Douglas (play)
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''Douglas'' is a
blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and Pa ...
tragedy by
John Home Rev John Home FRSE (13 September 1722 – 4 September 1808) was a Scottish minister, soldier and author. His play ''Douglas'' was a standard Scottish school text until the Second World War, but his work is now largely neglected. In 1783 he wa ...
. It was first performed in 1756 in
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. The play was a big success in both Scotland and England for decades, attracting many notable actors of the period, such as
Edmund Kean Edmund Kean (4 November 178715 May 1833) was a celebrated British Shakespearean stage actor born in England, who performed, among other places, in London, Belfast, New York, Quebec, and Paris.  He was known for his short stature, tumultuo ...
, who made his debut in it.
Peg Woffington Margaret Woffington (18 October 1720 – 28 March 1760), known professionally as Peg Woffington, was an Irish actress and socialite of the Georgian era. Peg and Peggy were a common pet name for those called Margaret until the late 20th centu ...
played Lady Randolph, a part which found a later exponent in
Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of John ...
. The opening lines of the second act are probably the best known:


Plot

Lady Randolph opens the play mourning for her brother. Shortly thereafter, she discloses to her maid that she was married to the son of her father's enemy. She was not able to acknowledge the marriage or the son that she bore. She sent her maid away with her son to the maid's sister's house. They were lost in a storm and never heard from again. Young Norval, the hero is left outside shortly after birth to die of exposure. However, the baby is saved by a shepherd — Old Norval Drabble, Margaret (ed.) ''
The Oxford Companion to English Literature ''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'' first published in 1932, edited by the retired diplomat Sir Paul Harvey (1869–1948), was the earliest of the Oxford Companions to appear. It is currently in its seventh edition (2009), edited by D ...
'' (fifth edition) 1985)
— and thus gains his name. He is in fact the son of Lady Randolph (daughter of Sir Malcolm), by Douglas, and he is briefly reunited with her. Sir Malcolm exposes the child, but Young Norval is given a commission in the army. When he saves the life of Lord Randolph, the lord becomes indebted to him, and Young Norval gains the envy of Glenalvon who is the lord's heir. As was common in Romanticism, many of the main characters die with the exception of Lord Randolph. Lady Randolph takes her life, after hearing of the death of Young Norval who has been killed by Lord Randolph, who was deceived by Glenalvon. In turn, Young Norval had killed Glenalvon, because Glenalvon had been spreading lies about him.


Theme and response

The theme was suggested to him by hearing a lady sing the
ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
of "Gil Morrice" or " Child Maurice" ( FJ Child, ''Popular Ballads'', ii. 263). The ballad supplied him with the outline of a simple and striking plot. It was Home's second verse drama, after ''
Agis Agis or AGIS may refer to: People * Agis I (died 900 BC), Spartan king * Agis II (died 401 BC), Spartan king * Agis III (died 331 BC), Spartan king * Agis IV (265–241 BC), Spartan king * Agis (Paeonian) (died 358 BC), King of the Paeonians * Ag ...
''.Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994). ''
Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland ''Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland'' is a reference work published by HarperCollins, edited by the husband and wife team, John and Julia Keay. History Scots had provided the impetus for a number of well-known references works, ''Chambers Dic ...
''. London. HarperCollins.
After five years, he completed his play and took it to London for
David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
's opinion. It was rejected, like ''Agis'', but on his return to Edinburgh his friends resolved that it should be produced there. It was performed on 14 December 1756 with overwhelming success, in spite of the opposition of the presbytery, who summoned
Alexander Carlyle Alexander Carlyle MA DD FRSE (26 January 172228 August 1805) was a Scottish church leader, and autobiographer. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1770/71. Life He was born on 26 January 1722 in the ...
to answer for having attended its representation. Home wisely resigned his charge in 1757, after a visit to London, where ''Douglas'' was brought out at
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
on 14 March.
David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...
summed up his admiration for ''Douglas'' by saying that his friend possessed "the true theatric genius of Shakespeare and Otway, refined from the unhappy barbarism of the one and licentiousness of the other." Gray, writing to
Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...
(August 1757), said that the author "seemed to have retrieved the true language of the stage, which has been lost for these hundred years," but
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709  – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
held aloof from the general enthusiasm, and averred that there were not ten good lines in the whole play (Boswell, ''Life'', ed. Croker, 1348, p. 300). ''Douglas'' also elicited the famous Edinburgh audience exclamation, "Whaur's Yer Wullie Shakespeare Noo?," a remark meant to imply the superiority of the Scottish Home's superiority to the famous English playwright. The play was also the subject of a number of pamphlets both supportive and antagonistic. It also arguably influenced
James MacPherson James Macpherson (Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poem ...
's
Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined under t ...
cycle. Because Home was hounded by the church authorities for ''Douglas'', he resigned from the Ministry in 1758, and became a layman. It may have been this persecution which drove Home to write for the London stage, in addition to ''Douglas success there, and stopped him from founding the new Scottish national theatre that some had hoped he would.


