![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It’s a historical novel: first published in 1824, it’s set more than a century earlier, between 16, roughly – or from the Glorious Revolution that saw the final downfall of the Stuarts, through the parliamentary Union between Scotland and England, and on towards the Jacobite rebellions. And surprisingly, it’s also full of humour… This is a satire on the idea of predestination, an examination of the origins of the sectarianism which still disfigures Scotland today, a tale of sibling rivalry, a story of madness, murder and the devil. The Laird rejects him and Robert is brought up as a ward of Reverend Wringhim, who indoctrinates him in the antinomian sect which believes that some people – the elect, or justified – are predestined to be saved by God, while everyone else will burn in hell. The younger, Robert, bears an uncanny resemblance to Rabina’s close friend and spiritual adviser, Reverend Wringhim. The first, George, will grow up to be the apple of his father’s eye. Remarkably, despite this, they manage to produce two sons. She despises him he is disappointed in her. The Laird is a fun-loving, hard-drinking, party animal – the bride, Rabina, holds extreme religious views of the Calvinist variety. When George Colwan, Laird of Dalcastle, takes a much younger bride, the marriage is doomed from the beginning. ![]()
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