Editing Gavin Maxwell

{{Short description|Scottish natural historian and author (1914–1969)}}
{{For|the canoer|Gavin Maxwell (canoeist)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Gavin Maxwell
| image = Gavin Maxwell.jpg
| image_size = 
| caption = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|07|15|df=yes}}
| birth_place = House of [[Elrig]], Wigtownshire, Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1969|09|07|1914|07|15|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Inverness]], Scotland<ref>{{cite book | author=Botting, Douglas |title=Gavin Maxwell, A Life |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1993 |page=576 |isbn=0-246-13046-6}}</ref>
| resting_place = 
| occupation = Author
| alma_mater = [[Hertford College, Oxford]]
| period = 
| genre = [[Natural history]], [[Travel literature]]
| notableworks = ''[[Ring of Bright Water]]''
| spouse = 
| partner = 
| children = 
| relatives = 
| awards = 
| education = [[Stowe School]]
}}
'''Gavin Maxwell''' <small>[[Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature|FRSL]] [[Zoological Society of London|FZS]] [[Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society|FRGS]]</small> (15 July 1914{{spaced ndash}}7 September 1969) was a Scottish [[Natural history|naturalist]] and author, best known for his [[nonfiction|non-fiction]] writing and his work with [[European otter|otter]]s. He became most famous for ''[[Ring of Bright Water]]'' (1960) and its sequels, which described his experiences raising Iraqi and West African otters on the west coast of Scotland. One of his Iraqi otters was of a previously unknown sub-species which was subsequently named after Maxwell. ''Ring of Bright Water'' sold more than a million copies and was made into [[Ring of Bright Water (film)|a film]] starring [[Bill Travers]] and [[Virginia McKenna]] in 1969.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{Cite web|title=The dark love behind A Ring of Bright Water|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1498143/The-dark-love-behind-A-Ring-of-Bright-Water.html|access-date=2021-11-14|website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=11 September 2005 }}</ref> His other books described sharking in the Hebrides and his travels in Iraq, Morocco, and Algeria, as well as studies of recent history in Sicily and Morocco.

==Early life==
[[File:Elrig House - geograph.org.uk - 545963.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|left|The "House of Elrig" – Gavin Maxwell's childhood home. Arylick farm to right and [[Elrig]] Loch in the background.]]

Gavin Maxwell was the youngest son of Lieutenant-Colonel Aymer Maxwell and Lady Mary Percy, fifth daughter of the [[Henry Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland|seventh Duke of Northumberland]].<ref name="Rocks">''The Rocks Remain'', Gavin Maxwell, Longmans, 1963, ASIN: B0000CLY9N</ref> His paternal grandfather, [[Sir Herbert Maxwell, 7th Baronet]], was an [[Archaeology|archaeologist]], politician and natural historian.<ref name="Rocks" />

Maxwell was born at The House of Elrig near the small village of [[Elrig]], near [[Port William, Scotland|Port William]], in [[Wigtownshire]], south-western Scotland. Maxwell's relatives still live in the area and the family's ancient [[Estate (house)|estate and grounds]] are in nearby [[Monreith House|Monreith]].

Maxwell's education took place at a succession of [[Preparatory school (UK)|preparatory]] and [[Public School (United Kingdom)|public school]]s, including the sporty [[Heddon Court School]]<ref name="Brendon2009">{{cite book |last=Brendon |first=Vyvyen |title=Prep School Children: A Class Apart Over Two Centuries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7sNA32_K5rwC&pg=PA93 |date=2009 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-84706-287-1 |page=93}}</ref> at [[East Barnet]], [[St Cyprian's School]], where he found encouragement for his interest in [[natural history]], and [[Stowe School]]. In ''The Rocks Remain'', he relates how family pressure led him to take a degree in Estate Management at [[Hertford College, Oxford]], where he spent his time pursuing sporting and leisure activities instead of studying. He cheated his way through the intermediate exams but passed the [[final examination]]s honestly, having [[Cramming (education)|crammed]] the entire three-year course in six weeks.<ref name="Rocks" />

[[Image:Soaybaskingsharkfisheries.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Former HQ of The Island of [[Soay, Skye|Soay]] Shark Fisheries Ltd, started by Maxwell]]
[[File:Exterior of 9 Paultons Square, London.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|A blue plaque commemorating Maxwell as a writer and naturalist at the house where he lived in [[Paultons Square]] in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], London]]

