The Real

Bride of Lammermoor
(Lucia di Lammermoor)

by

Rosemary Bythell

The true story of Janet Dalrymple,

The Bride of Baldoon
 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

Copyright Wigtown Heritage Group 2007

Typeset & published by

G.C. Book Publishers
Botany
Wigtown
on behalf of The Wigtown Heritage Group
Tel: 01988 402188

www.wigtown-heritage.org
e-mail: [email protected]

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

Acknowledgments

My sincere thanks to family and friends for encouraging and

helping me put this essay together; in particular Wigtown’s
Historian and Author, Donna Brewster and our local patient
publisher, John Carter. Also Mr. and Mrs John Korner, Rev.
Glenda Keating and the Kirkliston Local History Archive, The
Earl and Countess of Stair, Mrs Marie Barrett, Mr Andrew
Sproat, my son Shaun at the Bookshop, daughter Louise at
The Bridgeman Art Library and my supportive husband, David.

Wigtown 2007 R.B.

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Portrait of the bride by Sir James Jebusa Shannon (1862 - 1923)
The Bridgeman Art Library, London
 Introduction

My motivation for putting this book together is vested

in my love for the area where I live and where it all really
happened combined with the opinion that in view of Wigtown’s
status as Scotland’s National Booktown this literary gem should
be given a little more exposure. Wigtown, until relatively
recently, was the county town of Wigtownshire and is situated
a few miles from Baldoon Castle. I like to think that the genial
and generous author, the great Sir Walter Scott, would be
pleased to know that the story which he has kept alive for
posterity has come back to roost in the heart of Galloway!

Sir Walter Scott’s novel, The Bride of Lammermoor and

Donizetti’s Opera, Lucia di Lammermoor, two major works
which were written during the first part of the 19th century tell
the true story of a sequel of tragic events which had occurred
some 150 years earlier, not in the Borders area of Scotland
but in the county of Wigtownshire, South West Scotland.

Lucy Ashton/Lucia di Lammermoor was in fact a lovely

young girl by the name of Janet Dalrymple who lived close to
Glenluce, and who died at Baldoon Castle, near Wigtown, a
month after being forced to marry a man she did not love.
His name was David Dunbar. The source of this poignant
story has solid factual roots, having been passed down, by
word of mouth, particularly within the families of those who
were involved. Evidence as to the veracity of a story of deep
emotions, parental manipulation and heartbreak have been
well chronicled. The third party, Lord Archibald Rutherford –
the real love of Janet’s short life – lived in the Borders, where
Walter Scott spent a large part of his life.
 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

In the case of The Bride of Lammermoor, Scott not

only changed the location from West to East but he renamed
all the parties involved and even went so far as to exercise
quite a lot of artistic licence or as he said himself “I sprinkled
too much parsley on my chicken”. He also moved the “scene”
forward to the end of the seventeenth century because of his
interest in social and political life during those years. Of course
this was perfectly acceptable. Scott was quickly acknowledged
as the father of the novel, but he took great care not to upset
any descendants of the families involved in the tragic events
which had taken place in the late 1660s. He greatly valued
his friendships and counted some members of those families
among his close friends. One of them, Thomas Douglas, later
to become 5th Earl of Selkirk, most probably gave him valuable
information during their university days in Edinburgh. However,
Scott did acknowledge in the Introduction to his novel that he
had made the above changes and gave the correct names as
well.

Many people consider The Bride of Lammermoor to be

the best of Scott’s romantic novels despite the tragic
circumstances of the “tale”.

It is hard to believe that he dictated it to his friends, William

Laidlaw and John Ballantyne, during a spell of agonising illness
which was thought at the time would lead to his demise. He
used opiates such as Laudanum to alleviate his pain but these
potent doses caused him to hallucinate. During the hours of
dictation he would sometimes get up from his sofa and pace
around the room in order to give additional animation to the
dialogue. He later confessed to Ballantyne that he did not
remember a single incident, character or conversation

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

contained in the novel! In spite of everything he produced

an unparalleled literary gem. Its style is the most emotional
and polished in the series of Waverley Novels.

While researching the facts regarding this fascinating

story I have found that historians and biographers have
frequently given incorrect information in their writings. Some
inaccuracies appeared in P.H. McKerlie’s “Lands and Their
Owners in Galloway”. McKerlie referred to Janet as “Jane”.
He also dismissed Scott’s story as “pure fiction.” This incorrect
information was accepted and used by W.S. Crockett some
years later and has been generally agreed with (conveniently!)
during the past 120 years. McKerlie’s volumes are very worthy
but many of his inaccuracies were corrected in the later edition
published in 1993.

It is difficult to know exactly when the Dalrymples moved

from Balneil to Carscreugh as I have found dates ranging from
1668 to 1680 in different histories of the area. Popular belief
is that the family lived at Carscreugh at the time of Janet’s ill-
fated marriage.

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

Sir Walter Scott’s novels were in great demand during

the early nineteenth century because of the insatiable appetite
of his readers for tales of the past - tales of romance, chivalry,
political and social life and customs of the Renaissance and
Middle Ages which Scott recreated so imaginatively. It
followed that stage productions were favourably received on
many occasions.

The Bride of Lammermoor was first printed in 1819 and

within a short time received acclaim throughout Britain. When
Donnizetti heard about the plays which were staged a few
years after its publication, he was captivated by the romantic
and ultimately tragic story, and he used it to create the opera
Lucia di Lammermoor, much to the delight of his opera-loving
public. The merit of the opera is shown by its continued
popularity.

The Italians related to the depictions of a rather

disfunctional Scotland with a glorious past and an uncertain
future as at that time Italy was in the grip of Austrian and
Spanish rule. Salvatore Commarano, who was the librettist
for Donizetti’s opera, Lucia di Lammermoor, discarded most
of Scott’s “trappings” and yarns, concentrating instead on the
original aspect of the hugely captivating story at the centre of
this particular novel. The opera is widely recognised as a
masterpiece of early romanticism. However, following its initial
success it languished for some years in the wilderness until
when in 1954 Lucia was brilliantly portrayed by Maria Callas

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

under the direction of Herbert Von Karajan at La Scala, Milan

and later in Berlin, Vienna, Rome, New York etc. Joan
Sutherland’s career took a spectacular shot towards stardom
in the role of Lucia in 1959 at Covent Garden under the baton
of Tullio Serafin and thereafter she was feted as a diva who
specialised in melodramatic 19th century opera. Over the
next fifteen years, under Franco Zeferelli’s direction, Sutherland
performed the part of Lucia hundreds of times in various opera
houses all over the world, including La Scala, Milan and The
Metropolitan, New York. International tenors such as Pavarotti
and Carreras have helped establish the opera among the
world’s leaders and have ensured the Immortality of Lucia di
Lammermoor.

The great British painter, Millais, who visited Wigtown

and Glenluce during the second part of the 19th century, was
so moved that he painted a poignant but strikingly beautiful
picture of The Bride of Lammermoor which now hangs in The
Bristol City Museum and which we have been able to use on
the cover of this book by kind permission of The Bridgeman
Art Library.

According to various Historians and family “traditions”

the story goes that Scotland was rocked by what Walter Scott
later described as “An Awer True Tale”. In other words it was
basically factual. Communication was greatly valued and
story-telling, whether true or imagined, was almost a national
past-time during the 17th and 18th centuries. It is not
surprising that these moving events involving three aristocratic
families were widely known. Scott himself, even as a child,
was totally captivated by the tales which were recounted to
him by his grandmother and his mother around the fire at
Sandyknowe, close to the hills of Lammermuir. Later on he

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

would listen intently to family friends, one of whom, Mrs. Murray

Keith, was almost like an aunt to him and was a particularly
avid story-teller. Friendships made during Scott’s university
days were also instrumental in sowing the seeds for the many
novels which he loved to write, weaving social and political
history into each one in his own ingenious way.

In the Introduction to the 1829 edition of The Bride of

Lammermoor Scott printed a copy of a letter which was written
by General Sir James Stewart Denham, Bart, to his cousin
Robert Dalrymple Home Elphinstone who were great
grandsons of Hugh Dalrymple of North Berwick, Lord President
of the Court of Session in Edinburgh. Hugh Dalrymple was
Janet Dalrymple’s brother. The contents of this important
letter were passed on to Walter Scott by his close friend Will
Clerk in 1823, after the novel had first been published.

This letter clearly indicates that the story as told by Scott

was in most respects absolutely true. It would seem that
these gentlemen were rather concerned about
misapprehensions which had possibly arisen as a result of
Scott’s artistic licence and they were obviously anxious to put
the records straight which is commendable. It is plain to
see that they both knew all about the tragic events of
1669, having heard it directly from their family who always
referred to Janet as THE BRIDE OF BALDOON. Indeed she
was The Bride of Baldoon but not for long.

Marriages, during the 16th and 17th centuries, were

matters of great importance within the aristocracy, bringing
lands, titles and position with them and linking powerful families
together in a manner which doesn’t happen to-day and quite
understandably parents would often exert influence over their

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

offspring when it came to making such an enormous decision.

The parents of young Janet Dalrymple were particularly
ambitious for their lovely daughter and in many other aspects
of life as well. Janet’s father, Viscount James Dalrymple, was
one of Scotland’s greatest statesmen, a lawyer of high repute,
confidant and friend of King Charles the Second. The
aggrandisement of himself and his family through the
acquisition of lands in South West Scotland became something
of an obsession with him. He was a member of the Dalrymple
of Stair family of Ayrshire and had been a credit to his widowed
mother by studying hard at the University of Glasgow where
he took the degree of M.A. and later, during his time in the
army succeeded in taking the Chair of Philosophy at that
university.

