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Sir Walter Scott

Full Name: Sir Walter Scott

Achievements: Major historical novelist

Born: August 15, 1771; Edinburgh, Scotland

Died: September 21, 1832; Abbotsford, Roxburgh, Scotland (Aged 72)

Field & Discipline: Literature; Writer; Historian

Language: English

Father: Walter Scott

Mother: Anne Rutherford (married 1758)

Siblings: Robert; John; Anne; Thomas; Daniel

Spouse: Charlotte Carpenter (1770-1826, married December 1797)

Children: Sophia; Walter; Anne; Charles

Education: Edinburgh High School; Edinburgh University

Major Work:

"Waverley" novels (1814-16)

Life & Times:

During his high school years Scott became a fan of poetry, history, drama, fairy tales and romances, including the fake Celtic verse-poem “Ossian” of [a fan of]  Macpherson*.

He was called to the Bar on 11th July 1792, in Edinburgh, and spent much time with his friends in clubs and bars during the early part of the decade.  It was during this period that he became known as a great storyteller and, as a great walker, spent many weeks all over Scotland collecting stories of witches, fairies and ballads.

Scott now began to incline towards literature as a career. His first published work, “Lenore and the Wild Huntsman,” in 1796, was a translation of two stories by the German Romantic G.A. Bürger.

In 1797 a friend, William Erskine, showed the work to the well-known Gothic novelist Matthew Gregory Lewis, author of “The Monk,” who was then looking for items for his collection “Tales of Wonder,” published in 1801.  Impressed, he asked for contributions from Scott and arranged for Scott's translation of [translated] Goethe's* “Götz von Berlichingen” to be published in 1799. Also in this year, Scott was appointed Deputy Sheriff of Selkirk.

Meanwhile, Scott had been writing ballads for Lewis, some of which he showed to his publisher friend James Ballantyne, who agreed to print twelve copies of them in 1799 and a full collection titled “Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,” in three volumes, was published by Ballantyne's “Border Press” in 1802 and 1803.   The work made Scott known,  and he followed up his first success with a full-length narrative poem, “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” in 1805, which ran into many editions.

More poetic romances followed, including “Marmion” (1808), “The Lady of the Lake” (1810), which was the most successful of these pieces, “Rokeby” (1813), and “The Lord of the Isles” (1815).

In 1814, he published his edition of [did edition of] Swift*.  By this time, Scott’s narrative poems were being challenged by the emergence of popular work by Byron, so Scott set to work on an historical novel: “Waverley” which became an immediate success.

In 1815 Scott went to the Continent,  where he visited the battle site at Waterloo, saw the allies in Paris,  and met the [met] Duke of Wellington* and Lord Castlereagh.   On the way home, in London he met [met] Byron* and spent several evenings with him over a period of two months, discussing literature. It was also while he was in London that Scott wrote an important review, praising [a fan of] Austen's* work in the “Quarterly Review” in 1815

He published the further two novels, “Guy Mannering” and “The Antiquary,” in 1815 and 1816.

Scott had found his forte in historical fiction and went on to complete “Tales of My Landlord,” which again took the shape of a series, namely, “The Black Dwarf,” “Old Mortality,” the masterpiece “Rob Roy” (about Rob Roy [wrote about] MacGregor*)  and “The Heart of Midlothian,” all of which were based on Scottish history.

Following this, he turned to English history and began his most popular novel, “Ivanhoe,” based in 12th century England,  followed by “The Monastery and The Abbot,” in 1820 and “The Pirate and The Fortunes of Nigel” in 1822.

At this time, Scott was completing nearly one novel a year.   1821 saw “Kenilworth,” based on Elizabethan history.  In 1823 he published “Quentin Durward,” set in fifteenth century France, and his two novels based on the Palestinian crusades, “Redgauntlet” and “The Talisman,” came out in 1824 and 1825.

During the early to mid 1800s, Scott, who had by now completed his new mansion at Abbotsford, received many famous visitors, among them [visited by] Felix Mendelssohn*, [visited by] Washington Irving*,  [visited by] Davy* and [visited by] Wordsworth*.   In 1824 the painter  [visited by] Landseer* visited,  and Scott introduced him to the landscapes of Scotland which from then on featured prominently in his work.

In 1827, it was finally made public that Scott was the author of the “Waverley” novels.  His health deteriorated rapidly and so, in October of 1831, he travelled to Naples to recover.  During the holiday, his health took a sharp downturn, and he was taken home to Abbottsford, where he died.

Extra Connections:

Scott wrote verses for folk songs collected by [wrote for] George Thomson* ;    

[illustrations by] JMW Turner* illustrated Scott’s work;  

he encouraged the work of the publisher [encouraged] John Murray*.

Inspired composers [inspired] Berlioz* and [inspired] Bizet*.

Met poet [met] Robert Burns* and mathematician Mary [met] Somerville*

Knew politician [knew] Disraeli*

He influenced the French writer [influenced] De Vigny*

He influenced the actor [influenced]Macready*

He was a supporter of  the Italian exiled writer Ugo [knew] Foscolo*

Assessment: Scott was able to turn his interest in Scottish history into a literary success.  He captured the attention of his reader with characters from everyday life.

Oneliner: Sir Walter Scott,  major historical novellist

Bibliography: