Bernard G. Marshall (August 23, 1875December 14, 1945) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
writer. His historical novel ''
Cedric the Forester'' was one runner-up for the inaugural
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...
in 1922.
[
]
Life
Bernard Gay Marshall was born to Francis F. and Helen F. Doten Marshall in North Easton
Easton is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Boston area.
Easton is governed by an elected Select Board. Open Town Meeting acts as the legislative branc ...
, Massachusetts, where he later attended high school. Wanting to be a writer, he "thought he could play in orchestras and make a living until he had a foothold as an author".[ He subsequently worked as a musician, legal stenographer, an advertising and technical writer, and as a ship builder during World War I.][ In July 1903 Marshall married Ida M. Conklin. The couple had one daughter, Harriet C.][
Marshall wrote five ]historical fiction
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...
novels, romantic adventure stories set in great periods of the Anglo-Saxon struggle for freedom." The books are set in time periods ranging from the England of King Arthur
According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...
to Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
's United States. He also wrote short stories and articles for magazines, including ''Sunset
Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...
'', ''Boys' Life
''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are children between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas.
''Scout Life'' is published ...
'', ''St. Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey) dur ...
'', ''Munsey's Magazine
''Munsey's Magazine'' was an American magazine founded by Frank Munsey in 1889 as ''Munsey's Weekly'', a humor magazine edited by John Kendrick Bangs. It was unsuccessful, and by late 1891 had lost $100,000 ($ in ). Munsey converted it into ...
'', ''The American Magazine
''The American Magazine'' was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie. It succeeded '' Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (1876–1904) ...
'' and '' The American Boy''.[ In addition, he wrote for technical magazines and edited several trade journals. By 1921 Marshall had moved to Berkeley, California,][ where he was a member of the San Francisco chapter of the Writer's Dinner Club.][
Bernard Gay Marshall died Dec. 14, 1945.
]
Critical reception
As a writer of historical fiction, Marshall's books were compared to Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
's in length and desrciptive details,[ though another added that to call ''Cedric the Forester'' a second ''Ivanhoe'' was "a mistake", adding "Bernard Marshall has done a good piece of work, but he is not Sir Walter".][
Marshall's novels were widely read,][ ''The Unitarian Register'' ''Cedric the Forester'' referred to it as well written and informative,][ and the scouting magazine ''Boys' Life'' frequently reviewed his novels for its young readers.][
Marshall's novels were also well received by adults. ''Walter of Tiverton'' received a star from '' The Bookman'', which reviewed it as a book for adults,][ as did '' The Outlook'', calling it a "spirited romance".][ '' The Saturday Review'' praised ''Redcoat and the Minuteman'' for the "clean, clear simplicity of his narrative",][ saying the plot was "skilfully handled".][
]
Books
Marshall's five books were all historical novels published by D. Appleton & Company. The first four were illustrated by J. Scott Williams.
*''Cedric the Forester'', illus. J.S. Williams, D. Appleton, 1921, 318 pages
When Saxon
The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
yeoman Cedric of Pellham Woods saves the life of Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norma ...
nobleman Dickon Mountjoy, he is made a squire, and a friendship begins between the two. Eventually Cedric becomes the best crossbow
A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...
man in England, and is knighted. He then becomes instrumental in the establishment of Magna Carta
(Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...
. The frequency of deaths in ''Cedric the Forester'' sometimes drew criticism.[
In 1922 Marshall was one runner-up for the inaugural Newbery Medal from the professional librarians, recognizing the previous year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".][ Members of the American Library Association were asked to nominate a book and ''Cedric the Forester'' was one of six that received at least two votes; five were subsequently designated runners-up. Runner-up works are now called Newbery Honor Books, so latterday editions are authorized to display a silver seal on the cover.][
*''Walter of Tiverton'', illus. J.S. Williams, Appleton, 1923, 263 pages
Two young knights, Walter of Tiverton and Sir Boris Delamar, find adventure in England during the time of ]Richard the Lionheart
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
. They are often helped by the mysterious Knight of Ascalon, who always disappears before they can thank him.
*''The Torch Bearers: A Tale of Cavalier Days'', illus. J.S. Williams, Appleton, 1923, 317 pages
Myles Delaroche, a descendant of Cedric the Forester, is an English Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
, though his friend Arthur Hinsdale is a Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
. The two men find their friendship tested by the English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
. The story portrays both sides of the struggle with understanding and sympathy. At one point Delaroche "saw that no peace would be durable, on whatever victories founded, if those who triumphed sought to impose their sway upon the nation and to forbid all forms of worship save their own."Minutemen
Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...
. Delaroche encounters George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
and Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Steuben ( , ; born Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis Freiherr von Steuben; September 17, 1730 – November 28, 1794), also referred to as Baron von Steuben, was a German-b ...
, is mistaken for a loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
, and takes part in the Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Boston, Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peri ...
.
*''Old Hickory's Prisoner: A Tale of the Second War for Independence'', Appleton, 1925, 254 pages
The United States is now involved in the War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
and Hubert Delaroche is too young to join the army, so he volunteers as a messenger. He is present as Commodore Decatur attempts to run a British blockade. They don't succeed, and Delaroche is forced to escape through the Cumberland Mountains to Tennessee, where he joins Andrew Jackson's army, and makes a new friend, a Shawnee
The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language.
Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...
named Blue Feather.
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
Bernard Gay Marshall
at WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...
Bernard G. Marshall
at WorldCat
The Torch Bearers
at WorldCat
: Records for Marshall have not been integrated by libraries.
* Letter to the Editor
*"The Prize Winner: The Trials and Triumphs of Raymond Jones, Chicken Fancier"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Bernard Gay
1875 births
1945 deaths
People from Easton, Massachusetts
American historical novelists
Newbery Honor winners
American male novelists
Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages
Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period
Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age