His own family home was at Stair, but it was through

his marriage to Margaret Ross whose father, James Ross of
Balneil, near Glenluce, in Wigtownshire, died in 1655 leaving
the farm to his daughter and son-in-law, that James Dalrymple
developed his lifelong interest in the ownership of land.
Margaret’s uncle left his farm, Carscreugh, to the couple also,
and within twenty years James “had sasine” of numerous farms
in Wigtownshire. His political life was concentrated in
Edinburgh and he went from strength to strength in spite of
the occasional fall from favour during times of upheaval - at
one time he and his wife felt obliged to live in Holland for five
years but these matters would fill a book in their own right so
I shall restrict this part of my narrative.

The Dalrymples, with their large family of nine children,

four of whom became eminent Lawyers, spent autumns,
winters and springs in Edinburgh and lived during the summer
months at Balneil farm. Margaret Ross of Balneil, as she was

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

known according to numerous historians, was a striking woman

with an engaging personality, quick wit, great charm and
determination. She shared her husband’s ambitions and
together they made a formidable and successful team, so it
would be reasonable to assume that they could guide their
eldest daughter, Janet, in a direction which would prove to be
of social and financial benefit for the Dalrymple family.
However, Janet was deeply attached to a man by the name of
Lord Archibald Rutherford - apparently gallant and handsome
but impecunious by Dalrymple standards in the 1660s.
Archibald’s mother was the daughter of the Earl of Jedburgh
and he was the youngest of four sons.

Janet had met Archibald whilst in Edinburgh; perhaps

at a ball or a wedding. The story goes but this part is
unconfirmed, that the couple pledged to marry and broke a
piece of gold in two as a sign of their secret bethrothal and
Janet wore her half around her neck. However, she was aware
that she was totally beholden to her parents and worried for
her future.

When the Dalrymples discovered that Sir David Dunbar

of Baldoon, a well established and prosperous landowner who
lived near Wigtown, some 25 miles from Balneil, had an eligible
son, also David Dunbar, steps were taken firstly to put an end
to Janet’s relationship with her beloved Archibald and secondly
to arrange an alliance between Janet and David. The
Dalrymples, Margaret in particular, worked tirelessly on Janet
who, according to her family, was a gentle, rather fragile young
woman so it would be reasonable to assume that there were
many tearful encounters between mother and daughter. The
Dalrymples could be forgiven for not liking Archibald Rutherford
whose political principles did not concur with their own, but

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

when the high spirited Archibald wrote to the Dalrymples

insisting upon his right to their daughter ’s hand
Margaret replied to the effect that, sensible of her daughter’s
undutiful behaviour in entering into a contract unsanctioned
by her parents, the girl had retracted her unlawful vow and
now refused to honour her engagement to him. Archibald
declined to receive such an answer from Janet’s mother so
Margaret felt obliged to arrange an interview between Archibald
and Janet, taking care to be present herself. Archibald was
incensed - Margaret’s strong will was equal to his own! Finally,
the Dalrymples came up with a brilliant solution (from their
point of view at any rate). They invoked the Levitical Law,
which declares that a woman shall be free of a vow which her
parents dissent from. This is the passage of Scripture which
they used:

“If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear on oath to

bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word, he shall
do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. If a
woman also vow a vow unto the Lord and bind herself by a
bond, being in her father’s house in her youth and her father
hear her vow and her bond wherewith she hath bound her
soul and her father shall hold his peace at her then all her
vows shall stand and every bond wherewith she hath bound
her soul shall stand. But if her father disallow her in the day
that he heareth not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith
she hath bound her soul, shall stand and the Lord shall forgive
her, because her father disallowed her” Numbers xxx 2,3,4,5.

Poor Janet was totally overwhelmed. She remained

mute, pale and motionless while Archibald tried to persuade
her to declare her own wishes and in the end her Mother forced
her to return the piece of broken gold to her plighted suitor.

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At this point the rejected lover burst forth with tremendous

passion, raging, even at Janet. It is said that his words to her
were “As for you, madam, you will be a world’s wonder”.

According to descendants of the Dalrymples, to whom

the story would have been told over and over again, Janet
slipped into a state of total despair. She became passive
and compliant in everything her mother commanded or advised
and ate very little
.
Plans for the marriage now went ahead. As for the
suitor, young David Dunbar, he did not appear to be aware of
what had been going on and contentedly agreed to marry the
beautiful girl whose parents always made him so welcome at
their home. A marriage contract was written, bestowing lands
and possessions upon the couple, by Sir David Dunbar. This
was signed on 29th May 1669 - see facsimile.

It is thought that the marriage took place at Glenluce

Church, (now demolished), on 12th August 1669. A story,
which is probably true, has been passed down that when
accompanying his sister to the church on her wedding day,
one of her younger brothers noticed that her hands were icily
cold and limp.

During the festivities on the wedding day, violent

screaming was heard coming from the bridal chamber, followed
by comparative stillness. The door was forced open by family
and servants who found the window open, the bridegroom
lying on the floor inside the door, bleeding from a wound to his
leg and the terrified bride cowering in the large fireplace in a
state of near dementia. She uttered the words “Now tak up
yer bonnie bridegroom” and it is said that she hardly spoke

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again. One of the Dalrymple sons was a medical student

and we may assume that he took care of his wounded brother-
in-law. It was supposed that the rejected lover, Archibald
Rutherford, had, by the connivance of some of the servants,
found means, during the bustle of the marriage feast, to secrete
himself within the apartment and that shortly after the entry of
the married pair, as soon as the parents and servants had
withdrawn, had attacked and wounded David Dunbar, escaping
immediately afterwards through the window, into the garden
and away on his horse to Edinburgh. Janet’s dreams of a
future with Archibald were now positively in ashes and she
continued to acquiesce to her parents’ wishes that she should
go to Baldoon Castle with David where his family would
welcome her with open arms. After two weeks the bridal party
consisting of some jovial friends of David Dunbar, escorted
the young couple down the pretty coastal path and eastwards
to Baldoon. One can only feel sympathy for the unfortunate
bridegroom who was a man of learning, kindness and
sincerity.

Janet, one of nine children, must have had a heavy

heart. Now, surrounded by virtual strangers in the persons
of her father-in-law and his second wife, three sisters-in-law
and unfamiliar servants, her physical and mental decline
continued at a relentless pace. The hapless David may have
done his utmost to convince Janet that “all was forgiven” though
by now he must have realised that he was married to a lady
who was quite obviously very much in love with the man who
had tried to kill him. The relationship between the pair must
have been under unbearable strain and Janet was probably
deeply embarrassed that her new husband’s injuries had been
inflicted upon him on her account. Nothing could ever alter
that fact. The bleak prospect of spending a lifetime without

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her beloved Archibald and miles away from her parents,

numerous siblings and friends must have been intolerable.
Janet would be thinking of the Dalrymple exodus to Edinburgh
and she was now banished to Baldoon. Finally, the thread
snapped and Janet, the Bride of Baldoon, died on 12th
September 1669, exactly one month after her Wedding Day.
Nothing is known of her thereafter, apart from an Elegie which
was written by the family friend of the Dunbars, The Rev.
Andrew Symson Minister of Kirkinner. This can be seen later
on. The dates are correct because every occasion was
chronicled by this man in his poem - “On the unexpected death
of the vertuous lady Mrs. Janet Dalrymple, Lady Baldone,
Younger” in which he states that she “wained in her prime”.
He gives the dates, which we have no reason to doubt, in
Latin, as follows:

Nupta (married) 12th August 1669

Domum Ducta (taken home) 24th August 1669
Obiit (died) 12th September 1669
Sepult (placed in vault) 30th September 1669.

One tends to dwell upon these facts at this stage. The

two families must have been in a state of shock as well as
mourning. The Dalrymples, who were probably in Edinburgh,
would have to be notified. That would take at least four days.
Then what? It looks as if Janet’s brother John, later to become
1st Earl of Stair, aged only 21 at that time, and recently married
to Elizabeth Dundas of Kirkliston, near Edinburgh, may well
have travelled down to Baldoon and made arrangements to
take his sister’s remains to Kirkliston where his father-in-law, Sir
John Dundas of Newliston, had built an aisle on to the church
a few years earlier.

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Kirkliston Church

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The Real Bride of Lammermoor

The plaque on Kirkliston Church

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All this would account for the delay of some 18 days

between death and final resting. Travel, particularly with a
carriage, would have been slow and tedious and it would be
likely that the cortege, once arranged, would have spent a
night or two at the Dalrymple homes, firstly at the family home
and secondly at Stair House in Ayrshire. The church at
Kirkliston, which is in excellent condition to this day, contains
the remains of various, but unfortunately unnamed, members
of the Dalrymple family. I believe Janet is one of those
unnamed people. She was not famous in any way then.
What is significant is that when her mother, Margaret Ross of
Balneil, died her body was laid to rest in that aisle. There is a
large plaque on the outside of the aisle which states:

IN THIS AISLE ARE INTERRED THE REMAINS OF

MARGARET ROSS OF BALNEIL, WIFE OF JAMES,
VISCOUNT STAIR, LORD PRESIDENT OF THE SESSION
WHO DIED 1692. etc. - see photo.

