The Thirty-nine Steps

- By John Buchan
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Scottish author and statesman (1875–1940) The Right HonourableThe Lord TweedsmuirGCMG GCVO CH PC DLBuchan in 193515th Governor General of CanadaIn office2 November 1935 – 11 February 1940MonarchsGeorge VEdward VIIIGeorge VIPrime MinisterWilliam Lyon Mackenzie KingPreceded byThe Earl of BessboroughSucceeded byThe Earl of AthloneMore... Personal detailsBornJohn Buchan(1875-08-26)26 August 1875Perth, ScotlandDied11 February 1940(1940-02-11) (aged 64)Montreal, Quebec, CanadaPolitical partyScottish UnionistSpouse Susan Grosvenor ​(m. 1907)​Children4, including John, William and AlastairRelativesO. Douglas (sister)Alma materUniversity of GlasgowBrasenose College, OxfordProfessionAuthorSignatureWebsiteJohn Buchan SocietyWriting careerGenreAdventure fictionNotable works The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir GCMG GCVO CH PC DL (/ˈbʌxən/; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the most well-known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly-formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927. In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom. Early life and education[edit] Buchan was born at today's 18–20 York Place, a double villa now named after him, in Perth, Scotland.[1] He was the first child of John Buchan – a Free Church of Scotland minister – and Helen Jane Buchan (née Masterton). He was brought up in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and spent many summer holidays with his maternal grandparents in Broughton in the Scottish Borders. There he developed a love for walking and for the local scenery and wildlife, both of which are often featured in his novels. The protagonist in several of his books is Sir Edward Leithen, whose name is borrowed from Leithen Water, a tributary of the River Tweed. After the family moved to Glasgow, Buchan attended Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School. He was awarded a scholarship to the University of Glasgow at age 17, where he studied classics as a student of Gilbert Murray, wrote poetry, and became a published author.[2] He moved on to study Literae Humaniores (the Classics) at Brasenose College, Oxford, with a Junior Hulme scholarship in 1895 and in his third year achieved a Senior Hulme scholarship, adding to his financial security.[3][4] At Oxford, he made many friends including Raymond Asquith, Aubrey Herbert and Tommy Nelson. Buchan won the Stanhope essay prize in 1897 and the Newdigate Prize for poetry the following year;[4] he was also elected as the president of the Oxford Union and had six of his works published, including a book of short stories (Grey Weather, 1899) and three of his first adventure novels (John Burnet of Barns, 1898; A Lost Lady of Old Years, 1899; The Half-Hearted, 1900)[5][6] Buchan had his first portrait painted in 1900 by a young Sholto Johnstone Douglas at around the time of his graduation from Oxford.[7] Author, journalist, war, and politics[edit] Further information: List of works by John Buchan After graduating from Oxford, Buchan read for and was called to the Bar in June 1901.[8] In September 1901 he travelled to South Africa to become a private secretary to Alfred Milner, who was then the High Commissioner for Southern Africa, Governor of Cape Colony, and colonial administrator of Transvaal and the Orange River Colony, making Buchan an early member of Milner's Kindergarten. He also gained an acquaintance with a country that would feature prominently in his writing, which he resumed, along with his career as a barrister, upon his return to London in 1903. In 1905, he published a legal book, The Law Relating to the Taxation of Foreign Incomehttps://search.law.villanova.edu/Record/197978. In December 1906, he joined the Thomas Nelson & Sons' publishing company and was also a deputy editor of The Spectator.[9] On 15 July 1907, Buchan married Susan Charlotte Grosvenor—daughter of the Hon.Norman Grosvenor, a son of the 1st Lord Ebury, and a cousin of the Duke of Westminster. Together, Buchan and his wife had four children, Alice, John, William, and Alastair. In 1910, Buchan wrote Prester John, set in South Africa, another of his adventure novels. He began to suffer from duodenal ulcers, a condition that later afflicted one of his fictional characters, about the same time that he ventured into politics and was adopted as Unionist candidate in March 1911 for the Borders seat of Peebles and Selkirk. He supported some Liberal causes, such as free trade, women's suffrage, national insurance, and curtailing the powers of the House of Lords.[10] But he did not support Home Rule in Ireland and what he considered the class hatred fostered by Liberal politicians such as David Lloyd George.[11] With the outbreak of the First World War, Buchan began writing a history of the war for Nelson's, the publishers, which was to extend to 24 volumes by the end of the war. He worked in the Foreign Office, and for a time was a war correspondent in France for The Times in 1915. In that same year, his most famous novel, The Thirty-Nine Steps, a spy-thriller set just prior to the First World War, was published. The novel featured Buchan's oft-used hero, Richard Hannay, whose character was partly based on Edmund Ironside, a friend of Buchan from his days in South Africa. A sequel, Greenmantle, came the following year. In June 1916 Buchan was sent out to the Western Front to be attached to the British Army's General Headquarters Intelligence Section, to assist with drafting official communiques for the press. On arrival he received a field-commission as a second lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps.[12] Recognised for his abilities, the War Cabinet, under David Lloyd George, appointed him Director of Information in 1917, essentially leading Britain's propaganda effort. In early 1918, Buchan was made head of a Department of Intelligence within a new Ministry of Information under Lord Beaverbrook[13]. Throughout the war, he continued writing volumes of the History of the War. It was difficult for him, given his close connections to many of Britain's military leaders, not to mention the government, to be critical of the British Army's conduct during the conflict[14] but nonetheless did so in certain instances, being critical of government, politics or statements, or disagreeing with statistics. [15] Buchan could enter comment on political events. He complimented Winston Churchill's "services to the nation at the outbreak of war for which his countrymen can never be sufficiently grateful ... but he was usually selected to be blamed for decisions for which his colleagues were not less responsible."[16] At one point, Beaverbrook had requested that Buchan meet with journalist and neo-Jacobite Herbert Vivian and admitted to Vivian that he had been a Jacobite sympathiser.