During [[World War II]], Maxwell served as an instructor with the [[Special Operations Executive]]. He was invalided out with the rank of Major in 1944. After the war, he purchased the Isle of [[Soay, Skye|Soay]] off [[Isle of Skye|Skye]] in the [[Inner Hebrides]], Scotland. According to his book ''Harpoon at a Venture'' (1952), poor planning and a lack of finance meant his attempt to establish a [[basking shark]] fishery there between 1945 and 1948 proved unsuccessful and the island was sold to his business partner, [[Tex Geddes]].  Living in London, he became a close friend of British-Swiss Nobel Prize winner [[Elias Canetti]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

==Career==
In 1956, Maxwell toured the [[Tigris-Euphrates river system|reed marshes]] of southern Iraq with explorer [[Wilfred Thesiger]], Maxwell's wife's first cousin once removed. Maxwell's account of their trip appears in ''A Reed Shaken By The Wind'', later published under the title ''People of the Reeds''. It was hailed by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as "near perfect".<ref>quoted in {{cite ODNB |last=Stott |first=Louis |title=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |year=2004 |chapter=Maxwell, Gavin |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/34959}}</ref>

Since 1948, Maxwell had been using a borrowed cottage in [[Sandaig]]<ref>At {{coord|57|10|06|N|5|41|06|W}}, to a house which had been a [[Crofting|croft]] and home to the local lighthouse keeper of the Sandaig Light southwest of [[Glenelg, Highland|Glenelg]].</ref> as a writer's retreat (which he called ''Camusfeàrna'' in his books).  Sandaig was a small community opposite [[Isleornsay]] on a remote part of the Scottish mainland. This is where his "otter books" are set. After ''Ring of Bright Water'' (1960), his newfound fame did not sit well with him:

{{blockquote|He couldn't cope with it. He wasn't a strong man that way, so he couldn't deal with it. But he didn't want anyone to know that, so he started drinking more; he started smoking more. And the pressures became more because we started spending more money. Next thing, agent was on the phone: 'We're broke; we need a sequel.' So, he wrote ''The Rocks Remain'', the sequel to ''Ring of Bright Water'', which was a disaster because it was written in a hurry. It didn't have the same beauty, it didn't have the same ''anything'' as ''Ring of Bright Water''. That was the beginning of the end really. — [[Terry Nutkins]], 2010<ref name=bbb/>}}

In ''The Rocks Remain'' (1963), the otters Edal, Teko, Mossy and Monday show great differences in personality. The book demonstrates the difficulty Maxwell was having, possibly as a result of his mental state, in remaining focused on one project and the impact that had on his otters, Sandaig and his own life.

In 1960–1962, he made several trips to [[Morocco]] and [[Algeria]].  He published accounts of his experiences in North Africa, including his description of the aftermath of the 1960 Agadir earthquake, in ''The Rocks Remain'' (1963).  In Morocco, he was assisted by the monarchy's head of Press Services and Minister of Information [[Moulay Ahmed Alaoui]], and by the anticolonial activist and journalist [[Margaret Pope (journalist and anticolonial activist)|Margaret Pope]], who Maxwell referred to in ''The Rocks Remain'' under a pseudonym, "Prudence Hazell."  Pope recruited Maxwell to travel to Algiers in January 1961 to collect information for the Algerian revolutionary [[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|National Liberation Front (FLN).]]  Maxwell also began research for a non-fiction book tracing the dramatic lives of the last rulers of Marrakech under the French, eventually published in 1966 as ''Lords of the Atlas: The Rise and Fall of the House of [[T'hami El Glaoui|Glaoua]] 1893–1956''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Segalla |first=Spencer |date=2024 |title=Gavin Maxwell in Morocco and Algeria with Margaret Pope and Ahmed Alaoui: public relations networks, anti-imperialism, and travel writing in the era of decolonisation |url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:68281/ |journal=The Journal of North African Studies |volume=29 |issue=6 |language=en |pages=927–960 |doi=10.1080/13629387.2024.2380397 |issn=1362-9387|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Botting |first=Douglas |title=The Saga of Ring of Bright Water: The Enigma of Gavin Maxwell |publisher=Eland |year=1993 |isbn=9781897784853 |pages=308–322 |language=en}}</ref> During the Moroccan [[Years of Lead (Morocco)|Years of Lead]], the regime there considered his book subversive and banned its importation.

