A Legend of the Wars of Montrose was composed during May 1819, immediately after the completion of its companion novel The Bride of Lammermoor though it had been envisaged before the Bride was begun. Scott was still recovering from his serious illness of March 1819 and it is likely that the greater part of the new novel was dictated to John Ballantyne and William Laidlaw, though the manuscript for most of Chapters 3 to 6 is extant in his own hand.[3]
Editions
The first edition of Tales of my Landlord (Third Series), consisting of The Bride of Lammermoor and A Legend of Montrose (the title reluctantly accepted by Scott), was published by Archibald Constable in Edinburgh on 21 June 1819 and in London by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown on the 26th.[4] As with all of the Waverley novels before 1827 publication was anonymous. The print run was probably 10,000 and the price was £1 12s (£1.60). Scott appears to have made some small changes to the text of Montrose when it appeared later that year in the Novels and Tales, but his main revision was carried out in late 1829 and early 1830 for the 'Magnum' edition, including the provision of notes and an introduction: it appeared as Volume 15 in August 1830.
The standard modern edition, by J. H. Alexander, was published under Scott's preferred title A Legend of the Wars of Montrose as Volume 7b of the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels in 1993: this is based on the first edition with emendations principally from Scott's manuscript; the new Magnum material is included in Volume 25a.
Illustration of Annot Lyle Singing in 1872 edition by H Wright Smith
The main plot concerns a love triangle between Allan M'Aulay, his friend the Earl of Menteith, and Annot Lyle. Annot is a young woman who has been brought up by the M'Aulays since being captured as a girl during a blood feud against the MacEagh clan (also known as the Children of the Mist). M'Aulay and Menteith are both members of Montrose's army. Annot eventually marries Menteith after it is discovered that she has aristocratic blood, and was kidnapped by the MacEaghs as a baby. This leads to the jealous M'Aulay stabbing Menteith and then fleeing Montrose's army. Menteith survives whilst M'Aulay disappears and is rumoured to have been killed by the MacEaghs.
Dalgetty
A large section of the novel is taken up with a subplot involving an expedition into enemy territory by Dugald Dalgetty, an experienced mercenary fighting for Montrose. Dalgetty does not fight out of political or religious conviction, but purely for the love of carnage. However, he is very professional, and remains loyal to an employer to the end of his contract. He gained his experience fighting for various armies during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48), then still raging in Germany. Dalgetty is regarded as one of Scott's finest comic characters, however Scott admitted that he dominated too much of the story. He wrote in an 1830 introduction to the novel, "Still Dalgetty, as the production of his own fancy, has been so far a favourite with its parent, that he has fallen into the error of assigning to the Captain too prominent a part in the story."[5]
Introduction: The narrator [Peter Pattieson] indicates that he received the tale that follows from a resident of Gandercleugh, the retired Serjeant More MacAlpin.
Ch. 1: A sketch of the political situation in late 17th-century Scotland.
Ch. 2: The mercenary soldier Dugald Dalgetty encounters the Earl of Menteith on the borders of the Highlands and tells him of his service on the Continent.
Ch. 3: Menteith and his servant Anderson outline to Dalgetty the advantages for a mercenary of serving in the Royalist interest.
Ch. 4: Arriving at Darnlinvarach castle, Menteith and Anderson exchange views on Dalgetty. Allan MacAulay seats Anderson above Dalgetty at table. His brother, the laird Angus, wins a wager with his guest Sir Miles Musgrave by having some of his men act as living chandeliers.
Ch. 5: Menteith tells Dalgetty the story of Allan's feud with the Children of the Mist, and of his reluctant sparing of Annot Lyle and subsequent fondness for her.
Ch. 6: Dalgetty agrees to serve with the Royalists. Annot soothes Allan by singing. He foresees that Menteith will be stabbed by a Highlander.
Ch. 7: The Royalist chiefs arrive with their retinues, and Menteith reveals Montrose, alias Anderson, as their leader.
Ch. 8: Sir Duncan Campbell arrives with a proposal from the Marquis of Argyle for a truce, and Dalgetty is selected to go to Inverara to negotiate terms.
Volume Two
Ch. 1 (9): After debating the political situation with Allan and Menteith, Campbell is affected by Annot's singing.
Ch. 2 (10): As they arrive at Ardenvohr castle, Dalgetty and Campbell discuss its defensive capabilities.
