A: Books and Short Stories


A1A137, F1.
The Apple Tree
The Apple TreeLondon
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 3 - 7.June 1918

This story later appeared in: Poems and related early work | Peglet Press | Ampthill | June 1994 | pp. [10] - [15].

Prize winning short story in a competition announced in Vol. 1, No. 1, May 1918, with a set title the same as that of the magazine. This was the first short story of Gunn's to be published. Gunn used the tree, laden with blossom, as a focal point for a romantic encounter recalled by a young man on his homeward train journey. He feels impelled to return and the tree again becomes a focal point. However, in the cold light of dawn, reality is poignantly different from the recollection.


A2A5.
The Spectre of the Sign-Post
PanLondon
Vol. 9, No. 23, pp. 117 - 124.May 1923

Written under the pseudonym of Neil McPhee. "Pan" magazine was the predecessor of "20 Story Magazine". This is the first of Gunn's commercially accepted stories. A light-hearted story of mystery and romance introducing us to Mr. Lionel Jenkins, an author of mystery stories who we meet again in a later story.


A3A42.
Visioning
The Scottish NationMontrose
Vol. 1, No. 12, pp. 4 - 5.24th. July 1923

This story later appeared in: Montrose Review | Montrose | 27th. July 1923 Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 23 - 27.

A young armchair traveller knows many foreign places intimately through regular discussions and story telling sessions with sea-faring friends. However, as a result of a chance liaison he has a vision of personal stagnation and exchanges a passive for an active role in travelling.


A4A15, A50, A110.
Surfaces
The Scottish NationMontrose
Vol. 1, No. 14, pp. 4 - 5.7th. August 1923

This story later appeared in: Montrose Review | Montrose | 10th. August 1923

A story of romance between two young people, which concentrates on intellectual qualities and inner realities. In many ways this foreshadows the more philosophical approach of his later novels. One character is the daughter of an archaeologist, a calling which often appears in Gunn's work.


A5A2, A14, A16, A27, A30, A95.
The House on the Moor
20 Story MagazineLondon
Vol. 3, No. 14, pp. 121 - 125.August 1923

Written under the pseudonym of Neil McPhee. A motorist on a moorland road discovers a lost child and returns it to its impoverished but clean and tidy home where it is re-united with its parents. In the interim, fearing foul play, the hero, a writer of detective fiction (see "The Spectre of the Sign Post"), makes a discovery which will be to the benefit of all. This story has many pointers to later work, particularly the personification of the moor, as in much of his work (especially "Symbolical"). The furniture in the house is also regarded as watching the hero as in "The White Hour". In the disposition of the buildings of the croft, the identity of the recently deceased grandfather and the final discovery this is clearly the forerunner of "The Grey Coast".


A6A22, A30, A42, A83, A98, A115.
Down to the Sea
The Scottish NationMontrose
Vol. 1, No. 18, pp. 14 - 15.4th. September 1923

This story later appeared in: Montrose Review | Montrose | 7th. September 1923 Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 104 - 115. The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 214 - 221. Extracts from this story appeared on the 1994 Caithness Calendar - see entry under reference A42.

The story of an old man who has lived by the sea all his life who makes a final journey "Down to the Sea" where, after recalling scenes from his earlier life, he accidentally drowns. The theme is similar to "Symbolical", "Such Stuff as Dreams", "Henry Drake Goes Home" and, in a way, "The Serpent".


A7
The Hat Box
The Glasgow HeraldGlasgow
141st. Year, No. 246.13th. October 1923

This story appeared over the initials, N.M.G. Despite the title, this early story is in the nature of a fisherman's reminiscence.


A8A42, A115.
The Clock
The Scottish NationMontrose
Vol. 1, No. 24, pp. 6 - 7.16th. October 1923

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 92 - 103. The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 117 - 184.

The clock of the title is almost personified in this story. It was a wedding present from an ex-employer to a woman whose husband had just saved him from drowning. The gift arrived at the time her husband died following pneumonia contracted in the rescue. The clock became the embodiment of evil and its destruction was attended by more tragedy.


A9
A Tight Corner
The Glasgow HeraldGlasgow
141st. Year, No. 252.20th. October 1923

This story appeared over the initials, N.M.G. The story concerns a narrow escape from capture after a salmon poaching expedition. There are many similarities between this story and the many semi-autobiographical references throughout Gunn's work.


A10
Talking About Snakes
Unpublished
1st. November 1923

A letter dated 1st. November 1923 to Neil M. Gunn from Odhams Press enclosed payment for a short story with the above title. No manuscript survives and I have been unable to trace publication in any of the likely publications produced by Odhams at this time.


A11
The Gramophone
The Scottish NationMontrose
Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 8 - 9.13th. November 1923

A young adolescent's growing awareness of things adult is told sympathetically in this story. This is shown through the medium of music from a gramophone (then a new toy) owned by an adult for whom the youth has great admiration.


A12
The Hind
The Scottish NationMontrose
Vol. 2, No. 6, pp. 4 -5.11th. December 1923

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. A light-hearted tale of poaching and roguery which explains how one person acquired the odd nick-name of "The Hind".


A13
The White Packet
Unpublished
17th. March 1924

A letter dated 17th. March 1924 to Neil M. Gunn from Cassell and Co. encloses payment for a short story of the above title. No manuscript survives and I have been unable to trace publication in any of the likely publications produced by Cassell at this time.


A14A5, A42, A95, A101, A115.
The White Hour
The Dublin MagazineDublin
Vol. 1, No. 8, pp. 741 - 744.March 1924

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 133 - 141. Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | Ist. October 1942 | pp. 147 - 152. The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 80 - 85.

The story of an old lady sensing imminent death who, as a final act, encourages the match between her granddaughter and a visiting young man. In doing so she recollects the first meaningful meeting between her husband and herself. A scene that was to be recreated between the young people in a phoenix like manner.


A15A4, A42, A50, A110.
The Sleeping Bins
The CornhillLondon
Vol. 56, New Series No. 336, (No. 774) pp. 663 - 679.June 1924

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 191 - 221.

A light, somewhat contrived, story of mystery, romance and wine, incorporating as one of its principals an archaeologist, a profession which occurs a number of times in Gunn's work.


A16A5, A23, A26.
Furniture of the Heart
20 Story Magazinelondon
Vol. 4, No. 24, pp. 55 - 60.June 1924

Written under the pseudonym of Neil McPhee. A wealthy bachelor, interested in antiques and, in particular, in picking up a bargain (as in "A Romance of the Reel") finds a lost child at the side of the road. In this there are similarities to "The House on the Moor". He takes on the duties of a parent with a resultant warming of his personality. There are many parallels with the story "Birdsong at Evening".


A17A42.
The Uncashed Cheque
The Northern ReviewEdinburgh
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 104 - 109.June - July 1924

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 116 - 132.

A macabre and somewhat contrived tale of failure, poverty, despair and death in the face of potential relief, told as a story in a gentlemen's club.


A17.1
Black Lachie
The Glasgow HeraldGlasgow
142nd. Year, No. 173, p. 4.19th July 1924

This story appeared over the initials, N.M.G. A short story concerned with changing values in the Highlands, with particular reference to illicit stills.


A18
An Adventure in Jealousy
The Northern ReviewEdinburgh
Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 162 - 169.August 1924

An essentially realistic engineer is scathing of the romantic element of novels, whilst reading them avidly. His wife secretly yearns for a degree of such excitement in their relationship and, with the help of an author friend, engineers "An Adventure in Jealousy".


A19A42.
Between Headlands
The Northern ReviewEdinburgh
Vol. 1, No. 24, pp. 246 - 247.September 1924

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 170 - 175.

Set along the "Grey Coast" this is the story of an elderly couple who were devoted to one another, but a little aloof from others. Because of a crime in their youth they had been forced to flee but, in old age, they had felt the need to return as close as they dared to the land of their birth - a strong theme in Gunn's work.


A20
Enthusiasms
20 Story MagazineLondon
Vol. 5, No. 28, pp. 74 - 78.October 1924

Written under the pseudonym of Neil McPhee. A light story, written to a formula with a twist at the end, of a man given to enthusiasms - some good and some not so good.


A21
Sheiking
20 Story MagazineLondon
Vol. 5, No. 29, pp. 103 - 106.November 1924

Written under the pseudonym of Neil McPhee. A humorus story of two henpecked husbands and their attempts to resolve their problems.


A21.1
Cavern'd Echoes
5th. January 1925

I can trace no short story published under this title but a manuscript of what appears to be a longish short story is referred to in a letter from C.M.Grieve dated 5th. January 1925. The letter suggests it would be included in "Hidden Doors" but this does not appear to have happened, the longest story being "Half-Light". From its length "A Romance of the Reel" could relate to this manuscript, although correspondence with Cape in 1926 suggests that a novel bearing this title existed, perhaps as an expansion of the manuscript referred to by Grieve.


A22A6, A30, A42, A83, A98, A115.
Such Stuff as Dreams
The Dublin MagazineDublin
Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 489 - 493.February 1925

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 38 - 49. The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 185 - 191.

The story of a dying Highland emigrant in Canada who feels an overwhelming need to visit the surroundings of his youth. A desire which, in his sickness, is met.


A23A16, A40, A102, A138, B2, B23.
A Romance of the Reel
Chambers's JournalEdinburgh
Vol. 15.August 1925

The story was published in three parts: Part 1, No. 768, pp. 577 - 580. 15th. August 1925 Part 2, No. 769, pp. 603 - 606. 22nd. August 1925 Part 3, No. 770, pp. 620 - 621. 29th. August 1925 A well constructed story of an elderly antique shop owner and his salmon fishing holiday which ended in near disaster. There are comparisons and links drawn throughout to a painting in his shop. There are slight similarities in parts of this story to "The Poaching at Grianan" and "The Green Isle of the Great Deep".


A24A28, A33, A34, A40, A42, A51, A107, A115, A138, B2, B5, B23.
Half-Light
The CornhillLondon
Vol. 59, New Series No. 353, (No. 791), pp. 607 - 620.November 1925

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 50 - 75. Scottish Short Stories: An Anthology | Faber and Faber | London | 1932 | pp. 393 - 413. The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 257 - 273. An extract from this story appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar - see entry under reference A42.

A native of the northern coast of Scotland enters university and is successful. He is bitter and scathing about the dead "Grey Coast" and of "Celtic Twilights". However, he seems strangely drawn, and returns as if in answer to some call to his essential being. Gradually his surroundings assert themselves and he associates himself closer with the past and his heritage, to the point of seeing, in his mind's eye, the ghost of harbours past. He, still grudgingly, begins to be enamoured of the "Celtic Twilight" poets, whose work he describes as "dream poetry, a glimmering half light, beckoning. . ." In that same northern half light, which gives enriched coloration, he takes to swimming in the sea where he is ultimately drawn into its bosom, a return to the life and source of livelihood of his ancestors. The pull of the homeland is a recurring feature in Gunn's work, in particular in "The Lost Glen", "Back Home" and "The Drinking Well" and is often associated with failure, although here the hero, as a schoolmaster, is socially acceptable. (see also "Poaching at Grianan", "The Ancient Fire" and "Beyond the Cage")


A25A35, A42, A46, A60, A118, A121, E86, E94, E96.
The Sea
The Glasgow HeraldGlasgow
p. 4.19th. June 1926

This story appeared over the initials, N.M.G. This story was to be adapted into a prize winning story of the same name which appeared in The Scots Magazine in January 1929. It was later to form the basis of the first part of "Morning Tide". A moving story of a storm at sea seen through the eyes of a child.


A26A16, A123, A136.
Birdsong at Evening
The CornhillLondon
Vol. 61, New Series No. 363 (No. 801) pp. 298 - 314.September 1926

This story later appeared in: The Man Who Came Back | M. McCulloch, ed. | Polygon | Edinburgh | 1991 | pp. [161] - 173.

A superb story of adaptation to retirement and to the realities of nature. The essential rightness of the natural law as opposed to conventional moral codes is clearly defined and previews, in certain respects, ideas which were to find their full flowering in "Bloodhunt".


A27A5.
The Grey Coast
Jonathan CapeLondon
1926
THE GREY COAST | By | NEIL M. GUNN | [ornament] | [ital.] I ken a gloghole | That looks at the sky | As much as to say | "I'm as deep as you're high." | HUGH M'DIARMID | [space] | JONATHAN CAPE LIMITED | THIRTY BEDFORD SQUARE LONDON

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - U (8), 160 leaves. p. [1] THE GREY COAST; p. [2] blank; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] Publisher's and Printer's notices; FIRST PUBLISHED IN MCMXXVI; p. [5] to | MY MOTHER; p. [6] blank; pp. 7 - 320 text. 5" x 7 13/16". Bound in blue cloth, spine stamped in gold: [three horizontal lines] | THE | GREY COAST | [ornament} | NEIL M GUNN | [space} | JONATHAN CAPE | [three horizontal lines] Rear board has publisher's motif impressed.

Little, Brown | Boston | 1926 Cedric Chivers (at the request of the London and Home Counties Branch of the Library Association) | Bath | 1965 Souvenir Press | London | 1976 After the success of "Morning Tide" the copyright was transferred from Cape and a revised text, with alterations on more than 160 of its pages, was published by: Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | 1931

For more information on the textual variations see Dr. Aitken's comments in, Neil M Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973. and also in The Bibliotheck - A Scottish Journal of Bibliography and Allied Topics. Vol. 6, No. 4, 1972. Details of the second edition are: THE GREY COAST | BY | NEIL M. GUNN | [line] | [ital.] I ken a gloghole | That looks at the sky | As much as to say | "I'm as deep as you're high." | HUGH M'DIARMID | [space] | EDINBURGH | [line] | THE PORPOISE PRESS Collation: {A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - U (8), 160 Leaves. p. [1] THE GREY COAST; p. [2] by the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] Printing history: Publishers and Printers notices; p. [5] TO MY MOTHER; p. [6] blank; pp. [7] - [319] text, p. [320] blank. 4 7/8" x 7 1/2". Bound in brown cloth, spine stamped in gold: THE | GREY COAST | NEIL M. | GUNN | [space] | PORPOISE | PRESS. This is Gunn's first novel, a somewhat bitter one of survival on the crofting coast of his native Caithness. The story which centres round an old man, his niece and her suitors, highlights the decline of the area following the contraction of the fishing industry, and contrasts old and new values of the people.


