R. B. Cunninghame Graham (1852–1936)

This is a collection of sketches mostly by Graham, a Scot, about his travel some 125 years ago around south Texas and down to Mexico City and back, a largely lawless, desolate, and dangerous expanse at that time aside from (arguably) San Antonio. The risk from Apaches was second to that from various other sorts of expert and ruthless bandits, with whom Graham was not entirely without empathy.

Graham was a most interesting character, as was his wife, and pretty good writer. I wish he had written more about this. If you are a historian of the south or know this part of the world, then you might add a star. Graham wrote much about his travels and was highly regarded by other writers, including G.B. Shaw, C.K. Chesterton, Joseph Conrad, and H.G. Wells.

Graham's book about his 1897 excursion across Morocco was the inspiration for Shaw's play "Captain Brassbound's Conversion", where I learned about Graham from Shaw's preface. Shaw said that Graham's character defied belief but for Shaw's having "seen him with these eyes".

Graham eventually entered Scottish politics, and informed by the inequities and misery he had seen in the world, became an advocate for universal suffrage, an 8-hour workday, and other wild Socialist ideas, before becoming disgusted by Socialists' petty dissension and turning finally to the Labour Party, Scottish nationalism, and Scottish independence as the best hopes for finding social justice there.

In 1936 Graham died during a visit to Argentina, where he had once ranched cattle and been greatly admired, and he received a country-wide tribute there before the final journey home. Here is a short video of part of his funeral on a small island on a small Scottish lake:
https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/5936

Wikipedia has a good entry on Graham, and here is more biography:
https://www.electricscotland.com/history/graham/RBCG008BiographicalOutline.pdf… (més)