The Fair Maid of Perth (book summary)

The Fair Maid of Perth

by: Sir Walter Scott

The Fair Maid's House in Perth Meanwhile the king, who occupied apartments in the convent, had confessed to the prior and was consulting with his brother, when the Earl of March arrived to intimate his withdrawal to the English Border, followed into the courtyard by Louise, and afterwards by the Duke of Rothsay, whose dalliance with the maiden was interrupted by the Earl of Douglas ordering his followers to seize and scourge her. Henry Gow, however, was at hand and the prince, having committed her to his protection, attended his father's council, at which it was determined that the hostile Clans Chattan and Quhele ("Kay") should be invited to settle their feud by a combat between an equal number of their bravest men in the royal presence, and a commission was issued for the suppression of heresy. The old monarch, having learnt that his son was one of those who had attempted to force their way into the glover's house, insisted that he should dismiss his master of the horse, who encouraged all his follies; and while Catharine, who had listened to the Lollard teaching of Father Clement, was being urged by him to favour the secret suit of the prince, her other lover, Conachar, who had rejoined his clan, appeared to carry off her councillor from arrest as an apostate reformer.

The armourer had maimed the prince's master of the horse, Sir John Ramorny, whose desire for revenge was encouraged by the apothecary, Dwining. An assassin named Bonthron undertook to waylay and murder Henry Gow. On Shrovetide evening old Simon was visited by a party of morrice-dancers, headed by Proudfute, who lingered behind to confirm a rumour that Henry Gow had been seen escorting a merry maiden to his house, and then proceeded thither to apologise for having divulged the secret. On his way home in the armourer's coat and cap, as a protection against other revellers, he received a blow from behind and fell dead on the spot. About the same time, Sir John was roused from the effects of a narcotic by the arrival of the prince, who made light of his sufferings, and whom he horrified by suggesting that he should cause the death of his uncle and seize his father's throne.

The fate of Proudfute, whose body was at first mistaken for that of the armourer, excited general commotion in the city while Catharine, on hearing the news, rushed to her lover's house and was folded in his arms. Her father then accompanied him to the town council, where he was chosen as the widow's champion, and the provost repaired to the king's presence to demand a full inquiry. At a council held the following day; trial by ordeal of bier-right or by combat was ordered and, suspicion having fallen on Ramorny's household, each of his servants was required to pass before the corpse, in the belief that the wounds would bleed afresh as the culprit approached. Bonthron, however, chose the alternative of combat, and having been struck down by Gow, was led away to be hanged. But Dwining had arranged that he should be suspended so that he could breathe, and during the night he and Sir John's page Eviot cut him down and carried him off.

North Inch of Perth, today Catharine had learnt that she and her father were both suspected by the commission; and the provost having offered to place her under the care of The Douglas's daughter, the deserted wife of the prince, the old glover sought the protection of his former apprentice, who was now the chieftain of his clan. Having returned from his father's funeral, Conachar pleaded for the hand of Catharine, without which he felt he should disgrace himself in the approaching combat with the Clan Chattan. Simon, however, reminded him that she was betrothed to the armourer, and his foster father promised to screen him in the conflict. At the instigation of his uncle, the prince had been committed to the custody of the Earl of Errol; but, with the duke's connivance, he was enticed by Ramorny and the apothecary to escape to the castle of Falkland, and, with the help of Bonthron, starved to death there. Catharine and Louise, however, discovered his fate, and communicated with The Douglas, who overpowered the garrison and hung the murderers.

The meeting of the hostile champions had been arranged with great pomp, and Henry Gow, having consented to supply Eachin (Conachar) with a suit of armour, volunteered to take the place of one of the Clan Chattan who failed to appear. A terrible conflict ensued, during which Torquil and his eight sons all fell defending their chief, who at last fled from the battleground unwounded and dishonoured. On hearing of Rothsay's death, Robert III resigned his sceptre to his wily and ambitious brother, and died broken-hearted when his younger son James was captured by the English king. Albany transferred the regency to his son; but, nineteen years afterwards, the rightful heir returned, and the usurper expiated his own and his father's guilt on the scaffold. The warrants against Simon, his daughter, and Father Clement were cancelled by the intervention of the Earl of Douglas, and the Church was conciliated with Dwining's ill-gotten wealth. Conachar either became a hermit, or was spirited away by the fairies; and Scotland boasts of many distinguished descendants from Henry Gow and his spouse the Fair Maid of Perth.

N\A 29/11/2010

Ενότητα: Book Summaries part 1

Πηγή: Wikipedia