[17] Following the close of the war, Buchan turned his attention to writing on historical subjects, along with his usual thrillers and novels. By the mid-1920s, he was living in Elsfield, Oxfordshire, and had become president of the Scottish Historical Society and a trustee of the National Library of Scotland,[13] and he also maintained ties with various universities. Robert Graves, who lived in nearby Islip, mentioned his being recommended by Buchan for a lecturing position at the newly founded Cairo University. In a 1927 by-election, Buchan was elected as the Unionist Party Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities. Politically, he was of the Unionist-Nationalist tradition, believing in Scotland's promotion as a nation within the British Empire."[18] The effects of the Great Depression in Scotland, and the subsequent high emigration from that country, also led him to reflect in the same speech: "We do not want to be like the Greeks, powerful and prosperous wherever we settle, but with a dead Greece behind us".[19] He found himself profoundly affected by John Morley's Life of Gladstone, which Buchan read in the early months of the Second World War. He believed that Gladstone had taught people to combat materialism, complacency, and authoritarianism; Buchan later wrote to Herbert Fisher, Stair Gillon, and Gilbert Murray that he was "becoming a Gladstonian Liberal."[20] After the United Free Church of Scotland joined in 1929 with the Church of Scotland, Buchan remained an active elder of St Columba's Church, London. In 1933 and 1934, Buchan was further appointed as King George V's Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Beginning in 1930, Buchan aligned himself with Zionism.[21] He was active and vocal in Parliament in condemning the treatment of Jews in Germany.[22] To a mass demonstration organized by the Jewish National Fund in 1934, Buchan described Zionism as "a great act of justice ... a reparation for the centuries of cruelty and wrong which have stained the record of nearly every Gentile people."[23] He was a friend of Chaim Weizmann and assisted him to keep alive Britain's commitment to a Jewish state.[24][25][26] Despite this, Buchan was later described by Anthony Storr as being "overtly antisemitic".[27] This is, however, a claim that does not hold up amidst the evidence of Buchan's active support to and friendship with Jews and supporting the establishment of a Jewish homeland. As Ursula Buchan notes in her biography, the charge of anti-Semitism is almost entirely as a result of some unfavourable comments made by fictional characters, mostly to be found in the Hannay books.[28] In The Thirty-Nine Steps, for example, the anti-Semitic comments of the murdered freelance spy, Scudder, are called 'eyewash' by Hannay and proved to be totally wrong by later events. She cautions, "it is important to avoid anachronism", that is, "[r]acial and national stereotyping, favourable and unfavourable, was commonplace throughout all society" so "it is hardly surprising that characters in JB's novels should engage in it", reflecting that society.[29] As a supporter of the Jewish people and a homeland, Buchan's name was inscribed in the Golden Book of the Jewish National Fund of Israel.[30] His name was also in a Nazi publication, "Who's Who in Britain" (Frankfurt, 1938), reading "Tweedsmuir, Lord: Pro-Jewish activity.[31] In one history of the Jewish experience in Canada, Buchan, as Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir, is described as the "most visible supporter" of the Jews.[32] Both Tweedsmuir and his wife Susan "spoke publicly in favour of Zionism, lending the cachet of the Crown" to the cause of a Jewish homeland.[33] Susan Tweedsmuir's name was also entered into the Golden Book.[34] In recognition of his contributions to literature and education, on 1 January 1932, Buchan was granted the personal gift of the sovereign of induction into the Order of the Companions of Honour.[35] In 1935, Buchan's literary work was adapted for the cinema with the release of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, starring Robert Donat as Richard Hannay, although Buchan's story was much altered. This came in the same year that Buchan was honoured with appointment to the Order of St Michael and St George on 23 May,[36] as well as being elevated to the peerage, when he was ennobled by King George V as Baron Tweedsmuir, of Elsfield in the County of Oxford on 1 June.[37] This had been done in preparation for Buchan's appointment as Canada's governor general; when consulted by Canadian prime minister R. B. Bennett about the appointment, the Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, William Lyon Mackenzie King, recommended that the King allow Buchan to serve as a commoner,[38] but George V insisted that he be represented by a peer. Buchan's name had been earlier put forward by Mackenzie King to George V as a candidate for the governor generalcy: Buchan and his wife had been guests of Mackenzie King's at his estate, Kingsmere, in 1924 and Mackenzie King, who at that time was prime minister, was impressed with Buchan, stating, "I know no man I would rather have as a friend, a beautiful, noble soul, kindly & generous in thought & word & act, informed as few men in this world have ever been, modest, humble, true, man after God's own heart." One evening in the following year, the Prime Minister mentioned to Governor General the Lord Byng of Vimy that Buchan would be a suitable successor to Byng, with which the Governor General agreed, the two being friends. Word of this reached the British Cabinet, and Buchan was approached, but he was reluctant to take the posting; Byng had been writing to Buchan about the constitutional dispute that took place in June 1926 and spoke disparagingly of Mackenzie King.[39] Governor General of Canada[edit] Mackenzie King delivers an address at the installation of Lord Tweedsmuir as Governor General of Canada, 2 November 1935 The Lord Tweedsmuir in Native headdress, photo portrait by Yousuf Karsh, 1937 On 27 March 1935, Sir George Halsey Perley announced in the Canadian Parliament (in place of the ailing Bennett, who had recommended Buchan for the governor generalship) that the King "has been graciously pleased to approve the appointment of Mr. John Buchan" as the viceregal representative.[40] The King approved the appointment,[41] made by commission under the royal sign-manual and signet. Buchan then departed for Canada and was sworn in as the country's governor general in a ceremony on 2 November 1935 in the Legislative Council of Quebec (salon rouge) of the parliament buildings of Quebec. By the time Buchan arrived in Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King had been sworn in as Prime Minister after the Liberal Party won the federal election held the previous month. Buchan was the first viceroy of Canada appointed since the enactment of the Statute of Westminster on 11 December 1931, and was thus the first to have been decided on solely by the monarch of Canada in his Canadian council. Buchan brought to the post a longstanding knowledge of Canada. He had written many appreciative words about the country as a journalist on The Spectator and had followed the actions of the Canadian forces in the First World War when writing his Nelson History of the War, helped by talks with Julian Byng, before first visiting Canada in 1924.