 First edition title page | |
| Author | Ainsworth |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
Publication date | 1834 |
Rookwood is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth published in 1834. It is a historical and gothic romance that describes a dispute over the legitimate claim for the inheritance of Rookwood Place and the Rookwood family name.
Ainsworth began to develop the idea of writing a novel in 1829. In a letter to James Crossley during that May, Ainsworth inquired about information about Gypsies and eulogies. By 1830, he began to work for the Fraser's Magazine and was with the magazine when he started writing Rookwood in 1831. A preface to the 1849 edition of the novel discusses the origins and development of the novel: [1] "During a visit to Chesterfield, in the autumn of the year 1831, I first conceived the notion of writing this story. Wishing to describe, somewhat minutely, the trim gardens, the picturesque domains, the rook-haunted groves, the gloomy chambers, and gloomier galleries, of an ancient Hall with which I was acquainted." [2]
The locations Ainsworth refers to is the home of his cousin's wife in Chesterfield and the ancient hall belonged to a friend who lived in Cuckfield Place, Sussex. Ainsworth used the settings in combination with his work for his previous novel, Sir John Chiverton. The work was completed in 1834, and Rookwood, A Romance was published in three volumes by Richard Bentley with illustrations by George Cruikshank. [3] The novel disappeared from bookshops after World War II and a restriction on the use of paper. [4]
The action of the novel takes place in England in 1737. At a manor called Rookwood Place, a legend claims that when a branch of an ancient tree breaks, a death will follow. After a branch does fall from the tree, Piers Rookwood, the owner, dies. It is revealed to Luke Bradley that he is the son, and therefore the heir, of Piers; [5] and also that Piers had murdered Bradley's mother. This knowledge comes to Bradley while he stands near his mother's coffin, which falls and opens at the moment of revelation. [6] During the fall, it can be seen that she is wearing a wedding ring, which suggests that Bradley is not illegitimate. However, the entire incident has been orchestrated by Peter Bradley, the boy's grandfather. Meanwhile, Rookwood's wife, Maud Rookwood, initiates her own scheme to ensure that her son, Ranulph Rookwood, is able to claim the inheritance. [7]
As events unfold, Bradley falls in love with Eleanor Mowbray – but she is in love with her cousin, Ranulph Rookwood. At his grandfather's prompting, Bradley abandons his love, a gypsy named Sybil Lovel, to pursue and try to force Mowbray into marriage. [8] Dick Turpin, a highwayman and thief, is introduced at the manor, under the pseudonym Palmer. While there, he makes a bet with one of the guests that he can capture himself. Eventually, Turpin is forced to escape on his horse, Black Bess. The horse, though fast enough to keep ahead of all other horses, eventually collapses and dies under the stress of the escape. [9] Later, Turpin reappears and tries to help Bradley win Eleanor's hand in marriage, but Bradley is fooled into marrying Sybil instead, Eleanor having been taken by the gypsies. Soon afterwards, Sybil kills herself. To avenge her death, Sybil's family poisons a lock of hair and gives it to Bradley, which results in his death. [10]
Following the death of his grandson, Peter Bradley admits his true identity: he is Alan Rookwood, the brother of Reginald Rookwood, father to Piers. Alan confronts Maud Rookwood, and the two attack each other in the Rookwood family tomb. However, they activate a mechanism that causes the tomb to shut and imprison them together forever. In the end, the only surviving family members, Ranulph Rookwood and Eleanor Mowbray marry. [11]
Ainsworth employs many genres within Rookwood. The novel follows Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto in its use of the gothic genre, an action which helped revive the gothic genre in British literature. However, Ainsworth did not rely on many of the clichés of gothic fiction, in addition to moving the setting of the story from medieval Europe to contemporary England. [12] Ainsworth explained this in his preface to Rookwood: "I resolved to attempt a story in the bygone style of Mrs. Radcliffe [...] substituting an old English highwayman, for the Italian marchese , the castle, and the brigand of the great mistress of Romance." [13]
