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From Kirriemuir to Neverland: The bitter-sweet story of how J.M. Barrie created Peter Pan

9 May 2017

The Scottish novelist and playwright was born on 9 May in 1860. His best-known creation is his perennially popular Peter Pan.

Barrie spent his early years in Kirriemuir, Angus.

Barrie’s idyllic childhood here was cut short with the tragic death of his older brother, David.

With the mix of care-free fun and a boy who will never grow up, it has been claimed by Barrie’s biographers that the original spark of inspiration for Neverland can be found here.

Moat Brae house in Dumfries was another Scottish location that helped Barrie create his famous work.

Spending his teens at Dumfries Academy, Barrie explored and played pirates in the grounds of the house in an chapter of his life that Barrie himself recognised as laying the groundwork for some of the major themes of his play.

Fittingly, Moat Brae is to become a .

Barrie’s play took its finished form thanks to a friendship forged with the Llewelyn Davies family. The stories of pirates and fairies and boys who never grew up that Barrie told the children were transposed to the nearest wild space – the green, leafy prosperity of Kensington Gardens – with the Llewelyn Davies boys as key figures in the action.

The play became a wild success and has since stoked the imagination of generations of young minds. In a last act of generosity, Barrie gifted the copyright of his play to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital where its continued popularity helps fund treatment for those whose childhood has been blighted by illness.

After his death, Barrie’s remains were interred back where Pan began in his Angus home-town of Kirriemuir .