Madeira

What do you know about Madeira? You know, the place where the cake and wine come from. Probably not much - about as much as I did before I went there. But having been a couple of times I felt that I wanted to know something about the place.

But what of Madeira's history. Well, 20 million years ago, volcanic eruptions began beneath the Atlantic Ocean about 430 miles off the coast of Morocco, building up layers of lava which finally rose above the surface of the sea to create lots of islands, the largest of which is Madeira. Seeds washed up on the shore or dropped by birds germinated and thrived in the volcanic soil to form the dense woodland which covers the island.

After that, the history gets a bit hazy until 1418. There is a chart, dated 1351, which shows an island called 'Isala di Lolegname', a name derived from the Arabic word 'el agham', meaning 'wood'. In 1418 an expedition financed by Henry the Navigator, Prince of Portugal, was blown off course while exploring the African coast and landed on an uninhabited island. The leader of this expedition was one João Gonçalves, more commonly known as Zarco, a nickname referring to the squint he had in one eye. Zarco called the island 'Ilhéu da Madeira', 'madeira' being the Portuguese word for, would you believe it, 'wood'.

Much more interesting than the history are the legends. These tend to be concerned with the activities of an Englishman, Robert Machin. Robert was a merchant from Bristol whose ship was blown out into the Atlantic while sailing to Portugal. Ending up in sight of an island, he went ashore to investigate. While he was ashore his crew decided to sail away and leave him to his own devices. Unfortunately they got caught up in another storm which drove them on to the Moroccan coast, where the Moors took them as prisoners, no doubt to serve the rest of their useful lives as galley slaves. Meanwhile, back on the island, our Robert made himself a raft. After all, the island was covered in trees, so he was not short of material. What he used for tools is anybody's guess. He set off knowing not where he would finish up, but as he was drifting towards the African coast he was picked up by some Moroccan pirates who helped him ashore, and so as not to appear too friendly, threw him into prison. By the sort of strange coincidence that can only exist in legends, this was the same prison that his former crew were in. Robert, not surprisingly, lost his temper and attacked one of his former shipmates, trying to kill him. His gaolers managed to separate them, and extracted from him the whole sorry tale. His story got told and retold, as such stories do, and it wasn't long before Henry the Navigator heard of this mysterious island at the edge of the world, and sent Zarco off to find it.

A nice, simple, straightforward adventure story. Not all that interesting, really. Not one to keep audiences enthralled while they listened to the story-tellers. So, as time went by, the story became embellished. In one version Robert becomes Sir Robert Machin, one of the lesser nobles living in Bristol. (That's better). Sir Robert falls in love with Anne of Hereford (the love interest) who is engaged to be married to a higher ranking nobleman (sighs all round). When her father finds out (tension mounts), he persuades the king, Henry III, to throw Sir Robert into gaol (the villainous act). Sir Robert escapes, contacts Anne, and the pair elope, boarding a ship bound for France. The ship gets caught in a storm (suspense), and is blown off-course, finishing up on an uninhabited tree-covered island in the Atlantic off the coast of north-west Africa (anticipation). The lovers go ashore while the boat is restocked with food and water, and are so entranced with what they saw that they do not notice that the ship is sailing off without them, leaving them all alone on the island (time for tears). Unfortunately for the crew, the ship gets caught in another storm and is blown on to the shore of Morocco, and the crew is captured and imprisoned (cheers from the audience). Meanwhile, Sir Robert and Anne live an idyllic life on the island until Anne falls ill and dies (more tears). Sir Robert buries his love and places a cross on her grave. He then makes a raft on which he sets sail. He, too, is caught in a storm and is blown to Morocco where he, too, is captured and imprisoned. While there, he tells his story to a Portuguese prisoner, and then dies (time for more tears). The family and friends of the Portuguese man manage to raise a ransom and he returns to Portugal to tell the story of Sir Robert and Anne to Prince Henry the Navigator. As before, Zarco is sent off to find this island, and when he goes ashore he finds a grave with a cross on it, and names the spot 'Santa Cruz'.

A third version of this story is much the same as the second until the ship reaches the island. Then both crew and passengers go ashore and stay on the island. But Sir Robert dies at the same time as Anne, and they are both buried by the crew before the ship sets sail to be caught in a storm, etc. etc. When Zarco lands on the island he finds two graves, and names the place 'Machico' in memory of Sir Robert.

Whichever of these stories is true I don't know. There is a place called Santa Cruz on Madeira. It is a village on the south-east coast, about 7 miles from the capital Funchal. Machico is another village about two and a quarter miles further along the coast from Santa Cruz, and is generally regarded by historians as the place where Zarco actually landed. But why should I confuse the issue with facts.

Bill Hutchings