The gothic elements were merged with the use of historical figures, such as Turpin. In its use of highwaymen, the novel is similar to works such as John Gay's The Beggar's Opera , Henry Fielding's Jonathan Wild , Friedrich Schiller's play The Robbers , and Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Paul Clifford and Eugene Aram . Additionally, Rookwood join's Lytton's novels in being classified as Newgate novels, works published during the early 19th century that focus on the life of famous criminals. In terms of tradition, the novel is related to the works of Horace Walpole and 'Monk' Lewis in its reliance on the supernatural. [14]
The characters of Rookwood take pleasure in the ruin of others. The characters seek out power and indulge in lust, greed, and desires for revenge, which connects them to characters in gothic novels like Walpole's Manfred. The character Luke Bradley is first described in a positive manner, but he is truly corrupt. Ranulph Rookwood, however, is the opposite of Luke, but this causes his character to be less dynamic. Bradley is unpredictable, yet always after power. This, in addition to use of the fantastic within his gothic style, distances Rookwood from the works of both Sir Walter Scott and Mrs Radcliffe, as the latter two prefer a focus on psychology than external effects. Ainsworth relies on externals when he emphasises the idea of prophecy and prophecy's power over the characters. [15]
Some of the characters are secondary and are used just to advance the plot. One such character is Turpin, but Turpin is described in a manner that makes him more lively than any of the other characters. The scene with Black Bess and the escape has little connection to the gothic elements of the novel, but it also appealed more to readers than the rest of the work. The appeal of the scene was to create a new legend about Turpin and his exploits, since Turpin was depicted as a likeable character who made the criminal life appealing. Included with the Turpin scenes and throughout the book are many songs that praise famous criminals in addition to other songs, with a total of 23 songs in the original edition of Rookwood and many more added in later editions. Of the other songs, some were sung by gypsies about love, some were hymns, and some were used to further the gothic setting. [16]
The name Rookwood alludes to the old Recusant (Roman Catholic) family of that name, most famous of whom was Ambrose Rookwood, executed in 1606 for his part in the Gunpowder Plot (the conspiracy which forms the theme of Ainsworth's 1841 novel Guy Fawkes ). [17] Ainsworth, perhaps consciously, paid a double homage to this family, in that his later historical romance The Spendthrift concerns an eighteenth-century heir of the Gage family of Hengrave Hall in Suffolk. John Gage of Hengrave, a descendant in his maternal line from Ambrose Rookwood, [18] was Director of the Society of Antiquaries of London from 1829 to 1842. Gage, also a prominent Catholic, was therefore one of the most distinguished English Antiquaries at the time when Ainsworth published his historical romance of Rookwood in 1834. When Gage inherited the Rookwood estates in 1838 he assumed for himself the surname 'Rokewode', and he died in 1842 at the Fitzherbert family seat of Claughton Hall in Lancashire. The Spendthrift appeared in print some years later.
The character Dick Turpin in the novel Rookwood was based on a real historical person, a highway robber who used pseudonyms to keep the company of gentlemen, and became the legendary type of the English highwayman. An important section of the novel is a dramatic re-telling of Dick Turpin's famous (and fictional) Ride to York. One story involved Turpin and Thom King, a man Turpin attempted to rob and instead befriended him. However, Turpin ended up killing King when trying to kill a constable who was after them. He was eventually arrested for stealing horses, and was executed in 1739. [19]
The initial response from the literary public was positive, and Ainsworth immediately became famous with the novel's publication. [20] In a letter to Crossley dated 6 May 1834, Ainsworth claimed, "The book is doing famously well here – making, in fact, quite a sensation. It has been praised in quarters of which you can have no idea – for instance, by Sir James Scarlett and Lord Durham. I have also received a most flattering letter from Bulwer-Lytton, and it has been the means of introducing me to Lady Blessington and her soirees. In fact, as Byron says, I went to bed unknown, arose, and found myself famous. Bentley has already begun to speak of a second edition – he wants to advertise in all the papers"." [21]
An immediate review in The Quarterly Review said, "His story is one that never flags" and "we expect much from this writer". [22] A review in The Spectator claimed that the work was "Written with great vigour and wonderful variety". [23] The Atlas ran a review which stated, "It is long since such a work as this has been produced – the author exhibits ability of no ordinary kind." [24]