A28A24, A42, A126, C10.
Musical Doors
The CornhillLondon
Vol. 62, New Series No. 369, (No. 807), pp. 351 - 358.March 1927

This story later appeared (under the title "Hidden Doors") in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 176 - 190.

A tale of the supernatural on a psychological plane, with celtic overtones. The main character, an Englishman, finds psychological doors opening to him in association with specific pieces, or types, of music. The wild wind from the moor is music enough to open such a door and calls him, siren like, to the moor and his death. In part, the dialogue takes place in the "intense white light illuminating the Soul" brought about by the consumption of whisky without drunkenness, early glimmerings of the type of dialogue employed in his later work, notably "The Other Landscape". On the celtic side there are references to Marjorie Kennedy Fraser and similarities to "Half-Light". Ironic reference is also made to "The Island that likes to be Visited" - see "Mary Rose" by J.M.Barrie.


A29A136.
Strath Ruins
Chambers's JournalEdinburgh
Seventh Series Vol. 17, No. 875, pp. 625 - 630.3rd. September 1927

This story later appeared in: The Man Who Came Back | M. McCulloch, ed. | Polygon | Edinburgh | 1991 | pp. [147] - 160.

A tale of salmon poaching in a pool on the banks of which are ruined croft houses. In a surprisingly humane way the clearances which caused the ruins are being continued through the game laws.


A30A5, A6, A22, A42, A83, A95, A115.
Symbolical
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 193 - 197.December 1927

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 82 - 91. Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 153 - 159. The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 58 - 64.

A moving short story of a crofter's life and death struggle to win agricultural land from the moor. Death is a subject Gunn often explores in his short stories.


A31A76, A115, B20, E8.
The Black Woollen Gloves
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 261 - 268.January 1928

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 118 - 127. The story was also dramatised for radio and was broadcast 8th. February 1944.

A light-hearted romantic story with a surprising ending.


A32A42, A95, A115.
Blaeberries
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 325 - 327.February 1928

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 76 - 81. Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 76 - 79. The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 65 - 68. Argosy | London | Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 85 - 87. | February 1951

Originally offered to The Northern Review circa 1924 but not used. A superbly constructed short romance set on the grey crofting coast of Caithness.


A33A24, A34, A51, A107, A136, B5, E4, E11, E36, E58.
The Man Who Came Back (Study for a one act play)
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 8, No. 6, pp. 419 - 429.March 1928

This story later appeared in: The Man Who Came Back | M. McCulloch, ed. | Polygon | Edinburgh | 1991 | pp. [161] - 173.

A fragment of typescript is held at the National Library of Scotland. A prose study of a crofters son who finds the call of his home too great. He leaves his education and training and returns, only to be regarded as a failure. The play referred to was "Back Home", and the theme was to be further developed in the novel "The Drinking Well". There are also similarities to "Half-Light" and "The Lost Glen".


A34A24, A33, A51, A107, A119, B5, E4, E11, E24, E36, E58.
The Lost Glen
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vols. 9 - 10 (see below)April - November 1928

This appeared in a slightly extended version as a novel published by: Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | 3rd. March 1932 There was a suggestion that this novel be dramatised for radio but the B.B.C. elected to adapt another work. An extract from chapter one of the serial (chapter one of part two of the novel) was published as under: The Ancient Land | A Book of Scotland | G.F.Maine, ed. | Collins | London | New and enlarged edition 1950 | p. 163.

A novel serialised in eight parts: Part 1, Chap. 1 - 3, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1 - 24, April 1928 Part 2, Chap. 4 - 6, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 90 - 108, May 1928 Part 3, Chap. 6 - 8, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 192 - 216, June 1928 Part 4, Chap. 8 - 10, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 283 - 308, July 1928 Part 5, Chap. 11 - 13, Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 360 - 384, August 1928 Part 6, Chap. 13 - 14, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 455 - 476, September 1928 Part 7, Chap. 15, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 63 - 80, October 1928 Part 8, Chap. 16, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 146 - 160, November 1928 A bitter novel set in the contemporary realities of a depopulated and dying Highland area. The hero has returned (as in "Back Home") under something of a cloud and is confronted with a retired colonel for whom he has to act as ghillie, which underlines the failure aspect. Inevitably the book ends in tragedy. This novel was unsuccessfully offered to many publishers after this serialisation before being published by Porpoise Press in the wake of the highly successful "Morning Tide".


A35A25, A42, A46, A60, A118, A121, E86, E94, E96.
The Sea
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 243 - 251.January 1929

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 7 - 22. Scottish Short Stories | T.Hendry and J.F.Hendry, eds. | Penguin | Harmondsworth | 1943 | pp. 68 - 78. The story was dramatised for radio and broadcast on 31st. May 1963 as: "This is my Country", No. 1, "From the Sea".

Professor F.R.Hart in his "A Brief Memoir" (Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973) noted that this was a prize winning story. The prize was one of £30 offered by the Scots Magazine for the best short story (The Scots Observer, "Jottings", 12th. January 1929). Hart also mentions an essay entitled "A Sea Storm" which Gunn wrote at his junior school, and this story, and the earlier Glasgow Herald version, could well have been developed from that essay. A dramatic story of a storm at sea viewed through the eyes of a child. It was to be expanded into the first part of "Morning Tide". A similar dramatic situation appears in the short story "The Storm".


A36
10 M.P.H.
S.M.T. MagazineEdinburgh
Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 33 - 37.March 1929

This was the first contribution to the S.M.T. (Scottish Motor Traction) Magazine. A light-hearted tale of an early motoring incident, with an unexpected twist at the end.


A37A42, A115.
The Moor
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 10 - 18.April 1929

This story later appeared in: Hidden Doors | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | July 1930 | pp. 153 - 169. Scottish Short Stories: An Anthology | Faber and Faber | London | 1932 | pp. 414 - 427. Scottish Short Stories: An Anthology | Faber and Faber | London | 1942 | pp. 309 - 322. The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 274 - 285. The Devil and the Giro: Two Centuries of Scottish Stories | Carl MacDougall, ed. | Canongate | Edinburgh | 1989 | pp. 329 - 337. The above was re-issued in a different format as: The Devil and the Giro: The Scottish Short Story | Carl MacDougall, ed.| Canongate | Edinburgh | November 1991 | pp. 417-428. A German translation by F.Wolcken appeared as "Urlandschaft" in: Die Neue Rundschau | Vol. 49, Part 1, pp. 355 - 365. | April 1938

A story of youth and romance inextricably linked to the background of the moor of the title. As in so many of Gunn's stories, a sense of people and landscape being part of one overall picture is very strong.


A38A77, A115.
The Mirror
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 180 - 186.June 1929

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 158 - 166.

A writer, disillusioned with city life, leaves Glasgow for the Highlands where he hopes to re-discover lost values. However, he finds instead limitations within himself which inhibit creative expression, and he returns. There are similarities to "Wild Geese Overhead".


A39
The Secret of the Wood
S.M.T. MagazineEdinburgh
Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 66 - 68.July 1929

A light, haunting story of chance encounter and murder, with a dramatic and unexpected conclusion.


A40A23, A24, A46, A68, A80, A94, A100, A107, A116, A117, A119, A127, A138, B1, B2, B14, B23, B27, E2, E36, E41, E58, E80, E85.
The Poaching at Grianan
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vols. 11 - 13. (see below)September 1929 - May 1930

A novel serialised in nine parts: Part 1, Chaps. 1 - 2, Vol. 11, No. 6, pp. 418 - 434, September 1929 Part 2, Chaps. 3 - 4, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 25 - 44, October 1929 Part 3, Chaps. 5 - 6, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 116 - 131, November 1929 Part 4, Chaps. 7 - 8, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 200 - 217, December 1929 Part 5, Chap. 9, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 287 - 300, January 1930 Part 6, Chap. 10, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp. 379 - 393, February 1930 Part 7, Chaps. 10 - 12, Vol. 12, No. 6, pp. 455 - 473, March 1930 Part 8, Chap. 13, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 61 - 73, April 1930 Part 9, Chap. 14, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 144 - 154, May 1930 Grianan means "The Sunny Place". This is a most interesting work in that it was never published in book form and yet it became a great source book for later works. There are similarities with "A Romance of the Reel" and "The Hawk's Feather", which pre-date it, the latter only by one month, and "The Ancient Fire" and "Beyond the Cage" are clearly based on this work, with "Second Sight" also having affinities with it as well. There are salmon poaching scenes in the story which seem to share the same base material as those in "Highland River", "The Atom of Delight", "Primitives in the Pool", "The Boy and the Salmon", "The Drinking Well" and "Morning Tide". The name of "Old Hector" is first coined in this work as the name of the general factotum, or "Orra" man, at the lodge. The work also seems to hold within it the seeds of the idea, which was later to be explored in "Highland River", the search for the source. One character says "People should want to go up a river as to the rarer places, the source!" A story of three men from differing walks of life who go on holiday to the Highlands. For each there is a need to go in search of some enigmatic, healing quality. There follows a stirring tale of adventure, poaching and romance, centred around the Laird of Grianan who, from economic necessity, has leased out his ancestral lands to wealthy Americans, for the shooting. He now lives with his daughter in the lodge.


A41
The Canine Gaff
S.M.T. MagazineEdinburgh
Vol. 4, No. 5, pp. 34 - 37.May 1930

A tale of salmon fishing and an unusual dog.


A41.1
The Lobster Pot
Unpublished
May 1930

Correspondence with Faber and Faber in May 1930 suggests that a novel with this title had been written, but this has not seen publication under that name. No surviving manuscript is known.


A42A3, A6, A8, A14, A15, A17, A19, A22, A24, A25, A28, A30, A32, A35, A37.
Hidden Doors
Porpoise PressEdinburgh
July 1930 (The first edition bears the imprint 1929 but the publishers advise that the work was not issued until the following July.
HIDDEN DOORS | NEIL M. GUNN | [wavy horizontal line] | [space] | [ornament] | [wavy horizontal line] | EDINBURGH 1929 | THE PORPOISE PRESS

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - O (8), 112 Leaves. p. [1] HIDDEN DOORS | TO MY WIFE; p. [2] blank; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1929 BY | THE PORPOISE PRESS | 133A GEORGE STREET | EDINBURGH, C | [space} | Publisher's and Printer's notices, and acknowledgements: FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1929; p. [5] Contents; p. [6] blank; pp. 7 - 221 Text; pp. [222} - {224} blank. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in orange cloth, spine stamped in black: HIDDEN | DOORS | [line] | GUNN | [space] | PORPOISE Front board: HIDDEN DOORS | NEIL M. GUNN

An extract from "Down to the Sea" comprising part of p. 112 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (May) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993 An extract from "Down to the Sea" comprising part of p. 109 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (October) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993 An extract from "Half-Light" comprising part of p. 50 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (December) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993

I have been unable to trace a previous publication of the short story "Gentlemen", although it was offered to The Northern Review, circa 1924, but was not used.

A collection of the undermentioned short stories; 1) The Sea 2) Visioning 3) Such stuff as Dreams * 4) Half-Light * 5) Blaeberries * # 6) Symbolical * # 7) The Clock 8) Down to the Sea * 9) The Uncashed Cheque 10) The White Hour * # 11) Gentlemen 12) The Moor * 13) Between Headlands 14) Hidden Doors15) The Sleeping Bins # Also appear in Storm and Precipice, 1942. * Also appear in The White Hour, 1950.


A43A98, A137, C5, C9.
The Wild
The Modern ScotDundee
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 17 - 19.Summer 1930

This story later appeared in; Poems and related early work | Peglet Press | Ampthill | June 1994 | pp. [27] - [30].

A complex, perhaps partially autobiographical, short story. The narrator is a recluse who recounts how, from a vivid boyhood memory of time spent out of doors, his affinity with the wild became impressed upon him. A poem came to be written epitomising this experience which was recalled later during his urban existence, as an escape. The need to escape became increasingly strong, leading eventually to the circumstances recounted in the story. Assuming the story is, to some extent, autobiographical the poem is likely to be either "The Serpent" or "O Sun", where the subject matter matches with that described here.


A44
Puppets
S.M.T. MagazineEdinburgh
Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 46 - 50.September 1930

The narrator tells of a visit to an author friend to offer advice, as had happened before, on an enmeshed plot. The author's problem with the plot is aggravated by being essentially autobiographical. A solution is offered which has far reaching results. The idea, if not the result, may have been suggested by Gunn's reported assistance to Maurice Walsh, who periodically experienced problems with his plots - see Professor F.R.Hart's "A Brief Memoir". (Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973)


A45A119.
Sea Tangle
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 207 - 215.December 1930

A romantic fantasy about a young man's meeting with a green clad young maiden at the sea's edge, who is perhaps a little more than human; a delightfully fresh story.


