John Montgomery (4) (1916–)

In this third volume devoted to the adventures of a Sussex farm-boy and his tame vulpine companion, David and Foxy become involved in an effort to thwart the local landowner's badger hunt. Now an accepted part of village life in Woodmere, David, who was once a new-come orphan at Great Wood Farm, has many friends, from Charlie the butcher's boy, to Sue the spaniel lover. But no friend is closer to him than his fox, whom he has raised from a cub. His horror at fox hunting, poignantly captured in Foxy, is extended here to other forms of hunting. When he learns that the Whiteways, a wealthy London couple who own or rent much of the land around Woodmere, and come to the country on the weekend to shoot the wildlife, are going to dig out the badger set in nearby Brock Wood, he enlists his friends in a plan to stop them...

Originally published in 1968, and then reprinted in this paperback edition in 1971, Foxy and the Badgers is arguably the weakest of John Montgomery's three books devoted to the story of David and Foxy. Unlike its two predecessors, the novel Foxy (1959) and the short-story collection My Friend Foxy (1961), which were both narrated in the third person, this tale is narrated by David himself, in the first person. Although the result is a fairly engaging read, somehow it lacks something of the poignancy and humour of the first two volumes. It also feels just a little bit preachy, as David expounds upon the evils of hunting for sport, and considers the uneven contest which pits "men and dogs and spades against a few scared, almost helpless creatures trapped in their underground homes with no possible way of escaping." Although in agreement with the idea that badger baiting (or any other blood 'sport') is barbaric, I felt this ground was covered more effectively in Foxy, perhaps because the reader is shown the horror of the hunt, rather than being treated to a discussion of it. I felt, moreover, that despite the title, there simply wasn't enough of Foxy in this book. Still, I don't want to overstate. The story presented is engaging, and involves the reader in the children's struggle to foil the would-be baiters. Given the recent resurgence of the practice of badger-baiting in the UK, the story couldn't be more topical, despite first being published almost fifty years ago. Recommended to anyone who has read the first two Foxy books, and to readers interested in issues of hunting and wildlife as presented in children's fiction.… (mehr)

David Grant and his beloved vulpine companion Foxy return in this second volume, following upon the initial Foxy. Unlike his earlier book, which was a novel, in My Friend Foxy John Montgomery presents five short stories about boy and fox, chronicling the many adventures (and misadventures) they have in and around the small Sussex village of Woodmere. In Foxy and Mrs. Vicar, an unfortunate incident involving a snowball thrown at the Vicar's wife results in that august lady taking a dislike to David and his fox. When a hedge-sparrow's next is destroyed near the vicarage, Foxy is blamed, until David's investigation proves that his companion is innocent. Foxy Goes to School sees the lovable fox bringing about a much-needed reconciliation between David and the strict new village teacher, Miss Thring. In Foxy to the Rescue, David is led to his missing friend, Charlie Elliott, by his companion's superior sense of smell, thereby saving the boy's life. Foxy and the Gipsy follows David and Foxy as they befriend Joe Smith, the titular gipsy, or Romany, with surprising results when a local land-owner shoots at Foxy. Finally, in Foxy in Colour, a London photographer arrives in Woodmere, and takes some beautiful pictures of Foxy. But when David learns that the photographs are intended for a fox-hunting calendar, he is horrified, and determined to find a way to prevent Foxy's image from being used to promote an activity he abhors...

Originally published in 1961, two years after Montgomery's initial story about David and Foxy, My Friend Foxy is an engaging collection of tales. It is not as emotionally involving as its predecessor, owing perhaps both to its format, which prevents narrative tension from building for too long, and to the fact that it lacks the final passages in which David must confront the cruelty of the adult world, and face the possibility of losing his beloved companion. That said, it does present a series of entertaining vignettes, many of them quite humorous - Mrs. Vicar rising out of the pond, covered in slime; the children convulsing in laughter when they think that Miss Thring has made a joke about her own extra-large feet - while also containing a number of interesting themes. I was struck by the frank discussion of Catholics vs. Protestants, between Mr. Hedger and David, after David imagines that Mrs. Vicar (Mrs. Preston, really) is only angry at him because she is a "silly old Protestant" who doesn't like Catholics. While the story clearly demonstrates that she has jumped to the wrong conclusions, about both boy and fox, it also encourages the reader to see that imagining that there is a religious motivation to the conflict would be both unjust and dangerous. Mr. Hedger's advice to David, not to imagine himself persecuted, simply because the person with whom he is in conflict is of a different faith, and not to feel superior either, is as valuable today, as when Montgomery first penned it. In the end, David is able to demonstrate Foxy's innocence, and Mrs. Vicar is willing to admit she has been wrong. I was also struck by the sympathetic portrait of Joe Smith in Foxy and the Gipsy, which contains a number of stereotypes about the Romany, but also depicts its eponymous gipsy as a tall-tale teller who, whilst perhaps not 100% truthful in his reminisces, nevertheless has both compassion and courage. This is contrasted sharply with the wealthy landowner in the green suit, who has no remorse for shooting Foxy (thankfully not fatally!), and thinks to move Joe Smith along with little ceremony, simply because he is wealthy and has a gun. He soon learns his mistake, and the reader is encouraged to root for Joe, and to approve of his course of action when threatened.

