence to suggest that Lowry visited Iloilo, Zamboanga or Sabang as part of his 1927 voyage to the Far East. It would appear that Lowry's mention of  these places is perhaps part of a youthful obsession with the "exotic East" also captured in Eberhart's poem A Bravery of Earth.

Kristian IV's Gate, Olso

Kristian IVs gate (1-15, 4-12) is a street in Oslo city centre. It was named after King Christian IV ( 1577 - 1648 ) in 1852.

Lowry refers to the street in his novel Ultramarine when Dana is telling Popplereuter about his life; "I was born in Christiania, in the Christian den 4 des gade (sic gate), dangerous names for me. Pg. 93).

Image courtesy of Oslobilder