A46A25, A35, A40, A95, A138, E51, E52.
Morning Tide
Porpoise PressEdinburgh
1931
MORNING TIDE | BY | NEIL M. GUNN | [line] | [space] | EDINBURGH | [line] | THE PORPOISE PRESS

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - S (8), 144 Leaves. p. [1] MORNING TIDE; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] Publisher's and Printer's notices: FIRST PUBLISHED IN MCMXXXI; p. [5] TO JESS; p. [6] blank; pp. 7 - 287 Text; p. [288] blank. 5" X 7 5/8". Bound in green cloth, spine stamped in gold: MORNING | TIDE | NEIL M. | GUNN | [space] | PORPOISE | PRESS

Harcourt, Brace | New York | 1931 (Illustrated by Maitland de Gorgorza) Faber and Faber | London | 1932 (The Faber library No. 7) Penguin | London | 1936 (Penguin books No. 51) Tauchnitz | Berlin | 1938 Faber and Faber | London | 1953 (New edition - reset) Souvenir Press | London | 1975 Cedric Chivers ( at the request of the London and Home Counties Branch of the Library Association) | Bath | 1979 Cedric Chivers ( at the request of the London and Home Counties Branch of the Library Association) | Bath | 1993 (Large print edition) Walker and Co. | New York | 1993 An extract entitled "Up from the Sea", comprising Chap. 1 of Part 1 of the novel appeared in the anthology: The Thistle and the Pen | E. Linklater, ed. | Nelson | London | 1950 | pp. 114 - 122. The same extract, with the same title, also appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 10 - 18. An extract comprising part of p. 13 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (June) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993 An extract comprising part of p. 7 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 22. An extract comprising part of p. 13 appeared in; Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 22. An extract comprising part of p. 84 appeared in : Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 22. An extract comprising part of p. 91 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 63.

Some copies of the first edition bear the date 1930. It is thought that publication was planned for late 1930 but was deferred, and the imprint date amended whilst in the press, following the selection of this novel as The Book Society choice for January 1931. It seems likely that the dedicatee, Jess, is his wife who, whilst usually known as Daisy, was born Jessie Frew. This is the novel that established Gunn's reputation. It is a sensitive study of boyhood and adolescence set in Gunn's native strath and with many autobiographical overtones. In the first part the short story "The Sea" is expanded into a highly dramatic interlude. Gunn's home in Inverness, "Larachan", is reputed to have been paid for with the royalties from the novel. The novel was to have been filmed by The Associated British Picture Corporation Ltd. and a shooting script was produced by Gilbert Gunn (3rd. January 1952) but the venture does not appear to have gone ahead.


A47A126, A137.
Tragedy into Dream
The Modern ScotDundee
Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 64 - 65.Spring 1931

This story later appeared in: Poems and related early work | Peglet Press | Ampthill | June 1994 | pp. [31] - [32].

A very short, complex, story, almost a prose poem, relating to an amour and incorporating an involved dream sequence. "The Other Landscape", Gunn's last novel, uses material from this story and provides, to an extent, an amplification of the work.


A48A115.
Paper Boats
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 29 - 33.April 1931

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 51 - 57.

A story, expressed as child's play, which makes a serious observation on the conflict between man and man, and man and the sea.


A49A105, A136.
The Dead Seaman
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 265 - 289.July 1931

This story later appeared in: The Man Who Came Back | M. McCulloch, ed. | Polygon | Edinburgh | 1991 | pp. [99] - 128.

A powerful story of two brothers, shepherds, living physically and metaphorically at the edge of a small crofting community, and of a dead seaman from a vessel wrecked in a storm. The seaman had a bruised throat and may have been strangled, was it accident or murder? This story forms the basis of the novel "The Key of the Chest".


A50A4, A15, A110.
The Circle
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 241 - 255.January 1932

A story of an archaeologist who is excavating a druidic circle, with the assistance of an idiot. As the work progresses the site exerts its own influence over the humans. This story formed the basis of the novel "The Silver Bough".


A51A24, A33, A34, A107, A119, B5, E4, E11, E24.
The Lost Glen
Porpoise PressEdinburgh
3rd. March 1932
THE LOST GLEN | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [line] | [space] | EDINBURGH | [line] | THE PORPOISE PRESS

[A] (8), B - I (8), NO J, K - U (8), No V & W, X - Y, (8), 176 leaves. p. [1] THE LOST GLEN; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] Publisher's and Printer's notices: FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1932; p. [5] TO MAURICE WALSH; p. [6] blank; p. [7] PART ONE; p. [8] blank; pp. 9 - 351 Text; p. [352] blank. 5" x 7 5/8". Bound in blue cloth, spine stamped in gold: THE | LOST GLEN | NEIL M. | GUNN | [space] | PORPOISE | PRESS

Richard Drew | Glasgow | 1985 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) An extract comprising part of p. 58 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (March) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993

A letter from Faber, 23rd. July 1965, confirmed that the copyright had reverted to Gunn. For details of this work see the entry dated April 1928 (A34) when it first appeared as a serial.


A52A53, A95.
The Outline
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. 424 - 426.March 1933

This piece formed the introduction to: Sun Circle | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | 25th. May 1933 | pp. 7 - 10. This story later appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 7 - 9.

This is an aeriel description of Caithness and the Northlands.


A53A52, A95.
Sun Circle
Porpoise PressEdinburgh
25th. May 1933
SUN CIRCLE | BY | NEIL M. GUNN | [line] | [space] | EDINBURGH | [line] | THE PORPOISE PRESS

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - U (8), No V & W, X - Z (8), 2A (8), 2B (4), 196 leaves. p. [1] SUN CIRCLE; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] Publisher's and Printer's notices: FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1933; p. [5] TO J.B.SALMOND; p. [6] blank; pp. 7 - 391 Text; p. [392] blank. 5" x 7 5/8". Bound in red cloth, spine stamped in gold: SUN | CIRCLE | NEIL M. | GUNN | [space] | PORPOISE | PRESS

Souvenir Press | London | April 1983 Canongate | Edinburgh | May 1996 As one of the "Canongate Classics" series, with an introduction by J.B. Pick The introduction to this novel, "The Outline", also appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | March 1933 | pp. 424 - 426. Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 7 - 9. An extract entitled "ALeaf in the Wind", comprising part of p.170, p 171, part of p. 172, and part of pp. 178-179 appeared in : Canongate Classics: An Anthology | Chosen and Introduced by J. B. Pick and with a Foreword by Roderick Watson | Canongate | Edinburgh | 1997 | pp. 75-78

A letter from Faber, 23rd. July 1965, confirmed that the copyright had reverted to Gunn. An historical novel set in Gunn's native Caithness at the time of the Viking incursions. It shows the interplay between differing traditions, heritage and religions.


A54A115.
Bridge
SpectatorLondon
Vol. 150, No. 5474, pp. 755 - 756.26th. May 1933

This story later appeared as "Whistle for Bridge" in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 28 - 32.

A delicate story of a child's misconception. The thrilling fantasy land of boyhood comes face to face with adult reality.


A55A115.
Hill Fever
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 264 - 268.January 1934

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 33 - 39.

A young couple are on honeymoon in a remote fishing hut in the midst of the Highlands. The husband begins to feel a deep affinity with the landscape which is not experienced to the same degree by his wife, who feels neglected.


A56A132.
George and the Dragon
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 188 - 207.June 1934

A journalist tracks down "Nessie" and manages to photograph her but, through his preoccupation with a scoop, she preserves her anonymity.


A57A59, A95.
Dark Mairi
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 264 - 274.July 1934

This formed the first chapter of: Butcher's Broom | Porpoise Press | Edinburgh | 1935 | pp. 7 - 22. This story later appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 126 - 139.

This piece sets the scene for, and introduces one of the main characters of, the novel "Butcher's Broom".


A58B7, B12, E3.
Highland Hospitality
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 199 - 201.December 1934

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. This story recounts the initial aggression experienced by a painter who wishes to draw a Highland dwelling, an aggression which later warms into a typically Celtic welcome. There are similarities to "Old Music" in the way that a welcome is expected.


A59A57, A95, B24, D198, E25, E101.
Butcher's Broom
Porpoise PressEdinburgh
1934
BUTCHER'S BROOM | BY | NEIL M. GUNN | [line] | [space] | EDINBURGH | [line] | THE PORPOISE PRESS

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - U (8), No V & W, X - Z (8), 2A - 2D (8), 216 leaves. p. [1] BUTCHER'S BROOM; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] Publisher's and Printer's notices: FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1934; p. [5] TO JOHN GEORGE SUTHERLAND; p. [6] Acknowledgement that poems used are taken from "Carmina Gadelica"; pp. 7 - 429 Text; pp. [430] - [432] blank. 5" x 7 5/8". Bound in green cloth, spine stamped in gold: BUTCHER'S | BROOM | [ornament] | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | PORPOISE | PRESS

Harcourt, Brace | New York | 1935 (With the title "Highland Night" and illustrated by Freda Bone) Westermann | Braunschweig | 1939 (With the title "Exiles from their Father's Land. Extracts from the novel "Butcher's Broom"Ý| W.Frerichs, ed.) Cedric Chivers (at the request of the London and Home Counties Branch of the Library Association) | Bath | 1965 Souvenir Press | London | 1977 Walker and Co. | New York | 1994 An extract entitled "Dark Mairi" and comprising chapter 1 of part 1 of the novel appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | July 1934 | pp. 264 - 274. Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 126 - 139. An extract entitled "The Swallow", comprising part of p. 31, appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st October 1942 | p. 38. An extract entitled "Singing Linnett", comprising part of p. 344 and pp. 345 - 351 of the novel appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 140 - 146. An extract comprising part of p. 31 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 45. An extract comprising part of p. 116 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (August) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993 An extract comprising part of p. 34 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (September) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993

According to Professor F.R.Hart in his "A Brief Memoir" (Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973) the character of Dark Mairi is based upon an old woman Gunn saw at a ceilidh in Inverness. The dedicatee was Gunn's brother in law, the police chief at Invergordon. An historic story set in the Strath of Kildonan, Sutherland in the period leading up to and including the infamous "Clearances". It gives a vivid portrayal of the way of life which was destroyed and, whilst the deed is rightly condemned, Gunn treats the problem with objective reasonableness.


A60A25, A35, A42, A46, A118, A121, A136, E86, E94, E96.
The Storm
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 349 - 357.February 1935

This story later appeared in: The Man Who Came Back | M. McCulloch, ed. | Polygon | Edinburgh | 1991 | pp. [174] - 184. In a re-written form the story appeared as "Ride the Gale" (A118) which, in turn, was incorporated within "The Well at the World's End" (A121) as a dramatic highlight.

A brilliant short story of a proud old man's battle against a storm in an open boat. The battle is as much against loss of face in the community, which is closely involved in the drama, as it is against the elements.


A61A63.
Uisgebeatha
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vo. 23, No. 5, pp. 327 - 333.August 1935

This became the opening chapter of: Whisky and Scotland | Routledge | London | 1935

A reconstruction of the discovery of whisky and its effects, written with wit and poetic licence.


A62B10, B13.
The Golden Age
News ChronicleLondon
p. 912th. October 1935

A contrast is drawn here between our material golden age and that Elysian state which is thought to have once existed. The story concerns a visit to a bank manager (a solid, fair, but essentially soulless man - as in "Net Results") for investment in speculative shares. He is told by the banker of a moving experience he had had on an evening fishing expedition. They had met and entertained an old crofter in his 70's who was a Gaelic poet and "full of lore". This man represented the previous golden age and had left an indelible impression on the banker and, through him, on the narrator.


A63A61, B25, B31, B32, D88, D210, D218, D225, D236, D247, D258, E24, E26.
Whisky and Scotland
RoutledgeLondon
1935
WHISKY AND SCOTLAND | [ital] A Practical and Spiritual Survey | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [ornament] | GEORGE ROUTLEDGE | AND SONS, LTD. Broadway | House, Carter Lane, London, E.C. | 1935

[ ] (4), A - I (8), No J, K - M (8), N (4), 104 leaves. p. [i] WHISKY AND SCOTLAND; p. [ii] THE VOICE OF | SCOTLAND | LIST OF TITLES; p. [iii] Title page; p. [iv] Publisher's and Printer's notices: [ital] First published 1935; p. v TO THOSE | OUTSIDE THE PALE; p. [vi] blank; p. [vii] Contents; p. [viii] blank; p. [1] PART ONE | IN THE BEGINNING; p. [2] blank; pp. 3 - [198] Text; p. [199] Printer's notice; p. [200] blank. 4 7/8" x 7 1/2". Bound in green cloth, spine stamped in gold: [line] | WHISKY | AND | SCOTLAND | NEIL M. | GUNN | [space] | ROUTLEDGE | [line] Ornament impressed blind on bottom right hand corner of the front board.

Souvenir Press | London | 1977 (With a foreword by Michael Grieve - the son of Hugh MacDiarmid) An extract entitled "Uisgebeatha", comprising the first chapter of the book appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | August 1935 | pp. 327 - 333. An extract comprising pp. 3 - 12 and part of p. 13, being part of the first chapter "Uisgebeatha", appeared as "The First Dram" in: A Wee Dram | D. Daiches, ed. | Andre Deutsch | London | 1990 | pp. 13 - 18.

Gunn's classic treatise on Scotch Whisky.


A64A115.
The Tree
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 24, No. 5, pp. 352 - 364.February 1936

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 86 - 103.

The tree had been a source of disagreement between the Major and his wife, who wished it felled to give more light to the house. The Major found it aesthetically pleasing and resisted. Following the untimely death of his wife the Major's life became without point and he began to feel hemmed in by his surroundings. He felt a need to honour his wife's wish but could not bring himself to undertake the task. In a troubled night of storm his wife came to him in a dream, bringing light and release. Daylight reveals that the storm had also resolved the physical argument.


A65A97, B6, B8.
Raw Material
OutlookEdinburgh
Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 53 - 62.April 1936

One day in the life of Fred, the narrator, who is an architect, a writer, a devotee of community drama and a Scottish Nationalist, during which he is seeking an idea for a short story. Employs a similar device to "Choosing a Play" and "The Listener's Tale".


A66A115.
Montrose Rides By
Scottish FieldGlasgow
No. 404, pp. 25- 28.August 1936

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 231 - 241.

Set in Inverness during the reign of Charles 1 this story highlights the plight of ordinary people during a military campaign. They bear the brunt whatever the outcome.


