To keep this blog ticking over as a ‘community hub’ of sorts for admirers of Mary Stewart’s writing, I would like to blog more regularly than I have done over the last few years. Which means blog content that is for the most part short, simple, and requiring little in the way of research or checking of sources. Which brings me back to ‘Mary on Monday’, where I get to share Mary Stewart quotes that I like and you, dear Reader, can pitch in with your thoughts on the quote – or on anything else relating to Mary Stewart.
I decided almost a week ago that I would quote from ‘The Loch’ because this short essay is so little known, so well written (well, of course it is, it is authored by Mary Stewart), and because 2021 marks fifty years since its publication in an anthology called The Twelfth Man. The Twelfth Man (1971) is a collection of original contributions brought together by the Lord’s Taverners in honour of the 50th birthday of their patron HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Now Prince Philip has died, one month short of his 100th birthday, and it seems more appropriate than ever to quote the work that she wrote and gave as a tribute to him.
In the following quote, Mary is walking beside a loch when a bird flies off from its nest in the grass, right at her feet. She sees four chicks in the nest.
Each chick was barely an inch long, a tiny ball of dusky, gold-tipped fluff, dark-eyed, dark-billed, and totally unafraid.
As I looked at them it began to rain, and in a moment, it seemed the large cold rain turned to hailstones, big and hard; this was the Maytime storm, the teuchat storm that kills young birds, and batters eggs into fragments. And here, exposed to it by my presence, were the four tiny chicks. If I hurried away the mother might come back in time to shelter them, but she might wait too long. There was no sign of her. I did the only possible thing; I crouched there in the beating hail and arched my cupped hands over the nestlings. The soft down brushed my fingers. They settled, unafraid, cheeping like chickens in the warmth. The storm seemed to go on for ever, but it was probably less than ten minutes before the hail cloud drifted by, the sun came out, and the whitened grasses streamed, glittering, as the hailstones melted. As we walked away we saw the dunlin come back quietly, running between the tussocks, and settle herself on the young, fluffing out her breast.
Mary Stewart, ‘The Loch’
I like this quote because it illustrates Mary Stewart so well, as both writer and individual. The writing is precise, every word considered, and her descriptions marry the quietly lyrical with the reporting skills of a natural historian. We can clearly picture the dunlin chicks and the danger they face. And then we have Mary Stewart the person: as in so much of her work, her love of living creatures shines through. Her repetition of the words ‘tiny’ and ‘unafraid’ about these chicks emphasises how defenceless they were. She feels responsible for the imperilled nestlings and gladly protects them, sheltering them rather than herself from the fierce hailstorm (and imagine how uncomfortable it would be to crouch for ten minutes or so in those conditions, utterly motionless so as to protect without crushing those tiny vulnerable chicks). And with her, we feel the relief that the chicks’ mother returns, not frightened by the human presence into abandoning her nest.
I would love to know what you think about this quote, and to hear from anyone who has read ‘The Loch’. Also, if anyone has a plan as to how we could have this story reprinted, please get in touch 😊.
You can find out more about ‘The Loch’ in previous blog-posts:
A Merry Mary Stewart Christmas! 8 December
Previous Mary on Monday posts:
Mary on Monday: a quote from My Brother Michael
Mary on Monday: a quote from Madam, Will You Talk?
Mary on Monday: a quote from The Gabriel Hounds
Mary on Monday: a quote from The Little Broomstick
Mary on Monday: a quote from Stormy Petrel
Mary on Monday: a quote from Thunder on the Right
Mary on Monday: a quote from Thornyhold
Mary on Monday: a quote from The Little Broomstick (2)
Mary on Monday: a quote from The Moon-Spinners
Mary Queen of Plots 
Thank you, Allison M, for this lovely post. I was grieved to learn of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, and appreciate your choosing this wonderful excerpt from a Mary Stewart essay — unknown to me up until now — to mark his passing and the fiftieth anniversary of the anthology’s publication. I grew up reading Mary Stewart books; the first was The Moonspinners, when I was a pre-teen. Her wonderful writing and her wonderful stories have filled many of my days. I was so happy to find this blog. I actually saw a copy of this Twelfth Man anthology on Abe’s Books and will likely order it. Thank you and kindest regards. Cindy
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Hi Cindy, thank you for your lovely comments, I love that you write ‘Her wonderful writing and her wonderful stories have filled many of my days’: I feel the same. Good luck with The Twelfth Man, I’m sure you will enjoy it. And the bird illustration at the start of The Loch is by Mary Stewart so that is another lovely incentive to buy the book – if you do buy it, please let us know how you get on with the story.
