A NOVELIST’S JOURNAL

Evening Star, Issue 22382, 4 July 1936, Page 23

A NOVELIST’S JOURNAL

Ml VACMELL ON MEN. BOOKS, AND PLACES Mr Horace Annesley Vachell was born in 1861, and published bis first book 42 years ago, since when ho has produced novels at the approximate rate of one a year, besides several plays and a fund of magazine stories. 'My Vagabondage ' is not a conventional autobiography. He himself describes it as a " pilgrimake down the corri< dors of the past, with a flight now ana again into the future, taking the luck of the road as it comes ''; more particularly, it is p note book containing the random recollections and reflections of a vital and imaginative mind, which has retained its vigour and an outlook of tolerant humour in breezy defiance of advancing years (writes Malcolm Elwio, in ' John o' London's Weekly '). His conscientious appreciation of his juniors is alone evidence of the way in which he has kept his outlook up to date and refreshed. Dr A. J. Cronin's reputation as a novelist dates only from the . publication of 'Hatter's Castle' in 1931, but Mr Vachell appreciate* ' The Stars Look Down ' and Mr John Cowper's Powys's ' Jobber Skald ' as " both colossal achievements," arid remarks that " Dr Cronin may be surprised to find himself a best-seller," though " the pendulum has indeed swung far from Miss Braddon. Miss Corelli, and Charles Garvice (who sold ' by the ton ')." "The novels of my youth," declares Mr Vachell, " were written for the lavender-scented few," and though he confesses to have been shocked by ' Lady Chatterly's Lover,' it was not by its obscenity, but because he felt that Lawrence, " a writer of such importance and standing," had " debased th» currency of the English language, fouled his own nest." In the space of a page, he brilliantly describes the ■. change in his lifetime from the bondage of Victorian decorum to modern license • —how " it preened its wings in 'The Yellow Book ' and in Wilde's plays," Bow " humbug and hypocrisy were put to bed," " naughtiness ' caught on,' " and free-wheels on the bicycles of the 'nineties foreshadowed " free speech, free love, an<f freedom from all inhibitions."

_ Viewing change with wise and whimsical tolerance, Mr Vachell retains the tastes of the more ordered and stately days of his youth, He lives at Bath, loves the “ city _of slippered ease,” and writes enthusiastically of its social and historic associations. He takes snuff, and is a connoisseur of tobacco—how many young men to-day have the judgment to assert that " a moderately priced cigar in condition is a better smoke than a five-shilling cigar out of condition ”? A member of the recently formed Wine and Pood Society, he writes discriminately on food and wine; he notes some delicious recipes for soups, includes wise comments and luscious reminiscences about old wines the bouquet of any fine wine loses its virtue if you happen to sit next to a lady who has besprinkled her person too liberally with scent ”), and draws timely attention to Cyrus Redding’s book on wines, a neglected classic on its subject. Apart from Bath, his travel chapters deal with Monmouthshire, South Wales and Caldey Island, Taunton and Quantock Hills. The Englishman has rural beauty on his doorstep, and Mr Vachell urges him to notice it. He is himself a cultured Englishman of a passing generation, and he has written a book full of entertainment, wisdom, and 1 humour, vivid with the beauty of life and the joy of living.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN WM WROTE THE • CANADIAN BOAT SONG? ’ When the subscribers to * Blackwood’s Magazine ’ turned over the pages of the number for September, 1829, they found, embedded in one of “ Christopher North’s ” famous dialogues, a song which, he explained, a friend of bis in Upper Canada had translated from the Gaelic. Here are two of the stanzas: — From the lone shieling of the misty island — Mountains divide us, and the waste of seas— . Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland, And we in dreams behold the Hebrides. , . When the bold kindred, in the time long-vanished, Conquered the soil and fortified the keep— No seer foretold the children would be banished, That a degenerate Lord might boast his sheep.

