Book excerpt: First published in 1822, The Entail is Galt's most ambitious novel. It is a horrifying study of obsession in which a Glasgow merchant victimizes his family members one by one. "No doubt, Laird", replied Claud, "but it's a comfort to hae a frugal woman for a helpmate; but ye ken now-a-days it's no the fashion for bare legs to come thegither. The wife maun hae something to put in the pot as well as the man. And, although Miss Girzy may na be a'thegither objectionable, yet it would still be a pleasant thing baith to hersel and the man that gets her, an ye would just gie a bit inkling o what she'll hae."