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Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field is a historical romance in verse of 16th-century Scotland and England by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1808. Consisting of six cantos, each with…
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Investigate this subjectMarmion: A Tale of Flodden Field is a historical romance in verse of 16th-century Scotland and England by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1808. Consisting of six cantos, each with an introductory epistle, and copious antiquarian notes, it concludes with the Battle of Flodden in 1513.
Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field is a historical romance in verse of 16th-century Scotland and England by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1808. Consisting of six cantos, each with an introductory epistle, and copious antiquarian notes, it concludes with the Battle of Flodden in 1513.
The introductory letter to the first canto of Marmion is internally dated November, and there is no reason to doubt that it was written in that month of 1806. At this time Scott was entering into correspondence with the Durham antiquary Robert Surtees, and in December they discussed the account given by Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie of the supernatural summons of James IV and several of his nobles to appear before Pluto, which Scott uses in the fifth canto: Scott refers to his developing poem, so it is clear that the overall shape of the work was clear from the outset. Moreover, Surtees sent Scott two forgeries of his own, an account in Latin of a ghostly combat and a ballad, both of which also appear in the poem.
On 30 January 1807 Archibald Constable concluded an agreement to pay 1,000 guineas (£1,050) for the copyright: the sum may have originated with Scott in previous negotiations with Longman. William Miller and John Murray each agreed to take a 25% share in the project. Murray observed: "We both view it as honourable, profitable, and glorious to be concerned in the publication of a new poem by Walter Scott." Scott said that he thoroughly enjoyed writing the work. He told his son-in-law, Lockhart: "Oh, man, I had many a grand gallop among these braes when I was thinking of Marmion." The poem took much longer to compose than Scott had hoped: he was held up by personal and family difficulties and other occupations, and it was probably January 1808 before it was finished.
Marmion was published in Edinburgh by Archibald Constable on 22 February 1808, and in London by William Miller and John Murray on 8 March. It cost one and a half guineas (£1 11s 6d), and 2,000 copies were printed. Scott produced small refinements for the text of the verse and larger updatings for the notes in the second edition and third editions (3,000 copies each) published later in the year. Many further editions followed, both individual and collected, and in 1830 Scott provided the poem with a new introduction.
In 2018 Ainsley McIntosh produced a critical edition of Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field as the second volume (the first to appear) of The Edinburgh Edition of Walter Scott's Poetry, published by Edinburgh University Press. This takes the third edition as its copy-text and corrects it mainly from the manuscript and the first edition.
According to the University of Delaware Arsenical Books Database, the 1855 edition of this book contains arsenic, particularly in the green cover, and ought to be handled with care using nitrile gloves. This book should be stored in a plastic bag to keep arsenic from spreading.
The poem tells how Lord Marmion, a favourite of Henry VIII of England, lusts after Clara de Clare, a rich woman. He and his mistress, Constance de Beverley, forge a letter implicating Clara's fiancé, Sir Ralph de Wilton, in treason. Constance, a dishonest nun, hopes that her aid will restore her to favour with Marmion. When de Wilton loses the duel he claims in order to defend his honour against Marmion, he is obliged to go into exile. Clara retires to a convent rather than risk Marmion's attentions.
Constance's hopes of a reconciliation with Marmion are dashed when he abandons her; she ends up being walled up alive in the Lindisfarne convent for breaking her vows. She takes her revenge by giving the Abbess, who is one of her three judges, documents that prove de Wilton's innocence. De Wilton, having returned disguised as a pilgrim, follows Marmion to Edinburgh where he meets the Abbess, who gives him the exonerating documents. When Marmion's host, the Earl of Angus (Archibald Douglas), is shown the documents, he arms de Wilton and accepts him as a knight again. De Wilton's plans for revenge are overturned by the Battle of Flodden. Marmion dies on the battlefield, while de Wilton displays heroism, regains his honour, retrieves his lands, and marries Clara.
Introduction to Canto 1 (To William Stewart Rose, Esq.): Writing in November, Scott considers possible remedies for the destructive effect of time in the natural world, in public affairs (he elegises Nelson, Pitt, and Fox), and in literature: namely spring, the apocalypse, and the revival of medieval romance.
Canto 1 (The Castle): The English knight Marmion and his train are received by Sir Hugh the Heron at Norham Castle who arranges for a palmer to guide him on his embassy from Henry VIII to James IV, King of Scots in Edinburgh.
Introduction to Canto 2 (To the Rev. John Mariot): Scott considers remedies for historical decline and personal loneliness, namely the joy Mariot and he have found in humble enjoyments, and the purity of solitary meditation.
Canto 2 (The Convent): The Abbess of Whitby, with a party of nuns including a novice Sister Clare, journeys by sea to Lindisfarne, where she forms one of a tribunal in sentencing Constance de Beverly to be immured alive together with an accomplice in the planned murder of Clare. In her final speech Constance tells how she had escaped from a convent to join Marmion who had then abandoned her for the wealthy Clare, charging Clare's fiancé with treason and defeating him in armed combat.
Introduction to Canto 3 (To William Erskine): Scott defends his intuitive, ever-varying poetry, taking its inspiration from his experience of the Borders as a young child, against Erskine's advocacy of elevated classical elegy and tragedy.
Canto 3 (The Hostel, or Inn): Staying overnight at the inn at Gifford, Marmion is disconcerted when his squire Fitz-Eustace sings a favourite song of Constant (Constance's name when she had accompanied him disguised as a page), and also by the stern looks of the palmer. The host tells of a local elfin spirit who
Source: Marmion (poem) (CC BY-SA)
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