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Dear Allison, I did get a copy of The Twelfth Man, and I have read The Loch. What a wonderful essay; Mary’s descriptive abilities, and her sure touch with both timing and word choice all combine to transport the reader into another time and place — seemingly as remote from my own twenty-first century reality as another planet! The loch and its wildlife are so lovely. I suspect the Duke read and enjoyed the essay.
Thank you again for posting about this book and its contents. The table of contents is quite star-studded!
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I am so pleased you have The Loch and enjoyed it! There are so many good essays and articles in the anthology, I really liked the Daphne du Maurier piece. And of course I adore how well The Loch is crafted, in all the ways you describe: quintessential Mary Stewart, in only 8 pages!
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Lovely – thank you
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Thank you for this wonderful post! I had never heard of the book or anything about Mary Stewart being involved with this distinguished project. What a wonderful gift to give someone on their 50th birthday!
In reading through the writers, I saw two of my favorites were also listed Daphne du Maurier and Paul Gallico. I wonder what they contributed to the book?
I did look up if it was available online to read and I couldn’t find anything. Looks like I would have to order it from Amazon or another bookseller. But I will be on the lookout for it… Now that I know the cover… Would love to have a look see.
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Thanks for your comment,Tea Queen – I agree this was an amazing and thoughtful gift, especially as Prince Philip’s own copy was specially bound and autographed by all the contributors! I would, so much, like a glimpse of that copy.
Daphne du Maurier wrote ‘A Winter’s Afternoon, Kilmarth’ – a funny and touching essay about a day in the life of the author and her dog Moray, with memories of her late husband; and Paul Gallico’s piece is ‘In Praise of the Ball’, a philosophical, historical and humorous article about sport
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Thank you for the info Alison! Do you know how the book came to be? Who’s idea was it? Was there a theme… If so it seems like it was to be outdoors/animals/woodlands/nature. It is such a creative gift but also one that would’ve taken a while to pull together. Since there were so many writers involved and it was given for a specific birthday… Seems like it would’ve been at least a couple of years in the making!
Also it seems that each writer contributed something original to this book? It wasn’t something that they had already written?
The finished product is so astonishing but I do love the background of how it came together. I did find one of the writers online had a timeline of what he had written and the process of editing etc.
Thank you again for such an interesting post! There is so much about Mary Stewart that surprises me.
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The book has an ‘Editor’s Introduction’ by Martin Boddey, an actor and founding member of the Lord’s Taverners. According to his tongue-in-cheek account, he called a meeting early in 1969 and it was agreed to undertake this book project; thereafter it seems to have come about through the efforts of a small team of the Lord’s Taverners, assisted by the publisher, Cassells. The theme was extremely wide ranging; ‘as wide as the interests of the royal gentleman to whom they have dedicated their work, so that from none of them did I ever know what to expect until it arrived’. And yes, we are told that this is a book of ‘original contributions’, all written especially for the Duke of Edinburgh and the book. As you say, it is an astonishing achievement, and all accomplished within a short time frame.
I must confess, today I googled the Lord’s Taverners (according to the book, they are the copyright holders) and emailed them to ask whether the book could be reprinted as a tribute to Prince Philip and to raise more money for his charities. Perhaps we should all ask for this to happen!
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Thank you Allison – I first learned about this beautiful essay through your blog and managed to track down a copy of The Twelfth Man a couple of years ago. I’ve often wondered if it was based on a real or fictional loch…
I wonder if a magazine could reprint it – it does seem somewhat appropriate as some of her stories were serialised by magazines.
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I hope you enjoyed the story and the book, Laura. I think it must be based on a real loch, don’t you? The piece might contain fiction but I feel the setting was real.
I would love if it could be reprinted but I don’t know how easy that would be – presumably copyright rests with the Lord’s Taverner for all the pieces donated to their book? I wonder if they would consider reprinting the whole book in honour of Prince Philip?
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Best thing I’ve done in years was find this website about my favorite author Mary Stewart.
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What a lovely comment! 😊 Thank you so much, Diane.
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I too wasn’t aware of that piece or, for that matter, that anthology! It’s amazing—thank you so much!
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You are welcome, I love being able to share the little pieces of info I have found over many years!
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Thank you for sharing this lovely quote. It is, as you say, quintessential Mary Stewart. I had never heard of this essay or of the book. I’ll be on the lookout for it now!
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Glad you enjoyed the quote!
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