The Bride of Lammermoor
Encyclopedia
The Bride of Lammermoor is a historical novel
by Sir Walter Scott, set in Scotland
in the reign of Queen Anne
(1702–1714). The novel tells of a tragic love affair between 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 in 1819; together they form the third series of Scott's Tales of My Landlord
. The story is the basis for Donizetti's 1835 opera Lucia di Lammermoor
.
.
In the mid-17th century, Janet, the eldest daughter of Sir James Dalrymple was betrothed to David Dunbar, heir of Sir David Dunbar of Baldoon. As was the custom, the marriage was arranged by her parents but Janet loved Archibald, third Lord Rutherford, even though his family was virtually penniless. Janet's parents had no use for poor Archibald. They forbade the relationship, insisting that she marry David. Out of duty to the tradition, Janet married David in the church of Old Luce, two miles from her home at Carsecleugh Castle. It was a hot summer day, but her brothers both recollect that Janet's hands were "cold as ice," as she walked down the aisle. "I don't want to be with him," Janet said to them. The same night, after the married couple entered the bedchamber at Baldoon Castle, screaming was heard from the room. When the door was forced open, the staff found Dunbar stabbed and nearly dead. Young Janet was bloodied and clasping a knife, raving and crying. She was judged to be insane and died within a month.
Several versions of the story are told that describe the events that occurred in the bedchamber at Baldoon Castle. In the first, the bride stabbed her bridegroom in the bridal chamber and died of insanity. The second version sees a disappointed Archibald concealed in the chamber who stabs the bridegroom and escapes through the window into the garden. Local tradition adds a third take on the tale, that it was the Devil who killed Dunbar and who tormented Janet until she became demented.
The graves of both Janet and David can be seen in the local chapel.
"The family of Dalrymple," observes Scott, "produced within two centuries as many men of talent, civil and military, of literary, political and professional eminence, as any house in Scotland."
The spelling Lammermoor is an Anglicisation
of the Scots
Lammermuir.
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
by Sir Walter Scott, set in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in the reign of Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
(1702–1714). The novel tells of a tragic love affair between 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
A Legend of Montrose
A Legend of Montrose is an historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, set in Scotland in the 1640s during the Civil War. It forms, along with The Bride of Lammermoor, the 3rd series of Scott's Tales of My Landlord...
were published together in 1819; together they form the third series of Scott's Tales of My Landlord
Tales of My Landlord
Tales of my Landlord is a series of novels by Sir Walter Scott that form a subset of the so-called Waverley Novels. There are four series:...
. The story is the basis for Donizetti's 1835 opera Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
.
Background
The story is fictional, but was based (Scott tells us) on an actual incident in the history of the Dalrymple familyJames Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair
James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair , Scottish lawyer and statesman, was born at Drummurchie, Barr, South Ayrshire.-Biography:...
.
In the mid-17th century, Janet, the eldest daughter of Sir James Dalrymple was betrothed to David Dunbar, heir of Sir David Dunbar of Baldoon. As was the custom, the marriage was arranged by her parents but Janet loved Archibald, third Lord Rutherford, even though his family was virtually penniless. Janet's parents had no use for poor Archibald. They forbade the relationship, insisting that she marry David. Out of duty to the tradition, Janet married David in the church of Old Luce, two miles from her home at Carsecleugh Castle. It was a hot summer day, but her brothers both recollect that Janet's hands were "cold as ice," as she walked down the aisle. "I don't want to be with him," Janet said to them. The same night, after the married couple entered the bedchamber at Baldoon Castle, screaming was heard from the room. When the door was forced open, the staff found Dunbar stabbed and nearly dead. Young Janet was bloodied and clasping a knife, raving and crying. She was judged to be insane and died within a month.
Several versions of the story are told that describe the events that occurred in the bedchamber at Baldoon Castle. In the first, the bride stabbed her bridegroom in the bridal chamber and died of insanity. The second version sees a disappointed Archibald concealed in the chamber who stabs the bridegroom and escapes through the window into the garden. Local tradition adds a third take on the tale, that it was the Devil who killed Dunbar and who tormented Janet until she became demented.
The graves of both Janet and David can be seen in the local chapel.
"The family of Dalrymple," observes Scott, "produced within two centuries as many men of talent, civil and military, of literary, political and professional eminence, as any house in Scotland."
The spelling Lammermoor is an Anglicisation
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
of the Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
Lammermuir.
Plot summary
The story recounts the tragic love of Edgar, Master of Ravenswood, and Lucy Ashton, the daughter of Ravenswood's enemy, Sir William Ashton. Sir William's wife, Lady Ashton, is the villain and evil perpetrator of the whole intrigue, haughty and manipulative in her objective to cancel the initial happy engagement between Edgar and Lucy and forcing the latter to a speedily arranged marriage with the Laird of Bucklaw. In the climax, when the intrigue takes its full course and the wedding celebrations have been held, Lucy stabs the bridegroom, severely wounding him, and descends quickly into insanity and dies. In the story, Caleb Balderstone, an eccentric old Ravenswood family retainer, provides some comic relief.See also
- Fast CastleFast CastleFast Castle is the ruined remains of a coastal fortress in Berwickshire, south-east Scotland, in the Scottish Borders. It lies north west of the village of Coldingham, and just outside of the St Abb's Head National Nature Reserve, run by the National Trust for Scotland...
– probably the fictional "Wolf's Crag" - Lammermuir HillsLammermuir HillsThe Lammermuir Hills, usually simply called the Lammermuirs , in southern Scotland, form a natural boundary between Lothian and the Scottish Borders....