A67
The Poster
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 25, No. 5, pp. 346 - 348.August 1936

The poster was commissioned by a transport company as an advertisement. Through the intervention of the director's daughter, the contract is awarded to an intense, bona fide, artist who produced an evocative and powerful work symbolising the possibility of release from urban squalor via transport. This caused initial shock but found ultimate favour. Running parallel to the business relationship is an emotional relationship between the artist and his benefactress.


A68A40, A95, A100, A138, E80, E85, E100.
Highland River
Porpoise PressEdinburgh
April 1937
HIGHLAND RIVER | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | Edinburgh | THE PORPOISE PRESS

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - U (8), No V & W, X - Y (8), 176 leaves. p. [1] - [2] blank; p. [3] HIGHLAND RIVER; p. [4] By the same author; p. [5] Title page; p. [6] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in April MCMXXXVII; p. [7] Letter of dedication to his brother John; p. [8] blank; pp. 9 - [348] Text; pp. [349] - [352] blank. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in turquoise blue cloth, spine stamped in silver: Highland | River | Neil M. | Gunn | [space] | Porpoise | Press Decoration in the form of a winding river, blocked in blue, runs down the full length of the spine.

Lippincott | Philadelphia | 1937 Tauchnitz | Berlin | 1937 Faber and Faber | London | 1942 (New edition - reset) Faber and Faber | London | 1943 (Q series) Arrow Books | London | 1960 ( Grey arrow series) Arrow Books | London | 1974 ( New binding) Canongate | Edinburgh | 1991 As one of the "Canongate Classics" series, with an introduction by Dairmid Gunn. An extract entitled "The Salmon Fight", comprising chapter one of the novel appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 21 - 37. The same piece entitled "Highland River" appeared in: Argosy | London | August 1943 | pp. 13 - 24. An extract entitled "In the Wood", comprising part of pp. 237 - 238 of the novel appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 19 - 20. An extract entitled "The River", comprising part of p. 239, pp. 240 - 243 and part of p. 244 of the novel appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 71 - 75. An extract entitled "To the Source", comprising part of p. 337 and pp. 338 - 348 of the novel appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 102 - 110. An extract entitled "A Highland Community", appeared in: Scotland, An Anthology | Paul Harris, ed. | Cadogan Books | London | 1985 | pp. 97 - 98. The novel was dramatised for radio by John Wilson and was broadcast 12th. March 1962. An extract entitled "The Boy and the Salmon", comprising part of pp. 9 - 26 of the novel appeared in: Open-Air Adventures for Boys | E.Duthie, ed. | Odhams | London | 1965 | pp. 121 - 133. An extract entitled "Boyhood Research", comprising part of p. 80, pp. 81 - 83 and part of p. 84 of the novel appeared in" Scotland, An Anthology | D.Dunn, ed. | Fontana | London | 1992 | pp. 62 - 65. An extract comprising part of p. 320 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (Cover) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993 An extract comprising part of p. 151 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (January) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993 An extract comprising part of p. 151 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (February) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993 An extract comprising part of p. 332 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (April) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993 An extract comprising part of p. 151 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (July) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993 An extract comprising part of pp. 294 - 295 appeared in the 1994 Caithness Calendar (November) | North of Scotland Newspapers | Wick | 1993 An extract comprising part of p. 133 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 15. (This quotation was wrongly attributed to "Morning Tide") An extract comprising part of p. 11 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | pp. 16 - 17. An extract comprising part of p. 26 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 18. An extract comprising part of p. 295 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 19. An extract comprising part of p. 31 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 23. An extract comprising part of p. 150 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 23. An extract comprising part of p. 160 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 23. An extract comprising part of p. 160 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 35. An extract comprising pp. 149 - 150 and part of p. 151 appeared in : The Bedside Rambler: A tour through Country writers' Britain | Christopher Somerville, ed. | Harper Collins | London | 1991 | p. 353-355.

This novel won the James Tait Black, Memorial Prize for 1937. According to Professor F.R.Hart in his "A Brief Memoir"( Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973) the brother who was temporarily blinded in war time was John, to whom the book is dedicated. He also states that the pilgrimage to the source actually happened, it was indeed foreshadowed in "The Poaching at Grianan". The hero sets out to trace the source of his local river, to which he has returned after wanderings. In finding the source he also finds himself, through remembered scenes from his life and the magic of his surroundings. It is set in Gunn's native Dunbeath.


A69A84, A136, E16.
The Boat
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 186 - 194.December 1937

This story was later used as the basis of the first chapter of: The Silver Darlings | Faber and Faber | London | 24th. April 1941 This story later appeared in: The Man Who Came Back | M. McCulloch, ed. | Polygon | Edinburgh | 1991 | pp. [185] - 195.

A story of a newly "cleared" community trying to adapt new skills so as to survive on the rocky coastal lands. Some of the younger men acquire a leaky old boat to try their hand at fishing, and meet unexpected problems at the hands of the press gang.


A70A77.
Whisky
Unpublished
From address, 1925 - 1937

This story conveys Gunn's distaste for city life and, in particular, the teeming and poverty stricken tenements. This follows closely the narrative of the visit to the slums in "Wild Geese Overhead" and, again, ends in a bar although here without the father being met. There are also similarities to "Glendaruel".


A71A95, D53, D54, D220, E34, E54.
Off in a Boat
Faber and FaberLondon
5th. May 1938
OFF IN A BOAT | by | Neil M. Gunn | [space] | FABER AND FABER LIMITED | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - U (8), No V & W, X - Y (8), 176 leaves. p. [1] - [2] blank; p. [3] OFF IN A BOAT; p. [4] By the same author; p. [5] Title page; p. [6] Publisher's and Printer's notices: FIRST PUBLISHED IN MAY MCMXXXVIII; p. [7] Dedication "For the Crew"; p. [8] blank; p. [9] Contents; p. [10] blank; pp. 11 - 12 Illustrations; pp. 13 - 348 Text; pp. [349] - [352] blank. 5 1/8" x 8 1/8". Bound in orange cloth, spine stamped in blue: [Four wavy horizontal lines] | OFF IN | A | BOAT | [Four wavy horizontal lines] | Neil Gunn | [space] | FABER AND | FABER

Richard Drew | Glasgow | 1988 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) House of Lochar | Isle of Colonsay | 1998An extract entitled "Our First Anchorage", comprising part of p. 79 and pp. 80 - 85 appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 111 - 116. An extract entitled "On Iona", comprising part of p. 205, pp. 206 - 214 and part of p. 215 appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 117 - 125. An extract entitled "Columba - A Twentieth Century Portrait", comprising part of p. 211 and pp. 212 - 214 appeared in: An Iona Anthology | F.Marian McNeill, ed. | The Iona Community | Glasgow | 1947 | pp. 93 - 94. Scotland: An Anthology | Maurice Lindsay, ed. | Robert Hale | London | 1974 | pp. 150 - 151. An extract entitled "The Island of the Druids", comprising part of p. 207, pp. 208 - 209 and part of p. 210 appeared in: An Iona Anthology | F.Marian McNeill, ed. | The Iona Community | Glasgow | 1947 | pp. 61 - 63. An extract entitled "A Highland Novelist", comprising part of p. 205, p. 206 and part of p. 207 appeared in: An Iona Anthology | F. Marian McNeill, ed. | The Iona Community | Glasgow | 1947 | pp. 93 - 94. An extract entitled " St. Oran's Chapel and Queen Margaret", comprising part of pp. 227 - 228 appeared in: An Iona Anthology | F.Marian McNeill, ed. | The Iona Community | Glasgow | 1947 | pp. 110 - 111. An extract entitled "The Abbey Church", comprising part of pp. 215 - 216 appeared in: An Iona Anthology | F. Marian McNeill, ed. | The Iona Community | Glasgow | 1947 | p. 111. An extract entitled " Clach Brath", comprising part of p. 230 appeared in: An Iona Anthology | F.Marian McNeill, ed. | The Iona Community | Glasgow | 1947 | p. 113. An extract entitled "Reilig Odhrain", comprising part of pp. 228 - 229 appeared in : An Iona Anthology | F.Marian McNeill, ed. | The Iona Community | Glasgow | 1947 | p. 120. An article entitled "The Torranan Rocks", which forms a chapter of the book appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | January 1938 | pp. 275 - 286.

The crew to whom the book is dedicated is Daisy Gunn. The photographs illustrating the book were taken by Neil and Daisy Gunn. The manuscript of this novel was the only one to be handwritten, all the others being typescripts, and is now held at the National Library of Scotland. This travelogue is the story of an extended holiday taken by Gunn and his wife in an old boat round the Western Isles. The holiday coincided with him giving up his Customs and Excise jog to take up writing full time.


A72A109, A136.
Snow in March
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 191 - 199.June 1938

This story later appeared in: The Man Who Came Back | M. McCulloch, ed. | Polygon | Edinburgh | pp. [196] - 206. Shorn of the bulk of its romantic overtones, this story was inserted into the novel "The Shadow" to provide dramatic impact.

A spinster in her middle years, living on a farm which had belonged to her brother, hears the sound of new born lambs at night during a snowstorm. Impelled partly by her maternal instinct she goes out into the field and, together with the shepherd, she attends at a birth where the mother dies. The lamb is brought indoors and a cup of tea made. They talk in an intimate atmosphere and the woman entertains romantic notions, which are dispelled when she notices the affection between her maid and the shepherd. Thoughts of real motherhood finally die like the sheep.


A73A115, A128, A129.
The Old Man
S.M.T. MagazineEdinburgh
Vol. 20, No. 6, pp. 33 - 37.June 1938

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 40 - 50. The Penguin Book of Scottish Short Stories | J.F.Hendry, ed. | Penguin | Harmondsworth | 1970 | pp. 85 - 93. Scottish Love Stories | S.Maguire and M.Sinclair, eds. | Polygon | Edinburgh | 1995 | pp. 117 - 126.

Subtitled "A Tale of the Tinkers", the old man of the title is the patriarch and compassionate lawgiver of his tribe.


A74A80, B14, B29, D212, E44.
King Brude
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 359 - 371.February 1939

This formed the basis of chapter ten of "SecondÝSight".

The story of the stalking of "King Brude", the most sought after stag on the hill.


A75A115.
Dance of the Atoms
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 31, No. 5, pp. 347 - 357.August 1939

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 128 - 142.

A story of childhood and an eight year old budding scientist's experiment. This has disastrous results which teach him a salutary lesson.


A76A31, B20, E8.
The Lady's Hand Bag
S.M.T. MagazineEdinburgh
Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 27 - 30.August 1939

A comedy of youth and unrequited love, with a very similar plot to "The Black Woollen Gloves".


A77A38, A70, A95.
Wild Geese Overhead
Faber and FaberLondon
5th. October 1939
WILD GEESE | OVERHEAD | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - U (8), No V & W, X (8), Y (4), 172 leaves. pp. [1] - [2], blank; p. [3] WILD GEESE OVERHEAD; p. [4] By the same author; p. [5] Title page; p. [6] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in October MCMXXXIX; p. [7] For | TOSHON WALSH; p. [8] blank; pp. 9 - 341 Text; pp. [342] - [344] blank. 5" x 7 9/16". Bound in red cloth, spine stamped in gold: WILD GEESE | OVERHEAD | [ornament] | Neil M. | Gunn | [space] | FABER AND | FABER

Chambers | Edinburgh | 1991 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) Whittles Publishing | Latheronwheel | 2002 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) An extract entitled "Streets" comprising part of p. 81, pp. 82 - 107 and part of p. 108 appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 80 - 101. The same episode forms the basis of the short story "Whisky".

In his "A Brief Memoir" (Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh |1973) Professor F.R.Hart states that this episode was based on a visit Gunn paid to an Edinburgh slum with a medical student, with whom he shared digs, to attend a birth. There was also a similar visit with John MacNair Reid later in Glasgow. The first of Gunn's books to deal with city life, "Wild Geese Overhead" contains many brilliant descriptions of the slum quarter of Glasgow. At the same time a sensitive love story is told.


A78A113.
Revival Meeting
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 273 - 279.January 1940

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. This story was offered to the B.B.C. 3rd. September 1940, but was declined. Set in Lewis this story concerns a revival meeting in a crofting community and the movement of psychic forces, both religious and secular. It would seem that this was born out of personal experience as it bears a close similarity to the chapter "In Lewis" in "Highland Pack", and some similarity to part of the chapter "Drink and Religion" in "The Silver Darlings".


A79
Freedom is a Noble Thing
S.M.T. MagazineEdinburgh
Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 26 - 29.January 1940

An interesting story of the rising under Wallace and Bruce, seen through the eyes of an infantryman from Moray.


A80A40, A74, A117, A138, B14, B29, D212, E44.
Second Sight
Faber and FaberLondon
11th. April 1940
SECOND SIGHT | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - U (8), No V & W, X (4), 164 leaves. pp. [1] - [2] blank; p. [3] SECOND SIGHT; p. [4] By the same author; p. [5] Title page; p. [6] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in April MCMXL; p. [7] Dedication to John and Josephine; p. [8] blank; pp. 9 - 327 Text; p. [328] blank. 5" x 7 9/16". Bound in blue cloth, spine stamped in red: SECOND | SIGHT | [ornament] | Neil M. | Gunn | [space] | Faber & | Faber

Richard Drew | Glasgow | 1986 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) Whittles Publishing | Latheronwheel | 2002 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) An extract entitled "King Brude", comprising chapter ten of the novel appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | February 1939 | pp. 359 - 371. A play with the same name and plot was offered to the B.B.C. and, in an accompanying letter dated 11th. January 1956, Gunn states that the novel was developed from the play.

A letter from Faber, 23rd. July 1965, confirms that the copyright had reverted to Gunn. The action centres round a shooting party in a lodge and on the hill where they are striving to shoot the legendary stag "King Brude". A gillie with the "Second Sight", "sees" a funeral procession but will not disclose the victim's name. The reaction to this prophecy differs according to the character of the protagonist involved and Gunn makes full play of these differences, building to a climax at the end.


