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Chronicles of the Canongate #2
The Fair Maid of Perth
The Fair Maid of Perth centres on the merchant classes of Perth in the fourteenth century, and their commitment to the pacific values of trade, in a bloody and brutal era in which no right to life is recognised, in which the Scottish nobles fight for control of the weak Scottish monarchy, and clans are prepared to extinguish each other to gain supremacy in the central Highlands. It is a remarkable novel, in part because late in his career Scott has a new subject, and in part because he employs a spare narrative style that is without parallel in the rest of his oeuvre. Far too many critics, from his son-in-law J.G. Lockhart to the present day, have written off late Scott, and seen his last works as evidence of failing powers.
Find Out What Scott Really Wrote - by going back to the original manuscripts, a team of scholars has uncovered what Scott originally wrote and intended his public to read before errors, misreadings and expurgations crept in during production.
Find Out What Scott Really Wrote - by going back to the original manuscripts, a team of scholars has uncovered what Scott originally wrote and intended his public to read before errors, misreadings and expurgations crept in during production.
532 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1828
36 people are currently reading
489 people want to read
About the author
Walter Scott
10.5k books2,008 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish novelist, poet, historian, and biographer, widely recognized as the founder and master of the historical novel. His most celebrated works, including Waverley, Rob Roy, and Ivanhoe, helped shape not only the genre of historical fiction but also modern perceptions of Scottish culture and identity.
Born in Edinburgh in 1771, Scott was the son of a solicitor and a mother with a strong interest in literature and history. At the age of two, he contracted polio, which left him with a permanent limp. He spent much of his childhood in the Scottish Borders, where he developed a deep fascination with the region's folklore, ballads, and history. He studied at Edinburgh High School and later at the University of Edinburgh, qualifying as a lawyer in 1792. Though he worked in law for some time, his literary ambitions soon took precedence.
Scott began his literary career with translations and collections of traditional ballads, notably in his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. He gained early fame with narrative poems such as The Lay of the Last Minstrel and The Lady of the Lake. As the popularity of poetic storytelling declined, especially with the rise of Lord Byron, Scott turned to prose. His first novel, Waverley, published anonymously in 1814, was set during the Jacobite rising of 1745 and is considered the first true historical novel. The success of Waverley led to a long series of novels, known collectively as the Waverley Novels, which blended historical events with compelling fictional narratives.
Over the following years, Scott produced a remarkable number of novels, including Old Mortality, The Heart of Midlothian, and The Bride of Lammermoor, each contributing to the romantic image of Scotland that became popular throughout Europe. With Ivanhoe, published in 1819, he turned his attention to medieval England, broadening his appeal and confirming his status as a major literary figure. His works were not only popular in his own time but also laid the groundwork for historical fiction as a respected literary form.
Scott married Charlotte Genevieve Charpentier in 1797, and they had five children. In 1820, he was granted a baronetcy and became Sir Walter Scott. He built a grand home, Abbotsford House, near Melrose, which reflected his passion for history and the Scottish past. However, in 1825, financial disaster struck when his publishers went bankrupt. Rather than declare bankruptcy himself, Scott chose to work tirelessly to pay off the debts through his writing. He continued to produce novels and non-fiction works at a staggering pace despite declining health.
Walter Scott died in 1832, leaving behind a literary legacy that influenced generations of writers and readers. His works remain widely read and studied, and he is credited with helping to revive interest in Scottish history and culture. Abbotsford House, now a museum, stands as a monument to his life and achievements.
Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish novelist, poet, historian, and biographer, widely recognized as the founder and master of the historical novel. His most celebrated works, including Waverley, Rob Roy, and Ivanhoe, helped shape not only the genre of historical fiction but also modern perceptions of Scottish culture and identity.
Born in Edinburgh in 1771, Scott was the son of a solicitor and a mother with a strong interest in literature and history. At the age of two, he contracted polio, which left him with a permanent limp. He spent much of his childhood in the Scottish Borders, where he developed a deep fascination with the region's folklore, ballads, and history. He studied at Edinburgh High School and later at the University of Edinburgh, qualifying as a lawyer in 1792. Though he worked in law for some time, his literary ambitions soon took precedence.
Scott began his literary career with translations and collections of traditional ballads, notably in his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. He gained early fame with narrative poems such as The Lay of the Last Minstrel and The Lady of the Lake. As the popularity of poetic storytelling declined, especially with the rise of Lord Byron, Scott turned to prose. His first novel, Waverley, published anonymously in 1814, was set during the Jacobite rising of 1745 and is considered the first true historical novel. The success of Waverley led to a long series of novels, known collectively as the Waverley Novels, which blended historical events with compelling fictional narratives.
Over the following years, Scott produced a remarkable number of novels, including Old Mortality, The Heart of Midlothian, and The Bride of Lammermoor, each contributing to the romantic image of Scotland that became popular throughout Europe. With Ivanhoe, published in 1819, he turned his attention to medieval England, broadening his appeal and confirming his status as a major literary figure. His works were not only popular in his own time but also laid the groundwork for historical fiction as a respected literary form.
