The Monastery

The story revolves around the abbey of Kennaquhair, which Scott based on Melrose Abbey in the Scottish borders. As the Reformation takes hold, the monastic community comes increasingly under threat from the new doctrines. The hero, Halbert Glendinning is the son of a soldier who has died fighting for the monastery. He and his brother Edward are brought up within the grounds of Kennaquhair along with the orphan Mary Avenel, who has been cheated out of her inheritance by her uncle Julian, a ruthless Border baron. Both brothers are in love with Mary, but it is Halbert that wins her favour. An English knight Sir Piercie Shafton flees the court of Queen Elizabeth, having being implicated in a Catholic plot, and takes refuges in the monastery.