We Lived in Drumfyvie

We Lived in Drumfyvie
Cover by Michael Whittlesey
Publication	1975
Format	Short story collection
Audience	Children
Historical era	1137-1897 CE
Co-author	Margaret Lyford-Pike

We Lived in Drumfyvie is a collection of fourteen stories co-written with Margaret Lyford-Pike, published in 1975 by Blackie.

Contents

1. Foreword
2. "Duncan the Red" – AD 1137
3. "The Red Sheriff" – AD 1139
4. "Midsummer Fair" – AD 1160
5. "The Man Who Liked a Peaceful Life" – AD 1314
6. "A Burgess Builds His House" – AD 1360
7. "The Pest Comes to Drumfyvie" – AD 1450
8. "The Man-at-Arms" – AD 1513
9. "A House with Glass Windows" – AD 1563
10. "Witch Hunt!" – AD 1589
11. "We Sign the Covenant" – AD 1648
12. "God Be with You" – AD 1650
13. "Anderson Brothers" – AD 1740
14. "Drumfyvie Elects a Provost" – AD 1785
15. "The Jubilee Wing" – AD 1897

Plot

The foreword and fourteen stories are narrated in the first person by inhabitants or natives of Drumfyvie, a fictional Scottish burgh "midway between the Highlands and the Lowlands." The stories alternately feature political events and social trends in Scotland's history. Six of the stories form three two-part narratives.

Background

The stories in We Lived in Drumfyvie were probably first written as radio scripts for BBC Scotland's Stories from Scottish History series and later revised for this collection, as was Sutcliff's 1973 collection The Capricorn Bracelet. Margaret Lyford-Pike was a BBC producer, principally of children's programming.

Stories from Scottish History was a 20-minute programme broadcast by BBC Schools Radio from 1947 to 1972. The total number of scripts written by Sutcliff, their titles and broadcast dates, are unknown. Her Stories from Scottish History script entitled "The New Laird," held by the University of Southern Mississippi, was broadcast in May 1966. Sutcliff continued to write scripts for Scottish radio in 1968 and 1969.

Publication history

1. Glasgow and London : Blackie, 1975.