Book Read Free

Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps

Page 57

by Ursula Buchan


  James Redfern generously lent me all his grandfather’s papers, while David and Sir Simon Boyle made available to me the letters their father, Captain John Boyle, sent home from Canada. Lord Ironside invited me to look through diaries belonging to his father, and Mark Laing enabled me to see private correspondence between JB and Sir Alexander Grant.

  I owe an enormous debt to those scholars with an interest in JB. They are a most collegiate group of people, and could not have encouraged me more: in particular, Dr Michael Redley and William Galbraith, for many conversations and for reading parts of the manuscript; Dr Kate Macdonald and Dr Peter Henshaw for sending me academic papers they had written; Dr Roger Clarke for conversations concerning JB’s journalism; the Reverend Dr David Weekes for his work on JB’s religion; and Andrew Lownie and Dr Eileen Stewart for helpful advice. Professor Andrew D. Roberts, the son of Janet Adam Smith, lent me some papers belonging to his mother and alerted me to the rest now deposited in the National Library of Scotland, while Professor David S. Katz pointed me to work he has done on pre-Great War Turkey and Greenmantle.

  A book of this nature would be quite impossible without the professional help of archivists and librarians. I should like to thank in particular Olive Geddes and her staff, especially Robbie Mitchell, at the National Library of Scotland; Paul Banfield, Heather Home and Jeremy Heil at the Archives at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario; Dr Alvan Bregman and Jillian Sparks at the W.D. Jordan Library, also at Queen’s; Frank Bowles, Superintendent of the Manuscripts Reading Room, and his staff at Cambridge University Library; Julie Crocker at the Royal Archives; Jill Delaney at Library and Archives, Canada; and Jerry Fielder and Julie Grahame at the Yousuf Karsh Archive.

  Also very helpful were the archivists of the Bodleian Library, Oxford; Brasenose College, Oxford; the British Institute, Florence; the John J. Burns Library, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts; the Centre of Research Collections at the University of Edinburgh; the Ede and Ravenscroft Archives, Waterbeach; the Fife Cultural Trust (Kirkcaldy Local Studies); the John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; Hutchesons’ Grammar School, Glasgow; the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts; the Middle Temple Archives, London; the National Archives, Kew; Oxfordshire History Centre, Oxford; the Parliamentary Archives, London; Queen Mary University of London Archives; the Rauner Library, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Hyde Park, New York and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, Independence, Missouri.

  I read many of the secondary sources in Cambridge University Library, and would like to express my thanks to the Librarian, Dr Jessica Gardner, and her colleagues.

  I acknowledge, with gratitude, the permission to reproduce material from their collections from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Syndics of Cambridge University Library, and the Yousuf Karsh Archive.

  I am indebted to the members of the John Buchan Society, which has kept the flame burning brightly since 1979; in particular the Chairman, Kenneth Hillier, Drs William and Andrena Telford, and Peter Thackeray. The Society has given me a platform for airing some of my research in the last few years, which has been of great assistance to me. I thank the Chairman and Council of the Society for permission to quote from several articles in The John Buchan Journal.

  The memory of John Buchan is also cherished and promoted at the John Buchan Story Museum in the Chambers Institution in Peebles, and I am grateful to the Trustees and to the Management Committee, especially Ian Buckingham and Dr Peter Worthington. I acknowledge with thanks permission to reproduce a number of the images deposited at the Museum.

  Kate and Richard Love, Julia Elcock and Richard Buxton, Amanda Buchan and Rosalind Wild gave me much-needed hospitality on my travels; my researches would have been far less agreeable without their open-hearted generosity and enduring interest in my sometimes rather arcane preoccupations.

