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The Heart of Midlothian (Gift Classics)

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Sir Walter Scott's 1818 novel, "The Heart of Mid-Lothian" deals with events in the lives of the Deans family from 1736 to the early 1750's. The novel begins with the 1736 Porteous riots, in which disgruntled citizens of Edinburgh storm the local prison to take revenge on a needlessly cruel official. With Anglo-Scottish relations in a tailspin and Queen Caroline levying a rash of punishments against Edinburgh in the background, the action of "Mid-Lothian" commences.

The principle heroes of the novel are Jeanie Deans and her longtime suitor, Reuben Butler. The two rustic born youths are from differently oriented Presbyterian ancestry - their parents' religious differences force an almost interminable delay in the progress of their affections. Butler's extensive formal and ministerial education notwithstanding, his financial position is such that he cannot comfortably propose a union to Jeanie's father. Further complication arises when Jeanie's younger and more impulsive half-sister, Effie, is seduced and later accused of murdering her child. The majority of the novel details Jeanie's attempts to question the impropriety of the judgement against her sister, and her interactions with the world outside of provincial northern Scotland.

As always, Scott deals with a range of social, economic, political, and legal issues. Among these in "Mid-Lothian" is the right of the Scottish to control their own internal disputes - are Scottish law and British law compatible? On a related tip, the novel calls into question whether the governors of the people have sufficient sympathy with and understanding of all the people they govern. Scott also examines the nature of language - with plain English, various Scottish dialects, and quotations from classical Latin and the Bible - the characters in the novel often have to understand each other before they can adequately communicate.

"Mid-Lothian" has a number of quirky and interesting minor characters: from the soft-spoken, yet intently-staring Dumbiedikes, to the hardline theologian-father David Deans, to the rake George Robertson, to the tragically mysterious Madge Wildfire, to the courtly, wistful Duke of Argyle. These minor characters add substance, humor, and diversity to Scott's intricate plot. In "The Heart of Mid-Lothian," Jeanie Deans, an unpretentious young woman, takes on a world beyond the enclosed experience of her home, bearing the troubles of her family, her community, and her nation on her back. The result is a great, if sometimes gregarious novel which you will certainly enjoy.

Having been asked to spend a few weeks at a remote Naval base in the former “German Democratic Republic”, I had plenty of time on my hands to read Walter Scott’s “Heart of Midlothian” in the Oxford World’s Classics edition (with notes, 580 pages), something that whiled away the time more than satisfactorily, this novel being perhaps the best that Scott ever wrote. In his previous Waverley novel, “Old Mortality”, he had described the unruly, extreme tendencies of Covenanter Calvinism. In this book, he shows us the other side of the strict Biblical piety he had got to know during his own childhood. The novel is based on two true stories, the Porteous riots in Edinburgh, and the heroics of one Helen Walker, a simple Scots lass who walked to London to save her sister from an unjustly imposed death penalty for child murder. Scott’s way of combining these two stories, making the leader of the riot to be the father of the child that had disappeared, is neither historical nor particularly convincing, and the fate of the child is, indeed, a horrible one. But for me, the most interesting aspect of the book was the description of the Christianity practised by Lowland Scots at the beginning of the 18th century. Davie Deans, the father of Scott’s heroine, is something of a Cameronian or strict covenanter, and it is, perhaps, his very strictness which drives his young daughter Effie to the worldly pursuits that he so much abhorrs. But Davie Deans is an honest soul, and despite his wordy arguments with his neighbours, emerges as a very sympathetic figure, who, towards the end of the book, reaches something of a compromise to enable himself and his elder daughter to live in fairly comfortable circumstances; this, surely, is a picture of how Scott sees the development of theological Calvinism, forced to come to terms with the political and social realities of a Scotland dominated by “prelatist” English interests. Jeannie Deans, Scott’s rather romanticized version of Helen Walker, is an equally strict believer, but her faith expresses itself not in words but in actions, and this is what makes her both a charming heroine and a symbol of what, according to Scott, is best in Christianity and Calvinism.

As for the rest of the book, it is the descriptions of the Porteous riots and the storming of the Edinburgh prison, the “Heart of Midlothian”, at the beginning which make the greatest impression, followed perhaps by the trial scenes and then the interviews in London with the Duke of Argyll and with Queen Caroline, wife of George II. The last part of the book, which is due entirely to Scott’s imagination and has no basis in reality, is more disappointing, as though Scott thought he could not publish a novel without at least some scenes in the Highlands, scenes which here do not ring absolutely true.