A81A84.
Sea Colours
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 219 - 223.December 1940

Was utilised as part of the final chapter of "The Silver Darlings", entitled "Finn in the Heart of the Circle".

A story of a successful fishing trip.


A82A94.
The Little Red Cow
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 34, No. 5, pp. 351 - 358.February 1941

This story later appeared in: Young Art and Old Hector | Faber and Faber | London | 15th. March 1942 | pp. 229 - 240. The Thistle and the Pen | E. Linklater, ed. | Nelson | London | 1950 | pp. 122 - 131.

The first story of those which were to become part of "Young Art and Old Hector", this was used as chapter sixteen. The cow was being taken to market by Donul. Both were from up country and found things strange.


A83A6, A22, A30, A115.
Henry Drake Goes Home
Chambers's JournalEdinburgh
8th. Series Vol. 10, No. 569, pp. 129 - 132.March 1941

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 242 - 250. The story was also offered to the B.B.C. 6th. September 1940, but was not taken up.

A touching story of a Devonian old age pensioner living in northern Scotland who feels, during war time, the urge to revisit the land of his birth despite earlier feelings of animosity. The sympathetic social security officer monitors his pedestrian journey from the drawing of his pension and is aware that he has arrived spiritually even if physically he only reached Manchester. This may contain an autobiographical element as Gunn's early work included pension investigations.


A84A69, A81, A95, A124, D167, D234, E16, E17, E18, E19, E29, E30, E62, E63, E79, E83, E84, E90, E102, E103, E104, E106, E107, E108, E109, E111.
The Silver Darlings
Faber and FaberLondon
24th. April 1941
THE | SILVER DARLINGS | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER LIMITED | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (16), B - I (16), No J, K - S (16), T (4), 292 leaves. p. [1] THE SILVER DARLINGS | [ornament]; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in April MCMXLI; p. [5] TO | THE MEMORY OF | MY FATHER; p. [6] blank; p. [7] Contents; p. [8] blank; pp. 9 - 584 Text. 5 1/8" x 7 3/4". Bound in blue cloth, spine stamped in silver: THE | SILVER | DARLINGS | [ornament] | NEIL | GUNN | [space] | FABER AND | FABER

G.W. Stewart | New York | 1945 An extract entitled "Storm and Precipice", comprising part of p. 307, pp. 308 - 324 and part of p. 325 appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 53 - 70. A short story called "Sea Colours", which is basically an extract from the last chapter, pp. 574 - 579, with some slight amendments appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | December 1940 | pp. 219 - 223. The first chapter was adapted from the short story "The Boat", which appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | December 1937 | pp. 186 - 194. An extract from chapter one, used as the subject for a reading on the B.B.C. school programme "Scottish Magazine" was printed in: B.B.C. Radio: Scottish Magazine Teachers Notes | Spring - Summer 1978 | pp. 3 - 4. An extract entitled "The Herring Fishers", appeared in: Scotland, An Anthology | Paul Harris, ed. | Cadogan Books | London | 1985 | pp. 83 - 86. A film of the novel was made by Associated British Picture Corporation in 1947. The novel was adapted for radio by John Wilson and was produced 3rd. September 1962 by Finlay J. MacDonald for the Scottish Home Service. A typescript of this adaptation is held at both the B.B.C. Glasgow and the B.B.C. script library (plays), London. An article entitled "The Silver Fish" by Neil Gunn appeared in The Radio Times 30th. August 1962. A further radio adaptation was made by Tom McGrath and was produced in five episodes of one hour each by Tom Kinninmont in June - July 1982. An extract comprising part of p. 82 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 4. An extract comprising part of p. 57 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 10. An extract comprising part of p. 13 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 42. An extract comprising part of p. 17 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 42. An extract comprising part of p. 272 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 43. An extract comprising part of p. 26 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 43. An extract comprising part of p. 577 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 43. An extract comprising part of p. 573 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 44. An extract comprising part of p. 250 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 44. This novel was adapted for the stage by John McGrath, and first performed at the Citizen's Theatre, Glasgow on the 17th. August 1994, by Wildcat Stage Productions Ltd. This novel was abridged and prepared for radio by James Robertson in ten episodes, read by Ann-Louise Ross, and produced by Pam Wardell for B.B.C. Radio Scotland. Each reading was of fifteen minutes duration and they were broadcast on weekdays between Monday 26th January 1998 and Friday 6th February 1998.

Neil Gunn's father, to whose memory the book is dedicated, was a fisherman. According to Professor F.R.Hart in his "A Brief Memoir" (Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973) an old Dunbeath man had told Gunn of the first four men to go through the Pentland Firth to the West Coast fishing, which is incorporated into this book. He also states that other historical details were recorded in a ledger which Gunn found at Helmsdale. This is certainly one of Gunn's more popular novels, and deservedly so. It is a novel of epic proportions dealing with the rise of the herring industry.


A85A115.
Love's Dialectic
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 133 - 143.May 1941

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 143 - 157.

An intricate and effective love story seen from the woman's standpoint. She is a war-time censor.


A86A115.
The First Run of Grilse
Chambers's JournalEdinburgh
8th. Series, Vol. 10, No. 582, pp. 337 - 341.June 1941

This story later appeared in: Young Art and Old Hector | Faber and Faber | London | 5th. March 1942 | p. 11 - 21.

The second story of those which were to become part of "Young Art and Old Hector", this was used as chapter one. We are introduced to the main characters. Young Art is disgruntled at not being allowed to go with his brother to the river to poach grilse. Instead he begins to learn of wisdom from Old Hector through the re-telling of the story of Finn MacCoul's obtaining of wisdom by eating the salmon of wisdom which had fed upon the nuts of knowledge - both recurring themes in Gunn's fiction.


A87A94.
The Birdbeast and the Twelve Puppies
Chambers's JournalEdinburgh
8th. Series, Vol. 10, No. 594, pp. 529 - 532.September 1941

This story later appeared with the title "Machinery" in: Young Art and Old Hector | Faber and Faber | London | 5th. March 1942 | pp. 41 - 50.

The third story of those which were to become part of "Young Art and Old Hector", this being used as chapter three. Young Art and his brother Donul visit a hill, full of machinery, which is somewhat frightening to the young boy. It would seem that a still operated from the premises but, on this occasion, a ceilidh is taking place. The traditional story of "The Birdbeast and the Twelve Puppies" is recounted.


A88A94.
Under an Old Gooseberry Bush
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 117 - 131November 1941

This story later appeared in: Young Art and Old Hector | Faber and Faber | London | 5th. March 1942 | pp. 51 - 71.

The fourth story of those which were to become part of "Young Art and Old Hector", this being used as chapter four. Art is despatched to stay overnight with Old Hector due to his mother's illness. He is reluctant and homesick but, as a diversion, he is introduced to rabbit poaching and narrowly escapes capture. The following day his mother is better following a mysterious delivery in which gooseberry bushes feature.


A89A94.
The First and Second Childhood
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 161 - 171.December 1941

This story later appeared in: Young Art and Old Hector | Faber and Faber | London | 5th. March 1942 | pp. 72 - 92.

The fifth story of those that were to become part of "Young Art and Old Hector", this being used as chapter five. Art experiences traumatic feelings in trying to adjust to his new baby brother. In his distress Old Hector, said to be in his second childhood, understands best his fears and motivations.


A90A94.
The Knife, the Glass Ball and the Penny
Chambers's JournalEdinburgh
8th. Series, Vol. 11, No. 611, pp. 33 - 39.January 1942

This story later appeared in: Young Art and Old Hector | Faber and Faber | London | 5th March 1942 | pp. 22 - 40.

The sixth story of those that were to become part of "Young Art and Old Hector", this being used as chapter two. Young Art discovers that life can be divided into three parts: childhood, old age and courting. For those involved in the latter, publicity is an Achilles heel - gifts and surprising and unexplained behaviour can follow.


A91A94
The New Jersey, the Fluke and the Whispering Reeds
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 270 - 280.January 1942

This story later appeared in: Young Art and Old Hector | Faber and Faber | London | 5th. March 1942 | pp. 93 - 108.

The seventh story of those that were to become part of "Young Art and Old Hector", this being used as chapter six. A further incident in the life of Young Art in which he acknowledges that he is fond of his baby brother.


A92A94, A95, E23.
Art Runs a Great Race
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 36, No. 5, pp. 341 - 350.February 1942

This story later appeared in: Young Art and Old Hector | Faber and Faber | London | 5th. March 1942 | pp. 131 - 145. Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 39 - 52.

The eighth story of those that were to become part of "Young Art and Old Hector", this being used as chapter nine. Art visits the local fair and sports; a red letter day in the community.


A93A94.
Nowhere and Somewhere
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 36, No. 6, pp. 430 - 434.March 1942

This story later appeared in: Young Art and Old Hector | Faber and Faber | London | 5th. March 1942 | pp. 109 - 115.

The ninth story of those that were to become part of "Young Art and Old Hector", this being used as chapter seven. Art receives a lesson in metaphysics.


A94A40, A82, A86, A87, A88, A89, A90, A91, A92, A93, A95, A102, A121, A138, E23.
Young Art and Old Hector
Faber and FaberLondon
5th. March 1942
YOUNG ART AND | OLD HECTOR | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER LIMITED | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - Q (8), 128 leaves. p. [1] [ital] Young Art and Old Hector; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMXLII; p. [5] For | THE WOMAN OF THE HOUSE; p. [6] blank; p. 7 Author's Note; p. [8] blank; p. 9 Contents; p. [10] blank, pp. 11 - 255 Text; p. [256] blank. 5" x 7 9/16". Bound in brown cloth, spine stamped in gold: Young | Art | & | Old | Hector | Two horizontal lines | Neil M. | Gunn | [space] | Faber and | Faber

G.W. Stewart | New York | 1944 Souvenir Press | London | 1976. The chapter entitled "Art Runs a Great Race" appeared in: Storm and Precipice | Faber and Faber | London | 1st. October 1942 | pp. 39 - 52. The chapter entitled "The Little Red Cow" appeared in: The Thistle and the Pen | E. Linklater, ed. | Nelson | London | 1950 | pp. 121 - 131. The chapter entitled "Machinery" appeared as "The Birdbeast and the Twelve Puppies" in: Chambers's Journal | Edinburgh | September 1941 | pp. 529 - 532. The chapter entitled "Art's Wedding Present" appeared in: Classic Scottish Short Stories | J.M.Reid, ed. | Oxford University Press | Oxford | 1989 | pp. 164 - 182. An extract from "Art's Wedding Present", comprising part of p. 190, p. 191 and part of p. 192 appeared as "Freedom and Whisky" in: Scotland, An Anthology | D.Dunn, ed. | Fontana | London | 1992 | pp. 265 - 267.

A delightful book concerning the friendship and exchange of knowledge between an old man and a young boy in a Highland crofting setting. Young Art and Old Hector were to be the main protagonists in the later, and perhaps more famous, "Green Isle of the Great Deep". According to Professor F.R.Hart in his "A Brief Memoir" (Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973) Gunn was himself the star runner at the local games, so the chapter "Art Runs a Great Race", at least, is partially autobiographical.

1) The First Run of Grilse. # 2) The Knife, the Glass Ball, and the Penny. # 3) Machinery. # 4) Under an Old Gooseberry Bush. * 5) The First and Second Childhood. * 6) The New Jersey, the Fluke and the Whispering Reeds. * 7) Nowhere and Somewhere. * 8) The Thimble of the Fairy Woman. 9) Art Runs a Great Race. * 10) A Minor Operation. 11) Going and Coming. 12) What is Good Conduct? 13) Art's Wedding Present. 14) The Secret. 15) The World Beyond. 16) The Little Red Cow. * 17) To the River. # Appeared in Chambers's Journal. * Appeared in The Scots Magazine.


A95A14, A30, A32, A42, A46, A52, A53, A57, A59, A68, A71, A77, A84, A92, A94, A100, A115, E18, E30, E83.
Storm and Precipice
Faber and FaberLondon
1st. October 1942
STORM AND PRECIPICE | and other pieces | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER LTD | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K (8), 80 leaves. p. [1] STORM AND PRECIPICE | AND OTHER PIECES | [ornament]; p. [2] blank; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in September MCMLXII : Statement re economy standards; pp. 5 - 6 Contents and select bibliography; pp. 7 - 159 Text; p. [160] blank. 4 7/8" x 7 1/2". Bound in fawn cloth, spine stamped in red: [Printed vertically, top to bottom] STORM AND PRECIPICE | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | [Printed horizontally] Faber.

The publication date is quoted as September 1942 but the publishers advise that the date was actually 1st. October 1942. This small volume contains a selection of prose passages from books published by the Porpoise Press and Faber.


A96A112, A130, B21, E9, E10, E33, E71.
Sun and Moon
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 83 - 99.November 1942

This story was dramatised for radio and broadcast 1st. June 1944. The story was later incorporated into the novel "The Lost Chart".

A war time story set in the Western Isles in which the captain of a fast patrol boat, on the look out for U-boats, observes the traditions of the local islanders with regard to the sun and moon; traditions full of respect rather than paganism.


A97A65, A115.
The Listener's Tale
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 187 - 195.December 1942

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 167 - 176.

The listener re-tells a discussion which has taken place between friends, one setting out Freudian arguments which are being opposed by a socialist anthropologist. Gunn obviously does not entirely favour Freud's theories.


