Sir Walter Scott, of Abbotsford, 1st Baronet, Author/Novelist[1]  1771 - 1832

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• Title	Sir
  Suffix	of Abbotsford, 1st Baronet, Author/Novelist
  Birth	15 Aug 1771	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Died	21 Sep 1832	Abbotsford, Melrose, Borders, Scotland   [1]
  Buried	Dryburgh Abbey, Berwickshire, Scotland
  Person ID	I14518	Clan current
  Last Modified	06 Nov 2007 23:00:00
  Father	Walter Scott, W.S., b. 11 May 1729
  Mother	Anne Rutherford
  Family ID	F7122	Group Sheet
  Family	Margaret Charlotte Charpentier
  Married	1797  [2]
  Children	1. 4 children Scott   2. Charlotte Sophia Scott, b. 1799
  Last Modified	03 Oct 2007 10:04:00
  Family ID	F7123	Group Sheet

• Photos		Sir Walter Scott, 1771 - 1832. Novelist and poet by Sir Henry Raeburn This portrait was one of the last Raeburn ever worked on, the artist dying only days after its completion. Scott, however, is shown at the peak of his career.
  		The Abbotsford family of Sir Walter Scott Sir David Wilkie Wilkie visited Sir Walter Scott and his family at their country home of Abbotsford in 1817. Scott is seated as though he is about to relate a story to the gathering of family and friends. Wilkie commented on the ‘good humour and merriment’ of everyone in the party. He exercised artistic licence, depicting Scott’s daughters as bare footed country milkmaids, but also included a realistic portrayal of Scott’s highland dog, a present from the Laird of Glengary. The landscape background recalls the Tweed Valley, with a distant view of Melrose. Painted on panel the picture has the character of an oil sketch
  		Sir Walter Scott memorial, Edinburgh
  		Abbotsford House
  		Walter Scott age 15 meets Robert Burns by C.M.Hardie
  		Walter Scott as a young man by Sir Henry Raeburn

• Notes

  1 - The great patriot Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), the son of a Writer to the Signet, combined in his novels the optimism of the Enlightenment with the Romantic impetus of the early nineteenth century. After graduating from Edinburgh University, Scott decided to study law and was called to the bar in 1792. He was Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire from 1799 to 1832, and was Principal Clerk to the Court of Sessions from 1806 to 1830. However, Scott's real love was literature, and he eventually came to devote most of his time to writing, emerging as the most prolific and imaginative writer of his epoch. Through his work, Scott brought Scotland to the attention of the world. His Waverley novels (1814-20), Waverley, Ivanhoe, The Talisman, The Bride of Lammermoor and The Heart of Midlothian were published along-side his ballad collection, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. The most critical time in Scott's life came when Ballantyne, his own publishing house, went bankrupt just at the time when he was heavily invoked in financial commitments towards his home, Abbotsford House. As a result, Scott was obliged to spend the rest of his life repaying debts by putting all his efforts into writing novels and historical books. He managed to reduce his debts by two-thirds before his death. Sir Walter Scott died at Abbotsford on 21 September 1832 and was buried with honours at Dryburgh Abbey in the Borders. A memorial was erected on Princes Street, Edinburgh shortly afterwards. His works, translated into numerous languages, continue to inspire and enthral readers around the world. [ An Illustrated History of Scotland by Elisabeth Fraser pub. 1997 ] 2 - Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 - 21 September 1832 ) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe during his time. In some ways Scott was the first author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers all over Europe, Australia , and North America . His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and specifically, of Scottish literature . Famous titles include Ivanhoe , Rob Roy , The Lady of the Lake, Waverley and The Heart of Midlothian . Born in College Wynd in the Old Town of Edinburgh in 1771, the son of a solicitor , the young Walter Scott survived a childhood bout of polio in 1773 that would leave him lame in his right leg for the rest of his life. To restore his health he was sent in that year to live in the rural Borders region at his grandparents' farm at Sandyknowe, adjacent to the ruin of Smailholm Tower , the earlier family home. Here he was taught to read by his aunt Jenny, and learned from her the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends which characterized much of his work. In January 1775 he returned to Edinburgh, and that summer went with his aunt Jenny to take spa treatment at Bath in England . In the winter of 1776 he went back to Sandyknowe, with another attempt at a water cure being made at Prestonpans during the following summer,[1] In 1778 Scott returned to Edinburgh for private education to prepare him for school, and in October 1779 he began at the Royal High School of Edinburgh . He was now well able to walk and explore the city as well as the surrounding countryside. His reading included chivalric romances, poems, history and travel books. He was given private tuition by James Mitchell in arithmetic