Janet’s father, James, was not entombed there. I

believe that Margaret, who in spite of her strong will, fiery
disposition, and the rest, had to live with the awful remorse of
having forced her lovely daughter into a disastrous marriage
which destroyed the girl’s life, wished to be beside Janet, in
death at least and for ever more. Margaret was a good woman
in so many ways and it was her grandson, John 2nd Earl of
Stair, The Field Marshal, another great man, who arranged
for her to be placed in this aisle. She and James had looked
after John, taking him with them during their exile in Holland
and the mutual affection between grandmother and grandson
was touching.

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James Dalrymple, Viscount Stair, died on 15th

November, 1695, three years after his wife, and was laid to
rest in St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh. .

The families of Bride and Bridegroom appear to have

remained on good terms. James Dalrymple and David Dunbar
served together as Representatives of The Barons of The
Sheriffdom of Wigtown in Parliament in 1681.

********

James Dalrymple

The man who has always been known as The Father of

the Family, James Dalrymple was born in Ayrshire in 1619
and was a member of an old and well known family. His
father, James Dalrymple of Stair, died when the boy was only
seven years old. Young James’s mother, Janet (Kennedy) was
anxious that he should have a good education and encouraged
him to pursue a career within the legal profession like his
forbears. The nearest University was Glasgow and happily
James was very successful there, gaining an M.A. Following
a spell with the Earl of Glencairn’s regiment in the year 1638
he applied for an obtained the Philosophical Chair, and
managed to discharge his military duties in addition to his
professorship.

He married Margaret, eldest daughter of James Ross

of Balneil, Wigtownshire, in 1643, having met her during his
time in Glasgow.

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In 1648 he was admitted a member of the Faculty of

Advocates in Edinburgh. A few years later, in 1655 his father-
in-law died and the family farm passed on to his wife and
himself so James now became a resident of Galloway in South
West Scotland. Two years later he was made a Lord of Session
by the Protector. In 1664 he was created a baronet by Charles
II, and in 1671 he was raised to the presidency of the Court of
Session.

During these years, James and Margaret produced a

large family and once again the chosen role for four of their
sons was the legal profession.

Walter Scott wrote that the Dalrymple family “produced,

within the space of two centuries, as many men of talent, civil
and military, of political and professional eminence as any
house in Scotland”. During the years after James’s marriage
he acquired a great amount of land in Wigtownshire. The
family retained their home in Ayrshire, Stair House.

James was an amazing man - high principled but also

somewhat ruthless. During Cromwell’s time he was made a
judge and after Cromwell’s death when Charles II finally
succeeded in taking the throne of Scotland with help and
encouragement from James Dalrymple and others, James was
knighted and appointed Lord President of the Court of Session,
the most senior Judge in Scotland. He took the name Lord
Stair then. He refused to take the Oath in the third year of the
Restoration when Episcopacy was re-established and resigned
his position. The King, however, refused to accept his
resignation and in fact, conferred upon him a Baronetcy.
Charles II’s brother, The Duke of York, arrived in Scotland with
the intention of taking over and imposing Catholicism on the

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nation. Lord and Lady Stair fled to Holland for a period of

years between 1682 and 1688 and Stair was even charged
with treason. These charges were later dropped after Charles
II’s brother, The Duke of York, came to the throne.

The Historian, P.H. McKerlie, wrote in Volume I of Lands

and Their Owners in Galloway that no trace remained in the
late 1800s of the house at Balneil.

Parts of Carscreugh Castle are still standing. The

family seat was moved at the end of the 17th century to Castle
Kennedy although James and Margaret by then had died.

***********

Margaret Ross of Balneil.

This was a formidable lady who became the wife of

James Dalrymple in 1643 and who bore him no fewer than
nine children. She and her husband were well suited and must
have formed an amazing partnership - domestically, socially
and politically.

It was written by an eminent historian that Margaret

was “a beautiful, stately woman, endowed by nature with strong
powers and violent passions. She was a severe and strict
observer of the external forms, at least, of devotion; her
hospitality was splendid, even to ostentation; her address and
manners, agreeable to the pattern most valued in Scotland at
the period, were grave, dignified, and severely regulated by
the rules of etiquette. Interest – the interest of her family, if
not her own – seemed too obviously the motive of her actions.”

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The Real Bride of Lammermoor

Carscreugh Castle, Glen Luce

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

When Margaret inherited the farm of Balneil in

Wigtownshire from her father, she became known as Margaret
Ross of Balneil, and was rarely referred to as Lady Stair which
was her title once her husband became a Baronet.

She inherited a nearby farm from her uncle some years

later. Carscreugh was in a more attractive situation, a few
miles from the pretty town of Glenluce and it was here that
she and James decided to build their Castle. Both Margaret
and James found that being landowners was very much to
their liking and she most probably aided her husband in his
quest for more and more land. Their eldest son, John, followed
their example and also added numerous farms to the family
“coffers”.

Family life would have been busy for Margaret, having

produced nine children, but she was incredibly supportive to
her husband while guiding her sons towards successful legal
careers. Her grandson, later to become known as The Field
Marshal, and The Great Earl of Stair, was devoted to her,
having been virtually disowned by his own parents because of
the fatal accident which resulted in the death of his elder
brother.

However, Margaret must have been a good wife and

mother, supporting her husband and sons who were obliged
to spend a large part of the year in Edinburgh where they all
pursued their legal careers and where some of them gained
the highest degrees of success. This mother of nine ran three
homes, one in Wigtownshire, one in Ayrshire and one in
Edinburgh – quite an accomplishment in those days of yore!

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

It is said that Margaret dabbled in witchcraft. The title

of The Witch of Endor was certainly attributed to her and
within her family the belief was that she decreed that when
she died she might not be put under ground, but that her coffin
should be placed upright on one end of it, promising, that while
she remained in that situation, the Dalrymples should continue
in prosperity. According to Walter Scott, a man of total integrity,
“it is certain her coffin stands upright in the aisle of the Church
of Kirkliston, the burial place of the family.” This information
may have been conveyed to Scott by one of his Dalrymple
friends in the early nineteenth century. In addition, the Memoirs
of John Earl of Stair, by an Impartial Hand, confirm this theory.
However, now, in the 21st century, the coffin, along with the
other coffins in that aisle, no longer remains upright.

As Scott put it “the talents of this accomplished race

were sufficient to have accounted for the dignities which many
members of the family attained without any supernatural
assistance.”

It was understandable that Margaret wanted Janet, to

marry into a well established family and perhaps she realised
too late that it was a great mistake to have been so forceful
with her lovely, gentle daughter. Janet, whose remains are
almost certainly lying in the Aisle at the Church in Kirkliston,
near Edinburgh, was joined by her mother many years later.
Janet’s famous nephew, The Great Earl, and many other
members of the Dalrymple family, lie there, but significantly, it
is Margaret Ross of Balneil whose presence is carved in stone
before all others on the plaque outside the Church!

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

John, 1st Earl of Stair

James and Margaret’s eldest son, John, achieved not

only fame but notoriety. He was a controversial and sometimes
despised man, but rose to great distinction and was created
1st Earl of Stair. As Secretary of State he was instrumental in
ordering the Massacre of Glencoe. Like his father, John was
a master in the art of land acquisition and obtained many farms
in Wigtownshire. John and his father fell out for some time at
least, over the dispute involving his father in 1682 as John
had felt obliged to feign condemnation of his father and referred
to James as a “disloyal” parent while his father, still in exile in
Holland, was obviously very hurt by his son’s attitude. He
purchased Castle Kennedy in 1677 and spent part of his time
there. John was King’s Advocate and Lord of Session and
took his seat as a peer in 1701. In 1703 he was created Baron
Newliston and Earl of Stair, with remainder to the issue male
of his father. His wife, Elizabeth Dundas, was daughter and
heir of Sir John Dundas of Newliston and with her he produced
a number of children. He died suddenly on 8th January, 1707,
having debated the famous Act of Union in Parliament House,
Edinburgh, and was entombed at Kirkliston.

John, 2nd Earl of Stair

A second tragedy occurred within the Dalrymple family

in or around the year 1680. John and Elizabeth’s two elder
sons, James and John, picked up a couple of loaded pistols
which had been left on a table in the hall of one of their homes
by a visitor who had arrived, of course, on horseback and,
quite understandably, decided to point the pistols at each
other. The boys who were aged about 9 and 7 pulled the
triggers and sadly the elder son, James, was killed. Elizabeth,

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

The present Earl of Stair, James Dalrymple the 14th Earl

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

could not tolerate the sight of her son, John, from that day on
and he was left in the care of his grandparents, James and
Margaret Dalrymple. They took him with them to Leyden in
Holland where he received a wonderful education.

He had an illustrious career and was appointed as

Field Marshal in 1742. In that year he was also appointed as
Ambassador to Holland where he was commander-in-chief of
the allied army in Flanders until the arrival of George II in 1743.
It was as a representative for the crown that John, 2nd Earl of
Stair, attended the Coronation of Louis XV in Paris - a
sumptuous and rather extravagant occasion which has been
well documented. He was Ambassador at the Court of Louis
XV1. John spent some years creating the wonderful gardens
at Castle Kennedy, employing an army of men to lay out the
sweeping terraces and plant magnificent trees as well as
reshaping the Loch. John was known as The Great Earl and
was highly respected and loved. He married Eleanor, widow
of James, First Viscount Primrose, with whom he was very
happy though they did not have a family.