A98A6, A22, A30, A43, C5, C9, D72.
The Serpent
Faber and FaberLondon
4th. June 1943
THE SERPENT | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - Q (8), 128 leaves. p. [1] [ital] The Serpent; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] For | Keith and Helen Henderson | [space] | [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMXLIII : Statement re economy standards; pp. 5 - [256] Text. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in turquoise cloth, spine stamped in gold: THE | SERPENT | [double horizontal lines] | NEIL M. | GUNN | [ornament] | [space] | FABER

G.W. Stewart | New York | 1944 (With the title "Man Goes Alone") Club Leabhar | Inverness | 1969 Souvenir Press | London | 1978. Canongate | Edinburgh | 1997. As one of the "Canongate Classics" series, with an Introduction by F. R. Hart. An extract comprising part of p. 175, p. 176 and part of p. 177 appeared in : Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | pp. 7 - 8. An extract comprising part of p. 180 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 27. An extract comprising part of p. 87 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 28. An extract comprising part of p. 113 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | pp. 28 - 29. An extract comprising part of pp. 252 - 253 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 29. An extract comprising part of p. 5 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 29. An extract comprising part of p. 56 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 29. An extract comprising part of p. 113 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 30. An extract comprising part of pp. 21 - 22 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 36. An extract comprising part of p. 240 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 37. An extract comprising part of pp. 241 - 242 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 37. An extract comprising part of p. 178 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 49. An extract comprising part of p. 5 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 55.

A letter from Faber, 23rd. July 1965, confirmed that the copyright had reverted to Gunn. The Highland action of this book is set around Brae, where Gunn did much of his writing. The story of Tom, "The Philosopher", covering his youth in Glasgow in the 1880's and his subsequent return to his Highland home. On his return he tends to be feared and shunned by his friends due to his atheism and socialistic beliefs. With time the fear dwindles and Tom becomes merely "The Philosopher". The story is told as a recollection by Tom in old age and reaches a highly symbolic ending.


A99A115
The Tax Gatherer
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 39, No. 5, pp. 333 - 340.August 1943

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 69 - 79. The New Penguin Book of Scottish Short Stories | Ian Murray, ed. | Penguin | Harmondsworth | 1983 | pp. 187 - 195. The Oxford Book of Scottish Short Stories | D.Dunn, ed. | Oxford University Press | Oxford | 1995 | pp. 175 - 181.

From correspondence it would appear that a translation appeared, circa 1957, in a German magazine. A young civil servant's dilemma in being caught between two stools. He feels the warmth of human sympathy towards people against whom, as an official, he has to take action. The story brings out the inhumanities of the legal system with, perhaps overdone, overtones of Pontius Pilate. In his early work Gunn conducted old age pension investigations and one wonders whether, to some extent, he is expressing a personal dilemma.


A100A40,,A68, A95, A138, E80, E85, E100.
Highland River
ArgosyLondon
Vol. 4, No. 7, pp. 13 - 24.August 1943

A reprinting of the first chapter of the novel of the same name published by the Porpoise Press in 1937. The story of young Kenn's epic battle with a large salmon in a pool.


A101A115.
The Chariot
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 13 - 24.December 1943

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 11 - 27.

Gunn here explores the same theme as that of "The White Hour" but with a difference in the character and attitude of the central figure who is approaching death. As opposed to a warm extrovert feeling there is here a cold attitude and a terrible loneliness. However, in the end, life must continue. Here, I believe, Gunn is commenting upon our modern pecuniarily based society as a contrast to the older co-operative spirit.


A102A23, A94, E79, E91, E99, E110.
The Green Isle of the Great Deep.
Faber and FaberLondon
6th. June 1944
The Green Isle | of the Great Deep | by | Neil M. Gunn | [space] | Faber and Faber Limited | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - Q (8), 128 leaves. p. [1] THE GREEN ISLE | OF THE GREAT DEEP | For Old Hector | and others like him | who were friendly | to many a Highland boy, | this phantasy.; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMXLIV : Statement re economy standards; pp. 5 - 6 Contents; pp. 7 - 256 Text. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in dark green cloth, spine stamped in gold: {three wavy horizontal lines] | The | Green | Isle | of | the | Great | Deep | [three wavy horizontal lines] | Neil | M. | Gunn | [three wavy horizontal lines] | [space] | F & F

Souvenir Press | London | 1975 The novel was dramatised for radio and broadcast 22nd. January 1966. An extract comprising part of pp. 201 - 202 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 40. An extract comprising part of p. 25 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 45. An extract comprising part of p. 33 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 45. An extract comprising part of p. 224 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 46. An extract comprising part of p. 91 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 46. An extract comprising part of p. 204 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 46. An extract comprising part of p. 204 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 52. An extract comprising pp. 25-32 appeared in: An Anthology of Scottish Fantasy Literature | Ed. Colin Manlove | Polygon | Edinburgh | 1996 | pp. 203-209.

Dr. Robert MacIntyre of the S.N.P. recalls a conversation with Gunn and quotes (verbally) his reply to the question, "Why is "The Green Isle of the Great Deep" not better known?" as "I don't know, it was my best book." The main characters in this novel are Young Art and Old Hector who we met in the earlier novel of that title. The book, which Gunn in his dedication refers to as a phantasy, commences with a trip to the river which had been Art's aim in the earlier work. From there they are mystically transported to "The Green Isle", the Celtic "Tir Nan Og", but all is not well as God has been asleep. The book concerns Art and Hector's rebellion against the hierarchy which runs the Isle. The book is an unusual one in many ways, but retains Gunn's central belief in the individual. As such this is a commentary on the dangers inherent in a totalitarian state.


A103A109.
Convalescence
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 1 - 13.October 1944

This short story, slightly amended, became chapter one of part one of the novel "The Shadow". The whole of part one of the novel bears this title.

A young girl, who has suffered a nervous breakdown in the city, is convalescing in the Highlands. The story is a record of her feelings and observations in the form of letters to her boyfriend.


A104A115, A126.
Pure Chance
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 452 - 468.March 1945

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 192 - 213.

A strange psychological thriller with more than a touch of the occult. It centres around a Gaelic song which seems to have an unwelcome affect upon its performers but, of course, this could be pure chance! In some of the incidents recounted, and the dialogue, there is a foretaste of "The Other Landscape".


A105A49, A126.
The Key of the Chest
Faber and FaberLondon
26th. January 1946
THE KEY | OF THE CHEST | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (16), B - G (16), H (2), H* (14), R (4), 132 leaves. p. [1] THE KEY | OF THE CHEST; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] FOR | PETER AND ENA | [space] | [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMXLV : Statement re economy standards; pp. 5 - 262 Text; pp. [263] - [264] blank. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in blue cloth, spine stamped in gold: [three horizontal lines] | THE | KEY | OF | THE | CHEST | [three horizontal lines] | NEIL | M. | GUNN | [three horizontal lines] | [space] | F & F

G.W. Stewart | New York | 1946 Cedric Chivers (at the request of the London and Home Counties Branch of the Library Association) | Bath | 1966 Souvenir Press | London | 1986

The copyright has been transferred to Cedric Chivers Ltd. The novel bears the imprint 1945 but, according to Faber and Faber, was not published until the 26th. January 1946. The novel is based largely on the short story "The Dead Seaman" which appeared in the Scots Magazine in July 1931. A mystery of a dead seaman who is suspected of having been murdered by a local shepherd who lives physically and metaphorically outside the village.


A106A107.
A Dream of Edinburgh
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 45, No. 5, pp. 343 - 348.August 1946

This story is an extract from "The Drinking Well".


A107A24, A33, A34, A40, A51, A106, A138, B5, E4, E11, E12, E36, E58, E77.
The Drinking Well
Faber and FaberLondon
21st. February 1947
THE | DRINKING WELL | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER LTD | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (16), No J, K - P (16), 232 leaves. p. [1] THE DRINKING WELL; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMXLVI; p. [5] Contents; p. [6] To My | OLD FRIEND IAN | and the sheep farm on the Grampians, | not forgetting the little black diary; p. [7] PART 1 | AT HOME; p. [8] blank; pp. 9 - 464 Text. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in green cloth, spine stamped in Gold: THE | DRINKING | WELL | BY | NEIL M. | GUNN | [space] | FABER

G.W. Stewart | New York | 1947 Souvenir Press | London | 1978 An extract entitled " A Dream of Edinburgh", comprising chapter fifteen of part two of the novel (with slight alterations) had appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | August 1946 | pp. 343 - 348. The novel was dramatised for radio and broadcast 3rd. December 1956. An extract entitled "Poaching", comprising part of p. 57, pp. 58 - 59 and part of p. 60 appeared in: Scotland: An Anthology | Maurice Lindsay, ed. | Robert Hale | November 1974 | pp. 374 - 377. An extract comprising part of p. 187 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 20.

Whilst the work bears the imprint 1946, according to Faber, it was not published until 21st. February 1947. Some copies of the first edition are known to have been mis-bound with two "M" sections and no "N" section. Iain Cattenach, the hero, first appeared in "The Man Who Came Back ( Study for a one-act play)" in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | March 1928 | pp. 419 - 429. The play for which the above was a study was: Back Home | W. Wilson | Glasgow | 1932. The story explores, in much greater detail, the ideas first expressed in the above works, and shows effectively the contrasts between urban and rural life. The rural setting is a large sheep farm between Newtonmore and Dalwhinnie in the Grampians which, as can be seen from the dedication, was well known to Gunn.


A108A115.
On the Stone
The Scots MagazineDundee
Vol. 46, No. 5, pp. 333 - 344.February 1947

This story later appeared in: The White Hour | Faber and Faber | London | 2nd. October 1950 | pp. 104 - 117. Argosy | London | Vol. 12, No. 1, | January 1951 | pp. 123 - 132.

The story of two young people, in love and inwardly shy, who come together at the end of the story, having physically been on the edge of disaster.


A109A72, A103.
The Shadow
Faber and FaberLondon
20th February 1948
THE SHADOW | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER LIMITED | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - H (16), 120 leaves. p. [1] THE SHADOW; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMXLVIII; p. [5] Contents; p. [6] FOR | JOHN AND GENE; pp. 7 - 241 Text. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in red cloth, spine stamped in gold: [ornament] | The | Shadow | [ornament] | Neil M. | Gunn | [space] | Faber

Richard Drew | Glasgow | 1989 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) The short story "Convalescence" which (with slight amendments) became chapter one of part one of the novel appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | October 1944 | pp. 1 - 13. The short story "Snow in March" which was worked into the plot as a dramatic interlude appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | June 1938 | pp. 191 - 199. An extract comprising part of pp. 145 - 146 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 26.

A letter from Faber, 23rd. July 1965, confirmed that the copyright had reverted to Gunn. The action of the novel takes place in the countryside round Brae, where Gunn lived 1938 - 1948. A complex story of a young girl's mental breakdown, convalescence, and fight to recover.


A110A4, A15, A50, A119, A130, E13.
The Silver Bough
Faber and FaberLondon
22nd. October 1948
THE SILVER BOUGH | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), Bb - Ib (8), No Jb, Kb - Sb (8), Tb (2), Tb* (10), Ub (8), 164 leaves. p. [1] - [2] blank; p. [3] THE SILVER BOUGH; p. [4] By the same author; p. [5] Title page; p. [6] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMXLVIII; p. [7] To the memory of | JOHN ROSE FREW; p. [8] blank; pp. 9 - 328 Text. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in blue cloth, spine stamped in gold: THE | SILVER | BOUGH | by | NEIL M. | GUNN | [space] | FABER

Richard Drew | Glasgow | 1985 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) This novel is based on the short story "The Circle" which appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | January 1932 | pp. 241 - 255. Two other of Gunn's short stories which, to the best of my knowledge, have not been published contain sea rescue episodes virtually identical to the one recounted in this novel. It seems probable that these preceded the novel but it is not possible to confirm this from the addresses on the manuscripts. These stories are: The Face in the Pool | Address Kincraig, Nr. Dingwall (1948 - 1950) The Terrible Ally | Address Kerrow House, Cannich (1950 - 1960)

John Rose Frew, the dedicatee, was Gunn's father in law. See note under "The Circle" A50.


A111
Footsteps in the Corridor
Unpublished
From address, 1938 - 1948

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. An intellectual love story bearing the philosophical stamp and more indirect and convoluted approach of Gunn's later works.


A112A96, A130, B21, E9, E10, E33, E71.
The Lost Chart
Faber and FaberLondon
10th. May 1949
THE LOST CHART | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER LIMITED | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - U (8), No V & W, X - Y (8), 176 leaves. p. [1] THE LOST CHART; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published MCMXLIX; pp. 5 - 352 Text. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in blue cloth, spine stamped in gold: [title in decorative scroll] THE | LOST | CHART | [ital] a novel by | NEIL M. | GUNN | [space] | FABER

Richard Drew | Glasgow | 1987 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) Part of the story "Sun and Moon" was utilised as part of this novel. It first appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | November 1942 | pp. 123 - 126.

During the Second World War, Gunn was in charge of shipping, and routing ships round mine fields on the west coast of Scotland. He reported to, and was instructed by, the Admiralty at Kinlochleven. He has drawn on his war time experiences in this novel. "The Lost Chart" is a complicated story of espionage and counter-espionage set in the cold war period of the later 1940's.


