The Pollyooly books
October 21, 2010So, I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to figure out what’s what in the world of Pollyooly.
First, there’s Pollyooly. Or, to be more specific, Pollyooly: a romance of long felt wants and the red haired girl who filled them. Then there’s Happy Pollyooly, the rich little poor girl(The American title — in the UK it was The Second Pollyooly Book). That appears to follow directly on the first book. In it, Pollyooly is still twelve, and the Lump is three. A third book, Pollyooly Dances, takes place rather later, during World War I, when Pollyooly is 19, and it seems like there ought to be other stories in between. There are things that need explanations — the absence of the Lump, the absence of Lord Ronald Ricksborough, the presence of other characters who appear to have some history with Pollyooly and the Honorable John Ruffin, and any number of other things. But I can’t find that there was ever any other Pollyooly book.
Anyway, what I have found, with the assistance of Google Books, is three additional stories published in Pearson’s Magazine. They’re consecutive, and appear to follow directly on Happy Pollyooly.
This is everything I’ve found, in order.
Pollyooly: a romance of long felt wants and the red haired girl who filled them
Happy Pollyooly, the rich little poor girl
“Pollyooly and the Red Deepings”
“Pollyooly and the Lump” (This story has no other title, which is odd, since it’s mostly about the Honorable John Ruffin.)
Redeeming Qualities 
Of possible interest: Pollyooly and the Lump make an appearance in ch.XV of The Lady Noggs Assists, meeting in Scotland and foiling a Russian plot.
Which issues of Pearson’s do the stories appear in? The Googlebook links are kind of vague. (Time to check whether our library has Pearson’s in hardcopy.)