[1] She was born in an isolated farmhouse in the Cheviot Hills some seven miles from Jedburgh and began making up stories about animals at an early age.
Derwent's Manse books drew on her experiences keeping house for her Church of Scotland minister brother.
[2][3] Derwent's first successes were her Tammy Troot stories, which were read out in the 1920s on Auntie Kathleen's Children's Hour on Scottish Radio.
They were still being reprinted in the 1970s, when Derwent, alternating with Molly Weir and Cliff Hanley, co-presented the series Teatime Tales on the STV (TV network), recalling stories taken from her own childhood.
[1] Derwent books about a fictional island called Sula later featured in BBC's Jackanory, read by John Cairney.