The first in a series of posts in which I explore some of the fascinating travel journals which have lain previously unread in the archives, as well as my own travel journals which reflect those of my fellow travellers of times gone by. Come with me as I travel beyond the stores and out into the wilds...
It’s a feeling quite like no other, to be possibly the first person to be reading someone else's journal since they wrote it, in this case over one hundred and fifty years earlier. As an archivist by profession you’d think I would be used to that. It is true that you can start to get a bit blasé about the hundreds of old manuscripts which pass through your hands in the course of your work, but every now and again you re-awaken to the thrill of being able to read an original manuscript which may not even have been opened since it was first written. It is also true that, as an archivist, it is quite rare that you actually get to read any of the documents you are responsible for in any detail, beyond identifying them for an accession or catalogue entry.
So when I decided to take it upon myself to read and transcribe the tiny notebook which intriguingly had the words “LOG OF THE GNAT" scratched into the cover, I immediately found myself getting drawn in and was really quite excited by the prospect of bringing its contents into the light of day.
I had identified the pocket-sized notebook as being the diary of a canoe trip when it first appeared on my desk a few years ago, part of a small collection of family papers we'd received. As with many new deposits, I made a mental note to go back and look more closely at it sometime. From what I saw of it then, it reminded me of the canoe log I had started writing when we acquired our first canoe back in 2006, when the children were young. But then, as always, more stuff came in and this became just one more collection among the myriad other collections down in the stores, waiting for the moment that someone might take an interest and open up its pages once more.
The Log of the Gnat was written in the summer of 1867, by strange coincidence the exact same year as the other travel diary I had taken a keen interest in a couple of years ago, the “Great Malvern to Crewe Tramp 1867”.
This intriguing manuscript caught my eye when it came up for sale at a local auction in June 2021. I was delighted that I was able to bid for it successfully and acquire it for the archives.
That happened to be shortly before I set off on my own long distance walk, from my home in Shrewsbury across Wales to the coast. After completing my expedition to the Welsh coast I determined to read through and research the diary of The Tramp in more detail. The sense of a shared experience, albeit undertaken over a hundred and fifty years earlier, made reading the account particularly intriguing and it was fascinating to compare the two. As I read through the account of 1867, I tried to imagine what it was like for the travellers undertaking such a trip back then.
Now, a couple of years later, as I sat on our canoe out in the middle of Loch Shiel in the highlands of Scotland, I determined to finally get round to reading and transcribing the other travel diary which had captured my attention, the Log of the Gnat. I like to think that maybe there is none more suited to this task than myself, not only an archivist, the manuscript's custodian, but also a fellow canoeist having just undertaken my own mini canoe expedition. It seems like it was meant to be! I like to think that William himself would have been delighted that his account would be rediscovered in this way.
When I was about to do my walk across Wales, a friend messaged saying “I hope you enjoy your walk. Shades of George Borrow. He walked with an umbrella and wrote a lovely eulogy to them in Wild Wales.” It turns out that was published in 1862 ["Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery" by George Borrow - must add it to my reading list]. It seems like walking and canoeing expeditions were a bit of a thing in the 1860s.
I hadn't come across George Borrow but it did feel like we were somehow harking back to the happy wanderers of days gone by when we did our trek across Wales. The Tramp diary actually has a number of sketches in, including in fact one of the two travellers holding umbrellas, so although in that case I don't know who they were, I can at least get an idea of what they looked like and what they had been wearing for their trip.
Unfortunately the Log of the Gnat does not include any sketches or illustrations. I was hopeful it might include some more detail about their set up, in terms of what they wore, what they took with them or what the canoes were like. How amazing it would be to have a photograph of them on their trip! But that’s just wishful thinking I suppose. Perhaps leaving it to the imagination and having to conjure up our own images from the written record is somehow preferable anyway. It certainly creates a greater sense of intrigue, as we try to catch glimpses of what it might have been like to do this trip back in 1867.
Unlike the Tramp diary, the author of the canoe log did however leave a clear record of who he and the other crew members were, for which I am very grateful. William Egerton Garnett-Botfield recorded his full name and address on the first page of the notebook, as well as diligently naming all the other family members joining him on the trip. This meant that with a quick bit of digging online I was able to fill in more about their background, helping to bring them into focus as real, three dimensional people. You can read about my discoveries in Log of the Gnat - who, when, why and how.
The idea for creating this blog was borne out of the desire to gather and record my own travel recollections as well as transcribe and research some of the travel journals which have lain previously unread in the archives. We will have to see where it leads.
One place it will undoubtedly lead is on some interesting new adventures, as reading the manuscripts has already inspired thoughts of trying to recreate some of these past journeys.
I will call it "adventures of an archivist", although I don't intend to go into any real detail about what I do in my day job, I'll leave that pleasure to others.
It will be the adventures of an archivist, beyond the stores and out into the wilds...
Related posts from the adventures of an archivist:
Log of the Gnat - full transcript: travel back in time and read first hand the account of eighteen year old William as he records his excitement at undertaking his first canoe trip, back in the summer of 1867.
Log of the Gnat - who, when, why and how: find out more about William and the rest of the crew, the type of canoes they might have had and what might have spurred them on to undertake their expedition back in the summer of 1867
Log of the Gnat - where (let's go!): discover more about the places our Victorian canoeists visited on their journey and be inspired to follow in their wake...
Journeys past and present: musings of an archivist: find out about how I came to discover the "Log of the Gnat", as well as other travel journals, and how they have intertwined with my own travel adventures.
Loch Shiel Loop by Canoe: read about my own highland expedition in our Old Town Discovery Canoe that inspired me to research the "Log of the Gnat".
Canoe Voyage - take two: find out about my surprise discovery which opened up a whole new perspective on the canoe trip of 1867.
Discovery Log - where it all began: join me as I travel back to 2006 when our canoeing adventures began - and we had five to a boat!
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