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XVIII - Spies Q wrote a huge number of apparently fictional tales but many were actually inspired by historical facts. This volume contains four tales involving adventure, escapades and an occasional lucky escape. The tales are not Cornwall - related but once again demonstrate Q’s extensive reading, learning and knowledge about Napoleonic Times. They relate the activities of two cousins, both with the same name, in Spain, Corsica, Portugal and France. Q names them MacNeill but occasionally changes the spelling to McNeil. The tales are actually fictionalised tales of the espionage activities of two cousins of the name Grant. One was called Colquhoun
Grant and is the model for the main tellers of the tales in this volume. His brother-in-law, Sir James McGrigor, was in charge of the medical corps of the British Army in the Peninsular Wars and, included in his autobiography, an entire chapter about Colquhoun Grant and his espionage activities which is clearly the basis of Q’s tales. The first name of the other Grant cousin is uncertain. General Sir William Francis Patrick Napier wrote an extremely detailed account of the Peninsular Wars ( ‘History of the war in the Peninsula and the south of France, from the year 1807 to the year 1814’) and also recounted the activities of Grant but more briefly than did McGrigor. Typical of entertaining, late Victorian, adventure stories it is clear that the background to Q's tales are historically accurate and significantly adds value to the tales..
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| XI Lady Mary XII Pirates! XIII Love XIV Scilly XV Escapades and Occasional Escapes XVI Hetty Wesley XVII Tales of The Civil War XVIII Spies XIX The Westcotes XX Harry Revel |