Scott married Charlotte Genevieve Charpentier in 1797, and they had five children. In 1820, he was granted a baronetcy and became Sir Walter Scott. He built a grand home, Abbotsford House, near Melrose, which reflected his passion for history and the Scottish past. However, in 1825, financial disaster struck when his publishers went bankrupt. Rather than declare bankruptcy himself, Scott chose to work tirelessly to pay off the debts through his writing. He continued to produce novels and non-fiction works at a staggering pace despite declining health.
Walter Scott died in 1832, leaving behind a literary legacy that influenced generations of writers and readers. His works remain widely read and studied, and he is credited with helping to revive interest in Scottish history and culture. Abbotsford House, now a museum, stands as a monument to his life and achievements.
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April 27, 2019
St Valentine’s Day villainy...
Catherine Glover, generally known as the Fair Maid of her hometown of Perth, is beloved by the town’s famed armourer, Henry Smith of the Wynd. But she has also caught the eye of the pleasure loving and dissolute Earl of Rothsay*, eldest son and heir to King Robert III. On St Valentine’s Day, these men will both try to win Catherine, one honourably, one dishonourably, setting in motion a chain of events that will involve the citizens of Perth in the high politics and treacheries of the nobility, and the wild feuds of the Highland clans which inhabit the land to the north of the Fair City.
I first read this book as a young teenager back in the Dark Ages and remembered nothing about it except that I loved it. Since then I’ve read a fair amount of Scott, with varying levels of appreciation. Most recently, I read and was rather disappointed by what is probably his most famous work, Waverley, and wondered if I had simply fallen out of love with Scott’s style over the years. Not so! This book, in my opinion, is vastly superior to Waverley, having all of its strengths and none of its weaknesses. It’s a top rank historical novel that deserves to be more widely read, and is undoubtedly the book I would recommend to people coming to Scott for the first time. It’s written almost entirely in standard English (none of the annoying Latin, French and Gaelic which pepper Waverley) so is easily accessible to the modern reader. And it’s as powerful in its way as A Tale of Two Cities, with a deep understanding of the history and politics of the time but also, more importantly, of the workings of the human heart and mind.
The period is the tail end of the 14th century, when Scotland was in name one nation under one monarch, but where the Highlands clans operated as separate fiefdoms and were a constant threat to the peace of the nation from the north. At the southern border, Scotland and England were in a perpetual state of enmity – sometimes warring, sometimes skirmishing, but never truly at peace. It’s a period about which I know very little, but didn’t need to – Scott gives all the information that the reader needs to understand the plot without bogging the book down in unnecessary historical detail. He actually shortens the timeline, compressing various events that happened at different times to bring them together into his story, but he manages to do this without seriously distorting the underlying significance of them. In Scott’s story, events that in real time took place over a decade or so happen in a period of weeks, starting on St Valentine’s Day and ending on Palm Sunday.
Scott tells the story in the third person, taking the reader in turn to the various participants, so that sometimes we are in the presence of the weak King Robert and his nobles, all scheming and jostling for power; sometimes we are with Rothsay and his disreputable followers, taking their pleasure at the expense of the decent burghers of Perth; and mostly we’re with those burghers – Henry, Catherine, her father Simon Glover and various other townspeople, as they try to live honest Christian lives in a time when security was scarce and men had to be willing to fight for their own safety and to protect the women they loved. Later, we spend time with the Highland clans, seeing how they lived (perhaps – Scott has a reputation for creating the modern image of the clans from his imagination, but it rings true enough for this reader).
There are lots of great characters in the novel. Henry is a famed fighter, trying to tame his warring nature for the sake of peace-loving Catherine. Through her, we get a glimpse at the state of the Church, with the first hints of the Reformation to come and with the fear of being accused of heresy ever present. Simon is a good and decent man, and a loving father. Conachar, the young Highland boy who is his apprentice, allows us to see the attitudes of the townspeople to their wild Highland neighbours. The Royals are excellent – poor Robert III, who means well but is ineffective as either King or father, his scheming and disloyal brother Albany and the feuding Earls of March and Douglas, each given extraordinary power due to the weakness of the King. Rothsay’s followers include some great baddies – Ramorny, who has a personal reason to want vengeance against Henry; Bonthron, Ramorny’s beast-like assassin; and the marvellous Henbane Dwining, a skilled physician who uses his arts for evil as well as for good and is deliciously sinister and manipulative.
But it’s the plot that makes the novel. It moves along at a good pace, never losing track of the various strands – Henry and Catherine, the Royal power plays, Rothsay and his scurrilous followers. And it all leads up to one of the most harrowingly dramatic climaxes I’ve read, as the Highland feud is brought to a bloody and horrific halt. I don’t want to say too much about the Highland strand since it develops late in the book and so takes us into spoiler territory, but it’s a brilliant depiction of a blood feud, of the savagery of hand-to-hand battle, of sacrifice and the loyalty of kinship, of the honour given to the physically brave and the shame heaped on the coward. It moved me to tears for more than one reason. And even more horrifyingly, this part of it is based on actual events.
A great book, and a true classic. If you only ever read one Scott novel, make it this one. It gets my highest recommendation!
*Some modern publications show this as Rothesay, the modern spelling of the town from which the title derives. However, my copy gives the old spelling throughout, so I’ve stuck with that.
