The Fair Maid of Perth

infobox Book |
name = The Fair Maid of Perth
orig title =
translator =


author = Sir Walter Scott
cover_artist =
country = Scotland
language = English, Lowland Scots
series = Chronicles of the Canongate; Waverley Novels
genre = Historical novel
publisher =
release_date = 1828
media_type = Print (Hardback and paperback)
pages =
isbn = N/A
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Fair Maid of Perth" (or, as it less commonly known, "St. Valentine's Day") is a novel by Sir Walter Scott. It is set in the 14th Century in Perth and other parts of Scotland. It was first published in May 15 1828.

The book was originally to have two other stories in the same volume: "My Aunt Margaret's Mirror" and "The Death of the Laird's Jock", and was to have been titled "St. Valentine's Eve". [ [http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/works/novels/fairmaid.html The Fair Maid of Perth (Chronicles of the Canongate, Second Series] ]

Plot summary

The "Fair Maid" is Catharine Glover, daughter of a glovemaker in Perth, who kisses Henry Smith, the armorer, while he is sleeping, on Valentine's Day. Smith proposes marriage, and although Catharine refuses at first, she marries him at the end of the book.

There is a parallel plot concerning the romance of David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, the son of Robert III of Scotland, and Louise the Glee-Maiden.

Historical anomalies

In the novel, the death of David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay - which historically took place in 1402 - occurs the night before the Battle of the North Inch; this scene is set in March or April, but the battle occurred in September 1396.

Bizet opera

La jolie fille de Perth (The Fair Maid of Perth) is an opera in four acts by Georges Bizet (1838–1875), from a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jules Adenis, after the novel by Sir Walter Scott. [http://www.grovemusic.com Hugh MacDonald: "La Jolie fille de Perth"] "Grove Music Online", accessed April 10, 2007.]

References

External links

* [http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/works/novels/fairmaid.html Page on "The Fair Maid of Perth" at the Walter Scott Digital Archive]
*
* [http://www.eswsc.com/ The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club]