Constructing Ionian identities: the Ionian Islands in British official ...

(baksheesh), drank coffee rather than tea, had different musical sounds, treated their
women cruelly and had different systems of inheritance, education patterns and
architecture from the British. 105 Kirkwall felt the hot Southern Mediterranean climate
produced indolent, passionate and rebellious characters who differed from the
disciplined, self-controlled and hard working Anglo-Saxon men born in the harsher
Northern European climate. 106 The Ionians were “heaven born songsters... who were
sleeping for half the day and walked and sang during the greater part of the night”,
boisterous and inconsiderate, driving all the visitors and British officials “crazy” to
such a degree that many saw their services in “this vile and abominable place” as a
kind of “punishment” by the British government. 107 By his English standards, proper
entertainment for gentlemen was provided by clean and comfortable clubs. 108
Kirkwall also felt corruption and acts of violence, especially murder, signified the
Ionians’ lack of morals and principles. He found himself “in a land of
savages”. 109 Some Ionian groups were seen as possessing ‘British’ virtues. Those
possessing the civilised manners, good taste and intellectual ability that Lear
appreciated so much were in the upper classes of Corfu. However, Ionian society’s
105 Ansted D.T., The Ionian Islands in the year 1863, pp. 55, 58, 86, 149, 153, 195, 227, 245.
106 Rendall J., The Origins of the Scottish Enlightenment, 1707-1776, (London, 1978), pp. 146-47;
Kirkwall V, Four Years in the Ionian Islands, pp. 4, 12, 14, 72, 84-86, 92-94, 138; for his observations
about gender relations, see pp. 8, 23 126, 155, 208; for observations about the Orthodox religion see
pp. 33, 45, 59, 123, 193-94, 197-98. For further observations about cultural differences and the gender
relations in Maclellan and Kendrick, see Maclellan F., Sketches of Corfu, pp. 6, 19-20, 69, 129, 152
297, 345; Kendrick T.C., The Ionian Islands, pp. 15, 17, 34, 87, 108, 125; For Maclellan’s
comparisons between Orthodoxy and Protestantism see pp. 119, 128-30, 134. See also Sherrard P.,
Edward Lear, pp. 62, 212, especially pp. 32, 89-90 on the portrayal of Orthodox priests; Goodison W.,
A historical and topographical essay, p. 57, 190.
107 Kirkwall V., Four Years in the Ionian Islands, pp. 4, 92-4.
108 Ibid., p. 138.
109 Kirkwall V., Four Years in the Ionian Islands, pp. 84-6. 72, 12. 14. Also on lack of Ionian morality,
violence and crime see Goodison W., Historical and Topographical Essay, p. 190, Maclellan F.,
Sketches of Corfu, p. 129, 297, 345.
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