John Robin Jenkins (11 September 1912 – 24 February 2005) was a Scottish writer of thirty published novels, the most celebrated being '' The Cone Gatherers''. He also published two collections of short stories.

Career

Robin Jenkins was born in Flemington near

Cambuslang Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...

in 1912; his father died when John was only seven years old and he and his three siblings were brought up by his mother in straitened circumstances. However, he won a bursary to attend the former

Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The school was described as "one of the finest schools in Scotland" in the Cambridge University Press County Biography of 1910, and was featured in a 1950 Scottish Seconda ...

then a famous fee-paying school. The theme of escaping circumstances through education at such a school was to form the basis of Jenkins's later novel ''Happy for the Child'' (1953) Winning a scholarship, he subsequently studied Literature at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, graduating in 1936. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he registered as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objec ...

and was sent to work in forestry in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

(forestry work would re-appear in ''The Cone Gatherers''). Upon release of his first novel, ''So Gaily Sings the Lark'' (also derived from his conscientious objector experience) in 1950, he adopted the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

'Robin Jenkins'. In the early years of his writing career, Jenkins worked as an English and History teacher. In the 1950s, he taught at Riverside Senior Secondary in Glasgow's East End and later moved with his family to Dunoon where he taught at the prestigious

Dunoon Grammar School Dunoon Grammar School is a secondary school in Dunoon, Cowal Peninsula, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was founded in 1641. It is currently a non-denominational comprehensive school which covers all stages from S1 to S6 (ages 12–18). Building ...

. He also spent four formative years at the Gaya School in Sabah, Borneo, living there with his wife May and their children. Before that, he had held

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

teaching posts in both Kabul and Barcelona. His best-known novel, '' The Cone Gatherers'', is based upon his forestry work as a conscientious objector and is often studied in Scottish schools. While ''The Cone Gatherers'' has been criticised as being devoid of any real sense of place, other novels such as ''The Thistle and the Grail'', his 1954 football story, paint vivid pictures of more accessible settings. His writing typically touches on many themes, including morality, the struggle between good and evil, war, class and social justice. ''Just Duffy'' is another of his novels which focuses on such themes, in a style which has been compared to that of the earlier Scottish writer, James Hogg. Jenkins was awarded the OBE in 1999 and in 2003 received the Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun prize from the

Saltire Society The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland. Founded in 1936, the society was "set up to promote and celebrate the uniqueness of Scottish culture and Scotland’s ...

for his lifetime achievement. His portrait, by Jennifer McRae, is in the collection of the

National Portrait Gallery of Scotland The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography C ...

. The Robin Jenkins Literary Award has been established in his name.The Robin Jenkins Literary Award
Retrieved 20 October 2010 Robin Jenkins died in 2005, aged 92; his novel ''The Pearl-fishers'' was published posthumously in 2007.

Bibliography

Books

* ''So Gaily Sings the Lark'' (1950) * ''Happy for the Child'' (1953) * ''The Thistle and the Grail'' (1954) * '' The Cone Gatherers'' (1955) * ''Guests of War'' (1956) * ''The Missionaries'' (1957) * ''The Changeling'' (1958) * ''Love Is a Fervent Fire'' (1959) * ''Some Kind of Grace'' (1960) * ''Dust on the Paw'' (1961) * ''The Tiger of Gold'' (1962) * ''A Love of Innocence'' (1963) * ''The Sardana Dancers'' (1964) * ''A Very Scotch Affair'' (1968) * ''Holy Tree'' (1969) * ''The Expatriates'' (1971) * ''A Toast to the Lord'' (1972) * ''Far Cry from Bowmore and Other Stories'' (1973) (short story collection) * ''A Figure of Fun'' (1974) * ''A Would-be Saint'' (1978) * ''Fergus Lamont'' (1979) * ''The Awakening of George Darroch'' (1985) * ''Just Duffy'' (1988) * ''Poverty Castle'' (1991) * ''Willie Hogg'' (1993) * ''Leila'' (1995) * ''Lunderston Tales'' (1996) (short story collection) * ''Matthew and Sheila'' (1998) * ''Poor Angus'' (2000) * ''Childish Things'' (2001) * ''Lady Magdalen'' (2003) * ''The Pearl-fishers'' (†, 2007)

Articles

* ''Speaking as a Scot'' (1982), in Lindsay, Maurice (ed.), ''The Scottish Review: Arts and Environment'' 27, August 1982, pp. 18 & 19,

Reviews

* Magnusson, Magnus (1961), review of ''Dust on the Paw'', in Gordon, Giles and Scott-Moncrieff, Michael (eds.). ''New Saltire'' 2: Autumn 1961, The Saltire Society, Edinburgh, pp. 66 & 67 * Craig, David (1980), review of ''Fergus Lamont'', in ''

Cencrastus ''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...

'' No. 2, Spring 1980, pp. 39 – 41, * Review of ''The Conegatherers'', in ''

'' No. 4, Winter 1980-81, p. 47,

References

External links

BBC page on Robin Jenkins

*

Iain Crichton Smith Iain Crichton Smith, (Gaelic: ''Iain Mac a' Ghobhainn''; 1 January 1928 – 15 October 1998) was a Scottish poet and novelist, who wrote in both English and Gaelic. He was born in Glasgow, but moved to the Isle of Lewis at the age of two, ...

's ' Scotnote' on 'The Cone Gatherers' https://web.archive.org/web/20100712113920/http://asls.org.uk/Scotnotes
The Robin Jenkins Award web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Robin 1912 births 2005 deaths People educated at Hamilton Academy People from Cambuslang Officers of the Order of the British Empire British conscientious objectors Scottish conscientious objectors 20th-century Scottish novelists