LAVINIA Derwent, the writer of children's books who died at the

weekend, was the old woman who should have lived in a shoe. A spinster,

she had no offspring but, in word and in deed, she had generations of

children who loved her.

She died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of Sunday morning

and with her went her age. She never once told anyone how old she was.

It was the lady's secret. Friends reckon she was in her early eighties.

Lavinia Derwent was born, one of six, in the Borders and lived her

childhood on a farm in the Cheviot Hills above Jedburgh.

She was prevented from embarking upon a college education by a bout of

serious illness. She moved to Edinburgh to work in the clerical

department of Collins, the book publishers. Later she transferred to

Glasgow, the city which became her lifelong home.

She was already writing. She started off with stories about the

animals on her farm. Her anecdotes about a child's life in the Borders

were both nostalgic and timeless. Then along came her most famous

fictional character, Tammy Troot, the fishy favourite of many a Border

Tale who went on to become the BBC Radio star of 135 adventures and a

strip cartoon hero in the old Bulletin newspaper.

Another Derwent creation was MacPherson, the scampy Glasgow message

boy, who was invented to show children that adventure could be found

just around the corner.

Adventure was never far from Miss Derwent's life as she travelled all

over the world, cementing her belief that national borders merely

separate peoples of basically similar natures and aspirations.

In Scotland she was part of that enthusiastic band of Scottish authors

who are willing to tour the country and visit schools, book sales, and

libraries in the hope of enticing a few more children to the written

word.

Some of her most accomplished work was to be found in her writings

about the fictional Hebridean island of Sula. The illustrations were

provided by Glasgow artist Louise Annand, who became a close friend.

She said yesterday: ''I found it so easy to do the illustrations

because of the way she explained things in the book. She wrote for

children in a very convincing way. It came out looking very easy which,

of course, was the most difficult thing to do.''

Lavinia Derwent was a gregarious, friendly person. She had a wonderful

way with children, according to her many friends. She could make an

angel out of the most difficult child simply by her manner.

Every Christmas Day she held a party in her smart home in the West End

of Glasgow. A regular guest was author Cliff Hanley, a friend of many

years standing who yesterday paid tribute to the old lady.

''All I could say is that I loved Lavinia Derwent, but that was

normal. People didn't like her. They either didn't know her or they

loved her,'' he said.

Lavinia Derwent suffered a serious stroke in 1987 and, after a long

period in hospital, she was admitted to a West End nursing home.

Although confined to a wheelchair for much of the time, she never lost

her sharp mind or her engaging smile. She was never short of friends and

was probably the most visited person in all the old folks' homes in the

city.

At the time of her death she was working on another part of her

autobiography which, sadly, she was unable to complete.