[42] His knowledge and interest in increasing public awareness and accessibility to Canada's past resulted in Buchan being made the Champlain Society's second honorary president between 1938 and 1939.[43] Buchan continued writing during his time as governor general, but he also took his position as viceroy seriously, and from the outset made it his goal to travel the length and breadth of Canada, including to the Arctic regions,[44] to promote Canadian unity. He said of his job: "a Governor General is in a unique position for it is his duty to know the whole of Canada and all the various types of her people." Buchan also encouraged a distinct Canadian identity and national unity, despite the ongoing Great Depression and the difficulty it caused for the population.[13] Not all Canadians shared Buchan's views; he aroused the ire of imperialists when he said in Montreal in 1937: "a Canadian's first loyalty is not to the British Commonwealth of Nations, but to Canada and Canada's King,"[45] a statement that the Montreal Gazette dubbed as "disloyal."[46] Buchan maintained and recited his idea that ethnic groups "should retain their individuality and each make its contribution to the national character" and "the strongest nations are those that are made up of different racial elements."[47] George V died in late January 1936, and his eldest son, the popular Prince Edward, succeeded to the throne as Edward VIII. Rideau Hall—the royal and viceroyal residence in Ottawa—was decked in black crepe and all formal entertaining was cancelled during the official period of mourning. As the year unfolded, it became evident that the new king planned to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, which caused much discontent throughout the Dominions. Buchan conveyed to Buckingham Palace and British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin Canadians' deep affection for the King, but also the outrage to Canadian religious feelings, both Catholic and Protestant, that would occur if Edward married Simpson.[48] By 11 December, King Edward had abdicated in favour of his younger brother, Prince Albert, Duke of York, who was thereafter known as George VI. In order for the line of succession for Canada to remain parallel to those of the other Dominions, Buchan, as Governor-in-Council, gave the government's consent to the British legislation formalising the abdication, and ratified this with finality when he granted Royal Assent to the Canadian Succession to the Throne Act in 1937.[49] Upon receiving news from Mackenzie King of Edward's decision to abdicate, Tweedsmuir commented that, in his year in Canada as governor general, he had represented three kings.[50] In May and June 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured Canada from coast to coast and paid a state visit to the United States. Buchan had conceived the royal tour before the coronation in 1937; according to the official event historian, Gustave Lanctot, the idea "probably grew out of the knowledge that at his coming Coronation, George VI was to assume the additional title of King of Canada," and Buchan desired to demonstrate vividly Canada's status as an independent kingdom[51] by allowing Canadians to see "their King performing royal functions, supported by his Canadian ministers." Buchan put great effort into securing a positive response from the King to the invitation in May 1937; after more than a year without a reply, in June 1938 Buchan headed to the United Kingdom for a personal holiday, but also to procure a decision on the possible royal tour. From his home near Oxford, Buchan wrote to Mackenzie King: "The important question for me is, of course, the King's visit to Canada." After a period of convalescence at Ruthin Castle, Buchan sailed back to Canada in October with a secured commitment that the royal couple would tour the country. Though he had been a significant contributor to the organisation of the trip, Buchan retired to Rideau Hall for the duration of the royal tour; he expressed the view that while the King of Canada was present, "I cease to exist as Viceroy, and retain only a shadowy legal existence as Governor-General in Council."[51] In Canada itself, the royal couple took part in public events such as the opening of the Lions Gate Bridge in May 1939. The King appointed Tweedsmuir a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order while on the royal train, between Truro and Bedford, Nova Scotia.[52] Another factor behind the tour was public relations: the presence of the royal couple in Canada and the United States was calculated to shore up sympathy for Britain in anticipation of hostilities with Nazi Germany. Buchan's experiences during the First World War made him averse to conflict, and he tried to help prevent another war in co-ordination with Mackenzie King and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Still, Buchan authorised Canada's declaration of war against Germany in September, shortly after the British declaration of war and with the consent of King George, and thereafter issued orders of deployment for Canadian soldiers, sailors, and airmen as the titular commander-in-chief of the Canadian armed forces. Lord Tweedsmuir's grave in St Thomas's churchyard, Elsfield On 6 February 1940, he slipped and struck his head on the edge of a bath,[53] suffering a severe head injury after suffering a stroke at Rideau Hall. Two surgeries by Doctor Wilder Penfield of the Montreal Neurological Institute were insufficient to save him, and his death on 11 February drew a radio eulogy by Mackenzie King: "In the passing of His Excellency, the people of Canada have lost one of the greatest and most revered of their Governors General, and a friend who, from the day of his arrival in this country, dedicated his life to their service." The Governor General had formed a strong bond with his prime minister, even if it may have been built more on political admiration than friendship: Mackenzie King appreciated Buchan's "sterling rectitude and disinterested purpose."[6] After lying in state in the Senate chamber on Parliament Hill, Buchan was given a state funeral at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Ottawa. His ashes were returned to the UK aboard the cruiser HMS Orion for final burial at Elsfield, the village where he lived in Oxfordshire.[54] Legacy[edit] In his last years, Buchan wrote his autobiography Memory Hold-the-Door, as well as works on the history of Canada. He and Lady Tweedsmuir established the first proper library at Rideau Hall, and he founded the Governor General's Literary Awards, which remain Canada's premier award for literature.