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Catherine Glover, generally known as the Fair Maid of her hometown of Perth, is beloved by the town’s famed armourer, Henry Smith of the Wynd. But she has also caught the eye of the pleasure loving and dissolute Earl of Rothsay*, eldest son and heir to King Robert III. On St Valentine’s Day, these men will both try to win Catherine, one honourably, one dishonourably, setting in motion a chain of events that will involve the citizens of Perth in the high politics and treacheries of the nobility, and the wild feuds of the Highland clans which inhabit the land to the north of the Fair City.
I first read this book as a young teenager back in the Dark Ages and remembered nothing about it except that I loved it. Since then I’ve read a fair amount of Scott, with varying levels of appreciation. Most recently, I read and was rather disappointed by what is probably his most famous work, Waverley, and wondered if I had simply fallen out of love with Scott’s style over the years. Not so! This book, in my opinion, is vastly superior to Waverley, having all of its strengths and none of its weaknesses. It’s a top rank historical novel that deserves to be more widely read, and is undoubtedly the book I would recommend to people coming to Scott for the first time. It’s written almost entirely in standard English (none of the annoying Latin, French and Gaelic which pepper Waverley) so is easily accessible to the modern reader. And it’s as powerful in its way as A Tale of Two Cities, with a deep understanding of the history and politics of the time but also, more importantly, of the workings of the human heart and mind.
The period is the tail end of the 14th century, when Scotland was in name one nation under one monarch, but where the Highlands clans operated as separate fiefdoms and were a constant threat to the peace of the nation from the north. At the southern border, Scotland and England were in a perpetual state of enmity – sometimes warring, sometimes skirmishing, but never truly at peace. It’s a period about which I know very little, but didn’t need to – Scott gives all the information that the reader needs to understand the plot without bogging the book down in unnecessary historical detail. He actually shortens the timeline, compressing various events that happened at different times to bring them together into his story, but he manages to do this without seriously distorting the underlying significance of them. In Scott’s story, events that in real time took place over a decade or so happen in a period of weeks, starting on St Valentine’s Day and ending on Palm Sunday.
Scott tells the story in the third person, taking the reader in turn to the various participants, so that sometimes we are in the presence of the weak King Robert and his nobles, all scheming and jostling for power; sometimes we are with Rothsay and his disreputable followers, taking their pleasure at the expense of the decent burghers of Perth; and mostly we’re with those burghers – Henry, Catherine, her father Simon Glover and various other townspeople, as they try to live honest Christian lives in a time when security was scarce and men had to be willing to fight for their own safety and to protect the women they loved. Later, we spend time with the Highland clans, seeing how they lived (perhaps – Scott has a reputation for creating the modern image of the clans from his imagination, but it rings true enough for this reader).
There are lots of great characters in the novel. Henry is a famed fighter, trying to tame his warring nature for the sake of peace-loving Catherine. Through her, we get a glimpse at the state of the Church, with the first hints of the Reformation to come and with the fear of being accused of heresy ever present. Simon is a good and decent man, and a loving father. Conachar, the young Highland boy who is his apprentice, allows us to see the attitudes of the townspeople to their wild Highland neighbours. The Royals are excellent – poor Robert III, who means well but is ineffective as either King or father, his scheming and disloyal brother Albany and the feuding Earls of March and Douglas, each given extraordinary power due to the weakness of the King. Rothsay’s followers include some great baddies – Ramorny, who has a personal reason to want vengeance against Henry; Bonthron, Ramorny’s beast-like assassin; and the marvellous Henbane Dwining, a skilled physician who uses his arts for evil as well as for good and is deliciously sinister and manipulative.
But it’s the plot that makes the novel. It moves along at a good pace, never losing track of the various strands – Henry and Catherine, the Royal power plays, Rothsay and his scurrilous followers. And it all leads up to one of the most harrowingly dramatic climaxes I’ve read, as the Highland feud is brought to a bloody and horrific halt. I don’t want to say too much about the Highland strand since it develops late in the book and so takes us into spoiler territory, but it’s a brilliant depiction of a blood feud, of the savagery of hand-to-hand battle, of sacrifice and the loyalty of kinship, of the honour given to the physically brave and the shame heaped on the coward. It moved me to tears for more than one reason. And even more horrifyingly, this part of it is based on actual events.
A great book, and a true classic. If you only ever read one Scott novel, make it this one. It gets my highest recommendation!
*Some modern publications show this as Rothesay, the modern spelling of the town from which the title derives. However, my copy gives the old spelling throughout, so I’ve stuck with that.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
December 14, 2017
Set in the last years of the 1300s, the title character of this novel, Catherine Glover, is very, very beautiful. And, given the eloquent speeches which Scott writes for her, exceptionally intelligent. Thus, it comes as no surprise that she is the object of the affections of at least three other main characters, each of whom represents a different social class. Indeed, part of the interest of this novel arises from the prejudices and frictions that arise between the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie and the lower orders. As the daughter of Simon Glover, Catherine is of the burgher, or middle-class of artisans in the Scottish town of the title. Nonetheless, she is desired by the Duke of Rothsay, the heir to the throne of Scotland. As well, a blacksmith/armorer of the town, Henry Gow (or Harry Smith), positively dotes on her, and has the distinct advantage of her father's approval for their match. Finally, an apprentice in the glove-making shop of her father, Conachar, desires to wed her and take her to his Highland tribe of which he is about to become the chief. For much of the novel, Catherine honestly has little preference for any of these three suitors, and sincerely desires to enter religious orders so that she will not have to eventually decide. To these romantic complications the nefarious doings in the royal household are added. The King, Robert III, is feeble: of body, of intellect and of will. His eldest son, the aforementioned Rothsay, is a dissolute wastrel, much given to personal vanity and whimsical actions to offend his elders. He is assisted in getting off the rails of proper behavior by his Master of Horse, Ramornay, a truly villainous creature. Then, there is the Duke of Albany, the King's brother who is not above conspiring to do away with his nephews in order that he set himself up in line for the throne. If this wasn't problematic enough, there is a rivalry between the Earls of Douglas and March for the favor of the king. This led to Douglas outbidding March with a larger dowry so that Rothsay would marry into the Douglas clan, an act which may have forced March into alliance with the English against Scotland. Also, there is the whiff of religious heresy, personified in the character of Father Clement, who is almost stridently Protestant (200 years before the Reformation) in his criticisms of the cupidity of the Church. Finally, there is a bloody feud between two Highland clans, which culminates in a thirty-on-thirty all out blood bath to settle their rivalry once and for all - one which actually occurred in Scottish history, as did one of the significant deaths in the Royal family which Scott describes. My favorite character had to be Oliver Proudfute, a hat-maker who sees himself as a 'martialist' but always seems to be behind those doing the actual fighting. Scott's description of his riding a horse and disturbing a knight who is out falconing is a classic of slapstick fun. It was with sadness that his murder half way through the novel shocked me. A troubadour 'Glee-Maiden', Louise, befriends Catherine and aids her in her efforts to prevent the murder perpetrated by Ramornay, assisted by a truly devilish creation: the apothecary Dwining. All in all, another masterful blend of social analysis, real suspense in its plot, and vibrant, multifaceted characterization. Taking a couple of historical incidents, Scott shows his imaginative strength in blending around these a truly engaging and moving story. Very good.
April 2, 2022
Історико-пригодницький роман, насичений подіями (які, до слова, розвиваються вкрай мляво). Автору вдалося передати атмосферу середньовічної Шотландії, гостроту тодішньої політичної боротьби, а також створити колоритні і оригінальні образи жителів країни. Мені найбільше імпонували свободолюбні та щирі горці, які, на відміну від знаті та містян, боронили свою мрію і право на вільне життя.
October 4, 2025
Dammit this one was really good too
April 19, 2013
From BBC Radio 4 - Classical Serial:
A beautiful glover's daughter is romantically pursued by a warmongering blacksmith, a poetising prince, a hot-headed clansman and a bumbling bonnet-maker in lawless 14th century Scotland.
In Walter Scott's The Fair Maid of Perth, feeble King Robert III is failing to stop his beloved country being torn apart by warring clans and pillaging nobles - chaos reigns supreme. When our heroine, Catharine Glover, suffers heartbreak and tragedy at the hands of the vengeful Earl of March, a terrible dilemma presents itself.
Should she follow the dictates of her heart by marrying the man she loves - or should she obey her father's wish and shun a world of 'hard iron and barbaric cruelties' by betrothing herself to Christ?
Free download available at Project Gutenberg
Illustration of Catharine and Ramorny from 1872 edition
A bronze statue of a seated Fair Maid in Perth's High Street
According to Wikipedia, this book has some Historical inaccuracies.
Two silent films were made based on this book.
An interesting source of information of this book can be found at the Walter Scott Digital Archive.
A beautiful glover's daughter is romantically pursued by a warmongering blacksmith, a poetising prince, a hot-headed clansman and a bumbling bonnet-maker in lawless 14th century Scotland.
In Walter Scott's The Fair Maid of Perth, feeble King Robert III is failing to stop his beloved country being torn apart by warring clans and pillaging nobles - chaos reigns supreme. When our heroine, Catharine Glover, suffers heartbreak and tragedy at the hands of the vengeful Earl of March, a terrible dilemma presents itself.
Should she follow the dictates of her heart by marrying the man she loves - or should she obey her father's wish and shun a world of 'hard iron and barbaric cruelties' by betrothing herself to Christ?
Free download available at Project Gutenberg
Illustration of Catharine and Ramorny from 1872 edition
A bronze statue of a seated Fair Maid in Perth's High Street
According to Wikipedia, this book has some Historical inaccuracies.
Two silent films were made based on this book.
An interesting source of information of this book can be found at the Walter Scott Digital Archive.
September 25, 2022
This is the best novel of Scott’s later novels, when the poor broken author was desperately trying to write himself out of debt – and almost succeeded, though he killed himself in the process. Even at this distance of time, I feel a sense of awe that he could write something this good, considering the enormous pressures he was under when the ink from his quill was flowing over the pages.
The tale is set in fourteenth century Scotland, and I like almost everything about it, including its considerable length (Scott is much better at long novels than short ones). In the character of the podgy poltroon Oliver Proudfute we have a very Scottian combination of comedy and pathos. Henbane Dwining is the most splendidly sinister apothecary in all of fiction. As in so many Scott novels, we get a handsome young man dressing up as a woman (Scott loves this motif – am I the only one who notices how frequently he uses it? What can this mean!?)
