Waverley (novel)
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Illustration to 1893 edition, by J. Pettie.
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| Author | Sir Walter Scott |
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| Original title | Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English, Lowland Scots, some Scottish Gaelic and French |
| Series | Waverley Novels |
| Genre | Historical novel |
| Publisher | Archibald Constable |
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Publication date
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7 July 1814 |
| Followed by | Guy Mannering |
Waverley is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832). Published anonymously in 1814 as Scott's first venture into prose fiction, it is often regarded as the first historical novel in the western tradition. The book became so popular that Scott's later novels were advertised as being "by the author of Waverley". His series of works on similar themes written during the same period have become collectively known as the "Waverley Novels".
It is the time of the Jacobite uprising of 1745 which sought to restore the Stuart dynasty in the person of Charles Edward Stuart, known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie". A young English dreamer and soldier, Edward Waverley, is sent to Scotland that year. He journeys north from his aristocratic family home, Waverley-Honour, in the south of England, first to the Scottish Lowlands and the home of family friend Baron Bradwardine, then into the Highlands and the heart of the rebellion and its aftermath.
Edward has been brought up in the family home by his uncle, Sir Everard Waverley, who maintains the family's traditional Tory and Jacobite sympathies, while Edward's Whig father works for the Hanoverian government in nearby Westminster. Edward is given a commission in the Hanoverian army and posted to Dundee, then promptly takes leave to visit Lord Bradwardine, a Jacobite friend of his uncle, and meets the peer's lovely daughter Rose.
When wild Highlanders visit Bradwardine's castle, Edward is intrigued and goes to the mountain lair of the Clan Mac-Ivor, meeting the Chieftain Fergus and his sister Flora, who turn out to be active Jacobites preparing for the insurrection. But Edward has overstayed his leave and is accused of desertion and treason, then arrested. The highlanders rescue him from his escort and take him to the Jacobite stronghold at Doune Castle, then on to Holyrood Palace, where he meets Bonnie Prince Charlie himself. Encouraged by the beautiful Flora Mac-Ivor, Edward goes over to the Jacobite cause and takes part in the Battle of Prestonpans of September 1745. The battle is recounted in some detail. Undaunted by the light, inaccurate guns, the Highlander army continues its charge; however, the centre becomes bogged down in marshy land, and in driving forward the men's different speeds of advance cause them to form into a "V". One of the soldiers who tumbles into the marsh is the Hanoverian Colonel Talbot, whom Waverley picks up on his horse, saving his life. This man turns out to be a close friend of his Waverley uncle. When the Jacobite cause fails in 1746, Talbot intervenes to get Edward a pardon. After attending the trial in Carlisle at which Fergus Mac-Ivor is condemned to death, Edward is rejected by the passionate Flora, a representative of the romantic past, and instead marries Bradwardine's daughter, the calmer Rose, who symbolises a modern rational Scotland in the post-Union settlement.
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