George Douglas Brown (26 January 1869 – 28 August 1902) was a Scottish

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

, best known for his highly influential realist novel ''

The House with the Green Shutters ''The House with the Green Shutters'' is a novel by the Scottish writer George Douglas Brown, first published in 1901 by John MacQueen. Set in mid-19th century Ayrshire, in the fictitious town of Barbie which is based on his native Ochiltree, ...

'' (1901), which was published the year before his death at the age of 33.

Life and work

Brown was the illegitimate son of a farmer and a woman of Irish descent. He went to school at

Ochiltree Ochiltree is a conservation village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, near Auchinleck and Cumnock. It is one of the oldest villages in East Ayrshire, with archaeological remains indicating Stone Age and Bronze Age settlers. A cinerary urn was found in ...

Coylton Coylton ( sco, Culton) is a village and civil parish in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is east of Ayr and west of Drongan, on the A70. Sundrum Castle Holiday Park is to the west of the village, in the grounds of Sundrum Castle, which partly d ...

, and

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

, his academic performance allowing him to study Classics at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and at Balliol College, Oxford. However his studies were interrupted by the illness of his mother; he returned to Ayrshire to nurse her, but she died, and in 1895 he barely passed his final examinations. He travelled to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and worked as a journalist, contributing articles and stories to ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...

'', as well as a part-time editor and reader for publishing houses. At one point he was a staff writer for '' Sandow's Magazine of Physical Culture''. In 1899 he published ''Love and a Sword'' under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Kennedy King, the same pseudonym he used for his articles. The next year he started work at Haslemere on ''The House with the Green Shutters'', which was published in 1901 under the pseudonym George Douglas. The book was a success, and he planned a second novel to be called ''The Incompatibles'', but shortly afterwards he contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

and died at the home of his friend and publisher

Andrew Melrose Andrew Melrose (5 February 1860 - 6 November 1928''The Times'' obituary; 7 November 1928) was a British publisher. Although he was noted for publishing theological works, he was also active in promoting new fiction, and offered a substantial ca ...

. The novel gives a strongly outlined picture of the harder and less genial aspects of Scottish life and character, and was regarded as a useful corrective to the more roseate presentations of the

kailyard school The Kailyard school (1880–1914) is a proposed literary movement of Scottish fiction dating from the last decades of the 19th century. Origin and etymology It was first given the name in an article published April 1895 in the ''New Review'' by ...

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

and

Ian Maclaren John Watson (3 November 1850 – 6 May 1907), was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He is remembered as an author of fiction, known by his pen name Ian Maclaren. Life The son of John Watson, a civil servant, he was born in Manningtre ...

. Reprinted frequently throughout the twentieth century, it was most recently re-issued by

Birlinn The birlinn ( gd, bìrlinn) or West Highland galley was a wooden vessel propelled by sail and oar, used extensively in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland from the Middle Ages on. Variants of the name in English and Lowland Scots inclu ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. An annual event in Brown's memory, The Green Shutters Festival of Working Class Writing, is held in

, the town believed to be the model for the village of Barbie. In December 2004, the house in which he was born was gutted by fire.Martyn McLaughlin. "Reopening the House with the Green Shutters." The Herald, 30 January 2006, page 26. As of August 2007, the house in which he was born in Ochiltree has been re-opened as "The Green Shutters Pub". A memorial plaque is allocated on the outside wall. The house is now used as a pharmacy.

Notes

References

External links

* * * *Cuthbert Lennox. ''George Douglas Brown, author of "The house with the green shutters": a biographical memoir.'' Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1903

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, George Douglas 1869 births 1902 deaths People associated with physical culture People from East Ayrshire Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Scottish male novelists 19th-century Scottish novelists