About the only thing I didn’t like is the character of Father Clement, who is basically an 18th century Presbyterian minister rather badly disguised as a medieval friar, and simply a vehicle for Scott’s Protestant prejudices. I’m not entirely convinced by Father Clement, and part of this may be because I get the sense that Scott really loved the medieval Scotland he re-created, and it’s almost as though he has to remind himself and his readers that of course he doesn’t really hold with popery. Methinks he doth protest too much – I bet he would have been lighting candles before statues and enthusiastically genuflecting to kiss the jewelled fingers of bishops, if he had had the chance. As to the plot itself, I will say no more than that it is vintage Scott, and beguiled many a happy hour on this my second reading.
The tale is set in fourteenth century Scotland, and I like almost everything about it, including its considerable length (Scott is much better at long novels than short ones). In the character of the podgy poltroon Oliver Proudfute we have a very Scottian combination of comedy and pathos. Henbane Dwining is the most splendidly sinister apothecary in all of fiction. As in so many Scott novels, we get a handsome young man dressing up as a woman (Scott loves this motif – am I the only one who notices how frequently he uses it? What can this mean!?)
About the only thing I didn’t like is the character of Father Clement, who is basically an 18th century Presbyterian minister rather badly disguised as a medieval friar, and simply a vehicle for Scott’s Protestant prejudices. I’m not entirely convinced by Father Clement, and part of this may be because I get the sense that Scott really loved the medieval Scotland he re-created, and it’s almost as though he has to remind himself and his readers that of course he doesn’t really hold with popery. Methinks he doth protest too much – I bet he would have been lighting candles before statues and enthusiastically genuflecting to kiss the jewelled fingers of bishops, if he had had the chance. As to the plot itself, I will say no more than that it is vintage Scott, and beguiled many a happy hour on this my second reading.
December 14, 2013
Walter Scott cast his writing around the end of the fourteenth century during the reign of Robert III of Scotland. The King's son, the Duke of Rothsay, attempts to abduct Catharine Glover, the 'Fair Maid of Perth', daughter of an honest burgher. He is thwarted by the intervention of Henry Smith or Gow, an armourer and renowned swordsman, who hacks off the hand of Sir John Ramorny, the Duke's Master of Horse. Although backed by Catharine's father Simon, Henry appears too warlike to win the hand of the mild-mannered 'Maid'. Ramorny tries and fails to avenge himself on Henry, then vents his anger on Rothsay, who has dismissed him at his father's behest. Rothsay is lured to the castle of Falkland and murdered; the crime is discovered and Ramorny promptly executed. Meanwhile, a bitter rivalry develops between Henry and Conachar, his Highland apprentice, as both contend for Catharine's affections. Conachar becomes chief of Clan Quhele after the death of his father, and the King demands that the longstanding feud between Clan Quhele and Clan Chattan be resolved by mortal combat between thirty members of each clan. At the last moment one of the representatives of Clan Chattan withdraws and is replaced by Henry who relishes the opportunity of confronting Conachar. At the end of a bloody battle, the two come face to face. Betrayed by his constitutional cowardice, Conachar flees and, overcome with shame, commits suicide. Henry, weary of battle and bloodshed, vows that henceforth he will only fight in Scotland's service, and is finally accepted by Catharine. I enjoyed this read with a hot coco and warm fire in the cold evenings of mid December!
Read
December 15, 2015THE FAIR MAID OF PERTH by Walter Scott.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rv39j
A wonderful radio adaption. Greatly enjoyed performance, especially David Tennant's reading.
I haven't read this novel and it's my first introduction to Walter Scott and am eager to read more of his works:)
Adapted for Radio by Scott Cherry
With David Tennant as Walter Scott
All other parts are played by members of the cast.
Ruth Wall sings and plays Gaelic Harp.
Music composed and performed by Ross Hughes and Esben Tjalve.
Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rv39j
A wonderful radio adaption. Greatly enjoyed performance, especially David Tennant's reading.
I haven't read this novel and it's my first introduction to Walter Scott and am eager to read more of his works:)
Adapted for Radio by Scott Cherry
With David Tennant as Walter Scott
All other parts are played by members of the cast.
Ruth Wall sings and plays Gaelic Harp.
Music composed and performed by Ross Hughes and Esben Tjalve.
Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4
January 27, 2018
Set around 1500, this novel focuses on the clash between the burgher class and the nobles, the link between the two being the peace-loving Catherine, daughter of a glover, whose beauty attracts the hero artisan, Henry Smith; the prince of Scotland; and a young Scot in hiding as an apprentice to Catherine's father who is later revealed to be the head of the clan Quhele (or Kay). The story is fictional, but is based on a true story--a staged, almost gladiator-like conflict between the clan Chattan and a clan identified with the Quheles in the novel. Scott has created a host of characters and subplots which reveal the medieval Scottish customs regarding Valentine's Day, the rise of the Lollards, the rivalry between the Lowland and Highland Scots, and the lust for group vengeance which pervaded all social classes in Scotland at that time. The end was totally unpredictable (at least by me). Unlike other Scottish novels of Scott, this one does not use Scottish dialect, though a "thee" or "thou" does eventually appear. There are two or three unflattering references to the Jews of Europe in the text, repulsive to us but (alas!) accurately reflecting the prejudices of the time. These may be one reason the book is no longer highly recommended, but, with those removed, this novel could well be turned into a successful movie--unrequited love, a strong female, class conflict, weak leadership at the top, religious liberty, breath-taking Scottish scenery, and lots of blood.
