July 23 Thursday.

At 3 o clock in the morning the light went on. We and distant[RG] thought nothing of it. But in morning Seb. & Juana the fishwife in tears. Appears that 5 cars with 18 Fascist youths stopped outside the Fabrica. & G. offered them his services. They[RG] ordered him to put on the light. They said they wanted the Dr's house where a revolutionary was hiding. He said 'The Dr. is of your own party.' 'No, he's got a Socialist counsellor of Inca there.' (It appears the Dr had told a friend in Palma yesterday that the S.C.1 was in Deyá, & they got things mixed.) The Dr thought they were Fascists[RG] Communists sent by G. to kill him. They fired at his door. He escaped behind in drawers & alpargatas2 running up to Canfusimain eluding 2 F [Fascist]s behind the house, took refuge in Son Canals.Appeared only when the F [Fascist]s had gone in a lamentable state, had lost his alps [alpargatas]3 & had fallen & cut himself 50 times. The F [Fascist]s went on to Costa D'Or (making all local people salute F [Fascist]s) got S.C.4 & his wife & carried them off. The F [Fascist]'s told G. that they were 17 year olders but had already shot 8 men. Dr's wife & daughter hiding under mattress. Door shot to pieces, one bullet through her bed head. Pedro went to Palma. Antonia working for us today. The Deltés a French family from the Hotel, came to us to ask about communication. We told them that they were cut. They had been alarmed by the Costa D'Or affair, where they are. Gelat went into Palma with Bernardo , Tio5 Pedro. Mrs Broadwood & Miss Dennis. An aeroplane came over throwing leaflets that Palma will be bombarded if it doesn't surrender by 6. Aeroplane fired at. G.
returned in a hurry with only Juan, Tio6 Pedro. afraid the car would be commandeered – the others left in Palma. Village in a panic, what with relatives in Palma and fear of Deyá being bombed. Fat woman rushed shrieking down the road. The whole of Juana Pescadora7's family went down to the Cala for safety.
Schools
At 6 three planes came over Palma & are said to have dropped 3 bombs. But Palma was already half-deserted, the population streaming out to neighbouring villages. Many came to ask shelter in Deyá.
L. K. Alan and I did not work but sat outside Can Torrent to listen. after gramaphone & dancing. Karl & Alan gave me birthday presents – cigarettes, sweets a gum-pot. In the evening I went to the village: divided into 2 camps, the rights talking hard at Ayuntamiento8, the lefts silent outside the Sala.

Editorial Notes

1Socialist Counsellor KG; the Mayor of Inca (RPG 239) eds.
2canvas shoes KG
3canvas shoes KG
4S. Castañer? KG Socialist Counsellor? eds
5Uncle eds.
6Uncle eds.
7fish wife KG
8town hall KG

Hands Referenced

    • Annotation: ink correction
    • Character: regular
    • Ink: black

Places Mentioned

  • Can Torrent

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    House next to Canellun also belonging to LR & RG. Built by Norman Cameron. WG

  • Palma

    Palma, Majorca, Sp
    Capital and largest centre of Majorca.

  • Concordia

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    Salón Concordia. Gelat's café. Variously refered to as the Sala or the Salón. The village youths had shares in it. It was later called the Salón Deportivo. WG

  • Fábrica

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    Home of Juan (Gelat) and his wife, the Madora. K.G. The ground floor was a nave extended over the equivalent of two more lots. This originally was a factory with an oil press, a flour mill and a soap making machine all run by a steam engine. Gelat replaced steam by fuel-oil and installed an electricity generator. When he put in the turbine at Ca'n Madó he removed the machinery and built a Café in its place (the Sala Concordia). WG

  • Deyá

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    Town located on the northwest coast of Majorca, on the hillside between the Teix Mountains and the sea: this was RG's home with Laura Riding from 1929 to 1936. He returned there with his family after WW II. Eds.

  • Ca'n Fusimañ

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    Farm-house in the village. WG

  • Inca

    Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
    Town in northwest of Majorca eds.

  • Son Canals

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    Large farm-house belonging to Bernardo Colom at the entrance to the village. WG

  • Hotel Costa d'Or

    Llucalcari, Majorca, Sp
    In Llucalcari. Went there for drinks and occasionally meals. It was the best hotel, the Fonda being rather basic. The Turismo was closed. WG

  • Cala

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    Deyá's fishing cove. This is the cove near Canellun that RG refers to as "the Cala" in his diary. Eds/ WG

People Mentioned

  • Alan

    Hodge, Alan
    Oxford history graduate. Became close friends with LR & RG. First husband of Beryl Graves. CP & WG

  • Laura

    Riding, Laura
    (1901-91) American poet. Laura Riding (née Reichenthal; then Laura Gottschalk).

  • Karl/Carl

    Goldschmidt, Karl
    Karl Goldschmidt, later Kenneth Gay: Graphic artist, friend and secretary of Robert Graves and Laura Riding since 1934. R. G. spells both as Carl and Karl.

  • Gelat

    Más, Juan Marroig
    Juan Marroig Mas, called Gelat: Landowner on Deyá and friend of Robert Graves and Laura Riding (L.R. & R.G.'s factotum. W.G.)

  • Sebastian

    Sebastian
    Gardener getting on for 80. KG

  • Tio/Don Pedro & Tia/Doña Catalina

    Pedro or Catalina
    Cousins of Gelat from Madrid; RG refers to them interchangeably as Don or Doña and Tio/a, meaning uncle or aunt eds.

  • Médico

    Vives, Antonio Dr.
    The village doctor (Deyá). At odds with Gelat (water rights controversy). His brother, Juan Vives, was Gelat's son-in-law. WG

  • Bernardo

    Colom, Bernardo
    Ex Cuban, previous owner of 'Son Canals', and former owner of 'Luna land' (on the other side of the road) cf. Married to a Cuban lady. Sons: Marcos (married to Gelat's daughter Magdalena) and Pancho. KG & WG

  • Juana "Pescadora"

    Juana
    The Fisherwoman W.G.; "the fishwife" K.G.

  • Antonia from Artá

    Antonia
    maid hired April 8, 1936 eds.

  • Mrs. Broadwood

    Broadwood, Mrs.
    English widow. Lived near Son Bauzá with her cats. WG; known as "niña vieja," roughly: "mutton dressed up as lamb" KG

  • Miss Dennis

    Dennis, Miss
    an ex-nurse, one-eyed, hence known in village as "ojo cojo," or: "lame eye" KG

  • Juan

    Mas, Juan Marroig
    Usually refers to Gelat's son, sometimes to Gelat himself. WG