It is hardly to be expected, that an Author whom the Public have honoured with some degree of applause, should not be again a trespasser on their kindness.  Yet the Author of MARMION must be supposed to feel some anxiety concerning its success, since he is sensible that he hazards, by this second intrusion, any reputation which his first Poem may have procured him.  The present story turns upon the private adventures of a fictitious character; but is called a Tale of Flodden Field, because the hero’s fate is connected with that memorable defeat, and the causes which led to it.  The design of the Author was, if possible, to apprize his readers, at the outset, of the date of his Story, and to prepare them for the manners of the Age in which it is laid.  Any Historical Narrative, far more an attempt at Epic composition, exceeded his plan of a Romantic Tale; yet he may be permitted to hope, from the popularity of THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL, that an attempt to paint the manners of the feudal times, upon a broader scale, and in the course of a more interesting story, will not be unacceptable to the Public.The Poem opens about the commencement of August, and concludes with the defeat of Flodden, 9th September, 1513.                                                Ashestiel, 1808,

In 1465 the Scottish Quentin Durward set of to France, because the Duke of Burgundy wants that countess Isabelle marries with Durward's uncle. Once there he himself falls in love with Isabelle, no much interested in the quarrel between the Duke and King Louis XI, what was the reason of the marriage proposal.

Der Held, Quentin Durward, ist der letzte Spross einer alten schottischen Adelsfamilie, dessen Angehörige ermordet wurden. Sein Leben verdankt er der Hilfe eines Mönchs. Er wächst in einem Kloster auf, bis er selbst das Mönchsgelübde ablegen soll. Er flieht nach Frankreich, wo er mitten in die Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Ludwig XI. und seinem Vetter, Karl dem Kühnen, gerät. Quentin kann sich die Bewunderung des Königs verdienen und hat viele Abenteuer zu bestehen, nicht zuletzt, um die schöne Isabelle de Croye zu retten, auf deren Ländereien es der intrigante Karl abgesehen hat.

ÜbersichtWaverley oder: Vor sechzig Jahren war'sGuy Mannering – der Roman eines SterndeutersDer AltertümlerDer schwarze ZwergRobin der Rote – der Bandenführer der HochlandeDas Herz von Midlothian oder Der Kerker von EdinburgIvanhoeDas KlosterDer Abt oder Maria Stuarts Glück und EndeKenilworthDer PiratQuentin DurwardDie VerlobtenDer TalismanDas schöne Mädchen von PerthAnna von Geierstein oder Das NebelmädchenGraf Robert von ParisSchloß Douglas am BlutsumpfDrei Erzählungen aus dem schottischen Hochland (Der Graf mit dem zweiten Gesicht, Hochländer-Ehre, Der Zauberspiegel)Zwei Erzählungen (Die Hochlandhexe, Ein Kind der Sünde)