Reading Scott is never easy, but the World’s Classics edition makes a brave attempt at facilitating the procedure with copious explanatory notes, a historical overview and a glossary which, while not containing every difficult word, is comprehensive enough to help the reader through the intricacies of Scottish legal Latin and Lowland dialect.

Heart of Midlothian is best known today in Scotland as the name of a football team from Edinburgh. Many may be aware that the team took its name from a novel, but Scott's story is little read nowadays so few indeed are aware that the novel took its name from a prison. This prison was situated in the centre of Edinburgh in the county of Midlothian, until it was torn down in 1817, and no doubt a certain irony was intended when it became known as The Heart of Midlothian. Scott's novel focuses on the prison firstly in its description of the Porteous riot of 1736 when a mob stormed the prison in order to revenge itself on a prisoner who it seemed was to escape justice. More importantly it is to this prison that Effie Deans is sent for the crime of child murder, because she has kept the fact of her pregnancy secret and cannot produce the child. Effie faces the prospect of execution even though there is no evidence that she has killed her baby. The law considered her secrecy as evidence enough of her guilt. This leads to a terrible dilemma for the novel's heroine Jeannie Deans. If she would merely say that she had been told of her sister's pregnancy, Effie would go free. Jeannie will go to any lengths to free her sister, but she will not lie. In her search for justice Jeannie must walk to London and her extraordinary journey takes her to the very top of 18th century society.

Jeannie Deans is the greatest of Scott's heroines. She is strong both physically and morally. While she may not have the education of some of those she meets, she more than matches their learning with her own common sense. It is the investigation of her character, which makes the novel so interesting. The story is well told and is often exciting with lots of suspense and emotion, but Scott is less concerned with romance in this novel than in some of his others. The story of Jeannie's love for her childhood friend Reuben Butler is important, but told in such a way as to emphasise Jeannie's morals and sense rather than her romantic inclinations. If there is a romantic heroine in the novel, it is Effie, but her wilful, petulant nature together with her involvement with a rake is contrasted unfavourably with the behaviour and character of her sister. Heart of Midlothian is a long novel perhaps too long, as the fourth part is not quite as good as the first three. It is also quite a difficult read with a good deal of difficult legalistic language and a greater than usual amount of Scots dialect. The best edition of the novel is undoubtedly that edited by David Hewitt and Alison Lumsden. The editors have gone back to Scott's manuscript and the first edition of the novel in order to correct numerous errors and restore a number of important readings, which have previously been lost. The result is a stunning example of modern editorial scholarship, which provides the reader with a text, which is easier and more enjoyable to read. This edition moreover has an extensive set of notes and a full glossary both of which are essential if Scott's text is to be fully understood. Heart of Midlothian is perhaps not the best place to begin reading Scott. But it is a novel, which anyone who reads Scott should aim towards, for it is quite possibly the best of the Waverley novels.

The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) is the best novel in the distinguished series by this author called "The Waverly Novels. (The series title derives from the name of the title hero in the first of these novels: the young English soldier Edward Waverly.)
The plot is simple. Jeanie Deans is a young Calvinist lass who is engaged to be married to a poor schoolmaster named Reuben Butler. During the 1736 riots in Edinburgh, in which Captain Porteous a tax agent was murdered by hanging, Jeanie's younger sister Effie is accused of murdering her newborn child. Effie is imprisoned and condemned to death. Jeanie seeks to save her life by appealing to Queen Caroline in London who is the wife of King George II of Great Britain. As Jeanie travels on her long jaunt from Edinburgh to London the reader meets a broad crosssection of Scottish and English persons who assist the young girl on her quest for justice. Jeanie is one of the most appealing heroines in all of British fiction.
The book is not only fascinating for this heartwarming story but also lluminates:
a. The relationship between poor Scotland and wealthy England in the immediate years following the union of the two nations in 1707.
b. A look at the religious differences between episocapcy supported by the English and the stern
Calvinist Presbyterianism in Scotland
c. A nostalgic look at Scottish life as it moves from an agricultural to an industrialized age.
d. Like Charles Dickens, Scott was good at drawing eccentric minor characters which add richness and humor to this long novel.
And now for a caveat. Scott's novels are always difficult reading! He relishes in making authorial comments on the characters behavior and retards the action with long digressions on politics, religion and other aspects of Scottish life which may not have been familiar to his English readers. This material is often interesting but adds too many pages to his tale. The last quarter of the book needs editing as the decision regarding the fate of Effie Deans has already been decided by that point.
Scott's books require a glossary of Scottish words, customs and phrases which are necessary to aid the 21st century reader's understanding of the novel. Scott was the first major historical novelists in the English language. His novels broke new ground by interesting male and young readers in exciting epic fictions. He was widely popular in his own day. A resurgence of interest in this important author is long overdue. Scott is an excellent writer but it takes concentration and study to enjoy his books. The Heart of Mid-Lothian was published in 1818 and has never been out of print.

