After Scott had left for the Mediterranean on 29 October, Cadell and Lockhart radically revised his text without any further authorial input, completing the work in mid-November.

[4] Lady Augusta has promised to marry Sir John de Walton provided that he can maintain possession of the castle he has captured for a year and a day.

The story had already been told in brief in his essay on 'Chivalry' for the Encyclopaedia Britannica in 1818, and in spite his failing health and a recent decline in popularity due to his politics, Scott made an effort to visit the area to collect information and adjust descriptions.

Pained by James Ballantyne's criticisms of Count Robert of Paris, and by his unexpected disagreement on the subject of the recent Reform Bill, Scott did not discuss the book with him.

Anxious to curtail this period, she determines to make her way thither, accompanied by her father's minstrel, Bertram, disguised as his son, and they are within three miles of their destination, when fatigue compels them to seek shelter at Tom Dickson's farm.

As they proceed together towards the castle, the minstrel entertains the young knight with some curious legends respecting it, including the supernatural preservation of an ancient lay relating to the house of Douglas, and the future fate of the British kingdom generally.

De Valance would pass the stranger into the stronghold as a visitor at once; but the old archer Gilbert Greenleaf detains him in the guard room until the arrival of the governor, who, in the hearing of Fabian, Sir Aymer's squire, expresses his disapproval of his deputy's imprudence, and thus the seeds of disagreement are sown between them.

Sir John, however, wishes to be indulgent to his young officers, and accordingly arranges a hunting party, in which the Scottish vassals in the neighbourhood are invited to join; but, at the mid-day repast, a forester named Turnbull behaves so rudely to the governor that he orders him to be secured, when he suddenly plunges into a ravine and disappears.

He then opposes the governor's wish that the minstrel should terminate his visit, which induces Sir John to threaten Bertram with torture unless he instantly reveals his purpose in coming to the castle.

The minstrel declines to do so without his son's permission; and, the Abbot having pleaded for delay on account of the boy's delicate health, Sir Aymer is ordered to meet a detachment at an outpost, and then to bring him to the castle to be examined.

During the night, Sister Ursula, who has hidden in the room, elicits Lady Augusta's secret, which she has already guessed, and, having narrated the circumstances under which she had entered the convent without taking the vows, they escape through a concealed postern and find a guide waiting for them with horses.

A scroll which his lady-love had left behind her explains matters to Sir John, who, in his despair, is comforted by the sympathy of his lieutenant; and the faithful minstrel, having been admitted to their confidence, steps are at once taken to track the fugitives.

But Sir James is at hand, and the two knights fight until summoned by the church bells to Palm Sunday service, at which the old bishop officiates in the presence of an excited assemblage of armed English and Scotch warriors eager to attack each other.

He and his troops, however, are allowed to retire with their arms, Sir James Douglas having chivalrously transferred his claim upon her lover to the Lady Augusta of Berkeley, who, in return for his courtesy, decorates the brave Scotchman with a chain of brilliants which were won in battle by her ancestor.

5: Bertram tells Aymer of his desire to discover a manuscript produced by Thomas the Rhymer, encountered in the spirit by the minstrel Hugo Hugonet.

Aymer admits Bertram into Douglas Castle in spite of the misgivings of Gilbert Greenleaf, but he begins to have doubts and says that the approval of Sir John de Walton will be required.

Bertram has found fragments of the Rhymer's manuscript: Walton questions him, without torture, and allows him to write to Augustine for permission to divulge the purpose of their visit.

He seeks out the sexton Lazarus Powheid, who maintains that the spirits of the old Douglasses cannot rest in peace following the dishonouring of their monuments and the downfall of their house.

10: After Aymer has had discussions with Abbot Jerome and Augustine, the young man is guarded in preparation for his removal to the castle, but in the morning his room is discovered to be empty.

7 (18): Bertram expounds the Rhymer's prophecies to Greenleaf, and they agree to seek out the portentous location known as Bloody Sykes referred to by Thomas as having particular significance for the relationship between Douglas and the English.

[7] The knowledge that the fourth series of Tales of my Landlord was probably Scott's last publication may well have played a part in the favourable reception, and there was not much detailed criticism of the volumes, with Castle Dangerous sometimes largely or entirely passed over; but there was substantial praise for the characterisation, the local description, and the dramatic story.

As for the dissenters, the Literary Test found the story more interesting than in Count Robert but was put off by the mystery and superstition, and the Monthly Review was unable to finish a work which read like a feeble and awkward imitation of the master.