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| Cover of Biggles and the Black Peril. Image links to Amazon. |
It may sound surprising, but nowhere in the 90+ Biggles books can we find a mention of Ginger’s real first name. “Ginger” was a name given to him by Biggles in The Black Peril, a reference to his red hair. He promptly replies to this new nickname with “…but not so much of the Ginger; my name’s Habblethwaite (a misspelling? Or a first name that is curiously similar to his last name?)”, to which Biggles, with his typical “call people by silly nicknames because I can’t be bothered to remember their real names” attitude, counters with, “Let’s stick to Ginger; it’s shorter.”
In every book thereafter, Ginger is
referred to as “Ginger” Hebblethwaite, the Ginger sometimes in quotation marks
and sometimes not. W.E. Johns either couldn’t be bothered to find out Ginger’s
real name, or decided it was too horrible to share with his readers, or maybe
it was something dull like Tom or Fred and he decided just to stick with Ginger
after all.
"Habblethwaite Hebblethwaite" ? No wonder he ran away from home!
ReplyDeleteIt does sound strange, because surely a youngster replying would have been more likely to give his first name than his surname, don't you think?
Actually, I think I read one time he was "Hepplethwaite", but don't remember where I saw that. Perhaps I misread that.
In my Dean and Sons version it says "Habblethwaite", but maybe it was spelled differently in other versions?
ReplyDeleteMy Dean and Sons version says Habblethwaite....I seem to recall reading somewhere (may have been "By Jove, Biggles")that it was orginally Habblethwaite, but WEJ changed it to Hebblethwaite in the later versions. Either way, I still feel sorry for him! :P
ReplyDeleteI seem to have read that somewhere as well...maybe on another of the Biggles sites as I don't have "By Jove, Biggles". You're right in any case--poor kid. Doomed to a life where dear Erich refers to him as "your young friend with the difficult name"...
ReplyDeleteIn the 2nd (1993) edition of By Jove, now called Biggles! The Life Story of Capt. W.E. Johns, it's on p. 242. Habblethwaite in The Black Peril. I think I've read about it elsewhere too.
ReplyDeleteOur name is Hebblethwaite it used to be spelled Hebletwayt in 1379 and can be seen in the window of the church at Cambridge uni with our coat of arms. We the Hebblethwaite's understand you all like the furniture and like to change our name but please don't.
ReplyDeleteMike Hebblethwaite.com
P.S. we are all still mostly Gingers and proud :)
ReplyDeleteThe name comes from where we live the river "Hebble" and a crossing over it a Thwaite and the village "Hebblethwaite" is still around and the farm where you can go stay if you like. Google will help further :)
Amazing to think that there are actual Hebblethwaites! Wonder if there are actual Bigglesworths too? Or Laceys...?
ReplyDeleteActual Hebblethwaites ? Ginger was real character ?
ReplyDelete“…but not so much of the Ginger; my name’s Habblethwaite (a misspelling? Or a first name that is curiously similar to his last name?)”
ReplyDeleteAt that time it was pretty standard for men to introduce themselves by their surname alone, especially in the services. The other chap would then add "Mister", "Sergeant" or whatever. First names were generally only used once you knew each other well enough. Admittedly much of this formality probably didn't last long in the close intimacy of an aircrew, and that in turn perhaps encouraged the use of nicknames as a sort of compromise. It may also have been adopted to blur class distinctions (Algy was a Hon, Ginger's dad was a miner) but that's a whole nother story.