Neil Munro (3 June 1863 – 22 December 1930)
[Brian Osborne and Ronald Armstrong, Introduction to "Para Handy: The Complete Edition"] was a Scottish journalist, newspaper editor, author and literary critic. He was basically a serious writer, but is now mainly known for his humorous short stories, originally written under the pen name Hugh Foulis. The best known of these stories are about the fictional
Clyde puffer
The Clyde puffer is a type of small coal-fired and single-masted cargo ship, built mainly on the Forth and Clyde canal, and which provided a vital supply link around the west coast and Hebrides of Scotland.
Built between 1856 and 1939, these stu ...
the ''
Vital Spark
The ''Vital Spark'' is a fictional Clyde puffer, created by Scottish writer Neil Munro (writer), Neil Munro. As its captain, the redoubtable Para Handy, often says: "the smertest boat in the coastin' tred".
Background
Puffers seem to have been ...
'' and her captain
Para Handy
Para Handy, the anglicized Gaelic nickname of the fictional character Peter Macfarlane, is a character created by the journalist and writer Neil Munro in a series of stories published in the '' Glasgow Evening News'' between 1905 and 1923 under ...
, but they also include stories about the waiter and
kirk beadle Erchie MacPherson and the travelling drapery salesman Jimmy Swan. They were originally published in the ''
Glasgow Evening News
The ''Glasgow Evening News'' was an important Scottish newspaper in the early 20th century. It was founded as the ''Glasgow Evening Post'' in 1866 and became the ''Evening News'' in 1915.
Neil Munro was editor for a time and his Para Handy
...
'', but collections were published as books. A key figure in Scottish literary circles, Munro was a friend of the writers
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...
,
John Buchan
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
After a brief legal career ...
,
Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham
Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (24 May 1852 – 20 March 1936) was a Scottish politician, writer, journalist and adventurer. He was a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP); the first ever socialist member of the Parliament of the United Ki ...
and
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...
, and the artists
Edward A. Hornel
Edward Atkinson Hornel (17 July 1864 – 1933) was a Scottish painter of landscapes, flowers, and foliage, with children. He was a cousin of James Hornell. His contemporaries in the Glasgow Boys called him Ned Hornel.
Biography
Hornel was born ...
,
George Houston,
Pittendrigh MacGillivray and
Robert Macaulay Stevenson. He was an early promoter of the works of both Conrad and
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
.
Life
Munro was born in
Inveraray
Inveraray ( or ; gd, Inbhir Aora meaning "mouth of the Aray") is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is on the western shore of Loch Fyne, near its head, and on the A83 road. It is a former royal burgh, the traditional county town of Arg ...
, the illegitimate son of Ann Munro, a kitchen maid. His death certificate gives his father's name as James Thompson Munro. He was brought up by his maternal grandparents and an aunt. He attended Glencaddie Primary School and Church Square Public School, leaving at 14. For five years he worked in the office of the Sheriff Clerk of Argyll, a fairly prestigious post that has led to speculation that he may have had undisclosed family connections.
He then moved to Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
and worked briefly in the cashier's office in an ironmonger's shop in the Trongate
Trongate is one of the oldest streets in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Trongate begins at Glasgow Cross, where the steeple of the old Glasgow Tolbooth is situated, being the original centre of medieval Glasgow, and goes westward changing its na ...
before working as a journalist on the ''Greenock Advertiser
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands o ...
'', the '' Glasgow News'', the ''Falkirk Herald
''The Falkirk Herald'' is a weekly newspaper and daily news website published by National World. It provides reportage, opinion and analysis of news, current affairs and sport in the towns of Falkirk, Grangemouth, Larbert, Stenhousemuir and ...
'' and the ''Glasgow Evening News
The ''Glasgow Evening News'' was an important Scottish newspaper in the early 20th century. It was founded as the ''Glasgow Evening Post'' in 1866 and became the ''Evening News'' in 1915.
Neil Munro was editor for a time and his Para Handy
...
''. He semi-retired from journalism in 1902 to concentrate on other writing, but returned in 1914 and became editor of the ''Glasgow Evening News'' in 1918.[
Munro published several novels under his own name. Initially he had some success writing historical novels, most of them set in the ]Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
and exploring the coming of change in the comparatively recent past. His best-known novels from this phase of his writing career are ''John Splendid'', set around Montrose's campaign in the First Civil War and his attack on Inveraray, and ''Doom Castle'', set around the Jacobite rising of 1745, which was dramatised by the BBC in 1980. Later he attempted to expand his range, with more mixed success, writing novels with contemporary settings, including ''The Daft Days''. In 1914 he returned to a Highland historical setting with the last and best-known of his novels, ''The New Road
''The New Road'' is a historical novel by the Scottish writer Neil Munro, which was adapted as a television serial by the BBC. Munro is now mainly remembered as the creator of the comic character Para Handy, but this is regarded as the best of ...
'', dramatised by the BBC in 1973.
He then concentrated on journalism again, but his work was affected by his poor health and the death of his son Hugh in the First World War.[ In October 1930 he received an honorary degree from the ]University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
. He died in Craigendoran
Craigendoran (Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic: ) is a suburb at the eastern end of Helensburgh in Scotland, on the northern shore of the Firth of Clyde. The name is from the Gaelic for "the rock of the otter".
It is served by Craigendoran railway station ...
, Helensburgh
Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local governm ...
, on 22 December 1930 at age 67. A private funeral was held in Inverary and a memorial service held at Glasgow Cathedral
Glasgow Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Ghlaschu) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbishop ...
.
John Buchan subsequently edited ''The Poetry of Neil Munro'', published in 1931.
Obituaries for Munro commonly described him as the successor of Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
, and at his memorial service in Glasgow Cathedral
Glasgow Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Ghlaschu) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbishop ...
the critic Lauchlan MacLean Watt described Munro as "the greatest Scottish novelist since Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
". After his death his serious novels faded from view, with the partial exception of ''The New Road'', and he came to be remembered primarily as the creator of Para Handy. This change in Munro's reputation was accelerated by Hugh MacDiarmid
Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid (), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish Rena ...
, who became a detractor of Munro's style. There was a minor revival of interest in him around the turn of the 21st century, including the publication of annotated versions of the Para Handy stories with some stories not previously published in book form.[
]
References
External links
BBC - Writing Scotland - Tartan Myths - Neil Munro
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on him and his historical fiction
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Munro, Neil
1863 births
1930 deaths
Scottish novelists
Scottish journalists
Scottish newspaper editors
Scottish columnists
People from Inveraray
Scottish short story writers
Scottish historical novelists
Scottish businesspeople
Scottish Renaissance
Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period