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.