Great Northern? is the twelfth and final completed book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1947. In this book, the three families of major characters in the series, the Swallows (the Walker family), the Amazons (the Blackett sisters) and the Ds (the two Callums), are all reunited in a book for the first time since Pigeon Post. This book is set in the Outer Hebrides and the two familiar Ransome themes of sailing and ornithology come to the fore. Sources For this story, Ransome was inspired by an adult fan, Myles North, an avid birdwatcher who wrote a letter to Ransome which supplied a detailed outline of much of the basic plot. He also supplied the famous phrase "What's hit's history: what's missed's mystery". Ransome also made a visit to Lewis in the Outer Hebrides for a fishing trip and to research the area as the setting for the book. The fictional cutter Sea Bear in the story is based on Teddy, the vessel sailed by Norwegian writer and sailor Erling Tambs from Oslo to the South Seas in 1928. Tambs's account of the voyage, The Cruise of the "Teddy", was published in 1933, with a foreword by Ransome. Plot summary The Swallows, Amazons and Ds are all on a sailing cruise with Captain Flint in the Outer Hebrides. While the older members of the party clean Sea Bear, before returning her to the owner, the younger ones explore inland and a mysterious bird is seen nesting on an island in a loch. The question arises whether it is a great northern diver, which has never been known to nest in the British Isles, or a black-throated diver. Mr Jemmerling, the expert whom they consult, turns out to be a deadly enemy of the birds, as he collects birds' eggs and stuffed skins of birds. Hence they try to protect the birds while gathering photographic evidence of their nesting. Complicating the matter is a misunderstanding with the local Scottish inhabitants or Gaels who are mostly Gaelic speaking, and believe that their visitors have been sent by rival landowners to spoil the deer-shooting (the local livelihood) by driving the deer from their traditional breeding grounds. While trying to distract Jemmerling and his employee, the children and Captain Flint are rounded up by the ghillies (gamekeepers or gamewardens) of the local laird (called "The