The Perilous Gard

The Perilous Gard Elizabeth Marie Pope
c. 1974 * p. 280 * YA Fantasy

The Perilous Gard is set in 1558 Elizabethan England. The author, Pope, studies Celtic and English traditions/legends/myths/folklore/ballads, and has weaved a delicious and myserious plot around the Celtic ballad "Tam Lin."

Kate Sutton and her sister, Alicia, are ladies in waiting to the Lady Elizabeth. The dramatic and ridiculous Alicia sends a complaint letter to the Queen Mary, and Kate is blamed for her sister's impertinence. You get the feeling that Kate is constantly being blamed for Alicia's blunders, because Kate takes it graciously and seems happy to get away from her. Kate's punishment is that she is exiled to the Perilous Gard, an antiquated Tudor castle far away owned by Sir Geoffrey Heron. Sir Geoffery is kind but must follow the Queen's orders to keep Kate almost on house arrest. She is not allowed to keep company and must stick to the castle grounds and the nearby adjoining village.

One morning Kate walks to the village. She plays with a littlle boy who has fallen next to her:

"There you're not hurt, " she said quickly. "Don't be afraid; it's only--" and suddenly realized that something was wrong. A redheaded woman drawing water at the well had straightened up and was staring at her. Everybody was staring. . . .

Kate stared back at them in bewilderment. The village was so far off the beaten road that she would not have been suprised to find the people shy of outsiders--silent, awkward, suspicious even--but she was entirely unprepared for the sort of fear and hatred that had swept over their faces when they saw her with the little boy. . . .

The next instant there was nobody left on the path except Kate herself and the priest, still standing his ground by the church porch. He was an old man, with a careworn, gentle look; but he held himself very straight, and his faded blue eyes met hers sternly, full of repudiation and horror. Then he raised his hand and made the sign of the cross on the air between them" (45).

Kate later meets the "redheaded woman" again, and learns that the village people believe the castle occupants are evil and in cahoots with the Fairy Folk: a group of magical pagan/heathens who live in the Hill by the castle and snatch little children for their human sacrifices. Kate does not pay attention to the superstitious gossip until she finds out that Sir Geoffery's daughter Cecily is missing. Geoffery thinks Cecily is dead because his brother Christopher did not watch her carefully and she fell into the Holy Well.

Christopher blames himself as well for Cecily's "death" and does not believe the tales about the Fairy Folk. But one day Kate and Christopher meet a loony minstrel who claims to have been taken by the Fairy Folk occasionally to play music for them. He shows them a tiny shoe he found while there. It is Cecily's shoe! Christopher runs off for the Holy Well planning to find and convince the Fairy Folk to let Cecily go and take him instead for the human sacrifice on All Hallow's Eve.

I loved this book. Pope does a wonderful job of producing an ancient aura to surround the legend. The book is classified as a fantasy but seems more suspenseful and mysterious than a typical fantasy. It is a perfect fantasy book for readers who do not particularly care for the genre and want something more serious.

-Completely appropriate for all readers

-Reading level: ages 14 & up (some diffiuclt vocab and style)

-Appeals to both young men and women

-Themes of self-confidence, bravery, determination & references to Christianity and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.