Ch. 3 (11): Dalgetty is struck by Lady Campbell's gloomy demeanour at dinner, and afterwards the servant Lorimer explains that it is the anniversary of the murder of the four Campbell children by Highland freebooters. Dalgetty travels to Inverara.
Ch. 4 (12): Dalgetty receives a hostile reception from Argyle.
Ch. 5 (13): Imprisoned in a dungeon, Dalgetty meets Ranald MacEagh, who says he killed three of Campbell's four children, but one survives. Argyle enters in disguise and ascertains that the surviving child is Annot. Dalgetty recognises Argyle and overpowers him, enabling Ranald and himself to escape.
Ch. 6 (14): Joining the Children of the Mist with Ranald, Dalgetty is wounded by the pursuers from Inverara.
Ch. 7 (15): Montrose enjoys military success, leading Argyle to relinquish his command of the Covenanting forces and retire to Inverara.
Ch. 8 (16): Dalgetty and Ranald report to Montrose on the Children of the Mist, who will be able to help in an advance to the west.
Ch. 9 (17): Montrose assigns Kenneth, Ranald's grandson, to Dalgetty's service. Ranald, introduced by Dalgetty under a fictitious name, and Allan bond as seers. Musgrave announces that Annot is following the campaign. Ranald tells Allan that it is he (Allan) who will stab Menteith. Montrose takes Inverara, leading to a counter-movement by Argyle.
Ch. 10 (18): Both sides make preparations for battle at Inverlochy.
Ch. 11 (19): Argyle is defeated at Inverlochy, where Dalgetty's horse Gustavus is killed. Dalgetty intervenes when Allan wounds Ranald, who has revealed his identity, and subsequently Dalgetty is knighted.
Ch. 12 (20): Dalgetty goes off to seek booty after the battle. Menteith tells Montrose that he does not plan to woo Annot because of doubts about her parentage. Allan reproaches Annot for loving Menteith rather than himself.
Ch. 13 (21): Annot regrets that Allan has disturbed her quiet. Dalgetty summons her to attend to Campbell who was mortally wounded in the battle. Ranald reveals the secret of her parentage to Campbell and Menteith.
Ch. 14 (22): The dying Ranald instructs Kenneth to torment Allan by telling him that Menteith plans to marry Annot. Montrose fails to dissuade Menteith from pressing his suit, and Campbell agrees that the wedding should take place.
Ch. 15 (23): Angus MacAulay is offended by the match but promises Montrose not to interfere. Allan stabs Menteith on the wedding day, but he survives to marry after a few weeks, and Allan passes into obscurity.
Reception
A Legend of Montrose shared in the mixed reception with its companion novel by reviewers with their tendency to lament the familiar stylistic carelessness and weak plotting, and some reviewers saw a distinct decline from the preceding novels, with signs of exhaustion and less interesting subject matter.[6] But several reviewers found the depiction of seventeenth-century Highland society fascinating. Ranald MacEagh and Annot Lyle attracted praise, though The Edinburgh Magazine found the former incongruously Byronic. Dalgetty was widely recognised as a great comic creation, but the severe Monthly Review found him uniform and always present, extravagant in character and disgraceful in his views. The battle scene came in for praise from more than one reviewer. Comparisons between Montrose and The Bride of Lammermoor resulted in no overall winner.
Sources and inspiration
Allan M'Aulay, by Horace Vernet, 1823. M'Aulay holds the severed head of Hector MacEagh. This scene is not depicted in the novel.
By far the most important source was a book with a very long title beginning Monro his Expedition by Robert Monro (1637) which was crucial for the development of Dugald Dalgetty.[7] Also helpful for this character were Memoirs of his own Life and Times by Sir James Turner (which was not published till 1829, but Scott had access to the manuscript in 1819), and the same author's Pallas Armata (1683). For Montrose his main source was Memoirs of the Most Renowned James Graham, Marquis of Montrose by George Wishart (1647). The Ardvoirlich story Scott knew from oral tradition, but he was also indebted to its appearance in Clan-Alpin's Vow by Alexander Boswell of Auchinleck (1811). Dalgetty's name is derived from Captain Delgatty of Prestonpans, an acquaintance of Scott. Menteith is based upon John Graham, Lord Kilpoint (1613–1644). Evan Dhu represents Ewen Cameron of Lochiel (1629–1719).
