SIR JAMES BARRIE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23222, 21 June 1937, Page 8

SIR JAMES BARRIE

By the death of Sir James Barrie, which is announced by cable, English literature loses a figure of considerable distinction. We use the world " English " in the widest sense, for Scotland might claim a special proprietary interest in the author of "Auld Licht Idylls," "A Window in Thrums," "The Little Minister," "Margaret Ogilvy," and other topical narratives of that Kirriemuir country to which he may be said to nave imparted a flavour of classic celebrity. Peter Pan, helped by the dramatic as well as the literary form, may be the most famous of Sir James Barrie's creations, and weighty reasons might be advanced in support of the contention that this subtle fantasia represents a finer product of mind and imagination than the Scottish stories, And yet, if a competitive vote of devotees of the Barrio literature were to be taken, it is quite possible that "A Window in Thrums," with the haunting figures of Jess and Hendry and Leevy, charged with inseparable pathos and humour,- would win the day. Some readers have found the pathos too poignant, too piercingly touched with " the sense of tears in mortal things," but the qualifying sense of laughter is never far away. Seldom, if ever, has the tenderness Of filial affection, quickened by interpretative genius, been more convincingly and felicitously expressed than in the fascinating pages

of " Margaret Ogilvy." The author's adored and adorable mother was terribly afraid in the early days that he would exhaust his material and write himself out, so to speak; and perhaps this condition was eventually reached as regards the Kirriemuir tales, of which " Tommy and Grizel," published in 1900, was the last. "The Little White Bird," first introducing Peter Pan, appeared two years later, and marked the transition of scene from Forfarshire to London. As time went on Sir James Barrie devoted special, though not quite exclusive, attention to dramatic literature, and he undoubtedly established a reputation of a very high order as a writer of plays marked by delicate fancy, shrewd social observation, and pointed yet kindly satire. No doubt he found this kind of work to be very lucrative, but he never stooped to a low standard; and, though he had his occasional failures or merely dubious successes, his literary ideals, in drama as in narrative, remained pure and lofty, with the lucidity of the noble altitudes. As became the son of " Margaret Ogilvy," he held his pen in trust to virtue and beauty and art and natural piety.