In ''The House of Elrig'' (1965), Maxwell describes his family history and his passion for the calf-country, [[Galloway]], where he was born. It was during this period that he met [[Ornithology|ornithologist]] [[Peter Scott]] and the young Terry Nutkins, who later became a children's television presenter.

In 1968, Maxwell's Sandaig home was destroyed by fire, in which Edal perished,<ref name=bbb>''Britain By Bike'', episode 6 - The Scottish Highlands, BBC, 2010</ref> and he moved to the lighthouse keepers' cottages on [[Eilean Bàn, Lochalsh|Eilean Bàn (White Island)]], an island between the [[Isle of Skye]] and the Scottish mainland by the village of [[Kyleakin]]. He invited [[John Lister-Kaye]] to join him on Eilean Bàn to  help him build a zoo on the island and work on a book about British wild mammals. Lister-Kaye accepted the invitation, but both projects were abandoned when Maxwell died from [[lung cancer]]<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|title=BBC Scotland - How Scotland's otters became famous: the inspirational story of Gavin Maxwell|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/13XTsndKsZMkqKQgMvrltmj/how-scotland-s-otters-became-famous-the-inspirational-story-of-gavin-maxwell|access-date=2021-11-14|website=BBC|language=en-GB}}</ref> in a hospital in Inverness<ref name="auto"/> the following year.<ref name="Lister-Kaye">{{cite book| author=Lister-Kaye, John |title=The White Island |publisher=Longman |year=1972 |isbn=0-582-10903-5}}</ref>

Maxwell's literary agent was Peter Janson-Smith,<ref>{{cite book |last=Frere |first=Richard |title=Maxwell's Ghost |publisher=[[Victor Gollancz]] |year=1976 |page=71 |isbn=0-575-02044-X}}</ref> who was also agent for [[James Bond]] author [[Ian Fleming]]. Maxwell also lived in [[Paultons Square]] in [[London]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

==Memorial==
Eilean Bàn now supports a pier of the [[Skye Bridge]], built during the 1990s. Despite modern traffic a hundred feet or so above it, the island is a commemorative otter sanctuary and houses a museum dedicated to Maxwell. Another memorial is a bronze otter erected at Monreith near to St Medan's Golf Club.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

==Personal life==
Privately homosexual,<ref>{{cite book |last=Frere |first=Richard |title=Maxwell's Ghost |publisher=[[Victor Gollancz]] |year=1976 |pages=65–66 |isbn=0-575-02044-X}}</ref> Maxwell married Lavinia Renton (daughter of [[Alan Lascelles|The Right Honourable Sir Alan Lascelles]] and granddaughter of [[Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford|Viscount Chelmsford]], Wilfred Thesiger's uncle) on 1 February 1962. The marriage lasted little more than a year and they divorced in 1964.

According to [[Douglas Botting]], Maxwell suffered from [[bipolar disorder]] throughout his life.<ref name="Botting">Douglas Botting, ''Gavin Maxwell, A Life'', HarperCollins 1993 ({{ISBN|0-246-13046-6}}).</ref> 

==Gavin Maxwell's otter==
[[File:Maxwell's Otter looks over Front bay - geograph.org.uk - 605696.jpg|thumb|Statue of Maxwell's otter at [[Monreith, Scotland|Monreith]] by Penny Wheatley, 1978.|alt=]]
Maxwell's book ''[[Ring of Bright Water]]'' describes how, in 1956, he brought a [[smooth-coated otter]] back from [[Iraq]] and raised it in "Camusfearna" at [[Glenelg, Highland#Sandaig and Camusfeàrna|Sandaig Bay]] on the west coast of Scotland.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1144708197|title=First Flight: Textbook in English for Class X|date=2019|publisher=[[NCERT]]|isbn=978-81-7450-658-0|location=[[New Delhi]]|pages=102–109|chapter=Mijbil the Otter|oclc=1144708197|chapter-url=http://www.ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/jeff108.pdf}}</ref>  He took the otter, called Mijbil, to the [[London Zoological Society]], where it was decided that this was a previously unknown [[subspecies]] of smooth-coated otter. It was therefore named ''Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli'' (or, [[Colloquialism|colloquially]], "Maxwell's otter") after him. While it was thought to have become extinct in the [[Tigris-Euphrates alluvial salt marsh|alluvial salt marshes of Iraq]] as a result of the large-scale drainage of the area that started in the 1960s, newer surveys suggest large populations  remain throughout its range, though they still remain vulnerable.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Omer|first1=Sawsan A.|title=Evidence for persistence and a major range extension of the smooth-coated otter ( Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli; Mustelidae, Carnivora) in Iraq|journal=Folia Zool.|date=2012|volume=61|issue=2|pages=172–176|doi=10.25225/fozo.v61.i2.a10.2012|s2cid=89831141|url=http://www.ivb.cz/folia/61/2/9_079.pdf|display-authors=etal|access-date=4 March 2014|archive-date=7 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107110220/http://www.ivb.cz/folia/61/2/9_079.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Al-Sheikhly |first1=Omar F.|last2=Nader|first2=Iyad A.|title=The Status of Iraq Smooth - Coated Otter Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli Hayman 195 6 and Eurasian Otter Lutra lutra Linnaeus 1758 in Iraq |journal=IUCN Otter Spec. Group Bull.|date=2013 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=18–30|url=http://www.otterspecialistgroup.org/Bulletin/Volume30/AlSheikhly_Nadar_2013.pdf}}</ref>

[[File:Gavin Maxwell's Memorial - Sandaig (geograph 4113346).jpg|thumb|Maxwell's memorial boulder on the former site of his ''Camusfeàrna'' home]]

In his book ''The Marsh Arabs'', [[Wilfred Thesiger]] wrote:

{{blockquote|[I]n 1956, Gavin Maxwell, who wished to write a book about the Marshes, came with me to Iraq, and I took him round in my ''tarada'' for seven weeks. He had always wanted an otter as a pet, and at last, I found him a baby European otter which unfortunately died after a week, towards the end of his visit. He was in Basra preparing to go home when I managed to obtain an otter, which I sent to him. This, very dark in colour and about six weeks old, proved to be a new species. Gavin took it to England, and the species was named after him.}}

The otter became woven into the fabric of Maxwell's life. The title  of his book ''Ring of Bright Water'' was taken from the poem "The Marriage of Psyche" by [[Kathleen Raine]], who said in her autobiography that Maxwell had been the love of her life. Raine's relationship with Maxwell deteriorated after 1956 when she indirectly caused the death of Mijbil. Raine held herself responsible not only for losing Mijbil but for a curse she had uttered shortly beforehand, frustrated by Maxwell's homosexuality: "Let Gavin suffer in this place as I am suffering now."  Raine blamed herself thereafter for all Maxwell's misfortunes, beginning with Mijbil's death and ending with the cancer that took him at age 55 on 7 September 1969.<ref>{{cite web|author=Janet Watts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/jul/08/guardianobituaries.books |title="Kathleen Raine: Obituary", ''The Guardian'', London, 8/7/2003 |date=8 July 2003 |publisher=Guardian |access-date=2014-06-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Dani Garavelli |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/dani-garavelli-gavin-maxwell-s-love-of-nature-1-3452667 |title="Gavin Maxwell's Love of Nature", Edinburgh, 22/6/2014 |publisher=Scotland on Sunday |access-date=2014-06-27}}</ref><ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>

Maxwell's ashes were placed beneath a boulder at the former site of his house ''Camusfeàrna''. The boulder marks the position of his writing desk.<ref name=bbb/>

