Mad Sir Uchtred of the Hills
“Mr. Crockett is surely the poet-laureate of Galloway. The scene of his latest tale (‘Mad Sir Uchtred’) is laid among the hills with which we became familiar in ‘The Raiders.’ It is a brief tale, not a novel, and it can be read through in an hour; indeed, if one begins it, one must read it through, so compelling is the charm of it. The Lady of Garthland makes a gracious and pathetic figure, and the wild and terrible Uchtred, the wrong done him, the vengeance which he did not take,—all these things are narrated in a style of exquisite clearness and beauty. Mr. Crockett need not fear comparison with any of the young Scotsmen who are giving to English literature just now so much that is fresh, and wholesome, and powerful.”—Boston Courier.
The Stickit Minister, and Some Common Men
“Mr. Crockett has given us a book that is full of strength and charms. Humour and pathos mingle with delightful effect.... It is hard to imagine that any lover of literature could be altogether wanting in appreciation of their quaint homeliness and pleasant realism. To come across a volume like this is indeed refreshing. No wailing pessimism mars our enjoyment with its dreary disbelief in humanity; every page exhibits a robust faith in the higher possibilities of our nature, and the result is distinctly successful. Amongst the gems of the collection we may indicate ‘The Heather Lintie,’ a simple sketch, instinct with quiet, penetrating pathos; whilst as a specimen of acute and kindly humour, ‘A Knight-Errant of the Streets,’ with its sequel, ‘The Progress of Cleg Kelly,’ would be hard to surpass.... The author has constructed stories full of grace and charm. Those to whom humanity in its most primitive and least complex aspect is interesting will find real pleasure in studying Mr. Crockett’s strong and sympathetic presentment of Scottish peasant life.”—The Speaker.
The Raiders
Being Some Passages in the Life of John Faa, Lord and Earl of Little Egypt
“... The things that befell us in those strange years when the hill outlaws collogued with the wild freetraders of the Holland traffic, and fell upon us to the destruction of the life of man, the carrying away of much bestial, besides the putting of many of His Majesty’s lieges in fear....
“It was with May Mischief that all the terrible blast of storm began (as indeed most storms among men ever do begin with a bonny lass, like that concerning Helen of Troy, which lasted ten years and of which men speak to this day). The tale began with May Mischief, as you shall hear. I keep the old name still, though the years have gone by, and though now in any talks of the old days, and of all our ancient ploys, there are the bairns to be considered. But it is necessary that ere the memory quite die out, some of us who saw these things should write them down.”—The Foreword.