All in all, My Friend Foxy was an engaging read, and a worthwhile follow-up to the initial Foxy. I would recommend it to anyone who has read the first volume dedicated to David and Foxy, and to those with an interest in the depiction of foxes in children's literature.… (mehr)

When nine-year-old David leaves behind a happy home at a London orphanage for life with his new foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hedger, he isn't sure that he will enjoy living in the country, or ever feel at home at Great Wood Farm. Adjusting to life in rural Sussex, coping with being the new boy at a small village school, which he is surprised to discover is co-ed, David faces many challenges. Quick to notice that all the other children have pets, he asks Mr. Hedger for a dog, only to be told that having an animal is a great responsibility, and that he must wait. Then one day, on his way through the Great Wood, he stumbles across an abandoned fox cub and, encouraged by a passing man who strikes up a conversation, takes him home to raise him as a tame companion. After an initial period of keeping Foxy a secret, David is discovered, and he and his new vulpine companion are given their chance: if Foxy behaves - and stays away from the chickens, from which the Hedgers derive most of their income - then he can stay. Soon accepted at home and in the village, Foxy becomes an established part of David's life, and of life in the village of Woodmere... until the day the fox hunt comes through, and the tame fox becomes their prey. Will David loses his new friend, the being he has come to love above all others...?

Originally published in 1959, and then reprinted in this paperback edition in 1971, Foxy is a moving tale of a boy and his beloved fox companion. Immediately involving, it manages to convey the depth of David's feelings - riding on the train toward his new life with the Hedgers, praying to St. Francis for a dog, watching Foxy flee before the hounds - without ever veering into sentimentality. There is a lot to ponder in the story, which explores the relationship between humans and animals, and the ethical issues involved in hunting, while also obliquely examining the role of religion in a young person's life. The author takes a clear stand against sport hunting in the book, as evidenced by David's discussion of the issue, first with the stranger in the Wood, who describes fox hunting as "a cruel business," and then with Mr. Hedger, who considers it a holdover from 'primitive' times, before humans developed an affinity for animals, and were able to reason properly. While I find the latter argument rather unconvincing as an explanation for the persistence of sport hunting - I would think that ancient peoples had a greater affinity for animals than their modern counterparts, perhaps because they needed to hunt them more often - I was in sympathy with the feelings so evidently influencing it. Perhaps the most powerful condemnation of the practice of fox hunting comes at the end of the book, as David - and through him, the reader - must watch a beloved friend being hunted and (ostensibly) killed. Witnessing the many motorists who follow the hunt, he muses: "It seemed impossible that so many grown-up people should be intent on seeing a little animal hounded to death," going on to question what Foxy (or, by extension, any small creature) had done to deserve such a cruel fate. When David sees the fox killed, the narrator tells us that it is a sight he will remember all his life, and his question - "Why did they seek to kill and destroy when there was really no need - why did it ever have to happen?" - is one that will stick with the reader.

A powerful exploration of the connections, both positive and negative, between humanity and the creatures of the wild, Foxy also offers an interesting depiction of English Catholics in mid-twentieth-century Britain. I can't think of very many British children's books which feature British Catholic characters (rather than foreign ones), although there is the Merrick family, in Antonia Forest's series of novels about the Marlows, published from 1948 through 1982. Howsoever that may be, I thought that here too, Montgomery offered a sensitive exploration of larger issues, as David learns the story of St. Francis from Father Crispin, and then applies it to his own situation. There is clearly a spiritual component to David's story, evident not just in the way that his adoption of Foxy mimics the tale of St. Francis and the Wolf, but also in the episode in which he encounters the hungry stranger in the wood. There are many hints that this tall man in the grey overcoat is meant to be the escaped convict known to be loose in the area, but then he is also later connected to St. Francis himself, who appears to David in a (possible?) vision. Outsiders - the orphaned David, the abandoned Foxy, the escaped convict - are linked together in this story, and then connected to a revered saint, giving the reader much to ponder.

Despite its strengths, Foxy was not an entirely unproblematic book for me. As mentioned, I didn't always agree with some of the ethical reasoning put forward by the characters. I was also unconvinced that taking Foxy and taming him was the correct course of action, and was struck by the easy acceptance of this decision, within the narrative, given that other issues (such as hunting) were so passionately discussed. The idea that being tame is better for an animal than being wild is too easily accepted. That said, this was still an immensely entertaining and poignant read, one I would recommend to anyone with an interest in foxes in children's fiction, the depiction of English Catholics, or just engaging orphan-finds-a-home tales.… (mehr)