Edgar, Master of Ravenswood, was the son of Allan, Lord Ravenswood.
His father had fought in the Revolution of 1688, and his side had been
vanquished. For this his title had been abolished and his estate taken
from him. He had fought hard for his rights in the courts, but in
vain, and at length he died breathing curses on Sir William Ashton, who
became owner of the estates.
Edgar, the son, penniless and proud, had vowed vengeance on the family
of Sir William Ashton. However, in spite of this, he fell in love with
Lucy, Sir William's daughter. They became engaged secretly.
"Ravenswood found Lucy seated alone by the ruin....
"'I like this spot,' said Lucy at length, as if she had found the
silence embarrassing: 'the bubbling murmur of the clear fountain, the
waving of the trees, the profusion of grass and wild-flowers, that rise
among the ruins, make it like a scene in romance. I think, too, I have
heard it is a spot connected with the legendary lore which I love so
well.'
"'It has been thought,' answered Ravenswood, 'a fatal spot to my
family; and I have some reason to term it so, for it was here I first
saw Miss Ashton--and it is here I must take my leave of her for ever.'
"'To take leave of us, Master!' she exclaimed; 'what can have happened
to hurry you away?--I know Alice hates--I mean dislikes, my father--and
I hardly understood her humor to-day, it was so mysterious. But I
am certain my father is sincerely grateful for the high service you
rendered us. Let us hope that having won your friendship hardly, we
shall not lose it lightly.'
"'Lose it, Miss Ashton?' said the Master of Ravenswood. 'No--wherever
my fortune calls me--whatever she inflicts upon me--it is your
friend--your sincere friend, who acts or suffers. But there is a fate
on me, and I must go, or I shall add the ruin of others to my own.'
"'Yet do not go from us. Master,' said Lucy; and she laid her hand,
in all simplicity and kindness, upon the skirt of his cloak, as if to
detain him. 'You shall not part from us. My father is powerful, he has
friends that are more so than himself--do not go till you see what his
gratitude will do for you. Believe me, he is already laboring in your
behalf with the Council.'
"'It may be so,' said the Master proudly; 'yet it is not to your
father, Miss Ashton, but to my own exertions, that I ought to owe
success in the career on which I am about to enter. My preparations are
already made--a sword and a cloak, and a bold heart and a determined
hand.'
"Lucy covered her face with her hands, and the tears, in spite of her,
forced their way between her fingers. 'Forgive me,' said Ravenswood,
taking her right hand, which, after slight resistance, she yielded
to him, still continuing to shade her face with the left. 'I am too
rude--too rough--too intractable to deal with any being so soft and
gentle as you are. Forget that so stern a vision has crossed your
path of life--and let me pursue mine, sure that I can meet no worse
misfortune after the moment it divides me from your side.'
"Lucy wept on, but her tears were less bitter. Each attempt which
the Master made to explain his purpose of departure only proved a new
evidence of his desire to stay; until, at length, instead of bidding
her farewell, he gave his faith to her for ever, and received her troth
in return. The whole passed so suddenly, and arose so much out of the
immediate impulse of the moment, that ere the Master of Ravenswood
could reflect upon the consequences of the step which he had taken,
their lips, as well as their hands, had pledged the sincerity of their
affection."
But Lucy's mother, the ambitious Lady Ashton, endeavored to force
her daughter to marry another. Lady Ashton was proud and vindictive,
and she hated the Ravenswood family with such intensity that she
did not scruple at any means to deceive Lucy into believing her love
unfaithful. Lucy, on the other hand, was gentle and timid. Her mother
called her, in derision, the "Lammermoor Shepherdess," to show that she
considered Lucy plebeian in her tastes.
In the struggle, Lucy went mad. Ravenswood, thinking himself rejected,
came to an untimely end.
"The Bride of Lammermoor" is in that group of the Waverley novels
called "Tales of My Landlord." The plot was suggested by an incident in
the family of the Earls of Stair. The scene is laid on the east coast
of Scotland, in the year 1700. Though somber and depressing, "The Bride
of Lammermoor" was very popular. The plot was used by Donizetti, the
Italian composer, for his opera Lucia di Lammermoor.