''Douglas'' is a

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metre (poetry), metrical but rhyme, unrhymed lines, usually in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th cen ...

tragedy by John Home. It was first performed in 1756 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. The play was a big success in both Scotland and England for decades, attracting many notable actors of the period, such as Edmund Kean, who made his debut in it. Peg Woffington 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 Tragedy, tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder siste ...

. 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 Paul Harvey (diplomat), Sir Paul Harvey (1869–1948), was the earliest of the Oxford Companions to appear. It is currently in its seventh ed ...

'' (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 Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

, many of the main characters die, except for 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 were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

of "Gil Morrice" or "

Child Maurice Child Maurice or Gil Morrice ( Roud 53, Child 83) is a traditional English-language folk ballad. The earliest known printed version was in 1755 at Glasgow. Synopsis The hero sends tokens to his lady and asks her to see him in the woods. Her lo ...

" ( 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''. London. HarperCollins. After five years, he completed his play and took it to London for

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

'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 sit ...

on 14 March.

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beg ...

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 Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

(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 ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, 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. ''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. He is known for the Ossian cycle of epic poems, which he ...

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 (poem), Temora'' (1763), and later c ...

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 #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

's ''

Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by the English author Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton (publisher), Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray (publishing house), John Murray, st ...

'' (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 wrot ...

's ''

The Mill on the Floss ''The Mill on the Floss'' is a novel by English author George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans, first published in three volumes on 4 April 1860 by William Blackwood and Sons. The first American edition was published by Harper & Brothers, Pub ...

'' (1860) both allude to the line "My name is Norval". 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 novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

' '' 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'', is the third novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. The character of Nickleby is a young man who must support his ...

'', when Wackford Squeers, 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 political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

, 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 (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

as one of the "Literati of New York City" in his famous 1846 series of articles of that name.) Andrew Carnegie's autobiography describes reciting the part of Glenalvon as a youth. Part of the attraction was the opportunity to say "hell" without it being a swear word. Hugh MacDiarmid, the twentieth century pioneer of the Scottish Renaissance, included the following lines in '' A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle'' (1922): Also referenced in George B. Shaw's play '' You Never Can Tell'' by the twins, Philip and Dolly.

Adaptations

In 1790, Lady Crespigny gave ''Douglas'' a happy ending in which Lady Randolph and Douglas live when it was played at her private theater.

Later productions

The play was produced at the Citizens Theatre,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

under the direction of

Robert David MacDonald Robert David MacDonald (27 August 1929 – 19 May 2004) was a Scottish playwright, translator and theatre director. Early life Robert David MacDonald was born in Elgin, in Morayshire, Scotland on 27 August 1929, the son of a doctor and a toba ...

in March 1989, with Angela Chadfield in the role of Lady Randolph.review of ''Douglas'' by Nigel Billen
''The List'', Issue 89, March 1989, p. 24

References

* Ousby (ed) ''Cambridge Companion to Literature in English'' (1993) * Drabble, Margaret (ed.) ''

'' (fifth edition) 1985)

External links

Broadside ballad entitled 'Norval on the Grampian Hills'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas (Play) 1756 plays Censorship in Christianity Christianity-related mass media and entertainment 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