May 20, 2021
I've read several Walter Scott novels in the past and found you have to work hard at the Shakespearean prose particularly in dialogue sections. I read carefully and diligently and enjoyed this book more and more. Many of Scott's novels have inspired opera composers of all nationalities and certainly there are vivid characters and grand finales to portray so effectively in music. This one has been set by Bizet(?) I believe. One is overwhelmed by both the quantity and quality of historical research that Scott brings to his novels and there is even an index to this version as well as detailed notes and glossary. We are supposed to learn at school the history of Britain but do we ever get taught the richness and eventfulness of Scotland's past? I found it enlightening to follow the events on a large-scale road map as well which also brings to light Scotland's magical scenery. Scott indulges in much cultural detail and one example was the ordeal of "bier-right": a murdered victim is laid out in state and suspects file past while judges observe individual reactions as a mark of guilt.
March 19, 2024
The action of the plot of this tome is laid at Perth in the chaotic days of the close of the 14th century. At that time, Robert III was the King of Scotland. The story opens with the heinous act of the squandering young duke of Rothsay, the son of the King. He is aided by the depraved Master of the house, Sir John Ramorny. He breaks into the house of honest burgher, Simon Glover and carries off his daughter Catherine, designated as the ‘fair maid of Perth’. Henry Smith hinders this criminal act, and in the scuffle that ensues the hand of Ramorny is cut off. Then the novel deals with the love-affairs of Catherine. The story is in the vein of romance. Jealousies, fights, treacheries of the violent nobles are shown in this tome in a sparkling manner. Reads like a medieval escapade. Recommended.
December 7, 2018
First published in 1828, 'The Fair Maid of Perth' is set in late 14th century Scotland. Despite the lacklustre title, this is an adventure novel featuring kidnap, murders and one bloodthirsty battle in a time of lawlessness and plots against the Scottish monarchy. Scott's habit of being wordy is a love-it or hate-it thing, since for many his enjoyable style of writing makes this worthwhile. In this instance, his wordiness is evident; and yet the novel has a cracking pace with no loose ends at the conclusion, very enjoyable. Oh yes, I should mention that the 'Fair Maid' of the title does crop up from time to time but much of the story would have worked without her.
August 18, 2020
Scott, inventor of the historic novel, paints a picture of small-town Scotland life. Characters have a believable, authentic feel, like you are standing there observing them and understanding what drives them. Sadly, this story is much more about the male characters and their political squabbles than about the maiden herself - she had only a bit role.
June 26, 2017
More classic Scott
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this book had action, adventure, and romance, that's why I love Scott. If you are looking for action, adventure, and romance you cannot go wrong with Sir Walter Scott. I also liked the characters in this book.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this book had action, adventure, and romance, that's why I love Scott. If you are looking for action, adventure, and romance you cannot go wrong with Sir Walter Scott. I also liked the characters in this book.
April 20, 2024
This book was very well written, full of nuances, betrayals, and other elements of a good story. I did find the story a bit sad, and personally Henry Smith wasn’t my favorite, though I don’t know why. Still, a good book overall.
March 15, 2021
one of his best!
October 23, 2023
My 1925 edition had ten illustrations - but quite often they appeared a page or two before the event being described in the text... :-( , otherwise a gripping tale with some humorous interludes.
June 3, 2019
A very good book from Scott's later career, but shows he had not lost any ability to entertain! I liked it the more I read, the part leading up to the battle between the two clans was good.
May 19, 2019
So, February 1396 in the wildest country, even by the standards of the dark Middle Ages.
Lowland Scotland is unruly. Highland Scotland hardly ever knows that it has a king (and the king has no idea what kind of tribes live there and what is being done in the mountains). At the same time, King Robert III is unable to fight because of the injury, and because of his weak character is unable to rule. In a word, not a state, but bloody chaos. Even just walking along a city street can be a risky venture because of some of the enraged nobles, or the raid of mountain clans, or simply because the prince wanted to have some fun.
Against this background, Walter Scott unfolds several plot lines at once. One of them - the romantic one - is connected with Catherine Glover, the Perth beauty. This time the writer has a strong-willed heroine who is not afraid to defend her opinion and is not lost in critical situations. As it should be, cavaliers wind up around her - a blacksmith, and the son of the leader of the mountain clan, and even a whole heir to the Scottish crown. Love intrigues would be quite enough for some other novel, but here the matter is not limited to them.
The second storyline concerns the struggle for the throne. Who will guide the policy of the weak king? And who will be his heir? His eldest son, David Rothesay, is too frivolous and thinks more about girls and booze than about power. But the king's brother, the duke of Albany, and at the same time the powerful earls March and Douglas are ready to fight for their place next to the throne (or, if possible, on the throne). How did the humble pharmacist Dwining get mixed up in this bloody game? But without it, intrigue cobwebs would not be so confusing.
Finally, the third line: while in the Highland of Scotland they are busy with their own affairs, in the mountains there are fights for power: between the Hattan and Kuhil clans. Both are actually tribal alliances. Both can boast of ancient origin, erecting it either to the times of the Romans, or to the early medieval kingdom of Dal Riad. And at some point, both decide that the two of them are cramped in Scotland. At once, Robert III has a chance to even act as an intermediary between them, turning a potential war into a knightly battle between representatives of the clans - all in the same city of Perth, on Palm Sunday.
