Though Hester Raymount’s single musical performance was on a different scale from those of the MacDonald family, the theme of “musical ministry” to the poor, elderly, and suffering that infuses Weighed and Wanting surely grew out of the experiences of the MacDonald family.

(The shared musical bent of Hester and Mary Marston, the two leading women whose books came almost in succession, is noteworthy. Nor can we help observing the oddly parallel names of Hester Raymount and Hester Redmain, though the two women could not have been more different. Indeed, MacDonald’s penchant for repeating names is more than a little puzzling. These two similarly-named women coming in back-to-back years is certainly perplexing.)

These two novels offer fit opportunity to reflect on the MacDonald family’s musical and dramatic productions—especially their performances of Pilgrim’s Progress—spearheaded of course by Louisa and her music talents.

Louisa and her daughters had always had a flair for drama and music. Though the worldly atmosphere of the theater was off limits, the MacDonald’s oldest daughter Lilia was, by all accounts, a talented actress. With Louisa’s organizational skills, the MacDonald girls began performing for family and friends after moving to The Retreat in the late 1860s.

Looking back to those first productions, William Raeper, quoting occasionally from Greville, explains:

“Visitors came in abundance…Whatever the food was like, there was no doubt that the main attraction of the day was the play…

“‘The coachhouse was converted into a theatre with a gas-lit stage…There we acted our plays; and friends came from afar, if only to see Lilia Scott MacDonald play Lady Macbeth to her father in the title role…’⁵

“The first of all these entertainments, with its performance of Beauty and the Beast, was so chaotic, that poor Ruskin went home without having had anything proper to eat.

“As the children grew more proficient in music, they would travel out to perform for Octavia Hill’s tenants in a decorated entertainment room…Here her children would act or sing, Grace would play Beethoven on her piano, and Greville would scratch on his violin. Their specialty was Carols at Christmas time, punctuated by MacDonald’s dramatic renderings of specially composed nativity verses…Lilia was generally the star of the show.” ⁶

The family’s musical and dramatic presentations expanded, gradually involving everyone and becoming more sophisticated, with sets and costumes, as the children grew into their teen years. Eventually the repertoire settled most regularly on the dramatic presentation of Pilgrim’s Progress. By the late 1870s, all the girls then in their twenties, the productions under Louisa’s directorship had become lavish indeed, complete with George doing his part outfitted as Mr. Greatheart.

With the transition to Italy between 1878 and 1880, the MacDonald family productions continued at an even higher and more elaborate level. By then Greville was on his own living in England, but most of the others were still involved. Louisa often made arrangements for the family to accompany their own Mr. Greatheart during the summer months to England and Scotland, playing Pilgrim’s Progress in conjunction with MacDonald’s speaking schedule. *