The recent Sam Mendes film "1917" is one of the best films made during World War I. It is quite an ordeal to watch as the tension in it is almost relentless, but in this way, it suits its subject. It is the case, though, that well into the second half of the film, there is a sudden break in tone. The British protagonist, George MacKay, is alone at night in a German-occupied French town and is being shot at by German soldiers. Fleeing from them, he seeks escape by forcing himself into one of the townhouses. Inside, he comes across a French woman with a baby who shrinks from him in fear. He, however, reassures her that he is a friend, and through a few exchanged sentences in a mix of their languages, they establish a brief but very human connection. Through an interesting plot twist, MacKay also happens to be carrying some milk, of which the baby is in need.

The whole scene is very moving, starkly contrasting to the murderous horror outside. But it was even more poignant for me, for just before MacKay leaves the basement, at the request of the woman, he begins to recite a poem for the baby. I immediately recognized its words as being those of the nonsense poem "The Jumblies" by Edward Lear. Watching this, I became quite emotional.

To explain why, I need to say something more about Edward Lear (1812-1888), who is to be featured here as the latest in the Famous Travellers to Türkiye series. Lear is certainly still famous today, and it is for the nonsense poetry that he wrote. Indeed, his best-known poem, "The Owl and the Pussy Cat," was voted in 2014 as the most beloved children’s poem in the U.K. It is not, however, that he travels to Türkiye as a nonsense poet. In his lifetime, most of his creative efforts were spent on landscape painting and travel writing. As for myself, I like his nonsense poetry, but in normal contexts, it does not mean that much to me – on the whole, I regard that of Lewis Carroll as far superior. As for his paintings and his travel writings, I could make a long list of painters and travel writers that I would regard as better than him.

Nevertheless, it is not an exaggeration to say that in planning this series, the most prominent one in my mind, indeed in some sense the figure for which the whole series is written, is Edward Lear. The reason for this, and my emotional reaction to his words being used in that scene in "1917," is not his work but the enormous admiration I have for him as a person. Put simply, I regard Lear as decent, and that is the highest praise I have for anyone, though unfortunately, those who merit it seem to be far too rare. That Lear’s words are used to calm the baby amid the background of the war in 1917 seems particularly symbolic as he was a kind and humble man beloved by children. His own childhood, though, was one marked by deep unhappiness. Throughout his life, he also had epilepsy, the difficulty of which was further compounded by his feeling a need to hide it, and he suffered bouts of depression. In addition, he was short-sighted and found himself physically unattractive in an era that glorified male physical perfection.

All in all, his ingredients would have been sufficient to have made him a homebound agoraphobe. Yet, instead, he became a man who traveled the world constantly pushing his limits and venturing into places where many a stereotypical manly man would probably balk to set foot. This fact, combined with his kindness and humility, sets Lear apart as an exceptional human.

Born in London in 1812, the 20th of 21 children, Lear grew up in the city, and as a teenager, he found a calling for himself in producing illustrations of birds, his first book series being one on parrots, the most wonderful of birds. Lear’s biographer Vivien Noakes notes that his pictures of them "were superbly drawn and gave him an immediate reputation as an ornithological draughtsman." A lifelong interest in birds remained with Lear, who later moved to Italy in 1837 as a landscape painter and there took up travel writing. This, in turn, led him to visit what is now Türkiye in 1848.

1848 stay in Istanbul

Lear’s trip to what is Türkiye today does not get off to a very auspicious start. Lear is bedridden with fever, probably malaria, for most of the journey to Istanbul by steamer. However, he forces himself to get up on deck at sunrise on Aug. 1 to see the city as they approach. He relates that: "Certainly – no city is so wonderfully beautiful when you approach it – it was far beyond my idea. I think the perpetual change as the steamer moves on, of ruined walls, immense domes – brilliantly white minarets – & all mixed with such magnificent cypress, pine, & plane foliage is truly wonderful."

