St. Nicholas/Volume 40/Number 7/Books and Reading
BOOKS AND
READING
BY
HILDEGARDE HAWTHORNE
Romances of five kings
NEVER has the story of England been more romantic and adventurous than under the early Plantagenet kings. Then was the day of the Crusades, when nobles, knights, and princes led the flower of the land to incredible hardships far oversea; then, too, was the day of Robin Hood, gallantest of outlaws, gentlest of robbers, lover of fair play and the fresh out of doors. Norman, Saxon, and Dane were being slowly intermingled to make the English nation, and the contrasts and surprises of every-day life were dazzling. The wayfarer you encountered on any highroad
The tender story of Fair Rosamond belongs to this time, as well as the pitiful tale of little Prince Arthur. And Magna Charta, that shining leaf in the great hook of freedom, was signed under John, the third Plantagenet. In fact, the mere record of the history is thrilling; so that it is easy to understand that many a rousing story can be told of those days.
And so there has been. Scott laid several of his finest romances in Plantagenet times, beginning with “The Betrothed,” which belongs in the reign of Henry II, and is by many people thought to be the very best of the Waverley Novels. The stir and turmoil of the Crusades beat through it, though it is chiefly interested in revealing the troubles that followed taking so many fighting men away from England to the Holy Lands. The heroine has many adventures and hardships, the scenes occurring in many parts of England and Wales, and a great variety of life is given to us with much spirit and power.
Another book that tells of the same period is Maurice Hewlett’s “Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay.” Richard is the hero of this story, to be sure, but most of it takes place while he is still a young prince, and there is a fine portrait of Henry, his father, as well as of his sly brother John, who succeeded Richard when the latter was killed by one of his subjects. The book is thrilling reading and extraordinarily alive. The character of Richard is different from the one usually attributed to him, but it is convincing, and for all its faults there is a reckless manliness, something kindly and gallant in the man, that makes you forgive his vacillation, his cruelty even; certainly he is made very real, and so too is the motley population over which his father rules, and rules well. You won't forget the England of Henry II after reading this book.
It was under this same Henry that Robin Hood is first heard of. He is not a true historical character, since he has come down to our day only in the form of popular ballads and legends, and story-tellers use a good deal of freedom in bringing him into their books; but it seems probable that he drew his famous longbow somewhere about the end of the twelfth century.
Howard Pyle’s “Life and Adyentures of Robin Hood” (Scribner's, $3) is perhaps the best of all the modern Robin Hood books. Pyle loved a bold adventurer like Robin, and tells his story with the keenest joy—and what a story it is! Into it comes the noble figure of the king, and both Richard and John have adventures in Sherwood Forest. Many another brave knight and fair lady come gaily into the tale, with bad men too,—who get their deserts, most of them falling before the broad arrows of the outlaw band. There is a marvelous sweet breath of the green-wood blowing through these delightful pages, with song of blackbird and throstle, and the glint of sunshine to gladden you as you follow on, seeing the glimpse of a deer or a huntsman, hearing the laugh of a maid or the clash of a sword and buckler.
Much of the life of the common people is carefully pictured, for the book is made from the songs they sang and the stories they told. For undiluted, healthy pleasure, and for a vivid sketch of the times it portrays, few volumes can beat it. The pictures are also by Pyle, and are as good as the rest of the book.
If you want another book of about the same period, there is “Forest Outlaws,” by E. Gilliat (Dutton, 1887, $1.50), which tells the file of a boy and girl in Lincoln who were more or less under the protection of the good and great Bishop Hugh. King Henry is in it, long after his romance with Fair Rosamond, whom he still remembers, however, and the fierce Queen Eleanor, who came to him from Aquitaine, and of course his two sons. The king is rather big and unwieldy, and sometimes you rather laugh at him; but both the children know and love him. Robin and his merry men are there among the rest; there are splendid adventures in the forest; and, altogether, the story is good and interesting, and especially written for young people.
Richard the Lion-Hearted followed his father Henry upon the English throne, and I dare say all of you know him pretty well, for there must be very few who have n't read Scott’s wonderful romances “Ivanhoe” and “The Talisman.” If such there be, they will have a great treat before them; I ’m sure I wish I were going to read either for the first time!
