Esme Hamilton

Irish/UK author. Born in the Republic of Ireland (possibly in 1912) and grew up in the family home of Hamwood House, Dunboyne, Co. Meath. She later moved to London, UK. She wrote a few children's novels, all featuring horses and ponies. Three form a series about a mare called Speedy and her foals, and another is linked to these in terms of the place setting. The books are all set in the author's native Ireland, although were published in the UK and USA.

Many thanks to the author's grand-son who provided much of the information.

Speedy Series:
Irish-set series which is partly pony viewpoint. Follows the adventures of Speedy and three of her foals, and the children who love them.

1) SPEEDY: THE STORY OF AN IRISH PONY
(BODLEY HEAD 1940)
ILLUSTRATED BY BARBRA MORAY WILLIAMS
Reprinted in hardback, then as a Knight Paperback.
Published in the USA by Barnes in 1959.
There was also a French edition published called SPEEDY PONEY.
SUMMARY: Partly pony point of view story about Speedy, an Irish mare and her many adventures from the wilds of Connemara to her life as a riding pony and then a point-to-pointer.

2) RAINBOW AND SPEEDY
(BODLEY HEAD 1952)
ILLUSTRATED BY LIONEL EDWARDS
Published in the USA by Barnes in 1959.
SUMMARY: Speedy is now owned by Oonagh and has three offspring: Rainbow, Rocket and Seafire. When John comes to Moynish to study farming he falls in love with Oonagh and learns to ride Speedy.

3) CHILDREN AT MOYINISH
(BODLEY HEAD 1957)
ILLUSTRATED BY MARGERY GILL
Published in the USA by Barnes in 1960.
SUMMARY: Later follow up to the Speedy story in which Oonagh and John now have twins: Patrick and Anne. The twins rescue an old mare and Speedy's son Seafire begins to run in steeplechases.

Collectors info:
Speedy is by far the easiest to find of these and was I think the only one to be reprinted as a paperback. The others are a lot harder to find, however prices are usually fairly reasonable.
There were also American editions of the series printed so it is possible to pick these up in the USA too, although again Speedy is the easiest of the trio to find.

Other Pony Books:

STARLIGHT
(BODLEY HEAD 1956)
ILLUSTRATED BY LILIAN BUCHANAN
Published in the USA by Barnes in 1960.
SUMMARY: Partly a pony-point-of-view story, partly human viewpoint. Johnnie enjoys teaching his friend Susan about the countryside and its animals. A little Black Icelandic pony called Starlight also arrives on the farm but is mistreated by Johnnie's elder brother.

THE HEAVENLY CARTHORSE
(BODLEY HEAD 1958)
ILLUSTRATED BY MARGERY GILL
Published in the USA by Barnes in 1958
SUMMARY: A pair of kids discover their Irish Draught carthorse Dan can jump and decide to enter the local hunter trials!
This is related to the Speedy series as it is also set at Moynish.

Collectors info:
Published in both the UK and USA. Oddly, the American editions are much more common than the British editions, and the first UK edition of Starlight in particular can be hard to find and expensive.