A little boy, Kay Harker, finds himself in a race against the evil Abner Brown. Abner has the Pouncer Seven, his witch friends, and their dark magic but Kay has the very special Midnight Folk to help him - Nibbins, the cat, Bitem, the fox and Blinky, the owl. But which side will find the treasure first? The Mutiny: Captain Harker's crew mutinied and marooned him so they could steal the treasure. The subsequent history of the treasure turns out to involve several more mutinies and maroonings with the same motivation. Haggis Is Horrible: The Rat fondly recalls a time when a haggis was delivered to Kay's family but had gone bad and was thrown away — so he got it all to himself.

The Midnight Folk by John Masefield: 9781590172902

First illustrated edition. 4to. Blue cloth with gilt lettering and vignette. A good copy, some fading to upper cover and spine, with a small cup mark to upper cover and some light wear to tail of spine. Front joint beginning to split. Illustrated by Rowland Hillier, with pictorial endpapers, six colour plates and lots of line drawings. You Dirty Rat!: The Cellar Rat is an information broker, who will happily sell out either side for green cheese or haggis.

Species Surname: Kay's toys include a dog named Dogg and another named P. Dogg (they're said to be cousins), as well as a bear named G. L. Brown Bear. Many of the wild animals he meets also seem to be named after their species, as Bat, Otter, Water Rat, etc. John Masefield became Poet Laureate in 1930, a position he held until his death in 1967. His well-known poems include Sea Fever. Abner Brown is the principal villain in both novels, but plays a more prominent role in The Box of Delights.

The Midnight Folk: The Adventures of Kay Harker: 1 (Craftsman The Midnight Folk: The Adventures of Kay Harker: 1 (Craftsman

Young Kay Harker has a variety of adventures in search of the truth about a famous treasure that his great-grandfather, a merchant captain, was given for safe-keeping then lost when his crew mutinied. He is aided in his quest by the Midnight Folk, an association of Talking Animals, Living Toys, and other fantastic creatures. Masefield’s first volume of oetry, Salt-Water Ballads, was published in 1902, however, it was not until the publication of The Everlasting Mercy in 1911 that he made his mark on the literary scene. The success of his second book was followed by the publication of several long narrative poems, including Dauber (1914) and Reynard the Fox (1919). In a race against time, Kay is pitted against the evil Abner Brown and his dark magic. But Kay has the very special Midnight Folk to help him. Nibbins the cat, Bitem the fox and Blinky the owl. Not to mention a rat, an otter and a bat! Plus a tribe of toys, including his beloved Edward the Bear. In 1958, John Keir Cross wrote a radio adaptation of the book for the BBC. It was broadcast on Children's Hour in five parts during the lead up to Christmas that year. Patricia Hayes played Kay Harker and the narrator was Richard Hurndall. [4]When I Was Your Age...: Kay's governess and Mrs Tattle have a session of complaining about what young people these days are coming to, and how none of them are "what we were when we were girls". "Which," the narrator drily notes, in the case of Kay "was very likely true." Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Piney Trigger (the daughter) boasts of being one even into extreme old age. The cellar rat is Kay's ally in The Midnight Folk, supplying information in return for raisins, bacon rind and (most appreciated by Rat) a "Naggy" (haggis). In The Box of Delights, the rat has come to hate Kay (because he expects Kay to get a dog), so Abner Brown is able to buy information from him with rum and mouldy cheese. Direct Line to the Author: The "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue includes a couple of lapses into first-person, indicating that the author lives in the neighbourhood where the novel is set and has met (or, in the case of the fox, had his poultry raided by) some of the characters. Mr. Masefield has written the sort of book that grown-up people like to give a child for Christmas, and then enjoy reading for themselves. The Midnight Folk is a story to be read aloud in the traditional Winter fireside setting….The style is imaginative and glamorous…Children will like to hear their elders read the tale.”– The New York Times

The Midnight Folk (Kay Harker): Masefield, John, Hilder

John Masefield was in his last year as Poet Laureate when I was born in 1966. I remember copying out his poem ‘Cargoes’ in primary school – ‘Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir . . .’ – and wondering what all these strange, beautiful-sounding words meant as I laboured over my ascenders and descenders. That John Masefield, stiff and distant, seemed already to be from a long-dead past. Oracular Head: The coven uses a Brazen Head that can see into the past in an attempt to locate the treasure. A sequel, The Box Of Delights, was published in 1935. The two books also have links, in terms of shared settings and characters, with a series of adventure stories for adults which began with Sard Harker in 1925.Deserted Island: What with all the mutinies and maroonings, the history of the treasure includes several, each more bleak and inhospitable than the one before. But not all the creatures that haunt the night are friendly: a coven of witches is also after the treasure, led by the scheming Abner Brown and the sinister Mrs Pouncer, and woe betide anyone who gets in their way.

The Midnight Folk - AbeBooks The Midnight Folk - AbeBooks

Invisibility: One of the witches drops a vial of invisibility potion, which Kay makes use of. The gamekeeper's dogs can still detect him by scent, though. John Masefield threaded a number of common themes through a series of his books; even those novels aimed at children shared places, people and storylines with some of his adult novels. One key recurring theme is the nautical visit of a member of the Harker family to the fictional islands of Santa Barbara. In The Midnight Folk, Kay's great-grandfather is endowed with a great treasure there; in other novels the actual nature of the seafaring Harker's relationship to Kay is less clear. A great many incidental characters and places are shared across Masefield's novels, although the fine details of such recurrences are often contradictory from novel to novel. Cunning Like a Fox: One of Kay's allies is Rollicum Bitem Lightfoot, a fox who relies on his wits to keep one step ahead of the local gamekeeper.Interestingly, early on in the book, Kay reads the names of his long-lost toys ('The Guards') and among them are the names Jemima, Maria, Susan and Peter which of course are the names of the Jones children in The Box of Delights written years later. John Masefield is growing younger every year. He was old in Multitude and Solitude. He had grown appreciably younger in Sard Harker. He is a child among the children in "The Midnight Folk,” which is incomparably the best book of its kind that has appeared since Mrs. Hubert Bland died. — Illustrated London News, 1927. [2] Meaningful Name: Meaningful to the author, at least. "Caroline Louisa" was the name of Masefield's own mother, who died when he was six. Or Was It a Dream?: Played with all through the book. All the supernatural events end with Kay waking up, but the "mundane" adventure story (where he's definitely awake) only makes sense if the things he learns on these expeditions are true. John Masefield (1878-1967) was born in Herefordshire, England. After being orphaned at an early age, he was sent to sea aboard the school-ship HMS Conway in preparation for a naval career. Masefield’s apprenticeship was disastrous—he was classified as a Distressed British Seaman after a voyage around Cape Horn—and he soon left the ship. Arrangements were then made for him to join another ship in New York. But Masefield had other plans: he deserted ship vowing “to be a writer, come what might.”