Literary references

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
's ''
Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews unt ...
'' (1814) and
George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...
's ''
The Mill on the Floss ''The Mill on the Floss'' is a novel by George Eliot, first published in three volumes in 1860 by William Blackwood. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York (state), New York. Plot summary Spanning a ...
'' (1860) both allude to the line "My name is Norval".Price, Leah, ''The Anthology and the Rise of the Novel: From Richardson to George Eliot'' (2003),
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
, pp 79, 80
Young George Osborne recites it, eliciting tears from his aunt, in Thackeray's ''Vanity Fair'' (1847–48), p. 504. Harry Walmers in
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
' '' The Boots at the Holly Tree Inn'' also refers to it: There is also another reference to Norval in ''
Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...
'', when
Wackford Squeers ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...
, while in custody, refers to his son as "a young Norval", supposedly the darling of the town. Rev. George B. Cheever, American divine and
abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
, references it in his 1857 broadside ''God Against Slavery''. He recalls the recital by himself, when a boy, of the famous opening of the second act. Cheever then compares old Norval, who only sought to increase his flock and selfishly kept Douglas at home to do it, with those modern merchants who try to keep down anti-slavery agitation because it is bad for business (Cheever was well known in his time, and was listed by
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
as one of the "Literati of New York City" in his famous 1846 series of articles of that name).
Hugh MacDiarmid Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid (), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish Rena ...
, the twentieth century pioneer of the
Scottish Renaissance The Scottish Renaissance ( gd, Ath-bheòthachadh na h-Alba; sco, Scots Renaissance) was a mainly literary movement of the early to mid-20th century that can be seen as the Scotland, Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as ...
, included the following lines in ''
A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle ''A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle'' is a long poem by Hugh MacDiarmid written in Scots and published in 1926. It is composed as a form of monologue with influences from stream of consciousness genres of writing. A poem of extremes, it ranges bet ...
'' (1922): Also referenced in
George B. Shaw George Bullen Shaw (March 12, 1854 – August 27, 1894) was a lumberman and U.S. Representative from Wisconsin. Background Born in Alma, New York, Shaw moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin in 1856 with his father. He attended the public school ...
's play '' You Never Can Tell'' by the twins, Philip and Dolly.


See also

* William Warren (elder actor)


References

* Ousby (ed) ''Cambridge Companion to Literature in English'' (1993) * Drabble, Margaret (ed.) ''
The Oxford Companion to English Literature ''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'' first published in 1932, edited by the retired diplomat Sir Paul Harvey (1869–1948), was the earliest of the Oxford Companions to appear. It is currently in its seventh edition (2009), edited by D ...
'' (fifth edition) 1985)


External links


Broadside ballad entitled 'Norval on the Grampian Hills'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas (Play) 1756 plays Censorship in Christianity Christianity in popular culture controversies History of Christianity in Scotland History of Edinburgh Plays set in Scotland 1756 in Scotland Culture in Edinburgh Tragedy plays Plays by John Home