The fact that this monster of a novel was a bestseller at its time (1818) possibly tells us that 'progress' has reduced the time that we are willing to spend on reading. So for me. I was looking for the usual half dozen pocket books to take on a trip of a few days. This one was the last Scott that was still in my shelf. For lack of space I relegate books that I have read and that are not top favorites to either box storage in the garage or to 2nd hand book sales at school charities. This one I had not read yet. I will probably never have the stamina for it, unless I am marooned on the proverbial island and it happens to be in my hand luggage.
I did read the introductions and browsed through some chapters. Maybe another time. Possibly never, though I do remember that Scott's mansion Abbotsford near Edinburgh is one of only four writer's houses turned museum that I visited. The other three are Goethe's birth house in Frankfurt, the Joyce museum in Dublin (of which I can't remember for certain right now whether he ever lived there), and Nabokov's childhood appartment in St.Petersburg.
I think my Scott time is over, so if you wait for the next instalment of my Melville excursions, don't worry, I am not sidetracked. Redburn will be next, but I am travelling a lot these days, and I don't take hardcovers on trips.
Why then do I post a review on the 'Heart'? I was impressed by the editor's story of his trouble with identifying the right text for this publication. The writer, Scott, was a highly literate man in a modern society of his time, who even owned the publishing house himself, indirectly. The book was an international bestseller despite its folksiness and the excessive use of 'dialect' English. Finding out 200 years later which text is 'authoritative' can be damned hard.
You see what I am driving at. Text reconstruction is hard and often impossible. How then can a text that was transmitted orally for decades, if not centuries, before it was committed to paper, have an 'authoritative' version that has any plausible relation to its 'author'?
The 'Heart' is in a box in the garage now, in case you wondered.

Aside from Ivanhoe (and I have my doubts about even that), Scott is woefully under-read today, probably because reading him is a challenge just as reading Shakespeare is a challenge. As with Shakespeare, the Waverley novels are filled with riches, and I have found that the effort of reading them is repaid many times over.

The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels seems to have received little publicity, but I cannot praise too highly the herculean efforts of the editors. With the historical background, extensive notes, and glossary provided in each volume, Scott comes alive. The editors have outdone themselves with The Heart of Mid-Lothian, in particular. The sheer quantity of historical references, and the extensive use of Scots dialect, are enough to intimidate the bravest readers. I can imagine reading and enjoying this novel without notes and without a glossary, but the supplementary material enables the novel to be truly appreciated as one of the great works in literature. At its core it is a simple story of love and humanity. It moved me to tears, and really that is about the highest praise I can give.

A note on the use of Scots dialect: In the early stages of reading this novel I wasn't entirely sure I would get through it, even with the glossary. I had previously read The Pirate and survived the Scots in that, so I doggedly persevered and soon found my comprehension growing and my reading becoming much faster. Scott could have written this entirely in standard English, but the use of Scots adds a realistic dimension that elevates it and--to use a visual analogy--turns it from 2D into 3D. I would suggest making a short definition list of the most commonly encountered Scots words (e.g, "muckle," "ain," "gar") and using it as a bookmark. Soon you will be speaking (or at least reading) Scots like a native!

The Heart of Midlothian (Oxford World's Classics)In high school I read The Talisman and Ivanhoe and loved them both. This book is not that type of adventure story and is not always so accessible because of the dialect dialog. That, however, does not detract from the plot and characterizations. Scott does a marvelous job of bringing the major events of the novel to life. The picture of the riot is fantastic. What sets this novel apart for me is how the author is able do bring vividly and realistically to life so many aspects of society from the common folk to the nobility. To read this book in terms of women's rights and the strength that women display in times of trial makes this novel a valuable part of the history of women's place in society.

