''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning'' (1969) is a memoir by the British writer
Laurie Lee. Lee is probably best known for his autobiographical work, although he was also a poet. ''As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning'' is the middle work in a trilogy which begins with ''
Cider with Rosie'' which detailed his early life in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...
after the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. In this sequel Lee leaves the security of
Slad his
Cotswold
The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the be ...
village to embark on a journey to Spain. The third book, ''
A Moment of War'' is also set in Spain.
It is 1934, and Lee walks to London from his Cotswolds home. He lives by playing the violin and, later, labouring on a building site in London. After this work draws to a finish, and having picked up the Spanish for "Will you please give me a glass of water?", he decides to go to Spain. He scrapes together a living by playing his violin outside cafés, and sleeps at night in his blanket under the open sky or in cheap, rough ''posadas''. For a year he tramps through Spain, from
Vigo
Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...
in the north to the south coast, where he is trapped by the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. He is warmly welcomed by the Spaniards he meets and enjoys a generous hospitality even from the poorest villagers he encounters along the way.
Synopsis
In 1934 Laurie Lee leaves his home in Gloucestershire for London. He visits
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
and first tries his luck at playing his violin in the street. His apprenticeship proves profitable and he decides to move eastwards. He makes his way along the south coast, and then turns inland and heads north for London. There he meets his half-American girlfriend, Cleo, who is the daughter of an
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
.
Cleo's father finds him a job as a labourer and he rents a room, but has to move on as the room is taken over by a prostitute. He lives in London for almost a year as a member of a gang of wheelbarrow pushers. Once the building nears completion he knows that his time is up and decides to go to Spain because he knows the Spanish for "Will you please give me a glass of water?"
He lands in
Galicia in July 1935. Joining up with three young German musicians, he accompanies them around Vigo and then they split up outside
Zamora. By August 1935 he reaches
Toledo, where he has a meeting with the South African poet
Roy Campbell and his family, whom he comes across while playing his violin. They invite him to stay in their house.
Lee heads south to the
Sierra Morena
The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It stretches for 450 kilometres from east to west across the south of the Iberian Peninsula, forming the southern border of the ''Meseta Central'' plateau and providi ...
mountains. He decides to turn west and follow the
Guadalquivir
The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from Seville ...
, reaching the sea by September. He turns eastwards, "heading along the bare coastal shelf of Andalusia". He hears talk of war in
Abyssinia
Abyssinia (; also known as Abyssinie, Abissinia, Habessinien, or Al-Habash) was an ancient region in the Horn of Africa situated in the northern highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.Sven Rubenson, The survival of Ethiopian independence, ...
. He arrives at
Tarifa
Tarifa () is a Spanish municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, it is primarily known as one of the world's most popular destinations for windsports. Tarifa lies on the Costa d ...
, making another stop over in
Algeciras
Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of G ...
.
He decides to follow the coast round Spain, and sets off for
Málaga
Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
, stopping in
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
. During his last days in Malaga his violin breaks. After his new line of work, acting as a guide to British tourists, is curtailed by local guides, he meets a young German who gives him a violin.
In the winter of 1935 Lee decides to stay in
Almuñécar
Almuñécar () is a Spanish city and municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the southwestern part of the comarcas of Spain, comarca of the Costa Granadina, in the province of Granada. It is located on the shores of the Mediterranean sea ...
(in earlier editions disguised as "Castillo"). He manages to get work in a hotel. Lee and his friend Manolo, the hotel's waiter, drink in the local bar alongside the other villagers. Manolo is the leader of a group of fishermen and labourers, and they discuss the expected revolution.
In February 1936 the Socialists win the election and the
Popular Front begins. In the spring the villagers burn down the church, but then change their minds. In the middle of May there is a strike and the peasants come in from the countryside to lend their support, as the village splits between Fascists and Communists.
In the middle of July 1936 war breaks out. Manolo helps to organise a militia.
Granada
Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...
is held by the rebels, and so is Almuñécar's neighbour Altofaro. A British destroyer from Gibraltar arrives to pick up any British subjects who might be marooned on the coast and Lee is taken on board.
The epilogue describes Lee's return to his family home in Gloucestershire and his desire to help his comrades in Spain. He finally manages to make his way through France and crosses the Pyrenees into Spain in December 1937.
Title
The title of the book is the first line of the Gloucestershire folk song "
The Banks of Sweet Primroses".
Critical responses
The book is regarded as a classic.
In 2014, the centenary of Lee´s birth, it was reissued in
Penguin Classics
Penguin Classics is an imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English language, English, Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Korean language, Korean amon ...
.
[The sequel '' A Moment of War'' (1991), also appeared in Penguin Classics and was chosen for the Penguin Archive series, a collection of 90 short books published by Penguin Classics to celebrate 90 years of the publishe]
/ref>
Robert Macfarlane (writer), Robert McFarlane, whose ''The Old Ways: A Journey On Foot'', was published in 2012, provided an introduction to the Penguin Classics edition. For McFarlane, ''As I Walked Out'' is about movement, whereas ''Cider with Rosie'' is about staying in one place. He praises Lee's use of metaphor and argues that the "rose-tinted" descriptions in ''Cider with Rosie'' are replaced by "very dark passages".
McFarlane compares Lee's travels with those of his contemporary, Patrick Leigh Fermor
Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor (11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011) was an English writer, scholar, soldier and polyglot. He played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War, and was widely seen as Britain's greate ...
. Both walked across parts of Europe that were in political turmoil between the world wars.[McFarlane also compared the two writers in a Laurie Lee Memorial Lecture "Walking as Knowing: Laurie Lee, Patrick Leigh Fermor and Path-following".]
References
External links
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*{{cite web, title=A Rough Sketch of Laurie Lee's Spanish Journey on Google Maps , url=http://goo.gl/maps/bYgAI, archive-url=https://archive.today/20140811191056/http://goo.gl/maps/bYgAI, url-status=dead, archive-date=2014-08-11
1969 non-fiction books
English non-fiction books
British memoirs
André Deutsch books
Books about Spain