In terms of classification and judgment, Leo Mason, in 1939, claimed that "Rookwood, Jack Sheppard, and Crichton [...] are historical romances and must take their chances as such." [25] Keith Hollingsworth, in his 1963 analysis of the Newgate novels, declared, "Rookwood is a story by Mrs. Radcliffe transplanted [...] ' Substituting' is the accurate word for Ainsworth's process. There is probably no single item of originality in all the profession of Gothic elements." [26] In 1972, George Worth argued for the importance of the gothic elements in Rookwood: "There is no better representative of the Gothic strain in Ainsworth's work than Rookwood [...] which begins with shudders that do not often abate as the novel continues. [27] David Punter, in 1996, as focused on the novel as part of the gothic genre when he argued that Rookwood and Jack Sheppard "are important only as another link in the uneven chain which leads from Godwin, via Lytton, onto Reynolds and Dickens, and which thus produces a form of Gothic connected with the proletarian and the contemporary." [28]
In 2003, Stephen Carver argued, "Rookwood was one of the most successful novels of the nineteenth century. The fact that it has now been largely forgotten is in part an indication of the dynamic nature of literary production during this period, the star of 1834–5, Ainsworth, being rapidly eclipsed by Dickens in 1836." [29] He continued by pointing out, "Stylistically, Rookwood is a wonderful enthusiastic amalgam: blending gothic with Newgate, historical romance with underworld anti-heroes, 'flash' dialogue and song, all luridly illustrated by George Cruikshank. This was what made Rookwood such a novelty in 1838 although, in many ways, the parts could be said to be greater than the whole." [30]
sources: [MS. Addit. 19167, f. 265; Aungier's Hist. of Isleworth, p. 104*; London and Dublin Orthodox Journal, xv. 276; William Thomas Lowndes's Bibliographer's Manual (Bohn), p. 853.]
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1834.
Richard Turpin was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher early in his life but, by the early 1730s, he had joined a gang of deer thieves and, later, became a poacher, burglar, horse thief and killer. He is also known for a fictional 200-mile (320 km) overnight ride from London to York on his horse Black Bess, a story that was made famous by the Victorian novelist William Harrison Ainsworth almost 100 years after Turpin's death.
William Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket. Ebers introduced Ainsworth to literary and dramatic circles, and to his daughter, who became Ainsworth's wife.
Tom King was an English highwayman who operated in the Essex and London areas. His real name is thought to have been Matthew King; whether "Tom" was a nickname or an error in reporting his crimes is uncertain, but it is the name by which he has become popularly known. Some sources claim that he was nicknamed "The Gentleman Highwayman" and he was also known as “Captain Tom King”. A contemporary account of his last robbery also mentions a brother, either John or Robert King, who was captured by the authorities on that occasion. Other reports also mention an “Elizabeth King”, possibly his wife who is mentioned in King's will.
Claude Du Vall (or Duval) (1643 – 21 January 1670) was a French highwayman in Restoration England. He came from a family of decayed nobility, and worked in the service of exiled royalists who returned to England under King Charles II. Little else is known of his history. According to popular legend, he abhorred violence, showing courtesy to his victims and chivalry to their womenfolk, thus spawning the myth of the romantic highwayman, as taken up by many novelists and playwrights.
A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads. Such criminals operated until the mid- or late 19th century. Highwaywomen, such as Katherine Ferrers, were said to also exist, often dressing as men, especially in fiction.
John Nevison, also known as William Nevison or Nevinson, was one of Britain's most notorious highwaymen, a gentleman rogue supposedly nicknamed Swift Nick by King Charles II after a renowned 200-mile (320 km) dash from Kent to York to establish an alibi for a robbery he had committed earlier that day. The story inspired William Harrison Ainsworth to include a modified version in his novel Rookwood, in which he attributed the feat to Dick Turpin. There are suggestions that the feat was actually undertaken by Samuel Nicks. The TV series Dick Turpin had an accomplice of the highwayman, Nick, who earned the nickname Swiftnick.
