Scott’s The Pirate

Abstract

Because Sir Walter Scott’s novels were rapidly adapted for the stage, there can be no surprise that the publication of The Pirate (1821) prompted a race among several theaters to be the first to offer the unique venture into maritime fiction. The novel was published in Edinburgh on 21 or 22 December and in London on 24 December 1821. A full script was prepared, rehearsed, and performed within two weeks, and two more versions were on the stage by the third week. The three contending playwrights were Thomas John Dibdin, who won the race with his staging of The Pirate; or, The Wild Woman of Zetland at the Surrey (7 January 1822). One week later James Robinson Planché’s The Pirate opened at the Olympic (14 January 1822). On the day following, William Dimond’s The Pirate opened at Drury Lane (15 January 1822). The anonymous reviewer for The Lady’s Monthly Museum, who reports on all three, faults Dimond’s version for departures from the novel and praises Dibdin for capturing the romance of Minna and Cleveland.¹ Dimond gave Minna little to do but sing. He is nevertheless praised for “throwing a degree of refinement into the conversation and manners of the Pirate, thus rendering more consistent that Captain Cleveland should engage the affections [of] the amiable Minna.” In fact all three versions appropriated dialogue from the novel with little alteration. Of the three versions, the reviewer acknowledged the superior excellence of Dibdin and his cast at the Surrey, especially Mrs. Glover as Minna:

The scenery is delightful, the shipwreck well managed, and the engagement between the pirate vessel and the Halcyon sloop of war, allowed by the audience to be most admirable. The costume accords with the time and country; indeed, not only the principle features of the novel have been attended to, but every connecting minutia to render it perfect. The Pirate is announced for representation every night until further notice; and the house fills enough to satisfy the rapacity of a Buccaneer.