Raymond Sheppard and Jolly Pets

Cover by Raymond Sheppard
Girl carrying a black kitten on her shoulder
while dog looks on, goat in foreground and donkey behind fence,
horse and cart in background

Jolly Pets is a Blackie & Son Limited book with a named author on the title page - Elizabeth Gould. The British Library lists a copy as being added to the collection in 1936. My copy is inscribed "Margaret Doreen Jenkins Christmas 1947". Like many of these compilations which are reprinted all over Blackie and Son's history, many of the stories and illustrations appear elsewhere (see note below)


The first story is "Mr Nodkins", and this is illustrated by B. Butler who often appears alongside Sheppard works in Blackie & Son books. Interestingly the next piece is "The ball game" - a poem wrapped around by terriers and signed by "Q.K." not Gould.

Angora rabbit and black kitten with three children

This poem is followed by "A whiskered gentleman", a story about some children on holiday discovering "two little Angora rabbits, about six weeks old". After pestering her father June purchases one to take home with them and learns how to groom it daily. An Aunty promised to give June a kitten and that was picked up on the journey home too. Smut, the kitten, and Jeremy, the Angora slept and played happily together.

Three white Angora rabbits in a hutch

 The written piece doesn't fill the last page (of 5) so there is an illustration by B Butler of rabbits. The next story needs, I feel, to be said in a Scottish accent. "Wullie the Unwise".  Hugh and Anne owned a family of guinea-pigs, one of which was "Wee Wullie". June's brother Ted teased her when they went to visit the family of guinea-pigs "If you hold up a guinea-pig by its tail, its eyes will drop out". When she found out they don't have tails, she chased him round the garden! Hugh, one of the owners promised June "Wee Wullie" for her birthday the following week but unfortunately he put the guinea-pig in a hutch with a bag of oats and it ate itself to death! "...so we never had guinea-pigs at Red Lodge", writes Gould. This is the first time in the book we hear of Red Lodge, so the familiarity it is supposed to evoke is lost on me.

Five guinea-pigs in a hutch, one eats carrot, others near seeds

After a page of dog illustrations (by, I suspect, Edgar Norfield) "The Boarding-house Cat" is the next story which is illustrated by "T. Somerfield" (?) and signed A. A. Attwood. This is followed by a single colour illustration of "Dawn and Punch", a mare and foal painted by Butler who also illustrates in black and white the next story "A present for Ted". 

Mr Thomkins, the goat eating cabbages

"Mr Tobias Thomkins" begins with a full colour illustration by Sheppard, showing the family's billy goat eating some cabbages. Naming the goat after a gentleman who carries the plate at church may not have seemed such a good idea when said gentleman visits and the goat break loose and Elizabeth shouts "Mr. Tobias Thomkins has broken loose!". The family discover the real Mr. Thomkins is actually quite a jolly fellow who sees the joke. Further adventures of the goat's escapes follow and the story ends with "But that was the last of Mr. Tobias Thomkins's pranks at Red Lodge for he as sold the very next week." So Red Lodge looks to be the inspiration for many farm stories by Gould and the bibliography below illustrates this.

Girl holds goat whilst Mr Thomkins scratches his head

The next story in Jolly Pets appears to be signed by Jessie Pope and not Gould! "Pat's blankets" has a single black and white illustration unsigned and is followed by a B. Butler illustrated story "Cats!" which has one B&W illustration and one colour plate. "Smudge and Smear" tells how the earlier mentioned Smut has kittens - a colour plate drawn by Butler illustrates the two page story. A one page "Percy the Pug" has a lovely B&W illustration by R. H. Brock (a relative of H. M. Brock (1875-1960) and C.E Brock (1870-1938). This is followed by "Sally the Tortoise", on  one page (and signed "W. K. H."). Two pages  of "The New Kitten" by Cicely Englefield are imitating Cecil Aldin's "A Dog's Day".

A boy falls from rocks and a black Aberdeen Terrier looks on

The final story of 3 pages plus a colour plate is "Andy to the rescue", Andy being "Andy Mac" an Aberdeen terrier. Climbing Storm Crag one day, Andy's trick came in handy. His master 16 year old Ted fell and couldn't get up. He gave Andy his blood-stained hanky to take home to alert the house of Andy's predicament. Interestingly the colour plate Sheppard draws is of the earlier mentioned trick: Andy fetching his master's walking stick from home. Not surprisingly the editor or Sheppard himself deemed the bloody handkerchief too much for little ones!

Aberdeen Terrier dog with walking stick in mouth runs from rocks through thistles

If you own a copy of Stories of farm and home have a look at the running order mentioned above and you'll see that  they are the same. "A whiskered gentleman", "Wullie the unwise", and "Mr Tobias Thomkins" appeared also in Stories of home and farm. "Andy to the rescue" also appeared in Animal Stories and Stories of farm and home. Here's a good example of Blackie making money from printing smaller sections of a large book (or should that be the other way round?). It also happens with the the Hillyard series "The Caravan Family" illustrated by Sheppard.
Unfortunately I can find no information on the lady herself  (not to confused with several other authors names Elizabeth Gould). She appears to have worked almost exclusively for Blackie & Son Limited between  1935 - 1954 that I can say for certain. The information below comes from Abebooks, the British Library and few other booksellers.

