Many thanks for your wonderful Mary Stewart web site. I found it when searching for information about the differences between the US and UK versions of The Ivy Tree. Luckily, the newly released Kindle versions in the US have the UK text. I went through your entire Merry Mary Stewart Christmas series and have enjoyed them all. Lovely to learn more about an author whose works I enjoy so much.
In your access to Mary Stewart’s papers, did you ever learn why she changed the cousins in The Gabriel Hounds in the US? In case you don’t know, the traditional UK text (again, changed in the newest reissue) put in several paragraphs of explanation as to why the hero and heroine aren’t first cousins. I know that parts of the US have a “thing” against first cousin marriage, but a number of UK authors published works with first cousin marriage that didn’t get censored out. For example, Georgette Heyer.
Hi Jerri, thank you so much for your kind comments! I very much enjoy writing the blog and it is lovely to hear that you have liked reading about Mary Stewart here. As to The Gabriel Hounds, I don’t have the kindle version but in the UK, the latest paperback edition is exactly the same as the first edition in including the words:
‘Perhaps I should explain here that the relationship between Charles and myself was rather closer than that between ordinary cousins. Our fathers, Charles and Christopher Mansel, were identical twins’. And, as Christy says to Hamid about Charles: ‘my cousin isn’t just an ordinary cousin, we’re almost twins. I know there’s an awful lot of guff talked about twins, but there can be something a little bit odd about it. One tends to be rather – well, close’. In an attempt to dilute this genetic closeness, there is also mention from the first edition onwards of ‘mongrel ancestry’ so that although a match between the two might be ‘practically incest’, ‘the stock might be strong enough to stand it’…
This makes Charles and Christy first cousins but also, genetically, like half-siblings. Mary Stewart seems to have been interested in extrasensory perception (as many people were in and around the 1970s) – for example in Touch Not the Cat the telepathic communications between Bryony and her unknown love, and the closeness of twins Emory and James, or in The Wind Off the Small Isles when Mike senses Perdita needs him. I would guess that this is the reason why Mary Stewart has Christy and Charles so closely related.
I have never read the US version of The Gabriel Hounds but, given that marriage between first cousins is illegal in many states there, and since the genetic relationship between Christy and Charles is even closer than that of most first cousins, I am not surprised if the relationship between the two was redrawn for readers there. I’m afraid there is no mention of this in the papers held at the National Library.
Here is the text from the print editions in the US up till now as I thought you might be interested in the difference:
From the first chapter of the US print edition of The Gabriel Hounds by Mary Stewart.
“Perhaps I should explain here that the relationship between Charles and myself was at once closer and more distant than that between ordinary cousins. For one thing, we were not first, but second cousins, with nothing nearer than a great-grandfather in common; for the other we had been brought up together almost from birth, certainly from the time when memory starts. I couldn’t remember a time when I had not shared everything with my cousin Charles.
His father, Henry Mansel, had been the senior member of our -the English – branch of the family, the other male members being his cousins, the twin brothers Charles and Christopher. Christopher, the junior twin, was my father. Charles had no children, so when Henry Mansel and his wife met with a fatal sailing accident only a few months after the birth of their son Charles, my uncle took the baby to bring up as his own. Remembering no others, young Charles and I had of course always regarded his adoptive parents as his own, and I believe it came as a considerable shock to my cousin to be reminded on approaching his majority that he would eventually take precedence of his ‘father’ in the family’s private corridors of power. A marked family likeness helped to close the ranks. Henry Mansel had strongly resembled his cousins , and they – our ‘fathers’, as we thought of them – were identical twins who had been, almost up to the time they were married, both inseparable and indistinguishable.”
Hi Allison! I just discovered you while doing a search to try and find the US magazine (Good Housekeeping, 1976) that introduced me to Mary Stewart. I became addicted…for all reasons we love her books. I was 17 and spent the rest of the summer begging for trips to our local library to travel to the next unknown shore and adventure. I still have several paperbacks in my collection. This past week, while off work with a virus, I decided to explore my digital reader and found Mrs. Stewart’s book were available and before my husband blinked, I had purchased them all and begin reading. I can not begin to describe the contentment that quietly slipped into my soul as I settled deep into my chair (large and overstuffed) with tea (Earl Grey, hot) at my elbow and lost myself in the spell the flow of her words cast. I started with the Gabriel Hounds, one of my favorites of years past. I must have downloaded a UK version, as I was puzzled by the section mentioned above. I reread twice about the connection between Christy and Charles. For I had thought they were not true cousins, but more distant. I am delighted to have read the above thread and have the mystery cleared. I’m looking forward to exploring your blog and learning more about the writer and lady, who so influenced my lonely teens years. (I could go on and on about each of my favorites, but then…let’s leave something for the next visit.) From the cold and snowy Ohio, USA, I bid you Happy New Year!
Hello Nan, thanks for getting in touch, it’s lovely to hear from another admirer of Mary Stewart’s writing. I’m pleased that your question about The Gabriel Hounds has been answered, thanks to Jerri’s comments, and I hope you’ll enjoy exploring the blog. I hope you are fully recovered from your virus – if not, I prescribe that you remain in your overstuffed chair with regular doses of Earl Grey and Mary Stewart, there is no better medication!
Happy New Year to you in Ohio from a mild-ish drizzly Scotland.