- It is strang© that this magical lament—equalled only by ‘ The Flowers o’ the Forest 1 as the expression of a nation’s soul—aroused no great interest when it first appeared. But it refused to die. It was reprinted a year later, and again in 1840. when James Wilson, a brother ot “ Christopher North,” included it in a treatise on angling. Nine Tears afterwards it turned up in ‘ Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine,’ and from that time onward- it ha% been accepted—l borrow the words of Neil Munro—as “one of those few lyrics which have become part of the common feeling of the British race throughout the world.” NO GAELIC VERSION KNOWN. R. L. Stevenson, who found the “ shieling ” stanza in an old volume of f Good Words,’ was moved by its poignant hoimweh to write the chapter entitled ‘ The Soot Abroad ’ in ‘ The Silverado Squatters.’ Two years later, in 1885, Mr Joseph Chamberlain quoted it in a famous speech at Inverness on the depopulation of the Highlands. Who was the author? Mr Edward MacCurdy points out in * A Literary Enigma ’ that no evidence of the existence of a Gaelic original has come to light, though for upwards of half a century research has been continuous both in Canada and Scotland.. We irfay rest assured, therefore, that the account of its origin given in the dialogue is pure invention. Lockhart, Scott’s biographer, who wrote the dialogue in question, is known to have been fond of such literary “ spoofs.” Further, Mr MacCurdy makes it clear that there is no evidence in support of the theory that it existed earlier than the date of its first appearance in ‘ Blackwood.’ CONFLICTING CLAIMS. It has been variously attributed to an Earl of Eglinton, who left a copy of * it, set to music, among his papers; to Sir Walter Scott; and to the writers associated with ‘ Blackwood ’—John Galt, the novelist; Dr William Dunlop; James Hogg, the “ Ettrick Shepherd” ; Professor John, Wilson (“Christopher North”): Dr David Macbeth Moir (“ Delta ”), and Lockhart himself. Mr MacCurdy champions the claims of Moir, a Musselburgh doctor with a strain of Highland blood, who at the time was deeply affected by the tragedy of the “ Clearances ” —those wholesale evictions which few Scots can read of. even yet. without a blaze of anger. The probable explanation of the mystery is that Moir, who had been receiving letters from Galt, then in Canada, composed the poem—it is in his favourits Sapphic -metre—and gave it to Lockhart, who called it the ‘ Canadian Boat Song,’ and incorporated it in the paper he was writing. Lockhart may have made material changes, which would explain why he kept silence when challenged to reveal the authorship. The well-known mnemonic rhyme on British sovereigns quoted in a recent issue calls to mind „a similar effort on American Presidents, published in 1898.

First Washington, the truly great, For eight years sailed the ship of state; John Adams next; then Jefferson, The latter for two terms, came on. Then Madison and then Monroe, Each two tejjns served, I’d have you

know: Then J. Q. Adams served four years; Then Jackson for two terms appears. Van Buren next, called “ Matty Van.” Then Harrison, one month’s brief span, John Tyler next, then Polk, James K.; Then Taylor sixteen months bore sway 1 ; Fillmore, the Vice, succeeded him; Then Franklin Pierce one term came in. Then James Buchanan, until sixty-one Saw Civil War but just begun. Then martyred Lincoln, elected • twice, Set free the slave—his life the price. Then Andy Johnson the reins assumed; Then Grant, two terms, the hero plumed. Next Hayes, then Garfield, whose short life Soon fell before the assassin’s knife. Then Arthur, his successor came, Followed by Cleveland of lesser fame. Ben Harrison the next we find; Then Cleveland for the second time. M'Kinley last of all we see, The herald of Cuban liberty. The four hundredth anniversary of the death of Erasmus will be celebrated this year, and the Friends of the National Libraries have thus chosen an appropriate time to present to the department of printed books at the British Museum a copy of the first edition of his ‘ Morise Enconium ’ —a small quarto volume of great rarity. The ‘ More ’ of the Latin title was our own Sir Thomas More, in whose house the MS. was written after the return of Erasmus from Italy to England in 1509. According to his own account, it was seen through the press (none too well, lie complains') by a needy young English student, Richard Croke, who afterwards taught Henry _VIII. Greek. The first edition was published in Paris in two issues, both undated.

NEW BOOKS WILD WESTERN MYSTERY A new type of wild western yarn finds favour with many readers nowadays. This is the combination of the old-style western with _ a mystery thriller, and coming within this category is ‘ The Foreman of the 0 Bar,’ by Christopher Gulley. Mr Culley is the writer of most entertaining wild westerns, and his latest effort is a fast-moving, full-of-action story in which there is no lack of shooting, the mystery surrounding the rustling of the C Bar stock being very ingeniously solved. Clara Kellogg, the young woman owner of the ranch, finds herself and her property threatened by unscrupulous enemies who keep their operations very skilfully covered. Not the least exciting incident is the holdup of a train, and it so happens that Billy M‘Coy and Abe Klein, Texas Rangers and both joyous adventurers, are aboard this tram. , The interest of the two famous range detectives is aroused, and their efforts to unmask the mystery form a thrilling story which contains more than a spice of typical cowboy humour. This is a good story, our copy coming from the publishers (Messrs Ward, Lock, and Co. Ltd.). '

