The Lord of the Isles (Scott)

The Lord of the Isles is an 1815 Narrative Poem by Sir Walter Scott. It's set in Scotland in 1307 and 1314.

Ronald, Lord of the Isles, is on his way to his wedding when he meets three travelers. He grants them shelter, unaware that they are Robert the Bruce and two of his siblings. When he discovers their true identity, Ronald pledges his loyalty to Robert and leaves with him. Meanwhile, the English army is preparing for the Battle of Bannockburn.

The poem is available on the Internet Archive.

Contains examples of:

• Arranged Marriage: The marriage between Edith and Ronald was arranged when they were children. On their wedding day Edith complains that Ronald doesn't love her and is too cold in his attitude towards her.
• Badass Boast: Robert, Ronald, and Ronald's page meet five armed enemies. Robert isn't worried, and says "I've faced worse odds than five to three".
• Beneath the Mask: Discussed at the start of Canto 2.

  Fill the bright goblet, spread the festive board!
  Summon the gay, the noble, and the fair!
  Through the loud hall in joyous concert pour'd
  Let mirth and music sound the dirge of Care!
  But ask thou not if Happiness be there,
  If the loud laugh disguise convulsive throe,
  Or if the brow the heart's true livery wear;
  Lift not the festal mask!—enough to know,
  No scene of mortal life but teems with mortal woe.

• Blessing: The Abbot intends to curse Robert. Instead he finds himself blessing him, implicitly because God told him to or is speaking through him.

  A hunted wanderer on the wild,
  On foreign shores a man exil'd,
  Disown'd, desert'd, and distress'd,
  I bless thee, and thou shalt be bless'd!

• Casual Danger Dialogue:
  • Robert calmly tells Edward to let him take over steering the boat, while they're in imminent peril of sinking or being thrown on the rocks.
  • De Boune attacks Robert and comes close to killing him. Robert's only comment when his friends tell him he put himself in danger is to grumble that he broke his battle-axe when he struck de Boune.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Cormac Doil is mentioned in passing early in Canto Three. Later a pirate murders Allan and nearly murders Robert and Ronald. After he dies it's revealed he was Cormac Doil.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • The warder tells the guests that they would be welcome even if they had helped Robert murder Comyn. Robert himself is one of the guests.
  • Ronald tells the minstrel "he" will live to sing about Ronald's love for Isabel. The minstrel is Ronald's fiancée Edith.
• Failed a Spot Check: Ronald and Robert somehow fail to recognise Edith when she disguises herself as a boy. Robert can be excused since he only saw Edith once, but Ronald should really have recognised his own fiancée.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: Deconstructed. Allan is on guard duty, but he's tired and bored. So he starts to daydream... and an enemy sneaks up on him and fatally stabs him before he notices anything's wrong.
• Historical Domain Character: Robert the Bruce, his brother Edward, and his sister Isabel were real people.
• Killed Offscreen: The Lord of Lorn survives the battle in Canto Five, then is mentioned as having fled to England and died there in Canto Six.
• King Incognito: Robert himself, along with his brother and sister.
• Love Triangle: Ronald is in love with Isabel but betrothed to Edith.

  O how decide,
  When here his love and heart are given,
  And there his faith stands plight to Heaven!

• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: A mysterious red beacon provides light for Robert and his army in their boats. It disappears once they land safely. Their allies didn't light it, and no one ever knows what caused it. The narrator suggests several theories (divine intervention, demonic intervention, or simply a meteor) without confirming any of them.
• Mutual Kill: de Argentine fatally wounds the Lord of Colonsay, who uses his last strength to fatally wound de Argentine in turn.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Randolph and his men, outnumbered ten to one, drive back an English attack. The closest the poem gets to describing this is when Douglas arrives to reinforce Randolph only to find the defeated foes already retreating.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. There are three Edwards: Edward I, Edward II, and Edward Bruce.
• Right in Front of Me:
  • The Lord of Lorn asks if the visitors have heard anything of Robert and his allies — or, as he calls them, "the rebellious Scottish crew". Guess who one of the visitors is.
  • Robert and Ronald discuss Edith's supposed engagement to another man, while Edith (disguised as a minstrel) is listening.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Edward II, for all his flaws as a king, fights on the battlefield along with his soldiers and tries to rally them when the battle turns against them.
• Sacred Hospitality: This is why Robert decides to go to the castle for help. Later, when Robert's identity is reveal, Ronald refuses to let his enemies kill him while he's a guest in Ronald's house.

  For, if a hope of safety rest,
  'Tis on the sacred name of guest,
  Who seeks for shelter, storm-distress'd,
  Within a chieftain's hall.

• Secondary Character Title: Despite what you might think, Robert the Bruce is not the Lord of the Isles. Ronald is.
• Story Within a Story: "The Brooch of Lorn" is a poem-within-a-poem, recited by a minstrel at Edith and Ronald's wedding.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: Edith disguises herself as a minstrel boy and pretends to be mute so no one will become suspicious.
• Unwanted Spouse: Edith is this to Ronald. He's delighted to hear the priest hasn't arrived yet, so the marriage can be delayed a little longer.
• Wake Up Fighting: Robert and Ronald are asleep when Allan is murdered. The noise of his death wakes them, and they immediately attack and kill his murderers.
• Worthy Opponent: The Lord of Lorn and Bruce de Argentine see each other as this.

  de Argentine: Thus, then, my noble foe I greet;
  Health and high fortune till we meet,
  And then—what pleases Heaven.

---