Several parts of the novel are influenced by traditions concerning the Stewarts of Ardvorlich, specifically James Stewart of Ardvorlich. The Ardvoirlich story Scott knew from oral tradition, but he was also indebted to its appearance in Clan-Alpin's Vow by Alexander Boswell of Auchinleck (1811). The novel's castle of Darnlinvarach is commonly said to represent Ardvorlich House. The latter actually appears in the novel as the castle of Ardenvohr, which may be somewhat based upon Dunstaffnage Castle.
The following story of murder provided inspiration.[8] In the Seventeenth Century it was the custom to provide hospitality to anyone who asked for food and shelter. If the guest was not a friend, they were still put up, but instead of a cooked meal were given cold meat (this is where the phrase "given the cold shoulder" comes from). In accordance with this custom, Lady Margaret Stewart at Ardvorlich, pregnant at the time, gave hospitality to some travelling MacGregors. However, they had just come from murdering her brother, John Drummond of Drummonderinoch, and while she was out of the room placed his severed head on a silver platter, and placed in his mouth some of the cold victuals she had served them. She was so distraught that she ran out to the hills and gave birth to James Stewart, later known as the "Mad Major".[9] The Loch she gave birth by is now known as Lochan na Mna, the Loch of the Woman, on the side of Beinn Domhnuill.
Major James Stewart is one of the great historical characters of the Covenanting Wars and was the inspiration for Allan M'Aulay. This name is actually engraved on the foot of Major Stewart's gravestone in the Stewarts of Ardvorlich old kirk of Dundurn just outside the village of St Fillans on the shores of Loch Earn.[10]
P. D. Garside of the University of Edinburgh has argued that Scott intended the novel to highlight the changing nature of warfare in the seventeenth century, showing how the lack of a professional army caused the “civilized” society of the Lowlands to become “temporarily vulnerable to the ‘barbarous’” society of the Highlands. He cites Chapter 15 as particularly important in this regard.[11]
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish historian, novelist, poet, and playwright. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels Ivanhoe (1819), Rob Roy (1817), Waverley (1814), Old Mortality (1816), The Heart of Mid-Lothian (1818), and The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), along with the narrative poems Marmion (1808) and The Lady of the Lake (1810). He had a major impact on European and American literature.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1819.
Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany was a member of the Scottish royal family who served as regent to three Scottish monarchs. A ruthless politician, Albany was widely regarded as having caused the murder of his nephew, the Duke of Rothesay, and brother to the future King James I of Scotland. James was held in captivity in England for eighteen years, during which time Albany served as regent in Scotland, king in all but name. He died in 1420 and was succeeded by his son, Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany, who was executed for treason when James returned to Scotland in 1425, almost causing the complete ruin of the Albany Stewarts.
Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany was a leading Scottish nobleman, the son of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, and the grandson of King Robert II of Scotland, who founded the Stewart dynasty. In 1389, he became Justiciar North of the Forth. In 1402, he was captured at the Battle of Homildon Hill and would spend 12 years in captivity in England.
William Laidlaw (1780–1845) was a Scottish poet. The son of a border farmer, he became steward and amanuensis to Walter Scott, and was the author of a well-known ballad, Lucy's Flittin.
Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel was a Scottish highland chief, soldier and courtier. He was chief of Clan Cameron – the 17th Lochiel, and renowned for his role in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in Scotland (1650–1654) as a Cavalier, and in the 1689 Jacobite Rebellion.
The Bride of Lammermoor is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1819, one of the Waverley novels. The novel is set in the Lammermuir Hills of south-east Scotland, shortly before the Act of Union of 1707, or shortly after the Act. It tells of a tragic love affair between young Lucy Ashton and her family's enemy Edgar Ravenswood. Scott indicated the plot was based on an actual incident. The Bride of Lammermoor and A Legend of Montrose were published together anonymously as the third of Scott's Tales of My Landlord series. The story is the basis for Donizetti's 1835 opera Lucia di Lammermoor.
Clan Graham is a Scottish clan who had territories in both the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands, with one main branch Montrose, and various cadet branches. The chief of the clan rose to become the Marquess and later Duke of Montrose.
Clan Drummond is a Highland Scottish clan. The surname is rendered "Druimeanach" in modern Scottish Gaelic.
Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, also known as Clan MacDonellof Keppoch or Clan Ranald of Lochaber, is a Highland Scottish clan and a branch of Clan Donald. The progenitor of the clan is Alistair Carrach MacDonald, 4th great-grandson of the warrior Somerled. The clan chief is traditionally designated as the "Son of Ranald's son".
