Wandering Willie’s Tale (Characters)

Characters

Tibbie Faw

The female innkeeper who serves Steenie a drink on his way into the dark wood.

Horseman

See Stranger

Hutcheon

A servant in the Redgauntlet household, Hutcheon loyally accompanies Dougal the butler when the latter answers the call of the dead Sir Robert. Later, because he knows the traditions of Redgauntlet Castle, he is able to explain what the Cat’s Cradle is, which perhaps suggests the importance of preserving one’s connections with the past.

Laurie Lapraik

Laurie Lapraik, a neighbor of Steenie’s who lends him money for his rent, puts himself forward as a Presbyterian now that the Presbyterians are in power, but the narrator says he is actually a sly fox who adjusts his beliefs according to what is popular. He refuses to help Steenie a second time, instead unfairly blaming him for persecuting Presbyterians. Through him Scott may be suggesting disapproval of the Presbyterians and a preference for their opponents, the old rough knights like Sir Robert Redgauntlet.

Dougal Maccallum

Dougal is Sir Robert Redgauntlet’s loyal butler, ready to follow him even into death. He is friendly to Steenie and gives him important advice in the haunted castle. His relationships with Steenie and Sir Robert suggest something of the close ties that could develop in the old feudal world, in contrast with the purely monetary relationships associated with new men like Sir Robert’s son.

Minister

The minister disapprovingly tells Steenie that he was “tampering with dangerous matters” in his adventure, but adds that he will probably be in no further danger from Satan as long as he leads a prudent life from now on. He thus acts as a force for pulling Steenie back from the world of his adventure. On the other hand, he does help spread the story of the adventure by telling it to his wife, who repeats it after he dies.

Sir John Redgauntlet

Sir John is very different from his father. He carries a small rapier, unlike the huge broadsword Sir Robert used to wear, suggesting that violence is less important to him. He is a smooth – talking Edinburgh lawyer who will not believe Steenie about the rent without some supporting evidence for his story. He even accuses Steenie, falsely, of trying to cheat him, and unlike his father, he seems to have no qualms about pressing for his rent and threatening eviction. He is also very much concerned about his reputation, making sure that Steenie does not tell people that Sir Robert is in hell. He does resemble his father at times, for instance, when he swears at Steenie and when he shoots the monkey in the castle turret. But mostly he presents a contrast with his father, being concerned with law, money, and reputation in a way his father was not.

Sir Robert Redgauntlet

On the surface, Sir Robert Redgauntlet looks like the villain of the story. He is a violent persecutor of Presbyterians and is said to be in league with the devil. When his income is reduced, he squeezes his tenants and threatens to evict Steenie. However, he seems to be upset about the eviction threat, as if he would rather not be resorting to such measures; and before his income problems led him to become strict about the rent, he was kind to his tenants and his followers. He inspires loyalty in Steenie and in his butler, and when his son replaces him, the tenants think they would have been better off with Sir Robert. He does end up in hell, perhaps a fitting end for a “rough auld Knight,” but he seems to be enjoying himself there in his revels with his companions, and even in hell he is honorable enough to give Steenie the receipt he asks for. He is representative of the good and bad of the old ways, both the violence and the loyalty. Money does not come first for him, as it seems to for his son.

Steenie Steenson

Steenie is the protagonist of the story, but in some ways is quite passive for a protagonist. In part, his social position as a tenant and follower of Sir Robert Redgauntlet creates this passivity. He is not a leader, that is not his role in life; it is his job to support his master even in doing such villainous things as persecuting Presbyterians. The story itself also puts Steenie in a passive position. He does not seek to do great deeds or to go out on adventures; he is pushed into action by external forces: the demand for rent payment and the urgings of the mysterious stranger. However, once embarked on his adventure, Steenie acts bravely and wisely, standing up to the ghost of Sir Robert and not letting himself be lured into taking part in hellish activities. Steenie is no saint — he argues, curses, and calls for the devil’s help in the course of the story — but he has been a loyal follower, he has many friends, he ends up declaring his service to God, and overall he is the character with whom the reader is asked to identify.

Willie Steenson

See Wandering Willie

Stephen Stevenson

See Steenie Steenson

Willie Stevenson

See Wandering Willie

Stranger

The mysterious stranger appears out of no-where as Steenie rides through a dark wood. He has a strange effect on Steenie’s horse and frightens Steenie by telling him he can take him to see the dead Sir Robert. Neal Frank Doubleday, in his book Variety of Attempt, suggests that the stranger is the devil in disguise, a suggestion also made by the narrator, Wandering Willie, in the passage in Redgauntlet preceding the tale. Supporting this view is the fact that the stranger appears just after Steenie calls for help from “Man’s Enemy.” If he is the devil, however, he is, as Doubleday suggests, in quite a helpful mood. He will not make Steenie bargain his soul away (he comments that Steenie might not like his terms if he gave him money), but he will help him with his financial difficulties.

Major Weir

Major Weir, Sir Robert’s pet monkey, is cantankerous like Sir Robert and appears at one point wearing a coat and Sir Robert’s own wig, as if he were Sir Robert’s alter ego. On one level, his role in the story is to provide an alternative, non – supernatural explanation for some of the strange events at Redgauntlet Castle. He himself is associated with the supernatural, however, through his name, which is that of a famous wizard. And his resemblance to Sir Robert may be meant to suggest that Sir Robert has something of the animal about him: a wild naturalness, in contrast with his more civilized city – dwelling son the lawyer.

Wandering Willie

The narrator reveals little about himself as he tells the tale, except that he is the grandson of Steenie Steenson, the protagonist. Elsewhere in Redgauntlet, however, the reader learns that Wandering Willie is a blind fiddler who travels around the country with his wife, playing his fiddle at dances. He is a wild – looking elderly man with a long gray beard, and he fascinates Darsie Latimer, a young man traveling in the Border region who is seeking to discover his true identity. Though blind, Willie serves as Darsie’s guide both literally and figuratively: he leads him to a cottage where a dance is taking place, and he gives him advice, in part through the story he tells him: “Wandering Willie’s Tale.”

Media Adaptations

• The French Romantic poet and dramatist Alfred de Musset adapted “Wandering Willie’s Tale” into a French stage play called La Quittance du Diable [The Devil’s Receipt] in 1830, but the play was not produced owing to revolutionary disturbances that year in Paris. A production was mounted in Avignon, France, in 1998.
• There have been several stage and operatic adaptations of Redgauntlet, the novel containing “Wandering Willie’s Tale,” including English stage productions in 1824, 1825, and 1872, the last named being in Dundee, Scotland (adaptation by A. D. McNeill). A French musical called Le Revenant, based on the novel, was put on in 1834 at the Paris Opera – Comique. A French opera called Redgauntlet was produced in 1843 (words and music by Paul Foucher and Jules Alboise de Pujol).

Topics for Further Study

• How well does “Wandering Willie’s Tale” fit the pattern of the quest story as outlined by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces? In what ways, if any, does it differ?
• Compare “Wandering Willie’s Tale” with its main source, the folk legend reprinted in Joseph Train’s 1814 book, Strains of the Mountain Muse (pp. 191 – 95). Discuss how Scott altered the legend, pointing out specific instances. What did he add or change or leave out? What effect did his alterations have?
• Read the rest of Redgauntlet and see to what extent “Wandering Willie’s Tale” fits in with the novel of which it is a part. Some commentators have said the tale has little to do with the novel. Others say its themes parallel those of the novel. What is your view? Explain, using examples from both texts.
• Compare the characters of Sir John Redgauntlet and Sir Robert Redgauntlet. Which one does the story seem to favor? Why?
• Research the landlord – tenant relationship in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. What were the advantages and disadvantages for both tenant and landholder? Based on your research, do you think most landholders tended to feel kind toward their tenants or did they take advantage of their superior status? Is the character of Sir Robert representative of actual landholders from that era?
• Research the Jacobites and loyalty to James II after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. What kind of reputation did the Stuart family have with their detractors and supporters? From what social groups did they draw their support?