Ann Scott-Moncrieff () (1914–1943) was a Scottish author. She was born in

Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

, Scotland, the daughter of Major J.D.M. Shearer, in 1914. At the age of seventeen, she served her apprenticeship in journalism at ''

The Orcadian ''The Orcadian'' is the oldest newspaper in Orkney, Scotland, first published in 1854. At first a monthly paper, it soon became a weekly. The newspaper is based in Kirkwall but printed in Glasgow for sale every Thursday. It is part of the Orkn ...

''.Bicket, Linden, "'The air of an early muse': The Visionary Fictions of Ann Scott-Moncrieff", in Brown, Rhona, & Lyall, Scott (eds.), ''Scottish Literary Review'', Autumn/Winter 2024, Association for Scottish Literature, Glasgow, pp. 1 – 24, She studied archeology at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and worked on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

, in London, where she met the Scottish novelist and

topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scienc ...

George Scott-Moncrieff. The couple married in 1934. The Scott-Moncrieffs returned to Scotland, moving between

Peebleshire Peeblesshire (), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire to the west. Histo ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

Badenoch Badenoch (; ) is a district of the Scottish Highlands centred on the upper reaches of the River Spey, above Strathspey. The name Badenoch means the drowned land, with most of the population living close to the River Spey or its tributaries ...

and Haddington as they contributed to small magazines, literary journals, broadsheets and radio programming. Ann wrote original pieces and adapted literary classics, including

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

's ''

The Water-Babies ''The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby'' is a children's novel by Charles Kingsley. Written in 1862–1863 as a serial for '' Macmillan's Magazine'', it was first published in its entirety in 1863. It was written as part satire in ...

'' and

Susan Ferrier Susan Edmonstone Ferrier (7 September 1782 – 5 November 1854) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist. Her novels, giving vivid accounts of Scottish life and presenting sharp views on women's education, remained popular throughout ...

's ''Marriage'', for broadcast by the BBC on Scottish

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

and The Regional Programme. Her first published literary work was a children's story, ''Aboard the Bulger'', which appeared as a serial in "The Bulletin" before its publication as a book. A volume of short stories, ''The White Drake and Other Tales'', were created. Her last book, ''Auntie Robbo'', was published in the United States in 1940. Scott-Moncrieff died in 1943; she was memorialized in a poem by

Edwin Muir Edwin Muir CBE (15 May 1887 – 3 January 1959) was a Scottish poet, novelist and translator. Born on a farm in Deerness, a parish of Orkney, Scotland, he is remembered for his deeply felt and vivid poetry written in plain language and wit ...

. Her three children's books have been re-issued by Scotland Street Press. Four of her short stories, 'The Longest Day', 'Strong Girl', 'Threesome' and 'Nothatus', were republished in '' Chapman'' magazine in 1987.Hendry, Joy (ed.), 'On Tom Scott and Ann Scott-Moncrieff', ''Chapman'' 47-48, Spring 1987,

Bibliography

* ''Aboard the Bulger'' * ''The White Drake and Other Tales'' (1936) * ''Auntie Robbo'' (1941)

New editions

* ''Auntie Robbo'' (2019) * ''Aboard the Bulger'' (2020) * ''Firkin and the Grey Gangsters'' (2021) (original title – ''The White Drake and Other Tales'')

References

External links

Works by Ann Scott-Moncrieff
at Project Gutenberg Australia Scottish women novelists Scottish women journalists People from Orkney 1914 births 1943 deaths People from Kirkwall Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century Scottish novelists 20th-century Scottish women writers Scottish children's writers Scottish Renaissance {{Scotland-writer-stub