Another tragic event occurred in 1715 when Castle

Kennedy was accidentally burned down. The magnificent
ruin still stands in a majestic position within the grounds of the
present seat of the Earls of Stair, Lochinch Castle.

The title and lands have been passed down from

generation to generation and the present Earl is James. He
and his Countess, Emily, live at Lochinch Castle and James
continues to administer the large estate. The wonderful
gardens at Castle Kennedy are open to the public and are
flourishing.

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

Lord Archibald Rutherford.

Archibald Rutherford was the fourth son whose mother

was the daughter and co-heiress of the first Lord Jedburgh.
Very little is known about Archibald, but it would appear that
his lack of fortune and his political views were not well received
by Janet’s parents. He was an accomplished horseman and
one assumes that he was rather dashing, as opposed to David
Dunbar who, according to Rev. Andrew Sympson, was not of
great physical stature nor was he a keen horseman. Ironically,
Archibald inherited some lands from his brother Thomas, but
it was of no avail in his quest for the hand of his lady. As far
as the Dalrymple family knew, it was Archibald who caused
the dreadful incident on Janet’s wedding night and they
believed that he escaped through the open window in the bridal
chamber, and vanished into the thick shrubbery in the garden
below before making his way back to Edinburgh and the
Borders. Apparently he went abroad, received a commission in
the army and did not return to Scotland. His death was
recorded as occurring on 11th March 1685. Archibald
Rutherford never married.

The Dunbars of Baldoon.

David, the Bridegroom, an affable, learned man of high

character, was the only son of Sir David Dunbar and lived with
his father, stepmother and his four sisters at Baldoon, near
Wigtown, the county town of Wigtownshire. The family owned
a great amount of pasture land and his father was a noted
breeder of cattle. He was also the first man in the area to
develop parkland. Their home, a substantial Castle, was
situated in a picturesque position looking out over some of
their land to the lovely Solway Estuary. The Dunbars planted

29
The Real Bride of Lammermoor

Baldoon Castle

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

trees along the banks of the River Bladnoch which flowed

through the estate. The family was held in high esteem
throughout the area and Sir David served his country well
whenever the occasion arose.

David, who must have been devastated by the death of

his young bride, refused for the rest of his life to enter into any
discussion on the subject of the dreadful incident which
occurred on his wedding night.

He remarried and had a son and daughter. His wife was

Eleanor, daughter of Hugh, 7th Earl of Eglington. Tragedy
struck again however, when he fell from his horse when riding
between Leith and Edinburgh and was killed. Apparently he
was not a keen horseman and the injury to his leg on the night
of his first marriage was instrumental in causing his accident.

His good friend Rev. Andrew Symson who was obviously

deeply upset by his death in 1682 wrote a poem entitled “A
Funeral Elegie occasioned by the sad a much lamented death
of that worthily respected Gentleman, David Dunbar, Younger
of Baldone, only son and apparent Heir to the Right Worshipful,
Sir David Dunbar of Baldoon, Knight Baronet.”

David and Eleanor’s infant son died shortly afterwards.

His daughter, Mary, married Basil Hamilton, son of the

3rd Duke of Hamilton and the estate at Bladnoch passed to
him. Basil drowned in 1699 at the Minnoch Burn, Newton
Stewart while endeavouring to save the life of his servant, who
also perished. Fortunately, Mary and Basil had a son, also
named Basil, and he succeeded to the lands of Baldoon. He
was Provost of Kirkcudbright for some years. The next

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generation produced a son called Dunbar Hamilton, and the

title of Earl of Selkirk came into the family in 1744. His eldest
son, Basil Hamilton, Lord Daer, improved the estate from 1786
onwards and sold it to the Earl of Galloway in 1796, earning
£200,000 in the process. The 6th Earl appears to have died
without heir, but his daughter became Lady Isabella Ellen Hope
upon her marriage. Her Grandson, Major Charles Hope
Dunbar proved his claim to the Baronetcy of Baldoon in 1918.
The present 8th Baronet is David Hope Dunbar, born 1941.
So the descendants of the bridegroom of Baldoon still live in
the South West of Scotland.

In or around the year of 1839 a violent storm severely

damaged the castle at Baldoon and therafter it fell into a state
of ruin. However, the remains of the castle where Janet died
are still standing and according to local legend, passed down
over the centuries, the area around Bladnoch is haunted by
the ghost of The White Lady of Baldoon. Every child in the
area has been told about this ghost for generations but I don’t
think many of them have the remotest idea why the lady is
dressed in white or who she was!!

The Dunbar family line.

The Baronetcy was granted in 1664 to David Dunbar of

Baldoon. He had married Elizabeth McCulloch in 1641. They
had four daughters and one son, David Dunbar (the
Bridegroom). The eldest daughter married the second son of
the Earl of Galloway and became Lady Ravenstone.

David Dunbar, the younger, married Janet Dalrymple on

12th August 1669. She died on 12th September 1669 at
Baldoon Castle.

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33
The Real Bride of Lammermoor

The present Laird of Baldoon, Andrew Sproat

 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

David remarried four years later. His second wife was

Eleanor Montgomery, daughter of the Earl of Eglinton with
whom he had two children, a son, David and a daughter, Mary.
David Dunbar, the younger, died on 20th March 1682 after
falling from his horse near Edinburgh and he was buried at
Holyrood Abbey. His young son, David, died soon afterwards.
Sir David Dunbar, the father and grandfather, outlived the
abovementioned and continued to breed cattle and tend his
very successful farming enterprises. He also had married
twice but did not have children with his second wife.

Mary Dunbar, the surviving child of David Dunbar, the

younger, married Basil Hamilton, son of the 3rd Duke of
Hamilton and the estate passed down to their son, also called
Basil. The tragic accident which claimed the life of Mary’s
husband, Basil when he was drowned in the Minnoch Burn,
Newton Stewart in 1699 leaving her widowed at an early age,
just like her mother.

Young Basil was Provost of Kirkcudbright and had a son

who was called Dunbar Hamilton.

Dunbar Hamilton succeeded to the estates at Baldoon

and to the title, 4th Earl of Selkirk in 1744.

His eldest son, Basil Hamilton, Lord Daer, improved the

estate from 1786 onwards and sold it to the Earl of Galloway
in 1796.

In or about the year 1839 a violent thunderstorm which

resulted in a fire, caused severe damage to the Castle at
Baldoon and thereafter it fell into a state of near ruin. The
stones from the Castle were used to build the present house

34
 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

which was used as a Shooting Lodge by the Galloways and

were also used for farm buildings.

The 5th Earl of Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, had a daughter,

Lady Isabella Ellen Hope. Her grandson, Major Charles Hope
Dunbar proved his claim to the Baronetcy of Baldoon in 1916.
The 8th Baronet is Sir David Hope Dunbar, born 1941, a direct
descendant of David Dunbar..

Rev. Andrew Symson

This gentleman was a close friend and great admirer of

the Dunbars of Baldoon. He is the sole provider of
contemporary evidence of the tragic events which took place
in 1669. His parish, Kirkinner, lies a mere three miles from the
family home of the Dunbars at Baldoon Castle on the banks of
the river Bladnoch, Wigtownshire, South West Scotland.

David Dunbar, the bridegroom, was a loyal parishioner

and his plight obviously aroused such emotion in the Minister
that he wrote two rather effusive Elegies, one when Janet, the
young bride, “wained in her prime” and died and the other
David, who had fallen from his horse near Edinburgh, passed
away in 1682

He remained on good terms with both families and wrote

about many landowners in Galloway during the years he spent
in South West Scotland.

When his ministry ceased to be of value to the people of

Kirkinner, Rev. Symson returned with his family to Edinburgh
where he took up the profession of Printer.

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

We are fortunate in this as he recorded his Elegie for

posterity. These were written long before Walter Scott was
born and are, of course absolutely genuine.

This “Elegy” is one of a group of thirteen which appeared

at the end of Tripatriarchion (The lives of the Patriarchs), a
series of religious poems, printed at Edinburgh in 1705 by
Symson himself. The composition is in the form of a dialogue
between a stranger and a domestic servant at Baldoon. The
little volume is excessively rare and the entire Elegy is quoted.

”On the unexpected Death of the Vertuous

Lady, Mrs. Janet Dalrymple, Lady Baldone, Younger.”

” ‘What means this sudden unexpected change?

This mourning Company? Sure, sure some strange
And uncouth thing hath happen’d. Phoebus’s Head
Hath not been resting on the wat’ry bed
Of Sea-green Thetis fourty times, since I
In transitu did cast my tender Eye
Upon this very place, and here did view
A Troop of Gallants: Iris never knew
The various colours which they did imploy
To manifest and represent their joy.
Yea more; Methinks I saw this very Wall
Adorn’d with Emblems Hieroglyphicall.
As first; The glorious Sun in lustre shine:
Next unto it, A young and tender Vine
Surround a stately Elm, whose tops were crown’d
With wreaths of Bay-tree reaching to the Ground:
And, to be short, methinks I did espy
A pleasant, harmless joyfull Comedy.
But now (sad change, I’m sure,) they all are clad

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

In deepest Sable, and their Faces sad.

The Sun’s o’erclouded and the Vine’s away,
The Elm is drooping, and the wreaths of Bay
Are chang’d to Cypress, and the Comedie
Is metamorphos’d to a Tragedie.
I do desire you, Friend, for to unfold
This matter to me.’

Servant

‘Sir, ’tis truth you’ve told.

