# Desolation explained — Waverley

> Chapter companion for Waverley by Walter Scott.

## What happens

Waverley travels to Scotland after the Battle of Culloden, learning of the defeat and the fates of his friends. He visits his former landlady Mrs. Flockhart, who tells him Fergus MacIvor is captured and to be tried, and that Flora has gone to Carlisle. Waverley proceeds to Tully-Veolan, finding it desolate and ruined. He encounters Davie Gellatley, who leads him to a hut where he hears a voice inside.

## Themes in this chapter

### Change and Transition

Waverley reflects on how his character has been transformed by danger and misfortune, becoming 'a sadder and a wiser man' as he confronts the desolation of Tully-Veolan.

### Loyalty and Allegiance

Mrs. Flockhart's loyalty to Fergus MacIvor is shown by her preservation of his bonnet and her refusal to remove it, despite being called a Jacobite by neighbors.

### Social Class and Hierarchy

The devastation of the Jacobite gentry is evident in the deserted and dismantled houses of those attached to the Stuart cause, contrasting with their former status.

## Character check-ins

### Edward Waverley

Travels to Scotland after Culloden, learns of the defeat and the fates of his friends, and proceeds to Tully-Veolan.

### Fergus MacIvor

Reported captured and to be tried; his bonnet remains in Mrs. Flockhart's house.

### Flora MacIvor

Has gone to Carlisle to be near her brother Fergus during his trial.

### Rose Bradwardine

Went north to her father's in Perthshire after the government troops returned to Edinburgh.

### Baron of Bradwardine

Fought at the Battle of Inverness; his fate is unknown, but he is said to be in trouble with the government.

### Davie Gellatley

Found at Tully-Veolan, now ragged and half-starved; he leads Waverley to a hut.

### Evan Dhu Maccombich

Captured along with Fergus MacIvor and to be tried.

### Callum Beg

Reported killed in the same night as Waverley was thought to have been killed.

## Key lines

> Danger and misfortune are rapid, though severe teachers.

Experiencing danger and hardship quickly teaches important lessons, even if the process is harsh.

_Reflects Waverley's personal growth through the trials of the Jacobite campaign._

> A sadder and a wiser man, he felt in internal confidence and mental dignity a compensation for the gay dreams which in his case experience had so rapidly dissolved.

Though saddened and more serious, Waverley finds inner strength and self-respect that make up for the youthful illusions that his experiences have shattered.

_Highlights Waverley's maturation and the theme of change and transition._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/waverley_se/chapters/part-ii-xxxiv-desolation
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/waverley_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/waverley_se/chapters