the present day, although it has never, in spite of the Scottish origin
of the libretto, won in this country a tithe of the popularity which it
enjoys in France. The story is a combination of incidents taken from
Scott's 'Monastery' and 'Guy Mannering.' The Laird of Avenel, who was
obliged to fly from Scotland after the battle of Culloden, entrusted his
estates to his steward Gaveston. Many years having passed without
tidings of the absentee, Gaveston determines to put the castle and lands
up for sale. He has sedulously fostered a tradition which is current
among the villagers, that the castle is haunted by a White Lady, hoping
by this means to deter any of the neighbouring farmers from competing
with him for the estate. The day before the sale takes place, Dickson,
one of the farmers, is summoned to the castle by Anna, an orphan girl
who had been befriended by the Laird. Dickson is too superstitious to
venture, but his place is taken by George Brown, a young soldier, who
arrived at the village that day. George has an interview with the White
Lady, who is of course Anna in disguise. She recognises George as the
man whose life she saved after a battle, and knowing him to be the
rightful heir of Avenel, promises to help him in recovering his
property. She has discovered that treasure is concealed in a statue of
the White Lady, and with this she empowers George to buy back his
ancestral lands and castle. Gaveston is outbidden at the sale, and
George weds Anna. Boieldieu's music has much melodic beauty, though its
tenderness is apt to degenerate into sentimentality. In its original
form the opera would nowadays be unbearably tiresome, and only a
judicious shortening of the interminable duets and trios can make them
tolerable to a modern audience. In spite of much that is conventional
and old-fashioned, the alternate vigour and grace of 'La Dame Blanche'
and the genuine musical interest of the score make it the most
favourable specimen of this period of French opera comique. It is the
last offspring of the older school. After Boieldieu's time the influence
of Rossini became paramount, and opera comique, unable to resist a spell
so formidable, began to lose its distinctively national characteristics.

CHAPTER VI

WEBER AND THE ROMANTIC SCHOOL

WEBER--SPOHR--MARSCHNER--KREUTZER--LORTZING--
NICOLAI--FLOTOW--MENDELSSOHN--SCHUBERT--SCHUMANN

Although, for the sake of convenience, it is customary to speak of Weber