S. R. Crockett
| S. R. Crockett | |
|---|---|
 Samuel Rutherford Crockett | |
| Born |
September 24, 1859 Duchrae, Balmaghie, Kirkcudbrightshire |
| Died |
April 16, 1914 (aged 54) France |
| Resting place | Balmaghie |
| Occupation | Minister |
| Ethnicity | Scottish |
| Period | 1890-1914 |
| Genre | Novel |
Samuel Rutherford Crockett (24 September 1859 – 16 April 1914), who published under the name "S. R. Crockett", was a Scottish novelist.
Life
He was born at Duchrae, Balmaghie, Kirkcudbrightshire, the illegitimate grandson of a farmer. He was raised on his grandfather's Galloway farm, won a bursary to Edinburgh University in 1876,[1] and graduated from there during 1879.[2]
After some years of travel, he became in 1886 minister of Penicuik. During that year he produced his first publication, Dulce Cor (Latin: Sweet Heart), a collection of verse. He eventually abandoned the Free Church ministry for full-time novel-writing in 1895.[2]
The success of J. M. Barrie and the Kailyard school of sentimental, homey writing had already created a demand for stories in Lowland Scots,[3] when Crockett published his successful story of The Stickit Minister during 1893. [2] It was followed by a rapidly produced series of popular novels frequently featuring the history of Scotland or his native Galloway. Crockett made considerable sums of money from his writing and was a friend and correspondent of R. L. Stevenson, but his later work has been criticised as being over-prolific and feebly sentimental.[4]
During 1900, Crockett wrote a booklet published by the London camera manufacturer, Newman & Guardia, comparing cameras favourably to pen and pencil and explaining how he encountered the N and G advertisement.[5]
He died in France on holiday in early 1914, and the subsequent outbreak of the First World War meant a delay in his remains being buried in his home kirkyard at Balmaghie.
Legacy and influence
- A monument to Crockett can be seen at Laurieston, near Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire. His papers are held by Edinburgh University.[6] A biography of S.R. Crockett was published in 1991, by Dr. Islay Donaldson.
- J. R. R. Tolkien credits him as an influence on his wolf-fight scenes: “the episode of the 'wargs' (I believe) is in part derived from a scene in S. R. Crockett's The Black Douglas, probably his best romance and anyway one that deeply impressed me in school-days”.[7]
Works
- The Sticket Minister (1893)
- The Raiders (1894)
- The Lilac Sun-bonnet, D. Appleton and company, 1895
- Mad Sir Uchtred (1894)
- The Men of the Moss Hags (1895)
- Sweetheart Travellers, Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1895
- Cleg Kelly and The Grey Man (1896)
- The Surprising Adventures of Sir Toady Lion (1897)
- Lochinvar, Copyright 1897, Published (1898) by Harper and Brothers
- The Standard Bearer (1898)
- The Red Axe (1898)
- The Black Douglas (1899),[8][9][10] published by Doubleday & McClure Co.
- Kit Kennedy (1899)
- Joan of the Sword Hand, American News, 1900
- Little Anna Mark in 1900
- Cinderella: a novel, James Clarke & Co., 1901
- The silver skull, Smith, Elder, 1901
- Flower o' the Corn (1902)
- Red Cap Tales, Adam and Charles Black, 1904
- Raiderland, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1904
- Maid Margaret (1905)
- The Adventurer in Spain Ibister and Co., Ltd., 1903 (non-fiction)
- The white plumes of Navarre, Religious Tract Society, 1906
- Little Esson (1907) London,Ward,Lock
- Red Cap Adventures (1908)
- Silver Sand (1914)
Notes
The Raiders concerns the historical Gypsy leader John Faa, who much later becomes a character in His Dark Materials.
The Black Douglas features Gilles de Retz, the associate of Jaon of Arc and the reputed origin of Bluebeard.[11]
See also
References
- ↑ D. Daiches ed., "The Penguin Companion to Literature: 1" (1971) p. 127
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Chisholm 1911.
- ↑ I. Ousby ed., The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (1995) p. 503
- ↑ D. Daiches ed., The Penguin Companion to Literature: 1 (1971) p. 127
- ↑ British Journal of Photography, 20 July 1900, p. 450.
- ↑ "The papers of Samuel Rutherford Crockett". Edinburgh University. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ↑ Quoted in J. D. Rateliff, Mr Baggins (2007) p. 216
- ↑ Project Gutenberg
- ↑ Google Books
- ↑ Goodreads
- ↑ J. D. Rateliff, Mr Baggins (2007) p. 216 and p. 224
- Attribution
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Crockett, Samuel Rutherford". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Sources
- Bleiler, Everett (1948). The Checklist of Fantastic Literature. Chicago: Shasta Publishers. p. 88.
Further reading
M. M. Harper, Crockett and Grey Galloway (1907)
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samuel Rutherford Crockett. |
- Works by S. R. Crockett at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about S. R. Crockett at Internet Archive
- Works by S. R. Crockett at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- "Samuel Rutherford Crockett", Dumfries and Galloway
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