Scott Walter.The Fair Maid of Perth

by Sir Walter Scott

(published in 1828 (184,089 words) (519 pages)
Book Category: Fiction

The Fair Maid of Perth (or, as it less commonly known, St. Valentine's Day) is a novel by Sir Walter Scott. It is set in the 14th Century in Perth and other parts of Scotland. It was first published on 15 May 1828.

The book was originally to have two other stories in the same volume: My Aunt Margaret's Mirror and The Death of the Laird's Jock, and was to have been titled St. Valentine's Eve.

Plot summary

The "Fair Maid" is Catharine Glover, daughter of a glovemaker in Perth, who kisses Henry Smith, the armorer, while he is sleeping, on Valentine's Day. Smith proposes marriage, and although Catharine refuses at first, she marries him at the end of the book.

There is a parallel plot concerning the romance of David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, the son of Robert III of Scotland, and Louise the Glee-Maiden.