Editing J. M. Barrie (section)

==Childhood and adolescence==
James Matthew Barrie was born in [[Kirriemuir]], [[Angus, Scotland|Angus]], to a conservative [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] family. His father, David Barrie, was a modestly successful weaver. His mother, Margaret Ogilvy, assumed her deceased mother's household responsibilities at the age of eight. Barrie was the ninth child of ten (two of whom died before he was born), all of whom were schooled in at least [[the three Rs]] in preparation for possible professional careers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adams |first1=James Eli |title=A History of Victorian Literature |date=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |page=359}}</ref> He was a small child and drew attention to himself with storytelling.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moffat |first=Alistair |title=Britain's Last Frontier: A Journey Along the Highland Line |publisher=[[Birlinn (publisher)|Birlinn]] |year=2012 |pages=1 |language=en |chapter=Chapter 9}}</ref> He grew to only 5&nbsp;ft 3{{frac|1|2}} in. (161&nbsp;cm) according to his 1934 passport.<ref name="Birkin">Birkin, Andrew: ''J. M. Barrie & the Lost Boys'', Constable, 1979; revised edition, Yale University Press, 2003</ref>

When James Barrie was six years old, his elder brother David (their mother's favourite) died in an ice-skating accident on the day before his 14th birthday.{{sfnp|Birkin|2003|p=3}} This left his mother devastated, and Barrie tried to fill David's place in his mother's attentions, even wearing David's clothes and whistling in the manner that he did. One time, Barrie entered her room and heard her say, "Is that you?" "I thought it was the dead boy she was speaking to", wrote Barrie in his biographical account of his mother ''Margaret Ogilvy'' (1896) "and I said in a little lonely voice, 'No, it's no' him, it's just me.{{'"}} Barrie's mother found comfort in the fact that her dead son would remain a boy forever, never to grow up and leave her.{{Sfnp|Birkin|2003|pp=4–5}} Eventually, Barrie and his mother entertained each other with stories of her brief childhood and books such as ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'', works by fellow Scotsman [[Walter Scott]], and ''[[The Pilgrim's Progress]]''.<ref name="Chaney">Chaney, Lisa. ''Hide-and-Seek with Angels{{spaced ndash}} A Life of J. M. Barrie'', London: Arrow Books, 2005</ref>

At the age of eight, Barrie was sent to [[the Glasgow Academy]] in the care of his eldest siblings, Alexander and Mary Ann, who taught at the school. When he was 10, he returned home and continued his education at the [[Forfar Academy]]. At 14, he left home for [[Dumfries Academy]], again under the watch of Alexander and Mary Ann. He became a voracious reader and was fond of [[penny dreadful]]s and the works of [[Robert Michael Ballantyne]] and [[James Fenimore Cooper]]. At [[Dumfries]], he and his friends spent time in the garden of [[Moat Brae]] house, playing pirates "in a sort of Odyssey that was long afterwards to become the play of ''Peter Pan''{{-"}}.<ref name="Speeches">''McConnachie and J. M. B.: Speeches of J. M. Barrie'', Peter Davies, 1938</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/8188245.stm|title=Peter Pan project off the ground|publisher=BBC News Scotland|access-date=8 August 2009 | date=6 August 2009}}</ref> They formed a drama club, producing his first play ''Bandelero the Bandit'', which provoked a minor controversy following a scathing moral denunciation from a clergyman on the school's governing board.<ref name="Chaney" />