Lorna Dun (novel, 1869)

Due to difficulties in finding a publisher, the novel was first published anonymously in 1869 , in three volumes, with a circulation of only 500 copies, of which only 300 were sold. The following year, 1870, it was reprinted in one volume, soon brought commercial success, and since then has been regularly reprinted not only in England but also in the countries of the British Commonwealth , as well as throughout the English-speaking world, becoming a bestseller and gaining resounding success, first at ladies, and then many men.

The approval of the new book was expressed by such famous writers as Margaret Olyphant , Robert Lewis Stevenson , Gerard Manley Hopkins and Thomas Hardy .

The novel was first fully translated into Russian only in 1991 by the poet and translator E. D. Feldman from Omsk , published there two years later and reprinted several times by Russian metropolitan publishers.

The main events of the novel take place in Exmoor , begin in 1673 , in the era of the Stuart Restoration , and unfold during the Great Winter of 1683-1684 and the uprising of Monmouth in 1685.

According to Blackmore's preface, while working on the novel, he, drawing on the example of Walter Scott , was nevertheless guided by the historical, social, and moral ideas of the modern Victorian era .

Sources for the writer were the “History of England” by Thomas Macaulay (1859), as well as folk legends that existed in Exmoor in his time.

The author himself attended Blundell’s school in Tiverton (county Devon ), mentioned at the beginning of the story ^[2] , and his grandfather served as a pastor in the parish church of St. Mary in Oara in 1809-1842 ^{[3] [4]} . One of the known facts of history that inspired the writer is considered to be the shooting of a young woman named Mary Widdon in the Chagford Church , in Dartmoor in 1641 ^[5] .

Blackmore's fictitious name of Lorna , as well as the names of Doone, Dugal , etc., may have been borrowed from Scottish sources. According to another version, the main character is named after the wife of the progressive politician Lord George Campbell , Duke Argyll and Marquis Lorne ^[6] .

According to the writer’s own statement, he chose a “phonological” style for the speech of his characters, trying to emphasize in their dialogs the intonations and pronunciation characteristic of people who actually lived in Exmoor in the 17th century ^[7] .

The main action of the book takes place at the end of the XVII century, in the parish of Oar, in Exmoor - a historical region in the west of the county of Somerset and the north of the county of Devon in southwestern England , named after the River Ex . Today, described in detail by R. D. Blackmore in the novel East-Lin Valley and the village of Malmesmead lying on the banks of the river Badgworthy Water are located on the territory of the Exmoor National Park ^[8] .

John ("Yang" in West Country dialects ) Ridd is the son of a wealthy farmer who was murdered in cold blood by a raider, a native of the robber noble clan of the Dunes, who had established himself in a nearby isolated valley during the Restoration .

With revenge in his heart, he grows up, becoming a support for his family, but inadvertently falls in love with the girl Lorna, who turned out to be the granddaughter of Lord Ensor Dong. Responding to John in return, Lorna intends to marry the heir to the valley, the cruel and treacherous Carver Dun, who does not tolerate anyone who could stand in his way.

Soon, old Sir Ensor dies, Carver becomes the owner of the estate, and Lorna, who did not want to marry him, is forced to flee with the help of John, taking refuge in his farm, near the mounds of Plover. Although the Duns attack on the farm manages to repel, the position of the defenders remains very fragile.

One of John's relatives notices a precious necklace on Lorna’s neck that belonged to Lady Dougal, who was once killed in the vicinity by a band of robbers. It gradually turns out that Lorna is the daughter of the deceased, the heiress of the richest fortune appropriated by the Duns, the distant relatives of Dugalov, who killed her mother and adopted the girl for this purpose. But the influential robber clan cannot be brought into the open, and John himself is forced to leave for London, having entered the clerical service.

In the meantime, King Charles II (1685) dies, and the throne of the Duke of Monmouth , his illegitimate son, invades the country. The Duns decide to support him, hoping to return their lands (in Scotland?). But the rebels suffer a crushing defeat at the Battle of Sedgmoor ^[9] , and John Ridd is under arrest, accused of complicity in the rebellion. With the help of an old friend, he manages to clear himself of the charges, returning to London , where he finds Lorna. After John rescues her legal guardian Earl Brandir from the assassination attempt, John receives the title and forgiveness from the new King James II , and then returns to Exmoor.

Here he learns that the atrocities of the Danes do not stop, therefore, knowing their lair well, John goes to him along with his comrades-in-arms, cracking down on everyone except Carver, who managed to escape. In the meantime, Brandir dies, and the terrible “ hanging judge” Lord Jeffreys becomes her official guardian, allowing her to marry John.

But during the marriage at St. Mary's Church in Oara Carver Dun bursts in, shooting at Lorna. Walking away from John pursuing him, Carver drowns in a quagmire. Returning, John is relieved to learn that his bride miraculously survived. Young live happily ever after ...

John Ridd, on behalf of whom the narration is conducted, claims that he was born on November 29, 1661 , therefore, at the beginning of the novel, he is 14 years old. However, in chapter 24 he mentions Queen Anne Stewart (1702-1714) as the ruling one, which testifies to the old age of the narrator (over 50 years). He celebrates the New Year on January 1, while in England until 1752 the beginning of the new year was celebrated on March 25, the Annunciation Day ^[10] , so on February 14, 1676, for example, it would have been attributed to the old account in 1675.

• In 1969, the Committee established to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the novel, at the village of Malmesmead a memorial stone was erected in honor of R. D. Blackmore ^[11] .
• In 1990, in , Somerset erected a monument to Lorne Dun, created by sculptor George Stephenson and donated to the city by Dr. Whitman Pearson, a US citizen.

• In honor of Lorna Dun, shortbread cookies produced by the Nabisko company are .
• Lorna Dun was the favorite book of the famous Australian bandit Ned Kelly (1854-1880).
• In 1906, the novel was chosen by male students at Yale University as a favorite work.
• A reference to Lorna Dun is found in John Galsworthy 's novel, The Games of Justice (1910).
• Composer Giacomo Puccini borrowed the story of Lorna Dun as a plot for the opera, but refused to stage it ^[12] .

• Blackmore Richard Dodridge. Lorna Dun. Exmoor novel / Transl. from English E. D. Feldman . - Omsk: Omsk Book Publishing House, 1993. - 384 p. - ISBN 5-85540-317-3 .

• - dir. (Great Britain, 1912); starring .
• "Lorna Dun" - film dir. Maurice Turner (USA, 1922); starring Madge Bellamy .
• "Lorna Dun" - film dir. Basil Dean (Great Britain, 1934); starring Victoria Hopper .
• “Lorna Dun” - film dir. Phil Carlson (USA, 1951); starring Barbara Hale .
• "Lorna Dun" - television series dir. James Kellan Jones and Brandon Acton-Bond (Great Britain, 1963); starring Jane Merrow.
• Lorna Dun - miniseries dir. Joan Craft (Great Britain, 1976); starring Emily Richard.
• "Lorna Dun" - TV movie dir. Andrew Mane (United Kingdom, 1990); starring Polly Walker .
• "Lorna Dun" - TV movie dir. Mike Barker (Great Britain, 2000); starring Amelia Warner .

• Blackmore, Richard Doddridge // Dictionary of National Biography.
• Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor in the Gutenberg project .