[13] His grandchildren James and Perdita Buchan also became writers. Buchan's 100 works include nearly 30 novels, seven collections of short stories, and biographies of Sir Walter Scott, Caesar Augustus, and Oliver Cromwell. He was awarded the 1928 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his biography of the Marquess of Montrose,[55] but the most famous of his books were the spy thrillers, and it is for these that he is now best remembered. The "last Buchan" (as Graham Greene entitled his appreciative review) was the 1941 novel Sick Heart River (American title: Mountain Meadow), in which a dying protagonist confronts the questions of the meaning of life in the Canadian wilderness. Tweedsmuir Provincial Park in British Columbia is now divided into Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park and Tweedsmuir North Provincial Park and Protected Area. It was created in 1938 to commemorate Buchan's 1937 visit to the Rainbow Range and other nearby areas by horseback and floatplane. He wrote in the foreword to a booklet published to commemorate his visit: "I have now travelled over most of Canada and have seen many wonderful things, but I have seen nothing more beautiful and more wonderful than the great park which British Columbia has done me the honour to call by my name".[56] His granddaughter Ursula wrote a biography of him, Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan (2019).[57] In the 21st century, his writing has come under scrutiny for its attitudes towards race. For instance, Roger Kimball states: "One cannot read far into the commentary on Buchan, ... before encountering some stiff criticism of some of his attitudes and language. The criticism resolves into three main charges: Buchan was a colonialist, ... Buchan was a racist ... Buchan was an anti-Semite:..."[58] while an article in the Herald on Buchan's poem 'The Semitic Spirit speaks' concludes that it "is poisoned by prejudice".[59] Honours[edit] Viceregal styles ofthe Lord Tweedsmuir(1935–1940)Reference styleHis Excellency the Right HonourableSon Excellence le très honorableSpoken styleYour ExcellencyVotre Excellence Ribbon bars of the Lord Tweedsmuir (incomplete) Medals of John Buchan in the National Museum of Scotland Appointments 1 January 1932: Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) 23 May 1935: Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG) 2 November 1935: Chief Scout for Canada 2 November 1935: Honorary Member of the Royal Military College of Canada Club 28 May 1937: Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (PC)[60] 15 June 1939: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)[60] : Honorary Fellow of Oxford University Medals 1935: King George V Silver Jubilee Medal 1937: King George VI Coronation Medal Awards 1897: Stanhope essay prize 1898: Newdigate Prize 1928: James Tait Black Memorial Prize 4 December 1940: Silver Wolf Award (posthumous)[60] Foreign honours 15 December 1918: Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy[60] Non-national honours 1937: Master of the Order of Good Cheer Honorary military appointments[edit] 2 November 1935: Colonel of the Governor General's Horse Guards 2 November 1935: Colonel of the Governor General's Foot Guards 2 November 1935: Colonel of the Canadian Grenadier Guards Honorary degrees[edit] This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (May 2009) 20 June 1934: University of Oxford, Doctor of Civil Law (DCL)[60] 1936: University of Toronto, Doctor of Laws (LLD)[61] 1936: University of Toronto, Doctor of Divinity (DD)[61] 1937: Harvard University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)[51] 1937: Yale University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)[51] : McGill University, Doctor of Laws (LLD) : Université de Montréal, Doctor of Laws (LLD) : University of Glasgow, Doctor of Laws (LLD) : University of St Andrews, Doctor of Laws (LLD) Honorific eponyms[edit] Geographic locations  British Columbia: Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park  British Columbia: Tweedsmuir North Provincial Park and Protected Area  British Columbia: Tweedsmuir Peak[62]  Ontario: Tweedsmuir Avenue, Ottawa  Ontario: Tweedsmuir Avenue, Toronto  Ontario: Tweedsmuir Avenue, London  Ontario: Tweedsmuir Place, Deep River  Manitoba: Tweedsmuir Place, Pinawa  Manitoba: Tweedsmuir Road, Winnipeg  Quebec: Buchan Street, Montreal  Saskatchewan: Tweedsmuir  Scotland: John Buchan Way, Broughton[63] Schools  Alberta: Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School, Okotoks  British Columbia: Lord Tweedsmuir Elementary School, New Westminster  British Columbia: Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School, Surrey  British Columbia: Tweedsmuir Hall (student residence), University of British Columbia  Ontario: John Buchan Senior Public School, Toronto  Ontario: Tweedsmuir Public School, North Bay  Ontario: Tweedsmuir Public School, London Organisations  Scotland: John Buchan Centre, Broughton[64] Coat of arms of John Buchan Crest A sunflower Proper. Escutcheon Azure a fess between three lions' heads erased Argent. Supporters Dexter a stag Proper attired Or collared Gules sinister a falcon Proper jessed belled and beaked Or armed and collared Gules. Motto Non Inferiora Secutus (Not Following Meaner Things)[65] See also[edit] List of works by John Buchan List of Scottish novelists List of European mystery writers References[edit] ^ Perth City Heritage Fund – Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust ^ Smith, Janet Adam, John Buchan, Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1965, pp. 30-32 ^ Smith, p. 41 and also Buchan, Ursula, Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps, Bloomsbury, London, 2019, pp. 34 and 49 ^ a b "Queen's University Archives > Exhibits > John Buchan > Oxford, 1895–1899: Scholar Gypsy". Queen's University. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2009. ^ Buchan, Ursula, pp. 57-58 and 61-62. ^ a b Hillmer, Norman. "Biography > Governors General of Canada > Buchan, John, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir". In Marsh, James H. (ed.). The Canadian Encyclopedia. Toronto: Historica Foundation of Canada. Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2009. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1950). The Dictionary of National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 113. ^ Smith, Chapter Four "Barrister and Journalist" ^ "Queen's University Archives > Exhibits > John Buchan > Home and Family". Queen's University. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2009. ^ Parry, J. P. (2002). "From the Thirty-Nine Articles to the Thirty-Nine Steps: reflections on the thought of John Buchan". In Bentley, Michael (ed.). Public and Private Doctrine: Essays in British History presented to Maurice Cowling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 226. ^ Parry 2002, p. 227 ^ Charteris, John (1931) At G.H.Q., Cassell. ^ a b c d Office of the Governor General of Canada. "Governor General > Former Governors General > Lord Tweedsmuir of Elsfield". Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 14 April 2010. ^ Sanders, M. L. (1975). Culbert, David (ed.). "Wellington House and British Propaganda During the First World War". The Historical Journal. No. 18. London: Carfax Publishing. pp. 119–146. ISSN 0143-9685. ^ Buchan, John, Nelson's History of the War, Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd., U.K., Vol. VII (pub’d Sept. 1915), Chapter LI (51), “The Political Situation: Britain and Italy”,(pp. 61-62). Buchan quotes a speech by the British Prime Minister in April 1915 saying a statement he read about a lack of munitions crippling Britain and its Allies had “not a word of truth in [it].” Buchan comments that, unfortunately, the statement “was literally true”. At pp. 57-60, Buchan critically analyses the British political system, its inadequacies and unpreparedness for war. He highlights: “a disinclination to tell the nation unpalatable truths” on the part of government and “ill-informed criticism in the press”; expenditure “on a lavish scale” and “much avoidable waste”; shortage of munitions and divided expert advice; casualty figures only announced in June 1915 that revealed deaths increased five-fold from Feb. to June 1915 “without any conspicuous success”. Vol. II (pub’d March 1915), p. 173. At a battle of the Marne, German dead were reported in France at 10,000 which Buchan states “is clearly an overstatement”. ^ Buchan, Nelson's History of the War, Vol. VII, p.63 ^ Vivian, Herbert (1923). Myself not least, being the personal reminiscences of "X.". New York: H. Holt and Company. pp. 373–374. ^ "Debate on the Address". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 24 November 1932. col. 261. ^ "Debate on the Address". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 24 November 1932. col. 267. ^ Parry 2002, p. 234 ^ Christopher Hitchens (March 2004). "Between Kipling and Fleming stands John Buchan, the father of the modern spy thriller". The Atlantic. Retrieved 13 August 2014. ^ Buchan, Ursula (2019). Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps. London: Bloomsbury. p. 300. ISBN 978-1-4088-7081-5. ^ ibid. ^ Galbraith, J. William (2013). John Buchan: Model Governor General. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-4597-0937-9. ^ Weizmann, Chaim (1979). The Letters and Papers of Chaim Weizmann. Israel Universities Press. p. 320-321, Letter 285, Weizmann to Tweedsmuir/Buchan, February 22, 1938, Series A: Letters, Vol. 18. ^ Rose, Norman (1973). The Gentile Zionists. London: Frank Cass Ltd. ^ Anthony Storr (1997). Feet of Clay: A Study of Gurus. HarperCollins. p. 168. ^ Buchan, Ursula (2019). Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps. London: Bloomsbury. p. 299. ISBN 978-1-4088-7081-5. ^ ibid. ^ Smith, Janet Adam (1965). John Buchan. London: Rupert Hart-Davis. p. 317. ^ Buchan, Ursula (2019). Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps. London: Bloomsbury. p. 300. ISBN 978-1-4088-7081-5. ^ Brown, Michael (2001). "Zionism in the Pre-Statehood Years: The Canadian Response" in From Immigration to Integration: The Canadian Jewish Experience. Toronto: B'nai Brith Canada, Institute for International Affairs. pp. 121–134. ^ Galbraith, J. William (2013). John Buchan: Model Governor General. Toronto: Dundurn Press. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-4597-0937-9. ^ ibid. ^ "No. 33785". The London Gazette. 29 December 1931. p. 12. ^ "No. 34164". The London Gazette. 28 May 1935. p. 3443. ^ "No. 34167". The London Gazette. 4 June 1935. p. 3620. ^ Reynolds, Louise (2005). Mackenzie King: Friends & Lovers. Victoria: Trafford Publishing. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-4120-5985-5. ^ Reynolds 2005, p. 125 ^ House of Commons (Canada) Debates, 27 March 1935, page 2144. ^ House of Commons (Canada) Debates, 27 March 1935, page 2144. Cited with other details in Galbraith, J. William, "John Buchan: Model Governor General", Dundurn, Toronto, 2013. p.19. ^ Smith, Janet Adam (1979). John Buchan and his world. Thames & Hudson. p. 89. ISBN 0-500-13067-1. ^ The Champlain Society. "Former Officer's of The Champlain Society (1905–2012)". Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014. ^ The first governor-general to travel to the Canadian Arctic was Lord Byng (GG 1921-1926) in 1925. Cited in Galbraith, William, "The Literary Governor-General" in "The Literary Review of Canada", October 1996, page 19. ^ Smith, Janet Adam (1965). John Buchan: a Biography. Boston: Little Brown and Company. p. 423. ^ "Royal Visit". Time. Vol. IXX, no. 17. New York: Time Inc. 21 October 1957. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on 13 May 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2009. ^ Saunders, Doug (27 June 2009). "Canada's mistaken identity". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 28 June 2009. ^ Hubbard, R.H. (1977). Rideau Hall. Montreal and London: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-7735-0310-6. ^ Tony O'Donohue v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the United Kingdom, 01-CV-217147CM, s. 34 (Ontario Superior Court of Justice 26 June 2006). ^ Library and Archives Canada (2007). "The Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King". Queen's Printer for Canada. p. 562. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2012. ^ a b c d Galbraith, William (1989). "Fiftieth Anniversary of the 1939 Royal Visit". Canadian Parliamentary Review. 12 (3). Ottawa: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2009. ^ McCreery, Christopher (2008), On Her Majesty's Service: Royal Honours and Recognition in Canada, Toronto: Dundurn, p. 32, ISBN 9781459712249, retrieved 20 November 2015 ^ John Buchan: Master of Suspense BBC4 2 June 2022 ^ Biggs, Percy (28 August 1991). "Biggs, Percy Sydney (Oral history)". Imperial War Museums. Catalogue number 12211. Wood, Conrad (recorder). 23m57s. Retrieved 5 June 2019. ^ Montrose – A History was a scholarly revision of The Marquis of Montrose, published in 1913. ^ Ministry of the Environment. "BC Parks > Find a Park > Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park > History". Queen's Printer for British Columbia. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2009. ^ {{cite web %7c https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beyond-the-thirtynine-steps-9781408870822/ %7c https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/was-there-no-end-to-his-talents/#comments-container %7c last1=Quinn |first1=Anthony |title=Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan review – a man of no mystery |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/05/beyond-the-thirty-nine-steps-a-life-of-john-buchan-ursula |website=The Observer |access-date=26 December 2019 |date=5 May 2019}} ^ ""Realism coloured by poetry": rereading John Buchan". newcriterion.com. September 2003. Retrieved 1 August 2021. ^ "First-degree racism and snobbery with violence". HeraldScotland. 25 March 1996. Retrieved 1 August 2021. ^ a b c d e "Material relating to John Buchan, first Lord Tweedsmuir (1875–1940)" (PDF). National Library of Scotland. ACC 12329. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2009. ^ a b Honorary Degree Recipients 1850 – 2008 (PDF). Toronto: University of Toronto. 30 June 2008. p. 8. ^ "Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia > Tweedsmuir Peak". Mountain Equipment Co-op. Retrieved 27 May 2009. ^ "Find a Walk > The John Buchan Way (Peebles to Broughton)". Walking Scotland. Retrieved 26 March 2009. ^ "John Buchan Centre". John Buchan Society. Retrieved 26 March 2009. ^ Debrett's Peerage. 1985. p. 1196. Further reading[edit] Bell, John. "John Buchan: Adventurer on the Borderland". (Introduction to) John Buchan, The Far Islands and Other Tales of Fantasy. West Kingston, RI: Donald M. Grant, 1984, pp7–18 Brinckman, John, Down North: John Buchan and Margaret-Bourke on the Mackenzie ISBN 978-0-9879163-3-4 Buchan, Ursula. Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan (Bloomsbury, 2019) ISBN 978-1-4088-7083-9 Daniell, David, The Interpreter's House: A Critical Assessment of John Buchan (Nelson, 1975) ISBN 0-17-146051-0 Galbraith, J. William, "John Buchan: Model Governor General" (Dundurn, Toronto, 2013) ISBN 978-1-45970-937-9 Lownie, Andrew, John Buchan: The Presbyterian Cavalier (David R. Godine Publisher, 2003) ISBN 1-56792-236-8 Macdonald, Kate, John Buchan: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction (McFarland & Company, 2009) ISBN 978-0-7864-3489-3 Macdonald, Kate (ed.), Reassessing John Buchan: Beyond 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' (Pickering & Chatto, 2009) ISBN 978-1-85196-998-2 Smith, Janet Adam, John Buchan: A Biography (1965) (Oxford University Press, reissue 1985) ISBN 0-19-281866-X Waddell, Nathan, Modern John Buchan: A Critical Introduction (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009) ISBN 978-1-4438-1370-9 External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to John Buchan. Wikisource has original works by or about:John Buchan Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Buchan. Queen's University Library, Ottawa, Canada, Checklist of Works by and About John Buchan, Boston: G. K. Hall, 1961 Buchan, John, A History of the Great War, Vol. I, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1922 Buchan, John, A History of the Great War, Vol. II, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1922 Buchan, John, A History of the Great War, Vol. III, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1922 Buchan, John, A History of the Great War, Vol. IV, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1922 Works by John Buchan in eBook form at Standard Ebooks Works by John Buchan at Project Gutenberg Works by John Buchan at Faded Page (Canada) Project Gutenberg Australia: Works by John Buchan Works by or about John Buchan at Internet Archive Please sign up for free to view original documents Works by John Buchan at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) Works by John Buchan at Open Library Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Buchan Governor General of Canada: Lord Tweedsmuir The Canadian Encyclopedia: John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir The John Buchan Society John Buchan Museum John Buchan at IMDb John Buchan at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database John Buchan at Library of Congress, with 208 library catalogue records John Buchan Letters at Dartmouth College Library A Time Magazine book review, 1940: Link Government offices Preceded byThe Earl of Bessborough Governor General of Canada 1935–1940 Succeeded byThe Earl of Athlone Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded byHenry CraikGeorge BerryDugald Cowan Member of Parliament for Combined Scottish Universities April 1927 – June 1935 With: George Berry to 1931Dugald Cowan to 1934Noel Skelton from 1931George Morrison from 1934 Succeeded byJohn Graham KerrNoel SkeltonGeorge Alexander Morrison Academic offices Preceded byJ. M. Barrie Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh 1937–1940 Succeeded byThe Marquess of Linlithgow Peerage of the United Kingdom New title Baron Tweedsmuir 3 June 1935 – 11 February 1940 Succeeded byJohn Buchan vteGovernors general of Canada Monck Lisgar Dufferin Lorne Lansdowne Stanley Aberdeen Minto Grey Connaught Devonshire Byng Willingdon Bessborough Tweedsmuir Athlone Alexander Massey Vanier Michener Léger Schreyer Sauvé Hnatyshyn LeBlanc Clarkson Jean Johnston Payette Simon vteJohn BuchanRichard Hannay novels The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915) Greenmantle (1916) Mr Standfast (1919) The Three Hostages (1924) The Courts of the Morning (1929) The Island of Sheep (1936) Edward Leithen novels The Power-House (1916) John Macnab (1925) The Dancing Floor (1926) The Gap in the Curtain (1932) Sick Heart River (1941) Dickson McCunn trilogy Huntingtower (1922) Castle Gay (1930) The House of the Four Winds (1935) Other fiction Sir Quixote of the Moors (1895) John Burnet of Barns (1898) A Lost Lady of Old Years (1899) The Half-Hearted (1900) The Watcher by the Threshold, and other tales (1906) A Lodge in the Wilderness (1906) Prester John (1910) The Moon Endureth (1912) Salute to Adventurers (1915) The Path of the King (1921) Midwinter (1923) Witch Wood (1927) The Runagates Club (1928) The Blanket of the Dark (1931) The Magic Walking Stick (1932) A Prince of the Captivity (1933) The Free Fishers (1934) The Far Islands and Other Tales of Fantasy (1984) Characters Sandy Arbuthnot John S. Blenkiron Sir Walter Bullivant Hilda von Einem Richard Hannay Charles Lamancha Edward Leithen Dickson McCunn John Palliser-Yeates Peter Pienaar Archie Roylance Non-fiction Montrose (1928) Memory Hold-the-Door (1940) AdaptationsFilms The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands (1927) Huntingtower (1928) The 39 Steps (1935) The 39 Steps (1959) The Three Hostages (1977) (TV movie) The Thirty Nine Steps (1978) The 39 Steps (2008) (TV movie) TV series The Three Hostages (1952) Witch Wood (1954) John Macnab (1976) Huntingtower (1978) Hannay (1988–89) The 39 Steps (2024) Other The 39 Steps (play) Family Susan Grosvenor John Buchan William Buchan Alastair Francis Buchan Anna Masterton Buchan Other Works Authority control databases International FAST ISNI VIAF National Norway Spain France BnF data Catalonia Germany Israel Belgium United States Latvia Japan Czech Republic Australia Greece Korea Croatia Netherlands Poland Portugal Vatican Artists MusicBrainz People Deutsche Biographie Trove Other SNAC IdRef
CHAPTER TWO The Milkman Sets Out on his Travels
I sat down in an armchair and felt very sick. That lasted for maybe five minutes, and was succeeded by a fit of the horrors. The poor staring white face on the floor was more than I could bear, and I managed to get a table-cloth and cover it. Then I staggered to a cupboard, found the brandy and swallowed several mouthfuls. I had seen men die violently before; indeed I had killed a few myself in the Matabele War; but this cold-blooded indoor business was different. Still I managed to pull myself together. I looked at my watch, and saw that it was half-past ten.
