J. Harris first edition - 1819
This is didacticism with a capital 'D'. To be fair, Mrs. Blackford (actually the nom de plume of Lady Isabella Stoddart [c.1775-1846], the wife of the well-known lawyer and journalist Sir John Stoddart) was explicit about this, with a sub title for the Instruction and Amusement of Young persons. In the Introduction, moreover, Mrs. Blackford makes it crystal clear that the adventures of John Telfer, the Eskdale Herd-boy, were to impress, on the minds of her young readers, the permanent advantages of early integrity and gratitude. She goes on - in the short and unfortunate life of William Martin, she has attempted to show the duty, that is incumbent on all young people to subdue that disobedient and self-willed temper, which may otherwise undermine, not only their own comfort and happiness, but those of their parents and friends. In addition, her portrayal of Helen Martin, the sister of William, is meant to illustrate the inestimable value that a dutiful daughter may be of, both to father and mother.
On the first page, the author draws attention to the [Eskdale] cottages in general...having too frequently a look of neglect, the windows broken, the walls dirty, and instead of a pretty garden, a heap of mud before the door. I thought I was moving into Elizabeth Hamilton territory and her Cottagers of Glenburnie (see Blogs of 4th July 2020 and 3rd January 2021) and one or two comments even suggested a demeaning approach like that of Margaret Woods in her A Village Tragedy (see my Blog of 26th April 2020). However, the reader is quickly taken to a small cottage, with its neat white walls, well-thatched roof, and clean casement-windows; it is 1808, and it is the home of John and Marion Telfer, whose story forms the major - but not the only - thread in the narrative. The text immediately leaves the present (and doesn't return there until page 257, four pages before the end) and commences John's story as a little boy of ten, recently orphaned by the death of both parents of a fever.
He is taken up by the local pious pastor, Mr. Martin, who becomes his loco parentis. The boy is nurtured, becoming a trustworthy, competent lad. He is given the job of herd-boy to a neighbour, Mr. Laurie. By day he learns shepherding, by evening he learns to read and write proficiently under Mr. Martin's tutelage. He makes firm friends with the good-natured Helen, the pastor's daughter. and Mrs Martin. Other players in the tale are gradually introduced: David Little, the shepherd, and his family; Mr. Armstrong, the local, kindly doctor, and Mr. Scott, the gardener at Craigie Hall. It is at the Scott home, that John first meets his future wife, the then seven year-old, Marion Scott. Much of these early pages are devoted to setting the scene, both as far as the characters are concerned and the homes and countryside around them. Mrs. Blackford is quick to praise the Scottish peasantry of the time: no race of men, of an rank or country, that took more mains in instructing their children, both in their moral and religious duties; and John had been taught early, that the shadow of a lie was contrary to the duty of a Christian, and that a child who, in the slightest degree, deceived his parents, masters, or companions, would never merit or obtain the character of an honest and just man. How far have we fallen by 2026?
The common round and daily task continue. Morning service is daily taken at the pastor's. In Scotland, the observance of Sunday is strict, but not morosely severe. It is considered by the peasants as their grand day of innocent recreation. Nothing that is trifling, or that can any how be done on Saturday, is left for the Sabbath. The men are all shaved on Saturday evening; and they would even scruple to gather a cabbage, out of their garden, on the lord's day. How times have changed.
There are pitfalls. The doctor has to be called out to treat first Helen and then Marion for dangerous illenesses. We are introduced to the scamp, William Martin, who had been sent first to his grandmother in Melrose and then to a tutor in Kelso, to try and tame him. When Captain Elliott, Mrs Martin's brother turns up on leave from the navy, William absconds and follows him first to London, and then joins his ship, much to the forebodings of his parent and sister. For many pages, John the herd-boy leaves the stage and the story concentrates on the Martins. Years go by. John, in turn, joins Captain Elliott and William on board the Amazon bound for Mediterranean duties. About a year after the three had left England, the first of four deaths occur over twelve pages. Mrs. Martin succumbs to a stroke of palsy; William is drowned in the ship's small boat; Captain Elliott is shot through the heart in an engagement with two large French frigates; and Mr. Martin dies from a heart attack on hearing the news of William's death. Ah, woe, all is woe for Helen.
She takes a job as an apprentice seamstress in Edinburgh and is left a little money when her employer, Miss Maxwell, dies (yes, another one gone). She returns to Eskdale and, as good fortune would have it, the pastor who succeeded her father - nice, young Mr. Johnson - after having sadly lost his wife, asks her to marry him. Meanwhile, John - who had been captured, imprisoned and escaped from France, has also returned and wed - dear Marion. They now have three children, the eldest named William Martin Telfer - how thoughtful. The author uses Helen as her mouthpiece to remind the Telfers to train him from his earliest days in habits of obedience. Mrs. Blackford also adds an Epilogue, where she counsels her readers to practise affection, gratitude, industry, and obedience. Overt moralising? Too much pathos? Perhaps. But there are moments of excitement, for instance with the sea-battle and shipwreck and John's escape through France. I have two more of the author's tales to look forward to: The Scottish Orphans. A Moral Tale (1822) and Arthur Monteith. A Moral Tale (1822). Well, at least the subtitles state what to expect!
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