Thomas Leland’s Longsword, Earl of Salisbury (1762) is largely forgotten today, but every once in a while, some scholar mentions it as the first historical and/or first Gothic novel. Usually, Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto (1764) is considered the first Gothic novel, but I feel the accolades really do belong to Leland and it is plausible Longsword even influenced Walpole’s work. In this essay, I will discuss its role both as historical and Gothic novel.
Thomas Leland (1722-1785) was an Irish Anglican priest who wrote several books of history, but Longsword is his only novel. It appears to have been popular in its own day, which is why it is possible it influenced Walpole and perhaps other writers of Gothic and historical fiction, although little direct evidence exists of its influence. In 1767, it was turned into a tragic play, The Countess of Salisbury, and performed in London. The novel was republished in England in 1775 and in Ireland in 1790 (Power, “Thomas Leland,” 17-18). The only literary reference to the novel, however, appears to be in Clara Reeve’s Progress of Romance in 1785. She refers to it as “a hodgepodge of gloom and tinsel” (Phelps 83-4). It is notable that Reeve read Longsword since she is the author of another early Gothic novel, The Old English Baron (1777). Although the novel fell into obscurity after that, literary critics never quite forgot it. William Phelps calls it the first historical novel in The Advance of the English Novel in 1922 (82-3). Montague Summers referenced it in The Gothic Quest in 1938 as an important example of historical gothic. It was republished in the twentieth century with editions in 1957 and 1974 before the current 2012 edition by Swan Press to celebrate its 250th anniversary (Power, “Thomas Leland,” 17-18).
Upon reading the novel, I was surprised by just how historical and Gothic Longsword is. Even the title character is a historical person. William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (circa 1167–1226), was not only a real person, but one of my ancestors. Leland states that Longsword, predominantly called Salisbury in the novel, is an illegitimate son of King Henry II and his mistress, Rosamund. In truth, Rosamund and Henry II had no children, and only in the twentieth century was it made known that Longsword’s mother was Henry II’s mistress Ida de Tosney (Wikipedia). Regardless, Salisbury was the half-brother of King Richard I and King John. The novel takes place during the reign of Henry III (r. 1216-1272), Salisbury’s nephew. The plot refers to several other historical people, including the king and the villain Hubert, who was the king’s advisor.
Rarely do early historical novels have a historical person for their main character, which helps make Longsword all the more remarkable. Usually, the main character is fictional while historical people make cameo appearances. This is true in novels like Sophia Lee’s The Recess (1783), which creates two fictional daughters for Mary, Queen of Scots, as main characters, and also true in all of Sir Walter Scott’s novels. Only a handful of historical novels through the early Victorian period have a historical personage as the main character, such as Mary Shelley’s Perkin Warbeck (1830), Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s Harold, Last of the Saxons (1848), or Charles Kingsley’s Hypatia (1853), so Leland was clearly decades before his time.
The story begins when Salisbury, disguised as a palmer, arrives on the coast of Cornwall. He is greeted by his friend and former soldier, Randolph. Salisbury tells Randolph how he and his English comrades were shipwrecked on the Isle of Rhè, owned by the French lord Count Savourè de Mal-leon. Salisbury meets another Frenchman, Les Roches, who should be his enemy, but he spared his life once in the past so Les Roches helps to hide Salisbury. Through a series of events, Les Roches becomes captured by Mal-leon. Salisbury also becomes a captive but escapes and then helps Les Roches’ daughter, Jacqueline, to escape. They head for England with the intent to return to save Les Roches. Once Salisbury concludes his story, Randolph shares with him recent developments.
Salisbury has been believed dead. Consequently, Hubert, the king’s counselor, has sent his nephew Raymond to possess Salisbury’s castle and marry his wife, Ela, the countess. Salisbury is now determined to head home and set matters to right, unaware of all the developments in his absence.
Meanwhile, Raymond tries to force Ela into marriage. He even threatens to take her son, young William, from her. He has an evil counselor, Grey, who has an even more evil brother, a monk named Reginhald. These evil brothers do most of the plotting, including kidnapping young William and planning to murder him. When Salisbury finally shows up at his home and it’s learned he’s not dead, Reginhald tries to poison him but fails.
In the end, all is mostly righted. Reginhald and Grey are both hung for their crimes. Raymond, in guilt, falls on his sword. Salisbury is restored to his family and his rights. Les Roches escapes France and is reunited with his daughter Jacqueline. She also ends up marrying the son of another French lord who had persecuted them but whom she loves. The only unhappy aspect of the conclusion is that Ela has been nearly driven mad by Raymond’s persecution and her fears that her husband is dead and her son murdered. We are told she recovers, but one wonders if she can ever fully recover from the trauma.
According to Albert Power, who wrote the introduction to the 250th anniversary edition, the novel is very historical. Salisbury really was shipwrecked on Rhè and did have to fight to regain his rights. Salisbury died not long after his escape from Rhè, and a rumor existed that Hubert poisoned him. The novel is very close to the historical facts, although the most interesting characters, Grey and Reginhald, appear to be fictional.
But is Longsword a Gothic novel? I would have to say the evidence is in its favor. So many Gothic elements appear in Longsword. First we have male imprisonment, which happens in many later novels like Mrs. Radcliffe’s The Italian (1797) and Charles Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer (1820). Next, we have crossdressing (Jacqueline cross-dresses to escape), which happens in many later novels like Jane Porter’s The Scottish Chiefs (1809) and George W. M. Reynolds’ The Mysteries of London (1844). Female imprisonment and abduction are also present in the mistreatment of Ela, Countess of Salisbury, elements common in countless Gothic novels including Mrs. Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794).
Most notable and surprising, however, is the presence of the evil monk Reginhald. He is a forerunner to Matthew Lewis’ Ambrose in The Monk (1796) and the evil monk Schedoni in The Italian (1797). Ambrose is full of sexual lust. Schedoni nearly murders his illegitimate daughter. Reginhald, however, surpasses both, being full of both lust and murder. Because of his social connections, the other monks at his monastery overlook some of his wild behavior, which includes sexual licentiousness. He also tries to poison Salisbury, and to murder Salisbury’s son. Reginhald is definitely the most interesting and Gothic character in the novel.
Another Gothic element is the use of the story-within-a-story device that the Gothic adopted from The Arabian Nights’ Entertainment, which had first been translated into English in 1706-21. Gothic novels typically have the found manuscript device in which the characters find a manuscript that tells a character’s story in first person. This device allows for multiple narrators and points of view. Leland’s novel is similar yet differs in this respect since there are four stories within the main story, but they are all stories told by other characters about their lives or events that happened to them to fill in the backstory or catch characters up on what has been happening while they have been separated. There is no found manuscript, nor any pretense that the novel itself is a found manuscript like Walpole initially claimed of The Castle of Otranto.
The least relevant of the stories within the main story to the plot is that of Elinor, a servant to Countess Ela. However, Elinor’s story is notable as a Gothic tale since it includes a story of rape—more violence against women—and also a tale of a son who unknowingly kills his father because both are wearing armor and can’t recognize each other. Parricide is a theme in several Gothic novels, including The Parricide (1846) by George W. M. Reynolds. In that novel, the killing of the father is also done unknowingly.
Murder plots, duels (sword play), a medieval setting, pirates, and gloomy castles all finish the list of Gothic elements. The only thing missing is a ghost, whether real or imagined. Indeed, there is not a single supernatural element in the novel, which is the only reason some may hesitate to define it as a Gothic novel. However, I would argue that the supernatural, for all its predominance in Gothic fiction, is not what makes a Gothic novel. I think the primary element is that of fear, whether it may appear as terror or horror. The characters have plenty to fear in Longsword, whether it be Salisbury overhearing people plotting to murder him while he’s in hiding or the Countess fearing for her husband and son’s lives.
Also noteworthy is that Longsword is also sincere in its tone, unlike Walpole’s novel, which comes off as almost comical, satirical, and bordering on ridiculous—giant helmets do not fall from the sky. While no one can deny Walpole was highly influential in the development of the Gothic novel, I will contest that he did not begin it. I feel it is time Leland take his rightful place as the father of the Gothic and historical novel, even if he did not set out to create the former. I hope further research into Longsword will better reveal its influence upon later Gothic works. Anyone interested in the development of the novel will find Longsword a seminal text.
Sources
Leland, Thomas. Longsword. 1762. Dublin, Ireland: Swan River Press, 2012.
Phelps, William Lyon. The Advance of the English Novel. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1922.
Power, Albert. “Introduction.” Longsword. 1762. Dublin, Ireland: Swan River Press, 2022. vii.-xv.
Power, Albert. “Thomas Leland.” The Green Book: Writings on Irish Gothic, Supernatural and Fantastic Literature. 13 (2019): 14-20.
Wikipedia. “William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Longesp%C3%A9e,_3rd_Earl_of_Salisbury. Accessed March 16, 2024.
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Tyler Tichelaar, PhD, is the author of The Gothic Wanderer: From Transgression to Redemption, Vampire Grooms and Spectre Brides: The Marriage of French and British Gothic Literature, King Arthur’s Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition, Haunted Marquette: Ghost Stories from the Queen City, and many other fiction and nonfiction titles. Visit Tyler at www.GothicWanderer.com, www.ChildrenofArthur.com, and www.MarquetteFiction.com.
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