Bonar Dunlop

Bonar Dunlop drew Black Boy as a piebald, thereby colouring (literally) many people’s perceptions of him. I have not been able to find out whose idea it was to make Black Boy piebald, but the books were altered to suit. Black Boy’s name was altered to Danny Boy in the very first edition of Jill’s Gymkhana that Bonar Dunlop illustrated (Knight 1968) so perhaps the two changes were an early attempt at political correctness. It was not terribly long-lived if so. Danny Boy reverted to Black Boy in the next book, A Stable For Jill, which must have puzzled that edition’s readers. I don’t know whether Bonar Dunlop did covers for all the titles in the series: I’ve only ever seen five, but there might well be more. He did, however, only do internal illustrations for the first three titles.

Jill in these illustrations is a much more sophisticated character than in her Caney incarnation. She certainly looks a true child of the sixties, which is when the illustrations were done. I like these illustrations - they certainly have a lot of verve.

Bonar Dunlop I think, though have not proved, was John Bonar Dunlop, 1916-1992. He died in Sussex and was born in Dunedin, New Zealand. He had Australian connecctions - a Bonar Dunlop was the subject of the portrait by Arthur Murch which won the 1949 Archibald Prize for portraiture in Australia. A sculptor called Bonar Dunlop did a statue of Gareth Edwards, which was unveiled in 1982 in Cardiff. Bonar Dunlop, who lived in North West London during the 1960s and 1970s, started doing sculptures of rugby players after watching Saracens play in 1975. I think it’s likely that this Bonar Dunlop is the same as the one who illustrated the Jill books: it seems very unlikely that there were two artists active at the same time with such an unusual name, but of course nothing is impossible.

Photo of Gareth Edwards statue
More info on the artist as a sculptor

Books illustrated (or with covers by) Bonar Dunlop

Daniel Roberts: Calixte, OUP, 1964
Claire Andreé Roe: Contes de France (Longmans, 1962)
Bernard Millen: Discovering Modern Australian (Univ London, 1963)
Eric Baume: The Mortal Sin of Father Grossard (Angus & Robertson, 1953)
John O’Brien : The Parish of St Mel’s (Angus & Robertson, 1954)
Harry Delaney: The Secret of the Dancing Bear (Methuen, 1967)
Kathleen Fidler: True Tales of Mystery (Lutterworth Press, 1967)
Ferguson, Ruby: covers for Jill’s Gymkhana, A Stable for Jill, Jill Has Two Ponies, Jill and the Perfect Pony, Jill’s Riding Club. Internal illustrations: Jill’s Gymkhana, A Stable for Jill, Jill Has Two Ponies