A Lost Lady of Old Years

by John Buchan

A Lost Lady of Old Years is set in Scotland in 1745, during the Jacobite Rebellion. This dark story of loyalty and betrayal on the road to Culloden Moor recounts the adventures of Francis Birkenshaw. The Jacobite cause means nothing to him until a chance meeting with the beautiful Margaret Murray presents an opportunity for profit and adventure. This fateful encounter marks the beginning of Francis's involvement with John Murray of Broughton, an infamous traitor and turncoat.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Scotland, Classics

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1899

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

John Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly-formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927.
In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.

Reviews

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Lost Lady of Old Years is the fifth book in my Buchan of the Month reading project.  You can find out more about the project plus my reading list for 2018 on my blog.  It is one of the few books by John Buchan I’ve not read before.  I’m going to preface this review by stating that, in my opinion, A Lost Lady of Old Years is not the best book John Buchan ever wrote although, to be fair, it was published early in his writing career.

Buchan paints a picture of a young man, Francis Birkenshaw, the son of a good family, who nevertheless finds himself unsure of his place in the world.  He falls prey to the lure of alcohol, women and the odd spot of fisticuffs in the local taverns.  His desire for adventure brings him close to the borders of criminality resulting in him having to make a speedy escape from his hometown, leaving behind the staid career that had been mapped out for him.

He decides to travel to France but events intervene, notably his meeting with the beautiful and virtuous Margaret Murray, wife of John Murray of Broughton, an influential supported of ‘Bonnie’ Prince Charlie.  Entrusted with an important task by Mrs Murray, he has a kind of epiphany inspired by her honour and virtue and begins to seek a different path in life.  Carrying out the task he has been entrusted with and what follows bring him in close proximity to influential people and dramatic events in Scottish history, such as the Battle of Culloden.

In the book’s dialogue, Buchan seeks to reproduce the Scottish mode of speech, including  local dialect words (‘kenspeckle’, ‘camsteery’ or ‘clanjamphray’ anyone?) with a bit of Gaelic thrown in for good measure.  This takes some getting used to and might prove problematic for some readers.  I think it would also help to have some prior knowledge of the history of that period, particularly the Jacobite Rebellion.  Mine was only sketchy so I did have to do some research after reading the book to check how close the story sticks to historical fact.  (As far as the main characters go – John Murray of Broughton, Lord Lovat, etc – the answer is pretty close, although Francis Birkenshaw is an entirely fictional character.)

In A Lost Lady of Old Years, Buchan explores themes that he would revisit in later books such as The Half-Hearted (next month’s Buchan of the Month), Mr. Standfast and Sick Heart River.  These themes of self-sacrifice, duty and courage we can perhaps trace back to his upbringing and the text that was so influential throughout his life, John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.  At the end of the book, both Francis and Margaret face a difficult moral choice between following their hearts or their consciences.  Choice made, Margaret reflects, ‘After the colours the sober grey, for you as well as me, Francis.’  Buchan would later revisit this period of history in his novel, Midwinter.

[Doug K · Rating 4 out of 5]

not the best Buchan, though parts of it were excellent.
The vacillations of the protagonist were unsettling but oddly realistic in retrospect. Buchan's other heroes tend to be steadfast and one thing all through. The partly rotten, partly admirable Francis is a stretch to the imagination and not what I expected.
Personally I love the Scots dialect dialogues, it makes a fine music even when I don't understand a word, by turns stirring, sad and funny.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in 1899, 'A Lost Lady of Old Years' is a meandering adventure set against the backdrop of the 1745 rebellion in Scotland. The character development is really well done - the main character is transformed by his experiences from something of a wastrel into a noble character of superb integrity, and very convincingly achieved at that. The other characters develop convincingly as well, so quite enjoyable to read.

[Alayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very wordy and with a huge assumption of knowledge of the Battle of Culloden and its befores and afters. Not as well known as John Buchan's other works, I suspect because it's not as good as they are.

[Clare · Rating 1 out of 5]

This work lacked the joie de vivre of John Burnet of Barns and had some very odd characters. It focused on an anti-hero, the depressive Francis Birkenshaw, and the mess of the '45 rebellion. Not a read I greatly enjoyed

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Buchan's first published novels. Here's my review for what I'm calling John Buchan June.