Bank House
A colourful landmark at the west-end of Peebles High Street, discover the literary figure associated with the town’s iconic red door
Stand on the steps of the grand Parish Church and you’ll spot the bright red door of Bank House almost directly opposite. Number 90 connects Peebles High Street with the historic Old Town and marks the former home of one of the Tweed Valley’s most acclaimed writers: Anna Buchan (1877-1948).
Anna wrote over a dozen novels under the pseudonym O. Douglas, not believing that she could live up to the name and fame of her older brother, John. Despite this modesty, her books would go on to sell exceptionally well during her lifetime and are still very popular when available for sale at the John Buchan Story. Buchan’s nephew, William, was thought to have had his character smeared in Pink Sugar and was promised a farthing for every copy sold; he received £30 in the first year of publication alone!
Her gentle novels were firmly rooted in domestic life. Their apparent simplicity, however, would belie the writer’s appreciation of the wider political and social landscape in Scotland and beyond. Her experiences of travelling around India and Canada particularly, would help shape her writing at key moments in her career.
But it was in the fictional town of ‘Priorsford’, a riverside setting that closely mirrored her beloved Peebles, that three of Buchan’s novels would be set: Penny Plain, Pink Sugar and Priorsford. It was here that she spent most of her adult life keeping house for her brother, Walter – Town Clerk of Peebles and compiler of the History of Peeblesshire – and later her mother.
Bank House would be a hub for the wider Buchan family and their network of friends, including Scottish poet, Marion Angus, who resided for a brief time in the town and forged a connection with Anna.
The house lies close to the confluence of the River Tweed and Eddleston Water and marks the start of the 13-mile walking route between Peebles and Broughton that carries her brother’s name. Anna is buried close by in the cemetery of St Andrew’s Church, and a fabulous mural in the town’s Pennel’s Close depicts the Buchans at the former Peebles Railway Station.
If visiting the mural, do pop into Whitie’s Books & Crafts, an excellent bookstore run by the same family since 1899.
Contemporary writing
In more recent years, the Scottish writer Janis Mackay chose Peebles as a backdrop to her award-winning children’s novel, The Accidental Time Traveller (2013). When young Agatha Black travels two hundred years into the future and finds herself in Peebles in 2012, she discovers many things remain unchanged – like the River Tweed which continues to carve its way through the centre of town.
Further info
To discover more about the rich life of Anna Buchan and her brother, visit the John Buchan Story on Peebles High Street. Tweed Valley Tales, a free audio storytelling trail will also shed more light on St Andrew’s Tower, Eddleston Water and other Peebles landmarks worth a visit.
Image credits: Ian Linton