A few words about Beverley Nichols

The prolific novelist, playwright, journalist, composer - and many other things including political activist - Beverley Nichols was born on September 9th 1898, so he shares a ninth day of the ninth month birthday with this blog. 

His four childen's books that feature the witch Miss Smith are the main reason for his appearance here, but there is a little more to say about him to mark the occasion.

Beverley Nichols and witches
I am still wondering where Beverley Nichols got his ideas about witches and evil from. I also wonder why The Wickedest Witch in the World (1971) was written so long after the Woodland Trilogy – there is a gap of 21 years.

There is a story called Super Witch: A Story for Children of all Ages in his unpublished papers; it is dated circa 1971.

We will probably never know why he returned to writing about witches at this time.

Houses and gardens
Beverley Nichols wrote a series of books about his houses and gardens. 

I learned recently that his book Down the Garden Path was the inspiration for Sellar & Yeatman's Garden Rubbish.

These books, which are all very good reads and are now what Beverley Nichols is best remembered for, were illustrated by the great decorative artist Rex Whistler.

Another look at Beverley Nichols's witch Miss Smith

Miss Smith, the cruel and evil witch with a very deceptive appearance, is a character in Beverley Nichols's Woodland Trilogy and its sequel. She first appeared on here in the article about three fictional modern-day witches and has been referred to in a few other articles. 

I read the four books one last time before donating them, and I found some more material to comment on. 

The Tree That Sat Down (1945), The Stream That Stood Still (1948), The Mountain of Magic (1950) and The Wickedest Witch in the World (1971) are intended for readers of 9 years and upwards. The younger readers will concentrate on the story and enjoy reading about the talking animals and the adventures of the children; I am interested in the incidental references to evil and the characteristics of witches. 

I would not have noticed such things when I first read the stories as I was very young at the time, but now they are the main attraction. They provide yet more independent support for ideas mentioned in many other articles.

Good and evil
The Tree That Sat Down, the first book of the Woodland Trilogy, has something to say about good and evil:

“Evil is a very powerful force; there is only one force more powerful, which is Good. Evil is infectious; it spreads itself far and wide. If there is anything evil at large, all the other evil things know it by instinct; they rejoice and grow strong.”

“Miss Smith shivered and felt quite sick; real goodness always had that effect on her.”

Goodness and evil often do attract like and repel their opposite.

“Miss Smith...felt somebody coming, somebody very good, somebody so good that he might do her a lot of harm. She must go quickly, before it was too late.”

Miss Smith is very wary of anyone who isn't evil. 

Some characteristics of witches
Witches dislike  inquisitive people; they live in fear that their crimes and their deficiencies and differences from normal people will be exposed. They are always on the alert for threats. 

They can sometimes get themselves off the hook by improvising cover stories and casting spells to distract and silence people, but they are not always able to raise the necessary power and they just dig themselves in deeper in the long run.