Sir Walter Scott: PEVERIL OF THE PEAK

Sir Walter Scott

PEVERIL OF THE PEAK (1822)

Reviewed by Patrick Killough

I. Reviewed for barnesandnoble.com

Reviewer's Rating of PEVERIL OF THE PEAK: * * * THREE STARS

Here is how your review will appear on the title page:
• Patrick Killough (patrick@thekilloughs.com), soon to teach a course on Scott, June 3, 2007,

TITLE OF THIS REVIEW: 'Here is a plot without a drop of blood'

Why do people read a great poet and novelist like Sir Walter Scott?

Some read Scott for the story and colorful characters, others as introduction to history. And many for Scott's wild, romantic landscapes. His early poems had made the hitherto almost impenetrable Trossachs of Scotland an instant must for European travelers. And in PEVERIL OF THE PEAK, Sir Walter did a similar even-handed, colorful bit for English tourism.

The novel's first page locates us in Central England's Derbyshire and its Peak District. We are told the history of Peveril Castle dating from the Norman Conquest. We see it impregnably positioned overlooking the village of Castleton and England's greatest cavern. Scott tells us of its playing out mines. He shows us impoverished, easily stirred up miners of the 1670s.

In another locale the hero, young Julian Peveril, serves as page of the widowed Catholic Duchess of the Isle of Man. His Lady sends him with a packet of dangerous messages via Liverpool to London and the Court of Charles II. This is 1678, an hysterical time in England as the charlatan Titus Oates and his lying witnesses send many innocent men to their deaths for alleged involvement in a non-existent Papist plot to massacre Protestants and overthrow the King.

PEVERIL OF THE PEAK is the second Walter Scott novel to deal with King Charles II. In WOODSTOCK young Charles Stuart was on the run in 1651 from Oliver Cromwell after the battle of Worcester, with novel's end portraying his triumphant return from France in 1660. Charles II is not much of a King, easy-going, pleasure-seeking, quickly diverted from business. But he is courteous, elegant and intelligent enough to be aghast at Titus Oates's evil doings. He tells his great chum the Duke of Buckingham, '...the nation is in a scarlet fever for fear of the poor Catholics, who are not two men to five hundred ... ' (Ch. 31).

But only late in the story does the King cautiously and behind the scenes intervene on behalf of his loyal supporters, the Peverils father and son, to assure a 'not guilty' verdict on charges of treason.

At novel's end the King sums up a devilishly complicated, melodramatic story line:

' ... would ... that all our political intrigues and feverish alarms could terminate as harmlessly as now. Here is a plot without a drop of blood and all the elements of a romance, without its conclusion. Here we have a wandering island princess, ... a dwarf, a Moorish sorceress, an impenitent rogue, and a repentant man of rank, and yet all ends without either hanging or marriage' (Ch 49).

This is not Walter Scott at his best. But his merely good is better than many writers' best. -OOO-

Also recommended: Sir Walter Scott, WOODSTOCK, THE ABBOT, THE MONASTERY. David Brown: WALTER SCOTT AND THE HISTORICAL IMAGINATION. Joseph Ellis Baker, THE NOVEL AND THE OXFORD MOVEMENT.

II. Reviewed for amazon.com

Reviewer's Rating of PEVERIL OF THE PEAK: * * * THREE STARS

Title of this Review: When Titus Oates Made England Hell for Catholics,
June 4, 2007

PEVERIL OF THE PEAK, a sprawling novel covering the years 1658 -1678, appeared in 1822. It has enough plots and subplots for three novels. It displays more than a score of characters who appear and reappear, a majority real figures of 17th Century English history. Sir Walter Scott, however, for dramatic effect so alternately compresses or expands the chronology of this tale of the Titus Oates anti-Catholic frenzy that at least one historical character, the Countess of Derby, is made a part of events that took place well after her death.

Here is a preliminary guide to major characters. They cluster around three locations: (1) the Isle of Man, (2) the Peak District of Derbyshire and (3) London and the Court of King Charles II.

--(1) In other Walter Scott novels The Isle of Man is a base for smuggling, being situated between Ireland, Scotland and England. Its natives are Celtic-speaking. Its constitution makes its powerful hereditary ruler "King," albeit a feudal subordinate of the Crown of England. Dominating the Isle of Man is French-born Countess Charlotte, widow of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby. She is mother of and regent for the bored young Earl Charles. William Christian, her steward, had surrendered Man to Cromwell. When King Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660 the Countess summarily executed Christian during a time the King had proclaimed amnesty. For this her son's estate was fined ruinously.

Edward Christian, brother of "the martyr," relentlessly sought hidden, devious vengeance on the Countess. To this end he had his half North African daughter Fenella ruthlessly starved and trained on the Continent as an acrobat. The Countess of Derby had taken pity on Fenella (not knowing that she thought --erroneously -- that she was daughter of the slain William Christian) as her serving maid and secretary.