and writing, and learned from him the history of the Kirk with emphasis on the Covenanters . After finishing school he was sent to stay for six months with his aunt Jenny in Kelso , attending the local Grammar School where he met James Ballantyne who later became his business partner and printed his books. Scott began studying classics at the University of Edinburgh in November 1783, at the age of only twelve so that he was a year or so younger than most of his fellow students. In March 1786 he began an apprenticeship in his father's office, to become a Writer to the Signet . While at the university Scott had become a friend of Adam Ferguson, the son of Professor Adam Ferguson who hosted literary salons. Scott met the blind poet Thomas Blacklock who lent him books as well as introducing him to James Macpherson 's Ossian cyle of poems. During the winter of 1786-87 the fifteen year old Scott saw Robert Burns at one of these salons, for what was to be their only meeting. When Burns noticed a print illustrating the poem "The Justice of the Peace" and asked who had written the poem, only Scott could tell him it was by John Langhorne , and was thanked by Burns.[3] When it was decided that he would become a lawyer he returned to the university to study law, first taking classes in Moral Philosophy and Universal History in 1789-90. After completing his studies in law, he became a lawyer in Edinburgh. As a lawyer's clerk he made his first visit to the Scottish Highlands directing an eviction. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1792. He had an unsuccessful love suit with Williamina Belsches of Fettercairn, who married Sir William Forbes, 6th Baronet . At the age of 25 he began dabbling in writing, translating works from German , his first publication being rhymed versions of ballads by Bürger in 1796. He then published a three-volume set of collected Scottish ballads, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border . This was the first sign of his interest in Scottish history from a literary standpoint. Scott then became an ardent volunteer in the yeomanry and on one of his "raids" he met at Gilsland Spa Margaret Charlotte Charpentier (or Charpenter), daughter of Jean Charpentier of Lyon in France whom he married in 1797 . They had five children. In 1799 he was appointed Sheriff-Deputy of the County of Selkirk , based in the Royal Burgh of Selkirk . In his earlier married days, Scott had a decent living from his earnings at the law, his salary as Sheriff-Deputy, his wife's income, some revenue from his writing, and his share of his father's rather meagre estate. After Scott had founded a printing press, his poetry, beginning with The Lay of the Last Minstrel in 1805 , brought him fame. He published a number of other poems over the next ten years, including the popular The Lady of the Lake , printed in 1810 and set in the Trossachs . Portions of the German translation of this work were later set to music by Franz Schubert . One of these songs, Ellens dritter Gesang , is popularly labeled as "Schubert's Ave Maria ". Another work from this period, Marmion , produced some of his most quoted (and most often mis-attributed) lines. Canto VI. Stanza 17 reads: Yet Clare's sharp questions must I shun, Must separate Constance from the nun Oh! what a tangled web we weave When first we practice to deceive! A Palmer too! No wonder why I felt rebuked beneath his eye; In 1809 his Tory sympathies led him to become a co-founder of the Quarterly Review , a review journal to which he made several anonymous contributions. 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 "Forty-Five" Jacobite rising in the Kingdom of Great Britain with its English protagonist Edward Waverley, by his Tory upbringing sympathetic to Jacobitism , becoming enmeshed in events but eventually choosing Hanoverian respectability. The novel met with considerable success. There followed a succession of novels over the next five years, each with a Scottish historical setting. 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". In 1819 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 wrote several books along the same lines. Among other things, the book is noteworthy for having a very sympathetic Jewish major character, Rebecca , considered by many critics to be the book's real heroine - relevant to the fact that the book was published at a time when the struggle for the Emancipation of the Jews in England was gathering momentum. 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 organized 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 Scottish national identity . Scott included little in the way of punctuation in his drafts which he left to the printers to supply. 