  There are many other people who have helped me in one way or another – answering specific queries, sending me information, lending books, making domestic life run smoothly, or simply encouraging me to talk about JB. I should like to thank Baroness Bakewell, John Ballantyne, Adam Begley, Liz Boxall, David Brearly, Jane Brown, Isabel Buchanan, Nancy Champion, Dr Jim Cox, Peter and Ray Cox, Alan Crombie, the Reverend Dr Karen Dimock, Taylor Downing, Carl Folker, Sir James Graham, Andy Haswell, Richard and Cressida Inglewood, Charles and Kate Ironside, Louis Jebb, Igor Judge, Lori Knoll, Alex Leith, Alexander McCall Smith, Dr Daniel Maccannell, Dr Christopher McCreery, Christine MacIntyre, Sir William Macpherson of Cluny, Sandy McCracken, Andrew Martin, Simon Milne, Peter Morrell, Cynthia Ogilvie, Reg Paintin, Anna Pavord, Philip Potterton, Alexander Reford, Jean Ann Scott Miller, Anne Simpson, Sandra Smith, Jan Usher and Bob Watson.

  I should like to thank my literary agent, Felicity Bryan, as well as Michael Fishwick and his colleagues at Bloomsbury, in particular Sarah Ruddick, Lilidh Kendrick, Holly Ovenden, Francesca Sturiale, Richard Mason and Douglas Matthews. The collaboration has been a very happy one.

  Finally, I was enormously helped by a grant from the Society of Authors’ Foundation, which enabled me to undertake research abroad. It would have been difficult to complete the task without it.

  Index

  NOTE: Works by John Buchan (JB) appear directly under title; works by others under author’s name; Ranks and titles are generally the highest mentioned in the text.

  Abdication Crisis (1936), here, here

  Achensee, Tirol, here

  Achnacloich, Argyll, here

  Adam Smith, Janet, here, here, here, here

  Adams, Henry, here

  Adams, Katharine, here

  ‘A.E.B.’ (JB; poem), here

  African Colony, The: Studies in the Reconstruction (JB), here, here, here, here

  Ainger, Canon Alfred, here

  Alan Breck (horse), here

  Albany, Charlotte, Duchess of, here

  Alcock, Lilian see Killick, Lilian

  Alice, Princess, Countess of Athlone, here

  All Souls College, Oxford

  JB fails to gain Fellowship, here, here, here

  Allam, Jack, here

  Alpine Club, here

  Amery, Leo, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here

  Andrew Jameson, Lord Ardwall (JB), here

  ‘Angling in Still Waters’ (JB; essay), here

  Arbuthnot, Sandy (fictional character), here, here

  Ardtornish, Argyll, here

  Ardwall, Andrew Jameson, Lord, here

  Ardwall, Galloway, here

  Armistice (1918), here

  Armour, Norman and Myra, here

  Arnold, Matthew, here, here, here

  Ashridge College of Citizenship, Hertfordshire, here

  Askwith family, here

  Asquith, Herbert Henry, here, here, here, here

  Asquith, Raymond

  at Balliol, Oxford, here, here, here

  friendship with JB, here

  JB dedicates The Half-Hearted to, here

  appears unwell, here

  enlists for war, here

  JB memorialises, here

  leisured manner, here

  letter-writing, here

  portrayed in Memory Hold-the-Door, here

  Asquith, Violet, here

  Astor, Nancy, Viscountess, here

  Astor, Waldorf, 2nd Viscount here

  Athlone, Alexander, Earl of, here

  ‘At the Article of Death’ (JB; story), here

  ‘Atta’s Song’ (JB; poem), here, here

  Atteridge, A. Hilliard, here, here

  Attlee, Clement, here, here

  Augustus Caesar

  JB writes biography, here, here, here, here

  Augustus (JB), here

  ‘Avignon, 1759’ (JB; poem), here

  Azores, here

  Bacon, Sir Francis

  JB edits essays, here, here

  Baden-Powell, Sir Robert, here

  Bagnold, Enid (Lad
y Jones), here, here

  Baker, Harold, here, here, here, here, here

  Baker, Sir Herbert, here

  Baldwin, Stanley

  describes JB, here

  defends JB’s propaganda work, here

  and JB’s nomination and appointment as Governor-General of Canada, here, here, here, here

