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= Lorna_Doone =
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Introduction
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'Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor' is a novel by R. D. Blackmore,
first published in three volumes in London in 1869. It is a romance
based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th
century in Devon and Somerset, particularly around the East Lyn Valley
area of Exmoor. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's survey The
Big Read.
Plot
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Badgworthy water, Malmsmead
John Ridd is the son of a respectable farmer in the 17th century
Exmoor, a region in North Devon and Somerset, England. A notorious
Doone clan, once nobles and now outlaws, murdered John’s father.
Battling his desire for revenge, John (in West Country English,
pronounced "Jan") grows into a respectable farmer who cares well for
his mother and sisters. He meets Lorna by accident and falls
hopelessly in love . She turns out (apparently) to be the
granddaughter of Sir Ensor, Lord of the Doones. Sir Ensor’s impetuous
and now jealous heir Carver will let nothing thwart his plan to marry
Lorna once he comes into his inheritance.
Sir Ensor dies, and Carver becomes Lord of the Doones. John helps
Lorna escape to his family's farm. Since Lorna is a Doone the Ridds
have mixed feelings towards her but still defend her against Carver's
retaliatory attack. During a visit from the Counsellor, Carver's
father and the wisest Doone, Lorna's necklace is stolen. Sir Ensor had
told Lorna the necklace was her mother’s. A family friend soon
discovers that the necklace belonged to a Lady Dugal, who was robbed
and murdered by outlaws. Only her daughter survived.This reveals that
Lorna is not a Doone after all, but heiress to a huge fortune. By law,
but against her will, she must return to London as a ward in Chancery.
Despite John and Lorna's love, their marriage is out of the question.
King Charles II dies, and the Duke of Monmouth, the late king's
illegitimate son, challenges Charles's brother James for the throne.
Hoping to reclaim their ancestral lands, the Doones abandon their plan
to marry Lorna to Carver and claim her wealth, and side with Monmouth.
Monmouth is defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor, and his associates
are sought for treason. Although innocent, John Ridd is captured
during the rebellion. An old friend takes John to London to clear
John’s name. Reunited with Lorna, John thwarts an attack on her
guardian, Earl Brandir. The king then pardons John and grants him a
title.
The communities around Exmoor have tired of the Doones’ depredations.
Knowing the Doones better than any other man, John leads the attack.
All the Doone men are killed except the Counsellor and Carver, who
escapes vowing revenge. When Earl Brandir dies, Lorna’s new guardian
allows her to return to Exmoor and marry John. Carver bursts into
their wedding, shoots Lorna and flees. In a blind rage, John pursues
Carver. A struggle leaves Carver sinking in a mire and John so
exhausted that he can only watch as Carver dies. John discovers that
Lorna has survived, and after a period of anxious uncertainty they
live happily ever after.
Publication history
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Blackmore experienced difficulty in finding a publisher, and the novel
was first published anonymously in 1869, in a limited three-volume
edition of just 500 copies, of which only 300 sold. The following year
it was republished in an inexpensive one-volume edition and became a
huge critical and financial success. It has never been out of print.
Reception
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The book received acclaim from Blackmore's contemporary, Margaret
Oliphant, and as well from later Victorian writers including Robert
Louis Stevenson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Thomas Hardy. George
Gissing wrote in a letter to his brother Algernon that the novel was
"quite admirable, approaching Scott as closely as anything since the
latter". A favourite among females, it was also popular among male
readers, and was chosen by male students at Yale in 1906 as their
favourite novel.
Development of the novel
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By his own account, Blackmore relied on a "phonologic" style for his
characters' speech, emphasising their accents and word formation. He
expended great effort, in all of his novels, on his characters'
dialogues and dialects, striving to recount realistically not only the
ways, but also the tones and accents, in which thoughts and utterances
were formed by the various sorts of people who lived on Exmoor in the
17th century.
Blackmore incorporated real events and places into the novel. The
Great Winter described in chapters 41-45 was a real event.
He himself attended Blundell's School in Tiverton which serves as the
setting for the opening chapters. One of the inspirations behind the
plot is said to be the shooting of Mary Whiddon on her wedding day at
the parish church of Chagford, Devon, in the 17th century. Unlike the
heroine of the novel, she did not survive, but is commemorated in the
church. Apparently, Blackmore invented the name "Lorna", possibly
drawing on a Scottish source.
According to the preface, the work is a romance and not a historical
novel, because the author neither "dares, nor desires, to claim for it
the dignity or cumber it with the difficulty of an historical novel."
As such, it combines elements of traditional romance, of Sir Walter
Scott's historical novel tradition, of the pastoral tradition, of
traditional Victorian values, and of the contemporary sensation novel
trend. Along with the historical aspects are folk traditions, such as
the many legends based around both the Doones and Tom Faggus. The
composer Puccini once considered using the story as the plot for an
opera, but abandoned the idea.
Other versions and cultural references
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*Lorna Doone is also a shortbread cookie made by Mondelez.
*Title character Lorna Doone, a B-movie actress in a Tom Tryon novella
was christened in honour of Blackmore's character.
*'Lorna Doone' was said to be the favourite book of Australian
bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly, who may have thought of the idea of
his armour by reading of the outlaw Doones "with iron plates on breast
and head."
*Lorna Doone is a character portrayed by Christine McIntyre in The
Three Stooges shorts 'The Hot Scots' and 'Scotched in Scotland'.
*The book inspired the song "Pangs of Lorna" by Kraus.
*Atholl Oakeley, British wrestling promoter, was fascinated by the
book, and billed Exmoor-born wrestler Jack Baltus as Carver Doone in
the 1930s.
* Cartoonist H. M. Brock produced a comic book adaptation of 'Lorna
Doone' for the British girls' comic 'Princess' (1960).
Further reading
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*Blackmore, R. D. (1908) 'Lorna Doone: a romance of Exmoor';
Doone-land edition; with introduction and notes by H. Snowden Ward and
illustrations by Mrs. Catharine Weed Ward. lii, 553 pp., plates.
London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company (includes "Slain by the
Doones", pp. 529-53)
*Delderfield, Eric (1965?) 'The Exmoor Country: [a] brief guide &
gazetteer; 6th ed. Exmouth: The Raleigh Press
*Elliott-Cannon, A. (1969) 'The Lorna Doone Story'. Minehead: The
Cider Press
External links
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*
*
* - a lavishly illustrated edition (Burrows Brothers Company, 1889)
* [
http://www.silversirens.co.uk/ml/lornadoone.php 'Lorna Doone' at
Silver Sirens]
*
License
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Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorna_Doone
