Sir Walter Scott’s Guy Mannering makes the most of coincidence and mistaken identity to shape an 18th-century Scottish adventure based on a Scottish ballad.
Early in his career, Scott heard that a Galloway excise officer named Joseph Train had begun collecting local history in order to write a book. Train so admired Scott that after the author contacted him, he decided not to use any of his information for his own publication, but instead to turn it over to Scott. He made frequent visits to the famous author to relay stories he had learned, and the two became good friends. Scott credited Train in the prefaces to all of his Waverley novels and found his anecdotes concerning Galloway Gypsies fascinating. He decided to incorporate aspects of those stories into his own novels, along with one told by a local character named John MacKinlay.
That tale begins with an astrologer knocking on the door of a farmhouse at the moment of birth of the farmer’s son. The astrologer writes out the son’s horoscope, predicting his fortune, and Scott repeats the tale in its entirety in the introduction to the 1829 edition of Guy Mannering. According to Scott, he wrote the novel, the second in his Waverley series, over a six-week period around the 1815 Christmas holiday.
The novel’s plot turns on the kidnapping of the child Harry Bertram, heir to Ellangowan, by a dastardly lawyer named Gilbert Glossin. The kidnapping brings an early death to Harry’s mother, just after she delivers a daughter named Lucy. Glossin assumed that, by ridding the estate of Harry, he could purchase it himself.
Involved with the plot and the original tale on which it is based is Meg Merrilies, a Gypsy woman believed by the locals to be a witch but who is quite dedicated to the Bertrams. She takes part in the mysticism with which Scott enjoyed imbuing many of his novels, indulging his fondness for local lore. He inserts a retelling of a version of the “true” tale of the kidnapped child within the novel.
The title character, Guy Mannering, had been shown kindness by Lewis Bertram, laird of Ellangowan, when, as a young man, he accepted Bertram’s overnight hospitality. His night’s stay coincided with the birth of Harry, and Guy prophesied to his host that his son would one day be in peril. Mannering’s presence at the estate foreshadows his lifelong association with Bertram, who, in the manner of romance plots, matures with the name of Vanbeest Brown, joins the army in India, and ends up coincidentally serving under Colonel Mannering.
Mannering likes the young man whom he knows as Brown but, when returning after six weeks’ absence on business, finds that Brown has become quite familiar with his wife and daughter. As Mannering later relates the story to his longtime friend, Mervyn, he compares himself to Shakespeare’s jealous character Othello, because he listened to a so-called friend’s gossip regarding Brown’s flirtation with his beloved wife. Mannering challenges Brown to a duel and delivers what he believes to be a mortal wound to the young man, which brings on the death of Mrs. Mannering.
Leaving his daughter Julia in the care of Mervyn, Mannering returns to England and Ellangowan, which he discovers is up for purchase. At age seventeen, Lucy Bertram helps care for her infirm father, who in his weak mental capacity does not recognize Mannering. The strain of the sale of his ancestor’s property proves too taxing for Lewis Bertram, and he dies, leaving Lucy to deal with the delayed estate sale. Mannering bids to buy the estate to prevent Glossin’s purchase, but the drunken carrier of his bid arrives too late, and Glossin wins the estate for himself.
In the meantime, Brown has recovered from his wound and returned to England. When he discovers that Julia lives in Dumfries with the Mervyns, he sets out to find her, alerting her first to his presence in the country. He befriends a farmer named Dandy Dinmont, helping him fight a gang of thieves, and then travels to Ellangowan, where he is recognized by Meg.
As the plot’s true heroine, Meg conceals Brown from her rowdy sons and their fellow “ruffians.” As Brown makes his way across Scotland, Julia and Lucy have become close friends. While Julia thinks often of Brown, she develops a romance with a young man named Hazlewood who intends to marry her. When Hazlewood challenges Brown, sticking a gun in his ribs, Brown begins a scuffle, resulting in Hazlewood’s wounding of himself.
Brown returns to Ellangowan, hoping to hide from Hazlewood. There, Glossin recognizes him and engages him in discussion, agonized over the prospect that Brown/Bertram might remember his former home and identity. While Glossin remains “eager to learn what local recollections young Bertram had retained of the scenes of his infancy,” he is also “compelled to be extremely cautious in his replies, lest he should awaken or assist, by some name, phrase or anecdote, the slumbering train of association.” Glossin fears the loss of Ellangowan and takes Brown prisoner, escorting him to Baron Hazlewood’s estate in order that revenge may be extracted for the wounding of young Hazlewood.
Although Hazlewood has told his father that his wounding was accidental, Glossin convinces the Baron that he must serve justice on Brown. Through his interrogation, the Baron discovers Brown’s connection with Colonel Guy Mannering and insists that he be contacted. Glossin does not want any information about Brown discussed in court, as his true identity might be revealed. Using a building fire as cover, Brown/Bertram escapes his trial, and Meg, in another heroic act, foils the conniving Glossin’s plan with Dandy’s help.
Glossin meets a grisly death by his henchman, Dirk Hatteraick. Bertram’s true identity is recognized, and he regains not only the estate but also Mannering’s favor and approval of his romance of Julia. In a happy ending, even Hazlewood becomes enamored of Bertram’s friendship, and Mannering himself finds the guilt he felt for his wife’s loss balanced by the forgiveness he receives from Bertram.
Guy Mannering offers no surprises to readers familiar with Scott’s works. All the expected cast of characters are present—the nobleman forced to regain a lost fortune, the older/wiser confidant figure who also suffers conflict, the various sidekicks, damsels in need of rescue, and the introduction of mysticism. While a traditional figure for Scott, Meg proves the most interesting, particularly to feminist critics. Her independence, courage, and special empowerment through a “magic” that results from her sharp wit and a honed intuition she has the wisdom to consult highlights her contrast with the lovely, dependent, and rather helpless young beauties.
Bibliography
Bradley, Phillip. An Index to the Waverley Novels. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1975.
Gordon, Robert C. Under Which King? A Study of the Scottish Waverley Novels. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1969.
Rhys, Ernest. Preface to Guy Mannering, by Sir Walter Scott. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1954.