John Hay Beith
Encyclopedia
Major General John Hay Beith, CBE
(17 April 1876 – 22 September 1952), from Edinburgh
, Scotland
, was a schoolmaster and soldier
, and, under the pen name
Ian Hay, a novelist and playwright
.
, Lancashire
, the second son of John Alexander Beith, of the Beith, Stevenson & Co. shipping and export business, based in Manchester
. His paternal grandfather was a Presbyterian clergyman, Rev. Dr. Alexander Beith, active in the Disruption of 1843
.
, Edinburgh (initially as fag
to Sir John Simon) and at St. Johns College
, Cambridge
, where he played rugby and captained the college boat club. Finding a second-class degree in Classics insufficient to obtain a steady teaching position at a major school, he returned to Cambridge for a further year to qualify as a teacher of physics and chemistry.
in 1902 as junior science master, and also coached the rugby and boating crews. Durham featured in his The Housemaster (1936).
Hay later taught at Fettes, spending much of his leisure time in writing. His first novel, the schoolboy romance Pip (1907), appeared while he was still teaching at the school. His light novels combined humour and shrewd observation, with an English tolerance of eccentricity and suited the taste of the age (he collaborated with P.G.Wodehouse)
and was in France
in April 1915 and was one of the first 100,000 of Kitchener's Army
. He was awarded the Military Cross
. He was later, in the rank of Major General, Director of Public Relations at the War Office (1938–1941).
The First Hundred Thousand (1915) is his best-known work, and is marked by the same sharp sense of humor as his other work: "War is hell, and all that, but it has a good deal to recommend it. It wipes out all the small nuisances of peace-time."
All In It K(1) Carries On: A Continuation of the First Hundred Thousand (1917) and Carrying On (1917) were also popular books of his. Other works include Tilly of Bloomsbury
1919, The Right Stuff, The Crimson Cocoanut, A Man's Man, A Safety Match, and Happy-Go-Lucky.
In 1928 Beith adapted P. G. Wodehouse
's novel A Damsel in Distress
as a play. In 1929 Wodehouse helped to adapt Beith's Story Baa Baa Black Sheep for the stage and in 1930 they again collaborated on the dramatisation of Wodehouse's Leave it to Psmith
.
Beith served as technical advisor for Cecil B. DeMille
's silent film The Little American
(1917), starring Mary Pickford
. He was responsible for screenplays or dialogue of fifteen films, including Alfred Hitchcock
's The Thirty-Nine Steps
(1935) and Secret Agent (1936).
He died at Petersfield
, Hampshire
, on 22 September 1952.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(17 April 1876 – 22 September 1952), from Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, was a schoolmaster and soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
, and, under the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Ian Hay, a novelist and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
.
Background
John Hay Beith was born in ChorltonChorlton-cum-Hardy
Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of the city of Manchester, England. It is known locally as Chorlton. It is situated about four miles southwest of Manchester city centre. Pronunciation varies: and are both common....
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, the second son of John Alexander Beith, of the Beith, Stevenson & Co. shipping and export business, based in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. His paternal grandfather was a Presbyterian clergyman, Rev. Dr. Alexander Beith, active in the Disruption of 1843
Disruption of 1843
The Disruption of 1843 was a schism within the established Church of Scotland, in which 450 ministers of the Church broke away, over the issue of the Church's relationship with the State, to form the Free Church of Scotland...
.
Education
Beith was educated at Fettes CollegeFettes College
Fettes College is an independent school for boarding and day pupils in Edinburgh, Scotland with over two thirds of its pupils in residence on campus...
, Edinburgh (initially as fag
Fagging
Fagging was a traditional educational practice in British boarding private schools and also many other boarding schools, whereby younger pupils were required to act as personal servants to the most senior boys...
to Sir John Simon) and at St. Johns College
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he played rugby and captained the college boat club. Finding a second-class degree in Classics insufficient to obtain a steady teaching position at a major school, he returned to Cambridge for a further year to qualify as a teacher of physics and chemistry.
Teaching career
Beith joined Durham SchoolDurham School
Durham School, headmaster Martin George , is an independent British day and boarding school for boys and girls in Durham....
in 1902 as junior science master, and also coached the rugby and boating crews. Durham featured in his The Housemaster (1936).
Hay later taught at Fettes, spending much of his leisure time in writing. His first novel, the schoolboy romance Pip (1907), appeared while he was still teaching at the school. His light novels combined humour and shrewd observation, with an English tolerance of eccentricity and suited the taste of the age (he collaborated with P.G.Wodehouse)
Military career
He was a second-lieutenant in the Argyll and Sutherland HighlandersArgyll and Sutherland Highlanders
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland....
and was in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in April 1915 and was one of the first 100,000 of Kitchener's Army
Kitchener's Army
The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, Kitchener's Mob, was an all-volunteer army formed in the United Kingdom following the outbreak of hostilities in the First World War...
. He was awarded the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
. He was later, in the rank of Major General, Director of Public Relations at the War Office (1938–1941).
Literary work
His work was well known for its wit; often quoted is this line from his play, Housemaster: "What do you mean, funny? Funny-peculiar or funny ha-ha?" From the same play, two characteristic Hay lines, from masters' reports on their pupils:- ‘He can translate English into a Greek not spoken in Greece, and Greek into an English not spoken anywhere, with equal facility’
- ‘Despite his natural levity he habitually gravitates towards the bottom.’
The First Hundred Thousand (1915) is his best-known work, and is marked by the same sharp sense of humor as his other work: "War is hell, and all that, but it has a good deal to recommend it. It wipes out all the small nuisances of peace-time."
All In It K(1) Carries On: A Continuation of the First Hundred Thousand (1917) and Carrying On (1917) were also popular books of his. Other works include Tilly of Bloomsbury
Tilly of Bloomsbury (play)
Tilly of Bloomsbury is a 1919 British comedic play written by Ian Hay. It is heavily influenced by the story of Cinderella and concerns a young woman from Bloomsbury in London, Tilly Wellwyn who falls in love with a wealthy aristocrat. Despite her poor background, she tries to pretend she is also...
1919, The Right Stuff, The Crimson Cocoanut, A Man's Man, A Safety Match, and Happy-Go-Lucky.
In 1928 Beith adapted P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
's novel A Damsel in Distress
A Damsel in Distress (novel)
A Damsel in Distress is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 4 October 1919 by George H. Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, on 17 October 1919...
as a play. In 1929 Wodehouse helped to adapt Beith's Story Baa Baa Black Sheep for the stage and in 1930 they again collaborated on the dramatisation of Wodehouse's Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
.
Beith served as technical advisor for Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's silent film The Little American
The Little American
The Little American is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Mary Pickford as an American woman who is in love with both a German and a French soldier during World War I.-Plot:...
(1917), starring Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
. He was responsible for screenplays or dialogue of fifteen films, including Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's The Thirty-Nine Steps
The 39 Steps (1935 film)
The 39 Steps is a British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on the adventure novel The Thirty-nine Steps by John Buchan. The film stars Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll....
(1935) and Secret Agent (1936).
He died at Petersfield
Petersfield
Petersfield can refer to any of the following places:*Petersfield, Hampshire, a market town in England*Petersfield, Jamaica, a small town in the parish of Westmoreland*Petersfield, Manitoba, in Canada*Petersfield, an area of Cambridge, England...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, on 22 September 1952.
External links
- Works by Ian Hay at Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
- Works by Ian Hay at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- Films and plays by Ian Hay at IMDBInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery (London)