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Wandering Willie's Tale | Introduction

‘‘Wandering Willie’s Tale,’’ by Sir Walter Scott, first appeared in Scott’s 1824 novel, Redgauntlet. The tale is not directly part of the action of the novel; it is simply a story told by one of the characters to another, and in fact is merely the most developed of such stories contained in the novel. Several other times in Redgauntlet the action stops while one character tells another the story of his life or of one specific event. In this case, Wandering Willie, a blind fiddler, tells Darsie Latimer, a young man traveling in the Border region of Scotland, a cautionary tale to warn him to be wary of whose company he accepts on his travels, for even a friendly traveler may turn out to be the devil in disguise.

Later in the novel it is revealed that the story Willie told concerns some of Darsie’s ancestors, but Darsie and the reader do not know this at the time, and so the story seems at first to be something almost entirely separate from the rest of the novel. Indeed, some early readers of the novel and some later commentators regarded the tale as being quite distinct from the larger work, sometimes praising it at the expense of the novel. Later commentators, however, have tended to see thematic connections between the two. Critics have noted that they both reflect Scott’s ambivalent interest in Scottish traditions, and have drawn a parallel between the tale’s account of a trip to hell and the novel’s depiction of Darsie’s encounter with his dark, mysterious uncle. Commentators new and old have praised Scott’s handling of Scottish dialect in the tale, and in general have described the story as one of the best ever written.

Wandering Willie's Tale Summary

‘‘Wandering Willie’s Tale’’ opens with an account of Sir Robert Redgauntlet and one of his tenants, narrated by a character, Wandering Willie, who does not appear in the tale himself. Sir Robert, a strong supporter of bishops, is much feared as a persecutor of Presbyterians during the political and religious struggles in Scotland after 1660. Sir Robert’s tenant, Steenie Steenson, has no strong political or religious convictions himself, but he accompanies Sir Robert as a loyal follower on his persecuting expeditions. He also plays the bagpipes for him.

After the 1688 Revolution, Sir Robert’s party loses power, and he cannot continue his persecutions. Although he is not punished by the new government, he loses the income he used to receive from the fines imposed on the Presbyterians. As a result, he becomes more strict about collecting his rent from tenants like Steenie, who falls two payments behind and is threatened with eviction.

By borrowing from his neighbors, Steenie is able to raise the rent money and brings it to Redgauntlet Castle, where he finds Sir Robert with his pet monkey, named Major Weir after a notorious wizard. Sir Robert is ill, in part because he has been fretting over having to evict his long-time tenant, and he looks ghastly. He sends Steenie off with the butler, Dougal MacCallum, to have a drink while he counts the money, but Steenie and the butler are hardly out of the room when they hear Sir Robert crying out in agony. Steenie takes fright and runs off, not waiting for a receipt, and word goes round that Sir Robert is dead.

Sir Robert’s body is put in his old room in preparation for his funeral. Dougal the butler makes the arrangements, but looks like a corpse himself and finally confides in Hutcheon, another servant, that he has heard Sir Robert calling him on his whistle every night, just as he... » Complete Wandering Willie's Tale Summary