The Azure Hand
Published posthumously on 24th July, 1917, ‘The Azure Hand’ is the only one of Crockett’s novels set in Quarriers, a barely fictionalised Dumfries. The geographic relocation from Galloway to Dumfries to some degree reflects the stylistic difference from his more familiar Galloway novels.
‘The Azure Hand’ has long been considered stylistically unique (and weak) in Crockett’s fiction. I take issue with this claim. From ‘Strong Mac’ to ‘Deep Moat Grange’ and ‘The Lady of 100 Dresses’ crime, mystery and at times sensationalism, all feature in his later works. ‘The Azure Hand’ is not a complete anomaly – it is perhaps at the end of a spectrum. Perhaps a step too far for the publishers of the day.
It is also out of the comfort zone of many of Crockett readers. I am no exception. It was Crockett’s Galloway fiction that first attracted me to him. It took me twenty years to read my way through Crockett’s oeuvre of 67 published works, a challenge only completed in 2015. Lack of availability rather than lack of will presented the greatest difficulty. ‘The Azure Hand’ was the hardest book to find. It’s gold-dust to Crockett aficionados and collectors.
It’s dangerous to retrofit fiction. An experimental work may be dismissed as derivative when it actually represents an earlier less developed example of a story (or genre) that we know so well. Familiarity can breed unwarranted contempt! For me it’s important to read within context and without the prejudice of hindsight. But where to begin? I know very little of the crime/detective genre.
I started reading other works from before the Golden Age of Crime writing. I found a colour ‘theme.’ The year 1907 saw publication of ‘The Red Thumb Mark’ (R.Austin Freeman) and ‘The Yellow Room’ (Gaston LeRoux). Crockett was near fluent in French and would most likely have read ‘The Yellow Room’ but I think it is a bit of a red herring (no pun intended).
‘The Red Thumb Mark’ offers a potential clue. The first in what was to become a best-selling series, it was the sort of lucrative ‘franchise’ that was being sought by publishers from ‘Sherlock Holmes’ days through till Agatha Christie came along to clean up. It was published by Hodder & Stoughton (H&S) who bought Crockett’s back catalogue at the height of his fame in 1904. H&S had missed out on ‘Sherlock Holmes’, which was published by rivals George Newnes.
Crockett was the H&S ‘poster boy’ for a number of years. Freeman was a new kid on the block. Publishing is one of life’s great gambling arenas and it’s quite plausible that H&S encouraged Crockett out of his ‘comfort’ zone into a potentially more lucrative one. If they could marry one of the most popular authors of the day with the ‘on trend’ style – pay dirt! So why wasn’t it published? It seems that Crockett failed here while Freeman succeeded. The mystery is why?
Crockett writes multi-layered narrative and plays with the relationship between reader, character, editor and author. He delights in ‘mixing those babies up’ as he calls it, by fictionalising places and people in his stories while keeping to the grace-notes of historical accuracy. But publishers like certainty and genre specificity. Part of the mystery of ‘The Azure Hand’ is – exactly what kind of fiction is it?
With my limited knowledge of the genre it was hard for me to see ‘The Azure Hand’ in the context of its contemporaries. To find some answers I sought out an expert. Martin Edwards’ pedigree is as Vice Chair and archivist of the Crime Writers’ Association and President/Archivist of the Detection Club.
Martin suggested that in one sense, ‘The Azure Hand’ is a ‘very modern take on fictional detection. It shows a determination to pick up some of the then popular tropes (clues, footprints etc) and do something relatively fresh with them.’
He notes that: ‘The Golden Age writers between the wars focused heavily on clues and plotting, although there was an increasing interest in psychology in the 30s.’
So perhaps Crockett was simply ahead of his time. I know Crockett in the context of Historical Adventure Romance meets contemporary social domestic ‘issue’ stories. ‘The Azure Hand’ is set in a Scottish country house environment. Martin agreed that he found ‘clear evidence of Crockett’s storytelling skill, in particular as regards dialogue, and also nice touches of wit.’ Not familiar with Crockett’s work, he nevertheless sees ‘The Azure Hand’ as the work of ‘an experienced and capable writer.’ That comment was enough for me to stop worrying as to whether ‘The Azure Hand’ was simply not a poor example of crime/detective genre and move on to the ‘mystery’ that really interests me: When was it written?
My suggestion is that ‘The Azure Hand’ was written between the years of 1907 and 1911. Crockett’s usual ‘modus operandi’ (ably ‘managed’ from 1894 by A.P.Watt) was to write for serial publication before the works were published as novels. He tended to write one Scottish based novel and one European based novel each year. In good years he published three works a year. He consistently sat at the top of the bestseller lists between 1894 and 1904.
