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“What a Soul in Those Soaring Shapes”:
Transcaucasia in XIX century 

British Writing

F
or centuries the Caucasus, Ararat and Armenia
have exercised a powerful hold over the

imagination of many British authors.
The title of the paper may seem somewhat large and

ambitious for now, after numerous books, articles and
symposia have explored and described many aspects of
the problem. My topic has only a limited  focus. A new
field is not to be introduced, but the potentials of the
proposed research are, nevertheless, limitless. Each
decade pronounces its own judgement on the
Transcaucasian phenomena and always leaves something
new and more correct to be said by the next decade. The
relations with immediate neighbours in Transcaucasia are
the toughest issues today. In what way is the present day

situation  different from what happened in the past?
The present paper is devoted to the study of three works written by J.Bryce - a British

statesman, jurist and author, H.F.B. Lynch - a British traveller, businessman, jurist and
politician, W.Watson - a poet.

The essential thing the books have in common is the fundamental honesty of the
authors who see themselves obliged to tell their readers the truth  “without a prejudice
in favour of either of the states… in the regions… described.”(J. Bryce) The authors do
not claim their judgements as final and “absolute truth” and are prepared to leave the
assessment of their works to the future generations. 

A shrewd foreign observer may reveal significant facets in the life of a country. Thus,
it is not surprising at all that J. Bryce, the founder of the Anglo-Armenian Society, in his
“Transcaucasia and Ararat” (first edition 1877) gives a popular account of his journey in
the autumn of 1876 through the West-Asiatic parts of Russia and Turkey, of his ascent
of Mount Ararat on September 12, 1876. Even “the beaten tracks” to which the author
almost entirely kept were unlikely to be familiar to English readers. He also complied
with curiosity regarding Mount Ararat in England.

Bryce proved to be a capable observer, his chief interest being aroused by
ethnological questions, ethnic rivalry and ethnic co-operativenes in the region. His
particular interest lies also in the various learned institutions existing in Transcaucasia,
with special reference to native literature, literary magazines. The devoted admirer of I.
S. Turgenev, whom he presented in the Oxford Sheldonian theatre when the latter
received his Doctor of Civil Law, Bryce distinguishes himself in “Transcaucasia and

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Ararat” as a remarkable author. The portrayal of the pastoral beauty of Georgia, the
poetic panorama of Armenia with its ancient monasteries, towns and villages, the
mountain of the Ark is marked with more than an ordinary narrative skill. Bryce has an
important gift of distinguishing the important from the trivial.  A considerable part of the
book is devoted to the historical and political surveys in the Armenian question.  

Bryce disproves the stereotyped conceptions of the Caucasus “as a chain of snowy
mountains… inhabited by a race of patriotic heroes and beautiful women.”1 Another
stereotype he refutes is about “the utterly remorseless Cossacks.”2 The author presents a
truthful picture of ethnic rivalry in the Caucasus where almost “each man, like the
Cyclopes in Homer, rules over his wife and children, and cares nothing for his
neighbours.”  Bryce tells his readers about “ne’er-do-wells” of the Caucasian family and
“mostly industrious, well-disposed people” of the region.3

The phenomenon of brilliant ethnic co-operation the author finds in the capital of
Transcaucasia, the city of Tiflis, “a little Paris in its way.”4 There, without losing their
identity, “six nations dwell together in a town smaller than Brighton, and six languages
are constantly, three of four more occasionally, to be heard in the streets.”5

“Probably nowhere in the world,” the author concludes, “can so great a variety of
stocks, languages and religions be found huddled together in so narrow an area as in the
Caucasian chain.”6

The outbreak of Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878) attached unexpected importance
to Bryce’s book. The competition for influence in Transcaucasia has always been a
pressing question. It is obvious that every war brings about certain processes. The Treaty
of San Stefano  (1878) and the Congress and Treaty of Berlin (1878) redistributed
territories, tried to create a new balance of power in the Caucasian subsystem and
establish a consensus on common interests.

H.F.B. Lynch’s “Armenia. Travels and Studies” written more than twenty years after
Bryce’s book showed that common problems still existed for Armenians in the Russian
and Turkish empires, however, equitable solutions were never found. 

Lynch began his travels in Western Asia (1889) in support of financial interests of
Lynch Brothers firm. The journey to Armenia in 1893 was the beginning of his life-long
interest in the biblical country. He also made the ascent of Mount Ararat. In 1898 he
returned to Armenia and brought out the results of his journeys in a resplendently
illustrated 2-volume study which is often considered to be the best travel book about
Armenia written in English. Since then Lynch has been recognized an authority on
Armenia. Early in the 20th century he received acclaim, though he was reproached for
being pro-Armenian. It was obvious that the book should be studied by every scholar and
politician who wished to understand the complex ethnic relations in the district. The
impact of Lynch’s book on the succeeding investigations of the region was great. 

A very interesting personality, Lynch was a good writer as well. He had a sense of
history and the subtlety of a genuine artist. He captured the imagination of English
readers because his vivid pictures of Armenian daily life had both pathos and warmth.

