The Fair Maid of Perth by Sir Walter Scott

First published: 1828

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Historical

Time of plot: 1396

Locale: Scotland

Principal characters

• Henry Gow, the smith and armorer of Perth
• Catharine Glover, his sweetheart, the fair maid of Perth
• Simon Glover, her father
• Conachar, Simon’s apprentice and heir to the chief of Clan Quhele
• The duke of Rothsay, son of King Robert III and heir to the Scottish throne
• Sir John Ramorny, his master of horse
• Robert III, king of Scotland
• The duke of Albany, his brother
• The earl of Douglas, the “Black Douglas”
• Oliver Proudfute, a Perth burgher and a friend of Henry Gow
• Henbane Dwining, Ramorny’s physician and a Perth apothecary
• Sir Patrick Charteris, the provost of Perth

The Story:

As Catharine Glover and her father, Simon, walk to church, an unidentified young nobleman, muffled in a cloak, joins them and asks the young woman’s permission to come to her window the next morning to take part in the traditional Valentine’s Day ritual. When she sensibly refuses to make any alliance above her social standing, he leaves in anger. A welcome guest, Henry Gow, appears at the Glovers’ home that evening; he has just returned from a trip on which he sold armor throughout Scotland. Although Simon approves heartily of Henry’s suit for Catharine’s hand, she is disturbed by the young man’s propensity for quarreling. Henry’s fiery spirit leads him to rise up vigorously that evening against Conachar, Simon’s Highlander apprentice, who jealously pours a tankard of beer on the armorer and then tries to stab him.

Henry’s martial bent is put to better use the next morning, when, coming to present himself to Catharine as her valentine, he discovers a group of men attempting to climb through her bedroom window. While he and Simon are fighting them off, Henry severs the hand of one assailant. Again, a mysterious nobleman is involved. When Simon hears his voice, he sends Henry into his house and frees the other man. In gratitude for Henry’s protection, Catharine agrees to be his valentine, but she will not promise to marry him. She assures him that she is not in love with Conachar, who has just returned to his Highlands home, or any other man.

While King Robert is discussing the rising power of the earl of Douglas with his confessor, the earl arrives at the castle just in time to see his son-in-law, the duke of Rothsay, kiss a traveling entertainer. The “Black Douglas” is infuriated and threatens to kill both the prince and the innocent young woman. The duke of Albany, King Robert’s brother James, and another nobleman calm the two men. Rothsay commits the entertainer to the care of Henry, who has just entered the courtyard while engaged in a scuffle with some of Douglas’s men. Although he is reluctant to accept such a charge, especially on the day he has become Catharine’s valentine, he takes the young woman home with him and then sends her on to Dundee the next morning.

The meeting of the king’s council that follows Rothsay’s foolish flirtation reveals the tensions surrounding the weak and easily influenced king. After King Robert prevents a duel between the archrivals the earls of March and Douglas, March stalks out to join the English. Albany and the prince, too, are struggling for control over king and country. As these personal conflicts smolder, the men discuss the enmity between the clans Quhele and Chattan and decide to settle the clans’ differences by setting the bravest men from each clan against one another in a combat to be fought before the king. After Douglas leaves, the king and Albany question the prince about the early-morning disturbance at Simon’s house, reported to them by Sir Patrick Charteris, the provost of Perth. Confronted with a ring found at Simon’s house, Rothsay confesses that he was present; the ring belongs to Sir John Ramorny, his master of horse. Rothsay agrees to dismiss Ramorny, whom both older men regard as an evil influence over the young prince.

Conachar comes back to Perth briefly when Catharine requests that he give refuge to Father Clement, her confessor, who has been accused of heresy. The Highlander tells her that he is the son of the chief of Clan Quhele and that his real name is Eachin (Hector) MacIan. As he promises protection for Father Clement, he also hints at his love for Catharine.

Ramorny, whose hand was cut off in Perth, plans vengeance on his assailant with Henbane Dwining, an apothecary who is jealous of Henry’s power and influence. Having gained only a mild revenge by spreading the tale of Henry’s association with the itinerant young woman entertainer, he is eager to help Ramorny plot Henry’s assassination. That night, as Shrovetide revelers mill about Perth, Oliver Proudfute, a well-meaning but tactless burgher, assures Simon that Henry is not hiding the young woman; he saw Henry send her to Dundee. Then, fearing that he has made matters worse, Proudfute escapes from a group of taunting masquers and goes to Henry to apologize. Proudfute, who likes to think of himself as a hero but is really a timid soul, avoids the subject of his visit as long as possible. His belated and sheepish confession serves only to deepen Henry’s depression over his relationship with Catharine; Henry orders his friend out, but not until he has granted the burgher’s request that he be allowed to wear Henry’s helmet and jacket to frighten away assailants. Ironically, these garments cause Proudfute’s death: As he walks down the street imitating Henry’s swagger, he is struck down from behind and killed.

Rothsay, who has been among the masquers, goes to find Ramorny to invite him to join the fun. Rothsay is horrified to learn of the loss of Ramorny’s hand, and the prince suspects that Ramorny is planning revenge when he notices the surly murderer Bonthron in the room. Ramorny’s suggestion that they “allow” Albany to die and force King Robert to abdicate shocks Rothsay further. He leaves immediately, vowing to see Ramorny no more and arousing the bitter hatred of his former friend.

The discovery of Proudfute’s body the next morning sets off a rumor that Henry is dead, and Catharine flies disheveled through the streets to see whether he is safe. Henry’s joy at this evidence of her affection is marred by the news of the murder and his realization that he must ignore Catharine’s feelings and declare himself the champion of Proudfute’s widow.

