Ludovic "Sandy" Gustavus Arbuthnot, later 16th Lord Clanroyden is a fictional character who appears in various books by

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 ...

in the Richard Hannay series. These books include ''

Greenmantle ''Greenmantle'' is the second of five novels by John Buchan featuring the character Richard Hannay. It was first published in 1916 by Hodder & Stoughton, London. It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being ...

'', '' The Three Hostages'', '' The Courts of the Morning'', and '' The Island of Sheep'', but not the first in the series, ''

The Thirty-Nine Steps ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' is a 1915 adventure novel by the Scottish literature, Scottish author John Buchan, first published by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. It was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Argosy (magazine)#The All-Story, ...

''. He also appears in '' The League of Heroes'' by Xavier Mauméjean. His particular expertise is in adopting disguises which completely take in Hannay, the "friend eknows best in the world". From the data within Buchan's novels, it is possible to deduce that Arbuthnot was born 1882, as the second son of Edward ("Billy") Cospatrick Arbuthnot, 15th Baron Clanroyden (educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

). He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he gained a Third at Greats. He was a captain in the Tweeddale Yeomanry, later promoted to colonel. He served as honorary attaché at various embassies and worked for the

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club, owned and controlled by its members, on the south side of Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it had an all-male membership for ...

in 1899. He married Barbara and settled at an idyllic estate called Laverlaw, near Ettrick in the Borders. It is Lady Clanroyden, presumably Sandy's wife rather than mother, who first appears in print. Arbuthnot was based on Hon. Colonel Sir

Aubrey Herbert Colonel The Honourable Aubrey Nigel Henry Molyneux Herbert (3 April 1880 – 26 September 1923), of Pixton Park in Somerset and of Teversal, in Nottinghamshire, was a British soldier, diplomat, traveller, and intelligence officer associat ...

(1880–1923; twice offered the throne of Albania, 2nd son of 4th Earl of Carnarvon), but later also reflected

T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British Army officer, archaeologist, diplomat and writer known for his role during the Arab Revolt and Sinai and Palestine campaign against the Ottoman Empire in the First W ...

. Anne Taylor and James Jauncey have argued that the travels of R. B. Cunninghame Graham in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

provided another source of inspiration for the character.Jauncey, James (2023), ''Don Roberto: The Adventure of Being Cunninghame Graham'', Scotland Street Press, p. 215,

References

Fictional British Army officers Fictional colonels Fictional lords and ladies Fictional military captains Fictional spies Fictional World War I veterans John Buchan characters Literary characters introduced in 1916 {{novel-char-stub