The description of the outskirts of Yerevan produce an almost painterly effect by his
juxtaposition of  the rich colours of the luxuriant gardens and orchards.7 Enthusiastic,

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kind-hearted and slightly humorous is the description of a wedding at Alexandropol.8
The author feels genuine affection for and tremendous respect towards Armenian
artisans and craftsmen at Van.9 The pictures of Dukhobortsy village Gorelovka are
invested with dramatic narration.10 “The Olympian eminence of the Grand Duke’s
circle…the steps of the Imperial throne ”11 are close to the pictures of a military camp
and “abyss of a …  prison”. The final paragraph of the chapter “The heart of Ararat” is
monumental, solemn and poetical.12 

Lynch’s comments on the religious and political differences in the region, the
relations between the Russians, Armenians, Turks and Kurds, the Christians and
Muslims, are still cogent. He thoroughly examines the educational policy in the Russian
and Turkish provinces of Armenia. “The pillar of Armenian nationality” for long ages
has been the Church, “and the schools were affiliated to it”. “Perhaps the best
introduction to the population of a city”, the author believes, “consists in a visit to the
schools”.13 In spite of certain drawbacks, the author could not but “congratulate the State
schools” in Yerevan “upon such a salutary feature” as the ability of classmates,
“Mohammedan and Christian, Russian Orthodox and Gregorian Armenian,” to respect
each other and “tolerate each other’s faith.”14

Each volume has a chapter specially devoted to statistics and politics. Lynch comes
to a distressing conclusion on unworthy methods of government in Russia and Turkey,
or in “policy adopted by those states towards their Armenian subjects.”

For Armenians the 19th century ended with the horror of genocide and extermination
carried out in Ottoman Turkey. The massacre of 1895 was not only the tragedy of the
Armenian people, “it had touched the conscience of the West,” (Lynch) though it remained
unpunished. Among those who went heart and soul into defence of dying and homeless
people was the poet W. Watson. The tragic voice of the poet sounds in “The Purple East: A
Series of Sonnets on England’s Desertion of Armenia”. This was a cry of despair and anger
against “the continued torture, rape and massacre of a Christian people under the eyes of a
Christian continent”.15 After the publication of the first seven sonnets, there appeared an
exasperated reply from A.Austin, the poet-laureate. Austin, known for his affected  official
verse, had become once more a critical butt. Watson in his answer to the poet-laureate
claims that regardless of by whom and against whom it is committed, any crime of genocide
should be condemned, “that something besides lamentation alone is even yet possible.”16

Watson hurls bitter accusations upon Turkish murderers, upon all those who had
condoned the disgraceful crime. Motifs of denunciation ring through his verses with
unusual force. The typical romantic theme of man’s defiant faith in struggle against
tyranny dominates most of his poems in the collection. Poems such as “The Turk in
Armenia”, “Craven England”, “How Long?”, “Repudiated Responsibility”, “The Bard-
in-Waiting”, “The Plague of Apathy”, pitilessly strip off the dressings from the “passive
connivance of non-intervention”. The lyrical note sounds now “with wrath divine ,” now
“cries aloud, with the tongues of thrice a hundred thousand martyrs.” The laments in the
collection have something in common with some of Byron’s verses. Though Watson
lacks Byron’s celebrated drive and vigour, the emotional climate of “The Purple East”
may be compared with that of “Journal in Cephalonia”. Both the poets treated art as a

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vehicle of social conscience, both may be referred to as “the poets of world sorrow.”
Like his famous precursor, Watson exclaims, “Because I crouch not fawning slaves
among, how is my service proved the less sincere?”17

The eternal questions Watson puts in his sonnets contain more than condemnation of
genocide. The poet raises the questions of liberty and violence, of great responsibility of
man and of state towards history.

But if ye could and would not, oh, what
plea,
Think ye, shall stead you at your trial,
when
The thunder-cloud of witnesses shall loom, 
With Ravished Childhood on the seat of doom,
At the Assizes of Eternity?18

The “cruel age” of Transcaucasia is not yet over and Watson’s sonnets still, years
later, touch the right chord in modern readers.

The keen observations of J. Bryce, H.F.B. Lynch, W. Watson on national and regional
identities, on the competition for influence in Transcaucasia, on the language policy in
the region are pressing questions today when a new world order is in the works. 

References:

1. Bryce J. Transcaucasia and Ararat, London: Macmillan, 1896, p.43
2. Ibid., p.307
3. Ibid., p.62
4. Ibid., p.121
5. Ibid., p.119
6. Ibid., p.120
7. Lynch H.F.B. Armenia. Travels and Studies. 2vols, Longmans, 1901, v.1., p.142
8. Vol.1, p.129-131
9. Vol.2, p.90-91
10. Vol.1, p.115, 116
11. Vol.1, p.54, 55, 58
12. Vol.1, p.196-197
13. Vol.1, p.218
14. Vol.1, p.224
15. Watson W. The Purple East: A Series of Sonnets on England’s Desertion of

Armenia. Preface, p.8 
16. Ibid; p.9
17. Op. cit., p.17
18. Op. cit., p.42

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