'John Burnet of Barns' is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. The novel opens in 1678, with the bookish 12-year-old John Burnet escaping from the eye of his tutor at Barns for a day's fishing expedition. In the woods, he meets Marjory Veitch, about 10 years old, the daughter of a neighbor. The two become playmates and, over the years, sweethearts.