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The Life, Times and Works of Sir Walter Scott.
Based on the words of Scott himself, his family and
friends, acquaintances and critics. Extracts include The Lady of the Lake,
Waverley and Rob Roy.
Devised to be staged as a rehearsed dramatised reading by a flexible team of
performers, scripts are used, but some passages are best memorised. There are
many opportunities for imaginative movement and action. Period costume would be a colourful
option and the number of players involved can be easily adapted to suit. This script is available in three versions with
running times of 50 minutes, 75 minutes and 1 hour 40 minutes.
The Wizard of
the North was
specially written for the author's own drama group for its first performance at
the 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
"...a much more pleasant way to learn about
Scott than visiting his monument on Princes Street" - Three
Weeks
Sample
Scene
(Note: NAR =
Narrator. MR1 = First mFR1 = First
female reader. FR2 = Second female reader.)
NAR
In 1822 he wrote one of his most
consequential works. It was not a poem or a novel, it was;
FR2
"Hints addressed to the inhabitants of
Edinburgh and others in prospect of his Majesty's visit, by an old
citizen."
NAR By
1822, his friend, the Prince Regent, was now King George IV. Aged sixty, George
was grossly overweight, in poor health, and very unpopular in London. George
wanted to go to the Congress of Nations to be held in Vienna. The government
didn't want him there. A royal visit to Scotland was the answer. Scott was asked
to organise what became known as the "King's Jaunt", the first visit
of a British monarch to Scotland for over 170 years.
FR2
"When his Majesty comes amongst us, he
comes to his ancient kingdom of Scotland, and must be received according to
ancient usages."
NAR
But what exactly were "ancient
usages"? Nobody was quite sure. But Scott cheerfully mixed truth and
invention, and few could tell the difference. For example, as any Scottish
schoolchild will tell you, when any British monarch visits Scotland, their
official escort is the Royal Company of Archers, the ancient bodyguard of
Scottish Kings.
One of the male readers mimes drawing a
longbow.
Not quite. The Royal Company of
Archers was, in fact, a gentleman's sporting and social club, founded less than
two hundred years before.
The male reader
drops his bow and skulks back to his seat.
But the members readily accepted the honour and looked
splendid in their new uniforms of Lincoln green. Scottish archers in Lincoln
green? Anyway, Scott's book was full of words of
advice. Even some helpful hints for the ladies. How to survive the ordeal of
presentation.
FR2
"The lady drops her train, when she
enters the circle of the King. (This sequence is mimed by the other readers) She curtsies. The King
raises her and salutes her on the cheek. She then retires, always facing the
Sovereign till she is beyond the circle. A considerable difficulty is presented
to the inexperienced by the necessity of retiring, without
assistance, backwards. Most painful
must be the situation of a young female who is unfortunate as to make a faux
pas on such an occasion."
Their difficulties were not helped by another piece of
advice, namely that "at least nine feathers" should be worn in every
lady's head-dress. The feathers were a mistake. "At least", an even
bigger one. English ladies in the royal party could barely conceal their mirth
at the sight of forests of feathers waggling about. Scott really should have
asked his wife.
NAR
For the men, he was quite specific.
"No Gentleman is allowed to appear in anything but the ancient Highland
costume." But what exactly was
the "ancient highland costume"? Highland dress as we know it today
simply did not, and never did, exist. At that time, the dress of many
Highlanders was the plaid - effectively one large rectangular piece of cloth
that was wrapped around the waist and secured at the shoulder. That simply would
not do for the lowland gentlemen. But they didn't want to miss out on the Royal
occasion for want of a bit of tartan. Weaving firms weren't going to miss out
either. Taking their leaf out of Scott's book, if a tartan didn't exist, they
quickly manufactured one. Scenes like this possibly happened in wealthy houses
throughout Scotland.
MR1
What colour had your lordship in mind?
MR2
(miming
searching in a wardrobe) How about these trews? I've always liked the green
and red. Or there's this waistcoat. The blue goes well with the dark green.
MR1
A trifle dull, if I may be so bold. Your
lordship will be wanting to stand out amongst the crowds.
MR2
Or how about this jacket? A grand purple,
with deep red and fine yellow stripes. Yes. I rather fancy this.
MR1
A fine choice, if I may say, with perhaps a
touch of green to compliment the purple. Now, how many yards of your ancient
clan tartan did your lordship require?