  JB admires, here

  and JB’s maiden speech, here

  JB writes to on behalf of T.E. Lawrence, here

  friendship with JB, here, here

  JB defends against accusations of disloyalty, here

  helps Ramsay MacDonald, here

  JB dedicates Sir Walter Scott to, here

  in Abdication Crisis, here, here

  JB reports to on Washington visit, here

  succeeded as PM by Chamberlain, here

  and JB’s view of Mussolini, here

  and JB’s frustrated ambitions, here

  attends JB’s memorial service, here

  Baldwinism, here

  Balfour, Arthur James, 1st Earl of

  takes interest in JB, here

  as guest of Lord Cowper, here

  JB’s friendship with, here

  visits Western Front, here

  and wartime propaganda, here

  and JB’s petition for honour, here

  and establishment of National Library of Scotland, here

  complains of misprint in JB’s The Moon Endureth, here

  Balfour Declaration, here

  ‘Ballad of Grey Weather, A’ (JB; poem), here

  Bank House, Peebles, here, here, here

  Baring, Maurice, here

  Barrie, James Matthew, here

  Barth, Karl, here, here

  ‘Basilissa, The’ (JB; story), here, here

  Battle of the Somme, The (film), here

  Battle of the Somme, The (JB), here

  Baxter, Beverley, here, here, here

  Beardsley, Aubrey, here

  Beaverbrook, William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron

  as Minister of Information in Great War, here, here

  unwell, here

  and JB’s honour, here, here

  and United Empire Party, here

  supports Edward VIII, here

  Beerbohm, Max

  Zuleika Dobson, here

  Bell, Vanessa, here, here

  Belloc, Hilaire, here, here

  A General Sketch of the European War, First Phase, here

  Bennett, Alan, here

  Bennett, Arnold, here, here, here

  Bennett, Charles, here

  Bennett, Richard Bedford (R.B.), 1st Viscount, here, here

  Bentley, E.C., here

  Berengaria, RMS, here

  Berlin, Isaiah, here

  Bessborough, Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, 9th Earl of, here, here, here, here

  Betjeman, John: ‘The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel’ (poem), here

  Bickersteth, Burgon, here

  Birkenhead, Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of, here, here, here

  Birrell, Augustine, here, here

  Black and White (magazine), here

  Blackwell, Benjamin Henry, here

  Blackwood, Lord Basil, here, here, here

  Blackwood, William, here

  Blackwood’s Magazine, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here

  Blackwood’s (publishers), here, here

  Blanc, Pierre, here

  Blanket of the Dark, The (JB), here, here, here

  Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen, here

  Bodley Head, The (publishing house), here, here

  Boer War (1899–1902), here, here

  Boers

  post-war settlement, here

  Bone, Sir Muirhead, here

  Bonn, Moritz, here, here, here, here, here

  Bonn, Theresa, here

  Book of Common Prayer, here

  Book of Escapes, A (JB), here

  Bookman, The (magazine), here

  Boothby, Robert, here

  Boswell, James, here

  Botha, Louis, here, here

  Bottomley, Horatio, here

  Boulter, ‘Taffy’, here, here, here, here

  Bourke-White, Margaret, here

  Bowen, Elizabeth, here, here

  Boy Scouts, here

  Boyle, Captain John, here, here

  Bradley, A.C., here

  Bradley, F.H., here

  Brailsford, H.N., here

  Brand, Robert, here, here, here

  Brasenose College, Oxford

  JB attends, here, here, here

  JB writes history, here

  initial impression, here

  Willie Buchan attends, here, here, here

  Britain Prepared (film), here

  British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), here

  British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), here

  British Film Institute, here

  British Institute of Adult Education, here

  British Weekly, The, here, here, here

  Briton, RMS, here

  Broadstairs, Kent, here

  Brooke, Rupert, here

  Brooke-Popham, Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert, here

  Broughton, Peebleshire, here, here

  Brown, George, here, here, here, here, here, here

  Brown, George Douglas

  The House with the Green Shutters, here

  Brown, Ted, here

  Bruce, Stanley, here

  Bryanston Street, London, house in here

  Buchan family

  Susie on, here

  Buchan, Alastair Ebenezer (JB’s brother; ‘Mhor’)

  birth, here

  nickname, here

  visits South Africa with parents, here

  studies at Glasgow University, here

  enlists in war, here

  war service and death in France, here, here, here, here

  returns to Western Front, here

  Orpen portrait, here

  JB’s Poems Scots and English dedicated to, here

  JB founds poetry prize in memory of, here

  Buchan, Alastair Francis (JB/Susie’s son)

  at Christ Church, Oxford, here

  birth, here

  on JB’s spiritual restraint, here

  riding, here

  education, here, here

  walking trip in Wales with JB, here

  travels to Canada with JB, here

  joins JB on trip to western Canada, here

  enlists in Canadian army, here, here

  stands guard at JB’s lying in state, here

  at JB’s death, here

  Buchan, Alexander (JB’s uncle), here

  Buchan, Alice (JB/Susie’s daughter) see Fairfax-Lucy, Alice Caroline Helen

  Buchan, Anna (JB’s sister; ‘O. Douglas’)

  birth, here

  Scots identity, here

  on Calvinism, here

  JB buys bicycle for, here

  JB’s relations with, here, here

  novel-writing, here

  interest in theatre, here

  visits JB in Oxford, here

  and JB’s law training, here

  JB expects to support, here

  JB gives fur coat to, here

  and JB’s departure for South Africa, here

  and brother Willie’s posting to India, here

  and JB’s declining editorship of The Transvaal Leader, here

  JB writes of good health, here

  climbing with JB, here, here

  JB makes annual allowance to, here

  moves to Peebles to be with brother Walter, here

  and JB’s engagement to Susie, here, here, here

  meets and befriends Susie, here, here, here

  and mother’s illness, here

  visits Willie in India, here

  literary success, here, here

  cares for parents in retirement, here

  appearance, here

  fondness for JB’s children, here

  on tour of Azores with
JB, here

  on Alastair playing with children in war, here

  and brother Alastair’s death in France, here

  writing at Elsfield Manor, here

  visits Elsfield, here, here

  portrayal of women, here

  visits JB in Canada, here, here

  on JB after installation as Chancellor of Edinburgh University, here

  with JB on visit from Canada, here

  and JB’s signing Canada’s declaration of war, here

  final letter from JB, here

  death, here

  Ann and her Mother, here

  Olivia in India (by ‘O. Douglas’), here, here

  Penny Plain, here

  Pink Sugar, here

  The Setons, here

  W.H.B. (ed.), here

  Buchan, Helen (née Masterton; JB’s mother)

  marriage and children, here, here

  household management, here

  relations wth JB, here, here, here, here

  visits JB in Oxford, here

  doubts over JB’s post in South Africa, here

  in South Africa, here

  letters from JB in South Africa, here

  and son Willie’s posting to India, here

  on worrying to JB about brother Willie, here

  JB tells of Susie declining proposal of marriage, here

  reaction to JB’s engagement to Susie, here, here

  meets Susie, here

  health decline, here, here, here, here, here

  Susie praises, here

  lack of acceptance of Susie, here, here

  at JB’s wedding, here

  JB and Willie support financially, here, here

  receives copy of Anna’s Penny Plain, here

  and death of son Willie, here

  on tour of Azores with JB, here

  protests at Commons attack on JB, here

  and JB’s prospective honour, here

  churchgoing, here

  relations with JB’s family, here

  attends Church of Scotland General Assembly ceremonies, here

  pleased at JB’s appointment to Canada, here

  on JB’s departure for Canada, here

  visits JB in Canada, here

  death, here, here, here

  Buchan, (James) Walter (JB’s brother)

  birth, here

  deprecates cover of The Watcher by the Threshold, here

  climbing with JB, here, here

  and Susie’s visit to Peebles, here

  writes on Wellington’s campaigns, here

  supports uncle Tom, here

  visits Elsfield, here

  JB dedicates Witch Wood to, here

  and JB’s departure for Canada, here

 

‹ Prev