We did enjoy great mirth, but now, ah me!
Our joyful Song’s turned to an Elegie.
A vertuous Lady, not long since a Bride,
Was to a hopeful plant by Marriage ty’d,
And brought home hither. We did all rejoyce,
Even for her sake. But presently our voice
Was turned to mourning, for that little time
That she’d enjoy: She wained in her prime.
For Atropus, with her impartial Knife,
Soon cut her Thread, and therewithall her Life.
And for the time, we may it well remember,
It being in unfortunate September,
Just at the Aequinox: She was cut down,
Where we must leave her till the Resurrection;
’Tis then the Saints enjoy their full perfection.’”

He wrote a second poem in 1682 following David’s death.

(Extract) “His Body, though not very large or tall,

Was sprightly, active, yea and strong withal;
His constitution was, if right I’ve guessed,
Blood mixed with Choler, said to be the best.

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

In’s gesture, converse, speech, discourse, attire,

He practis’d that which wise men still admire,
Commend, or recommend, what’s that you’ll say;
‘Tis this: He ever choos’d the middle way
Twixt both th’ extremes. Almost in every thing
He did the like, ‘tis worth our noticing:
Sparing yet not a Niggard, liberal
And yet not lavish or a prodigal
And knowing when to spend and when to spare,
And that’s a Lesson which not many are
Acquainted with. He bashfull was, yet daring
When he saw cause, and yet therein but sparing.
Familiar, yet not common, for he knew
To condescend, and keep his distance too
He used, and that most commonly, to go
On foot: I wish that he had still done so.”:

The Fatal Deed

This is a fascinating document which is, of course,

authentic. Walter Scott mentioned in his novel, chapter 32
that “I myself have seen the fatal deed”. He was referring to
the Marriage Contract which was drawn up, signed and
witnessed on the 29th May 1669. A most handsome provision
was made by Sir David Dunbar, father of the bridegroom, a
man rich in lands and money. There were eight signatures,
the parties and their witnesses:

David Dunbar, the bridegroom

H. Gordon, witness
Janet Dalrymple, the bride
William McGuffock, witness
James Dalrymple, father of the bride

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

James Dalrymple, witness (brother of the bride)

Baldone, father of the bridegroom
Thomas McGraddon, witness, Solicitor for James Dalrymple.

W.S. Crockett, who wrote the book entitled The Walter

Scott Originals, declared that Scott could not have seen the
document because it was not publicly disclosed until 1869,
by which time Scott was dead, but he marvelled at Scott’s
imagination when writing it! Crockett obviously did not know
about the great friendship which had existed between Scott
and Thomas Douglas, who later became the 5th Earl of Selkirk,
a direct descendant of the Dunbars of Baldoon. This document
had lain for perhaps the previous two hundred years in the
family home in Kircudbright, South West Scotland. Walter
Scott and Thomas Douglas had been University students
together in their late teens and early twenties. Together they
formed “The Club” in Edinburgh and the friendship continued
to be of great importance to Scott who was also very fond of
Thomas’s wife, Jean and their children. Thomas died in 1820
in Kirkcudbrightshire. He most probably had not only helped
to sow the seeds in Scott’s mind for the novel and must surely
have shown the document to his friend during a visit to
Kircudbright. Crockett did not seem to pick up on another
fact about the Scott family. Walter’s brother was married to
one of the McCullochs of Ardwall, an Estate which is within
ten miles of Kirkcudbright. Scott spoke highly of his brother’s
wife and mother-in-law so it follows that he would have stayed
with the McCullochs and being an incredibly sociable and
sincere man would have gone to see his old friends in
Kirkcudbrightshire.

As to the reason why The Fatal Deed was in the

possession of the Bridegroom’s family instead of the family of

39
 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

the Bride one can only hazard a guess but I wonder if it was
returned to the Dunbars by the Dalrymples as a gesture when
Janet died? After all, she was a Dunbar by then but her
remains were most probably taken away for committal by her
blood relations. I have been told by Sir David Hope-Dunbar
that sadly, during a fire at the family home of the descendants
of the Dunbars in 1940 the document was destroyed.
Fortunately, the above mentioned W.S. Crockett, managed to
obtain a print of The Fatal Deed prior to the fire. Although it
is difficult to decipher, the signatures are clear. Janet’s
signature is of interest in that the D of Dalrymple is so written
that there is a cross within it, almost indicating the cross which
she bore!

************

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

The Marriage Contract know as The Fatal Deed, 29th May, 1669

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

The following is an extract from the Introduction of 1829

to The Bride of Lammermoor, indicating the importance to Sir
Walter Scott of conveying the correct information regarding
what had been an enormous family tragedy involving the
Dalrymples and Dunbars. Scott’s friendships with
descendants of Sir James Dalrymple and Sir David Dunbar
were greatly respected by the author.

The letter, written by Sir Robert Dalrymple Horne

Elphinstone to his cousin, Sir James Stewart Denholm on
September 5th 1823 and published in the Edinburgh Evening
Post for October 10, 1840.

My dear Sir James,

Various circumstances have occurred which have

unavoidably prevented my returning an earlier answer to your
queries regarding our unfortunate relative – “The Bride of
Lammermoor.” I shall now have much pleasure in complying
with your wishes, in as far as an indifferent memory will enable
me to do so.

“The Bride of Baldoon” (for such has always been her

designation in our family) was the Honourable Janet Dalrymple,
eldest daughter of our great-great-grandfather, James Viscount
of Stair, Lord President of the Court of Session in the reign of
William and Mary; sister to the first Earl of that name, and to
our great-grandfather the Lord President Sir Hugh Dalrymple
of North Berwick; and consequently our great-grand aunt.
.
She was secretly attached, and had plighted her faith, to
the Lord Rutherford, when under the auspices of her mother,
a less amiable, but much more opulent suitor appeared, in

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

the person of David Dunbar, eldest son of Sir David Dunbar of

Baldoon, (an ancestor of the Selkirk family,) whose addresses
were, as may be supposed, submitted to with the greatest
aversion, from their being ungenerously persisted in after his
being informed of her early attachment and solemn
engagement. To this man, however, she was ultimately forced
to give her hand.

The result of this cruel and unnatural sacrifice was nearly,

if not exactly, as related by Sir Walter Scott. On the marriage-
night, soon after the young couple were left alone, violent and
continued screams were heard to proceed from the bridal-
chamber, and on the door (which was found locked) being
forced open, the bridegroom was found extended on the floor,
stabbed and weltering in his blood, while the bride sat in the
corner of the large fire-place, in a state of the most deplorable
frenzy, which continued without any lucid interval until the
period of her death. She survived but a short time, during
which (with the exception of the few words mentioned by Sir
Walter Scott – “Ye hae taen up your bonny bridegroom”) she
never spoke, and refused all sustenance.

The conclusion drawn from these extraordinary

circumstances, and which seems to have been assumed by
Sir Walter as the fact, was, that the forlorn and distracted victim,
seeing no other means of escaping from a fate which she
beheld with disgust and abhorrence, had in a fit of desperation
inflicted the fatal wound upon her selfish and unfeeling
husband. But in justice to the memory of our unhappy relative,
we may be permitted to regret Sir Walter’s not having been
made acquainted with a tradition long current in the part of the
country where the tragical event took place, -namely,that from
the window having been found open, it was conjectured that

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

the lover had, during the bustle and confusion occasioned by

the preparations for the marriage-feast, and perhaps by the
connivance of some servant of the family, contrived to gain
admission and to secrete himself in the bridal chamber, from
whence he had made his escape into the garden after having
found with and severely wounded his successful rival – a
conclusion strengthened by other concurring circumstances,
and rendered more probable by the fact of young Baldoon
having, to his latest breath, obstinately refused to give any
explanation on the subject, and which might well justify a belief
that he was actuated by a desire of concealing the particulars
of a rencontre, the causes and consequences of which he
might justly consider as equally discreditable to himself. The
unfortunate lover was said to have disappeared immediately
after the catastrophe in a manner somewhat mysterious; but
this part of the story has escaped my recollection.

While on the subject of this calamitous event, I cannot

help offering some observations on the principal personages
introduced in Sir Walter Scott’s narrative, all of whom are more
or less interesting both to you and me.

The character of Sir William Ashton certainly cannot be

considered as a fair representation of our eminent and
respectable ancesteor Lord Stair, to whom he bears little
resemblance, either as a politician or a gentleman; and Sir
Walter would seem wishful to avoid the application,, when he
says that, on acquiring the ancient seat of the Lords of
Ravenswood, Sir William had removed certain old family
portraits and replaced them by “those of King William and
Queen Mary, and of Sir Thomas Hope and Lord Stair, two
distinguished Scots lawyers;” but on this point some less
ambiguous intimation would have been very desirable, and

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

having in the character of Lucy Ashton stuck so closely to the

character of the daughter, the author should, in fairness, have
been at more pains to prevent that of the Lord Keeper from
being considered as an equally fair representation of the father;
an omission of which the descendants of Lord Stair have, I
think, some reason to complain.

In Lady Ashton, the character of our great-great-

grandmother seems in many respects more faithfully
delineated, or at least less misrepresented. She was an
ambitious and interested woman, of a masculine character
and understanding, and the transaction regarding her
daughter’s marriage was believed to have been her’s, and
not her husband’s, who, from his numerous important
avocations, as Lord President, Privy Councillor, and active
assistant in the management of Scottish affairs, had probably
neither time nor inclination to take much personal concern in
family arrangements.

