A remarkable story of how he left an accepted normal way of life and taking up an itinerant lifestyle.
It is a diary like, simple easy going rambling but quaint old style prose.
A nonchalant reporting of his accident, which didn’t appear to change his way of life.
Fascinating nick names of his compatriots, and how they used their cash to the full.
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My school house master, Peter Forest, who was also my maths teacher, one day stated in front of the whole class that i'd either grow up to be the next Einstein or a tramp, and that he feared it would most probably be the latter.   Suffice it to say, i never did get around to doing that degree in theoretical physics.

So when i found this book on Amazon it reminded me of Peter Forest and his condemnation of my future and was certainly instrumental in my purchase.   I wasn't disappointed, so thanks Peter.

The strange thing was the timing, as i let the 'Infinite Improbability Drive' always select my next book from 'The Pile' and it's only been a couple of books since i finished 'Into The Wild', about Chris McCandless, AKA, Alexander Supertramp.   This book certainly flows nicely on from that.   It makes me wonder if Chris had actually read this amongst all the other books mentioned in his story.

William covers his adventures as a tramp during the late 1800's, where he ventures far and wide.   The funniest thing for me was that he was a trustifarian.   I had no idea that these creatures existed back in the 1800, but it's certainly true in William's case, and he even admits it in the book.

When his grandmother died, instead of willing him her property, which she knew he would squander rather quickly, she instead put it into trust from which he was given an allowance.   So off he goes to America, tramping around, living on hand outs and goodwill, while all the time his weekly allowance from his trust fund is being saved up for his return.   And he can return at any time, by working cattle ships from Baltimore, and even getting paid while doing so.

Even later on when he gets back the England, he continues to drop out into his tramping lifestyle while his trust fund rebuilds his bank account in order to fund his next adventure.   I wonder if William was the original trustifarian, were there others before him?

Without a doubt, a very good inside look into the mind and lifestyle of the typical trustifarian.   But, on top of that, it's a very revealing look into this odd sub-culture of the underclass of the age and the lifestyles they lead and how they managed to support themselves.   Although, one can't really get away from realising that most of these people were simply down where they were due to alcoholism, with every opportunity of spending any penny they managed to accrue on getting drunk always eagerly taken -- no, nothing much changes.

Anyways, an enlightening piece of history of the Victorian age seen from a very different view point to the normal history books and biographies. ( )

Absolutely excellent - hard to think of a better book of its type.

Somehow you know Davies is writing the truth of his life as he remembered it. The bloke was a brilliant poet too, so may be that played a part. ( )

The book has a preface by George Bernard Shaw, who was impressed by W.H. Davies’ poems – for he is a poet - and also appreciated the book.

It was first published in 1908, and the bulk of its content is devoted to accounts of the author’s “tramping” around both Britain and the U.S.

Sometimes he worked for short periods, for example, at roping cattle in ships, but mostly his only income was the small amounts he received by begging. He was not good at asking for money for nothing, so he fared best when together with other tramps who excelled at this.

It is a hard life that is portrayed, with severe cold in the winter and lack of food, though most householders he begs from are generous givers.

There were special hostels for tramps where they also were fed.

In Michigan, tramps could enter jails without committing an offence “and take ten, fifteen, twenty or thirty days, all at your own sweet discretion”. There was no work to do, good food and daily supplies of tobacco. This was one way of surviving the harsh winters.

The marshal got a dollar each for every arrest, the judge received three or four dollars for every conviction, and the sheriff of the jail got a dollar a day for boarding each prisoner under his charge. Davies got to know many of the other tramps, who were all generous to each other when the one had food and others not.

Davies tells everything like it is and writes exquisitely.

He talks continually of “beating his way” to this or that place. This is the first time I have heard of this phrase, and am not sure of its exact meaning.

In the U.S he travels free on freight trains, jumping onto them, but on one occasion an accident happens, resulting in the loss of a leg.

He eventually has time to devote to his writing, and at long last achieves some success.

Five of Davies’ poems are included at the end of the book.

This is not the most exciting of books, which is why I give it four and not five stars.

But it gives an excellent detailed description of Davies’ tramping life with all its hardships as well as positive factors. ( )

I enjoyed this book from whose title the rock band Supertramp took its name. Davies (1871-1940) relates his life and experiences up to 1906, when he was age 35. It seemed to me, like all good writing, to have a "you are there" quality to it, as well as being unadorned. Highly recommended. ( )