Maid Margaret (First published 1905)
This is the sequel to Crockett’s medieval tale ‘The Black Douglas’ told by ‘Maid’ Margaret Douglas herself. In the first book she is just a child but in ‘Maid Margaret’ we are treated to an old woman giving a retrospective narrative.. Margaret is an engaging, coy, witty and inconstant narrator. She is aware of the follies of her youth, saying ‘seeing comes to women, for the most part, when it is too late.’
The young Margaret craves adventure and thinks love a nonsense, but during the novel she has to grow up, realise how significant a part she plays in the history of her country and deal with both grief and love in an adult fashion. She, and we, learn of the role marriage plays in political alliances and of how this impacts upon individuals as well as on states.
Crockett’s trademark ironic humour always bubbles close to the surface in this novel, which is less light romantic historical fiction and more an exploration of the Scottish ‘underdog.’ Crockett repeatedly pokes fun at ‘kirk law’ and ‘canon law.’ He also comments frequently on the nature of political and social expediency. The consequence for the modern reader is an encouragement to think about the relationship between fiction and history and the opportunity to look at things from a different perspective than that we have usually adopted.
There is more than a little of Emily Bronte’s petulant Catherine Earnshaw in Margaret but this a much more political novel than the title might suggest. There is romance, yes, but there is also history and the fictionalised version of the Seige of Roxburgh gives an explosive ending in more ways than one.
If you have any interest in the medieval period, especially medieval Scotland, you will find this novel a treat. And beyond that, it’s a good insight into Crockett’s particular skill at weaving history with adventure and romance to tell a cracking story.
This is the sequel to Crockett’s medieval tale ‘The Black Douglas’ told by ‘Maid’ Margaret Douglas herself. In the first book she is just a child but in ‘Maid Margaret’ we are treated to an old woman giving a retrospective narrative.. Margaret is an engaging, coy, witty and inconstant narrator. She is aware of the follies of her youth, saying ‘seeing comes to women, for the most part, when it is too late.’
The young Margaret craves adventure and thinks love a nonsense, but during the novel she has to grow up, realise how significant a part she plays in the history of her country and deal with both grief and love in an adult fashion. She, and we, learn of the role marriage plays in political alliances and of how this impacts upon individuals as well as on states.
Crockett’s trademark ironic humour always bubbles close to the surface in this novel, which is less light romantic historical fiction and more an exploration of the Scottish ‘underdog.’ Crockett repeatedly pokes fun at ‘kirk law’ and ‘canon law.’ He also comments frequently on the nature of political and social expediency. The consequence for the modern reader is an encouragement to think about the relationship between fiction and history and the opportunity to look at things from a different perspective than that we have usually adopted.
There is more than a little of Emily Bronte’s petulant Catherine Earnshaw in Margaret but this a much more political novel than the title might suggest. There is romance, yes, but there is also history and the fictionalised version of the Seige of Roxburgh gives an explosive ending in more ways than one.
If you have any interest in the medieval period, especially medieval Scotland, you will find this novel a treat. And beyond that, it’s a good insight into Crockett’s particular skill at weaving history with adventure and romance to tell a cracking story.
