The hermit of Powis: a ballad romance of the olden times

Aberdeen: George Middleton

1873

8 pages

Chapbook #14 in a bound collection of 17 chapbooks

ballads & songs

This chapbook includes a tragic ballad of the Earl of Leslie, who falls in love and marries a young woman of lowly birth. When the King goes to war against the English who are raiding across the border, Leslie attends him and wins honour on the battlefield. But when the king brings back his lords to feast in Edinburgh, the Lady Annabelle Stewart, bastard sister to the king, falls in love with the handsome young lord and begs the king to marry them. Although Leslie insists he cannot marry because he already has a well-loved wife, the king gives him the choice of setting aside his low-born wife in favor of his sister, or hang. Leslie acquiesces and sends word to his wife, who dies of grief. When he hears of her fate, he rages against his wife and disappears. Years later, after his lands and wealth were gone and he had been forgotten, he returns as a hermit to Powis and endures a life of self-imposed penance and asceticism until his death reveals his true story. This chapbook is part of a collection of chapbooks produced in Aberdeen which have been bound together in this volume.

Wikipedia entry on Alexander Leslie: Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven (1582 – 4 April 1661) was a Scottish soldier in Dutch, Swedish and Scottish service. Born illegitimate and raised as a foster child, he subsequently advanced to the rank of a Dutch captain, a Swedish Field Marshal, and in Scotland became lord general in command of the Covenanters, privy councillor, captain of Edinburgh Castle, Lord Balgonie and Earl of Leven. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Leslie,_1st_Earl_of_Leven

Edinburgh, Scotland

Powis, Scotland

Religion and Morals

Religion and Morals

Chapbooks - Scotland - Aberdeen

Leslie, Alexander, 1582-1661

War

Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario

National Library of Scotland

JPEGs and PDF derived from master file, which was scanned from the original book in 24-bit color at 600 dpi in TIFF format using an Epson Expression 10000XL scanner.

In the public domain; For high quality reproductions, contact Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph libaspc@uoguelph.ca 519-824-4120 Ext 53413

English

Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario, Canada