{"id":290,"date":"2026-02-09T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/srcrockett.scot\/thereadingroom\/?p=290"},"modified":"2026-05-21T12:02:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:02:23","slug":"whats-a-kiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/srcrockett.scot\/thereadingroom\/2026\/02\/09\/whats-a-kiss\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s a Kiss?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1896, S.R. Crockett published Cleg Kelly, Arab of the City<\/em>, dedicating it to J.M. Barrie \u201cwith the hand of a comrade and the heart of a friend.\u201d Eight years later, Peter Pan <\/em>premiered on the London stage. Both works feature a strikingly similar scene: a boy who has never heard of a kiss asks \u201cWhat is a kiss?\u201d and a girl offers to show him. The textual parallels are structurally and linguistically precise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article examines that parallel in detail \u2014 tracing the documented friendship between Crockett and Barrie from the early 1890s, the evidence of Barrie\u2019s intensive reading of Crockett\u2019s work, and the thoroughgoing transformation Barrie wrought on the borrowed scene, changing its characters, its context, its comic resolution, and its narrative function. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case is examined as a demonstration of how literary influence functions within circles of mutual respect, and how the magpie instinct \u2014 the absorption and reimagining of effective material from admired sources \u2014 constitutes a creative virtue rather than a moral failing. The article also places this case within the broader context of the plagiarism accusations against Crockett in 1894, in which Barrie himself was one of Crockett\u2019s most steadfast defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An article from the Reading Room of the S.R. Crockett Online Museum.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Read full article<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When J.M. Barrie’s 1904 Peter Pan featured a scene remarkably similar to one in S.R. Crockett’s 1896 Cleg Kelly, was it plagiarism or creative influence? Textual analysis reveals how writers function as literary magpies, transforming borrowed material through friendship and mutual respect into something entirely new.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,52],"tags":[57,54,45],"class_list":["post-290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connections","category-literary-analysis","tag-analysis","tag-j-m-barrie","tag-s-r-crockett-2"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat's a Kiss? - Reading Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/srcrockett.scot\/thereadingroom\/2026\/02\/09\/whats-a-kiss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What's a Kiss? - Reading Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When J.M. Barrie's 1904 Peter Pan featured a scene remarkably similar to one in S.R. Crockett's 1896 Cleg Kelly, was it plagiarism or creative influence? Textual analysis reveals how writers function as literary magpies, transforming borrowed material through friendship and mutual respect into something entirely new.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/srcrockett.scot\/thereadingroom\/2026\/02\/09\/whats-a-kiss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reading Room\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-09T10:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T11:02:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SRC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SRC\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"ScholarlyArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/09\\\/whats-a-kiss\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/09\\\/whats-a-kiss\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SRC\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a05213698201e2e5d8467ce2cf8f1ae\"},\"headline\":\"What’s a Kiss?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-09T10:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-21T11:02:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/09\\\/whats-a-kiss\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":217,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Analysis\",\"J.M.Barrie\",\"S.R.Crockett\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Connections\",\"Literary Analysis\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/09\\\/whats-a-kiss\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/09\\\/whats-a-kiss\\\/\",\"name\":\"What's a Kiss? - Reading Room\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-09T10:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-21T11:02:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/09\\\/whats-a-kiss\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/09\\\/whats-a-kiss\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/09\\\/whats-a-kiss\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What’s a Kiss?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/srcrockett.scot\\\/thereadingroom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reading Room\",\"description\":\"Essays, articles and reflections from the S.R. 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