VI: The Adieus of Waverley explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Loyalty and Allegiance

  The chapter explores conflicting loyalties: Sir Everard's veiled reference to the king (de facto vs. de jure), Mr. Pembroke's Jacobite fervor, and the Baron's past allegiance to the Stuarts.

• Education and Self-Development

  Mr. Pembroke's farewell exhortations to Edward emphasize moral and religious education, while the Baron's scholarly eccentricity (returning for his Livy) highlights a different kind of learning.

• Social Class and Hierarchy

  The chapter underscores the feudal bonds between landlord and tenant, as Sir Everard laments the decline of 'natural dependence' and provides parting gifts to the recruits.

Characters to notice

• Edward Waverley

  The young hero prepares to leave Waverley-Honour for military service in Scotland, receiving farewells and advice from his uncle and tutor.

• Sir Everard Waverley

  Sir Everard gives Edward a ceremonial farewell, presenting him with horses, a letter to the Baron of Bradwardine, and counsel on duty and honor.

• Baron of Bradwardine

  The Baron is introduced through his history as a Jacobite prisoner in 1715, his rescue by Sir Everard, and his ongoing friendship with the Waverley family.

• Mr. Pembroke

  Edward's tutor takes a private leave, exhorting him to maintain his religious and political principles, and recalling his own failed attempt to publish Jacobite manuscripts.

• Bailie Macwheeble

  The Baron's factor is mentioned as having suffered a cholic from handling the repayment to Sir Everard, and is suspected of being less than disinterested.

• Richard Waverley

  Edward's father is referenced as having consented to his son's military career, in accordance with God's will.

Key passages

• “It was upon the evening of this memorable Sunday that Sir Everard entered the library, where he narrowly missed surprising our young hero as he went through the guards of the broadsword with the ancient weapon of old Sir Hildebrand”

  On that notable Sunday evening, Sir Everard almost caught Edward practicing sword drills with the old family broadsword.

  Sets the scene for Edward's departure and his connection to family martial traditions.

• “The good man’s exhortations to Edward to preserve an unblemished life and morals, to hold fast the principles of the Christian religion, and to eschew the profane company of scoffers and latitudinarians, too much abounding in the army, were not unmingled with his political prejudices.”

  Mr. Pembroke's farewell advice to Edward combined moral and religious warnings with his own political biases.

  Highlights the intertwining of personal morality and political ideology in the tutor's farewell.

• “He had at one time gone to London, with the intention of giving them to the world, by the medium of a bookseller in Little Britain, well known to deal in such commodities, and to whom he was instructed to address himself in a particular phrase and with a certain sign, which, it seems, passed at that time current among the initiated Jacobites.”

  Mr. Pembroke once traveled to London to publish his manuscripts through a bookseller who used secret signs known to Jacobites.

  Reveals the covert Jacobite network and Mr. Pembroke's failed literary ambitions.

• “The gentleman to whom this enormous greeting was addressed, of whom we shall have more to say in the sequel, had been in arms for the exiled family of Stuart in the year 1715, and was made prisoner at Preston in Lancashire.”

  The recipient of Sir Everard's letter, the Baron of Bradwardine, had fought for the Stuart cause in 1715 and was captured at Preston.

  Introduces the Baron's Jacobite past and sets up his character for future chapters.