Sheila Kaye-Smith Susan Spray 1931

The story is set around Copthorne on the Surrey/Sussex border. The main character is the daughter of a farm labourer born in 1834. Her father works at a farm called Pickdick. She is sent as a child to scare birds in an oat-field on nearby Beggars Bush farm where she sees a vision and becomes a preacher for the Colgate Brethren. It appears the Colgate Brethren meet at another farm called Horn Reed.

Sheila Kaye-Smith (1887-1856) was Roman Catholic author who lived at Northiam, Sussex. Many of her books dealt with rural scenarios based in Sussex. There are a cluster of Beggars Bush place names in Sussex, although I have not been able to locate any Beggars Bush or any of the other place names near Copthorne. There is a Pickdick at Brede, near Udimore west of Rye, at TQ8414, and land called Horn Reed in Crowborough. It seems that the author was using place names that were known to her from other places.

Sources

Susan Spray (1931)
reissued by Virago 1983
also available online at Project Gutenberg Canada

Thanks

Michael Bristow-Smith of the Sheila Kaye-Smith Society

Posted: April 25th, 2011 | Filed under: Writers | Tags: Literary, Sheila Kaye-'Smith, Sussex | No Comments »