--(2) Central England's Peak District. This is the home of a ruined 600 year old castle belonging to the Peverils. Sir Geoffrey Peveril is a tall Cavalier impoverished in the English Civil Wars for doing battle for the Stuart Kings Charles I and Charles II against Parliament and Oliver Cromwell. His wife is Margaret Stanley, kinswoman to the Earl of Derby executed by Cromwell in 1651. Lady Margaret is mother of Julian, age three in 1660. Lady Peveril had been entrusted with the raising of 18-month old Alice Bridgenorth, niece of that William Christian executed by the Countess of Derby. Alice's father is Ralph Bridgenorth, a rich Puritan commoner whose lands touch on those of the Peverils. During the Civil War there were times when the Peverils protected the Bridgenorths and times when the Bridgenorths shielded the Peverils. Over time Sir Geoffrey contracted very large debts to Ralph Bridgenorth. The two men quarreled when Bridgenorth attempted to arrest the Countess of Derby in Sir Geoffrey's castle.

Alice's nurse is Deborah Debbitch. Deb fancies Lance Outram, gamekeeper to the Peverils of the Peak.

Keep your eye on four women of this novel: the Countess, her diminutive deaf-mute maid Fenella, Deb Debbitch and Alice Bridgenorth.

--(3) London is the seat of the court of King Charles II. His favorite, George Villiers, Second Duke of Buckingham, lusts to become ruler (King) of the Isle of Man. Parliament had awarded Man to the Duke's father-in-law, Lord Fairfax during the Civil Wars but Charles had given it back to the Stanleys. Various courtiers, thugs, hangers on and others strut their parts on the London stage.

One historical character important in the novel's later stage is the dwarf Sir Geoffrey Hudson, imprisoned like the Peverils father and son on the false charges of Titus Oates.

Reverend Doctor TITUS OATES is today regarded as one of the vilest Englishman in history. From 1678 till 1681 he made his Protestant countrymen believe in a fictitious "Papish Plot." The tiny remnant of Roman Catholics in England were charged with being actively engaged in bringing a Spanish army into the Kingdom for the destruction of government and removal of King Charles II. Innocent men, including Saint Oliver Pluckett, Archbishop of Armagh, were put to death by the lying words of Titus Oates.

In PEVERIL OF THE PEAK all of these characters and others are brought together as Oates spins his web. The Peverils are accused of high treason. Bridgenorth and Christian organize fanatical Protestants (Fifth Monarchists and others) to league with Buckingham to capture the King. The King moves to trim Oates's sails. Julian Peveril pursues his childhood sweetheart Alice Bridgenorth. Fenella/Zarah loves Julian, the only man who has ever treated her with kindness, and tries in vain to persuade him to drop Alice. Fenella is used by Edward Christian to spy on Catholics, dance for Charles II and make Buckingham fall in love with her.

This book is a very slow read. It is hard to keep the characters straight. I have heard people say that PEVERIL OF THE PEAK is the price they willingly paid for meeting Fenella! But in compensation there are many grand scenes, some laced with humor.
-OOO-

III. Reviewed for epinions.com

TITLE OF THIS REVIEW: "Would that all our political intrigues and feverish alarms could terminate as harmlessly"
by aohcapablanca, Jun 05 '07

PEVERIL OF THE PEAK may be the most complicated historical novel you will ever read. Feminists love the character of Fenella, born Zarah. If I expect a friend who has never read Sir Walter Scott to read fiendishly convoluted PEVERIL on my recommendation, I will succeed, I think, only if I first interest him or her in a diminutive half-English, half-Mauritanian 17th century female acrobat. As a child placed for training by her father with a traveling mountebank, Zarah was starved into submission. She was trained physically and psychologically as an instrument of her father (whom she thinks is her uncle). His is a lifelong mission to make the ruling Countess of the Isle of Man pay for executing his brother for surrendering the Island to Cromwell in the Civil Wars.

PEVERIL OF THE PEAK begins in 1558 and is about a 20-year build up to a brief reign of terror. Innocent Catholics and Anglicans were then suddenly swept up in the hysterical (1678 - 1781) national security frenzy instigated by Reverend Titus Oates. That shameless liar convinced a hysterical Britain that Roman Catholics, then less than one percent of the population, had hatched a plot to bring a Spanish army into England. Good, prominent men were imprisoned, even hanged, drawn and quartered because of Titus Oates's "Papist Plot."

As for the story line of the novel as a whole, let the baffled, wondering words of King Charles II suffice for most of the heavy lifting. On the last page of PEVERIL OF THE PEAK a very good-natured, forgiving King Charles, who, Perry Mason-wise, had just successfully interrogated and teased out the confused, often incredible facts from the principals, mused aloud:

So what is so striking about Zarah that you should put up with the sometimes tedious rest of PEVERIL for her sake?

We meet her in 1678 as Fenella on the Isle of Man, a mini-kingdom ruled by widowed Roman Catholic Charlotte, Countess of Derby, on behalf of her indolent son Earl Philip, whose official title is "King in Man." His companion, and page of Lady Margaret, is 21 year old Julian Peveril. Julian has found his long lost childhood Puritan companion Alice Bridgenorth living secretly on the island with her governess and makes secret fishing trips into the hills to court Alice.