An idea seized me, and I went over the flat with a small-tooth comb. There was nobody there, nor any trace of anybody, but I shuttered and bolted all the windows and put the chain on the door. By this time my wits were coming back to me, and I could think again. It took me about an hour to figure the thing out, and I did not hurry, for, unless the murderer came back, I had till about six o'clock in the morning for my cogitations.
I was in the soup-that was pretty clear. Any shadow of a doubt I might have had about the truth of Scudder's tale was now gone. The proof of it was lying under the table-cloth. The men who knew that he knew what he knew had found him, and had taken the best way to make certain of his silence. Yes; but he had been in my rooms four days, and his enemies must have reckoned that he had confided in me. So I would be the next to go. It might be that very night, or next day, or the day after, but my number was up all right.
Then suddenly I thought of another probability. Supposing I went out now and called in the police, or went to bed and let Paddock find the body and call them in the morning. What kind of a story was I to tell about Scudder? I had lied to Paddock about him, and the whole thing looked desperately fishy. If I made a clean breast of it and told the police everything he had told me, they would simply laugh at me. The odds were a thousand to one that I would be charged with the murder, and the circumstantial evidence was strong enough to hang me. Few people knew me in England; I had no real pal who could come forward and swear to my character. Perhaps that was what those secret enemies were playing for. They were clever enough for anything, and an English prison was as good a way of getting rid of me till after June 15th as a knife in my chest.
Besides, if I told the whole story, and by any miracle was believed, I would be playing their game. Karolides would stay at home, which was what they wanted. Somehow or other the sight of Scudder's dead face had made me a passionate believer in his scheme. He was gone, but he had taken me into his confidence, and I was pretty well bound to carry on his work.
You may think this ridiculous for a man in danger of his life, but that was the way I looked at it. I am an ordinary sort of fellow, not braver than other people, but I hate to see a good man downed, and that long knife would not be the end of Scudder if I could play the game in his place.
It took me an hour or two to think this out, and by that time I had come to a decision. I must vanish somehow, and keep vanished till the end of the second week in June. Then I must somehow find a way to get in touch with the Government people and tell them what Scudder had told me. I wished to Heaven he had told me more, and that I had listened more carefully to the little he had told me. I knew nothing but the barest facts. There was a big risk that, even if I weathered the other dangers, I would not be believed in the end. I must take my chance of that, and hope that something might happen which would confirm my tale in the eyes of the Government.
My first job was to keep going for the next three weeks. It was now the 24th day of May, and that meant twenty days of hiding before I could venture to approach the powers that be. I reckoned that two sets of people would be looking for me-Scudder's enemies to put me out of existence, and the police, who would want me for Scudder's murder. It was going to be a giddy hunt, and it was queer how the prospect comforted me. I had been slack so long that almost any chance of activity was welcome. When I had to sit alone with that corpse and wait on Fortune I was no better than a crushed worm, but if my neck's safety was to hang on my own wits I was prepared to be cheerful about it.
My next thought was whether Scudder had any papers about him to give me a better clue to the business. I drew back the table-cloth and searched his pockets, for I had no longer any shrinking from the body. The face was wonderfully calm for a man who had been struck down in a moment. There was nothing in the breast-pocket, and only a few loose coins and a cigar-holder in the waistcoat. The trousers held a little penknife and some silver, and the side pocket of his jacket contained an old crocodile-skin cigar-case. There was no sign of the little black book in which I had seen him making notes. That had no doubt been taken by his murderer.
But as I looked up from my task I saw that some drawers had been pulled out in the writing-table. Scudder would never have left them in that state, for he was the tidiest of mortals. Someone must have been searching for something-perhaps for the pocket-book.
I went round the flat and found that everything had been ransacked-the inside of books, drawers, cupboards, boxes, even the pockets of the clothes in my wardrobe, and the sideboard in the dining-room. There was no trace of the book. Most likely the enemy had found it, but they had not found it on Scudder's body.
Then I got out an atlas and looked at a big map of the British Isles. My notion was to get off to some wild district, where my veldcraft would be of some use to me, for I would be like a trapped rat in a city. I considered that Scotland would be best, for my people were Scotch and I could pass anywhere as an ordinary Scotsman. I had half an idea at first to be a German tourist, for my father had had German partners, and I had been brought up to speak the tongue pretty fluently, not to mention having put in three years prospecting for copper in German Damaraland. But I calculated that it would be less conspicuous to be a Scot, and less in a line with what the police might know of my past. I fixed on Galloway as the best place to go. It was the nearest wild part of Scotland, so far as I could figure it out, and from the look of the map was not over thick with population.
A search in Bradshaw informed me that a train left St Pancras at 7.10, which would land me at any Galloway station in the late afternoon. That was well enough, but a more important matter was how I was to make my way to St Pancras, for I was pretty certain that Scudder's friends would be watching outside. This puzzled me for a bit; then I had an inspiration, on which I went to bed and slept for two troubled hours.
