THE JOHN BUCHAN STORY
Peebles, Scottish Borders
Crask Books
Guides to John Buchan’s Writing by Peter Thackeray
– November 2019
In descriptions of John Buchan’s books there is often reference to ‘Blanchard’. In this article, Peter
explains the significance of the ‘Blanchard’ and the details of John Buchan’s writing. Please click on the
links below to read Peter’s articles.
Crask Books (formerly SMS Books) was formed out of my John Buchan collecting habit some 15 years ago.
Through a series of unexpected events we became, some 9 years ago, the largest dealers in the world of
books by and about John Buchan and his family. The aim is to keep as wide a range as possible but,
because of the extreme rarity of some of his works we can never have everything that was written by JB.
For full details of all our services, for a current stock list or for any book-related queries you can contact us
as follows:
email: peter.thackeray@ntlworld.com
telephone: (+44) 7947 733860
mail: 1 Halls Brook, East Leake, Loughborough, LE12 6HE
August 2020 ~ Peter on Holiday finds a JB Poem!
Hello everyone
On holiday in Northumberland and part of my holiday reading is Voices from Their Ain Countrie: The Poems of Marion Angus
and Violet Jacob. The end notes to Angus's poem Moonlight Meeting include the following: "Writing to Marion Lochhead in May
1930, Angus admits '...it is curious that John Buchan wrote to me that Moonlight Meeting is one of his favourites...'
JB, of course, wrote a preface (or foreword) for Violet Jacob's Songs of Angus (1915, I think) - interesting to hear of links with
another North-East poet. Just thought you may be interested.
Best wishes
Peter
Moonlight Meeting
The Hill by the Lochan
A’ gowd and green,
She’s luiket at the Lochan
An’ gin she wis a queen.
“ Lochan, Lochan,
Tethered to yir bed,
Canna’ rax yir cauld feet
Ower ma green plaid.”
“Whist,” says the Lochan,
“ The moon’s auld e’en
Sa’ ye creepin’ doon
To ma airms yestreen.
Siller wis yir gowd then,
Washen in dew;
Sleepit ye or waukit ye
The hale nicht thro’ ?
“ Tho’ laigh,” says the Lochan,“
An’ lane is my bed,
An’ I canna rax ma cauld feet
Ower yir green plaid.”
Poetry - October 2020
Hello everyone I'm beginning to think that poetry is rather like Marmite; one either loves it or hates it. I happen to love them both and cannot understand how anyone can dislike either of them; do the two go together or are there Marmite lovers who dislike poetry and vice versa? By now, you may be wondering where this confused rambling is taking us. Well, I attach a selection of books of poetry, wholly or partly, and would encourage you to dip your toe in the water, as it were, and try some out. Perhaps whilst having a slice of toast and Marmite. Kind regards Peter Please click on POETRY to open the pdf file. Notes: 1. All prices are in GBP (pounds sterling). 2. All prices exclude shipping/postage. This will be calculated and advised to you with confirmation of your order. 3. To order please email or telephone and let me know the reference number and title of the book(s) you want to order. 4. An invoice will be emailed to you or sent with the books; this will also include details of the payment methods available. 5. Card payments (credit or debit) cannot be processed. 6. Always happy to answer questions about the books
