# Journeyman John — Midwinter character guide

> Journeyman John in Midwinter by John Buchan.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** XIII Journeyman John, John

**First appearance:** 0015-xiii-journeyman-john

## Snapshot

A hidden presence at Pennycross farm, kept fed by a gypsy and whispered about as the quiet solution to inconvenient lives.

## Who they are

John never appears in the open; he is a sound behind a partition, a hunger that Ben the gypsy tends with almost tender devotion. The farm at Pennycross, with its widow farmer and its six-mile isolation, exists to serve him, and the locals speak of him in the same breath as love-children and unwanted heirs. He is the novel's coldest image of what the lawless margins of the country can hide — and the reason Alastair's captivity turns from political danger into something far more intimate and final.

## Relationships

### [Alastair Maclean](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/midwinter_se/characters/alastair_maclean)

_friendship_

Journeyman John is Alastair's loyal and resourceful companion, often aiding him in dangerous escapades.

### [Sir John Norreys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/midwinter_se/characters/sir_john_norreys)

_professional_

Journeyman John serves as Sir John's servant and occasional informant, though he is more loyal to Alastair.

### [Sir John Norreys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/midwinter_se/characters/sir_john_norreys)

_professional_

Journeyman John serves as Sir John's servant and occasional informant, though he is more loyal to Alastair.

### [Alastair Maclean](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/midwinter_se/characters/alastair_maclean)

_friendship_

Journeyman John is Alastair's loyal and resourceful companion, often aiding him in dangerous escapades.

### [Alastair Maclean](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/midwinter_se/characters/alastair_maclean)

_friendship_

Journeyman John is Alastair's loyal and resourceful companion, often aiding him in dangerous escapades.

### [Sir John Norreys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/midwinter_se/characters/sir_john_norreys)

_professional_

Journeyman John serves as Sir John's servant and occasional informant, though he is more loyal to Alastair.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/midwinter_se/characters/journeyman_john
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/midwinter_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/midwinter_se/characters