What Did Barrie Think Of AA Milne ?

[Larry R]

                                                              Can't seem to find an answer. Obviously they knew each other, since Milne was an Allahakbarrie in 1913 I believe. Would love to know if Barrie had an opinion of Winnie The Pooh.

[Rosalind Ridley]

Barrie liked, encouraged and supported A A Milne which A A Milne was very happy about. I don't know about Barrie's views of Winnie the Pooh but you can find several references to their friendship in 'A A Milne, the man behind Winnie the Pooh" by Ann Thwaite, Random House 1990. They also shared the view that childhood experiences were fundamentally different from the experiences of adulthood (see 'Peter Pan and the Mind of J M Barrie, An Exploration of Cognition and Consciousness' Ros Ridley 2016). 'Childhood is not the happiest time of one's life, but only to a child is pure happiness possible.' A A Milne 1939 'It's too late now.' Methuen     

[Larry R]

                                                  Thanks Rosalind. I've just started reading
The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh: A Walk Through the Forest that Inspired the Hundred Acre Wood by Kathryn Aalto and am really enjoying it. I'll probably look for Thwaite's book next.

[Larry R]

                                             I just picked up Ann Thwaite's bio of Milne, and it does have quite alot about his friendship with Barrie. Thwaite claims the Llewellyn Davies boys loved Milne as much Barrie did, and that they fought over his book The Holiday Round (1912) when it reached them on the Isle of Harris.

[Larry R]

                                              Some quotes from Milne regarding Barrie.

                                              Have you seen Peter Pan ? It's too wonderful to live. My heroes in real life are J.M. Barrie and the editor of the Sheffield Independent.

                                              The difficulty in the way of writing a children's play is that Barrie was born too soon... We who came later have no chance.

[Dani1923]

Letters from Barrie to A.A. Milne. From “Letters of J.M. Barrie” by Viola Meynell.

13 October 1910

Dear Mr. Milne
I see no one among the young people with so light and gay and happy a touch as you show in this book, The Day’s Play, and as I read it last night I was putting on my guards once more and taking centre for the last time. You have given me one day more. It set me looking for a little booklet of my cricket club to send you but I seem to have no copy. We were all mad and glad. I elect you the last member.
The gaiety and irresponsibility of your work (I know it in Punch) are rarer gifts than you wot of now. When you won’t be so gay. So don’t know as long as you can. Something else will take their place by and bye—something very good I hope, but don’t be in a hurry. Hide and seek with the angels is good enough for anyone.
I feel an affection for the man behind your book, and hope all will always be well with you—or thereabouts. Perhaps some day you will lunch with me. I wander about alone.
Yours sincerely, J.M. Barrie


1 October 1912

That book* was fought for in the wilds of Harris by five boys, George got it first, stolen by Peter, recovered by George, handed on to Roger, again boned by Peter, recovered by Roger, handed on lawfully to Peter, boned by Michael, disappeared with Gerald while Peter and Michael were hit over it, finally fell to me and just read with much glee. It is delicious and I applaud heartily.
I hope you can read this. Discussion in Times about bad hand writing, which I take to be personal and am in hiding till it blows over.

*The book was The Holiday Round

14 January 1914

Excuse pencil—am in Switzerland—no blotting paper.
I think it is a very good little play and sufficiently you to have its own particular quality. In my opinion it would act very well if it had good actors and not well at all with indifferent ones,—by which I mean that unless they could get that quality out of it they would get very little. It is about our old friend (damn him) the artistic temperament, and that is not easy to convey so that the public in general can understand. I am quite sure that with the right people it would ‘carry’ throughly and be a very good introduction to the stage for you.
As a ‘curtain-raider’ it would almost certainly be flung away. They are nearly always put in merely to prevent the pit and gallery becoming restive because the long piece is beginning late; they are put on cheaply,—swell actors and managements hold that they don’t affect ‘business’. Occasionally some star person falls in love with a part in a one-act play but not often. Du Maurier would do your man as no one else would but I don’t believe he would want to, and it is improbable you would get others who are less good but still good—I mean for a ‘run’. What I believe you should aim at is to get it produced first on some special occasion such as does occur—a benefit—special matinée—with another piece by someone of repute, etc.,—your sole purpose being to have it tried in circumstances in which you could have hopes of its being well done. Then the thing would be to try to get Du Maurier first. You should let me write to him about it if you like this idea. Don’t be silly about bothering me. It isn’t any bother.
Another notion would be to let me show it to Barker to whom I think it would appeal and he might put it on in regular bill.
Don’t have it done at all unless well. It makes me feel you have a natural instinct for play-writing—which you might not have despite the Punch things, and I wish you would tackle a three-act piece, not because I personally prefer them to one-act, but because it is easier to place them satisfactorily. If you do please let me see it.
I enclose the play—no, I’ll keep it to see if I may do anything I have suggested with it.

[Unfortunately, I have no idea what play Barrie is referring to in this letter.]

20 September 1920

All my heartiest congratulations to you both, or strictly speaking the three of you. May Billy be an everlasting joy to you. From what you say I gather he is already a marvel but I shall decide about this for myself when I see him which I hope will be soon. I am also now settled down here and do hereby challenge you to Slosh.* Your letter has been to Eilean Shona and followed me to London, coming with a tanned complexion, the result of a week among the mountains around Acharacle, which, sir, is a fine-sounding word but a difficult place to get away from, the first thirty miles taking seven hours.


The beginning of the last letter refers the birth of A.A. Milne’s son, Christopher Robin  Milne, of course soon to be the inspiration for Christopher Robin in Winnie-the-Pooh. In real-life however, Christopher’s parents called him Billy or Moon (because when Christopher was very little, that’s how he would pronounce his last name.)
Unfortunately, I have no idea if Barrie ever saw Christopher. Barrie died when Christopher was 16 years-old. I own Christopher’s book about his childhood “Enchanted Places”, and though I’ve never read the whole book, I’ve read enough of the book to assume that Barrie is never mentioned in the book, and Barrie and Christopher never met. Or if they did meet, Christopher must have been too young to remember it. It is very unfortunate that they never became friends because I think they would have liked each other’s company (I think Christopher would have especially liked JMB playing with him since A.A. Milne was the stereotypical distant English father who didn’t spend much time with his son and let Christopher’s nanny ‘Nou’ do most of the child rearing.), and Barrie probably would have liked to see the real Pooh (or Edward Bear) and his friends before and after they became famous!
My theory as to why Barrie never spent time with Christopher is partly because after Michael’s death, he didn’t want to make friends with anymore children he didn’t already know, maybe because he was afraid of losing them like he lost George and Michael, and partly because Barrie says himself sometime in the early 1920’s in some letter, can’t recall which, that he felt he couldn’t entertain children like he used to. Which of course I believe was not true at all! The letters he did write to children in the 20’s and 30’s prove this!
And of course I have no idea what Barrie thought about the Winnie-the-Pooh books! If Barrie did write letters to A.A. Milne about the books, as far I can tell, they didn’t survive. If Barrie never wrote to Milne about the books, I would be very surprised considering the letters above! They were on the Allahakbarries cricket team together and in general they seemed to be very good friends!

Actually Barrie’s name is mentioned once in the film Goodbye Christopher Robin, a biopic about the Milne family and how the Pooh books came to be written. E.H. Shepard tells Milne and his wife that Sir James Barrie attended one of his plays. I highly recommend to watch the film and to read “Enchanted Places”!