Douglas Young: Lewis Carroll’s ‘The Hunting of the Snark’

The Hunting of the Snark tells the tale of several characters who go on a sea journey, searching for a mythical creature called “The Snark,” whatever it may be, for the Snark is different things to each of the characters. The Baker’s uncle once told him, “If your Snark be a Boojum!… You will softly and suddenly vanish away, and never be met with again!” Through this journey relationships develop, tensions rise and the Baker’s worst nightmare comes true. The Hunting of the Snark shares its fictional setting with Lewis Carroll’s earlier poem “Jabberwocky” published in his children’s novel Through the Looking Glass (1871). Eight nonsense words from “Jabberwocky” appear in The Hunting of the Snark: bandersnatch, beamish, frumious, galumphing, jubjub, mimsiest, outgrabe and uffish. In a letter to the mother of his young friend Gertrude Chataway, Carroll described the domain of the Snark as “an island frequented by the Jubjub and the Bandersnatch- no doubt the very island where the Jabberwock was slain.” Douglas Young (b. 1947) won the competition scholarship to the Royal College of Music, London and the Karl Rankl Prize for orchestral composition. He has written several scores for the Royal ballet, and in the 90’s widened his scope to encompass jazz, popular dance music, film scores, and advertising jingles.