Written in 1818, "The Heart Of Midlothian" is one of the most famous works of the great Scottish Writer, Sir Walter Scott. It is set largely in Scotland in the time between the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745 and revolves around the Edinburgh riots of 1736 that saw the lynching of John Porteous, Captain of the City Guard, and the subsequent retaliation by the English Crown. Intimately connected with this is the story of Effie Deans, condemned to death on the assumption of having had her child killed, despite a total lack of evidence and the efforts of her sister Jeanie to see her freed. Incidentally the "Heart of Midlothian" was the Edinburgh Tollhouse or Jail, which was later pulled down and removed.

It is a longish read at 507 pages, but by no means long compared to many of the bloated works of recent years. It took me a very long time to read, not because of its length but because its style was so dry and tedious and so full of unnecessary detail as to prevent me reading more than a chapter or two at a time, and there are 52 chapters. A random example:
"There was not a window in all the lofty tenements around it, or in the steep and crooked street called the Bow, by which the fatal procession was to descend, that was not absolutely filled with spectators. The uncommon height and antique appearance of these houses, some of which were formerly the property of the Knights Templars, and the Knights of St John, and still exhibit on their fronts and gables the iron cross of these orders, gave additional effect to the scene in itself so striking."
There's nothing wrong with this language, and the excessive detail may be interesting to some, but for me it makes dreary read.

Scott was a lawyer by trade, and he carries his work with him in this novel. Not only does it read as though declaimed by a barrister at the Assizes, but it is full of lawyers, would be lawyers, lawyer's humour and lawyer's Latin. For example:
"He has been a candidate for our remedium miserabile" said Mr Hardie, "commonly called a cessio bonorum. As there are divines who have doubted the eternity of future punishments, so the Scotch lawyers seem to have thought that the crime of poverty might be atoned for by something short of perpetual imprisonment. After a month's confinement, you must know, a prisoner for debt is entitled, on a sufficient statement to our Supreme Court, setting forth the amount of his funds, and the nature of his misfortunes, and surrendering all his effects to his creditors, to claim to be discharged from prison".
"I had heard", I replied, "of such a humane regulation".
"Yes", said Halkit, "and the beauty of it is, as the foreign fellow said, you may get the cessio when the bonorums are all spent. ..."
The characters Halkit and Hardie and all their legal carry-on in the first chapter are entirely unnecessary as is the character Bartoline Saddletree, who's utterances throughout the book are tedious in the extreme, not only to the reader, but also to the other characters who are forced to listen to him. Obviously Scott had not the art of self editing, being entirely unable to cull his own dross, and the book is much the weaker for it.

And now we come to the matter of religion. There is a great deal of religion in this book, and in my opinion at least, a great deal too much. I know that many folk in those days took the cult of Jehovah far more seriously than they do today, but it makes for boring reading. There can surely be few indeed who care a fig about the Cameronian Covenanters and their nit picking issues with the Protestant Church. For example:
"There remained a third stumbling block - the oaths to government exacted from the established clergymen, in which they acknowledge an Erastian king and parliament, and homologate the incorporating union between England and Scotland, through which the latter kingdom had become part and parcel of the former, wherein Prelacy, the sister of Popery, had made fast her throne, and elevated the horns of her mitre. These were the symptoms of defection which had often made David cry out. "My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at the very heart!" ...
These oaths were, therefore, a deep compliance and a dire abomination - a sin and a snare, and a danger and a defection. But this shibboleth was not always exacted."...
There may well have been people like the tiresome David Deans, and modern students of Christian history may be fascinated with the intricacies of Protestant doctrine but for the rest of us it just gets in the way of the story.

Scott may, perhaps, have excuses for the above flaws, but what he can not excuse himself from is the books greatest flaw: the one dimensionality of the main characters. Jeanie the heroine is, to put it baldly, a drip. A courageous, do it herself woman, willing and able to risk her life and honour to save her sister. A steadfast Protestant willing to let her sister be sentenced to death rather than tell a lie before God. A loyal lover, prepared to wait years for her boring boyfriend to get a decent job before marrying him, meanwhile denying the suit of the local Laird. A fine cheesemaker and exemplary housekeeper. Wise confidant, providential saver, loving mother, dedicated Christian and dutiful wife. She never puts a foot out of line, never learns anything and never has any fun in the entire book! What a drip!

Much the same can be same of her eventual husband Reuben Butler. A struggling school teacher and cleric. He has a smaller part but is similarly a paragon of virtue and dull as dishwater!