Clan Stewart of Appin is the West Highland branch of the Clan Stewart and have been a distinct clan since their establishment in the 15th century. Their Chiefs are descended from Sir James Stewart of Perston, who was himself the grandson of Alexander Stewart, the fourth High Steward of Scotland. His cousin Walter Stewart, the 6th High Steward, married Marjorie Bruce, the daughter of King Robert the Bruce, and their son Robert II was the first Stewart Monarch. The Stewarts of Appin are cousins to the Royal Stewart Monarchy.
James Mor Stewart, called James the Fat, was the youngest son of Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany and Isabella of Lennox. When his father and brothers were executed by King James I for treason in 1425, James led a rebellion against the king, taking the town of Dumbarton and killing the keeper of Dumbarton Castle. His success was short lived and he soon fled to Ireland, where he would spend the remainder of his life in exile. A second attempt at rebellion in 1429 saw a fleet sail to Ireland to collect James "to convey him home that he might be king", but he died before the attempt could be made.
Clan MacAulay, also spelt Macaulay or Macauley is a Scottish clan. The clan was historically centred on the lands of Ardincaple, which are today consumed by the little village of Rhu and burgh of Helensburgh in Argyll and Bute. The MacAulays of Ardincaple were located mainly in the traditional county of Dunbartonshire, which straddles the "Highland Line" between the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands. Clan MacAulay has been considered a "Highland clan" by writers and has been linked by various historians to the original Earls of Lennox and in later times to Clan Gregor. The MacAulays of Ardincaple, like Clan Gregor and several other clans, have traditionally been considered one of the seven clans which make up Siol Alpin. This group of clans were said to have claimed descent from Cináed mac Ailpín, King of the Picts, from whom later kings of Scotland traced their descent. The chiefs of Clan MacAulay were styled Laird of Ardincaple.
Jacobus van Braam was a sword master and mercenary who trained the 19-year-old George Washington in 1751 or shortly thereafter. He was also retained by Washington as a translator.
James "Beag" Stewart (c1424-1470) of Baldorran was the seventh illegitimate son of James Mor Stewart, who fled into exile in Ireland when his father Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany was executed for treason by James I of Scotland in 1425. James the Fat would never return to Scotland, and he was unable to inherit the Albany estates, but James "Beag" Stewart was able to secure a royal pardon and return to Scotland. He is the ancestor of the Stewarts of Ardvorlich on Lochearnside, whose family history is recounted by Sir Walter Scott in A Legend of Montrose.
Sir Hector Maclean, 2nd Baronet of Morvern was the 18th Clan Chief of Clan Maclean from 1649 to 1651. He died without leaving a son as an heir.
Stewart of Balquhidder is a Perthshire branch of the Stewart clan and scions of the royal House of Stewart from an illegitimate branch. They are descended from Sir William Stewart of Baldorran, who was the great grandson of Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany, executed by King James I of Scotland for treason in 1425. Murdoch Stewart was himself the grandson of King Robert II of Scotland, who founded the Stewart dynasty.
The Campbell of Auchinbreck family was founded by Duncan Campbell in Glassary, Argyll, Scotland. He was the son of Lord Duncan Campbell, first Lord Campbell of the Clan Campbell, by his second wife Margaret, daughter of Sir John Stewart of Blackhall, the illegitimate son of King Robert III of Scotland. The family of the Lords Campbell later became Dukes of Argyll, and remain chiefs of Clan Campbell. Duncan Campbell, as a grandson of King Robert III, received a considerable estate confirmed by royal charter dated 19 June 1452. The family remained at their estate of Auchinbreck, from which they took their title, until 1641. The Campbells of Auchinbreck were commissioned to provide military training and were used by the Earls of Argyll as military support. In 1628 the then head of the family of Campbells in Auchinbreck received a baronetcy, which included a grant of North American land in Nova Scotia.
Sir James Turner (1615–c.1686) was a Scottish professional soldier of the 17th century.
↑ For a full list of contemporaneous British reviews of Tales of my Landlord (Third Series) see William S. Ward, Literary Reviews in British Periodicals, 1798‒1820: A Bibliography, 2 vols (New York and London, 1972), 2.487‒88. For an earlier annotated list see James Clarkson Corson, A Bibliography of Sir Walter Scott (Edinburgh and London, 1943), 219‒20.
↑ For a description of the main sources see A Legend of the Wars of Montrose, ed. Alexander, 219–23.
↑ Garside, P. D. (1974). "'A Legend of Montrose' and the History of War". The Yearbook of English Studies. 4: 159–171. doi:10.2307/3506691. JSTOR3506691.
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