The situation of young Ravenswood bears a sufficiently

strong resemblance to that of the Lord Rutherford, who was
an amiable and high spirited young man, nobly born and
desititue of fortune, and who, if the above account is to be
credited, as to the manner and place in which he thought proper
to chastise his successful rival, seems to have been not ill cut
out for a hero of romance. And as to young Baldoon, of
whom little is known beyond what has been related above, he
seems to have a more respectable representation than
deserved in the person of Bucklaw.

The story was, I have understood, communicated to Sir

Walter scott, by our worthy friend, the late Mrs. Murray Keith,
who seems to have been well acquainted with all the

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

particulars, excepting those to which I have more especially

alluded; which, as a friend and connexion of the family, had
she known, she would not have failed to mention; and in as
far as his information went (with the exception of his having
changed the scene of the action from the west coast to the
east,) Sir Walter seems to have adhered to facts as closely as
could well be expected in a work bearing the general stamp of
fiction. But, if the memory of so disastrous and distressing a
family anecdote was to be preserved and handed down to
posterity in a story so singularly affected, and by an author the
most popular of our own or any other age, while it was surely
of importance to avoid any such offensive misrepresentation
of character as that to which I have alluded, it was at the same
time much to be lamented that the author of the Bride of
Lammermoor should have been ignorant of a tradition so truly
worthy of credit; throwing so much satisfactory light on an event
equally tragical and mysterious, and which, while a judicious
management of the circumstances might have increased rather
than diminished the interest of the narrative, would have left a
less painful impression regarding our unhappy and unfortunate
relative, “The Bride of Baldoon”

With best regards from all here, to you and Lady Stewart,
I remain, my dear Sir James,
Ever most truly yours,
Robert Dalrymple Horne

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

A romantic, very readable version of the “tale” was written

by local historian, Donna Brewster, as part of her book, Second
Daughter and I have been kindly allowed to use it in this book.
Donna carried out an enormous amount of research and
painted vivid pictures of seventeenth century life during times
of great political and religious turmoil during the seventeenth
century. It conveys to the reader an excellent sense of
belonging to that era and describes, with great depth of feeling,
the anquish which must have torn young Janet apart.

Chapters ten and eleven of Donna Brewster’s Second

Daughter.

1668

Whenever the eldest daughter of Sir James Dalrymple

had serious thinking to do, she would creep into a cosy place
and concentrate, absent-mindedly twirling a single dark ringlet
round and round a tiny plump finger. It was difficult to
concentrate, to be sure, in the midst of a lively household of
ten children, the youngest only three years of age, but
sometimes it was necessary. On a warm afternoon in late
September, Janet tucked herself, feet and all, into the high,
deep window ledge of her father’s library in the newly-
completed house of Carscreugh, determined to think hard.

She loved the rich smell of wood and leather here, but
disliked the view from the window beside her. Carscreugh
house was handsome now, not the rough stone tower it had
been before, but the moors surrounding it were so bleak and
the wind was so constant and cold that Janet had always hated
the long summers the family spent there. The fine house

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

helped, but she was impatient to return to Edinburgh for the

lively life of the city’s winter. She longed even more
desperately than usual to return this year, for there she would
be reunited with her secret love, Archibald, Lord Rutherford.

She should have been ecstatic, for in only one week the
family would leave the moors of Galloway for Edinburgh and
he would be there. In the new year, by which time she would
have turned eighteen years of age, they could make known
their affection to all the world and seek her parents’ blessing
on their union. He was not a very wealthy nobleman, but
Janet would rather be his poor Lady than the rich wife of any
other man.

Yet, instead of ecstacy, she felt fear. When Sir David

Dunbar and his new wife, Dame Anna Sydserff had come to
visit the Dalrymples during August, Janet had noticed that the
two women had spent long periods of time conversing with
each other in a particularly serious and private manner. She
had seen in the elegant Dame Anna a spirit that matched that
of her own strong-minded, ambitious mother, Margaret Ross.
Since that visit, a month ago, her mother had spoken often of
the Dunbars, their wealth, their estates and their prospects in
Galloway. Eventually the name of young David Dunbar had
begun to be thrust upon her consciousness so frequently that
her mother’s intentions had become clear even to the dreamy,
unsuspecting Janet. She had always been frightened of her
mother and during the last year had often imagined the scene,
with terror, of that parent’s accidental discovery of the secret
vow exchanged with Archibald.

She would not, could not, be the wife of David Dunbar.

He was pleasant enough, but her tall, fine Archibald, so

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magnificent on a horse, so dashing in company, so sensitive

toward her, could not be replaced by any other. Besides, she
had vowed to be his, and God would be angry with a broken
vow! That was it! She would remember that God requires
vows to be fulfilled, however impetuous the making of them,
however difficult the outcome be, and she would fear the wrath
of God even more than the temper of her mother! That attitude
would see her through the greatest storm and she could live
happily ever after. Janet said a silent prayer to thank God for
making her more afraid of Him than of her mother, slipped off
the window sill, and went down to the kitchen to beg a morsel
of food from the cook. Thinking always made her hungry.

It did not work. Margaret Ross called her into her pretty
sitting room two days later and confided in her that a letter
had been received from Lady Dunbar to informally announce
the matrimonial interest her step-son had expressed in Janet
Dalrymple. The poor girl’s mother left no doubt in her mind
that she expected her child to accept parental opinion on the
matter and encourage the attentions of the heir to Baldoon.

Fear of God flew out the window when she observed the
set determination of her mother’s face, and the best Janet
could do was to plead to time toconsider. It was left that she
would seek to compose her mind and prepare herself to accept
the proposal of interest during the few days remaining of their
summer stay at Carscreugh. Upon their return to Edinburgh,
the Dunbars would be invited to call with David during their
regular autumn visit to the capital, and the young people could
begin to become acquainted.

Janet comforted herself by picturing every detail of

Archibald’s face and manner and by assuring herself that he

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

would intervene as soon as they could be together again.

Once her parents and the Dunbars understood, the matter
would be dropped and she would have her heart’s wish. Her
father loved her and would not allow his wife’s ambitions to
spoil her happiness. Back in the library window sill, she pulled
and pulled on the poor curl until it ceased to bounce. She
folded her dimpled hands, screwed her eyes tightly shut, and
tried to pray for more fear of God. She gave up and glanced
out at the moor. The September sun slid behind a dark grey
cloud and the bleak scene became darkly menacing before
her frightened gaze.

At that moment, across the moor at Baldoon, Lady

Dunbar was encouraging her step-son in his marriage hopes.
“She is truly a lovely girl, David” she smiled. “She will
doubtless be rather overwhelmed that you have expressed
an interest in her, as she should be, and may be timid for a
time. Her mother, though, is confident that Janet will quickly
learn to desire the match as much as you do and plans to
invite us to visit them in Edinburgh”.

David was heartened by Dame Anna’s subtle flattery and

clever management of his personal concern. He would have
been too shy to have proposed the match so soon himself
and would have wasted time waiting for chance encounters to
bring him close to the young woman. His step-mother, quick
to observe his preoccupation at the Sheuchan wedding, had
begun to work immediately after her marriage to ally her new
family with the brilliant Dalrymple rising star. David could only
be grateful.

In Edinburgh the matter went, for Janet Dalrymple, from

bad to worse. Her lover had been detained longer than

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

expected on his estates, and she had to face the encounter

with David Dunbar with her secret still untold. When the
unwanted suitor arrived, she noticed that he was not very tall
and shyly avoided her eyes when addressing her. She was
irritated by his thick eyebrows and by the way his hands
fumbled about nervously on the table if he spoke to anyone.
Only when he was engrossed with her father and his in the
discussion of matters concerning their estates in Galloway did
he seem confident and fluent of speech. She shuddered
and wished that Archibald had come.

He did come eventually and, on the very day she turned

eighteen, he asked to speak privately with her father. She
had happily settled herself for the outcome of the interview
when she saw her mother quietly knock on the door of her
father’s study and enter the room where the conversation had
only just begun between the men.

Dismay and a dark foreboding flooded Janet’s heart.

Soon she could hear voices becoming louder and her mother’s
angry, shrill tones penetrating the walls. Silence fell and the
door opened. Down the hallway she could see Lord Rutherford
and her father quietly moving toward the front door.

“Archibald!” she cried out and, as he turned, she could

see that his expression was one of anger. “Archibald”, she
pleaded, “What has happened?”

“Your vow, it seems, Miss Dalrymple, was not as solemnly

intended as was mine”.

Before the astonished girl could speak or stop him, he

had left and the door was closed. Her father took her by the

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arm and returned with her to the study where his wife stood
near the window watching the retreating figure of Lord
Rutherford.

Janet’s mother turned slowly and gazed at her long and

sterly. Her father looked bemused as he watched the
expression on the face of the strong-minded Galloway widow*
(sic) he had married. Margaret Ross of Balneil, with her
physical strength and ocean of ambition, had produced ten
amazing children for him and still managed the several
Dalrymple households with great skill. He was now an
established figure in the world of law and general academic
life and he knew she would make his name, if she had her
determined way, great among landowners in Scotland as well.
Perhaps, though, her ambitions were getting a little out of hand.

