Lavinia Derwent was the pen name of the Scottish

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and broadcaster Elizabeth Dodd

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(1909–1989). She was born in an isolated farmhouse in the

Cheviot Hills The Cheviot Hills (), or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes T ...

some seven miles from

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in s ...

and began making up stories about animals at an early age. She also wrote a version of

Greyfriars Bobby Greyfriars Bobby (4 May 1855 – 14 January 1872) was a Skye Terrier or Dandie Dinmont Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died on 14 January 1872. The story continu ...

. Her autobiographical books include her ''Border'' and ''Manse'' series. ''Border Bairn'' is set around Jedburgh, while ''Lady of the Manse'' has a

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of t ...

setting. Derwent's ''Manse'' books drew on her experiences keeping house for her

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

minister brother.

Broadcasting

Derwent's first successes were her ''Tammy Troot'' stories, which were read out in the 1920s on Auntie Kathleen's Children's Hour on Scottish Radio. The first of the books was published in 1947. They were still being reprinted in the 1970s, when Derwent, alternating with

Molly Weir Mary Weir (17 March 1910 – 28 November 2004), known as Molly Weir, was a Scottish actress. She appeared as the character Hazel the McWitch in the BBC TV series '' Rentaghost''. She was the sister of naturalist and broadcaster Tom Weir. B ...

and

Cliff Hanley Clifford Leonard Clark "Cliff" Hanley (28 October 1922 – 9 August 1999) was a journalist, novelist, playwright and broadcaster from Glasgow in Scotland. Originally from Shettleston in the city's East End, he was educated at Eastbank Ac ...

, co-presented the series ''Teatime Tales'' on the STV (TV network), recalling stories taken from her own childhood.

The Sula books

Derwent books about a fictional island called ''Sula'' later featured in BBC's Jackanory, read by

John Cairney John Cairney (born 16 February 1930) is a Scottish film and television actor who is well known to audiences in Scotland and internationally through his one-man shows on Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Service, Charles Rennie Macki ...

. These were also made into a television series. The original novels were: ''Sula'', ''Return to Sula'', ''The Boy From Sula'' and ''Song of Sula''.

Bibliography

*''Tammy Troot'' (1947) *''Tammy Troot's Capers'' (1947) *'' Huffy Puffy the little red engine '' (1951) *''Macpherson'' (1961) *''Further Adventures of Tammy Troot'' (1975) *''Sula'' (1969) *''Return to Sula'' (1971) *''The Boy from Sula'' (1973) *''Song of Sula'' (1976) *''Macpherson's Island'' (1970) *''Macpherson's Skyscraper'' (1978) *''A Breath of Border Air'' (1977) *''Another Breath of Border Air'' (1978) *''God Bless the Borders'' (1981) *''A Border Bairn'' (1980) *''Beyond the Borders'' (1989) *''The Tale of Greyfriars Bobby'' (1985) *''The Lady of the Manse'' (1985) *''A Mouse in the Manse'' (1987)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derwent, Lavinia 1909 births 1989 deaths People from the Scottish Borders Scottish children's writers Scottish television presenters Scottish women television presenters Members of the Order of the British Empire Scottish women writers Scottish women novelists British women children's writers 20th-century British women writers 20th-century British novelists