The Maid Of Sker

Who is Bardie? Her refined clothes show that she is not an ordinary girl. But why did she have to be saved from the sea by a fisherman? This story is through the eyes of the fisherman, who followed Bardie throughout her childhood and attempted to discover her roots.

Note: This text, published more than 150 years ago, contains race-related words and descriptions, which listeners may find offensive.


By : Richard Doddridge Blackmore (1825 - 1900)

01 - Fisherman Davy A Fish Out Of Water



02 - Hunger Drives Him A-fishing



03 - The Fish Are As Hungry As He Is



04 - He Lands An Unexpected Fish



05 - A Little Orphan Mermaid



06 - Finds A Home Of Some Sort



07 - Boat Versus Bardie



08 - Children Will Be Children



09 - Sandhills Turned To Sand-holes



10 - Under The Rock



11 - A Wrecker Wrecked



12 - How To Sell Fish



13 - The Coroner And The Coronet



14 - In Accordance With The Evidence



15 - A Verdict On The Jury



16 - Truth Lies Sometimes In A Well



17 - For A Little Change Of Air



18 - Public Approbation



19 - A Craft Beyond The Law



20 - Confidential Intercourse



21 - Cross-examination



22 - Another Disappointment



23 - Into Good Society



24 - Sound Investments



25 - A Long Good-bye



26 - Braunton Burrows



27 - A Fine Spectacle



28 - Something About Him



29 - A Visit To A Parson



30 - On Duty



31 - Two Lovers



32 - Among The Savages



33 - In A State Of Nature



34 - Waiting And Learning



35 - The Polite Ferryman



36 - Under Fairer Auspices



37 - Two Poor Children



38 - A Fine Old Gentleman



39 - Notice To Quit



40 - Forcible Ejectment



41 - The Right Man In The Right Place



42 - The Little Maid And The Midshipman



43 - A Fine Price For Bardie



44 - Provides For Education



45 - Introduces A Real Hero



46 - After Seven Years



47 - Mischief In A Household



48 - A Breathless Disinterment



49 - One Who Has Interred Himself



50 - A Brave Man Runs Away



51 - Triple Education



52 - Great March Of Intellect



53 - Beating Up For The Navy



54 - Taming Of The Savages



55 - Upon Foreign Service



56 - Exiles Of Society



57 - Many Weak Moments



58 - More Haste, Less Speed



59 - In A Rocky Bower



60 - Nelson And The Nile



61 - A Savage Deed



62 - A Rash Young Captain



63 - Polly At Home



64 - Susan Quite Acquits Herself



65 - So Does Poor Old Davy



66 - The Maid At Last Is Dentified



67 - Dog Eats Dog



68 - The Old Pitcher At The Well Again


The Maid of Sker is set at the end of the 18th century; the story is told by Davy Llewellyn, an elderly fisherman, and is about a two-year-old girl who in a calm before a storm, drifts in a boat onto a beach in Glamorganshire. The little girl calls herself Bardie. Davy is tempted to keep the girl but decides to give her up and keep the boat for himself. He quarters the pretty child in a simple but wealthy household in his neighbourhood. As Bardie grows up, Davy dotes upon her, watching anxiously over her fortunes, partly or principally because he thinks his own fortune may be bound up with hers. It is clear from the refinement of the girl's manners and from the quality of the clothes she was washed ashore in that she is no common child.

Davy joins the crew of a ketch that trades between Porthcawl and Barnstaple, Devon. Whilst in Devon, he encounters several characters who hold the key to solving the mystery of Bardie's origins. These include Sir Philip Bampfylde, who spends most of his time looking for his two grandchildren who have mysteriously disappeared; Parson Chowne, a wicked, demonic and crafty parson who defies the law for many years in the north of Devon; and Captain Drake Bamfylde, who is under suspicion of having abducted his elder brother Philip's children and heirs to the family property. Davy gradually unravels the mystery and sets matters right, although many distractions, including an extended period at sea in which Blackmore gives a graphic account of the Battle of the Nile, delay him.

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