In 1907 he was still selling well. He published three works that year: ‘Vida:The Iron Laird of Kirktown’, ‘Little Esson,’ and ‘Me and Myn’ which hold small clues to a possible change of direction. In 1908 ‘Deep Moat Grange’ sees Crockett firmly embedded into the fashionably popular ‘sensationalist’ style. Was it market pressure or personal desire that encouraged this shift in style? In 1906 Crockett claimed both that it bored him to write the same type of story and that he wished he could write Galloway stories in dialect - but there was no market. From 1907 he wrote very few stories that were out and out Galloway ones. Was he ‘playing’ or being ‘played by’ changing publishing fashions and expected to mutate to survive in the market?
Either way the gamble did not pay off for writer, agent or publisher because 1908 saw Crockett’s annus horribilis in publishing terms. The attempt to adapt to changing fashion while keeping his unique identity as a writer was a commercial failure. ‘Deep Moat Grange’ was the first of his books not to meet publishers reserves. The 1908/9 serialised ‘Princess Penniless’ also failed to break even. In 1909 Crockett returned more familiar fare with ‘Rose of the Wilderness’ and ‘The Men of the Mountain’ which notably was not published by H&S. The charm was broken and these were no more successful than the previous year’s fare. Crockett was missing the publisher’s mark and in 1910 ‘The Dew of Their Youth’ while interesting, is somewhat derivative of his own earlier works.
If Crockett’s popularity was on the wane by 1910, his health problems were also becoming terminal. Crockett had long spent winters abroad on health grounds. He had malaria (probably contracted in Egypt in the 1870s) but his long term illness is a mystery of itself. He died in France and there is no surviving record of cause of death. His malaria was treated with quinine for long periods. It’s possible he had a mis/ undiagnosed stomach problem, for which quinine would be at best inappropriate and at worst dangerous. Serial writing is a long term commitment and not suitable for a man who might die half way through the story. To avoid giving publishers a reason not to commission him, he suffered in secret.
With a raft of publications in 1909 Crockett would have been kept busy in 1908 so it would seem either 1907 or 1909 are the most likely years for ‘The Azure Hand’ to be written. His other posthumous works ‘Rogues Island’ and ‘The White Pope’ are better candidates for that period so my personal hunch (and it’s only that at this stage) is that ‘The Azure Hand’ might have been written after ‘Deep Moat Grange’, in the autumn/winter of 1907. Certainly it is before ‘The Lady of 100 Dresses’ (published 1911). The three works share the hallmark of the same research materials. The years 1911- 1914 are well enough documented to believe that he would not have the time or inclination to write ‘The Azure Hand’ in those final years. But further evidence may emerge from the extensive Crockett archives. It’s still, and likely to remain, a mystery for some time to come.
Cally Phillips –
You can purchase The Azure Hand centenary edition from Ayton Publishing in paperback from www.unco.scot online.
‘The Azure Hand’ has long been considered stylistically unique (and weak) in Crockett’s fiction. I take issue with this claim. From ‘Strong Mac’ to ‘Deep Moat Grange’ and ‘The Lady of 100 Dresses’ crime, mystery and at times sensationalism, all feature in his later works. ‘The Azure Hand’ is not a complete anomaly – it is perhaps at the end of a spectrum. Perhaps a step too far for the publishers of the day.
It is also out of the comfort zone of many of Crockett readers. I am no exception. It was Crockett’s Galloway fiction that first attracted me to him. It took me twenty years to read my way through Crockett’s oeuvre of 67 published works, a challenge only completed in 2015. Lack of availability rather than lack of will presented the greatest difficulty. ‘The Azure Hand’ was the hardest book to find. It’s gold-dust to Crockett aficionados and collectors.
It’s dangerous to retrofit fiction. An experimental work may be dismissed as derivative when it actually represents an earlier less developed example of a story (or genre) that we know so well. Familiarity can breed unwarranted contempt! For me it’s important to read within context and without the prejudice of hindsight. But where to begin? I know very little of the crime/detective genre.
I started reading other works from before the Golden Age of Crime writing. I found a colour ‘theme.’ The year 1907 saw publication of ‘The Red Thumb Mark’ (R.Austin Freeman) and ‘The Yellow Room’ (Gaston LeRoux). Crockett was near fluent in French and would most likely have read ‘The Yellow Room’ but I think it is a bit of a red herring (no pun intended).
‘The Red Thumb Mark’ offers a potential clue. The first in what was to become a best-selling series, it was the sort of lucrative ‘franchise’ that was being sought by publishers from ‘Sherlock Holmes’ days through till Agatha Christie came along to clean up. It was published by Hodder & Stoughton (H&S) who bought Crockett’s back catalogue at the height of his fame in 1904. H&S had missed out on ‘Sherlock Holmes’, which was published by rivals George Newnes.
Crockett was the H&S ‘poster boy’ for a number of years. Freeman was a new kid on the block. Publishing is one of life’s great gambling arenas and it’s quite plausible that H&S encouraged Crockett out of his ‘comfort’ zone into a potentially more lucrative one. If they could marry one of the most popular authors of the day with the ‘on trend’ style – pay dirt! So why wasn’t it published? It seems that Crockett failed here while Freeman succeeded. The mystery is why?
