Product Description

No historical figures appear in The Pirate, and there are no historical events, but it is still an historical novel because it dramatises those 'corners of time' where an old era is coming to an end, and a new is beginning. The novel is set in Orkney and Shetland in 1689, and for the northern isles the 'Glorious Revolution' actually means the beginning of the cultural dominance of Scotland and the advent of English power. Scott draws heavily on the diary he kept on his tour round the lighthouses of Scotland in 1814. In both the diary and the novel he weighs the real need to improve the agricultural methods of this barely subsistence economy against the force of tradition and the human cost of rapid change. The plot hinges on an illicit relationship, and is driven by dark men twisted by their criminality, an obsessed woman searching for her lost son, and the murderous rivalry of two young men - a family tale which illustrates the uses and abuses of traditional lore, as well as Scott's extraordinary grasp of the literature of the north.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1072743 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 592 pages

Review
Weinstein and Lumsden have corrected almost 500 readings and misunderstandings ! they have also restored some sixty dialectical words that the original editors had changed to Standard English. For work like this they deserve unstinting praise ... What would Scott say about this new edition? I suspect he would be surprised at how much Weinstein and Lumsden have let him get away with ! and pleased that so many downright errors have been corrected, at long last. The Edinburgh Edition respects Scott the artist by 'restoring' versions of the novels that are not quite what his first readers saw. Indeed, it returns to manuscripts that the printers never handled, as Scott's fiction before 1827 was transcribed before it reached the printshop. Each volume of the Edinburgh edition presents an uncluttered text of one work, followed by an Essay on the Text by the editor of the work, a list of the emendations that have been made to the first edition, explanatory notes and a glossary ! The editorial essays are histories of the respective texts. Some of them are almost 100 pages long; when they are put together they constitute a fascinating and lucid account of Scott's methods of compostion and his financial manoeuvres. This edition is for anyone who takes Scott seriously. Weinstein and Lumsden have corrected almost 500 readings and misunderstandings ! they have also restored some sixty dialectical words that the original editors had changed to Standard English. For work like this they deserve unstinting praise ... What would Scott say about this new edition? I suspect he would be surprised at how much Weinstein and Lumsden have let him get away with ! and pleased that so many downright errors have been corrected, at long last. The Edinburgh Edition respects Scott the artist by 'restoring' versions of the novels that are not quite what his first readers saw. Indeed, it returns to manuscripts that the printers never handled, as Scott's fiction before 1827 was transcribed before it reached the printshop. Each volume of the Edinburgh edition presents an uncluttered text of one work, followed by an Essay on the Text by the editor of the work, a list of the emendations that have been made to the first edition, explanatory notes and a glossary ! The editorial essays are histories of the respective texts. Some of them are almost 100 pages long; when they are put together they constitute a fascinating and lucid account of Scott's methods of compostion and his financial manoeuvres. This edition is for anyone who takes Scott seriously.

About the Author
Mark Weinstein is Professor of English Literature at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Alison Lumsden is Senior Lecturer, Department of English Literature at the University of Aberdeen.

Customer Reviews

No Johnny Depp here.
THE PIRATE

SIR WALTER SCOTT

"THAT long, narrow, and irregular island, usually called the Mainland of Zetland, because it is by far the largest of that Archipelago, terminates, as is well known to the mariners who navigate the stormy seas which surround the Thule of the ancients, in a cliff of immense height, entitled Sumburgh-Head, which presents its bare scalp and naked sides to the weight of a tremendous surge, forming the extreme point of the isle to the south-east."



The work of the prolific Scottish writer, Sir Walter Scott, is sadly no longer thought of as fashionable to read.

Ask people what he wrote, and the most popular answer I am sure would be `Ivanhoe', `Rob Roy' or perhaps `The Lady of the Lake'.

'Ivanhoe', like `Rob Roy' were part of Scott's Waverley Novels as was one of my favourite books by him, and the one I am reviewing here, The Pirate'; this book was seventh in the series and was published in December1821.