 

Selected Elizabeth Gould bibliography

All Sorts of Stories. Primrose Cumming; Norman Hunter; Elizabeth Gould; Ada Leanora Harris; Eleanor B. Simeon; Muriel Levy; Dorothy Snow
Published by Blackie & Son Limited, London and Glasgow 
At Uplands Farm / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1948]
Birds of Meadow and Stream. Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard.
Blackie: [London & Glasgow, 1950.] 1950
Birds of Moorland, Hill and Sea. Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard.
Blackie: [London & Glasgow, 1950.] 1950
Birds of the Garden. Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard. Blackie: [Glasgow & London, 1950.] 1950
Birds of Woodland and Hedgerow. Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard. Blackie: [London & Glasgow, 1950.] 1950
Caravan Holiday  Illustrated by Eileen Soper
Blackie: [London & Glasgow, 19xx.]
Chums In The Country. Elizabeth Gould Illustrated by Eileen Soper
Published by Blackie & Son (1948)
Country Days, etc. London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1944]
Country friends / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper. London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1948]
Country Holiday  / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper. London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son,
Down on the farm / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper. London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1942]
Farm Animals, etc. London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1942]
Farm friends / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1948]
Farm fun / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1949]
Farm Holidays, etc.London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1944]
Farm Stories.London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1936]
Field and farmyard / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1948]
Fine times in the country / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1948]
Friends at the Farm. London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1935] Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard
Fun in the country / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1948]
Fun on the Farm, etc.London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1942]
Grandfather's farm / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1948]
Green Willow farm Elizabeth Gould Illustrated by Eileen Soper
Published by Blackie & Son
Happy Days on the Farm, Elizabeth Gould. Illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1944]
Holidays by sea and river  / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son
Holidays on the farm  / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son
How Nice!Gregor Ian Smith; Sam Breary; Leila Berg; Elizabeth Gould; Muriel Jack; W. K. Holmes; A. Harkins
Published by Blackie and Son Limited, London and Glasgow
Jolly Pets.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1936]
Jolly times at the farm / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1949]
[The Kiddies' Magazine The Children's Own Story Book - October 1938]
Little FriendsElizabeth Gould; Frances R Ford; Gregor Ian Smith
Published by Blackie & Son Limited, London and Glasgow
The lovesome book for little folk Temple, Chris G. & Gould, Elizabeth & et al,
Published by The Epworth Press
My book of the farm / illustrated by Eileen A Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1944]
My Choice Gould, Elizabeth & Westwood, J.D. & et al,
Published by Blackie & Son Ltd. (1952)
My Little Bird Book ... Illustrated by Raymond Sheppard.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1952]
My Very Own Brooks, Mary (Illus) ; Diack, Anne; Smith, Patience, M; Roberts, Eleanor H; Lloyd, M. ; Sandeman, Peggy; Gould, E; Butler, E L; Priday, J; Ford, Frances R. Gould, Elizabeth;
Published by London: Blackie, Nd c1930s 
New Testament Stories. Retold by E. Gould. With twenty-four plates in colour from paintings by T. H. Peddie. London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1954]
Old Testament Stories. Retold by E. Gould. With twenty-four plates in colour from paintings by T. H. Peddie. London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1954]
Out of doors / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1947]
The Silver Whistle. A Collection Of Stories And Verses. Cassie, E. A., M. Perry, Muriel Jack, Ann Watson, Ernest Butler, J Dalby, Elizabeth Gould, Anne Diack:
Published by London Blackie no date
The Star Book of StoriesElizabeth Gould; Eleanor B Simeon; Irene L Plunket; et al
Published by Blackie (1961)
Staying at the farm / illustrated by Eileen A. Soper.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1948]
Sunshine stories Isobel Knight, Joan Wanklyn, Elizabeth Law, Irene Boyd, Lila White, Pamela Nicholas, A. B. Ravon, Marjorie Bell, Elizabeth Gould.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son,
Tales of Farm and Home.
London ; Glasgow : Blackie & Son, [1935]
The Tip-Top Annual Being the Yearly Volume of 'the Kiddies' Magazine
Ainsworth, Ruth; Waterhouse, H E; Frigout, R De B; Ormsby, Ierne; Gould, Elizabeth; Et Al
Published by London: Epworth, (1938)

I suspect  My Book of Favourite Tales (Nellie Hibbart; Elizabeth Gould; Violet M. Methley; et al.) published by Murray's Children's Books. Circa 1973 might contain reprints so have not listed it.