The entry begins:Although my book is the result of an academically driven research project - it was driven by my fascination with what can only be described as a rollickingly good adventure story. The story of Roger Barlow and Sebastian Cabot encompasses: mystery; trade with Spain and its Atlantic possessions; months at sea leading to encounters with New Worlds; slavery; smuggling and piracy; rampant opportunism; fortunes and reputations made and lost; loyalty and betrayal; love and hate; and, oh yes ..... an attempt to colonise the Welsh.Learn more about Merchants and Explorers at the Oxford University Press website.
The real star of a cinematic rendition of my book would be the scenery as seen through the eyes of the lead character, Roger Barlow: masts appearing through the mists of the Essex marshes; the sugar plantations of Madeira; the Portuguese fort at Agadir; the Moorish architecture of Seville; the Azores; a first glimpse of the Southern Cross over the Atlantic; the vast waterways of the River Plate and the Parana; the bustling quays of Bristol and narrow streets of London; and 'deeply embosomed in oak and beech' - Slebech in Pembrokeshire.
Roger Barlow was the first Englishman to set foot in present day Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil, and the first to write a detailed eyewitness account of America, including a description of a cannibalistic 'feast'. Because Barlow led a life that verged on the swashbuckling, I am tempted to assign Johnny Depp to the role. However, Barlow relied to his ability to operate 'under the radar' and to his linguistic, accounting and navigational skills to survive. Indeed, if Barlow was anything like his clerical brother John - described as being of ‘small stature, with red hair, sober in eating and drinking, speaking little and ignorant of music or games’ - then good looks and charm were perhaps not his strong points. Bearing that in mind, I think that...[read on]
My Book, The Movie: Merchants and Explorers.
--Marshal Zeringue
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