The Scottish Chiefs

by Jane Porter

Overview

Jane Porter (1776-1850) has written an historical novel well suited for older children and adults. Edward 1 King of England had arrived in Scotland at the head of an immense army. He forced the Scottish king and his nobles to recognize him as their king on the field at Dunbar. The story begins. " Bright was the summer of 1296. The war which had desolated Scotland was then at an end. Ambition seemed satiated; and the vanquished, after having passed under the yoke of their enemy, concluded they might wear their chains in peace. Such were the hopes of those Scottish noblemen who, early in the preceding spring, had signed the bond of submission to a ruthless conqueror, purchasing life at the price of all that makes life estimable-liberty and honor." William Wallace was a Scottish knight and landowner who is known for leading a resistance during the Wars for Scottish Independence and regarded as a patriot and national hero. Wallace encounters secret passageways, disguises, and a quintet of horrible villains as he fights for Scotland at the turn of the fourteenth century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781438512068
Publisher:	Book Jungle
Publication date:	02/17/2009
Pages:	732
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.46(d)

About the Author

Fiona Price is Lecturer in English at the University of Chichester.

Read an Excerpt

ence he hoped to make his peace with hue by Jw gnM he would show to set him at liberty. Wallace, meanwhile, who fully comprehended /iit wt his enemy s views, and what ought to r,a his nr,i. r.Ki.i.s..rc? as soon as he saw the unhappy group disappear from the battlements of the Keep, recalled hia men from the inner ballium wall; and stationing several detachments along the ramparts and in the towers of the outer wall, left De Valence in the guard-room of the barbican under the charge of Lord Ruthven, who was.eager himself to hold the means that were to check the threaie1.ied danger of relatives so dear to him as were the prisandduM in the castle. CHAPTER IV, WALLACE, baring disposed part of his men in com manding posts aranddiidthe town, went forward with hischo sen troops toward the place where, from the information of his scouts, he decried it most likely he should intercept De Warrenn to take his position upon an advantageous ground about half a mile from Stirling, near to the abbey of Cambns- kennpth. The Forth lay before him, crossed by a wooden bridge, over which the enemy must pass to reach him, as the river was not in that part fordable, and some late rains had rendered it at present particularly swollen. The beams which supported this bridge, he ordered to be sawed at the bottom; but not moved in the least, that thev might stand perfectly firm for as long as he should deem ft necessary. To each beam were fastened strong ropes; all of which were held by some of his sturdiest Lanerkers who lay concealed among the rushes. These preparations being made he dre up his troops in order of battle.—Kirkpatrick and Murray commanded the flanks. In the centre stood Wallace himself,with Ramsay on one side of him, and Ed- Win with Scry mgeour on the other, awaiting with ste...

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Jane Porter: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text

The Scottish Chiefs,A Romance

Appendix A: Additional Prefatory Material

1. Preface to a subsequent edition, added in the year 1828
2. A Retrospective Introduction to the Standard Edition of The Scottish Chiefs (1831)
3. Recollective Preface (1840)

Appendix B: Contemporary Reviews of the 1810 and 1831 Editions

1. The Gentleman’s Magazine (1810)
2. The Scots Magazine (1810)
3. Monthly Magazine (1811)
4. The Aberdeen Magazine (1831)
5. Fraser’s Magazine (1835)

Appendix C: From Thomas Carlyle, “Miss Baillie’s Metrical Legends,” New Edinburgh Review (October 1821)

Appendix D: From William Hamilton, A New Edition of the Life and Heroic Actions of the Renown’d Sir William Wallace (1786)

Appendix E: Representations of Wallace

1. Robert Burns, “Scots wha hae” (1803)
2. From Felicia Hemans, “Wallace’s Invocation to Bruce: A Poem” (1819)
3. From Joanna Baillie, “A Metrical Legend of William Wallace” (1821)
4. From Thomas Campbell, “The Dirge of Wallace” (1829)

Select Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

Fiona Price’s edition of Jane Porter’s The Scottish Chiefs (1810) confirms its place as a key work in the development of the Romantic novel. In her wide-ranging introduction Price not only explores the novel’s reputation as an influential precursor to Walter Scott’s historical romances, but also establishes its topical force as an eloquent intervention on masculinity, heroism, and patriotism written at the height of the war against Napoleon. Price’s authoritative account of the author’s life and literary network is a valuable contribution to the history of women’s writing. The appendices, highlighting Porter’s editorial supplements, the critical controversy surrounding the novel, and other versions of the legend of William Wallace, provide fascinating insights into print culture and the workings of historical memory.” — Emma Clery, Southampton University

From the Publisher

"Fiona Price's edition of Jane Porter's The Scottish Chiefs (1810) confirms its place as a key work in the development of the Romantic novel. In her wide-ranging introduction Price not only explores the novel's reputation as an influential precursor to Walter Scott's historical romances, but also establishes its topical force as an eloquent intervention on masculinity, heroism, and patriotism written at the height of the war against Napoleon. Price's authoritative account of the author's life and literary network is a valuable contribution to the history of women's writing. The appendices, highlighting Porter's editorial supplements, the critical controversy surrounding the novel, and other versions of the legend of William Wallace, provide fascinating insights into print culture and the workings of historical memory."

Emma Clery Southampton University