The Maid of Sker

by R.D. Blackmore

I am but an ancient fisherman upon the coast of Glamorganshire, with work enough of my own to do, and trouble enough of my own to heed, in getting my poor living. Yet no peace there is for me among my friends and neighbours, unless I will set to and try—as they bid me twice a-day perhaps—whether I cannot tell the rights of a curious adventure which it pleased Providence should happen, off and on, amidst us, now for a good many years, and with many ins and outs to it. They assure me, also, that all good people who can read and write for ten, or it may be twenty, miles around the place I live in, will buy my book—if I can make it—at a higher price, perhaps, per lb., than they would give me even for sewin, which are the very best fish I and hence provision may be found for the old age and infirmities, now gaining upon me, every time I try to go out fishing.

Genres: Classics, Historical Fiction, Fiction, British Literature, Historical, Novels

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1872

About the author

Richard Doddridge Blackmore, referred to most commonly as R.D. Blackmore, was one of the most famous English novelists of his generation. Over the course of his career, Blackmore achieved a close following around the world. He won literary merit and acclaim for his vivid descriptions and personification of the countryside, sharing with Thomas Hardy a Western England background and a strong sense of regional setting in his works.[1] Noted for his eye for and sympathy with nature, critics of the time described this as one of the most striking features of his writings.

Blackmore, a popular novelist of the second half of the nineteenth century, often referred to as the "Last Victorian", acted as pioneer of the new romantic movement in fiction that continued with Robert Louis Stevenson and others. He may be said to have done for Devon what Sir Walter Scott did for the Highlands and Hardy for Wessex. Blackmore has been described as "proud, shy, reticent, strong-willed, sweet-tempered, and self-centred."

Though very popular in his time, Blackmore's work has since been altogether ignored, and his entire body of work, save for his magnum opus Lorna Doone, which has enjoyed considerable popularity since its being published, has gone out of publication. Thus his reputation rests chiefly upon this romantic work, in spite of the fact that it was not his favourite.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This always was, and always must be, a very sad and lonesome place, close to a desolate waste of sand, and the continual roaring of the sea upon black rocks. A great grey house, with many chimneys, many gables, and many windows, yet not a neighbour to look out on, not a tree to feed its chimneys, scarce a firelight in its gables in the very depths of winter."

Sker House still rises craggily and dramatically out of the dunes, as it has done for the last 900 years...and it is the memory of seeing the house that made me pick up this old book for a few pence in an honesty bookshop. It turns out that R.D. Blackmore considered The Maid of Sker to be his finest novel - and not his popular and enduring Lorna Doone.

I was anticipating something Gothic and melodramatic, with the beautiful maid of Sker imprisoned in a turret by the villainous master of the mansion. But in fact the maid is a two-year old foundling, carried on shore in a storm-cast boat, and given to such irritating ickle baby talk that I would just as lief have pushed her back out again.

Fortunately, she is not a major character in the novel, which is essentially the genial autobiography of one Davy Llewellyn, sailor, fisherman, and poacher. Originally published as a serial partwork, the book rambles with Davy from the South Wales dunes to the westcountry moors and includes some unexpected but heroic naval engagements under Nelson at the Nile.

Highlights include a memorable sandstorm, Davy’s tips for selling stale fish as fresh, and the extraordinary exploits of the murderous Parson Chowne, his bloodthirsty hounds, and the naked savages he keeps in thrall on the moors. Bizarrely, Parson Chowne is based on the real character of the Reverend John Froude, sometime Rector of Molland-cum-Knowstone, whose wicked exploits have earned him his very own Wikipedia entry.

The Maid of Sker is loosely constructed, to put it mildly, but it is for the most part an amiable enough read, with everything contentedly put to rights at the end.

[Dan Harris]

I'm currently about a quarter of the way through this book. Apparently Blackmore rated this as his best work so I thought I should give it a read.

It starts of as Lorna Doone except its set by the sea. A bit of a slog as I read several pages of descriptions of the different fish you can catch, but that's ok I'll wait for it to get going.

Then we get a couple of chapters detailing why black people aren't as good as white people.

Urgh.

Not sure if I can motivate myself to pick this book up again

[ShellsReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of RD Blackmore. Begun whilst at Oxford university in 1847 Richard Doddridge didn’t complete The Maid of Sker until nearly 30 years later after the publication of Lorna Doone. It was first serialised in Blackwood’s Magazine over the course of a year then published in three volumes.

RD knew the area around Sker House on the edge of Kenfig dunes on the South Wales coast very well as he spent his first years there brought up by his aunt in nearby Nottage after his mother died. Only living with his father again aged 6 in Devon on the edge of Exmoor. The locality for his much better-known novel Lorna Doone.

I nearly removed Maid of Sker from my book club selection convinced, as a bit of a ‘wild card’, that no one would vote for it. Then when it was a near unanimous choice to discuss I was very nervous for fear of it being dire and unreadable. But I needn’t have worried.

Davy Llewellyn the narrator and central character in The Maid of Sker is a very witty entertaining and loveable rogue with a heart of gold who skates close to and at times crosses the law. He’s full of ‘fishy’ stories and deeply endearing despite his obvious trickster’s nature. Never reticent about blowing his own admirable trumpet he is nonetheless a kind and devoted parent figure standing up bravely for the oppressed.

I was immediately engaged with the writing, the scurrilous central character and the surprisingly very humorous writing reminiscent of Dickens at his best. The early episode where Davy sells his elderly fish had me in stitches.

The Kenfig sandstorm which swallows the five sons of Sker House was as page turningly exciting as it was unbelievable. Though just shy of 500 pages (in an elderly hardback volume) The Maid of Sker is surprisingly easy to read given its episodic serialised nature. It very cleverly keeps the reader engaged - oscillating between different genres and moods from adventure, sorrow to intrigue and terror but always interspersed with lighter episodes of humour and everyday domestic scenes of rural life. Basically, something for absolutely everyone both when it was written over 150 years ago and today.

Wonderful poetic descriptions of landscapes and seasons. Exciting page turning episodes, vivid descriptions of sea battles especially the blowing up of the Orient whose detonation really did silence the entire Battle of the Nile according to historic documents.

Then there’s skullduggery aplenty from Parson Chowne, and his exceedingly bizarre ‘naked people’ who are happiest casting aside all garments and living as God intended in their ghastly pits. These strange characters are based on the Adamites an early religious sect who practiced nudism, which in wet and windy Nympton in the hills and vales between Exmoor and Dartmoor in Devon does seem an unhealthy hypothermia inducing lifestyle choice.

And of course as will all good novels of the day you can expect an ending where all comes good against the odds with much joyfulness and even a touch of romance.

Some wonderful turns of phrase throughout best when in west country dialect, but oh dear oh dear how execrable are RDs attempts at writing the Scottish idiom and accent of Sandy Mac and the 'baby talk' of little Barbie. The latter being quite hard to nigh impossible at times to follow ….

But despite these minor flaws I simply loved it. Hugely entertaining and immersive. I could just picture the occupants of houses up and down the country eagerly awaiting the arrival of the latest edition of Blackwoods magazine for the latest ‘episode’. Then all gathering around a smoky fire of an evening listening by flickering candlelight as someone read it out loud. The communal gasps of fear and awe, the guffaws of laughter at the comic turns.

The Eastenders, Coronation Street and sitcom drama combo of its day. And best of all it somehow manages to stand the test of time. Well done RD.