Produced by An Anonomous Volunteer
THE TALISMAN
By Sir Walter Scott
INTRODUCTION TO THE TALISMAN.
The "Betrothed" did not greatly please one or two friends, who thoughtthat it did not well correspond to the general title of "The Crusaders."They urged, therefore, that, without direct allusion to the manners ofthe Eastern tribes, and to the romantic conflicts of the period, thetitle of a "Tale of the Crusaders" would resemble the playbill, whichis said to have announced the tragedy of Hamlet, the character ofthe Prince of Denmark being left out. On the other hand, I felt thedifficulty of giving a vivid picture of a part of the world with whichI was almost totally unacquainted, unless by early recollections ofthe Arabian Nights' Entertainments; and not only did I labour under theincapacity of ignorance--in which, as far as regards Eastern manners, Iwas as thickly wrapped as an Egyptian in his fog--but my contemporarieswere, many of them, as much enlightened upon the subject as if they hadbeen inhabitants of the favoured land of Goshen. The love of travellinghad pervaded all ranks, and carried the subjects of Britain into allquarters of the world. Greece, so attractive by its remains of art, byits struggles for freedom against a Mohammedan tyrant, by its very name,where every fountain had its classical legend--Palestine, endearedto the imagination by yet more sacred remembrances--had been of latesurveyed by British eyes, and described by recent travellers. Had I,therefore, attempted the difficult task of substituting manners of myown invention, instead of the genuine costume of the East, almost everytraveller I met who had extended his route beyond what was ancientlycalled "The Grand Tour," had acquired a right, by ocular inspection, tochastise me for my presumption. Every member of the Travellers' Club whocould pretend to have thrown his shoe over Edom was, by having done so,constituted my lawful critic and corrector. It occurred, therefore,that where the author of Anastasius, as well as he of Hadji Baba, haddescribed the manners and vices of the Eastern nations, not only withfidelity, but with the humour of Le Sage and the ludicrous power ofFielding himself, one who was a perfect stranger to the subject mustnecessarily produce an unfavourable contrast. The Poet Laureate also,in the charming tale of "Thalaba," had shown how extensive might bethe researches of a person of acquirements and talent, by dint ofinvestigation alone, into the ancient doctrines, history, and manners ofthe Eastern countries, in which we are probably to look for the cradleof mankind; Moore, in his "Lalla Rookh," had successfully trod thesame path; in which, too, Byron, joining ocular experience to extensivereading, had written some of his most attractive poems. In a word, theEastern themes had been already so successfully handled by those whowere acknowledged to be masters of their craft, that I was diffident ofmaking the attempt.
These were powerful objections; nor did they lose force when theybecame the subject of anxious reflection, although they did not finallyprevail. The arguments on the other side were, that though I had no hopeof rivalling the contemporaries whom I have mentioned, yet it occurredto me as possible to acquit myself of the task I was engaged in withoutentering into competition with them.
The period relating more immediately to the Crusades which I at lastfixed upon was that at which the warlike character of Richard I., wildand generous, a pattern of chivalry, with all its extravagant virtues,and its no less absurd errors, was opposed to that of Saladin, in whichthe Christian and English monarch showed all the cruelty and violenceof an Eastern sultan, and Saladin, on the other hand, displayed the deeppolicy and prudence of a European sovereign, whilst each contendedwhich should excel the other in the knightly qualities of bravery andgenerosity. This singular contrast afforded, as the author conceived,materials for a work of fiction possessing peculiar interest. One of theinferior characters introduced was a supposed relation of Richard Coeurde Lion--a violation of the truth of history which gave offence to Mr.Mills, the author of the "History of Chivalry and the Crusades," who wasnot, it may be presumed, aware that romantic fiction naturally includesthe power of such invention, which is indeed one of the requisites ofthe art.
Prince David of Scotland, who was actually in the host, and was the heroof some very romantic adventures on his way home, was also pressed intomy service, and constitutes one of my DRAMATIS PERSONAE.
It is true I had already brought upon the field him of the lion heart.But it was in a more private capacity than he was here to be exhibitedin the Talisman--then as a disguised knight, now in the avowed characterof a conquering monarch; so that I doubted not a name so dear toEnglishmen as that of King Richard I. might contribute to theiramusement for more than once.
I had access to all which antiquity believed, whether of reality orfable, on the subject of that magnificent warrior, who was the proudestboast of Europe and their chivalry, and with whose dreadful name theSaracens, according to a historian of their own country, were wont torebuke their startled horses. "Do you think," said they, "that KingRichard is on the track, that you stray so wildly from it?" The mostcurious register of the history of King Richard is an ancient romance,translated originally from the Norman; and at first certainly having apretence to be termed a work of chivalry, but latterly becoming stuffedwith the most astonishing and monstrous fables. There is perhaps nometrical romance upon record where, along with curious and genuinehistory, are mingled more absurd and exaggerated incidents. We haveplaced in the Appendix to this Introduction the passage of the romancein which Richard figures as an ogre, or literal cannibal.
