The End – for Now
It was time to hand over The Admirals to Brian, who was to drive them in 1971. I had to say goodbye to them all: My steam engine back pair, The Brothers Dai and Waldo (named after characters in Dylan Thomas’s ‘Under Milk Wood’); brainless but hard-working Hamish; Sam and Kirstie, that I had reared from birth; ‘Big Jim”; timid Wear; and Lurky Kovik.
Almost all dog drivers know that feeling, and several have written about it on this website.
The hardest of all to leave was my leader Myfanwy (‘Myff’), Dai & Waldo’s litter mate, faithful and trusty lead dog. Rarely had she failed me and always made be aware of any dangers, whether crevasses, open water patches in the sea ice, and three times she fell into crevasses, and waited patiently until I got organized to pull her (and in one case, the whole team) back to the surface.
“Good Morning” 
Relaxing after a Hard Day’s Night 
Myff on Sodabread (Photo: Fergy Anckorn)
We had traveled over 1,800 miles together over the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer. In later years, in Texas, ‘Myff’ was re-invented as a family pet.
The only dog that ever gave any real trouble was Kovik, brought in from Greenland to improve the breeding line. He could never, ever be trusted to be let loose, and on the couple of occasions he did escape, it took several days to re-capture him.
All the others could be let loose at the end of a day’s travel, and again each morning, to wander around, meet their buddies, try to mount Wear who seemed to be on permanent heat, occasionally start a fight just for the fun of it, and then go to work. The arrival of Sam and Kirstie earlier in the summer did at least take the focus off Hamish, previously the target of most “duffings” from the old hands.
“Dai” 
“Waldo” 
“Hamish” 
“Big Jim” (after coal hauling) 
“Sam” 
“Kirstie”