==Bibliography==
*''Harpoon at a Venture'' Rupert Hart-Davis (1952)
** Paperback reissue (1984): {{ISBN|0-14-006987-9}}
** Paperback reissue (1998): {{ISBN|978-1899863464}}
** Paperback reissue (2013): {{ISBN|978-1780271804}}
*''God Protect Me from My Friends'' [[Longmans]] (1956)
** Paperback reissue (1972): {{ISBN|0-330-02787-5}}
*''A Reed Shaken By The Wind - a Journey Through the Unexplored Marshlands of Iraq'' Longmans (1957)
** Paperback reissue (1983): {{ISBN|978-0140095104}}
** Paperback reissue ([[Eland Books]], 2003) {{ISBN|0-907871-93-3}}
*''The Ten Pains of Death'' (1959)
** Paperback reissue (1986): {{ISBN|978-0862992897}}
*''[[Ring of Bright Water]]'' (illustrated by [[Peter Scott]]) Longmans (1960)
** Paperback reissue: {{ISBN|0-14-003923-6}}
*** ''Ein Ring aus hellem Wasser - Meine Jahre an Schottlands wilder Westküste'', ins Deutsche übersetzt von Iris Hansen, München : Blessing, 2021, {{ISBN | 978-3-89667-665-8}}
*''The Otters' Tale'' Longmans (1962; a children's version of ''Ring of Bright Water'')
*''The Rocks Remain'' Longmans (1963)
*''The House of Elrig'' Longmans (1965)
*''Lords of the Atlas: Morocco, the rise and fall of the House of Glaoua'' Longmans (1966)
** Reissue, ([[Eland Books]]) (2000) {{ISBN|0-304-35419-8}}
*''Seals of the World'' (1967)
*''Raven Seek Thy Brother'' Longmans (1969)
*''The Ring of Bright Water Trilogy'' Penguin (2001; abridged)

===Biography===
* ''Island of Dreams: Stalking Gavin Maxwell's Ghost'' by Dan Boothby, Cork Street Books (2014)
** republished as ''Island of Dreams: A Personal History of a Remarkable Place'', Picador (2015) {{ISBN|978-1509800759}}
* ''The White Island'' by [[John Lister-Kaye]] (about the author's time working with Maxwell) Longman (1972) {{ISBN|0-582-10903-5}}
* ''Maxwell's Ghost - An Epilogue to Gavin Maxwell's Camusfearna'' by Richard Frere, [[Victor Gollancz]] (1976) {{ISBN|0-575-02044-X}}
** reissued (1999) {{ISBN|1-84158-003-1}}
** reissued (2011) {{ISBN|978-1780270111}}
* ''Gavin Maxwell, A Life'' by [[Douglas Botting]], HarperCollins (1993) {{ISBN|0-246-13046-6}} (authorized biography)
** republished as ''The Saga of Ring of Bright Water - The Enigma of Gavin Maxwell'' Neil Wilson Publishing (2000) {{ISBN|1-897784-85-6}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nwp.co.uk/show_publication.cfm?pub_id_var=72 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060521095833/http://www.nwp.co.uk/show_publication.cfm?pub_id_var=72 |archive-date=21 May 2006 |url-status=dead |title=The Saga of Ring of Bright Water - The Enigma of Gavin Maxwell |publisher=Neil Wilson Publishing}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
Maxwell, Gavin, (1914–7 Sept. 1969), Sponsor of the Dolci Cttee; Hon. Life Member: Wildfowl Trust; Cttee, Wildlife Youth Service; Fauna Preservation Soc.; Internat. Cttee, Centro Studi e Scambi Internazionali; Cttee of Honour Nat. Campaign for the Abolition of Capital Punishment; Pres., British Junior Exploration Soc.; writer since 1952; portrait painter, 1949–52, [[doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U57666|doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U57666]]   ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who]]''  (published online: 1 December 2007)
==External links==
*[http://www.maxwellsociety.com/Biography/Artists.htm Biography by Maxwell's nephew]
*[http://www.eileanban.org Eilean Bàn]
*[http://www.otterjoy.com/otterinfo/lutrogale/perspicillata/perspicillata_classification.html Maxwell's Otter]
*[http://www.redlist.org/search/details.php?species=12427 IUCN listing for Maxwell's Otter]
*[http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/kintail/Sandaig.shtml Visit Camusfearna (Sandaig)]

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Gavin}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Dumfries and Galloway]]
[[Category:Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford]]
[[Category:People educated at St Cyprian's School]]
[[Category:People educated at Stowe School]]
[[Category:Scottish naturalists]]
[[Category:Scottish soldiers]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish male writers]]
[[Category:Scottish nature writers]]
[[Category:Scottish people of English descent]]
[[Category:Scottish bisexual writers]]
[[Category:Bisexual male writers]]
[[Category:British Special Operations Executive personnel]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Scotland]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society]]
[[Category:People with bipolar disorder]]
[[Category:20th-century naturalists]]
[[Category:20th-century Scottish LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Historians of Morocco]]