Marie Clothilde Balfour Explained

Marie Clothilde Balfour
Birth Date:	20 October 1862
Birth Place:	Edinburgh
Death Date:	September 1931
Death Place:	London
Occupation:	Writer, folklorist
Father:	James Balfour
Relatives:	Robert Louis Stevenson (cousin); George William Balfour (uncle and father-in-law); Thomas Stevenson (uncle)

Marie Clothilde Balfour (20 October 1862 – September 1931) was a British writer, translator, and folklorist. She wrote three novels, stories, and plays; translated poetry and a French Revolution-era memoir; collected folk stories and songs; and edited two volumes of letters from her aunt.

Early life and education

Balfour was born in Edinburgh, the daughter of James Balfour, a noted engineer, and Christina Simson Balfour (later Nicholson). Writer Robert Louis Stevenson was her first cousin. She spent her early years in New Zealand while he father was working there; when he died in 1869, she returned to Scotland with her mother.^[1]

Publications

Balfour wrote three novels, translated a French Revolution-era memoir, and edited two volumes of letters from her aunt, Margaret Isabella Balfour Stevenson, sent during her travels with her son in Polynesia.^{[2] [3]} She also wrote plays and stories, and collected folklore. "From time to time doubts have been expressed about the authenticity of the tales that Marie Clothilde Balfour said she had collected," notes one scholar,^[4] because the tales she published were especially strange, and she certainly added her own literary flourishes.^{[5] [6]}

• "Legends of the Cars" (1891, a series of articles)^{[7] [8] [9]}
• White Sand (1896, novel)^[10]
• Maris Stella (1896, novel)^[11]
• "Sub Tegmine Fagi" (1897, short story)^[12]
• The Fall of the Sparrow (1897, novel)^[13]
• "Saint Joseph and Mary, from a French folk song" (1897, poem translated by Balfour)^[14]
• From Saranac to the Marquesas and beyond; being letters written by Mrs. M. I. Stevenson during 1887–88, to her sister, Jane Whyte Balfour (1903, edited by Balfour)^[15]
• Examples of printed folk-lore concerning Northumberland (1904, collected folksongs)^[16]
• Memoirs of Mlle des Écherolles, being sidelights on the Reign of Terror (1904, translated by Balfour)^[17]
• Mrs. M. I. Stevenson, Letters from Samoa, 1891–1895 (1906, edited by Balfour)^[18]

Personal life

Balfour married her first cousin, physician James Craig Balfour; they had a daughter, Marie Margaret Melville Balfour, who also became a writer.^[19] Balfour's husband died in 1907, and she died in London in 1931.

External links

• Maureen James, "Marie Clothilde Balfour - Biography", Telling History, a blog post about Balfour.
• Maureen James, "Investigating the 'Legends of the Carrs': a study of the tales as printed in 'Folk-lore' in 1891" (Ph.D. thesis, University of Glamorgan 2013).
• "The Buried Moon", Tales of Britain and Ireland, a podcast episode in which one of Balfour's folklore-based stories is read and discussed by the host Graeme Cooke.
• "The Buried Moon or the Big Plum Conspiracy" Hestia's Kitchen (28 September 2020), a blog post about Balfour's "The Buried Moon", with a recipe for plumbread

Notes and References

1. Bassett, Troy J. "Author: Marie Clothilde Balfour", At the Circulating Library: A Database of Victorian Fiction, 1837—1901, 15 December 2022.
2. News: 1904-01-16 . Stevenson's Mother; Some of Her Letters Edited by Mary Clothilde Balfour . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-02-26 . 0362-4331.
3. Graham . Lesley . 2020-01-02 . From Scotland to Sāmoa: Margaret Isabella Balfour Stevenson in Polynesia . Studies in Travel Writing . 24 . 1 . 20–34 . 10.1080/13645145.2020.1803598 . 225428257 . 1364-5145.
4. Behrend, Michael. "Are the legends authentic?" Republications.
5. Book: Haase, Donald . The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales and Fairy Tales [3 Volumes] ]. 2007-12-30 . Greenwood Publishing Group . 978-0-313-04947-7 . 300 . en.
6. Book: Duggan . Anne E. . Folktales and Fairy Tales: Traditions and Texts from around the World, 2nd Edition [4 volumes]

   Traditions and Texts from around the World ]

   . Haase . Donald . Callow . Helen J. . 2016-02-12 . ABC-CLIO . 978-1-61069-254-0 . 299 . en.
7. Balfour . M. C. . 1891-06-01 . Legends of the Cars . Folklore . 2 . 2 . 145–170 . 10.1080/0015587X.1891.9720054 . 0015-587X. free .
8. Balfour . M. C. . 1891-09-01 . Legends of the Lincolnshire Cars.—Part II . Folklore . 2 . 3 . 257–283 . 10.1080/0015587X.1891.9720066 . 0015-587X. free .
9. Balfour . M. C. . 1891-12-01 . Legends of the Lincolnshire Cars.—Part III . Folklore . 2 . 4 . 401–418 . 10.1080/0015587X.1891.9720076 . 0015-587X. free .
10. Book: Balfour, Marie Clothilde . White sand: The story of a dreamer and his dream . 1896 . The Merriam company . New York.
11. Book: Balfour, Marie Clothilde . Maris Stella . 1896 . Roberts Bros.; etc., etc. . The keynotes series ;v. 27 . Boston.
12. Balfour, Marie Clothilde. "Sub Tegmine Fagi" The Yellow Book 10 (July 1896): 199-213. via ProQuest
13. Book: Balfour, Marie Clothilde . The fall of the sparrow . 1897 . G.P. Putnam's Sons . The Hudson library,no. 25 . New York, London.
14. Web site: Balfour, Marie Clothilde . 26 February 2023 . Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry.
15. Book: Stevenson . Margaret Isabella (Balfour) . From Saranac to the Marquesas and beyond . Balfour . Jane Whyte . Balfour . Marie Clothilde . 1903 . Methuen & co. . London.
16. Book: Balfour . Marie Clothilde . Examples of printed folk-lore concerning Northumberland . Thomas . Northcote Whitridge . 1904 . Nutt . Publications of the Folk-lore Society ;53 . London.
17. Book: DesÉcherolles . Alexandrine Etiennette Marie Charlotte . Memoirs of Mlle. des Écherolles, being sidelights on the reign of terror . Balfour . Marie Clothilde . 1904 . J. Lane . The crown library . London, New York.
18. Book: Stevenson . Margaret Isabella Balfour . Letters from Samoa, 1891–1895 . Balfour . Jane Whyte . Balfour . Marie Clothilde . 1906 . Methuen . London.
19. Web site: Margaret Balfour . 2023-02-26 . Mazed Tales.