|
Churchill
found himself recovering quickly from his fatigue
in Madeira, it offered him the stability and tranquility
that he required to face the upcoming elections in
1951, and the memories and detachment needed for relection
and perspection. His health and demeanour improved
so much he would meander through the streets of Funchal
inspecting and reminiscing the bucolic town that it
was. He was well received by the local town folk and
was esteemed for his courteousness and bonhomie-like
character. Churchill often responded to salutations
with his traditional V symbol. The symbol of victory
and peace, which he popularised and conveyed to everyone
during his leadership in and after the Second World
War. Funchal was mesmerised by the cigar smoking man
who jaunted about in such a carefree manner.
 |
| Upon
the reading of a letter to F. H Keenlyside, the
Assistant Manager of a Steamship Company, written
in 1950, immediately before his departure to Madeira,
Churchill states that "It was fifty years,
not fifteen, that I travelled this way before".
He was correcting the assumption made by Mr. Keenlyside
before that he had visited Madeira 15 years prior
to 1950. Indeed it was 50 years before, in a time
when the unbusy/unknown Winston Churchill found
enough time to develop and write his very first
short story: "Mr Keeganīs Elopement". |
Reminiscences
and the story he wrote of Madeira
Churchill
rediscovered his memories in Madeira, and the steps
back into the past helped rejuvenate his composure
forward. The brittle green youth of his earlier stays
in Madeira seemed to show in the less than experienced
voice or persona of his short story "Mr Keegan´s
Elopement". Nevertheless, the story he wrote
in the early twentieth century persists as an evocatory
gem of youthful enterprise in an old fashioned world.
It is a narrative, a little rough on the edges, a
bit crude in the telling, but an example of the student
practising that which he will master the craft of
in time.
The
story, republished
on this site, is a wonderful insight into the
Madeira of the beginning twentieth century... In short,
the story highlights the endeavours of the central
character, Mr. Keegan, who undertakes to help one
of his friends elope with an english girl resident
on Madeira. In a somewhat typical manner or character,
that is, typical to Winston Churchill, Mr Keegan's
friend has a resounding success in shocking the English
community of the day, and tieing the knot between
the amorous couple. More important than the scandals
in the story are the insights we acquire about the
social life, the typology, the working life and customs
in Madeira, albeit in a very indirect and off-sidish
way.
|
