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 Born
in Malta in 1894 Gerald Brenan spent some of his childhood in South Africa
and India before moving to a small Cotswold village. Travel and adventure
were to be his way of life and at sixteen he ran away from home. His aim
was to reach Central Asia but the outbreak of the Balkan War and shortage
of money caused him to return to England.
He was studying for entrance to the Indian Police when the First World
War erupted and he at once joined the army. During his service he served
on The Western Front for over two years, reaching the rank of Captain
and earning a Military Cross and a Croix de Guerre.
Disillusioned with the way of life in England with the stifling social
and sexual hypocrisies of British bourgeois society he rebelled against
becoming part of it and, being a romantic and adventurer, resolved to
seek a more breathable atmosphere in which to live.
As soon as he was released from military service he packed a rucksack
and left England aboard a ship bound for Spain. He might as easily chosen
Greece, Italy or some other Mediterranean country that promised an agreeable
climate combined with low living costs and a relaxed way of life. To assist
with his goal of self-education he packed a large number of books. His
worldly wealth amounted to £130 in War Certificates and £30
in the bank. {His £30 of accessible cash was worth 600 Spanish pesetas
at the exchange rates of that time}.
Thus began an odyssey of search and learning that would lead him to Andalucia
and endure from 1919 until his death there in 1987.
Arriving at Coruna on the northwest coast of the province of Galicia
he was discouraged by what he saw but nevertheless spent a few days walking
there before travelling south through drab landscapes in a train that
seemed to be in no hurry to depart from any of the stations en route to
Madrid. After a brief, miserable, rain soaked spell in the capital, and
eager to encounter more pleasant surroundings he shouldered his sodden
backpack and moved onwards - south to Granada. He found a university city
spectacularly sited below the northern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and
while the snowfalls upon the city are very moderate the highest points
of the Sierra seem to be eternally draped with a speckled white mantle.
Lying before Granada is an enormous fertile vega {plain} where a diverse
and astonishing quantity of crops are produced.
 Brenan's
chosen destination was an area deeper into Andalucia known as'La Alpujarra'.
He walked south from the city and upon encountering more pleasing countryside
across the western flank of the Sierra Nevada strode out swiftly with
resolute, confident strides - "South from Granada".
Reading Gerald Brenan's book of that name I had been fascinated by his
descriptions of everyday life during those early years in Spain and enchanted
by the sights, sounds and smells that reached out to me from the pages.
I decided to explore La Alpujarra of Gerald Brenan and get the feel of
the area that had been the source of inspiration for a number of his books.
Gerald Brenan began searching for a place to settle when he reached the
western limits of La Alpujarra - a lush fertile band embracing some eighty
villages and hamlets that have the appearance of having been strewn across
the slopes of Southern Sierra Nevada like blown petals but are in fact
snugly situated in accord with the terrain.
Finding a suitable house in a pleasing location took three weeks as he
first walked southwards towards the Mediterranean but turned to the east
short of reaching the coast. Here he searched among the hidden away villages
on the lower slopes before finally heading north again to find his desired
haven in a little village called Yegen.
With one of Europe's highest mountains, the mighty snow draped Mulhacen,
rising to 11,432 feet behind him he could stand on the roof of his house
and look south to the coastline some 50 kilometres below and yet further
across the sea to Africa. During his years in Yegen he walked all over
La Alpujarra and the high sierra and in his book he describes many of
these journeys.
Gerald Brenan was acquainted with the literary greats of the period who
gathered around Leonard and Virginia Woolf in London and were known as
The Bloomsbury Group. A number of these famous people visited him at Yegen
and later, when he had moved residence close to Malaga, the great writer
Ernest Hemingway was his guest.
After the death of his wife, the writer Gamel Woolsey in 1968, a young
English Lady, student of the poetry of the Spanish saint - St. John of
the Cross, joined Gerald as his Secretary/Companion. This young lady is
called Lynda Jane Nicholson Price, and she remained with Gerald for 14
years.
Lynda still lives in a small village in La Alpujarra in a house that she
once shared with Gerald Brenan. During my travels in 'La Alpujarra of
Gerald Brennan' I found Lynda at her home. An exceptionally attractive
woman, she was utterly charming, inviting me in to her enchanting home
for tea [what else from an English person abroad!].
We chatted for about two hours and I was invited to return the following
week to continue hearing about Gerald Brenan as only Lynda could tell
it - fascinating! She was kind enough to allow me to record our conversations.
Hopefully we shall meet again in May, 2003 as she has invited me to visit
when I am next in La Alpujarra.
 Gerald
Brenan died on January 19, 1987 while in the hands of the Spanish Medical
Services who had undertaken to care for him. He was acclaimed for his
services to Spanish literature with such books as The Spanish Labyrinth,
History of Spanish Literature and St. John of The Cross.
A plaque dedicated to his work was fixed to the house where he had lived
in Yegen, it reads:
"In this house for a period of seven years [1920-1934] lived the
British Hispanist GERALD BRENAN, who universalised the name of Yegen and
the customs and traditions of La Alpujarra. The Town Hall, grateful, dedicates
this plaque."
YEGEN, 3 JANUARY, 1982
illustrations:
From the book 'Personal Record'. Author, Gerald
Brenan:
1. A young Gerald Brenan in 1922
2.Gerald Brenan at home in Churriana by Malaga, Spain, with his wife -
the American writer Gamel Woolsey and the American writer Ernest Hemingway,
1959.
3. Gerald Brenan at home in Yegen, Spain, his wife - the American writer
Gamel Woolsey - and his friend, Ralph Partridge, 1937
From the 'Feria y Fiestas Ugijar 2002' book:
1. Gerald Brenan, Plaque [NOT a Grave!]
Plaque expressing gratitude fixed to the outside of 'Brenan's House'
in Yegen by the Town Hall, 1982.
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