 Dorothy Morris Fairlie Bruce, as was her original name, was born in Palos in Spain on 20 May 1885, as the daughter of Alexander Fairlie Bruce, a civil engineer of Scottish birth, and Katherine (Kate) Elizabeth Fairbairn.But much of her early childhood was spent in Scotland, in Blanefield among the Campsie Hills, Stirling, an area that was to feature in many of her early stories.She also had a younger brother, Alan.