’ PAPUAN WONDERLAND' The Territory of Papua, which was placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1926, comprises a part of the New Guinea mainland and some islands off the coast. The total area of Papua is 90,540 square miles, of which 87,786 are on the mainland. Much of it is still unexplored, but the Australian Government has don© a great deal to develop the resources of the more approachable parts, under the direction of Sir Hubert Murray, Lieutenant-Governor and judge. Exploring expeditions have gone out from time to time, and ‘ Papuan Wonderland,’ by J. C. Hides, is an enthralling account. of one of these ventures. Mr Hides is an officer in the small police force of Papua. He had led previous expeditions, and a hook dealing with the work then accomplished was written by him entitled ‘ Through Wildest Papua.’ He is an intrepid explorer and naturalist, and a graphic writer ns well. ‘ Papuan Wonderland ’ is the official story of the Strickland-Purari patrol. This young officer was asked to cross from the Strickland River to the Purari River, country most of which was entirely unexplored, and he gallantly and efficiently led his party across mountains and rivers, through dense and trackless forests,' beyond great mountain walls, across hidden valleys on a huge tableland in the centre of the island, during the course of which ho found new and large populations. The only white man with him was Patrol-officer O’Malley, a young Irish-Australian, who proved a tower of strength in the hazardous enterprise. The party suffered from sickness and hunger and the intense heat, and were in peril of their lives from hostile natives, but they returned with much accomplished and the loss of only two native lives. No economic advantage was anticipated as a result of the expedition. Some gold was found in the Strickland River area, but it was proved that this district had no remunerative field to offer. The country traversed is too far from the coast and too difficult of access to admit of agricultural development by European enterprise or the production of base metals; and it would appear, therefore, that so far as white capital is concerned, it must remain undeveloped. Still, it can be taken for granted that expeditions will continue to set out until the secrets of this wild land are revealed. ‘ Papuan Wonderland ’is admirably and briskly written. It does not contain a dull page. As a book of travel and adventure, and a revelation of courage and hardihood, it will be read with delight by those to whom this kind of literature appeals. Our copy is from the publishers (Angus and Robertson, Sydney),

“ TAFFRAIL'S ” LATEST As all bis admirers realise, “ Tafrail’s ” lifelong knowledge of the sea enables him to write novels in which the true nautical atmosphere is convincingly captured. His new book, ‘ Mystery at Milford Haven,’ is scarcely a sea story in the sense that .the reader is given a glimpse of shipboard life, but its coastal setting and sea-faring chief character are sufficient to imbue it with the salty tang so well loved by “ Taffrail ” and his adherents. The novel relates a chapter in the life of a naval officer, retired prematurely owing to the post-war retrenchments, who grows weary of city life on ample private means and decides to buy a rocky island at Milford Haven. The island was formerly a garrison fort, and its grim appearance is certainly not belied by the sinister activities which are carried out shortly after the new owner takes possession. At the outset the body of a man, mysteriously murdered, is found, and much excitement abounds in the situation created when the exnaval officer finds himself menaced by a gang whose motives are not in the best interests of civilisation - generally. “ Taffrail ” has written a first-class thriller. Our copy comes from the publishers, Messrs Hodder and Stoughton. ABSORBING MYSTERY When Mrs Brendon is released from prison after having served a sentence of 20 years she has only one thought in her mind—she must have revenge on the man (Henry Segrove) whose false evidence at the trial sent her to gaol on a charge of poisoning hor husband, a crime which she did not commit. This- is the main theme of ' Number 73.’ an absorbing mystery story by Sefton Hyle. The author, who writes forcibly and well, has portrayed his heroine as one to command attention, no matter how the reader may disapprove of her initial attitude towards