A principal incident in the story is that from which the title isderived. Of all people who ever lived, the Persians were perhaps mostremarkable for their unshaken credulity in amulets, spells, periapts,and similar charms, framed, it was said, under the influence ofparticular planets, and bestowing high medical powers, as well as themeans of advancing men's fortunes in various manners. A story of thiskind, relating to a Crusader of eminence, is often told in the west ofScotland, and the relic alluded to is still in existence, and even yetheld in veneration.
Sir Simon Lockhart of Lee and Gartland made a considerable figure in thereigns of Robert the Bruce and of his son David. He was one of the chiefof that band of Scottish chivalry who accompanied James, the Good LordDouglas, on his expedition to the Holy Land with the heart of KingRobert Bruce. Douglas, impatient to get at the Saracens, entered intowar with those of Spain, and was killed there. Lockhart proceeded to theHoly Land with such Scottish knights as had escaped the fate of theirleader and assisted for some time in the wars against the Saracens.
The following adventure is said by tradition to have befallen him:--
He made prisoner in battle an Emir of considerable wealth andconsequence. The aged mother of the captive came to the Christian camp,to redeem her son from his state of captivity. Lockhart is said to havefixed the price at which his prisoner should ransom himself; and thelady, pulling out a large embroidered purse, proceeded to tell down theransom, like a mother who pays little respect to gold in comparison ofher son's liberty. In this operation, a pebble inserted in a coin, somesay of the Lower Empire, fell out of the purse, and the Saracen matrontestified so much haste to recover it as gave the Scottish knight ahigh idea of its value, when compared with gold or silver. "I will notconsent," he said, "to grant your son's liberty, unless that amulet beadded to his ransom." The lady not only consented to this, but explainedto Sir Simon Lockhart the mode in which the talisman was to be used,and the uses to which it might be put. The water in which it was dippedoperated as a styptic, as a febrifuge, and possessed other properties asa medical talisman.
Sir Simon Lockhart, after much experience of the wonders which itwrought, brought it to his own country, and left it to his heirs, bywhom, and by Clydesdale in general, it was, and is still, distinguishedby the name of the Lee-penny, from the name of his native seat of Lee.
The
most remarkable part of its history, perhaps, was that it soespecially escaped condemnation when the Church of Scotland chose toimpeach many other cures which savoured of the miraculous, as occasionedby sorcery, and censured the appeal to them, "excepting only that tothe amulet, called the Lee-penny, to which it had pleased God to annexcertain healing virtues which the Church did not presume to condemn." Itstill, as has been said, exists, and its powers are sometimes resortedto. Of late, they have been chiefly restricted to the cure of personsbitten by mad dogs; and as the illness in such cases frequently arisesfrom imagination, there can be no reason for doubting that water whichhas been poured on the Lee-penny furnishes a congenial cure.
Such is the tradition concerning the talisman, which the author hastaken the liberty to vary in applying it to his own purposes.
Considerable liberties have also been taken with the truth of history,both with respect to Conrade of Montserrat's life, as well as his death.That Conrade, however, was reckoned the enemy of Richard is agreed bothin history and romance. The general opinion of the terms upon which theystood may be guessed from the proposal of the Saracens that the Marquisof Montserrat should be invested with certain parts of Syria, which theywere to yield to the Christians. Richard, according to the romance whichbears his name, "could no longer repress his fury. The Marquis he said,was a traitor, who had robbed the Knights Hospitallers of sixty thousandpounds, the present of his father Henry; that he was a renegade, whosetreachery had occasioned the loss of Acre; and he concluded by a solemnoath, that he would cause him to be drawn to pieces by wild horses, ifhe should ever venture to pollute the Christian camp by his presence.Philip attempted to intercede in favour of the Marquis, and throwingdown his glove, offered to become a pledge for his fidelity to theChristians; but his offer was rejected, and he was obliged to give wayto Richard's impetuosity."--HISTORY OF CHIVALRY.
Conrade of Montserrat makes a considerable figure in those wars, and wasat length put to death by one of the followers of the Scheik, or Old Manof the Mountain; nor did Richard remain free of the suspicion of havinginstigated his death.
It may be said, in general, that most of the incidents introduced inthe following tale are fictitious, and that reality, where it exists, isonly retained in the characters of the piece.
ABBOTSFORD, 1st July, 1832