I got up at four and opened my bedroom shutters. The faint light of a fine summer morning was flooding the skies, and the sparrows had begun to chatter. I had a great revulsion of feeling, and felt a God-forgotten fool. My inclination was to let things slide, and trust to the British police taking a reasonable view of my case. But as I reviewed the situation I could find no arguments to bring against my decision of the previous night, so with a wry mouth I resolved to go on with my plan. I was not feeling in any particular funk; only disinclined to go looking for trouble, if you understand me.
I hunted out a well-used tweed suit, a pair of strong nailed boots, and a flannel shirt with a collar. Into my pockets I stuffed a spare shirt, a cloth cap, some handkerchiefs, and a tooth-brush. I had drawn a good sum in gold from the bank two days before, in case Scudder should want money, and I took fifty pounds of it in sovereigns in a belt which I had brought back from Rhodesia. That was about all I wanted. Then I had a bath, and cut my moustache, which was long and drooping, into a short stubbly fringe.
Now came the next step. Paddock used to arrive punctually at 7.30 and let himself in with a latch-key. But about twenty minutes to seven, as I knew from bitter experience, the milkman turned up with a great clatter of cans, and deposited my share outside my door. I had seen that milkman sometimes when I had gone out for an early ride. He was a young man about my own height, with an ill-nourished moustache, and he wore a white overall. On him I staked all my chances.
I went into the darkened smoking-room where the rays of morning light were beginning to creep through the shutters. There I breakfasted off a whisky-and-soda and some biscuits from the cupboard. By this time it was getting on for six o'clock. I put a pipe in my pocket and filled my pouch from the tobacco jar on the table by the fireplace.
As I poked into the tobacco my fingers touched something hard, and I drew out Scudder's little black pocket-book ... That seemed to me a good omen. I lifted the cloth from the body and was amazed at the peace and dignity of the dead face. 'Goodbye, old chap,' I said; 'I am going to do my best for you. Wish me well, wherever you are.'
Then I hung about in the hall waiting for the milkman. That was the worst part of the business, for I was fairly choking to get out of doors. Six-thirty passed, then six-forty, but still he did not come. The fool had chosen this day of all days to be late. At one minute after the quarter to seven I heard the rattle of the cans outside. I opened the front door, and there was my man, singling out my cans from a bunch he carried and whistling through his teeth. He jumped a bit at the sight of me.
'Come in here a moment,' I said. 'I want a word with you.' And I led him into the dining-room. 'I reckon you're a bit of a sportsman,' I said, 'and I want you to do me a service. Lend me your cap and overall for ten minutes, and here's a sovereign for you.'
His eyes opened at the sight of the gold, and he grinned broadly. 'Wot's the gyme?'he asked. 'A bet,' I said. 'I haven't time to explain, but to win it I've got to be a milkman for the next ten minutes. All you've got to do is to stay here till I come back. You'll be a bit late, but nobody will complain, and you'll have that quid for yourself.'
'Right-o!' he said cheerily. 'I ain't the man to spoil a bit of sport. 'Ere's the rig, guv'nor.' I stuck on his flat blue hat and his white overall, picked up the cans, banged my door, and went whistling downstairs. The porter at the foot told me to shut my jaw, which sounded as if my make-up was adequate.
At first I thought there was nobody in the street. Then I caught sight of a policeman a hundred yards down, and a loafer shuffling past on the other side. Some impulse made me raise my eyes to the house opposite, and there at a first-floor window was a face. As the loafer passed he looked up, and I fancied a signal was exchanged.
I crossed the street, whistling gaily and imitating the jaunty swing of the milkman. Then I took the first side street, and went up a left-hand turning which led past a bit of vacant ground. There was no one in the little street, so I dropped the milk-cans inside the hoarding and sent the cap and overall after them. I had only just put on my cloth cap when a postman came round the corner. I gave him good morning and he answered me unsuspiciously. At the moment the clock of a neighbouring church struck the hour of seven.
There was not a second to spare. As soon as I got to Euston Road I took to my heels and ran. The clock at Euston Station showed five minutes past the hour. At St Pancras I had no time to take a ticket, let alone that I had not settled upon my destination. A porter told me the platform, and as I entered it I saw the train already in motion. Two station officials blocked the way, but I dodged them and clambered into the last carriage.
Three minutes later, as we were roaring through the northern tunnels, an irate guard interviewed me. He wrote out for me a ticket to Newton-Stewart, a name which had suddenly come back to my memory, and he conducted me from the first-class compartment where I had ensconced myself to a third-class smoker, occupied by a sailor and a stout woman with a child. He went off grumbling, and as I mopped my brow I observed to my companions in my broadest Scots that it was a sore job catching trains. I had already entered upon my part.
'The impidence o' that gyaird!' said the lady bitterly. 'He needit a Scotch tongue to pit him in his place. He was complainin' o' this wean no haein' a ticket and her no fower till August twalmonth, and he was objectin' to this gentleman spittin'.'
The sailor morosely agreed, and I started my new life in an atmosphere of protest against authority. I reminded myself that a week ago I had been finding the world dull.

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Word Lists:

Morose : sullen and ill-tempered

Atlas : a book of maps or charts

Cogitation : the action of thinking deeply about something; contemplation

Fishy : relating to or resembling fish or a fish

Funk : a state of depression

Ensconce : establish or settle (someone) in a comfortable, safe, or secret place

Irate : feeling or characterized by great anger

Weathered : worn by long exposure to the atmosphere; weather-beaten

Overall : taking everything into account

Cold-blooded : (of a kind of animal) having a body temperature varying with that of the environment; poikilothermic.

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Additional Information:

Rating: B Words in the Passage: 2549 Unique Words: 804 Sentences: 145
Noun: 568 Conjunction: 259 Adverb: 141 Interjection: 1
Adjective: 140 Pronoun: 328 Verb: 479 Preposition: 289
Letter Count: 9,963 Sentiment: Positive / Positive / Positive Tone: Conversational Difficult Words: 435
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