The Monastery

THE MONASTERY, a novel published by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) in 1820. The story happens in the monastery of Kennaquhair, inspired in Melrose Abbey on the Tweed, in the reign of Elizabeth, when the reformed doctrines were first making their way in Scotland and raising troubles in the religious community. The hero, Halbert Glendinning is the son of a soldier who has died fighting for the monastery. He and his brother Edward are brought up within the grounds of Kennaquhair along with the orphan Mary Avenel, who has been cheated out of her inheritance by her uncle Julian, a ruthless Border baron. Both brothers are in love with Mary, but it is Halbert that wins her favour. An English knight Sir Piercie Shafton flees the court of Queen Elizabeth, having being implicated in a Catholic plot, and takes refuges in the monastery. He sets about wooing the indifferent Mary Avenel, which, along with his arrogant behaviour, angers Halbert. A duel results, and believing he has killed his rival, Halbert flees. He subsequently converts to Protestantism and enters the service of the Earl of Murray, half-brother to Mary Queen of Scots. The disappointed Edward Glendinning takes monastic orders and will reappear as the title character in Scott's next novel The Abbot. The author makes use in this novel of supernatural machinery, in the form of the White Lady of Avenel, a spirit or sylph, to restore Sir Piercie Shafton to life after bein mortally wounded, and to work other marvels.