Barr (1849-1912) was a Scottish-Canadian short story writer and novelist who abandoned his early teaching career to write for the Detroit Free Press, later becoming its news editor. In 1881 he moved to London where he founded The Idler magazine in 1892 in collaboration with Jerome K Jerome. In 1895 he retired from its co-editorship to become a more prolific novelist, publishing a book a year. This historical novel set in England and Scotland at the time of Charles I was first published in 1903.