NAR
One company
built forty new looms to cope with the sudden demand for tartan. Of course,
genuine Highlanders also filled Edinburgh for the visit as the Chiefs answered
Scott's call. He wrote to MacLeod of MacLeod.
MR1
"The King is coming after all. Arms
and men are the best thing we have to show him. Do come, and bring half a dozen
or half a score of clansmen, so as to look like an Island Chief as you are.
Highlanders are what he will like best to see, and the masquerade of the Celtic
Society will not do without some of the real stuff, to bear it out. Pray do come
and do not forget to bring the Bodyguard for the credit of old Scotland and your
own old house."
NAR
Since Scott had depicted the Highlands in a
very romantic light, it was the least they could do in return. For those not
familiar with the new "ancient" dress, helpful lists were available.
MR2
stands forward while the two female readers mime being his "dressers"
NAR
A pair of hose. A pair of Highland garters.
A pair of Highland brogues. A 'skian dubh'. A tartan kilt. A scarlet vest with
true Highlander buttons. A tartan jacket with true Highlander buttons. A cocked
bonnet with clan badge and cockade. A purse and belt. A cross shoulder belt. A
powder horn with chain. A brace of Highland pistols. A broad sword. And a gun.
Thus equipped, Scotland was ready to receive the King.
Scotland gave him a traditional welcome - a very wet day. It was estimated that
over three hundred thousand people flocked to Edinburgh. There were parades,
processions, speeches, banquets, Highland balls... and a gala performance of Rob
Roy. Despite the hectic schedule organised by Scott, George played the
gracious sovereign, even to the point of wearing the tartan himself - complete
with flesh coloured tights. And he must have found cheering crowds a welcome
change from being booed in London.
Not everybody embraced the new
tartan image. Lord Cockburn commented that "hundreds who had never seen
heather had the folly to array themselves in tartan." Even Scott's
son-in-law, John Lockhart described the whole event as a "plaided
panorama."
In the end, the visit was a great success. The King
gained new popularity. The Scottish people found a new sense of national
identity and a new national dress. The fashionable tartans of 1822 were refined
by the Victorians to become the formal Highland dress we know today, and it was
all largely due to the imagination of one man. Next time you're at a kilted
wedding - think of Sir Walter Scott.
FR2
The following year, another new novel Quentin
Durward, appeared. This time the setting was medieval France. The hero of
the title joins King Louis the eleventh's bodyguard of Scottish archers. Now
where have we heard that one before? It created a sensation in France. The
author was the talk of Paris and the hottest fashion for French women was the
Stuart tartan 'á la Walter Scott'
FR1
The next year, 1824, he returned to one of
his favourite themes, the romantic but tragically doomed cause of the exiled
Stuarts. His first novel, Waverley, was set against the famous 1745 Jacobite rebellion. Rob
Roy was set against the earlier 1715 attempt. For Redgauntlet,
he chose the year 1765, and created a fictitious third attempt, where a
middle-aged and disillusioned Charles Edward Stuart returns to Britain. The
title character, Edward Hugh Redgauntlet, attempts to raise support for the
Prince.
MR2
"Charles Edward is in this country -
Charles Edward is in this house! - Charles Edward waits but your present
decision, to receive the homage of those who have ever called themselves his
loyal liegemen. He that would now turn his coat, and change his note, must do so
under the eye of his Sovereign. How
now, my lords and gentlemen! Is it delight and rapture that keeps you thus
silent? Where are the eager welcomes that should be paid to your rightful King,
who a second time confides his person to the care of his subjects, undeterred by
the hair-breath escapes and severe privations of his former expedition? I hope
there is no gentleman here that is not ready to redeem, in his Prince's
presence, the pledge of fidelity which he offered in his absence?"
FR1
But this time, few are willing to sacrifice
their lives and the unsupported uprising peters out. The Prince's parting words
are bitter.
MR1
"Care not for me. When I was in the
society of Highland robbers and cattle-drovers, I was safer than I now hold
myself among the representatives of the best blood in England. Farewell,
gentlemen - I will shift for myself."
FR1
Redgauntlet
sums it all up with the words "the cause is lost for ever!" Although
it was unenthusiastically received at the time, Redgauntlet is now considered by many to be his best novel.
 
The cast of the first production by the Mercators. Edinburgh Festival Fringe, August
2002
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