A113A78, A133, B15, B22, C9, D32, D39, D71, D72, D73, D74, D75, D77, D79, D82, D84, D86, D87, D89, D93, D95, D98, D100, D102, D103, D105, D107, D108, D109, D110, D112, D116, D118, D120, D121, D122, D123, D124, D125, D128, D129, D131, D132, D134, D136, D139, D140, D141, D142, D144, D187, D189.
Highland Pack
Faber and FaberLondon
18th. November 1949
HIGHLAND PACK | by | NEIL GUNN | [ital] With drawings by | KEITH HENDERSON | [space] | [illustration] | FABER AND FABER LIMITED | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - Q (8), R (1), R* (9), 138 leaves. pp. [1] - [2] blank; p. [3] [ital] Highland Pack; p. [4] By the same author; p. [5] Title page; p. [6] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: first published in MCMXLIX; p. [7] For | THE GARDENER; p.[8] blank; pp. 9 - 11 Foreword; p. [12] blank; p. 13 Acknowledgements; p. [14] blank; pp. 15 - 16 Contents; pp. 17 - 274 Text; pp. [275] - [276] blank. 5 3/8" x 8 1/8". Bound in red cloth, spine stamped in gold: [three horizontal lines] | HIGH- | LAND | PACK | [three horizontal lines] | NEIL | M. | GUNN | [space] | FABER

Richard Drew | Glasgow | 1989 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) Part of chapter thirty four, "The Gentle Rain from Heaven", comprising pp. 162 - 166 later appeared in: Reflections | Ronald Thomson | Thurso | 1978 | pp. 10 - 12. Part of chapter thirty one, "The Rose at the Gable End ", comprising pp. 145 - 149 later appeared in: Reflections | Ronald Thomson | Thurso | 1978 | pp. 18 - 20. An extract comprising part of pp. 56 - 57, part of chapter eleven "March and the Dead Earth" appeared as "Highland Cattle" in: Scotland: An Anthology | D.Dunn, ed. | Fontana | London | 1992 | p. 80. An extract comprising part of pp. 33 - 35, part of chapter six "The Wild Goose" appeared under the same title in: Scotland: An Anthology | D.Dunn, ed. | Fontana | London | 1992 | pp. 84 - 86. An extract comprising part of pp. 102 - 104, part of chapter twenty one "Contrasting Regions" appeared under the same title in: Scotland: An Anthology | D.Dunn, ed. | Fontana | London | 1992 | pp. 149 - 150. An extract comprising part of p. 32 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 25. An extract comprising part of p. 250 and pp.251-272 was reprinted as "To the Flannans" in: Scottish Sea Stories | Murray, G. ed. | Polygon | Edinburgh | 1996 | pp. 135-155

The Gardener to whom the book is dedicated is Gunn's wife. According to Professor F.R.Hart in his "A Brief Memoir" (Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973) it was Malcolm MacLeod who took Gunn to Bernera. Malcolm MacLeod lived in Stornoway and had once been a crew member Gunn's Father's boat.

This book is mainly a collection of nature stories which first appeared in The Scots Magazine, written under the pseudonym of Dane McNeil, under the general headings of "Memories of the Months" and "A Countryman's Year". Chapter seven was based on "The Mole Catcher", an article in: The Glasgow Herald | Glasgow | 10th. May 1941 | p. 3. Chapter thirty five was based on "In the Wilds of Sutherland", an article in: S.M.T. Magazine | Edinburgh | July 1940 | pp. 22 - 27. Chapter forty seven was based on "The Factor's Tale", an article in: The Glasgow Herald | Glasgow | 9th. March 1940 | p. 3. Chapters forty eight to fifty three were based on a series entitled "Islands and Seas" in: Chambers's Journal | Edinburgh | I From Stornoway to Bernera | February 1940 | pp. 103 - 107. II Farewell to Bernera | March 1940 | pp. 204 - 207. III To the Flannan Isles | April 1940 | pp. 285 - 288. IV The Light that Failed | May 1940 | pp. 348 - 351.


A114
Gold Comes by Chance
The Glasgow HeraldGlasgow
p. 3.15th. April 1950

The story of a young hitch hiker's chance meeting with a shepherd and the spiritually enriching moments which followed.


A115A6, A8, A14, A22, A24, A30, A31, A32, A37, A38, A48, A54, A55, A64, A66, A73, A75, A83, A85, A97, A99, A101, A104, A108.
The White Hour
Faber and FaberLondon
2nd. October 1950
THE WHITE HOUR | and other stories | [ornament] | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER LTD | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (80, B - I (8), No J, K - S (8), 144 leaves. pp. [1] - [2] blank; p. [3] The White Hour; p. [4] By the same author; p. [5] Title page; p.[6] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCML; pp. 7 - 8 Contents; p. 9 Note and acknowledgements; p. [10] blank; pp. 11 - 285 Text; pp. [286] - [288] blank. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in beige cloth, spine stamped in gold: THE | WHITE | HOUR | [ornament] | NEIL M. | GUNN | [space] | FABER

Richard Drew | Glasgow | 1990 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) I have been unable to trace previous publications of "The Ghost's Story" and "The Telegram" although from correspondence it would appear that the former was offered to the B.B.C. (3rd. June 1940) for possible broadcast use, but was declined. It seems to have been published in a Danish magazine, "Magasinet", around August 1956. The latter later appeared in: Modern Scottish Short Stories | F.Urquhart and G.Gordon, eds. | Hamish Hamilton | London | 1978 | pp. [1] - 6. ["The Ghost's Story" appeared in: Ken, A Book of Fact & Fiction | Scoop Books Limited | Glasgow | n.d. | pp. 52 - 59. "With acknowledgements to the Editor of S.M.T. and Scottish Country Life Magazine"].

1) The Chariot 2) Whistle for Bridge 3) Hill Fever 4) The Old Man 5) Paper Boats 6) Symbolical # * 7) Blaeberries # * 8) The Tax Gatherer 9) The White Hour # 10) The Tree 11) On the Stone 12) The Black Woollen Gloves 13) Dance of the Atoms 14) Love's Dialectic 15) The Mirror 16) The Listener's Tale 17) The Clock 18) Such Stuff as Dreams * 19) Pure Chance 20) Down to the Sea * 21) The Ghost's Story 22) Montrose Rides By 23) Henry Drake Goes Home 24) The Telegram 25) Half-Light * 26) The Moor * # Also appear in Storm and Precipice, 1942. * Also appear in Hidden Doors, 1930.


A116A40, A121, A138.
Primitives in the Pool
The Glasgow HeraldGlasgow
p. 3.28th. October 1950

This story later appeared in: Casual Columns | George Outram | Glasgow| 1955 | pp. 148 - 151.

A husband and wife on a salmon poaching expedition which came about by chance. The story was used again in the early part of "The Well at the World's End", 1951. From correspondence quoted by Professor F.R.Hart in his "A Brief Memoir" (Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973) it is clear that this incident is autobiographical.


A117A40, A80, A138, B2, B14, B23.
The Lost Woman
HolidayPhiladelphia
Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 60 - 63, 112, 114, 115.October 1950

This story was offered, unsuccessfully, to "Argosy". Set in a deer forest during the stalking season, this story concerns a Scots woman who is desired by two men; one British the other American. In this version, clearly intended for the U.S. market, the American wins. There are clear parallels with "Second Sight" and "The Poaching at Grianan", as well as with the three act plays "Second Sight", "The Ancient Fire" and "Beyond the Cage".


A118A25, A35, A60, A121.
Ride the Gale
The Saturday Evening PostPhiladelphia
Vol. 223, No. 25, pp. 20 - 21 and 104 - 106.16th. December 1950

This story later appeared in: Argosy | London | March 1951 | pp. 5 - 16.

A brilliant short story of a storm at sea and a proud old sailing boat skipper's battle with the elements. The story was adapted from the earlier short story "The Storm" which appeared in: The Scots Magazine | Dundee | February 1935 | pp. 349 - 357. It was later used as an episode in "The Well at the World's End".


A119A34, A40, A45, A51, A110, A130, A138, B2, B23.
The Face in the Pool
Unpublished
From address, 1948 - 1950.

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. A story as full of vitality as his early work. It is in the nature of a romance between a young fisherman, living with his widowed mother, and Isobel, the Laird's daughter. The use of these semi-hopeless liaisons is widespread in Gunn's fiction, for example: 'The Lost Glen", "The Poaching at Grianan", "The Ancient Fire" and "Beyond the Cage". The opening paragraph illustrates the title in a passage reminiscent of "Sea Tangle". The Laird is interested in archaeology/geology, as in "The Silver Bough", and is trapped in a cave by the rising tide whilst digging out a fossil. The hero rescues him by boat after a daring row, and is suitably rewarded. This latter scene is almost a carbon copy of the rescue in "The Silver Bough".


A120A121.
In a Spanish Garden
ArgosyLondon
Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 97 - 104.April 1951

An unusual story of Scots on holiday in Spain and of a swim which almost becomes a tragedy. This story was told by one of the group operating the illicit still in the novel "The Well at the World's End".


A121A25, A35, A60, A94, A116, A118, A120, B21, D178, D242, E14, E94, E96.
The Well at the World's End
Faber and FaberLondon
26th. October 1951
The Well | at the World's End | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER & FABER LIMITED | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - Q (8), R (2), R* (10), S (8), 148 leaves. p. [1] THE WELL AT THE WORLD'S END; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMLI; p. [5] For | R.M.M.; p. [6] blank; pp. 7 - [295] Text; p. [296] blank. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in blue cloth, spine stamped in gold: THE | WELL | AT THE | WORLD'S | END | [ornament] | NEIL | M. | GUNN | [space] | FABER

Cedric Chivers (at the request of the London and Home Counties Branch of the Library Association) | Bath | 1968 Souvenir Press | London | 1985. Canongate | Edinburgh | October | 1996 | As part of the "Canongate Classics" series, with an introduction by J. B. Pick. The novel was dramatised for radio and broadcast in three episodes, 28th. February 1970, 7th. March 1970 and 14th. March 1970. An article entitled "Strange Happenings in the Highlands", being a conversation between Gunn and Deirdre MacDonald to coincide with the above broadcast appeared in: The Radio Times (Scottish Edition) | London | Vol. 186, No. 2416, p. 12. | 26th. February 1970. An extract comprising pp. 7-11 appeared in: An Anthology of Scottish Fantasy Literature | Ed. Colin Manlove | Polygon | Edinburgh | 1996 | pp. 209-212.

This novel draws more heavily than any other on Gunn's earlier work. The opening chapter follows closely: The Pursuit of Light | Scotland's Magazine | Edinburgh | April 1950 | pp. 38 - 41. and is clearly autobiographical as is the action of chapter three, which is based on: The primitives in the Pool | The Glasgow Herald | Glasgow | 28th. October 1950 | p. 3. The undermentioned short stories were also incorporated as interludes in the novel: The Storm | The Scots Magazine | Dundee | February 1935 | pp. 349 - 357. In a Spanish Garden | Argosy | London | April 1951 | pp. 97 - 104. "The Storm" itself being rewritten as "Ride the Gale" in : The Saturday Evening Post | Philadelphia | 16th. December 1950 | pp. 20 - 21 and 104 - 106. Argosy | London | March 1951 | pp. 5 - 16. There is an incident with an illicit still which has similarities to episodes in "Whisky and Scotland", "Young Art and Old Hector" and the later, unpublished, film script "The Water of Life". The understanding wife of the novel, Fand, apart from being a figure in Celtic myth, has been identified as Gunn's wife by his biographers (Neil M. Gunn: A Highland Life | F.R. Hart and J. B. Pick | John Murray | London | 1981) who report that the copy of the novel Gunn gave to his wife was so inscribed. They also report that Gunn had told them that Cocklebuster was the character he had visualised the most fully, and that he was based on a person he had met in the period 1911 - 1921. The conception of "The Well at the World's End" owes something to Connla's well in Celtic mythology according to Professor F.R.Hart in his "A Brief Memoir". (Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973) This is a very symbolic novel concerning the search for truth and the inner self by a professor of history who is on holiday in the Scottish Highlands. There is more than a hint here of the thinking which was to be set out later in Gunn's spiritual autobiography "The Atom of Delight".


A122
Revolution in the Highlands
The Glasgow HeraldGlasgow
p. 3.12th. July 1952

This story later appeared in: Casual Columns | George Outram | Glasgow | 1955 | pp. 9 - 13.

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. This story is used as a vehicle for illustrating the coming of electricity to the Highlands.


A123A26, A128, E20, E48, E66.
Bloodhunt
Faber and FaberLondon
26th. September 1952
BLOODHUNT | [ornamental horizontal line] | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER LTD | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - Q (8), 128 leaves. pp. [1] - [2] blank; p. [3] BLOODHUNT; p. [4] By the same author; p. [5] Title page; p. [6] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMLII; p. [7] For R.W.; p. [8] blank; pp. 9 - 250 Text; pp. [251] - [256] blank. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in red cloth, spine stamped in gold: BLOOD | HUNT | [ornament] | NEIL M. | GUNN | [space] | FABER

Souvenir Press | London | 1984 Walker | New York | 1987 The novel was dramatised for radio and broadcast 28th. April, 1958.

A letter from Faber, 23rd. July 1965, confirmed that the copyright had reverted to Gunn. The R.W. of the dedication is Robert Wotherspoon. The action of the book is set in the countryside near Brae, Gunn's home from 1938 - 1948. Some of the themes explored in this novel were foreshadowed in the short story "Birdsong at Evening": The Cornhill | London | September 1926 | pp. 298 - 314. An exciting thriller of murder and a manhunt. Against that background Gunn introduces us to some memorable people, archetypal characters, and explores motivation and morality in more than purely legal terms.


A124A84.
Desperate Journey
The Saturday Evening PostPhiladelphia
Vol. 225, No. 23, pp. 30, 90, 92, 97 -98, 103 and 105.6th. December 1952

This story later appeared in: The Saturday Evening Post Stories 1952 | The Saturday Evening Post | New York | pp. 180 - 196. Youth and the Future | Prentice - Hall | New Jersey | 1959 | pp. 164 - 175.

This short story bore the two working titles of "All One Family" and "I've Got To Get Through". The story of an isolated keeper and his family. His son falls ill during a particularly bad winter spell and he has to make a hazardous journey to obtain help. A similar theme to the "Trial by Plague" passage of "The Silver Darlings". The writing and the vocabulary seem uncharacteristic, possibly because it was written for the American market.


A125
Countryman at the Play
The Glasgow HeraldGlasgow
p. 3.13th. December 1952

A dissertation on modern writers by an old countryman who is watching a play by George Bernard Shaw.


