Waverley Blog 02

House Waverley Wavering in Waverley

Jacob R. Orr

FSAT 300, Blog Post 03

    Seeing as how I went ahead and made a post about my final thoughts on Waverley up front, I've decided to engage a more specific topic within the text for my second blogpost. Today's subject is about the history of warfare and violence that Sir Walter Scott places as the backdrop to Waverley's plot. Of course, the natural option is to consider the '45 Rising and the Jacobite rebellion, all of which takes center stage within the narrative. However, of interest to me is the frequent mention of the English Civil War that goes on especially during the early phases of the novel.

An artistic depiction of a Roundhead.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

    Edward Waverley's uncle, Sir Everard, is a prominent Jacobite and acts as Edward's gateway to the larger world of English politics. It is also clear from Everard's dialogue in chapter two that he is also a supporter of the Cavaliers or that he at the very least detests Roundheads. 

    If you are unaware, the Roundheads, or Parliamentarians, fought in the English Civil War to empower the Parliament in London and elevate it to levels of authority above the king. They were called Roundheads on account of their flat hair cuts that set them apart from the more flashy style of their Royalist opponents.

    Scott is then building a connection between the English Civil War of yesteryear with the Jacobite Rising in 1745. Given that the English Civil War was waged almost a century prior to the Jacobite Rising, the gulf of time seems to disconnect the two conflicts. 

    Scott does a lot of playing with time though, as the secondary title of Waverley suggests. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume Scott is again making clever use of history with his mention of England's internal conflict and the close relationship Edward Waverley's family has to the war.

    The passing mention of the English Civil War in Waverley may tempt some readers to see the conflict as historical set dressing. However, it is my belief that Scott is suggesting the wavering quality of the Waverley clan is not a recent development. 

    Sir Everard has certainly made up his mind about his personal politics, but it seems that the politics of the family is uncertain. Sir Everard is disgusted by the combination of the ancient Waverley heraldry with the Bradshawe coat of arms. Scott explains this outrage by explaining the Bradshawes to be participants in the regicide of Charles I. This change in iconography no doubt took place following the Royalist defeat in 1651 and it still haunts Everard as of the beginning of Waverley.

    In this way, Scott has seeded the narrative with the idea of house Waverley as a family between worlds, not only in 1745 but in the distant past as well.