Is this a Faraway Tree Urtext?

[Judith Crabb]

This is where I feel that I am sadly lacking the skill of a Pete. I would love to get a picture of 'Pine Tree Flats' onto this forum. The Cave of Books had me looking inside one of my old Annuals and I came across a full-page poem (on page 111 of the 1925 Tiny Tots Annual No. 26) by Enid Blyton credited to 'Christopher', a boy who is about to move in to an apartment in the tree. The poem makes a point that it is one very large tree which accommodates multiple residents, which makes the illustration unsatisfactory, although it is just possible that the illustrator inspired Enid Blyton in the creation of Dame Washalot. (There is plenty of washing hanging out to dry.) Perhaps this to me 'new topic' has other references and can be incorporated elsewhere. I would love to read other comments on this poem.

[pete9012S]

Sounds really interesting Judith!

Are you able to take a photo of the page and email it to me?

Pine Tree Flats [credited to Christopher]
Illustrations: Benjamin Warren
Poem: Specially Written

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/boo ... %5B1926%5D

[Judith Crabb]

Thanks Pete, you're a treasure. I usually depend on my friend's children to do these little technological tasks for me (like taking a photo and sending it off), but at the moment here in Australia there are border closures and lockdowns and I won't be seeing them too soon. However, I'll ask around locally and, if I can organize someone less inept than I am, I'll get back to you. Meanwhile, perhaps another society member has the annual and can come to the rescue. Do you give me an email address or do I send it to Tony or...?

[pete9012S]

No problem Judith. I've sent you my email address via pm.

[Aussie Sue]

Judith, if you bring it over I can photograph & send it off.
cheers'
Aussie Sue

[Anita Bensoussane]

It'd be great to have the chance to read it!

[Judith Crabb]

I'm hoping, Sue and Anita, that my email with attachment got through to Pete last night (I got 'talked through' the procedure by a kindly Canberrian, so I didn't need to take up Sue's offer), so I guess it's 'in the pipeline' (or whatever the computer equivalent is) thanks to Pete.

[pete9012S]

Many thanks for your email Judith. It somehow went into my spam folder.
What a wonderful illustration - many thanks indeed for bringing it to our attention.
Without your highlighting of it, I doubt if I would ever have got to see and enjoy it.

[Aussie Sue]

Thanks Judith, it is a wonderful example of Enid's very early work. Does anyone know why she produced these poems under the pseudonym 'Christopher'? She also produced poems with the name Audrey Saint Lo, which is even stranger.

[pete9012S]

Tony posted this some time ago Sue, which may help:

She wrote stories under Becky Kent, Audrey St Lo (sometimes written as Audry Saint Lo) and poems as Christopher and if I had the time I could list everything she wrote under each name. These were the only pseudonyms she used apart from the much later Mary Pollock. Some early annuals (Newnes and Cassells) contained up to 20 EB contributions and I would guess the publishers suggested the pseudonyms to avoid having too much by one author in an annual - some of her contributions were also left anonymous. However the publishers were well aware that they all came from Enid Blyton as they paid her for all her contributions at the same time.

Hope this helps explain.

Best wishes
Tony

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=273&p=8531&hilit=Au ... t+Lo#p8531

[Aussie Sue]

I knew I had read that previously but I couldn't remember where, and I hoped someone else would remember, thanks Pete.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for sharing 'Pine Tree Flats' with us, Judith. The poem and illustration definitely have some Faraway Tree-like elements, though it's hard to say how much of an influence they might have been by the time Enid Blyton wrote The Enchanted Wood over a decade later. Any number of things may have lingered in her mind and played their part in the eventual creation of the Faraway Tree - the Elfin Oak in Kensington Gardens, for example, and perhaps Marion St. John Webb's book Knock Three Times! It's certainly interesting to see the similarities.

[Judith Crabb]

This is not strictly Faraway Tree but since Norse myth, and in particular Yggdrasil, was deep in Enid Blyton's consciousness I thought I'd share this poem 'Y is for Yggdrasil' from Eleanor Farjeon's collection 'An Alphabet of Magic'. (Is it too heretical to suggest that Farjeon was the better poet?) Enid would have been very aware of the work of her contemporary.

Have you seen Yggdrasil, the Sacred Tree?
Its leaves are in the sky, its roots are three;
It binds with roots and trunk and branches green
Heaven and Hades and the World Between.

Under its root a Serpent coils and clings,
High in its crest an Eagle spreads his wings,
'Twixt root and crest, among the branches green,
A little running Squirrel may be seen.

Below the ground a wondrous fountain shoots,
Feeding with magic water the three roots
Of Yggdrasil; and from its branches green
Honeydew drops upon the world between.

Have you seen Yggdrasil, the Sacred Tree?
The eye of man the whole can never see,
By One Eye only Yggdrasil is seen,
With its three roots, high crest, and branches green,
Heaven and Hades and the World Between.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I agree that Eleanor Farjeon is the better poet, Judith, though Enid also penned some lively, rhythmic verse. It's a testament to Eleanor Farjeon's talent that 'Morning is Broken' (she wrote the words) is still sung today.

Thanks for posting the poem about Yggdrasil. The "running squirrel" in particular reminds me of the Faraway Tree. Yes, it's likely that Enid Blyton was aware of the myth of Yggdrasil and it may well (consciously or subconsciously) have fed into her concept of the Faraway Tree.

[GloomyGraham]

It's an interesting poem/illustration. Thanks for posting!

As we all know, Enid was a perennial re-inventor/recycler of some of her ideas so I think it may well have provided some inspiration for the Faraway series.

The mention of 'Knock Three Times' reminds me that the TV series (which starred Jack Wild & Hattie Jacques) scared the life out of little me back then, even though some of the 'most frightening Doctor Who shows ever' shown around the same time never did.

That evil pumpkin moving to the scary music.... *shudders*