John Buchan Story

SCOTTISH CHARITY NUMBER SC042519
John Buchan and the vigorous pursuit of peace THE CHURCH TIMES 10 OCTOBER 2025 To mark the sesquicentenary of John Buchan’s birth, Ian Bradley asks what can be learnt from 19th-century ideas about manliness ALAMY John Buchan (1875-1940), Scottish novelist and sometime Governor General of Canada THE Victorian ideal of Christian manliness — so alien in today’s world — was at its height in the decade of John Buchan’s birth. The phrase had been brought into popular consciousness in a series of pamphlets published by the Religious Tract Society in the late 1860s; it found its fullest expression in an influential book published in 1879, The Manliness of Christ, by Thomas Hughes, perhaps the most famous and devoted pupil of Dr Arnold at Rugby School. To read the complete Ian Bradley’s sermon please click here for the pdf version.
The Eastgate Theatre & the John Buchan Story Museum present Bestselling Tartan Noir author Ed James returns to the Borders to discuss Fear of Any Kind, his latest DI Rob Marshall thriller set in Hawick. Drawing inspiration from John Buchan and the landscapes of the Borders, Ed explores themes of memory, justice, and place—with gripping plots rooted in the region’s past and present. Ed is one of the few writers today focusing attention on the Borders, which he has placed firmly on the Tartan Noir map with his books proving highly popular in the Borders and further afield. His DI Rob Marshall novel, Fear of Any Kind, takes its title from John Buchan’s Greenmantle and centres around Hawick, where the community is decimated by the murder of a teenage boy near the town’s museum. Ed has not been resting, already the sequel Our Debts to the Past is published with yet another book in the pipeline! Ed has long admired John Buchan’s work for its deep sense of place, moral complexity and thrilling narrative drive. Since reading The Thirty- Nine Steps as a lad, a book he’s often returned to, Buchan’s ability to fuse the political with the personal has been a major influence on Ed’s own writing – and that novel provided a template for so many thrillers that came after it. Like Buchan, Ed sees rural Scotland not just as a backdrop but as a living, breathing character in its own right. 20th November 2025 at 7.30pm to 9.00pm Tickets are £12 and are available from the Eastgate Theatre (01721 725 777) or from their website by clicking here.
The Eastgate Theatre & the John Buchan Story Museum present Bestselling Tartan Noir author Ed James returns to the Borders to discuss Fear of Any Kind, his latest DI Rob Marshall thriller set in Hawick. Drawing inspiration from John Buchan and the landscapes of the Borders, Ed explores themes of memory, justice, and place—with gripping plots rooted in the region’s past and present. Ed is one of the few writers today focusing attention on the Borders, which he has placed firmly on the Tartan Noir map with his books proving highly popular in the Borders and further afield. His DI Rob Marshall novel, Fear of Any Kind, takes its title from John Buchan’s Greenmantle and centres around Hawick, where the community is decimated by the murder of a teenage boy near the town’s museum. Ed has not been resting, already the sequel Our Debts to the Past is published with yet another book in the pipeline! Ed has long admired John Buchan’s work for its deep sense of place, moral complexity and thrilling narrative drive. Since reading The Thirty- Nine Steps as a lad, a book he’s often returned to, Buchan’s ability to fuse the political with the personal has been a major influence on Ed’s own writing – and that novel provided a template for so many thrillers that came after it. Like Buchan, Ed sees rural Scotland not just as a backdrop but as a living, breathing character in its own right. 20th November 2025 at 7.30pm to 9.00pm Tickets are £12 and are available from the Eastgate Theatre (01721 725 777) or from their website by clicking here.

John Buchan Story

SCOTTISH CHARITY NUMBER SC042519
John Buchan and the vigorous pursuit of peace THE CHURCH TIMES 10 OCTOBER 2025 To mark the sesquicentenary of John Buchan’s birth, Ian Bradley asks what can be learnt from 19th-century ideas about manliness ALAMY John Buchan (1875-1940), Scottish novelist and sometime Governor General of Canada THE Victorian ideal of Christian manliness — so alien in today’s world — was at its height in the decade of John Buchan’s birth. The phrase had been brought into popular consciousness in a series of pamphlets published by the Religious Tract Society in the late 1860s; it found its fullest expression in an influential book published in 1879, The Manliness of Christ, by Thomas Hughes, perhaps the most famous and devoted pupil of Dr Arnold at Rugby School. To read the complete Ian Bradley’s sermon please click here for the pdf version.