Victorians! discussion

If you would like to read a biography of our author, a good one can be found here:
http://www.online-literature.com/rd-b...

Lorna Doone is one of my favourite historical fictions and a great romance. We get a glimpse to some incidents connected to Monmouth Rebellion and correct me if I'm wrong, it's also the only novel I've read connects Aristocrats and the Working Class (John being a farmer) in a love story.

"R. D. Blackmore's historical novel Lorna Doone is set in the South West of England during the time of Monmouth's rebellion."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monmouth...

Information on Devon, the setting of the novel:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_...

I've been wondering whether Doone Glen is an actual place, or an invention.

Everyman wrote: "I've been wondering whether Doone Glen is an actual place, or an invention."

http://www.jstor.org/pss/2933237

If your library system supports this, there may be some clues here. (Mine doesn't, at least online, since this goes back to 1974.)

http://www.francisfrith.com/doone-glen/

Some more clues.

(view spoiler)[http://www.southwestcoastpath.com/mai... (hide spoiler)]

Land of Lorna Doone
(view spoiler)[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-... (hide spoiler)]

Lily wrote: "Everyman wrote: "I've been wondering whether Doone Glen is an actual place, or an invention."

http://www.jstor.org/pss/2933237

If your library system supports this, there may be some clues here. ..."

Thanks. Unfortunately, Google Maps doesn't recognize Doone Valley or either of toe combs mentioned on the first page of the article. :(

"He could not have visited any spot called the Doone Valley - because none existed. The name does not appear on any map published before or during Blackmore’s lifetime. Since his death, the area around Lank Combe on the west bank of Badgworthy Water has, by common consent, been dubbed the Doone Valley as approximating more closely to the imaginary place Blackmore described."

Link: (view spoiler)[http://www.lynton-lynmouth-tourism.co... (hide spoiler)]

http://ribbonsoflight.blogspot.com/20...

Clips from the film. Also, background comments. Reveals plot elements, although claims not to have spoilers for the last twenty minutes of the film.

Walk 1263 - The Doone Valley from Malmsmead

http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walks...

Select "Detailed Walk Description" for photographs.

http://www.francisfrith.com/malmsmead...
Photos, including some labeled as Doone Valley and "Doone Valley Glen 1907".

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/b...

A contemporary review (beware of spoilers) on the Victorian Web, attributed to Margaret Oliphant. Supports the realism of the story.

This excerpt is from wili and I found it informative.

Blackmore experienced difficulty in finding a publisher, and the novel was first published anonymously in 1869, in a limited three-volume edition of just 500 copies, of which only 300 sold. The following year it was republished in an inexpensive one-volume edition and became a huge critical and financial success. It has never been out of print.
It received acclaim from Blackmore's contemporary, Margaret Oliphant, and as well from later Victorian writers including Robert Louis Stevenson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and Thomas Hardy. A favourite among female readers, it is also popular among males, and was chosen by male students at Yale in 1906 as their favourite novel.
By his own account, Blackmore relied on a "phonologic" style for his characters' speech, emphasizing their accents and word formation. He expended great effort, in all of his novels, on his characters' dialogues and dialects, striving to recount realistically not only the ways, but also the tones and accents, in which thoughts and utterances were formed by the various sorts of people who lived in the Exmoor district in the 17th century.
Blackmore incorporated real events and places into the novel. The Great Winter described in chapters 41–45 was a real event. He himself attended Blundell's School in Tiverton which serves as the setting for the opening chapters. One of the inspirations behind the plot is said to be the shooting of a young woman at a church in Chagford, Devon, in the 17th century. Unlike the heroine of the novel, she did not survive, but is commemorated in the church. Apparently, Blackmore invented the name "Lorna," possibly drawing on a Scottish source.
According to the preface, the work is a romance and not a historical novel, because the author neither "dares, nor desires, to claim for it the dignity or cumber it with the difficulty of an historical novel." As such, it combines elements of traditional romance, of Sir Walter Scott's historical novel tradition, of the pastoral tradition, of traditional Victorian values, and of the contemporary sensation novel trend. The basis for Blackmore's historical understanding is Macaulay's History of England and its analysis of the Monmouth rebellion. Along with the historical aspects are folk traditions, such as the incorporation of Judge Jeffreys and the many legends based around both the Doones and Tom Faggus.

Before Lorna Doone apparantly the name Lorna didn't exist, but due to the book's popularity the name Lorna also became popular in Victorian times.

Lily wrote: "Walk 1263 - The Doone Valley from Malmsmead

http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walks...

Select "Detailed Walk Description" for photographs."

Great resource. Wonderful country. England is so compact that it is possible to see much of it by walking. Not so the US, sadly.

I'd love to see that!! When will I be able of going back to England???

Here's a link to an early edition with illustrations. I always think those editions are fun.

http://books.google.com/books?id=zRY3...

I DO love those illustrations. That was quite a preface on that edition too!

Marcel wrote: "I'm so glad to have found this group, and I look forward to starting Lorna Doone today—hopefully I can catch up. I very much look forward to discussing while reading, too."

Glad you are joining us, Marcel.

Lily wrote: "http://www.francisfrith.com/malmsmead...
Photos, including some labeled as Doone Valley and "Doone Valley Glen 1907"."

That is rugged country, isn't it? Looks like some parts of eastern Alabama/Tennessee, near me!

Just got the movie of LD from the library. (BBC/A&E version, in case there is more than one.)

It is not at all true to the book, sadly. In the opening scene, the Doones come riding into the village, all the villagers scatter in fear, one of the Doones grabs a woman, John Ridd's father goes to help her, is shot by a Doone in front of his son. Huh? No school scene, no father killed out on the moor, John not hearing about it when Fry comes to get him, but there cradling his dying father's body in his arms. Pah.

Then Huckabee isn't found out on the moors by Ridd, but his horse carries him into a gathering of dancing villagers, not clear to me where it is. Huh? They don't people being killed on the moors?

Thee is a whole invented scene I won't tell you about.

It is a very, very loose adaptation based on the characters and some of the events in the book, but feeling free to make major, major changes presumably for the sake of dramatic interest and saleability.

The scenery and production values are fine, but it isn't Lorna Doone. If you want a movie that's mostly true to the story, skip this.

Agreed Everyman. There are some good points to the film, but it is not as much a film of the book as a film of the same name as the book!

They also completely skew the theme of the book--changing John into a more vengeful fellow, which isn't the case.

That is sad about that film, but thanks for letting us know because it sounds like I won't be watching it.

There are a number of references to ponies in LD, including Peggy, Lorna's pony and 'forest ponies'. These are likely to be two specific breeds found on Exmoor and on Dartmoor in south Devon. They are particularly suited to the harsh climate and terrain there. The Exmoor ponies are a rare, protected breed and live wild:-

http://www.devonponies.co.uk/exmoor-p...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG7GRk...

Dartmoor once had a large forested area so they were known as 'forest ponies'. They have owners who breed and market them and are a smaller breed, often bought for young children to ride.

http://www.devonponies.co.uk/dartmoor...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4YO4l...

This map of Devon shows the distance between the two moors:-

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/euro...

(Edited to post map.)

The ponies look like beautiful animals and it is good they have set up protection societies for them. I liked the photo of the gray one.

SarahC wrote: "That is sad about that film, but thanks for letting us know because it sounds like I won't be watching it."

You know, though, if you're looking for a clean, romantic, beautifully filmed show, this isn't a bad choice. Don't write if off entirely, I think it would be fine to watch AFTER you finish the book---that is, if you have spare time. ;)

Everyman wrote: "Just got the movie of LD from the library. (BBC/A&E version, in case there is more than one.)

It is not at all true to the book, sadly. In the opening scene, the Doones come riding into the vi..."


I've been sitting on my copy until I finish the book - I read the cover and could see that they had messed with it a lot. Still - it looks pretty so I'll watch it when I've finished just for fun.