Crockett writes multi-layered narrative and plays with the relationship between reader, character, editor and author. He delights in ‘mixing those babies up’ as he calls it, by fictionalising places and people in his stories while keeping to the grace-notes of historical accuracy. But publishers like certainty and genre specificity. Part of the mystery of ‘The Azure Hand’ is – exactly what kind of fiction is it?
With my limited knowledge of the genre it was hard for me to see ‘The Azure Hand’ in the context of its contemporaries. To find some answers I sought out an expert. Martin Edwards’ pedigree is as Vice Chair and archivist of the Crime Writers’ Association and President/Archivist of the Detection Club.
Martin suggested that in one sense, ‘The Azure Hand’ is a ‘very modern take on fictional detection. It shows a determination to pick up some of the then popular tropes (clues, footprints etc) and do something relatively fresh with them.’
He notes that: ‘The Golden Age writers between the wars focused heavily on clues and plotting, although there was an increasing interest in psychology in the 30s.’
So perhaps Crockett was simply ahead of his time. I know Crockett in the context of Historical Adventure Romance meets contemporary social domestic ‘issue’ stories. ‘The Azure Hand’ is set in a Scottish country house environment. Martin agreed that he found ‘clear evidence of Crockett’s storytelling skill, in particular as regards dialogue, and also nice touches of wit.’ Not familiar with Crockett’s work, he nevertheless sees ‘The Azure Hand’ as the work of ‘an experienced and capable writer.’ That comment was enough for me to stop worrying as to whether ‘The Azure Hand’ was simply not a poor example of crime/detective genre and move on to the ‘mystery’ that really interests me: When was it written?
My suggestion is that ‘The Azure Hand’ was written between the years of 1907 and 1911. Crockett’s usual ‘modus operandi’ (ably ‘managed’ from 1894 by A.P.Watt) was to write for serial publication before the works were published as novels. He tended to write one Scottish based novel and one European based novel each year. In good years he published three works a year. He consistently sat at the top of the bestseller lists between 1894 and 1904.
In 1907 he was still selling well. He published three works that year: ‘Vida:The Iron Laird of Kirktown’, ‘Little Esson,’ and ‘Me and Myn’ which hold small clues to a possible change of direction. In 1908 ‘Deep Moat Grange’ sees Crockett firmly embedded into the fashionably popular ‘sensationalist’ style. Was it market pressure or personal desire that encouraged this shift in style? In 1906 Crockett claimed both that it bored him to write the same type of story and that he wished he could write Galloway stories in dialect - but there was no market. From 1907 he wrote very few stories that were out and out Galloway ones. Was he ‘playing’ or being ‘played by’ changing publishing fashions and expected to mutate to survive in the market?
Either way the gamble did not pay off for writer, agent or publisher because 1908 saw Crockett’s annus horribilis in publishing terms. The attempt to adapt to changing fashion while keeping his unique identity as a writer was a commercial failure. ‘Deep Moat Grange’ was the first of his books not to meet publishers reserves. The 1908/9 serialised ‘Princess Penniless’ also failed to break even. In 1909 Crockett returned more familiar fare with ‘Rose of the Wilderness’ and ‘The Men of the Mountain’ which notably was not published by H&S. The charm was broken and these were no more successful than the previous year’s fare. Crockett was missing the publisher’s mark and in 1910 ‘The Dew of Their Youth’ while interesting, is somewhat derivative of his own earlier works.
If Crockett’s popularity was on the wane by 1910, his health problems were also becoming terminal. Crockett had long spent winters abroad on health grounds. He had malaria (probably contracted in Egypt in the 1870s) but his long term illness is a mystery of itself. He died in France and there is no surviving record of cause of death. His malaria was treated with quinine for long periods. It’s possible he had a mis/ undiagnosed stomach problem, for which quinine would be at best inappropriate and at worst dangerous. Serial writing is a long term commitment and not suitable for a man who might die half way through the story. To avoid giving publishers a reason not to commission him, he suffered in secret.
With a raft of publications in 1909 Crockett would have been kept busy in 1908 so it would seem either 1907 or 1909 are the most likely years for ‘The Azure Hand’ to be written. His other posthumous works ‘Rogues Island’ and ‘The White Pope’ are better candidates for that period so my personal hunch (and it’s only that at this stage) is that ‘The Azure Hand’ might have been written after ‘Deep Moat Grange’, in the autumn/winter of 1907. Certainly it is before ‘The Lady of 100 Dresses’ (published 1911). The three works share the hallmark of the same research materials. The years 1911- 1914 are well enough documented to believe that he would not have the time or inclination to write ‘The Azure Hand’ in those final years. But further evidence may emerge from the extensive Crockett archives. It’s still, and likely to remain, a mystery for some time to come.
Cally Phillips –
You can purchase The Azure Hand centenary edition from Ayton Publishing in paperback from www.unco.scot online.