The Indianapolis journal., 1894-04-30
BARRIE, THE AUTHOR.
His Home and Life at Kirriemuir. Which
Is the Real Name of ''Thrums."


through the writings of its famous son,
as ''Thrums." And IL would be business
like as we'll as agreeable to interview
Mr.. j. NJ Barrie, who was to be at his
home for Easter tide. Kirriemuir it is
really, but no one speaks of the place.. ex-
cept with its diminutive "Kirrie." Now,
Mr.. Barrie has persistently and consistent
ly refused to be interviewed. But one could
but hope that, when attacked upon his ma
tive heath, and when the interviewer went
armed with the presence of personal
friend of his own he might relent. And
so the event proved. From the railway
station at Forfar. we looked across the
green plain of Strathmore, the smoke from
factory chimneys rose like mist between
our eyes and the blue hills lying to the
northward, telling us where stood the man
ufactories of that brown linen, for which
the place was famous in its little way be-
fore Mr.. Barrie bestowed upon it its crown
of glory. In the little railway book stall
at Forfar We saw the counter covered with
Mr. Barrie's novels-we were sure 1t would
not have occurred to the proprietor that
any well-regulated traveller could have re-
quiAd a work by another author-and his
portrait In wide gilt frame, stared US
in the face. The news Vender, an old,
good-natured-iooking Scotchman, smiled as
picture ibid you ever see our roung
MANI he asked, with all the pride of pos
fassiU Eh We're ies verrs proud o % . him in in these
parts. l ken weel the day when he was
bit laddie runtn Ger the country Ss,idde side
We little thocht what he'd come to, then,
or may be we should have been more ceevil
Nowadays Mr. Barrie has charming
study in the ''parlour on the ground floor
at strathview The WINDOWS WI b frame en VIDE Side
of the room, from floor TO ceiling, is COW
cred with books There are quantities OF
which are Mr. and Mrs Robert Louis Stev-
enson's, George Meredith's and Mrs. Oil
plants, all great friends of the young au-
thor. over the small desk hangs fine
etching, and the desk itself lies the
MY Lady Nicotine The Arcadia mixture
able flavor which greets US as the. door is
opened by Mr.. Barrie himself He has just
left a MS. which the ink Is still wet.
politeness forbids eyes to roam in thaJ
direction, and we look at Mr.. Barrie in
stead. Then we forget the MS 1 had seen
him once before, at Mrs Louise Chandler
Moulton's, but had not ever heard the
sound of his voice and now. as he is in
his own house, he does not permit himself
to give way TO the shyness which Is usuaf-
ly at once his protection and his misfor-
tune Despite his thirtyfour years. he is
very boyish looking. His figure . slight
and small, his nobly shaped head almost
sensitive, and his shining gray eyes fine
enough TO render palmer face strlkingly
attractive. His keen sense OF hlmSr or, one one
culiar "twnkling' smile. Looking into his
eyes. but remember the old book
success: He's such a terrible kinCly sort
o. creetur." 1t is hard TO make Mr.. Barrie
/ talk about himself or even his work, but
when we have accomplished the feat of
launching him on the tide the rest is COM
paratively simple, especially as he does not
he aRa he a Is eeg to Question
'I wasn't one of those youngsters who be
| gins at the early age of five years to put
down his ideas of life on odd bits of paper
/ think 1 must have been the LATEST little
| dog that ever lived. L hated school, felt ag-
| grieved at the end of a day if. in spite OF
myself 1 had learned anything; and, in
| deed, ! scarcely opened my books except
| to draw pictures on the fiy-leaves really
| was fond of drawing though not because
| had a genius for it. l did caricatures or
| the schoolmaster and the boys, or tried TO
| get portraits from memory of the girls
| girl. A growing boy can't lives without
| ideals-especially a country boy, who has
| plenty of time to think. | was educated, as
| l said, in spite of myself 6or ideas would
soak in, partly at Kirrlemuir and partly
at Dumfries. At Dumfries l often saw
| Carlyle, and conceived an extraordinary
| awe-struck admiration for the man, with
his sad old face. L think my first real taste
for reading came TO me from his books.
| bought his works when 1 had the money,
borrowed them when 1 hadn't, and their
| influence upon me was very marked. |
should not have been the same man without
| them. Ine nrSt WrltlnS Il ulu. W ell, L De-
| lieve it was a series of articles done for a
| paper which was got up by my school-fel-
lows We called 1.-The the paper the Clown, and
| Schoolmaster.' / began ii, / remember,
When you read the following articles l
| think hearYoo exkaim, Who is this crate
| literary genius appearing before our eyes
| and takin' our hearts by storm" / was
| much fonder of taking part in amateur
anything else. But that was before / got
| self-conscious enough to be shy. L gave ii
| up very early and took TO playwriting in
| vice. for he thought / was wasting my
time, and would never succeed in doing
anything worth doing.
| at wasn't until after / was eighteen and
had entered Edinburgh University that
| began to quiet down and have serious, per-
| sonal views of life. They had all been vague
and impersonal at first. Another Kirrie-
| muir man, w. r. Lawson, was editing the
| Edinburgh Courant, and 1 wrote for the
| paper a little. In 1882 l graduated and a
| year later i was in full swing. in humble
| way. as journalist. writing leaders on the
staff of the Nottingham Journal 1 wrote
| some of my Nottingham experiences into
| When a Mans Single just Edinburgh
| life gave me material for An Edinburgh
| Eleven ] never could, and can't now, write
with any pleasure TO myself or the world
| at large about things which have not been
absolutely intertwined with my own life
While | was in Nottingham. with fear and
don paper. To my JOY IT was accepted by
Mr.. Stead, then on the Pail Mall Gazette
how they were written. Mr.. Greenwood
took my first Aud LIGHT article, which
| is the 1 dedicated to him the book
| that grew out Of Ii later. l wrote TO him.
asking his advice whether / should risk
| giving up my Nottingham work and go tC
! London, but he thought l should be rash
in making such an experiment. l was aw-
| fully discouraged by what he said, though
ii was extremely kind, but in 1885 some
| thing inside me seemed TO push me to Lon
| don had TO 60 and my pluck, or what
ever you may call il, was rewarded by my
getting something to do on the st. James
| Gazette. began TO know lot OF theatrical
folk and got fascinated with them | made
up my mind that by and by l must write
a play. My Lady Nicotine / wrote for the
St. James Gazette, a series of articles"
I'VE all thought" | ventured Ito see you
married and settled by this time Mr.. Bar
RE. judging from the report last year"
There was no truth in that report" ht
| answered II believe they actually had me
married. did they not2-that wonderful
they for which there has never been any
other name. But there was no such luck fol
me- unfortunately. However, i fully intend
marrying some day, if only to have the con
venience of using my wifeS hairpins K
clean out my pipes. You do think she would
pin money? But ! must try 10 ascertain hel
disposition on that point before committing
myself irretrievabiy."
Il suppose you have lot OF work OF
hand?' inquired our mutual friend.
Yes. And it's all due long ago, unhap
ply. rashly promise things, but in writ
ing | can never confine myself 20 dates
never remember that popularity .. min
until it's too late and I've offended some
body" He glanced at his Ms. on the desk
and thought it only humane to retir
and give him an opportunity OF retrieving