Eric Linklater | |
|---|---|
| Born | Eric Robert Russell Linklater 8 March 1899 (1899-03-08) Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales |
| Died | 7 November 1974 (1974-11-08) (aged 75) Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Occupation | Writer, poet |
| Education | Aberdeen Grammar School University of Aberdeen |
| Genre | Military history, travel |
| Notable awards | Carnegie Medal (1944) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
Eric Robert Russell LinklaterCBE (8 March 1899 – 7 November 1974) was a Welsh-born Scottish poet, fiction writer,military historian, andtravel writer. ForThe Wind on the Moon, achildren'sfantasy novel, he won the 1944Carnegie Medal from theLibrary Association for the year's best children's book by aBritish subject.[1]
Linklater was born inPenarth,Vale of Glamorgan, Wales toOrcadian Robert Baikie Linklater (1865–1916), a master mariner, and Mary Elizabeth (c. 1867–1957).[2] He was educated atAberdeen Grammar School and theUniversity of Aberdeen,[3] where he was president of theAberdeen University Debater. He spent many years inOrkney and identified with the islands, where his father had been born. His maternal grandfather was a Swedish-born sea captain, so he had Scandinavian origins through both parents. Linklater is an Orcadian name derived from theOld Norse; throughout his life he maintained a sympathetic interest inScandinavia.[4]
Linklater served in theBlack Watch in 1917–1918 before receiving a bullet wound, then became a sniper. His experience of trench warfare is described in his memoirFanfare for a Tin Hat (1970),[5] and at one remove in his 1938 novelThe Impregnable Women, describing an imaginary war against France.
As an undergraduate atAberdeen University in 1922, Linklater wrote the first musical comedy for theAberdeen Student Show,Stella, the Bajanella,[6] with music by J. S. Taylor. Twenty-four years later, during his tenure as Rector of the University of Aberdeen, his playTo Meet the Macgregors was performed as the 1946 Student Show. Abandoning medical studies in Aberdeen, Linklater spent 1925–1927 inBombay,India as an assistant editor ofThe Times of India, then travelled extensively before returning to Aberdeen as an assistant to the Professor of English and spending 1928–1930 as a Commonwealth fellow atCornell andBerkeley.
As a writer, Linklater's career took off in 1929. His success began in his early career years. Altogether he published 23 novels, three volumes of stories, two of verse, ten plays, three works of autobiography and 23 of essays and histories. His third novel,Juan in America, was a hugely popular picaresque, with some of the extravagance ofByron'sDon Juan, based on experiences of the absurdity of theProhibition era, with its resulting gangsterism.[2] It is sprinkled with memorable remarks: "I've been married six months. She looks like a million dollars, but she only knows a hundred and twenty words and she's only got two ideas in her head. The other one's hats."[7] The character returns inJuan in China (1937).[8]
Linklater also wrote three children's novels:The Wind on the Moon (1944),The Pirates in the Deep Green Sea (1949) andKarina With Love (1958). The first is about two sisters, whose adventures include becoming kangaroos and rescuing their father from a Hitlerian tyrant, enlisting the anthropomorphic help of a puma and a falcon. Its storytelling skill and treatment of wider themes such as imprisonment and freedom won it aCarnegie Medal.[9][10]
Linklater's Orcadian and Scottish sympathies led him to literary and political involvement in theScottish Renaissance, culminating in his unsuccessfulNational Party of Scotland candidacy at the1933 East Fife by-election.Magnus Merriman (1934) was an acerbic fictionalised description of the debacle.[11] He settled in Orkney with his new wife in 1933.
The author's attitude to war and the moral implications of diplomacy became sharper inJudas (1939), which explores the concepts of loyalty and treachery amid a strong indictment of the desertion ofCzechoslovakia by Britain and France in the name ofappeasement. The worsening international situation led to expansion of theTerritorial Army (TA). It was decided to raise new units of anti-aircraft and coastal artillery in Orkney to defend theScapa Flow naval base, with a fortress company of theRoyal Engineers to support them. TheLord Lieutenant of Orkney and Shetland asked Linklater, still a Reserve officer, to raise one of these units, and he chose the 'Sappers'. He was commissioned ascaptain and second-in-command of theOrkney Fortress Royal Engineers on 16 September 1938, but was effective commander. The unit consisted of a single company headquartered atKirkwall, mainly to operate the electrical generators for the Scapa Flow defences and man the searchlights for the guns. The men were called out from farms and villages shortly before the outbreak ofWorld War II and served through the winter of 1939/1940, when Orkney received a number ofLuftwaffe raids. By mid-1940 reinforcements were pouring into the Orkney and Shetland defences and Linklater's command was broken up.[12][13][14][15][16]
As a well-known author, Linklater was soon employed by theWar Office Public Relations department to write official "instant histories" of the war,[17] such asThe Defence of Calais (1941) andThe Northern Garrisons (1941), which described the life of British troops stationed in remote locations, including Orkney. This culminated in service in Italy in 1944–1945, which led to his novel about an equivocal Italian soldier,Private Angelo (1946), which contrasts nationalism with a sense of national community: "I hope you will not liberate us out of existence", is a remark Angelo makes. As one reference work puts it, Angelo "lacks 'the great and splendid gift' of courage, and consequently makes a poor soldier, although he is especially assiduous in retreating, and ultimately deserts."[18] In 1951 Linklater published a semi-official account ofThe Campaign in Italy and also visited theKorean War for the War Office as a temporarylieutenant colonel.
Linklater moved back to the Scottish mainland in 1947 to Pitcalzean House, nearHill of Fearn inRoss-shire. His abilities and reputation as a novelist waned somewhat, but he turned to historical writing, and with great effect to autobiography.[2][19]
Linklater was Rector of theUniversity of Aberdeen in 1945–1948 and received an honorary degree from the university in 1949. He was appointedCBE in 1954, served as deputy lieutenant ofRoss and Cromarty in 1968–1973, and was elected a fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh in 1971.[2]
On 1 June 1933 Linklater marriedMarjorie MacIntyre (1909–1997), anEdinburgh-born, English-educated actress and campaigner for the arts and the environment. She later became active in local politics and on theScottish Arts Council in 1957–1963. They had four children:Kristin Linklater,Magnus Linklater,Andro Linklater and Alison Linklater.
Linklater died in Aberdeen on 7 November 1974 fromthrombosis at the age of 75. He was buried in the churchyard at St Michael's,Harray, onMainland, Orkney.[2]
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| Preceded by | Rector of the University of Aberdeen 1945–1948 | Succeeded by |
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