1360 The Fortunes of Nigel - Quentin Durward - St. Ronan's Well, by Sir Walter Scott, bart. (read 6 Oct 1975) These three novels were in one volume, so they count as one book.

The Fortunes of Nigel is laid in the time of James I. Nigel is a Scottish lord who comes to London to seek to save his estate. He falls in with Lord Dalgarno, the villain, who introduces him to gambling, etc. Nigel gets in trouble, repairs to Whitefriars, is present at the murder of a miser, and I omit the rest because it would be a spoiler. I found this not a bad book, once it got going. But the Scottish dialect adds nothing to the pleasure of the reading.

Quentin Durward tells story of a young Scotchman who in 1468 joins the Scottish Archers of King Louis XI of France, falls in love with Isabelle de Croye, has many adventures, and kills, or helps to kill, the murderer of the Bishop of Leige (the Bishop was not murdered till 1482, but Scott blithely moves the murder to 1468 so he can have it during the reign of Louis XI--this bugs me but there isn't anything I can do about it). This is a classic tale of knights and fighting, and while its language is somewhat cumbersome, it is much the language one expects of 1823, when Scott wrote it.

St, Ronan's Well was published in 1824. I certainly don't think it is as good as some Scott novels. It is laid in Napoleonic times but has nothing to do with any historical matter. There is an involved plot of two half-brothers, one of whom contrives to marry the other's fiance--and then the after-effects. I was surprised by the ending, which is not like the endings of the other two novels in this volume. ( )