A life in letters: Polly and Oliver

Polly and Oliver were characters in children’s serials on BBC radio Childrens’ Hour around 1960. The scripts were by David Scott Daniell, who also published the books on which these serials were based including Polly and Oliver (1953) and Polly and Oliver at Sea (1960) The children were involved in the British army during the Napoleonic Wars (Oliver was, I think, a drummer boy) and their adventures formed part of the soundtrack of my childhood. The stories themselves I didn’t feel particularly captivating. What I did find haunting was the signature tune, the memorable English folk melody Sweet Polly Oliver.

David Scott Daniell was one of a number of pen names used by the prolific author and radio script-writer Albert Scott Daniell (1906-1965) I owned two of the series of Ladybird books he published about children flying to other countries – I had Flight One: Australia (1958) and Flight Two: Canada (1959), which were both illustrated by Jack Matthew.