NOTES Miss Phyllis Austin, whose novel ‘ Self Accused,’ was recently reviewed on this page, is a sister of Mr L. D. Austin, of this city. Carlyle’s house at Chelsea is being handed over to the National Trust, and his birthplace at Ecclefechan to the National Trust for Scotland. A hundred or so of the late Rudyard Kipling’s works are now to be available for broadcasting. During his lifetime be would not allow any of his work to be broadcast. A play by D. H, Lawrence, called. ‘ The Daughter-in-law,’ which was found after his death, will probably be produced in London. Like ‘ Sons and Lovers,’ it deals with life in a mining district. It is reported from Cologne that a Bible has been discovered illustrated by pictures painted by Martin Luther and containing many notes written by him and other leading reformers, including Melanchthon. Among the new books announced for publication by the S.P.C.K. are ‘ The Gospel Parables in the Light of Their Jewish Background,’ by Dr 0. E. Oesterley. The fourth volume of the ‘ Aldine New Testament,’ containing St. John s Gospel, Hebrews, The Johamune Epistles, Peter, James, Jude, and The ,Revelation, has , been published. Cassell’s announce a new work by Mr J. A. Spender, entitled ‘ Great Britain, 1886-1935;’ a survey of the lost 50 years, tracing the development of Continental politics and combinations; besides affairs at home, and the gradual course of events which led up to the war and its aftermath. Mr Maurice Crawford Macmillan, a director of the publishing firm, has died at the age of 82. For some years he was classical master at St. Paul’s School. A week or two ago another member of the family died—-Mr George A. Macmillan. A new verb, “to esp,” meaning to perceive clairvoyantly or with the sixth sense, has been invented in the United States." It 1 is derived from the initial letters in the phrase “ extra sensory perception.” Major-general Sir Frederick Maurice has been' invited by the family of the late Lord Haldane to writ© his biography, Sir Frederick has previously written lives of General Lord Rawlinaon, Lord Wolseley, and Robert E. Lee, and many books of military history. Eyre and Spottiswoode announce * new book by Mr Malcolm Muggendge entitled ‘Samuel Butler: Thq TSarnest Atheist.’ With the help of new material, unused, or practically unused, in Festing Jones’s memoir, the work seeks to present Butler in a new light. This vear’s entries for the S. H. Prior Memorial Prize, run in conjunction with the ‘Sydney Bulletin,’ totalled more than the first year s. About 230 MSS. have been sent in. A rough inspection of this huge stack of writing indicates that there are about 165 novels, 60 plays, and 35 miscellaneous works, embracing short stories, essays, and paragraph?. . A large number of New Zealand entries have been received.

A number of interesting books were sold in London last month. A copy of the first collected edition of Chaucer (1532) fetched £330; the manuscript of Lamartine’s poem ‘ Jocelyn/ £1,800; and the diary of Sir George Downing, after whom Downing Street and Downing College, Cambridge, were named, £6O. ‘ The Libelle of Englysho Polycye,’ a fifteenth century book described as being “ from the library of William Caxton,” was sold for £3lO.

Mr Thomas Wright, who died at Olney at the age of 76, spent most of his life in literary research. He wrote books about Cowper. Defoe, Walter Pater, and Blake; his last work, a life of Dickens, published in 1935, caused something of a sensation owing to its revelations about Dickens’s private life. Mr Wright founded the Cowper Society in 1900, and the John Payne Society in 1905, and the Blake Society in 1912.

. Memoirs recently published include Mr Edward Sackville West’s life of Thomas de Quincey,_ ‘ A Flame in Sunlight ’; the autobiography of ‘ Sir James Sexton, Agitator,’ with a foreword by Mr Lloyd George; ‘ The Memoirs of an Unconventional Soldier,’ by Major-general J. F. C. Fuller; and ‘ The Autobiography of an Old Drifter,’ by Mr Percy Clark, of Victoria Falls, one of the “ old hands ” in Southern Rhodesia and the Zambesi Valley of Northern Rhodesia, a foreword to which has been contributed by Sir Herbert J. Stanley, Governor of Southern Rhodesia.

The first three volumes of <a new uniform edition of the novels of Mark Rutherford have been published by the Oxford University Press—‘ The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford,’ 1 Mark Rutherford’s Deliverance,’ and ‘ The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane.’ The new edition was seen the press by the author’s son, Sir William HaleWhite. who ti incorporating his father’s latest corrections. The second and final group of three volumes will follow— 1 Miriam’s Schooling,’ 1 Catharine Furze,’ and ‘ Clara Hopgood.’

Lord Conway of Allington, whose new book is to be called ‘ A Pilgrim’s Quest for Immortality ’ will be better known to most people as Sir Martin Conway, explorer, mountaineer, author, politician, and art critic. His father was Canon of Westminster, and he was born in Dean’s Yard, in the shadow of the Abbey, 80 years ago. His home, Allington' Castle, near Maidstone, is a thousand years old. In his latest book he takes a new field of exploration—the spiritual life and its relation to the outward daily life of man.

Sir Norman Angell, whose new book, ‘ The Money Mystery,’ appeared recently, invented the " Money Game,” a series of card games intended to demonstrate the workings of finance and economics. Sir Norman, whose real name is Ralph Norman Angell Lane, was educated in France and Geneva. In his early days ho ranched and prospected for gold in the United States. For many years ho was an employee and friend of Lord Ndrthcliffe. His book, ‘ The Great Illusion,’ which appeared in 1910, has been translated into at least 15 languages. Ho was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1933.

life after regaining her liberty. The woman who has been robbed of her youth starts out on her self-imposed task by engaging Segrove’s daughter as her secretary. From then on until a most unexpected climax is reached the story of Mrs Brendon’s efforts to ruin the Segrove family never flags. Messrs Herbert Jenkins arc the publishers.