The+Cone-Gatherers

Robin Jenkins, 'The Cone Gatherers' //The Cone Gatherers// grew directly out of Jenkins' personal experiences in the Second World War. Two brothers, Calum (a simple-minded hunchback) and Neil, are working in the forest of a Scottish country house during the Second World War, gathering cones that will replenish the forest which is to be cut down for the war effort. The harmony of their life together is shadowed by the obsessive hatred of Duror, the gamekeeper, who since childhood has disliked anything he finds "mis-shapen". Lady Runcie-Campbell, the aristocratic landowner, dislikes having the two brothers on the estate, and tries to avoid communicating with them. She is embarrassed by her son, Roderick, who is friendly and welcoming to the brothers. The obsession Duror has for the brothers grows stronger, leading to the climax, when Lady Runcie-Campbell discovers Calum hanging dead from a tree, having been shot by Duror, who subsequently shoots himself.

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