Young Lord Rutherford’s confident approach to him

seeking the hand of Janet, his darling Janet, in marriage, had
struck him dumb. At that moment his wife had entered the
room and hearing the request made again to the speechless
Dalrymple, she had taken over. She had interrogated the
young nobleman until the story of the secret vow had been
told, and then she had blazed at him as a great, fire-breathing
dragon would have blazed, consuming in its heat the thickest
iron of the bravest knight’s armour. She had then declared to
the demoralised lover that her daughter had recently entered
into an understanding with a man far superior to himself and
most certainly had no other interest. When challenged by
Archibald to explain the vow, Margaret Ross had implied coolly
that the young man was either untruthful or given to
hallucinations. Raging at him for his stout claims to Janet’s
affection, she had finally dismissed him as imperiously as she
had ever dismissed a servant.
**should read “woman”: she had never married.

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

He had believed her. It was on the foundation stone of

his belief that there was to be built the ensuring tragedy.
Swallowing her tale had inflamed his heart, not with determined
love, but with the fury of the spurned. Janet herself did not
matter so much to him at that moment as did his own wounded
pride. He had truly loved the adorable girl, but the mere
suggestion that she would lightly treat his vow and choose
another, tossing him aside casually, was more than his love
could bear. That love was consumed in one moment of white-
hot anger, and Archibald left forever.

Janet stood trembling before her mother. “Why has he

gone?” she whimpered.

“Janet, Lord Rutherford claims that you exchanged vows

secretly last winter and he came here to request your hand in
marriage” announced her father, who had at last found his
voice.

“Yes, Father; that is true. We had no intention to deceive

you, but I was too young for you to take us seriously and we
do,” she paused slightly, “love each other”.

Margaret Ross was no fool. She had spurned the idea

of this previous commitment to Archibald’s face, but she knew
that her approach to Janet must be different for her plans to
succeed. “Poor Janet”, she murmured, and, drawing the
terrified girl to her, she smoothed her hair. “You were hasty
and you were wrong to make a promise of such importance
without consulting your father”, she glanced over Janet’s head
at her astonished husband, “Or your mother. It was very wrong
of Lord Rutherford to encourage you in such secrecy,” she
went on. “If, of course, you had told me your heart at the

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beginning, or even while we were yet at Carscreugh, the matter

may have resolved itself in Lord Rutherford’s favour, but now,
by your silence, you have committed yourself and your family
to an honourable understanding with David Dunbar.”

As the net slowly closed in on her, Janet remembered

the fear of God. “I cannot,” she cried excitedly, “Break a
solemn vow or I would face the wratch of God.”

“Ah!, Margaret, get out of that one!” thought Sir James,

in spite of himself fascinated by the struggle of wit and
determination being played out by the two women. Janet
would not give in so easily as he had feared.

Margaret Ross took a Bible from a shelf and carefully

opened it at the book of Numbers, chapter thirty. She began
to read, “If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath
to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he
shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth..”
She paused and glanced at her daughter whose eyes were
shining and whose ringlets were vigorously bobbing to
acknowledge the Scripture’s welcome authority. Beyond
Janet, Sir James met his wife’s glance with narrowed eyes
and a set expression.

She read on and a physical chill seemed to invade the

room. “If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind
herself by abond, being in her father’s house in her youth; and
her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath
bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her;
then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she
hath bound her soul shall stand. But if her father disallow her
in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand; and the Lord
shall forgive her, because her fathr disallowed her.”

The Bible was closed and returned to its place. Janet

whirled around and looked in terror and hope mingled at her
father. She knew he loved her. But he would not look at her.
He was looking sadly at her mother and the gaze returned by
her mother was filled with meaning.

He was stunned. He had never witnessed such brilliant

use of law and cold human cunning combined, such a clever
manipulation of emotions, even in the highest courts of the
land. He mentally saluted the woman and yet felt horror at
what she was doing. Still, seeing her expression and
acknowledging to himself that she had beaten his heart’s
inclinations, he began to console himself with the knowledge
that in reality David Dunbar was a much finer person than
was Lord Rutherford. He would be good to Janet.

He looked down at his eldest daughter and, placing his

hand gently on her trembling shoulder, he gruffly said, “I am
sorry, Janet; I cannot approve your vow”.

She rose quietly, looking slightly confused, curtsied, and

left the room.

News soon came that young Lord Rutherford had

suddenly left the country and his estates to become a
mercenary soldier in foreign parts. Janet never spoke of him
again.

Arrangements were made on the 29th of May 1669, upon

the Dalrymples’ return to Galloway, when a contract of marriage

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

was signed between David Dunbar, Younger, and Miss Janet

Dalrymple. Among the witnesses was William McGuffog of
Alticry. His daughter and heiress was soon to marry Hugh
Blair of Kildonan, and he had plan to acquire for the young
couple the barony of Rusco, near Anwoth.

The preparations for the two weddings made the summer

days of that year go by quickly. It was a good year for, after
his long harsh treatment of the Presbyterians, the king had
decided to try a spell of gracious liberality and compromise
toward them. Spring and summer brought a sense of
lushness, goodness and optimism into the lives of Gallovidians.
Only the heart of Janet Dalrymple remained unthawed. She
had frozen inside and hoped she would never again feel the
pain of love’s warmth.

Chapter Eleven.

1669

It was not until the final fitting of the wedding gown, at

the beginning of August in the house of Carscreugh, that
Margaret Ross realised what she had done.

Elizabeth and Sarah, Janet’s next younger sisters, were

dancing aout, bubbling with the chattering sounds of girlish
excitement. The bride-to-be stood like a statue in the centre
of the room, arms extended on the instructions of the
dressmaker. The gown was tucked and pinned, fitted and
smoothed over her slender form, but she seemed to feel
nothing, see nothing, and hear nothing. Her eyes were dull,

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

her hair had lost its gloss and spring and the dimples had
melted away.

Her watching mother for the first time really saw her.
Janet had been so good! She had glided demurely through
the spring season of pre-nuptial parties given by and for friends
in the Shire. When she had been wistful, she had been
described as tender. She had rarely smiled and had been
commended for mature thoughtfulness. She had not talked
about her coming wedding and had been consequently
admired for a becoming modesty and natural discretion. But
her mother suddenly saw, much too late to do anything about
it, that this was not the lively Janet Dalrymple who had dreamed
of becoming Lady Rutherford. This was a poor, frozen,
terrified, and lonely child being carried remorselessly by the
current of a parent’s determined will into depths she could not
fathom.

That evening, after dinner, the helpless mother went

alone to her daughter’s room. The girl was nearly invisible,
her tiny presence sank deeply into the feather bed and was
further obscured by the soft coverings and drapings over and
around her. Margaret Ross looked keenly into her face and
saw only quiet resignation where once she had seen spirit.
She took one of Janet’s little hands and held it to her cheek,
never taking her eyes off the girl. There was for a brief moment
a flicker of light from somewhere deep inside Janet, but then
the dullness returned. Janet whispered, “Don’t worry,” and
closed her eyes. Her mother left the room without a word,
and, as the door shut quietly behind her, a single tear slipped
from beneath an eyelid of the bride-to-be and rolled down the
side of her face to be lost in the softness of a snowy pillow.

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

The wedding day did not dawn. It crept into being through
a thick wet mist which shut Carscreugh off from the world
beyond. Janet spoke little but smiled sweetly at those who
assisted her to dress by the light of a bank of candles. In the
two weeks since her final fitting, she had lost yet more weight,
and the dress, of gorgeous imported lace, hung too loosely
on her. Her hair no longer bounced, but was gathered into a
soft dark plait and, laced with a string of pearls, was bound
into a beautiful coronet. Her enormous eyes were shadowed
and dark in her tiny pale face. She ws composed throughout
the preparations and did as she was bidden without any
question or suggestions of her own.

The sun broke through the melting mist as Sir James

and Lady Dalrymple, together with their two eldest sons, left
Carscreugh for Glenluce Church two miles distant. Theirs
was the task of welcoming guests and distributing money to
the poor of the parish and the vagabonds who always
surrounded the Galloway churches at weddings. The bride
was taken to the church just minutes later, mounted behind
her younger brother, seventeen-year old Hew, and they were
accompanied by the excited sisters, Elizabeth and Sarah riding
with two older cousins.

As Janet clung to him during the ride, Hew noted that his
sister’s hands were cold and clammy, like the mist of the
morning that had now burnt completely away. He was so
enjoying the sense of his own importance and the festive fun
going on about him that only later did he think of her strangely
abstracted air and the chilled little hands.

She seemed to float through the ceremony and the

splendid banquet at Carscreugh afterwards. Only at the

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banquet’s end, when she should have danced with her new
husband before the assembled company, did her strength fail.
Her paleness drained into a ghostly pallor and she began to
sway. She sagged limply into the arms of her frightened
bridegroom and her eyes rolled upwards before closing as
she fainted dead away. Janet’s older brothers, John and
James, helped David to carry her to hr room, and her mother
came to organise servants to undress the unconscious bride.
She was slipped into her own deep bed and the party went on
without her.

David Dunbar was concerned but no real alarm touched

him as he slept soundly in an adjoining room the first night of
his marriage. She seemed so young and fragile that he sensed
he must be careful with her. One night apart from her would
be no great sacrifice; he had forever to be with her. The one
night, however, stretched into twelve before Janet was
pronounced strong enough to leave her maiden bed in her
father’s house and to travel with her husband to Baldoon to
begin life as his wife.

They set off early in the morning of 24 th August,

accompanied by well-wishing family and friends who turned
the journey into a travelling party. For a time Janet rode
behind David, but eventually he slipped off the horse and
guided it as he walked beside her. His head barely reached
the horse’s withers and she tried not to look at him. Whenever
she caught sight of him bobbing along at her knee she felt a
stab of agony and remembered a tall, graceful ride she had
loved. David looked ill-at-ease on a horse, but he looked
entirely silly to be walking along beside it.