At the heavily fortified island castle of Sodor or Holm-Peel Fenella carries the train of her mistress. She is "a little favourite attendant, a deaf and dumb girl whom, in compassion to her misfortune, the Countess had educated about her person for some years" (Ch. 15). Lady Charlotte had bestowed on her the name Fenella, after an ancient princess of Man. Fenella has long black hair, beauty and fire. She was a trained acrobat and dancer, sews, sketches and does calligraphy. She is widely regarded by islanders as an evil fairy. The Countess, like her son Philip and his friend Julian, communicates with Fenella by signs.

Through hints and slips of her mask, it gradually -- far too gradually for my taste -- becomes clear that Fenella had been deliberately placed with the Countess as a spy in a scheme of vengeance. But the axe is put to the root of that plan once she falls madly in love with Julian Peveril, the only man who has always been kind to her.

When Julian is sent on a secret and dangerous mission by the Countess bearing letters to her Catholic supporters in London, Fenella leaps into the boat with him. (Chs. 18, 19, 20).

As we find out much later, Fenella is guided at every step (except for her love for Julian) by her evil uncle/father Edward Christian. For that reason she makes sure that Julian meets King Charles II who is enchanted by her dancing. Fenella (Chs. 30, 31, 32) is swept up into Christian's plan to make his niece (and her cousin) Alice the amorous King's mistress. Along the way the Duke of Buckingham tries to seduce Alice before the King can have her.

(NOTE: the Duke of Buckingham's father in law was awarded the Isle of Man by Oliver Cromwell and the Duke wants it for himself. But the restored Charles II gave Man back to its hereditary owners, the great family of Stanley.)

Fenella spirits her cousin out of Buckingham's clutches and, in a veil, substitutes herself for Alice in confinement in the Duke's "harem" household prison. Although Fenella vigorously upbraids Buckingham, the dissolute best friend of the King, the Duke is smitten by her. For his part, Christian, in vain, tries to keep her from going wobbly in his plot to ruin the Countess -- by swearing the Duke will marry Fenella.

Finally, Fenella throws a monkey wrench into an insane joint operation of Christian and Buckingham to lay hands on the king during a party in the Queen's quarters. She sends a knightly dwarf just released from prison inside a violin-cello case to a fete for the king, in which all the musical instrument containers are to be filled with weapons. After the dwarf pops out and explains what Buckingham is up to, the King then quickly unravels the major elements of a complex effort to replace his dissipated counselors by Puritans. Christian identifies himself to Fenella/Zarah as her father, not her uncle, and she at least ostensibly goes off with him in banishment to North America.

It is impossible to do justice even to the story of Fenella in a brief review, let alone to the score of other recurring characters. Proving her infatuation, Fenella makes several bold attempts to pry Julian away from Alice and indeed greatly exerts herself to free him once he has been imprisoned for street fighting and then for treason. She is a woman much mistreated by men, slowly gaining the courage to fight back against remaining a puppet.

It is easy to see the spiritual sisterhood of two Walter Scott heroines: PEVERIL OF THE PEAK's half-breed North African Fenella (real name Zarah) and the Jewess Rebecca of York in IVANHOE. They are both highly talented minority women in the throes of impossible romances. Both capitulate to reality and get on with their lives.

I wish that PEVERIL OF THE PEAK were a better book. Walter Scott's tale, though full of great scenes and fascinating history, contains more material than one novel should. As fiction, it makes a conscientious reader want to learn more of the real history of an age when Puritans repented that they had agreed to the return of a king whose self-indulgent life-style and court mocked everything they stood for. Titus Oates's whipping up hatred of Catholics weakly foreshadowed what Hitler would one day do to Jews. The major difference was that Oates never had Hitler's political power.

For opera lovers, Fenella appears in Isaac Pocock/Charles E. Horn's 1826 PEVERIL OF THE PEAK and is tacked on as the hero's speechless sister in an otherwise non-Scott-related but very successful 1828 La Muette de Portici by Eugene Scribe and G. Delavigne.

A FINAL NOTE: Barnes and Noble will release June 27, 2007 from Edinburgh University Press a new scholarly edition by Dr Alison Lumsden of PEVERIL OF THE PEAK, 592 pages. I have placed my pre-order. I am sure that epinions.com will also market the new edition.

-OOO-

Pros:
Fenella: feminism's darling, starved as a child, half-Mauritanian acrobat, spy, frustrated in love.

Cons:
Convoluted story line. A detective story with too few clues given too late.

The Bottom Line:
Read PEVERIL for Fenella, King Charles II, the Duke of Buckingham, the dwarf knight Sir Geoffrey Hudson and the villainous Titus Oates. Its convoluted plot is the price you pay.

Overall Product Rating: * * * Average

Recommended:
Yes

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