Mary Queen of Plots 
Many thanks for your wonderful Mary Stewart web site. I found it when searching for information about the differences between the US and UK versions of The Ivy Tree. Luckily, the newly released Kindle versions in the US have the UK text. I went through your entire Merry Mary Stewart Christmas series and have enjoyed them all. Lovely to learn more about an author whose works I enjoy so much.
In your access to Mary Stewart’s papers, did you ever learn why she changed the cousins in The Gabriel Hounds in the US? In case you don’t know, the traditional UK text (again, changed in the newest reissue) put in several paragraphs of explanation as to why the hero and heroine aren’t first cousins. I know that parts of the US have a “thing” against first cousin marriage, but a number of UK authors published works with first cousin marriage that didn’t get censored out. For example, Georgette Heyer.
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Hi Jerri, thank you so much for your kind comments! I very much enjoy writing the blog and it is lovely to hear that you have liked reading about Mary Stewart here. As to The Gabriel Hounds, I don’t have the kindle version but in the UK, the latest paperback edition is exactly the same as the first edition in including the words:
‘Perhaps I should explain here that the relationship between Charles and myself was rather closer than that between ordinary cousins. Our fathers, Charles and Christopher Mansel, were identical twins’. And, as Christy says to Hamid about Charles: ‘my cousin isn’t just an ordinary cousin, we’re almost twins. I know there’s an awful lot of guff talked about twins, but there can be something a little bit odd about it. One tends to be rather – well, close’. In an attempt to dilute this genetic closeness, there is also mention from the first edition onwards of ‘mongrel ancestry’ so that although a match between the two might be ‘practically incest’, ‘the stock might be strong enough to stand it’…
This makes Charles and Christy first cousins but also, genetically, like half-siblings. Mary Stewart seems to have been interested in extrasensory perception (as many people were in and around the 1970s) – for example in Touch Not the Cat the telepathic communications between Bryony and her unknown love, and the closeness of twins Emory and James, or in The Wind Off the Small Isles when Mike senses Perdita needs him. I would guess that this is the reason why Mary Stewart has Christy and Charles so closely related.
I have never read the US version of The Gabriel Hounds but, given that marriage between first cousins is illegal in many states there, and since the genetic relationship between Christy and Charles is even closer than that of most first cousins, I am not surprised if the relationship between the two was redrawn for readers there. I’m afraid there is no mention of this in the papers held at the National Library.
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Here is the text from the print editions in the US up till now as I thought you might be interested in the difference:
From the first chapter of the US print edition of The Gabriel Hounds by Mary Stewart.
“Perhaps I should explain here that the relationship between Charles and myself was at once closer and more distant than that between ordinary cousins. For one thing, we were not first, but second cousins, with nothing nearer than a great-grandfather in common; for the other we had been brought up together almost from birth, certainly from the time when memory starts. I couldn’t remember a time when I had not shared everything with my cousin Charles.
His father, Henry Mansel, had been the senior member of our -the English – branch of the family, the other male members being his cousins, the twin brothers Charles and Christopher. Christopher, the junior twin, was my father. Charles had no children, so when Henry Mansel and his wife met with a fatal sailing accident only a few months after the birth of their son Charles, my uncle took the baby to bring up as his own. Remembering no others, young Charles and I had of course always regarded his adoptive parents as his own, and I believe it came as a considerable shock to my cousin to be reminded on approaching his majority that he would eventually take precedence of his ‘father’ in the family’s private corridors of power. A marked family likeness helped to close the ranks. Henry Mansel had strongly resembled his cousins , and they – our ‘fathers’, as we thought of them – were identical twins who had been, almost up to the time they were married, both inseparable and indistinguishable.”
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Thank you so much, Jerri – I have never read those words by Mary Stewart before, it gave me a thrill to read them now!
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Hi Allison! I just discovered you while doing a search to try and find the US magazine (Good Housekeeping, 1976) that introduced me to Mary Stewart. I became addicted…for all reasons we love her books. I was 17 and spent the rest of the summer begging for trips to our local library to travel to the next unknown shore and adventure. I still have several paperbacks in my collection. This past week, while off work with a virus, I decided to explore my digital reader and found Mrs. Stewart’s book were available and before my husband blinked, I had purchased them all and begin reading. I can not begin to describe the contentment that quietly slipped into my soul as I settled deep into my chair (large and overstuffed) with tea (Earl Grey, hot) at my elbow and lost myself in the spell the flow of her words cast. I started with the Gabriel Hounds, one of my favorites of years past. I must have downloaded a UK version, as I was puzzled by the section mentioned above. I reread twice about the connection between Christy and Charles. For I had thought they were not true cousins, but more distant. I am delighted to have read the above thread and have the mystery cleared. I’m looking forward to exploring your blog and learning more about the writer and lady, who so influenced my lonely teens years. (I could go on and on about each of my favorites, but then…let’s leave something for the next visit.) From the cold and snowy Ohio, USA, I bid you Happy New Year!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hello Nan, thanks for getting in touch, it’s lovely to hear from another admirer of Mary Stewart’s writing. I’m pleased that your question about The Gabriel Hounds has been answered, thanks to Jerri’s comments, and I hope you’ll enjoy exploring the blog. I hope you are fully recovered from your virus – if not, I prescribe that you remain in your overstuffed chair with regular doses of Earl Grey and Mary Stewart, there is no better medication!
Happy New Year to you in Ohio from a mild-ish drizzly Scotland.
LikeLiked by 1 person