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

At Alticry they were greeted and served refreshment.

Friends and servants from Baldoon met them there and swelled
the escort taking the bridal pair home. After the moor had
been crossed, David remounted the horse and the party
entered the avenue to the castle in the long evening shadows.

Candlelight glowed from every window of the great house

of Baldoon and, as a galloping advance group had signalled
the crowd’s imminent arrival, the entire Dunbar family was
gathered at the door. It was a complete blur to Janet, who
slipped off the horse into the arms of her father-in-law and
was presented by him to each of the family. Lady Dunbar
embraced her warmly and guided her up the stairs into the
great hall. There she found many more strange faces,
neighbours and acquaintances who had come to the castle
for a welcome ball, a surprise for David and Janet.

The bride was taken to a suite of rooms on the next floor

which had been lavishly prepared for their comfort and privacy,
a part of a separate wing of the castle. There was a formal
reception room leading into a little warm sitting room; a grand
bedroom with a vast bed, a separate dressing room and a
maid’s room were nearby. In the cosy sitting room there was
a tray with food to refresh them, and there was hot water ready
for them to wash away the journey’s dust. A new gown, sent
on ahead with her own things from Carscreugh, had been laid
out on the bed. When they had rested a little, eaten and
changed, they were to descend to the waiting guests and the
ball would begin.

Now that the journey to her new home was completed,

the frozenness of Janet began to thaw. It was not, however,
a thaw from shyness to love and anticipated pleasure; it was a

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

thaw from numbness to terror and loathing. She must live

here with all these strange people and sleep in that great bed
with a man she did not want. “Why?” Her heart suddenly
screamed wildly within her. There was no answer.

Her previous appearance of tranquillity vanished. She

fluttered about from room to room like a terrified bird unable
to find a way out to the sky. She lifted ornaments and put
them down again. She sat at the small table and took a bite
of food, then jumped up and went into the bedroom to look at
her dress. She dipped a finger in warm water, ran it across
her cheek, and went back for another bite of food. David and
she were alone and he watched her with uneasiness.

“My dear, do you like our rooms?” he asked quietly.

“Oh, yes; oh, yes, I do,” she trilled. But she did not smile
nor look at him. She patted a cushion and flitted back into the
bedroom. He shook his head and, folding his napkin, rose
from the table to follow her. She turned on him fiercely when
he crossed the threshold.

“I must dress now. I’ll have the maid. You may go in

there to dress,” she pointed at the dressing room door.

“Yes, of course”, he blushed. This was terrible! He longed

to hold her close to him, just to feel her softness and to quieten
and calm her, but whenever he had tried to touch her these
past twelve days she had squirmed away from him and he
was afraid to try again. There was a strange, ugly barrier
between them. He was sensitive enough to realise that much,
but not confident or experienced enough to know how to
demolish it.

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

He called the maid, washed and changed in the dressing

room and went down the stairs alone. The maid found him in
the midst of his guests when Janet was ready, and he went
upstairs to get his wife. She was standing in the corner of
their reception room, gazing out of the window. The moon
hung over the bay and the flat sands stretching into the water
with the lovely hill of Cairnharrow rising on the other side were
like a painting on the newly-darkened summer’s sky.

She was quiet again, an ivory statue in her pale cream

silk gown with its overskirt of rich gold. Her hair hung loosely
about her elfin face and her eyes were strangely luminous.
David could hardly breathe as she took his arm and descended
with him to greet the assembled company. As they entered
the great hall, the chattering guests stood back and there was
affectionate applause to welcome the popular Dunbar and his
tiny, beautiful bride, to their home.

David was overjoyed as Janet clung to him with

something like desperation. There were so many people! She
practically hid behind him when confronted by the waterfall of
the Rev. Symson’s effusive admiration and assurances of
deepest friendship. David protected her and guided her
tenderly through the entire evening, wishing that they would
all go away and leave him with her, but terrified at the same
time that, if the crowd disappeared, she might again draw away
from him.

The celebration would roll on through all the night hours,

but Janet quickly showed signs of fatigue. David saw her
grow pale as she had before her faint on their wedding night,
and, with a parting thank you to the lively guests, he supported
his young wife through the door and up the stairs to their suite

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of rooms. He called the maikd and sank into a comfortable

chair by his sitting room fire to wait until she had attended to
janet. Eventually he heard the latch of the bedroom door rise
and fall again as the maid slipped away to her own room.
David rose, poked the fire down for the night, and went to the
window where he watched the moon and its crinkled reflection
on the inky bay. He drew a deep breath and moved toward
the bedroom full of tenderness and love.

The latch cord was on the inside of the door. The maid
had forgotten to check when she had left the room. He rattled
the door gently, then with more vigour. “Janet,” he called
softly, “Open the door”. There was no answer. She could not
be asleep so quickly and, even if she were, she must waken!
She was his wife of twelve nights and not yet his wife truly.
“Janet!” he called more strongly. He listened in the silence
and then, with his ear to the door, caught the faint sound of
rapid, rasping breathing from just the other side. “Janet! Open
this door!” He called yet more loudly. “You must let me in at
once”.

“Go away.”

He could not believe what he had heard. Again he

demanded that she open the door.

“I will not,” the tiny voice hissed through the barrier. “I

won’t have you.”

David was dumbfounded. His step-mother had so filled

his mind with confidence in Janet’s love that he had never
questioned her shy behaviour, her distant manner. He could
not believe that he was being rejected, as an unwanted suitor

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might be rejected, by his lawful wife. He had never heard of

such a thing. In a frenzy, he rushed out of their apartments
and nearly collided with Lady Dunbar on the stairs.

“Why, David, where are you going? I thought you were

in bed with your wife!” the elegant dame challenged him. In
his expression she read the story. By her reaction she sealed
the fate of the young couple. “You have not yet bedded her,
have you, boy?” She accused and mocked in one question.
“I thought you were ready to be a man! Evidently I was
mistaken.” And with the nasty taunt she turned, laughing her
silky laugh all the way down the stairs.

Something exploded inside the head of the frustrated

bridegroom. Grabbing a ceremonial dagger from its place of
display on the mantelpiece he rushed back to the bedroom
door. “Janet, open to me or I shall force the door. Open this
instant.” He spoke quietly, but with a ferocity that made him
sound like a stranger.

When no answer came, he began to pry at the door with

the dagger under the latch. It was a thick door and the point
of the dagger only just caught the latch with difficulty. As it
began to rise, Janet made a terrified dive for it. She put both
her hands on the latch and tried to force it back into place,
pressing her feather’s weight against the door to prevent his
entry.

“No! No!” she cried faintly as she struggled. Her hand

slipped and the point of the dagger sliced open her palm as it
forced up the latch. With all his might, David pushed open
the door and his wife was hurled backwards. She fell again
panting. He rushed to grab her, still clutching the forgotten

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dagger, shocked to see her hand pouring blood. To her

terrified imagination he was attacking her. She grabbed at
the weapon, trying to wrest it from him, and in the struggle he
was cut on the shoulder. He stumbled and fell to his knees.
With more than human strength, she raised her tiny foot and
kicked him on the side of the head. As he crashed to the
floor, he could hear a strange, wild, screaming sound, more
animal than human, and then all his world went black.

David dreamed that they were in a crowd and she was

clinging to him. She was beautiful and so soft. She wound
herself about him and gazed at him with such love that a fire
from inside him melted him away. He was sinking and melting,
and there was a throbbing in his head. He awoke. Rain was
dripping down the window. The sky was like grey Galloway
stone. He was in his old bed and his sister Elizabeth was
watching him with a pinched face and frightened eyes.

“What?..” He remembered. His head was pounding.

His shoulder was burning. “Janet!” He tried to sit up, but
Elizabeth restrained him.

“I’ll get Father,” she said firmly.

Sir David Dunbar looked grave and as grey as the stony

sky when he entered the bedroom of his son. “David, Janet
is very ill. I do not know what happened last night. We heard
her screaming and found you both wounded. You were
unconscious; she was cowering behind a curtain on a window
ledge. She is quiet now, but her reason is gone. The doctor
does not expect her to recover.” He choked. “May God
comfort you, my son, for you have sorrow to endure and I
cannot spare you from it.”

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

Janet Dalrymple, the bride of the heir to Baldoon, diedon

the 12th September , 1669, only nineteen days later, exactly
one month after her wedding. Mystery shrouded the
circumstances of that night. Only David knew what had
happened, and he could not understand why it had happened.
Dame Anna Sydserff was closer than anyone else to a real
understanding, but she did not speak of it. The strange death
of Janet Dalrymple excited endless curiosity and speculation,
but no official explanation was ever granted to the curious,
and silence descended like a swallowing tide over the whole
affair.

In another land some months later, the tragedy of

Baldoon’s bride reached the ears of a tall Scottish soldier.
Archibald, Lord Rutherford, died abroad some years later,
serving a foreign king on foreign soil. He had never married.

**************

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 The Real Bride of Lammermoor

Bibliography

Brewster. Donna, Second Daughter:

T.C. Farries 1989

Scott Sir. Walter, The Bride of Lammermoor 1819

McKerlie. P. H. Lands & Their Owners in Galloway

5 volumes: G.C. Books, Wigtown 1993

Crockett. W. S. The Walter Scott Originals

Grant & Murray, Edinburgh 1912

Symson. Rev. A . Tripatriarchion

Edinburgh 1705

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