On his arrival in the city, he is so ill that he has to be carried in a sedan chair to his accommodation. Two days later, he passes on to the British summer embassy at Tarabya on the Bosporus, where the ambassador’s wife, Lady Elizabeth Canning, nurses him back to health, only for him to have a relapse. She becomes Lear’s friend, he describing her as being "as kind as 70 mothers to me." Lear is not impressed by the view from the summer embassy, exclaiming that, "The Bosporus hereabouts, at least, is the ghastliest humbug going."

That his view is occasioned by his condition is clear from the fact that once his health and spirits have improved, he remarks of the Bosporus that, "I now like (it) as much as I was indifferent to it at first." A more healthy Lear accompanies the ambassadorial party to the heart of the city to witness a lavish imperial ceremony involving the sultan. Although pomp of this kind is not usually to Lear’s taste, and the whole ceremony lasts for hours, Lear reflects that, "I can’t tell when I have passed so delightful & novel a day." This also marked the first day that he had been out since his illness and reflected his sense of recovery.

Indeed, following this and feeling much better, Lear moves to a hotel in Pera and makes intensive visits to the old city. As Noakes puts it, "He crammed every moment of the next seven days." Much like the typical visitor to Istanbul both before and since, he goes through the bazaars and tries the various foods that the city has to offer. He also visits the mosques, including that of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the city walls, and the cemeteries. He also recorded what he saw in his drawings, according to Susan Hyman: "Sometimes fixing with impressionistic speed the evanescent beauties of this world on water." His dedication to his art led him to hire a boat to draw the unparalleled skyline of this amazing city. His frenetic activity in attempting to take in as much of Istanbul as he could in the limited remaining time he had there rather than causing him yet another relapse actually lifted his spirits to such a degree that, as Noakes puts it, "his health improved in a great rush." When he returned to the embassy, those there were shocked by his transformation.

Lear notes one of the regular tragedies faced by the city of Istanbul in the 19th century due to its close-packed wooden buildings, and that is the frequency of fires. Even just in the summer, he is there; Lear notes that eight serious fires have occurred in the city and that the biggest one burned down 5,000 houses. He does, however, note that these fires rarely result in human casualties. Lear even experiences one at close quarters in Pera near the end of his stay. He reveals his sensitivity by stating: "A most horrible sight it was. I cannot conceive how anyone can like looking at a fire; to me, the picturesque is quite swamped by the sight of such suffering on a wholescale."

However, as Lear notes, "the summer flies," and he is soon leaving Istanbul by steamer. As he departs, his impressions are similar to those of his arrival. He is left with a vision of the "towers" of the "wonderful" city, "first pale and distinct in the light of the rising moon, and then glittering and lessening on the clam horizon, till they, and the memory that I have been among them for seven weeks, seem like part of the world of dreams."

Lear on the Turks

Lear heads on to what will be an extensive two-part journey through Macedonia, Albania and Greece. Although these travels take place almost exclusively in what were then Turkish-ruled lands, they lie outside of the geographic scope of this series. Nevertheless, as with Lord Byron, in whose footsteps he is conscious of following, Lear makes comments on the Turks from these wider lands in his book "Journals of a Landscape Painter in Albania," published in 1851, that will now be drawn upon to give a fuller picture on how he views and interacts with the Turks.

As with other visitors, Lear meets with hospitality from all kinds of Turks. As this is a subject I have touched on before, I feel no need to provide typical examples, yet through Lear, a more important aspect of Turkish hospitality than even the welcoming and the lavishing of food and gifts on a guest is made evident and deserves to be shown. Lear is prone to clumsiness and he relates the following incident from Yenice (modern Giannitsa):

"While taking a parting cup of coffee with the postmaster, I unluckily set my foot on a handsome pipe bowl (pipe bowls are always snares to near-sighted people moving over Turkish floors, as they are scattered in places quite remote from the smokers, who live at the father end of prodigiously long pipe-sticks) – and crash; but nobody moved; only on apologizing through Giorgio [his guide and translator], the polite Mohammedan said: ‘The breaking such a pipe bowl would indeed, under ordinary circumstances, be disagreeable; but in a friend every action has its charm!’"

