"...and from the Hornes of Unicornes,
Lord safely me deliver..."
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Dorothy
Dunnett Requiescat in pace. This obituary was written by her friend and colleague ELSPETH MORRISON; it appeared in the The Scotsman on Monday, 12th November 2001. |
Lady Dorothy Dunnett, novelist and portrait painter.
DOROTHY Dunnett was an accomplished novelist, a portrait
painter of distinction and a tireless contributor to the cultural and literary
life of Scotland. She was the author of the Lymond Chronicles, King Hereafter
and The House of Niccolò series of historical novels.
Dorothy Halliday was born in Dunfermline, the only child of Alick Halliday,
engineer, and Dorothy Eveline Millard Halliday (a Scottish father and an English
mother), although much of her childhood was spent in Corstorphine, Edinburgh.
She gained a scholarship to James Gillespie’s School (five years after Muriel
Spark).
On leaving school, she joined the Scottish Office Public Relations department
and it was there that she met Alastair Dunnett then press officer for Tom
Johnston, Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence and later to become Secretary
of State for Scotland. They were married in 1946.
Before the Second World War, Alastair Dunnett had been picture editor with the
Daily Record in Glasgow and after the war he returned to edit the paper. He and
Dorothy lived in Glasgow after their marriage, Dorothy worked with the Board of
Trade, producing and researching their statistical handbook. They remained in
Glasgow until 1956, when Alastair became editor of The Scotsman, remaining in
the post for 17 years.
Their impressive house in Colinton Road was chosen and decorated by Dorothy, the
porch and dining-room adorned with her artwork, and having made the house their
own, they were to live there for the rest of their lives. Alastair left The
Scotsman in 1973 to become the chairman of Thomson Scottish Petroleum Ltd, and
was instrumental in the early development of Scotland’s oil industry. He
received a knighthood in 1995 for his services to journalism and Scottish life.
Alongside her work at the Board of Trade, Dorothy embarked on a career as a
professional portrait painter, and has had her paintings exhibited at the
Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, and at the Royal Scottish Academy. However,
it is as a novelist that Dorothy Dunnett is most famous. She was the author of
two series of historical fiction, a novel about Macbeth, seven fictional
detective stories (the Johnson Johnson mysteries, or the "Dolly" books
as they are also known), and co-author with Alastair of a non-fiction book on
the Highlands - 23 books in all.
Since she was first accepted in print by Lois Dwight Cole (who edited Margaret
Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind) she never had a novel refused by a publisher.
It was in Glasgow and then in Edinburgh that she carried out the research for
the series of novels set in the mid-16th century during the childhood of Mary
Queen of Scots, detailing the life of her charismatic fictional hero, Francis
Crawford of Lymond, beginning with The Game of Kings, first published in the
United Kingdom in 1962.
Five novels in the same series followed, culminating in Checkmate, published in
1975. King Hereafter, about Macbeth, published in 1982, was the next major
historical project, taking four and a half years to research, and 18 months to
write. Then followed the eight-book series set in Renaissance Europe of the 15th
century, The House of Niccolò. Beginning with Niccolò Rising in 1986, this
series followed the fortunes of the gifted apprentice who is to become a
powerful merchant banker, Nicholas de Fleury.
The series culminated in 2000 with the publication of Gemini, the eighth novel
in the best-selling series. This final novel explained some of the familial
links between the two series; characters in the Lymond Chronicles are
descendants of some of those who appear in the House of Niccolò. Her heroes and
heroines travel the known world, but their destinies lie in shaping Scotland, as
Alastair and Dorothy in their turn achieved in reality.
Dorothy was brought up to love the classics by Dumas, Sabatini, Orczy and Scott,
and her novels are full of passion and complexity, with an attention to
historical detail above and beyond that of her contemporaries, and all the while
her writing glitters with her infectious sense of fun. Dorothy herself said
"a historical novel without humour, like passion without humour, is a very
dull thing". Her process of research for the novels was meticulous. She
read more than 600 books before embarking on the Lymond Chronicles, 700 for King
Hereafter and a further 739 books for the House of Niccolò, never falsifying
historical fact, but coming to her own credible conclusions based on her own
research.
In addition to her meticulously accurate research in Edinburgh and elsewhere,
Dorothy travelled to locations of her novels whenever possible. She visited
Iceland, the Ukraine, Trebizond, Istanbul, crossed the Sinai desert from Cairo
among many other exotic and inhospitable locations, a bathplug and screwdriver
never absent from her essential travelling luggage.
Following the publication of Gemini, in the summer of 2000 came "The
Gathering. Nearly 300 of Dorothy’s readers met at a conference in Edinburgh
organised by Whispering Gallery, the literary fanzine of the Dorothy Dunnett
Readers’ Association which connects Dunnett readers worldwide. Large
gatherings of readers have also taken place in Philadelphia and Boston and twice
before in Edinburgh.
Lady Dunnett was perhaps unique among writers as being the only living author
(outside science fiction) to have a literary association dedicated to the
discussion of her novels; all others have only achieved such popularity
posthumously. At the Gathering, the readers had the opportunity to meet one
another, discuss the novels and attend lectures on aspects of the novels. The
guest of honour and main speaker was, of course, Dorothy herself. At the
ultimate banquet held in the restored hall of Stirling Castle, she was presented
with a handcrafted book of dedications from colleagues, friends and readers. As
Dorothy has engaged in correspondence with her readers, met them at literary
events and toured the world speaking about the novels, many admirers had turned
from fans to friends.
For much of the last year, Dorothy had been fully engaged in researching and
writing entries for the Dorothy Dunnett Companion Volume II, due to be published
next year. Her work on the Companion included translations of poetry, allusions,
anecdotal episodes and, most importantly, the biographies of many of the
historical characters who appear in her novels, based on her own findings. Her
contributions, as ever, perfectly balanced the frivolous with the factual. This
project concluded in August of this year.
Dorothy and Alastair were immersed in the cultural life of Edinburgh; their
parties with over 100 guests and impromptu performances were a highlight of the
Edinburgh Festival. Passionate about Scotland and its inhabitants and the
culture of Scotland, in addition to numerous voluntary posts, Dorothy was a
member of the board of trustees of the National Library of Scotland and a
trustee of the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle. She was a
director of the Edinburgh Book Festival. She has also been a non-executive
director of Scottish Television, and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
In 1992 she was made an OBE for services to literature.
Alastair died in 1998. She is survived by their two sons, Ninian and Mungo; one
grandson, Halliday, and one granddaughter, Annabella Charlotte.
Also trained as an opera singer, Dorothy succeeded in whichever art she learned.
Her intelligence, wit and hospitality were famous. She was utterly captivating,
warm, brilliant and open-minded. Alastair, in his autobiography, Among Friends,
said of his wife: "She is the most interesting woman I know." This
understated comment will be wholeheartedly echoed by all who knew her.
Sir Lewis Robertson writes: Dorothy Dunnett’s works called forth admiration,
awe, bewilderment, almost reverence for the scale, the ingenuity of the plots,
the unique sweep of the narrative, the quick felicity of the language and so
much else.
But to be treasured more even than the works was the person, the friend. Dorothy
was (as, greatly, was Alastair) an incomparable friend; concerned and helpful in
times of trouble, considerate and generous in all things, bringing together the
most interesting company and stimulating each to hitherto unattained heights of
thought and talk and wit. To be admitted among her friends was a very precious
gift, and one which formed a permanent enhancement of life. All her friends will
so much miss her, and will offer grateful, affectionate salutations.