"I hold a dream, an' there's no compromisin'. I know there's one certain laddie for me. One day he'll come walkin' o'er the horizon. But should he not, then an old maid I'll be. Foolish, ye may say. Foolish, I will stay. Waitin' for my dearie, an' happy am I to hold my heart till he comes strollin' by. When he comes, my dearie, one look an' I'll know that he's the dearie, I've been wantin' so." (Alan J. Lerner, Fredrick Loewe, 1947)

As we open the Guidebook to Brigadoon, we encounter our next empowered woman ~~ Fiona Campbell.

Welcome to The March 2022 Edition ~~ A Woman of Substance

Fiona  Campbell is a woman of substance and should be admired for her strength of conviction. Yet, of all the guidebook's empowered women, she is perhaps the one that yearns the most for love and waits for it the longest.

She is not a woman with a career or other suitors to take her mind away from her heart's desire. Instead, she is the one who consoles  Harry Beaton as he curses the loss of Fiona's sister Jean to Charlie. She watches Jean find true love while she waits for her "dearie" and accepts that her consolation may be spinsterhood because she refuses to settle for just any man.

Meanwhile, Tommie Albright is a man who refuses to settle for just any woman. ("Something seems wrong. Especially about Jane and me, and that makes everything seem wrong.”)

Unsettled, Tommie and his friend Jeff travel to Scotland searching for rest and grouse. While walking in the highlands "o'er the horizon," they encounter  Brigadoon, an idyllic village under a magic spell. A spell that is born from a simple greeting  ("good day") and the offer of a warm hand that leads Tommie through the village toward the unknown.

As they spend a day "walkin' together, out beyond the valley of trees. Out where there's a hillside of heather, curtseyin' gently in the breeze," Fiona becomes the center of Tommie's world. ("What a day this has been! It's almost like bein' in love!"), and Fiona has found her "dearie."  

The love she feels for Tommie fills her with hope as she takes him to Mr. Lundie. With the decision to stay in Brigadoon ("I believe in her! I believe in this place! I can't leave."), Tommie has accepted Fiona's way of life as his own. Fiona believes she has not only found her dearie but the partner that will help her build her happy life.

However, her hope and optimism are short-lived. Following a conversation with best friend  Jeff ("I don't know what goes on around here, but it's got nothing to do with me or you!  You want to give up your family, your friends, your whole life for this!") Tommie's resolve is shaken. ("I'm sorry, Fiona, to stay, I had to have no fears, no doubts.”) These doubts compel him to leave.

Fiona's response is a testament to her strength, devotion, and power. ("I'll be less lonely now. Real loneliness is not being in love in vain, but not being in love at all.”)  Her love will sustain her.

When Tommie returns to his old life in the Manhatten Madness, he returns to Jane. But, during a  conversation in a noisy, smoke-filled bar, Tommie hears Fiona's voice as Jane discusses wedding plans. At that moment, he realizes what is "wrong" with Jane is she is not Fiona. The power of this realization and Fiona's voice strengthens Tommie's connection and conviction to the love he feels for Fiona. It is this conviction ("I know it's not there! I need to see where it was!"), that brings him back to the Highlands and forces him to face his loneliness. ("Why do you have to lose things to find out what they really mean?") He owns his loneliness, watches as a new world awakens, and runs to it with open arms.

I hope all of you have the opportunity to experience a love that sustains you with a substantive partner. 

Thanks For Looking In!

~~Lori