1790 Waverly Novels Volume VIII: The Talisman - The Two Drovers - My Aunt Margaret's Mirror - Death of the Laird's Jock - Woodstock - Count Robert of Paris, by Sir Walter Scott, Bart. (read 8 Aug 1983) The Talisman is a tale laid in the Palestine of the Crusades, and tells a story of Prince David of Scotland, who loves Edith Plantagenet, a lady in the suite of Richard I's wife. He has various dealings with Saladin, who appears in a couple of disguises. A pennon of England is stolen and Richard almost kills David--who was to guard it but is lured away to see Edith. As usual, one gets caught up in the story, even if it is fiction and of little count. The dialogue is really ridiculous.
The Two Drovers is only 13 pages. It tells of a cattle drover who kills his friend, and is executed for the murder.
My Aunt Margaret's Mirror tells a slight tale of a lady who is shown an event in Geneva where her husband attempts marriage to an heiress, is stopped by his brother-in-law, and kills the latter. The story is too short and unexplained to be meaningful.
Death of the Laird's Jock tells of an old man's distress when his son loses a duel, even though equipped with his father's special sword. Only three pages!
Woodstock tells of a royal residence occupied by Sir Henry Lee, and of events there in 1652. Some Roundheads occupy the place but are scared out and Cromwell lets Sir Henry Lee and his daughter Alice (the heroine) live there with the idea that Charles I's son will come there and Cromwell can capture him. The son does come--and makes a pass at Alice, which she, devoted royalist though she be, determinedly rejects. Her affection is firmly committed to Col. Evenard, her cousin, even though her father has forbidden her to see him because he was not on the royalist side in the Civil War. Oliver Cromwell comes to Woodstock, but Charles escapes. The story ends in 1660, when Sir Henry Lee dies after seeing Charles II return in triumph. The story has the merits and defects of a Scott novel, but I thought it was fun to read.
Count Robert of Paris is undoubtedly the poorest Scott novel I have ever read. It is laid in Constantinople at the time of the Knights' Crusade. Hereward is an Anglo-Saxon belonging to the Verangian Guard, and Count Robert is a Crusader with Bernhilda as his wife, and Bertha--fiancee of Hereward--as her servant. Alexius Commenius, Emperor, is a prominent figure in the novel, as is his daughter, Anna. But the plot is just a jumpy mish-mash, creakily constructed and really of minimal interest. ( )