After a brief investigation, the provost suspects that Proudfute’s death was the result of the enmity aroused during the Valentine’s Day encounter between Henry and Ramorny. The council decides to determine the identity of the murderer by using an ancient test, the bier-right, which is based on the superstition that a murdered person’s body bleeds in the presence of the killer. The members of Ramorny’s household are later marched past Proudfute’s body, with no result until Bonthron refuses the test and chooses the alternative, trial by combat. Henry defeats the murderer, who, in his confession, follows the instructions of Ramorny and Dwining and lays the principal blame on Rothsay. Albany immediately puts the prince in the hands of the high constable to protect him and keep him out of further trouble.

Sir Patrick Charteris arrives to tell Simon and Catharine that they are to be arrested for heresy. Simon plans to seek asylum with his old friend, Conachar’s father, in the Highlands; however, knowing his former apprentice’s feelings, he is relieved when the provost offers to take Catharine to Lady Marjory, duchess of Rothsay.

When Simon reaches his destination, he learns that his friend has died, but he is received courteously by the young chief of the clan. Conachar confesses to him that he fears the coming combat with Clan Chattan, and a coward is not a fit leader for a brave clan. He begs Simon to let him marry Catharine, for he feels that her love would strengthen him. Simon refuses to break his word to Henry, however.

Meanwhile, Ramorny has enticed Rothsay to flee to the former residence of his duchess by telling him that Catharine is coming there. When Catharine arrives, thinking Lady Marjory is still there, the prince at first tries to seduce her, but later he gives in to her appeal to his honor. He entrusts her to Louise, the itinerant entertainer he was earlier seen kissing, whom he encountered again by chance.

Ramorny and Dwining starve the prince to death while spreading arumor that he is ill. Louise and Catharine discover what is happening, and Louise escapes to bring Douglas to the rescue while Catharine tries to get food to Rothsay. Douglas arrives in time to force Ramorny’s surrender and to save Catharine’s life, but not in time to save the prince; Dwining poisons himself to avoid his confederate’s fate of death by hanging.

Douglas and Albany decide to keep Rothsay’s death secret until after the clan combat on Palm Sunday. That morning, Henry volunteers to take the place of a missing Chattan warrior and fights valiantly in order to have a chance to meet Conachar, whom he believes is a rival about to wed Catharine. Conachar’s foster father sacrifices his eight sons and himself in an attempt to protect Conachar, but their efforts are useless. When the young leader faces Henry at last, the Highlander flees across the River Tay. Later that day, he goes to Catharine to tell her of his cowardice before he plunges to his death in the river.

Catharine and Henry are married a few months later. Although she is reconciled to her husband’s warring impulses, he vows to take up arms again only in behalf of his country. Their first son has as godparents the earl of Douglas, Lady Marjory, and Sir Patrick Charteris.

King Robert dies soon afterward, brokenhearted by the death of one son and the capture by the English of the other, later James I of Scotland, whom Robert was sending away to protect him from Albany’s power. Albany, acquitted by Parliament of the charge that he was responsible for Rothsay’s death, nevertheless does penance for his guilt. His son, who inherited the regency, pays for his father’s sins on the scaffold when James I comes to the throne years later.

Bibliography

Hart, Francis. Scott’s Novels: The Plotting of Historic Survival. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1966. Includes discussion of The Fair Maid of Perth that analyzes the novel’s characterization, noting that Henry is a nontraditional hero and that both major and minor characters display mythical qualities. Also discusses theme and symbolism in the novel.

Irvine, Robert P. “The State, the Domestic, and National Culture in the Waverley Novels.” In Enlightenment and Romance: Gender and Agency in Smollett and Scott. New York: Peter Lang, 2000. Chapter devoted to the depiction of Scottish culture in Scott’s Waverley novels, of which The Fair Maid of Perth is one, is part of an analysis of the fiction of Scott and Tobias Smollett within the context of the emergence of social sciences and the dominance of novels written by female writers in the eighteenth century. Describes how the authors adapted the feminine romance and the domestic novel to assert control over the narrative structure of their novels.

Johnson, Edgar. Sir Walter Scott: The Great Unknown. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1970. Extensively researched biography explores Scott both as a man and as a writer. Argues that the struggle between courage and cowardice depicted in The Fair Maid of Perth becomes a philosophical discussion of the difficulty of being nonviolent in a violent world. Evaluates the novel’s characterization and style, paying particular attention to Scott’s imagery. An excellent introductory source.

McMaster, Graham. Scott and Society. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Includes discussion of The Fair Maid of Perth that focuses on the disillusionment with many aspects of society that are revealed in the ironic portrayals of some characters. Analyzes the novel’s characterization, style, and theme.

Shaw, Harry E., ed. Critical Essays on Sir Walter Scott: The Waverley Novels. New York: G. K. Hall, 1996. Collection of essays published between 1858 and 1996 discusses Scott’s series of novels. Includes journalist Walter Bagehot’s 1858 article about the Waverley novels and discussions of such topics as Scott’s rationalism, storytelling and subversion of the literary form in Scott’s fiction, and what Scott’s work meant to Victorian readers.

Sutherland, John. The Life of Walter Scott: A Critical Biography. New York: Blackwell, 1995. Discusses Scott’s use, in The Fair Maid of Perth, of a fourteenth century story to mirror the political situation in his own time, providing a detailed chronology. Asserts that the novel centers on weak sons who betray their strong father figures.

Wagenknecht, Edward. Sir Walter Scott. New York: Continuum, 1991. Describes The Fair Maid of Perth as Scott’s darkest and most violent novel, with its savage contrasting of the differences between the Highlands and the Lowlands, war and peace, and the burghers and the ruling class. Notes that Henry Gow is a wild, at times licentious, hero, often out of control, and asserts that Catharine is the most saintly of Scott’s heroines.