I think JB, as his admirers and family affectionately refer to him, epitomises for me all that is great in a Scotsman. As well as being a supremely talented and prolific novelist he was a law graduate, classicist, soldier, Unionist MP, journalist, biographer, diplomat and intelligence officer. He was a devoted family man and husband grounded, as he was, in the Presbyterian hard working tradition. By nature he was: humble, compassionate, articulate, erudite, intelligent, persuasive and remarkably influential. Some have described him as enigmatic or even complex, but if these were his most negative attributes that can’t be bad. As Baron Tweedsmuir, the 15th Governor General of Canada, he signed the document which took that great nation in to the Second World War, though he died soon after hostilities began. In his five years in Canada he proved himself to be a progressive and hands-on governor who saw education and reading as being fundamental to the needs of the people. He established an annual literature prize that exists to this day. Buchan was said to have had a genius for friendship maintaining many good friends all his life. He was close to President Roosevelt and respected by the monarchs of his day. His memorial service was at Westminster Abbey and the editor of The Times stated that he had never before received as many letters expressing grief at the announcement of a death.
Buchan published at an astonishing rate (over one hundred books), never letting up even during the busiest times in his illustrious career. He is probably best remembered for his fiction but this amounted to under half of his publications. He is regarded by many as having written, as Winston Churchill did for the second, the definitive history of the First World War. His most famous work, The Thirty -Nine Steps, was in fact just the first in a series of Richard Hannay novels. Like many others, characters were based on friends or acquaintances and set in various parts of the world where he had been posted or visited, but often right here in the Borders. Buchan lived to see the first film version of this novel, filmed in 1935 and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. His first dramatized novel was Huntingtower, starring another legendary Scot, Sir Harry Lauder.
One of Buchan’s children, William, is still alive today. His daughter, JB’s granddaughter, Lady Deborah Stewartby is a delightful person and will relate anecdotes and tales with an enthusiasm and in a manner which the great man himself would be proud. The John Buchan Centre continues to display a marvellous array of “Buchanalia.” The building is the former church where JB’s father, the Reverend John Buchan, met his wife, Helen Masterton and where JB worshipped many times.
This little museum lies immediately south of Broughton on the A701, Moffat Road. Deborah herself lives nearby and frequently pops in. She or any of the other volunteers would be only too happy to introduce you to the legend and memory of Buchan or reacquaint you if you have not read him since school. Not only that but the centre gives us an insight into a way of life, from not so long ago, when values and experiences were quite different to those of today. Personal tragedy was common and often colleagues, family and friends valiantly went off to fight on the battlefields of Europe, never to return. One of the most moving documents I read there was a letter from Churchill to Buchan in 1917, commiserating with him on the death of his brother, Alistair Buchan, who earlier that month had been killed in action. JB also lost a sister when she was five and the newspaper announcement of her passing was as heart breaking as it was common in the late nineteenth century.
Do find the time to manage along, it’s here on our doorstep. The entry fee is very modest and it is soon to close again for the season. Honour, or at least acknowledge, with me this hero of our county and our country. Purchase there a reprint or early edition work (first editions can fetch hundreds of pounds or more!) and immerse yourself and your senses in an age gone by. Sixty-six years and eight months (or the “two-thirds centenary”) is an odd one to celebrate I admit, but it’s as good an excuse as any for me to sing and write Buchan’s praises and to raise a glass to him on October 11th.
Do visit: www.johnbuchansociety.co.uk/jbcentre.htm
Or read the definitive
biography: