Old Mortality, Complete
Scotland, 1679. The Covenanters bleed for their faith in a land ruled by iron and incense. Henry Morton, a young man of mixed sympathies, finds himself trapped between a royalist grandfather's granddaughter and a people sharpening their swords against religious tyranny. This is "the killing time" - when praying could get you shot and hiding your Bible could get you hanged. Yet the novel belongs to Old Mortality, the mysterious gravedigger who travels Scotland on foot, repairing the tombstones of martyred Covenanters and keeping their memory alive when all official history demands they be forgotten. Scott weaves a narrative where political conviction collides with personal desire, whereModerates and fanatics alike claim God's banner, and where one man's attempt to stay neutral becomes impossible. The result is historical fiction that pulses with life, action, and the uncomfortable truth that choosing no side is itself a choice.
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“It has often been remarked of the Scottish character, that the stubbornness with which it is moulded shows most to advantage in adversity, when it seems akin to the native sycamore of their hills, which scorns to be biassed in its mode of growth even by the influence of the prevailing wind, but, shooting its branches with equal boldness in every direction, shows no weather-side to the storm, and may be broken, but can never be bended.””
— Walter Scott
“I will own frankly, Mr Balfour," replied Morton, "much of this sort of language, which, I observe, is so powerful with others, is entirely lost on me.””
— Walter Scott
“will own frankly, Mr Balfour," replied Morton, "much of this sort of language, which, I observe, is so powerful with others, is entirely lost on me. It is proper you should be aware of this before we commune further together.””
— Walter Scott
“am weary of seeing nothing but violence and fury around me”
— Walter Scott
“ray of light streamed on his uncurtained couch, and showed to Morton the working of his harsh features, which seemed agitated by some strong internal cause of disturbance. He had not undressed. Both his arms were above the bed-cover, the right hand strongly clenched, and occasionally making that abortive attempt to strike which usually attends dreams of violence; the left was extended, and agitated, from time to time, by a movement as if repulsing some one.””
— Walter Scott
“and whose intolerance and narrow-minded bigotry are at least as conspicuous as their devotional zeal,””
— Walter Scott
“...the fortalice, thus commanding both bridge and pass, had been, in times of war, a post of considerable importance, the possession of which was necessary to secure the communication of the upper and wilder districts of the country with those beneath, where the valley expands, and is more capable of communication.””
— Walter Scott
“Which of them would sit six hours on a wet hillside to hear a godly sermon?””
— Walter Scott