The Newgate novels were novels published in England from the late 1820s until the 1840s that glamorised the lives of the criminals they portrayed. Most drew their inspiration from the Newgate Calendar, a biography of famous criminals published during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and usually rearranged or embellished the original tale for melodramatic effect. The novels caused great controversy, and drew criticism in particular from the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, who satirised them in several of his novels and attacked the authors openly.
Artist and the Author is a pamphlet written by George Cruikshank in 1872. During the late 1860s, Cruikshank claimed to be the author of works attributed to other writers, including Charles Dickens and William Harrison Ainsworth. After John Forster contradicted Cruikshank's claims to having "originated" Oliver Twist, Cruikshank began a dispute in The Times as being the creator of novels attributed to Ainsworth. After the newspaper stopped carrying the dispute, Cruikshank produced all of his claims in Artist and the Author, where he disputed his relationship to 8 of Ainsworth's novels.
Windsor Castle is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in 1842. It is a historical romance with gothic elements that depicts Henry VIII's pursuit of Anne Boleyn. Intertwined with the story are the actions of Herne the Hunter, a legendary ghost that haunts Windsor woods.
The Miser's Daughter is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in 1842. It is a historical romance that describes a young man pursuing the daughter of a miserly rich man during the 18th century.
Jack Sheppard is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in Bentley's Miscellany from 1839 to 1840, with illustrations by George Cruikshank. It is a historical romance and a Newgate novel based on the real life of the 18th-century criminal Jack Sheppard.
The novel Guy Fawkes first appeared as a serial in Bentley's Miscellany, between January and November 1840. It was subsequently published as a three-volume set in July 1841, with illustrations by George Cruikshank. The first of William Harrison Ainsworth's seven "Lancashire novels", the story is based on the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Ainsworth relied heavily on historical documents describing the trial and execution of the conspirators, of whom Fawkes was one, but he also embellished the known facts. He invented the character of Viviana Radcliffe, daughter of the prominent Radcliffe family of Ordsall Hall – who becomes Fawkes's wife – and introduced gothic and supernatural elements into the story, such as the ability of the alchemist, John Dee, to raise the spirits of the dead.
The Tower of London is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in 1840. It is a historical romance that describes the history of Lady Jane Grey from her short-lived time as Queen of England to her execution.
St. James's is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in 1844. It describes the events surrounding the end of Queen Anne's reign and the dispute between the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough with two Tories for influence over the queen.
Dick Turpin is a 1933 British historical drama film directed by Victor Hanbury and John Stafford it starred Victor McLaglen, Jane Carr, Frank Vosper, James Finlayson and Cecil Humphreys. The film depicts the adventures of the eighteenth century highwayman Dick Turpin and his legendary ride to York. It is based on a historical novel by Harrison Ainsworth.
Old St. Paul's, also titled Old Saint Paul's: A Tale of the Plague and the Fire, is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in 1841. It is a historical romance that describes the events of the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of London. It was the basis for the 1914 silent film Old St. Paul's.
George Dibdin Pitt was an English actor, stage manager and prolific playwright, specializing in melodrama. He was the first playwright to dramatize the fictional character Sweeney Todd, in his 1847 play The String of Pearls; or, The Fiend of Fleet Street. The character was originally created by James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest and had first appeared in a penny dreadful serial titled The String of Pearls.
Thomas Cox, known as "The Handsome Highwayman", was an English highwayman, sentenced to death and hanged at Tyburn. He had a reputation for a spirited nature and it is reported that when asked if he wished to say a prayer before being hanged, he kicked the ordinary and the hangman out of the cart taking him there.
Crichton is an 1837 historical novel by the British writer William Harrison Ainsworth. It was published in three volumes by Richard Bentley. It is inspired by the life of the sixteenth century Scottish polymath James Crichton, known as the "Admiral Chrichton". It was Ainsworth's follow-up to the 1834 bestselling novel Rookwood.
Rookwood public domain audiobook at LibriVox