“The Talisman” tells of Richard’s adventures in the Holy Land, and brings Saladin into the story. What a scene that is where Richard and Saladin try each othcr’s skill as swordsmen, Richard the mighty, Saladin the expert. The novel is a splendid description of the whole temper and marvel of that amazing spirit, the Crusading spirit, and you need to read it if you want to understand the men and the fortunes of those days.
“Ivanhoe” takes up Richard’s life when he comes home again, where the treacherous John is usurping the powers of stale. Robin Hood comes into the book, and in the character of Gurth the Swineherd you meet a true Saxon churl. Then there is the great Knight Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert, and the fair Rowena, said to be a descendant of Edward the Confessor, whom you met in the book about William the Conqueror, “Harold.” There is a wonderful tournament and a terrible battle, The story is one of the finest ever told, changing and moving, full of color and life, amusing, tragic, exciting.
There is a very good story by Paul Creswick, who has also written a Robin Hood book, called “With Richard the Fearless" (Dutton, 1898, $1.50), which tells many adventurous doings, and draws a splendid picture of the times; but I have found it hard to come by. It can be got, however, and is worth the trouble.
These ought to do for Richard. John comes next. He was n’t much of a king, but important things happened during his seventeen years’ reign. He was called Lackland, after the fashion of that century and several following to give nicknames to their leaders, and he lacked much besides land, among the rest any very good stories concerning his life and England's life during his day. Gilliat has one, “Wolf's Head” (Dutton, 1899, $1.50), which begins in 1202, the year of his accession, and which uses him as one of its characters. It also has Robin in it, and makes him come back from being an outlaw, which is contrary to most of the chronicles; but that is the good of having a rather mythical person like the bold wearer of Lincoln green to deal with. The book is good in reproducing the times very clearly, with many details. Poor Prince Arthur appears, and there are scenes in Ronen.
Of course John comes into the other novels I have spoken about, but not as king, and it is a pity that there are not more stories of that part of his life. If you can get C. A. Bloss’s “Heroines of the Crusades,” you will learn more about him and his reign; and you will find the stories interesting, I ’m told, though I ‘ve not been able to get a copy of the book myself.
A story of Henry III and his times is a book, published in England in 1903, which you ought to be able to get through a bookseller. It is by Bryan W. Ward, and is called “The Forest Prince.” Its hero is Henry's son, Edward, but it has many other characters, among them the king, and is a most enjoyable and picturesque tale.
I suppose most of you have read some at least of Charlotte Yonge’s books, and possibly “The Prince and the Page” among the rest. If you have, you will remember what a very good story it is. It tells the life of Edward I, beginning while the old, weak Henry III is still on the throne, You see the king's feebleness and selfishness contrasted with the honor and manliness of his son, the tall, strong prince, who yet considers him so carefully. A true knight, this Edward. Then it takes you through Edward's reign, and makes you at home in Edward's England,
There is another excellent book in this same reign, Scott’s “Castle Dangerous.” This book takes you into Scotland, and tells how Sir John de Walton vows to keep Castle Dangerous a whole year from its owner, the good and doughty Lord James, and of what followed this rash vow. You learn a good deal of how the barons behaved themselves, and what the people were up against in that century. Though things are a lot better than they were when Rufus rode the peasants down for sport, you will see that there was much still to be done, and that Magna Charta so far had not done the poor man a great deal of good. It existed, however—a tremendous fact in itself.
This, indeed, is part of the interest in reading our sequence of historic novels. You begin to see England growing up, like a child, Learning to do new things, learning to live more comfortably, to govern herself better, to ask for what she wants, and to try pretty hard to get it, What a different idea of how kings must behave you find, now that Edward is on the throne, than when the ruthless Normans ground the land for money, and murdered whom they chose. The yeomanry of England, stalwart, brave, clean-limbed, and honest of heart, has grown up, noticeably increasing under Robin Hood, with his picturesque idea of freedom and the worth of a good man, Houses are better, and the weapons men use, as well as their tools, have vastly improved, Altogether, if we could bring our friend Harold down to the day when Edward I ends his thirty-five years of kingship, and ask him to look around, this last of the Saxon rulers would be a most astonished being—yet barely two hundred and fifty years separated the two kings.