The Doones

Just as every romance needs a good hero and love story, so too does it require a good villain. This is fulfilled in R. D. Blackmore’s novel Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor by the wild and nefarious Doone family. A once proud and wealthy family led by its patriarch Ensor Doone, they rob, plunder, and keep in submission the entire region of Exmoor. They are also the family to whom the title heroine belongs, although it is discovered that this is the result of kidnapping, not birth. They are the stuff of legend, and that legend does not begin with Blackmore. Their stories had existed for many years already before Blackmore, as they are the products of popular legends that have long circulated in Exmoor. R. D. Blackmore merely gave them a voice. But the questions of just where the Doones came from, what their place in history was, and what the nature of those legends were still remain.

While Blackmore took some liberties with the Doone’s history, he follows the basic storyline of the Doones of Scotland. Ida M. Browne, a descendant of the Doones who used the pseudonym Doone Ruins

Adudrie Doon, argues that the Doones and those robber legends of Exmoor were in fact members of a noble Scottish family, the Stuart Dounes. According to Browne, Sir Ensor James Stuart changed his surname to Doune in 1618. This Sir Ensor was the one on whom the character of the same name in Lorna Doone is based. This change was seen by his cousin the Earl of Moray as a subtle claim by Sir Ensor for Doune Castle, which the Earl of Moray owned. The earl gave Sir Ensor and his wife the choice of exile or imprisonment. They left Scotland and went to London, seeking an audience with the King, which they never recieved. Eventually, they made their way to Exmoor, where they had sons raised to be robbers and murderers. Eventually they changed the spelling of their last name, dropping the ‘u’ and changing it to an ‘o.’ For 73 years they were terrors to the area. Then, in 1699, a new Earl of Moray allowed them to return to their Scottish lands, and they went back to Scotland.

         This ending, of course, was a much happier one for these Doones than the Doones of Blackmore’s novel. Still Browne, a descendant of the family, says “Little doubt remains in my mind and those of my friends that they were the originals of the outlaws who figure in the traditions of the district. Everything certainly seems to point to the fact. In all probability Blackmore got his details from some Scotch family who knew our history, and proceeded to weave his romance from those facts” (48).

         Of course, there are other theories about who the historical Doones upon whom the legends are based really were. L. B. Thornycroft references some of these in The Doones in Fact, Fiction, and Picture. One of these says they were legends that grew out of other legends about the Danes, which got corrupted into “Doones” by the local dialect. This does not seem likely, however, as the Danish Vikings were not very active in the Exmoor area. Another says they were a Welsh family named Dwn, which is pronounced Doone. This also seems unlikely, although it does contain the common element with other legends that the Doones came from the North. There is another theory with a Scottish connection, but it is a very shaky one at best. Its hypothesis is that Adam Bellerden, the former Bishop of Aberdeen who came to live in Porlock in 1642, may have had a retainer Doune. After his master’s death in 1647, this theoretical man in a strange land may have turned to the life of a robber. This theory, however, is based purely on speculation. While these theories are given credence, both Thornycroft and another writer, Sir Atholl Oakely in his pamphlet The Facts on Which R. D. Blackmore Based Lorna Doone, strongly favor Ida M. Browne’s story, with Thornycroft going so far as to quote it in its entirety.

         Not everyone is satisfied with her version of events, however. S. H. Burton refers to all of the Doone theories in Exmoor. He also expresses his doubts about Browne’s story, saying it “falls far short of proof” (128). “Research,” he continues, “has failed to corroborate ‘Audrie Doon’s’ account of the quarrel between the Earl of Moray and Sir Ensor The window of Oare Church

Doune, and has…not succeeded in establishing that there was ever a knight by that name” (129). Thornycroft himself addressed this issue, and speculated that since Sir Ensor was a Roman Catholic his name would have been struck from the records. In any case, while Burton has problems with Browne’s account, the basic ideas that the Doones were of Scottish origin and actually did exist during the time period in Lorna Doone remain supported. This makes Browne’s story, imperfect as it may be, the best story we have.

         Blackmore also weaves his story from less than factual information. While there are many legends about robbers and murderers in Exmoor, they are not always named. One complete tale was told by a Mrs. Tucker, who learned the story as a child (see sidebar).

         In this story and others, the names of the robbers are not mentioned, nor are their punishments, but considering the time and place, it is safe to assume that stories like these are about the Doone family, and were used by Blackmore in his telling of his romance.

         The weaving of history and legend in R. D. Blackmore’s Lorna Doone is one of the things that makes it such a compelling story. He was evidentally a master of using source materials, local legends, and stories to create believable characters. The Doones, like the landscape they inhabit, inspire the imagination. While we don’t necessarily root for them, we appreciate the work that went into their creation. Because of it, we have some of the best villains of 19th century British literature.