Heather Heretics

Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Very Good. 1926. First Edition. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [front endpaper removed, otherwise a good sound copy with just light wear to the extremities, slight bumping to top rear corner]. A semi-comic novel about a Scottish minister in a small village, set against a background of schisms and other events in Scottish church history that took place in the early 20th century. From a contemporary review: "[The book] contains delicious humor, authentic local color, and an appealing love story. The scene is laid for the most part in Ardarroch, which is as delightful an old village as Thrums or Drumtochty. Here Donald Strachan ministers to his little flock, some of whom are dour, fanatical Scotchmen of the old school" and falls in love with a daughter of a rival churchman. The author (1881-1935) was a native of Scotland who was educated at Glasgow Univesity (the setting of the early scenes of the novel) and came to America in 1912. He settled in Leicester, Massachusetts, where he became known locally as a preacher even though (according to a 1925 newspaper article) he wasn't actually a clergyman: he said "he preaches only because he likes to and has preached considerably ever since he was graduated from college." However, only a couple of years after that he seems to have landed an actual post as a pastor at a Worcester church; in later newspaper accounts he was routinely referred to as "Rev. Marshall Goold." His writing efforts were divided between plays (most with religious themes) and novels, the present book having been his sixth (I think); it may have also been his last fictional effort, as ill health led him to commit suicide in 1935. .