Walter Scott somewhat shifts events in time (the plot with the clans and the plot with the struggle for the throne of Robert III are actually six years apart) and, of course, somewhat dramatizes, but does not miss the real story.
The result is a rather dramatic and rather colorful story about the life of a medieval Scottish city and about people of medieval Scotland.
Lowland Scotland is unruly. Highland Scotland hardly ever knows that it has a king (and the king has no idea what kind of tribes live there and what is being done in the mountains). At the same time, King Robert III is unable to fight because of the injury, and because of his weak character is unable to rule. In a word, not a state, but bloody chaos. Even just walking along a city street can be a risky venture because of some of the enraged nobles, or the raid of mountain clans, or simply because the prince wanted to have some fun.
Against this background, Walter Scott unfolds several plot lines at once. One of them - the romantic one - is connected with Catherine Glover, the Perth beauty. This time the writer has a strong-willed heroine who is not afraid to defend her opinion and is not lost in critical situations. As it should be, cavaliers wind up around her - a blacksmith, and the son of the leader of the mountain clan, and even a whole heir to the Scottish crown. Love intrigues would be quite enough for some other novel, but here the matter is not limited to them.
The second storyline concerns the struggle for the throne. Who will guide the policy of the weak king? And who will be his heir? His eldest son, David Rothesay, is too frivolous and thinks more about girls and booze than about power. But the king's brother, the duke of Albany, and at the same time the powerful earls March and Douglas are ready to fight for their place next to the throne (or, if possible, on the throne). How did the humble pharmacist Dwining get mixed up in this bloody game? But without it, intrigue cobwebs would not be so confusing.
Finally, the third line: while in the Highland of Scotland they are busy with their own affairs, in the mountains there are fights for power: between the Hattan and Kuhil clans. Both are actually tribal alliances. Both can boast of ancient origin, erecting it either to the times of the Romans, or to the early medieval kingdom of Dal Riad. And at some point, both decide that the two of them are cramped in Scotland. At once, Robert III has a chance to even act as an intermediary between them, turning a potential war into a knightly battle between representatives of the clans - all in the same city of Perth, on Palm Sunday.
Walter Scott somewhat shifts events in time (the plot with the clans and the plot with the struggle for the throne of Robert III are actually six years apart) and, of course, somewhat dramatizes, but does not miss the real story.
The result is a rather dramatic and rather colorful story about the life of a medieval Scottish city and about people of medieval Scotland.
June 2, 2013
Scott's general plan in a novel is to pick a period/place to set his novels and describe the manners of the people who lived in them. Generally speaking he expands and fictionalizes a few historical anecdotes apround which to base his narrative. In this story the setting is late 14th century Perth, and explores the class relationships between the burghers of the city and the nobility. The central anecdote is a famous duel between Highland clans.
This book had the potential to be a boilerplate effort from Scott, but he manages to introduce enough novelty to make this one of his stronger works. For the most part you can usually identify the hero, an active young man with noble qualities that set him above his peers and the heroine, a beautiful, young, innocent, and pure maiden, within the first couple of chapters. Usually the lovers must undergo some trials or tribulations, but this central love story usually anchors the novel. In this one, all though both these characters exist, the story is much more complicated. While the love triangle in the story isn't an unusual device, Scott manages to keep the reader guessing about its conclusion. The book has a much more ensemble cast and tone than is usual in a typical Scott story,whcih results in a more complex tale as well. One of the villans, Dwinding, is probably one of the best in the Scott catalogue.
Scott's endings aren't usually his strength. He manages to avoid using a geneological deus ex machina to resolve a seemingly intractable problem (a common if disappointing habit for Scott) in this one, but the demise of the two principle villans of the story falls decidedly flat. The resolution of the love triangle and the duel are much better, but the story would have been stronger with a more dramatic finish for the bad guys.
This book had the potential to be a boilerplate effort from Scott, but he manages to introduce enough novelty to make this one of his stronger works. For the most part you can usually identify the hero, an active young man with noble qualities that set him above his peers and the heroine, a beautiful, young, innocent, and pure maiden, within the first couple of chapters. Usually the lovers must undergo some trials or tribulations, but this central love story usually anchors the novel. In this one, all though both these characters exist, the story is much more complicated. While the love triangle in the story isn't an unusual device, Scott manages to keep the reader guessing about its conclusion. The book has a much more ensemble cast and tone than is usual in a typical Scott story,whcih results in a more complex tale as well. One of the villans, Dwinding, is probably one of the best in the Scott catalogue.
Scott's endings aren't usually his strength. He manages to avoid using a geneological deus ex machina to resolve a seemingly intractable problem (a common if disappointing habit for Scott) in this one, but the demise of the two principle villans of the story falls decidedly flat. The resolution of the love triangle and the duel are much better, but the story would have been stronger with a more dramatic finish for the bad guys.
February 1, 2020
An exellent story, with lively and colourful heros and villians, but with a sobering ending.
May 3, 2014
Based in the Scottish era the book takes a while to get used to when reading as it uses a Scottish dialect and old English. The book is about a beautiful daughter of a glove maker. She is betrothed to the best iron smith the town. The town smith is a brave man and also make the best sword and mail chains in the area. He has of admirers and equal number of enemies in the town.
