Other editions of book The Picts and the Martyrs or, Not Welcome at All

Stands out in triumph. It is firm, intelligent, in tune with twentieth-century mentality and well-written (Times Literary Supplement)"Quite up to the best standards of its predecessors, and to all old Ransome devotees the return to the lake of the first novels gives an added pleasure" (Glasgow Herald) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. The Ds can't wait to go and stay with Nancy and Peggy in the Lake District during the summer holidays. But when the Amazons' dreadful Great Aunt invites herself to stay too, the summer is threatened with dullness. Staying indoors and reading poetry is not what the Amazons had in mind. To save the Ds from the same fate they organise for them to stay in the Dogs' Home, a tumble-down hut in the woods. As long as no one discovers they're there they can sail all summer long...

The poor old Amazons become Martyrs and the Ds Picts living in the woods, in Arthur Ransome's 11th adventure. The Ds can't wait to go and stay with Nancy and Peggy in the Lake District during the summer holidays. But when the Amazons' dreadful Great Aunt invites herself to stay too, the summer is threatened with dullness. Staying indoors and reading poetry is not what the Amazons had in mind. To save the Ds from the same fate they organise for them to stay in the Dogs' Home, a tumble-down hut in the woods. As long as no one discovers they're there they can sail all summer long.

Those two Blackett sisters are back at it again, and Nancy is right there in the thick of it. Their mother (doubtless suffering from exhaustion) has gone off sailing in the North Sea with Captain Flint on a rest cure, but she has allowed her two daughters to stay a fortnight at Beckfoot on the lakeshore with their trusty cook. She’s also permitted their two old friends, Dick and Dorothea Callum, to come up for a visit. But when their redoubtable Great Aunt (a.k.a. G.A.) hears of their abandonment, she’s horrified and off on the next train. The Amazons are dismayed; not only will their solo holiday be ruined, but now they’ll have to hide their two guests in the woods in an abandoned shepherd’s cottage where they’ll be forced to live off the land like savages (ergo “The Picts”), while they’ll be required to dress up in white pinafores, practice the piano-forte, and recite reams of parlor poetry aloud (ergo “The Martyrs”). Not much stretch here; no one dares trifle with the G. A. As usual with Ransome, the fun is gentle, the action nonstop, and the instructions on everything from tickling trout to setting anchors are precise and informed. Even the formidable aunt proves to have virtues, not the least of which is her ability to say she’s sorry. The Picts & the Martyrs “Stands out in triumph.” ― The Times Literary Supplement