A126A28, A47, A104, A105, E22.
The Other Landscape
Faber and FaberLondon
5th. March 1954
The Other Landscape | by | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - U (8), 160 leaves. pp. [1] - [2] blank; p. [3] THE OTHER LANDSCAPE; p. [4] By the same author; p. [5] Title page; p. [6] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMLIV; pp. 7 - 318 Text; pp. [319] - [320] blank. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in green cloth, spine stamped in blue: [two horizontal upward facing parentheses] | THE | OTHER | LAND- | SCAPE | [ two horizontal downward facing parentheses] | NEIL | M. | GUNN | [space] | FABER

Richard Drew | Glasgow | 1988 (With a foreword by Dairmid Gunn)House of Lochar | Isle of Colonsay | 1998

The fictional manuscript "Cliffs" by Douglas Menzies, one of the protagonists of this novel, quotes from "Tragedy into Dream", an early story by Gunn from 1931. Professor F.R. Hart in his "A Brief Memoir" (Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer | A.Scott and D.Gifford, eds. | William Blackwood | Edinburgh | 1973) states that the character of the Major in this novel was based on a person met during the period 1911 - 1921. In the novel Douglas Menzies scales a sea cliff in a manner somewhat reminiscent of the shepherd in "The Key of the Chest". The narrator of the book has been commissioned to ascertain the facts behind a manuscript of a story called "Cliffs", submitted to a publisher friend. He visits the author, a virtual recluse since the death of his wife, and strikes up a friendship. The author has become obsessed with "The Other Landscape", or supernatural landscape behind the visible one. A highly complex novel which, nevertheless, contains passages of great humour.


A127A40, A138, B27, D207, D208, D214, D215, D216, D219, D221, D232, D240, D241, E37, E41, E57, E79, F16.
The Atom of Delight
Faber and FaberLondon
12th. October 1956
The Atom of Delight | [ornament] | NEIL M. GUNN | [space] | FABER AND FABER LIMITED | 24 Russell Square | London

[A] (8), B - I (8), No J, K - T (8), 152 leaves. p. [1] THE ATOM OF DELIGHT; p. [2] By the same author; p. [3] Title page; p. [4] [ital] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in MCMLVI; pp. 5 - 6 Contents; pp. 7 - 304 Text. 5" x 7 1/2". Bound in plum cloth, spine stamped in gold: THE | ATOM | OF | DELIGHT | [ornament] | NEIL | GUNN | [space] | Faber

Polygon | Edinburgh | 1986 (With an introduction by J.B.Pick and a foreword by Dairmid Gunn) A later edition of the above (1989) also contained an afterword "Highland Zen" by Alan Spence. An extract from the book was dramatised for radio and broadcast as "The Boy and the Salmon", 30th. May 1957. An extract comprising part of p. 104 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 15. (This quotation was incorrectly attributed to "Morning Tide". An extract comprising part of p. 114 appeared in: Glimpses of Gunn | Ann Yule and Alan Haldane | Neil M. Gunn Memorial Trust | Dingwall | 1990 | p. 15.

The typescript of this book, together with two corrected page proofs, is held at the National Library of Scotland. This is Gunn's spiritual autobiography and the themes are continued in a series of essays which appeared in "The Saltire Review" 1958 - 1961 and in "Point" in 1968 - 1969. The B.B.C. programme "Talking about Landscape", broadcast 28th. June 1959, was a conversation between Gunn and George Bruce on the same themes as those contained in he Saltire Review" and "Point" essays. Extracts also appeared in "The Glasgow Herald" immediately prior to publication as under: 1) Off and Away, 22nd. September 1956, p. 3. 2) Trees in Church, 29th. September 1956, p. 3. 3) The Family Cow, 6th. October 1956, p. 3. 4) The Boy in London, 13th. October 1956, p. 3. This book was remaindered, 21st. December 1959, when the entire remaining stock of 128 bound copies and 2550 sets of sheets (out of an original print run of 5050 sets) were sold to "Books for Pleasure". They were then issued, in a dustwrapper identical to the original, bound in green paper substitute, with the spine,stamped in black: THE | ATOM | OF | DELIGHT | NEIL | GUNN | [space] | FABER Apart from the binding there is no difference to the edition issued by Faber.


A128A73, A123, A129.
Presents for their Wives
Unpublished
From address 1950 - 1960

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. Unusually this is a story of Irish tinkers, a subject more to the taste of Gunn's close friend and fellow author Maurice Walsh. There are however close similarities to "The Old Man', in the central patriarchal figure. The method employed in returning value for items "borrowed" has similarities to a scene in "Bloodhunt".


A129A73, A128, B7, B12.
The Primrose Path
Unpublished
From address, 1950 - 1960

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. Another story of Irish tinkers like "Presents for their Wives", and similar to "The Old Man". In this episode the old man talks of tradition with a seeker after old lore, as in "Old Music". His granddaughter, Rosie, seen as the embodiment of the old spirit is the collector of primroses destined to be a bridal bouquet.


A130A96, A110, A112, A119, B21, E9, E10, E33, E71.
The Terrible Ally
Unpublished
From address, 1950 - 1960

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. The love interest in this story, and the exciting voyage in an open rowing boat, is virtually the same as those in "The Face in the Pool" and "The Silver Bough". However here the incidents are used as background in a war time story reminiscent, to some extent, of "The Lost Chart" and "Sun and Moon". Gunn no doubt drew on his own experiences as a coast watcher on the west coast of Scotland.


A131
When Half-Way is All the Way
Unpublished
From address, 1950 - 1960

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. The story of three young people in a Highland environment who are fast friends. In adolescence the two young men feel an attraction for the third member, a young lady. The boys indulge in some deer poaching which, due to over eagerness to impress, has tragic results when one is shot by the other. The survivor, whilst cleared of blame, feels he cannot remain at home and prepares to emigrate. The girl however, realising her involvement, meets the boy in Glasgow prior to his departure, and accepts are share of the responsibility. By meeting half-way their true feelings for each other become apparent.


A132A56.
Joe and the Monster
Unpublished

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. This story is, to all intents and purposes, a re-telling of "George and the Dragon", with an American newsman as hero.


A133A113.
The Roaring Game
Unpublished

Typescript held at the National Library of Scotland. This is little more than a dramatised description of the game of curling. It has similarities to, and the same title as, an essay in "Highland Pack".


A134D7, D13, D20,,D24, D25, D27, D29, D36, D38, D40, D45, D47, D49, D55, D57, D60, D62, D63, D64, D66, D67, D68, D70, D81.1, D83, D90, D92, D96, D99, D106, D113, D117, D130, D137, D147, D165, D166, D166.2, D214, D215, D216, D219, D221, D232, D235, D238, D239, F7.
Landscape and Light
Aberdeen University PressAberdeen
1987
LANDSCAPE | AND | LIGHT | [space] | ESSAYS BY | NEIL M GUNN | EDITED BY ALISTAIR McCLEERY | [space] | ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS

[A] - [G] (16), [H] 6, [I] (16), 134 leaves. p. [i] LANDSCAPE | AND | LIGHT | ESSAYS BY | NEIL M GUNN; p. [ii] A.U.P. titles of related interest; p. [iii] Title page; p. [iv] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in 1987; pp. v - vi Contents; p. [vii] Acknowledgements; p. [viii] blank; pp. ix - x Chronology; pp. 1 - 21 Introduction; p. [22] blank; p. [23] SECTION 1 | [ital] LANDSCAPES; p. 24 blank; pp. 25 - 81 Text; p. [82] blank; p. [83] SECTION II | [ital] LITERATURE; p.[84] blank; pp. 85 - 137 Text; p. {138] blank; p [139] SECTION III | [ital] LOYALTIES; p. [140] blank; pp. 141 - 195 Text; p. [196] blank; p. [197] SECTION IV | [ital] LIGHT; p. [198] blank; pp. 199 - 249 Text; p. [250] blank; pp. 251 - 252 Sources; pp. 253 - 256 Index; pp. [257] - [258] blank. 6 1/8" x 9 1/4". Bound in grey cloth, spine stamped in gold: [reading from top to bottom] LANDSCAPE AND LIGHT Essays by NEIL M GUNN | [space] | AUP

A collection of forty eight essays written between 1928 - 1968, thereby spanning most of his productive life. They have been arranged, by the editor, in four sections: I Landscape II Literature III Loyalties IV Light


A135C12.
Neil M. Gunn: Selected Letters
PolygonEdinburgh
1987
NEIL M. GUNN | [line] | SELECTED LETTERS | Edited by J. B. Pick | [space] | POLYGON | Edinburgh

[A] - [L] (12), 144 leaves. p. [i] NEIL M. GUNN | [line] | SELECTED LETTERS; p. [ii] blank; p. [iii] Title page; p. [iv] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in 1987; pp. v - ix Contents; p. [x] Specimen of a letter; pp. xi - xxiii Introduction; p. [xxiv] blank; p. [1] ONE | [line] | THE BEGINNING WRITER | 1925 to 1937; p. [2] blank; pp. 3 - 49 Text, p. [50] blank; p. [51] TWO | [line] | THE FULL-TIME WRITER | 1937 TO 1956; p. [52] blank; pp. 53 - 129 Text; p. [130] blank; p. [131] THREE | [line] | AFTER LITERATURE | 1957 to 1963; p. [132] blank; pp. 133 - 187 Text; p. [188] blank; p. [189] FOUR | [line] | ALONE | 1963 to 1973; p. [190] blank; pp. 191 - 252 Text; pp. 253 - 260 Notes; pp. 261 - 264 Index. 5 3/4" x 9". Bound in blue board covers, spine stamped in gold: [reading from top to bottom] NEIL M. GUNN : SELECTED LETTERS J.B. Pick POLYGON

Two letters to Naomi Mitchison (18th. April 1943 and 9th. June 1944) later appeared in: A Scottish Postbag: Eight Centuries of Scottish Letters | G.Bruce and P.H.Scott, eds. | Chambers | Edinburgh | 1986 | pp. 233 - 237.

A collection of letters spanning the period 1925 - 1972.


A136A26, A29, A33, A49, A60, A69, A72, D1, D4, D5, D23, D25, D26, D37, D44, D51, D102, D115, D213, D223, D253, E52.
The Man Who Came Back: Short Stories and Essays
PolygonEdinburgh
1991
[ital] The Man Who Came Back | [ital] Essays and Short Stories | [space] Neil M. Gunn | [space] | Edited by Margery McCulloch | [space] | Polygon | EDINBURGH

[A] - [G] (16), 112 leaves. pp. [i] - [ii] blank; p. [iii] [ital] The Man Who Came Back; p. [iv] blank; p. [v] Title page; p. [vi] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in 1991; p. [vii] Contents; p. [viii] Acknowledgements; pp. [1] - 13 Introduction; p. [14] blank; p. [15] [ital] Essays; p. [16] blank; pp. [17] - 95 Text; p. [96] blank; p. [97] [ital] Short Stories; p. [98] blank; pp. [99] - 206 Text; pp. [207] - 209 Notes; pp. [210] - 211 Sources; pp. [212] - [216] blank. 5 3/8" x 8 1/2". Paperback, front cover inscribed: Neil M. Gunn | [photograph by John Charity entitled "From A Northern Land"] | The Man | Who Came Back | [ital] Short Stories and Essays | Edited by | Margery McCulloch | Polygon | COSMOS The back cover of the book carries a description of the book and a bar code and the spine is printed in white on black: [reading from top to bottom] Neil M. Gunn | [ornament] | The Man Who Came Back | [space] | Polygon

A collection of fifteen essays written between 1923 - 1960, together with the undermentioned short stories: The Dead Seaman Birdsong at Evening Strath Ruins The Man Who Came Back The Storm The Boat Snow in March Where Gunn had made amendments to printed copies he had retained, these have been included in this edition.


A137A1, A43, A47, C1, C2, C3, C4. C5, C6, C7, C8, C9. C10, C11, C12, F1.
Poems: and related early work
Peglet PressAmpthill
June 1994
Poems | and related early work | Neil M. Gunn | collected by C.J.L. Stokoe

[A] (16), 16 leaves. p. [1] Title page; p. [2] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in 1994; pp. [3] - [4] Foreword by Dairmid Gunn; pp. [5] - [32] Text. 5 7/8" x 8 1/4". Booklet bound in green card, front cover inscribed: Poems | and related early work | [motif incorporating a silhouette of Gunn's head, together with his name and dates] | Neil M. Gunn | [space] collected by C.J.L. Stokoe The back cover is inscribed: Peglet Press | Orchard House | 50 Arthur Street | AMPTHILL | Beds. MK45 2QQ | ISBN 1 897974 02 7

A complete collection of Gunn's poems, together with three short stories and literary competition entries.


A138A23, A24, A40, A46, A68, A80, A94, A100, A107, A116, A117, A119, A127, B1, B2, B14, B23, B27, E2, E36, E41, E58, E80, E85.
The Poaching at Grianan
Merchiston PublishingEdinburgh
2005
[ital] The Poaching at Grianan | Neil M. Gunn | [ital] Preface by Dairmid Gunn | [ital] Introduction by Alistair McCleery | [space] | [ital] Merchiston Publishing | [ital] Edinburgh

[A] - [E] (16), [F] (4), [G] (16), 100 leaves:p. [i] [ital] The Poaching at Grianan; p. [ii] Blank; p. [iii] Title Page; p. [iv] Publisher's and Printer's notices: First published in 2005; pp. v - ix Preface by Dairmid Gunn; p. x Acknowledgements; pp. xi - xxiv Introduction by Alistair McCleery; pp. 1 - 175, Text; p. [176] Blank.5 _" x 8". Bound in black cloth, spine stamped in gold: [printed vertically, top to bottom] Neil M. Gunn | [space] | [ital] The Poaching at Grianan | [space] | [printed horizontally] m

A first appearance in book form of the novel serialized in the Scots Magazine between 1929 - 1930