One of Exmoor’s most famous literary characters is Lorna Doone, who celebrates her 150th birthday this year and the whole of Exmoor will be celebrating with her – and nowhere more so than here in Lynton with the
Pleasure Dome Theatre company revisiting their fantastic 2017 production which we at St Vincent Guest House enjoyed very much.
Written in 1869, Richard Doddridge Blackmore apparently experienced great difficulty in finding a publisher, and the novel was first published anonymously in 1869 in a limited three-volume edition of just 500 copies, of which only 300 sold. The following year it was republished in an inexpensive one-volume edition and became a huge critical and financial success. It has never been out of print.
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| Badgworthy |
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| 2017 poster |
The story is set in the 17th century in the Badgworthy Water region of Exmoor in Devon and Somerset, England. John (in West Country dialect, pronounced "Jan") Ridd is the son of a respectable farmer who was murdered in cold blood by one of the notorious Doone clan, a once noble family, now outlaws, in the isolated Doone Valley. Battling his desire for revenge, John also grows into a respectable farmer and takes good care of his mother and two sisters. He falls hopelessly in love with Lorna, a girl he meets by accident, who turns out to be not only (apparently) the granddaughter of Sir Ensor Doone (lord of the Doones), but destined to marry (against her will) the impetuous, menacing, and now jealous heir of the Doone Valley, Carver Doone.
What could possibly go wrong…
You can see the excellent Pleasure Dome Theatre Company perform it in our beautiful Valley of Rocks from
20–31 August 2019. Details
here.
AND, you can
read the tome here for free!
AND
do the walk!
Stay with us, we will provide rugs for drafty weather :)
