Huntingtower (novel)
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''Huntingtower'' is a 1922 novel by the Scottish author
John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, British Army officer, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a ...
, initially serialised in ''
The Popular Magazine ''The Popular Magazine'' was an early American literary magazine that ran for 612 issues from November 1903 to October 1931. It featured short fiction, novellas, serialized larger works, and even entire short novels. The magazine's subject matt ...
'' between August 20 and September 7 1921 and in ''
The London Magazine ''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and poetry. A number of Nobel Laureates, including Annie Ernaux, Albert Camus, Doris Les ...
'' between December 1921 and July 1922. It is the first of his three
Dickson McCunn The Dickson McCunn Trilogy is a series of novels by John Buchan, all featuring his eponymous retired grocer from Glasgow. The books are titled '' Huntingtower'', '' Castle Gay'' and ''The House of the Four Winds''. Penguin published an omnibus ...
books, the action taking place in the district of Carrick in
Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...
, Scotland.


Plot summary

Having sold his
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
grocery-store business, 55-year-old Dickson McCunn decides to start his retirement with a walking holiday in the district of Carrick in
Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...
. At a local inn he meets John Heritage, a poet and ex-soldier, as well as an unnamed young man who asks after a place called 'Darkwater' that nobody has heard of. McCunn and Heritage decide to spend the next night at the village of Dalquaharter where they are taken in by a local widow, Phemie Morran. They investigate the local big house, Huntingtower, where – although the place is ostensibly empty – they hear a woman singing. Heritage recognises the voice as that of a Russian princess he had fallen in love with from afar when his battalion had been posted to Rome some years earlier. On a camping holiday nearby are the
Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and e ...
Die-Hards, a group of
street urchins Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids, or urchins; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers ...
from Glasgow that McCunn had recently supported via a contribution to a charity fund. Their leader, Dougal Crombie, tells them that two women are being kept prisoner. They get into the house and find Saskia, princess of one of the great families of Russia, and her elderly cousin Eugènie. Saskia explains that she is a fugitive from
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
elements in Russia, and that she came to Huntingtower at the invitation of its owner, her childhood friend Quentin Kennedy. On arrival she was betrayed by the corrupt local
factor Factor (Latin, ) may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, such a factor is a resource used ...
, James Loudon, and was taken prisoner. She fears the imminent arrival of a man who is likely to kill her – later disclosed as the Bolshevik leader Paul Abreskov. She is desperately hoping for the appearance of a 'friend' to whom she has sent word (Alexis Nicolaevich, her fiancé). Saskia has been placed in charge of her family’s jewels, and McCunn agrees to deposit them with his local bank in Glasgow. They learn that Paul's followers are expected to arrive by sea in a Danish
brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...
. Heritage is left alone in the Old Tower nearby to act as a decoy. McCunn speaks to a local English landowner, Sir Archibald Roylance, who asks the chief constable for police help. After being rescued from an ambush by Wee Jaikie, the youngest of the Die-Hards, McCunn stumbles alone through the woods and comes across a man with a motorcycle whom he recognises from the inn. He is Saskia’s fiancé Alexis, who has been delayed searching for 'Darkwater' rather than Dalquaharter. The men from the brig surround the Old Tower and Heritage flutters a scarf at a window to make it appear that Saskia is there. The attackers explode a bomb to force entry, setting the tower alight. Saskia shows herself at a distance then runs back to Huntingtower, helped by Alexis who has just arrived. Their position looks hopeless as the enemy, commanded now by Paul Abreskov, force their way in through the downstairs windows. The Die-Hards get in among the attackers and shout and blow whistles pretending to be the police. In the stormy darkness, panic ensues and the attackers flee to their boats. The vessels founder in the storm and most of the enemy, including Abreskov, perish. McCunn decides that he would like to do something practical to help the Die-Hard boys and he resolves to pay for their future educations. Meanwhile, Heritage is reconciled that Saskia has found her true mate in Alexis and that she can never be his. On recovering the family’s jewels, Saskia gives one of them to McCunn as a memento. He in turn gives it to his wife.


Principal characters


Locals

*Dickson McCunn, wealthy retired 55-year-old Glasgow grocer *John Heritage, young English poet and ex-soldier *Dougal Crombie, leader of the
Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and e ...
Die-Hards *Jaikie Galt ('Wee Jaikie'), small, but fierce, member of the Die-Hards *Sir Archibald 'Archie' Roylance, English landowner *Quentin Kennedy, childhood friend of Saskia, soldier and diplomat *Phemie Morran, widow, owner of small cottage in Dalquaharter *James Loudon, corrupt
factor Factor (Latin, ) may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, such a factor is a resource used ...
for the Huntingtower estate.


Russians

*Saskia, fugitive princess, of one of the great families of Russia *Alexis Nicolaevich ('Alexander Nicholson'), fiancé to Saskia *Eugènie, elderly cousin of Saskia *Paul Abreskov, Bolshevik leader, much feared by Saskia.


Background

The book was written only a few years after the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
when there was considerable concern that
Bolshevism Bolshevism (derived from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Leninist and later Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined p ...
might spread. Buchan mixes light fairytale elements (he called the book "a Glasgow fairytale") with a darker plot in which Bolshevik elements have penetrated every level of British society. Although the normal forces of law and order are powerless, revolution in Britain is averted by the down-to-earth,
middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
views of McCunn, the grocer. As one Russian character says of him, admiringly, "he is the stuff which above all others makes a great people. He will endure when aristocracies crack and proletariats crumble."


Critical reception

Initial reviews were generally favourable.
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
found the book delightful, if improbable, and concluded that "no one who becomes acquainted with McCunn … will be likely to forget him”. In ''The Interpreter's House'' (1975), David Daniell called the book "a stirring adventure of royal Russian exiles and wicked Bolsheviks", and he noted its high spirits and outrageous wisdom, as well as the author’s exuberance of imagination and his sensitivity to countryside and to weather. It is the Die-Hards, according to Daniell, that lift the book to its true level: "it is their individuality, passion and energy, and forthright sense … which must finally rescue Buchan from the foolish judge of snobbery". And, "What defeats the invasion of Hell is the ability of a group of ordinary people of all ages, so ordinary as to be normally overlooked, to respond to romance".


Adaptations

A silent film '' Huntingtower'' based on the novel was released in 1928. It was directed by George Pearson, and featured the
music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
performer
Harry Lauder Sir Henry Lauder (; 4 August 1870 – 26 February 1950)Russell, Dave"Lauder, Sir Henry (1870–1950)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011, accessed 27 April 2014 was a S ...
. Rights were sold for a play and another film, but neither were ultimately produced. There have been three
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
adaptations: a single-programme adaptation by TP Maley, broadcast on 5SC Glasgow in 1929; a three-part dramatisation for the
BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
by Derek Walker, broadcast as a Schools programme in 1955; and a 1988 adaptation in three parts by Trevor Royle, with Roy Hanlon playing Dickson McCunn. In 1957 ''Huntingtower'' was adapted by
Judith Kerr Anna Judith Gertrud Helene Kerr (surname pronounced ; 14 June 1923 – 22 May 2019) was a German-born British writer and illustrator whose books sold more than 10 million copies around the world.
for a six-part
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
children's television series starring James Hayter as McCunn. A second television adaptation by Edward Boyd was produced by
BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...
and broadcast over six episodes starting in October 1978. It starred Paul Curran as McCunn.


References


External links

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Gutenberg text
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IMDB page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntingtower (Novel) 1922 British novels British novels adapted into films Novels by John Buchan Novels set in Dumfries and Galloway Novels set in the 1920s