“The Applause That Follows:” The Story of Robert Falcon Scott

“It is the work that matters, not the applause that follows.”

This quote is attributed to Robert Falcon Scott, British Royal Navy officer and famous polar explorer of the early 20th century. Coincidentally, it is also the title of my debut EP which is now available for streaming and purchase on all major music platforms. I tell Scott’s story as part of my song “Antarctica,” and wanted to take a deeper dive into this man and his dramatic final days.

Scott was born in Plymouth, England in 1868 and began a career in the Royal Navy when he came of age. He led two notable voyages aimed at charting and exploring Antarctica on behalf of the British Empire - the Discovery and Terra Nova expeditions. The former arguably ushered in the “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration” and brought Scott into the limelight alongside other famous names such as Ernest Shackleton, James Ross (who commanded the famous ships Erebus and Terror) and Roald Amundsen. Britain launched the Terra Nova expedition under Scott’s command in 1910, with the audacious goal of reaching the geographic South Pole of the planet. At nearly the same exact time, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen set out to accomplish the same feat with his crew. Being the first humans to reach the southernmost point of the planet would bring enormous prestige to the men’s sponsor countries, and the simultaneous expeditions quickly took on the appearance of a dramatic “race” to the South Pole.

After sailing from Europe and setting up initial lodgings on the Antarctic coast, Scott marched inwards towards the Pole. His main (and final) attempt at the Pole began on November 1st with roughly a dozen men alongside a large party of ponies, sled dogs, and motorized sledges. Scott planned for only a small contingent of this team to actually reach the Pole; the rest would return to their base camp on the coast in order to manage supplies and travel speed. The explorers worked their way south across some of the most hostile terrain on the planet; the motor sleds had failed after only 50 or so miles of travel, so the men had to haul over 700 pounds of gear and supplies on their own, and the ponies were shot to be butchered as food rations for the group. Intensely cold weather and blizzards forced the men to shelter in place or risk severe frostbite, hypothermia, and injury.

Still, the party marched on, and on January 3rd, Scott selected the four other men that would accompany him to the pole. Rations and supplies were recalculated and shifted around, with the Pole team prioritizing speed over longevity and logistical capacity. The others of the initial expedition turned and headed back to base, while Scott’s team braced for the final dash of the long journey. Scott had become enthralled by the idea of reaching the Pole before Amundsen, and this motivation to break a record of human perseverance and claim glory for himself and his countrymen drove him forward. The team was making acceptable speed, the polar weather was cooperating, and Scott was cautiously optimistic - until January 16th of 1912.

Just 15 miles from the Pole, the British team spotted the black flag of Roald Amundsen’s party planted into the ice. Amundsen had beaten them.

I take some artistic liberties with the story at this point in my song “Antarctica,” insinuating that Scott never reached the pole and was left wondering what life would be like if he did. In reality, Scott’s team did reach the South Pole on January 17th, 1912, just three days after the Norwegians planted their flag. By all means, just reaching the South Pole alive in 1912 was a monumental achievement, but after losing the race, the wind was gone from Scott’s sails.

“Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority.” - Robert Falcon Scott, 1912

Defeated and melancholy, the group turned around and trudged back towards the coast. The crippling Antarctic climate was taking its toll on the party and their pace was slowing. Several of the explorers were suffering from frostbite and injuries sustained crossing the treacherous ice plains and glaciers near the Pole. On February 17th, Lieutenant Evans collapsed on the ice and died from exposure. Carrying on without him, the team reached the rendezvous point for the relief convoy that was expected to bring them much-needed food, fuel, and other essential supplies. However, due to inclement weather and miscommunication, the dog team never arrived, and the remaining members of Scott’s team knew their fate was sealed. More travel north was impossible due to fierce blizzard in March.

We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last ... These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale, but surely, surely, a great rich country like ours will see that those who are dependent on us are properly provided for.

Robert Falcon Scott and his companions would later be found dead from exposure in a small tent in the middle of the Antarctic ice shelf, after running out of food and sufficient fuel for heating. All of the bodies showed signs of severe frostbite damage. The above words were written by Scott as part of a message to the general public that was following the news of his expedition, and I appropriated many of them as lyrics in “Antarctica.”

My main inspiration for “Antarctica” wasn’t just Scott’s dramatic story. I really wanted to explore and extrapolate the relationship he had with Amundsen, who was devastated by the news of Scott’s passing and went on record saying he would relinquish his title of first man to reach the South Pole in an instant if it meant saving Scott and his companions. What was Scott thinking as he was lying there, slowly freezing to death alone in a tent? What did he want most in that moment? Did he think of Amundsen not with rivalry or hatred, but with the hope that his colleague was able to survive his expedition and tell the world of one of the greatest stories of human willpower and endurance?

I think Scott’s story is an important one to tell. His assertion that “it is the work that matters, not the applause that follows” resonated with me as a small, local singer-songwriter. Sometimes work has to be done and stories have to be told without the expectation of the spotlight.

- Brendan