90. The House of Elrig by Gavin Maxwell

I had never heard of Gavin Maxwell and just picked this book up on the strength of its old Pan aesthetic and the potential for some good British outdoorsieness. Maxwell was famous for the book Ring of Bright Water (which you can see promoted on the cover), a book about an otter he adopted.  I guess this one, a literary biography of his childhood, came after.  

It is indeed what I expected, a story about Maxwell growing up on various estates owned (or maybe leased, these artistocratic property machinations get very confusing) by various family members and in particular the house at Elrig.  It was just him and his family and other than his brothers and sister he basically saw no other children for most of his childhood.  He and his brother must have ravaged their land for wildlife because they ran free and collected everything, especially eggs.  There is a horrible moment where he meets a neighbouring land-owner adult who is also an egg collector but explains that among the pros, you are supposed to take the entire nest, not just a single egg!

The later chapters narrate his times at the 3 schools he was sent to (the first two sounded just horrific and reminded me of my own 8th grade in boarding school) and then his sickness and convalescence at the age of sixteen.  The ending is brief, where for the first time, Maxwell is allowed to invite a school friend to Elrig for the holidays and when asked what he would be doing during the holidays at home while they are hunting for an eagle's nest, the friend says "nothing as good as this" and it is a very fitting and satisfying ending to the book which neatly conveys his love of his childhood land and the struggles he had in the social realm.