In starting The Three Perils of Man Hogg embarked on an ambitious project of emulating and perhaps surpassing his friend and rival Walter Scott in Scott's own chosen literary territory, chivalry and the Borders. Originally envisaged as a two volume 'Border Romance', entitled The Perilous Castle and centred around Roxburgh Castle, it expanded to include events at Roxburgh Castle, home of the legendary wizard Michael Scott, leading eventually to the adoption of the title The Three Perils of Man: War, Women, and Witchcraft. Hogg offers a devastating critique of chivalry and combines it with a study of the supernatural, an area in which he had been steeped from his childhood, and which produces some of his finest writing, including a magnificent portrait of the Devil disguised as an abbot. A host of other characters led by the lovable Charlie Scott of Yardbire provide us with a vision of everyday Borders life and values to set against the more fantastic worlds of chivalry and wizardry. Included in the novel is a story-telling contest which features some of Hogg's most powerful short stories.
This edition is based on the first edition of 1822 but draws on the newly available manuscript in the Fales Library of New York University to provide a number of new readings, including the restoration of Hogg's original audacious choice of the name Sir Walter Scott for a key character. It includes an introduction describing the genesis, composition, publication and subsequent revision of the novel, a historical and geographical note, full explanatory notes and a glossary. It also contains a comprehensive essay on the manuscript by Gillian Hughes.