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Sir Walter Scott ( August 14, 1771 - September 21, 1832) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist popular throughout Europe.
150px Portrait of Sir Walter Scott, by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer
Born in Edinburgh in 1771, the young Walter Scott survived a childhood bout of polio that would leave him lame in his right leg for the rest of his life. He learned by heart James Macpherson's Ossian poems, claimed at the time to be translations dating back to the Dark ages, but later discredited when this was found to be untrue.
After studying law at Edinburgh University, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a lawyer in his native ScotlandScotland or in Scottish Gaelic, Alba is a country and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four nations comprising the United Kingdom. Scotland occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Scotland took part in a p. Beginning at age 25 he started dabbling in writing, first translating works from GermanGerman (called Deutsch in German in which germanisch refers to prechristian times), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and one of the world's major languages. It is the language with the most native speakers in the European Union. then moving on to poetry. In between these two phases of his literary career, he published a three-volume set of collected Scottish ballads, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. This was the first sign of his interest in Scotland and history from a literary standpoint. In 1797Events January 3 The Treaty of Tripoli (a peace treaty between the United States and Tripoli) is signed at Algiers. January 7 The parliament of the Repubblica Cisalpina adopts the Italian Tricolore as official flag: here starts the story of the Flag of It he married Charlotte Carpenter, with whom he had five children.
After Scott had founded a printing press, his poetry, beginning with "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" in 1805Events January 11 Michigan Territory is created. February 15 Harmony Society officially formed March 1 Justice Samuel Chase acquitted of impeachment charges by the U. Senate April 27 United States Marines and Berbers attack the Tripolitan city of Derna (T, brought him fame. He published a number of other poems over the next ten years, including in 1810Events January 10 Marriage of Napoleon and Josephine is annulled January 20 Tyrolean rebel leader Andreas Hofer executed March 11 Napoleon marries Marie-Louise of Austria April 19 Venezuela achieves home rule: Emparan, Governor of the Captaincy General is the popular Lady of the LakeIn Arthurian legend, The Lady of the Lake gave King Arthur the sword known as Excalibur. Nimue is the name given to the Lady of the Lake when referring to her romance with Merlin the wizard. She is also called Dame du Lac Viviane and Niviene . The Lady al set in the TrossachsThe Trossachs itself is a small woodland glen between Ben An to the north and Ben Venue to the south, with Loch Katrine to the west and Loch Achray to the east, but the name is used generally to refer to the wider area of wooded glens and hills with quiet, portions of which (translated into German) found their way into Schubert'sFranz Peter Schubert ( January 31, 1797 November 19, 1828), was an Austrian composer. He wrote some six hundred romantic songs as well as operas, symphonies, sonatas and many other works. Public appreciation of his work during his lifetime was limited; he Ave Maria.
Another work from this time period, Marmion , produced some of his most quoted (and most often mis-attributed) lines. Canto VI. Stanza 17 reads:
When the press became embroiled in pecuniary difficulties, Scott set out, in 1814, to write a cash-cow. The result was Waverley, a novel which did not name its author. It was a tale of the last Jacobite rebellion in the United Kingdom, the "Forty-Five", and a considerable success. There followed a large set of novels in next five years, each the same general vein. Mindful of his reputation as a poet, he maintained the anonymous habit he had begun with Waverley, always publishing the novels under the name "Author of Waverley" or attributed as "Tales of..." with no author. Even when it was clear that there would be no harm in coming out into the open he maintained the façade, apparently out of a sense of fun. During this time the nickname "The Wizard of the North" was popularly applied to the mysterious best-selling writer. His identity as the author of the novels was widely rumoured, and in 1815 Scott was given the honour of dining with George, Prince Regent, who wanted to meet "the author of Waverley".
The Scott Monument, Edinburgh
In 1820 he broke away from writing about Scotland with Ivanhoe, a historical romance set in 12th-century England. It too was a runaway success and, as he did with his first novel, he unleashed a slew of books along the same lines. As his fame grew during this phase of his career, he was granted the title of baronet, becoming Sir Walter Scott. At this time he organised the visit of King George IV to Scotland, and when the King visited Edinburgh in 1822 the spectacular pageantry Scott had concocted to portray George as a rather tubby reincarnation of Bonnie Prince Charlie made tartans and kilts fashionable and turned them into symbols of national identity.
Beginning in 1825 he went into dire financial straits again, as his company nearly collapsed. That he was the author of his novels became general knowledge at this time as well. Rather than declare bankruptcy he placed his home, Abbotsford House, and income into a trust belonging to his creditors, and proceeded to write his way out of debt. He kept up his prodigious output of fiction (as well as producing a non-fiction biography of Napoleon Bonaparte) through 1831. By then his health was failing, and he died at Abbotsford in 1832. Though not in the clear by then, his novels continued to sell, and he made good his debts from beyond the grave. He was buried in Dryburgh Abbey where nearby, fittingly, a large statue can be found of William Wallace -- one of Scotland's most romantic historical figures.
Scott was responsible for two major trends that carry on to this day. First, he popularized the historical novel; an enormous number of imitators (and imitators of imitators) would appear in the 19th century. It is a measure of Scott's influence that Edinburgh's central railway station, opened in 1854, is called Waverley Station. Second, his Scottish novels rehabilitated Highland culture after years in the shadows following the Jacobite rebellions. It is worth noting, however, that Scott was a Lowland Scot, and that his recreations of the Highlands were more than a little fanciful. It is known that he invented many clan tartans out of whole cloth, so to speak, for the visit by George IV to Scotland in 1822. Nevertheless, even though he is less popular in these days, the echoes of Waverley and its sequels reverberate still.
Scott was also responsible, through a series of pseudonymous letters published in the Edinburgh Weekly News in 1826, for retaining the right of Scottish banks to issue their own banknotes, which is reflected to this day by his continued appearance on the front of all notes issued by the Bank of Scotland.