Richard Hannay Richard Hannay Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist John Buchan and further made popular by the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film "The 39 Steps" (and other later film adaptations), very loosely based on Buchan's 1915 novel of the same name. In his autobiography, "Memory Hold-the-Door", Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer War. Hannay appears in several novels as a major character, including: He also appears as a minor character in: "The Thirty-One Kings" (2017), by
Clan Hannay was patronised by Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of James VI of Scotland and sister of Charles I of England. After the death of Queen Anne who was the wife of James VI in 1619 Patrick Hannay composed two eulogies and in return had many published on his own death, one of which said: 'Go on in virtue, aftertimes will tell, none but Hannay could have done so well'. Possibly the best known Hannay was James Hannay, the Dean of St Giles' in Edinburgh who had the claim to fame of being the target of Jenny Geddes' stool. In an