The sequel to that novel was Greenmantle. In the story, 'there is a dry wind blowing through the East, and the parched grasses wait the spark'. Richard Hannay discovers that the spark is the mystic Greenmantle. Here in the Borders Greenmantle is an ale for parched throats and the mystique is entirely in the brewing.
When ennobled, the name Buchan took was Tweedsmuir - after the hamlet close to the village of Broughton where his grandfather had lived and to which Buchan came frequently on holiday. Here he fished, cycled and walked in the hills he loved. In his writing he drew on his deep knowledge of the area for descriptions of the landscape and in its romantic past he found inspiration for some of his characters.
Broughton was the village of "Woodilee" in his novel Witch Wood - a story set in the 17th century in which a young minister discovers that his congregation practise strange rituals in the nearby primeval Wood of Caledon - rituals which would not have been out of place in the time of the Druids when Merlin wandered these woods. Much of what Buchan wrote was derived from material he had earlier researched when writing his biography: The Marquis of Montrose.
In an earlier historical novel John Burnet of Barns, much of the action that is set in Scotland is played out in the area between Broughton and Peebles. The House of Barns itself is sited where Manor Water meets the Tweed.
For more information make some time to stop off at the John Buchan Centre in Broughton or visit the John Buchan Society web site.
©1996 Douglas Gregor