This Turkish gentleman has been especially hospitable as, probably having been fond of his narghile, he at first pretends not to have even noticed the unfortunate incident and only when he is forced to through Lear’s insistent apology, he then offers in his words to his guest the truest of gifts and the greatest of hospitality in that they put its recipient at ease. Indeed, it is this kind of exquisite good Turkish manners that makes such an impression upon a man like Lear, who separately notes that:

"It is a great charm of Turkish characters that they never stare or wonder at anything; you are not bored by any questions, and I am satisfied that if you chose to take your tea while suspended by your feet from the ceiling, not a word would be said, or a sign of amazement betrayed; in consequence, you soon lose the sense of the absurd so nearly akin to shame, on which you are forced to dwell in constantly reminded of your awkwardness by observation or interrogation."

Nevertheless, due to his bashfulness, Lear, whilst appreciating the tactfulness of the Turks, clearly finds social situations difficult and thus has quite different travel preferences to Ibn Battuta. Lear makes it clear that he would rather travel, by which he can be himself, than be accommodated by others and dine simply rather than partake in grand feasts.

However, he sometimes stays in Turkish homes, and something of the nonsense-creating Lear for which he is known and adored in his own country is also seen in the wilds of Albania. Lear stays with the Pasha of Kroia (Krujë), the "good-natured" and welcoming teenage Ali. This young man has only heard rumors of modern steam technology, having not witnessed any of its inventions himself. With youthful inquisitiveness, he thus asks Lear "about ships that went without sails, and coaches that were impelled without horses," and so Lear draws them for him. Ali then wishes to know whether these machines produce any sounds. Lear can help here, too:

"I replied by imitating both the inventions in question in the best manner I could think of – ‘Tik-tok, tik-tok, tik-tok, tokka, tokka, tokka, tokka, tokka – tok’ (crescendo), and ‘Squish-squash, squish-squash, squish-squash, thump-bump’ – for the land and sea engines respectively."

He sends the young man into hysterics of laughter and is often asked to repeat the performance during his stay.

Another aspect of the Turkish character that is noticed by Lear is what he calls "the general system of kindness towards animals prevalent throughout Turkey." Connected with this, Lear argues that a traveler can be aware of what country he is in solely aurally. Having noted the huge number of storks in the region of Thessaly, whose careful nest building he so enjoys watching, Lear, whose interest in birds goes back to his early career, affirms that in spring, simply from the "clattering" sound of storks, one can tell that one is the Ottoman territory, for under the Turks "no one disturbs" these birds while to the south "the storks have all abandoned Greece (modern), for the Greeks shoot and molest them."

Another aspect of Turkish culture that Lear notes is the ubiquity of smoking. Having already encountered it in Istanbul, he provides a great example from Skodra (Shkodër). There, after having dined with the "remarkably affable" Pasha of Skodra, he notes, "then came pipes and coffee—pipes, pipes, sweetmeats—pipes, sherbet, and pipes." Then, when Lear believes that his visit with the Pasha has finally ended, "we returned to the divan, where fresh pipes and rose-water ensured, and pipes—pipes—like Banquo’s posterity." Although the form of smoking has largely changed in modern Türkiye, a similar tobacco experience can still be found throughout this land.

Couple of limericks

As is made clear at the beginning of this piece, Lear is an artist, a travel writer and best-known for his nonsense poetry. Subsequent to his visit to Türkiye, he continued to produce works in these fields, eventually dying in San Remo in Italy in 1888. Some of his artwork and quotations from his travel writing have been used above, so here, to close up the piece, two examples of his nonsense poetry are given. Lear is especially associated with the limerick, and here are two limericks of Lear that connect with Türkiye.

"There was a Young Lady of Troy; Whom several large flies did annoy; Some she killed with a thump; Some she drowned at the pump; And some she took with her to Troy; There was a Young Lady of Turkey; Who wept when the weather was murky; When the day turned out fine; She ceased to repine; That capricious Young Lady of Turkey."