David Vedder

Scottish poet David Vedder (1790-1854) presents his version of the Reynard story in this retelling, based largely upon Hartmann Schopperus' Latin edition, first translated into English in 1706. The many misdeeds of the famous fox - his quarrels with and mistreatment of his fellow animals, his defenses against charges brought against him at the court of the lion king - are chronicled here. The final chapter is Vedder's own original creation, and follows events subsequent to Reynard's traditional triumph. In this telling, the fox becomes all powerful at court, and soon falls into his old bad habits, leading to epic levels of corruption and chaos. Eventually he is chased off, and goes into exile as an outlaw and vagabond...

Published in 1852, The Story of Reynard the Fox: A New Version is an interesting addition to the body of Reynard stories in English. It is clearly intended for children. In the preface, the author writes of the importance of entertaining stories, as a means to "allure the juvenile mind into the path which leads to more important studies - to produce habits of reading and reflection, and thus, by imperceptible gradations, to imbue the youthful enquirer with a love of letters." This formulation struck me most strongly, as it mirrors arguments I have seen put forward by contemporary scholars in the field of children's literature studies, about the importance of more formulaic series fiction in aiding developing readers in acquiring skills. I was also struck, of course, by the alternate ending, which is only the second I encountered in my research, after Felix Summerly's 1843 The Pleasant History of Reynard the Fox. Told by the Pictures of Aldert Van Everdingen (in which Reynard was killed), that didn't follow the traditional story, with the triumphant conclusion for the fox. Finally, I was also struck by the many quotations from Scottish and English literature and song, in the captions beneath many of the illustrations from Gustav Canton. These included snippets from The Ballad of Johnie Armstrong (see: The Oxford Book of Ballads), The Tod (see: Montgomerie's Scottish Nursery Rhymes, Oft, in the Stilly Night (see: The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore), Matthew Prior's The Thief and Cordelier: A Ballad, Butler's Hudibras, Byron's The Eve of Waterloo, Goldsmith's The Hermit, Hogg's Glen-Avin: The Ninth Bard's Song, Scottish ballad The Battle of Otterburn, Morrell's libretto for Handel's Judas Maccabaeus, and Shakepeare's Richard III. The effect of these quotations was to make this Reynard feel more like a hybrid British production, rather than simply a translation of the Schopperus.

All in all, an engaging retelling, one I would recommend to fans of Reynard stories, and to admirers of the artwork of Gustav Canton, who contributed the illustrations.… (meer)