The Picts and the Martyrs they can be questioned, and Nancy manages to save the Great Aunt some embarrassment for which she gets praised in a letter to her mother. Ransome's wife Evgenia hated the book while it was being written, but his mother Edith persuaded him to publish it. Genia was often discouraging about his books while he was writing them. The Picts and the Martyrs The Picts and the Martyrs is the eleventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1943. This is the last completed book set in the Lake District and features the
Swallows and Amazons series skating ability. The Callums are the link to a different location and another set of characters. Following their appearance in "Winter Holiday", they appear in two following books set in the Norfolk Broads, where they meet the Coot Club: Tom Dudgeon; the twins, Port and Starboard; and Bill, Joe & Pete the three sons of boatbuilders: the "Death and Glories". With a couple of exceptions, the exact ages of the characters are never established. In the first book they run from Roger, at 7 years old, to about 12 to 14 (John and Nancy). All characters age as the series