Brigadoon Story Guide
On an early morning in May, in a forest in the Highlands of Scotland, Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas, two Americans on a hunting holiday, are lost. Despite the fact that there is no town shown on their map, one suddenly appears out of the Highland mist. Being hungry and tired, they decide to explore the town in search of food and rest.
Jeff is well attended to by Meg Brockie while Tommy makes friends with Fiona MacKeith who is shopping in preparation for her sister Jean's wedding to Charlie Dalrymple.
Meg takes Jeff into the forest to an open shed where Jeff hopes to get some rest - if Meg will let him.
Jean MacKeith packs her belongings with help from the girls in the village while trying to avoid been seen by Charlie before the wedding.
Harry Ritchie also had desires on Jean and feels that he will never be able to make anything of himself without her as his bride.
Tommy and Jeff meet up again later, in the village and compare their days' experiences. Tommy looks at the MacKeith family Bible and is perplexed by the names and dates that he reads there. He quizzes Fiona for an explanation and she finally agrees to take both him and Jeff to see Mr Murdoch, the Dominie, who will be able to tell them the story of Brigadoon.
Mr Murdoch explains what happened to Brigadoon two hundred years ago when, out of concern for the souls of the people of his parish, Mr Forsythe, the minister, prayed to God for a miracle that would make Brigadoon and all the people in it vanish into the Highland mist. Vanish but not forever. It would all return just as it was for one day every hundred years.
In this way the people would not be in any century long enough to be touched by any evils that might come to Brigadoon from the outside world.
Tommy decides to stick around for the wedding celebration and to see if the place evaporates like Mr Murdoch says. But Harry, who cannot come to terms with Jean marrying Charlie, exclaims he is leaving Brigadoon, which will end the enchantment for all. And Brigadoon will disappear forever.
A desperate chase ensues through the forest by the men of the village trying to stop Harry from leaving Brigadoon but as they catch up with him, Harry trips and falls, fatally striking his head on a rock.
Not wishing to upset the wedding celebrations, the men decide not to tell of Harry's death until the next day.
Tommy starts to realise that he is falling for Fiona and wants to stay with her in Brigadoon.
The wedding celebration is interrupted by the sound of bagpipes playing a lament and Donald Ritchie entering with his dead son Harry. All join the funeral procession.
Having talked with Jeff, Tommy realises that he is not certain about staying so he tells Fiona he must leave. They part as Fiona and Brigadoon vanish into the mist.
Four months later Tommy meets up with Jeff in a New York City bar. Tommy is there to finalise wedding arrangements with his fiancée, Jane Ashton. Tommy's thoughts keep returning to Fiona, and he suddenly realises that he can't marry Jane because he loves Fiona.
Tommy talks Jeff into returning to Scotland so that he can revisit the spot where Brigadoon had appeared. Hoping for a miracle, since he loves Fiona so deeply...