The king is a weak king and his brother is plotting along with the other knights to kill the happy go lucky elder son of the king so that his own son can ascend the throne.
The prince has an eye on the daughter of the glover and is constantly trying to woo her. His cronies encourage him and also try actively help him attain this lady.
The glover deals with the highlanders for skins for his gloves. In the process one of the chief has left his son at the glover's to work as an apprentice. The highland prince in turn has formed a close kinship with the daughter of the glover and is in love with her and wishes to wed her. But the glover is loath to this idea.
The knights of Scotland get the highland chieftans to fight unto death. By this time the glover's apprentice has become the chief and is one of the chief's to clash unto death. The prince is killed in the meantime at the behest of the King's brother.
The book ends in a happy note with the wedding of the Fair Maid of Perth with the iron smith.
The king is a weak king and his brother is plotting along with the other knights to kill the happy go lucky elder son of the king so that his own son can ascend the throne.
The prince has an eye on the daughter of the glover and is constantly trying to woo her. His cronies encourage him and also try actively help him attain this lady.
The glover deals with the highlanders for skins for his gloves. In the process one of the chief has left his son at the glover's to work as an apprentice. The highland prince in turn has formed a close kinship with the daughter of the glover and is in love with her and wishes to wed her. But the glover is loath to this idea.
The knights of Scotland get the highland chieftans to fight unto death. By this time the glover's apprentice has become the chief and is one of the chief's to clash unto death. The prince is killed in the meantime at the behest of the King's brother.
The book ends in a happy note with the wedding of the Fair Maid of Perth with the iron smith.
Read
April 23, 2015This particular copy has some rough-cut edges, and as I recall, some of the pages had not been cut at all, which implies that it hadn't been read before.
This volume upset me pretty badly. So I'll issue a warning that I wish someone had given me: as a practical rule, don't get too attached to any of Scott's characters. The odds are pretty good that at least one of them will get killed off. This happens at least twice to sympathetic characters in this book, and several times to villains, as well.
It's all very well for Scott to argue that he has to cleave to historical truth (or at least to persistent legends), and that he can't spare people who are known to have died. It's not always true, but it's also not sufficient. Several of the characters in the book who are wholly or partially fictional are ALSO killed off, often without warning. So I'll issue the warning to the unwary.
This warning aside, the book does have good elements. Scott always had a good feel for language, customs, geography, etc.
One thing, though. The "Introductory" seems almost entirely irrelevant, having to do with legends about Mary, Queen of Scots--though the main story takes place centuries before Mary's birth. Puzzling.
This volume upset me pretty badly. So I'll issue a warning that I wish someone had given me: as a practical rule, don't get too attached to any of Scott's characters. The odds are pretty good that at least one of them will get killed off. This happens at least twice to sympathetic characters in this book, and several times to villains, as well.
It's all very well for Scott to argue that he has to cleave to historical truth (or at least to persistent legends), and that he can't spare people who are known to have died. It's not always true, but it's also not sufficient. Several of the characters in the book who are wholly or partially fictional are ALSO killed off, often without warning. So I'll issue the warning to the unwary.
This warning aside, the book does have good elements. Scott always had a good feel for language, customs, geography, etc.
One thing, though. The "Introductory" seems almost entirely irrelevant, having to do with legends about Mary, Queen of Scots--though the main story takes place centuries before Mary's birth. Puzzling.
December 17, 2015
I had never read any Scott, not even Ivanhoe which was still a "YA" classic when I was young. Always kind of had the idea it was hopelessly old fashioned and kind of dull. Fair Maid of Perth was recommended at some convention panel or other so I decided to give it a try. While the prose is a little old fashioned, every noun comes with an adjective whether needed or not, there are plenty of snarky jokes and historical asides to make things quite lively. There's a swashbuckling plot to with plenty of action and incident. I particularly liked how the characters weren't portrayed as all bad or all good. Even the cackling poisoning treacherous physician gets to deliver some good wisecracks and show unexpected generosity at the end. Even the Fair Maid herself occasionally jumps to conclusions and eventually has to admit error. It does help to know something of Scottish history and to have visited; there's a cute bit in the framing story where the narrator is looking at a gallery of portraits of Scottish kings and wondering why they all had noses the size of doorknobs; Scott hasn;t made clear at that point that the gallery is in Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, but anyone who's visited instantly knows what he's talking about.
November 17, 2012
I really liked this book until the final 20 pages, when it got personal. Sir Walter Scott used a historical story from my ancestral clan and adapted it to his tale, changing the clan and the circumstances but it still hit too close to home. I recognized the story instantly and was cast into deep revolt against the hero of the story. It just agitates me. Highland blood runs deep.
December 13, 2015
A very VERY slow start, what's new for Sir Walter, but a genuinely gripping story. He manages to make the characters plausible although set many centuries ago, and although he makes them talk in that maddening 'olde worlde' style he likes so much. It explains a lot about the Scottish character, too.
Read
November 10, 2009just starting this book. owned it for years and haven't ever read it.....the time has come")
Want to read
July 3, 2011The Waverly Novels, Volume XXII. The Nottingham Society. Limited to One Thousand sets.
August 25, 2013
Sin duda, de lo peor de Scott. Muchas batallas mal narradas y sin apenas desarrollo de historia y personajes.
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