The Pirate is set in 17th-century Shetland (Jetland in Scott's book) and centres on the rivalry between the gallant Mordaunt Mertoun and the buccaneer Clement Cleveland. It was based roughly on the life of John Gow who features as Captain Cleveland.

Think beyond the language of the novel and get your tongue round the rather strange names, you will find that you are reading a mystery, rather like a modern detective story.

In this book though you will have to be vigilant, keeping a look out for clues so that you can unravel them as they appear. Remember if Scott introduces a character, that character is there for a reason. Do all these things and I am sure that you will enjoy this adventure story set in the lovely Scottish scenery; a story with witches, pirates, feuding families, lairds and gypsies - you'll soon forget the age of the book and find yourself engrossed.

So just what mysteries are there in the past of Basil Mertoun who has brought his 14 year old son Mordaunt to the isolated Jetland (Shetland) Islands, to live as a tenant of the island magnate Magnus Troil (from an ancient Norwegian family)

Is there a reason why dark, brooding Basil, who for a man living so close to the sea, knows so little of the sea or seafaring; or why he will drink only water, despises women and is cold and distant with his pleasant, fun loving son.

Then there are the mysteries of `the most fearful woman in all the isles', `auld Norna of Fitful Head.

From where does this woman - born as Ulla Troil of ancient Norse nobility, learn all her witchcraft?

Is Norna related to the mighty Magnus and his two daughters, dark-haired mystical Minna and blonde cynical Brenda?

What of Norna's secretive past - her illicit love affair, the infant son snatched from her when she was thought to be near to death or the father whose death she thinks she caused?

If there are not enough mysteries to be going on with there, we also have `The Pirate' himself - Captain Clement Cleveland of the sunken West Indies privateer `Good Hope' Young Mordaunt saved Cleveland from a watery grave Later Cleveland paid him back for this act by saving Mordaunt from drowning while whaling.
Why then do these two young men instinctively dislike each other?

Why does old Norna hate the one and love the other?

As well as the mysteries, Sir Walter Scott introduced the wild late 17th century Shetland and Orkney Isles of Scotland.

He brought the history, superstitions, seamanship, piracy and justice, romance and adventure of the area through his other characters.

There is the classically educated agriculturalist Triptolemus Yellowley and his miserly sister Margaret; the poet Claud Halero and his endlessly retold tale of being introduced to John Dryden; Jack Bunce who once an actor and now is a buccaneer.

By the end of the book the mysteries are no more - all is made clear to us readers.


There are also three-dimensional, memorable minor characters in the PIRATE, starting with the English agricultural advisor Triptolemus Yellowley and his penny-pinching sister Barbara, known as "Mistress Baby." Culture-intruder Triptolemus gives the first inkling of the coming mainland Scottish economic takeover of the Islands. An ostensibly comic but quietly vicious merchant, Bryce Snailsfoot, wanders about causing problems for Mordaunt and others. Also unforgettable are actor-pirate Jack Bunce, stage name Altamont, and the island poet Claud Halcro who never tires telling one and all of the day when the great John Dryden shared snuff with him in a London coffee house.

Different people get different things from this book - feminists will root for the four women: auld Norna, her adept disciple in Norse lore Minna, and the more practical Brenda and Mistress Baby. Each woman coped as best she could with the limited opportunities for self-expression permitted by a notably patriarchal age and location..

Those interested in superstitions and the occult will focus on Norna and the awe in which islanders recognize the old Norse powers she claims.

Historians are reminded that, like Greenland, Iceland and the Faroes, the Shetlands, Orkneys and Hebrides of Scotland were once ruled by Vikings. The book salutes a dying Viking way of life on Scottish territory.

Fans of Vikings and buccaneers will find plenty of pirate action in this novel.

Finally, geographically, we are introduced to the wild seas surrounding the island, the winds and the waves, the treeless Orkneys and Shetlands, the island ponies, the almost barren soils and a world of grinding poverty enriched by the spoils from shipwrecks.