Second Fiddle, Son of Viola

Captain Cecil Hudleston Dent was born on 7 July 1889. During the First World War he was in the East African Mounted Rifles, attached to the Indian Army. He became a Captain in the Indian Army Reserve. He wrote numerous short stories for magazines and periodicals: under the pseudonym John Hudleston he wrote a story for The Thriller in 1937, and under that of Cecil Fanshawe wrote several stories for The Triumph.

It’s probably fair to say his stories are more horse and racing stories than pony books. His work is most notable for its illustrations: Copper Horse, Head High, Hands Low and Second Fiddle are all illustrated by Lionel Edwards.

Pictures: for copyright reasons I can’t put photographs of these books on the site.

Finding the books: all titles are becoming expensive. Head High, Hands Low is the easiest to find; The Copper Horse a bit less so. Second Fiddle is hard to find, and the most expensive of the lot.

Sources:
The National Archive