The characters of people like David Deans and Bartoline Saddletree are "enlivened" by making them tiresome. The Duke of Argyle and the Queen of England are paragons of nobility: generosity, judgement and grace. Too pat and one dimensional Scott!

It is the people of arbitrary morality that have the most rounded characters, such as Jem Ratcliffe, George Staunton, Duncan Knockdunder and Effie Deans herself, yet in the whole book it is only Duncan that has any real zest for life.

Inexcusable Mr Scott, to fill a book full of dull characters. Surely 18th century Scotland can't have been THAT dreary!!!

The other inexcusable flaw in this work is the way it all turns out. Not only is it predictably pat, but it is RELIGIOUSLY pat. Any character that has done wrong comes to a bad end. (With the exception of Ratcliffe). Obvious villains like Meg Murdockson and George Staunton are executed or die in battle. Misled unfortunates like Staunton's heir and Madge Wildfire die in misadventure. Even Effie Deans, guilty of nothing more than sex before marriage, cannot escape the misery of her sins and ends up in a convent. Meanwhile the religious zealots are elevated and live long and rewarding? lives. It's enough to make one want to vomit. Considering Scott came from a legal background and was a deputy sheriff I fail to see why he should exhibit such a narrow minded fundamentalist Christianity. Alas for this book.

OK, enough knocking, is there anything good about this famous novel? Well yes of course, fortunately there is.

Firstly, although dry and boring, it is very well written. Scott was an intelligent, educated man, and although his view of the world is narrow, it is, at least historically accurate and detailed.

Secondly, for those of us who love Scotland it is wonderful to hear the Scottish dialect, that permeates almost every page. For example the worthy Duncan:
"Fat ta deil, Mr Archibald," answered the Captain of Knockdunder, "wad ye hae them ring the bell before I am ready to gang to kirk? I wad gar the bedral eat the bell-rope, if he took ony sic freedom. But if ye want to hear the bell, I will just show mysell on the knowe-head, and it will begin jowing forthwith."
Or the loyal Jeanie:
"But when the hour of trouble comes to the mind or to the body - and seldom may it visit your Leddyship - and when the hour of death comes, that comes to high and low - lang and late may it be yours - O, my Leddy, then it isna what we hae dune for oursells, but what we hae dune for others, that we think on maist pleasantly. And the thoughts that ye hae intervened to spare the puir thing's life will be sweeter in that hour, come when it may, than if a word of your mouth could hang the haill Porteous mob at the tail of ae tow."

Thirdly, although Scott has done his best to obscure them, the events themselves are quite interesting. In better hands this book could have been a ripping yarn.

And that's it folks.

To conclude: I am giving this book 4 stars because it is a classic that has stood the test of time. Scott pioneered the historical novel. His work must be taken in context with its time, it cannot be judged as though it were written last year. Had it been written last year, it would not have been published and I would not be bothering to write this review.

This book is indispensable if one is interested in Scottish literature. It would be a fascinating read if one were interested in old Presbyterian dogma or 18th century Scottish law. If you want a ripping historical page-turner I suggest you look elsewhere.

The flaws exhibited in this novel are very serious, including the fatal crime of boring the reader, but the erudite may find them counterbalanced by Scott's learned prose and punctilious historical detail. In the end however it is the weight of history and this book's place in it that makes this book worthwhile.

A tough read but the book is particularily rewarding for the notes in the back. They give a great overview of the life and times of the characters.

The note's while being very thorough can be a little convoluted. At least twice I was refererred to notes on notes on notes!!

I've read some long novels in my time, but this one I couldn't bring myself to more than skip through, aside from the first 90 pages, which excitingly detail the porteous riots. Scott might have had an interesting idelogical point to make about religion, but the story he found to tell it through was not worth 580-odd pages. Jeanie Deans story is more like a poor attempt at Jane Austen, who will she marry, how does her marriage go. Scott's interest is clearly in the supporting players, Douce Davie Deans and Dumbiedikes, who are aligned with whatever religious movement Scott didn't like. Honestly, if you don't care much for religious differences, you'll be skipping as I was. Too much character description and not enough character in action; the story doesn't fit the concept, and tells a story in 580 words what probably deserved 220 or less, for economic reasons, to sell the full three volumes (according to the introduction).

Scott is famous for being immensely popular: but unlike Dickens, I'm struggling to see why. I will give him another chance some day. I've got Waverley, Old Mortality and Ivanhoe sitting on my shelf - I haven't given up on him yet.