Oscar Wilde's proposition that favouring the colour green is a sign of creativity in individuals but of moral laxity and decadence in nations has made me think of a few green items that have both positive and negative aspects and associations.
Green shirts and green kirtles for example are worn by both good and bad people.
A few of John Buchan's books are relevant here, and so is one of C. S. Lewis's Narnian books.
John Buchan's fictional Evallonian Greenshirts, who appear in The House of the Four Winds, were described earlier.
There are some interesting connections here involving an unusual character called John Gordon Hargrave (1894 – 1982), who was an artist, a pagan cult leader, a Utopian thinker, a believer in both science and magic, and many other things. His life story is fascinating, but only a few elements are relevant here.
Hargrave was getting assignments to illustrate books by the age of 12, including some of John Buchan's works!
Hargrave founded various organisations for social change, including one called The Green Shirts. They were dedicated to smashing fascism and campaigning for a universal basic income in the UK.
They may also have been the inspiration for John Buchan's Greenshirts.
Rather ironically, Hargrave's anti-Fascist Greenshirts were balanced by the Irish Greenshirts, a small off-shoot of the Blueshirts, Ireland's largest fascism-inspired movement. Green was chosen because it was the colour of Irish nationalism.
John Hargrave and his militaristic Greenshirts:
Hargrave's Greenshirts are mentioned on his gravestone:
John Buchan's Witchwood (1927) is said to have been his favourite work. It is also said to have inspired C. S. Lewis.
Both Witchwood and Lewis's Silver Chair mention green kirtles, or long gowns. They are worn by two very different people.
This is Buchan's Katrine, an ethereal nature-loving girl who first appears on horseback:
“She was dressed all in green, with a kirtle which scarcely reached her ankles and left her foot in the stirrup clear. The feather from her green hat hung low over her curls.“
Lewis's evil witch The Lady of the Green Kirtle also first appears on horseback. She is riding a lovely white horse:
“...the lady, who rode side-saddle and wore a long, fluttering dress of dazzling green, was lovelier still.”
This kirtle is described several times as being as green as poison, and the witch who wears it can transform into a huge poisonous green serpent.
Incidentally, C. S. Lewis may also have been influenced by John Buchan's Greenmantle. This exciting adventure story contains a scene in which a powder is thrown into some coal fires, which results in a thick scent that helps to create a hypnotic atmosphere. In The Silver Chair, the witch throws green powder on the fire; this gives off a sweet smell that enhances the hypnotic spell she puts on her captives.
Buchan's Salute to Adventurers contains yet another character who is first seen on horseback wearing a green kirtle.
This is Elspeth, the lovely young doctor's daughter:
“...her skirt and kirtle were of green, the fairies' colour.”
Elspeth is balanced by the horrible Hilda von Einem, a key character in Greenmantle, who wears a short green kirtle over her riding clothes.
So you can't judge characters in books just by their green coverings!
