SOURCE: Cronin, John “Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. (1899) and Further Experiences of an Irish R.M. (1908)” and “End of a Partnership: Dan Russel the Fox (1911) and In Mr. Knox's Country (1915).” In Somerville and Ross, pp. 50-66, 67-75. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1972.

In the following essays, Cronin chronicles the literary partnership of Somerville and Ross and surveys the short fiction in In Mr. Knox's Country.

In the summer of 1898 Edith and Martin went on holiday to Étaples where Edith painted busily and Martin helped by beating off intrusive French children who tried to steal the paints and jostle the artist. It was during this holiday that the “R.M.” stories, which were to bring them international fame, were first conceived. For several years prior to this they had been writing stories for various London magazines, including the Badminton Magazine, Black and White and The Lady's Pictorial, some...