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 biography of Napoléon Bonaparte ) until 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. When Sir Walter Scott was a boy he sometimes travelled with his father from Selkirk to Melrose , in the Border Country where some of his novels are set. At a certain spot the old gentleman would stop the carriage and take his son to a stone on the site of the battle of Melrose (1526). Not far away was a little farm called Cartleyhole, and this he eventually purchased. In due course the farmhouse developed into a wonderful home that has been likened to a fairy palace. Through windows enriched with the insignia of heraldry the sun shone on suits of armour, trophies of the chase, fine furniture, and still finer pictures. Panelling of oak and cedar and carved ceilings relieved by coats of arms in their correct colour added to the beauty of the house. More land was purchased, until Scott owned nearly 1,000 acres (4 km²), and it is estimated that the building cost him over £25,000. A neighbouring Roman road with a ford used in olden days by the abbots of Melrose suggested the name of Abbotsford Among the early critics of Scott was Mark Twain , who blamed Scott's "romantacization of battle" for what he saw as the South's decision to fight the Civil War . Twain's ridiculing of chivalry in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is considered as specifically targeting Scott's books. From being one of the most popular novelists of the 19th century, Scott suffered from a disastrous decline in popularity after the First World War . The tone was set early on in E.M. Forster 's classic "Aspects of the Novel" (1927), where Scott was savaged as being a clumsy writer who wrote slapdash, badly plotted novels. Scott also suffered from the rising star of Jane Austen . Considered merely an entertaining "woman's novelist" in the 19th century, in the 20th Austen began to be seen as perhaps the major English novelist of the first few decades of the 19th century. As Austen's star rose, Scott's sank, although, ironically, he had been one of the few male writers of his time to recognize Austen's genius. Scott's many flaws (ponderousness, prolixity, lack of humor) were fundamentally out of step with Modernist sensibilities. Nevertheless, Scott was responsible for two major trends that carry on to this day. First, he essentially invented the modern 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 for the North British Railway , is called Waverley Station . Second, his Scottish novels followed on from James Macpherson 's Ossian cycle in rehabilitating the public perception of Highland culture after years in the shadows following southern distrust of hill bandits and the Jacobite rebellions . As enthusiastic chairman of the Celtic Society of Edinburgh he contributed to the reinvention of Scottish culture. It is worth noting, however, that Scott was a Lowland Scot , and that his re-creations of the Highlands were more than a little fanciful. His organisation of the visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 was a pivotal event, leading Edinburgh tailors to invent many "clan tartans " out of whole cloth, so to speak. After being essentially unstudied for many decades, a small revival of interest in Scott's work began in the 1970s and 1980s . Ironically, postmodern tastes (which favoured discontinuous narratives, and the introduction of the 'first person' into works of fiction) were more favourable to Scott's work than Modernist tastes. Despite all the flaws, Scott is now seen as an important innovator, and a key figure in the development of Scottish and world literature. 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 . Many of his works were illustrated by his friend, William Allan . In addition to Landseer, fine portraits of him were painted by fellow-Scots Sir Henry Raeburn and James Eckford Lauder . Sir Walter Scott is commemorated in Makars' Court, outside The Writers' Museum, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh. Selections for Makars' Court are made by The Writers' Museum ; The Saltire Society ; The Scottish Poetry Library . The Waverley Novels Waverley (1814 ) Guy Mannering (1815) he Antiquary (1816 ) Rob Roy (1818 ) vanhoe (1819 ) Kenilworth (1821 ) The Pirate (1822 ) The Fortunes of Nigel (1822) Peveril of the Peak (1822) Quentin Durward (1823 ) St. Ronan's Well (1824 ) Redgauntlet (1824) Tales of the Crusaders , consisting of The Betrothed and The Talisman (1825 ) Woodstock (1826 ) Chronicles of the Canongate , 2nd series, The Fair Maid of Perth (1828) Anne of Geierstein (1829 ) Tales of My Landlord 1st series The Black Dwarf and Old Mortality (1816) 2nd series, The Heart of Midlothian (1818) 3rd series, The Bride of Lammermoor and A Legend of Montrose (1819) 4th series, Count Robert of Paris and Castle Dangerous (1832 ) Tales from Benedictine Sources The Abbot (1820 ) The Monastery (1820 ) Short stories Chronicles of the Canongate, 1st series (1827 ). Collection of three short stories: The Highland Widow, The Two Drovers and The Surgeon's Daughter. The Keepsake Stories (1828 ). Collection of three short stories: My Aunt Margaret's Mirror, The Tapestried Chamber and Death Of The Laird's Jock. Poems William and Helen, Two Ballads from the German (translator) (1796 ) The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802 -1803 ) The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805 ) Ballads and Lyrical Pieces (1806 ) Marmion (1808 ) The Lady of the Lake (1810 ) The Vision of Don Roderick (1811 ) The Bridal of Triermain (1813 ) Rokeby (1813) The Field of Waterloo (1815 ) The Lord of the Isles (1815) Harold the Dauntless (1817 ) Young Lochinvar Bonnie Dundee (1830 ) Introductory Essay to The Border Antiquities of England and Scotland (1814 -1817 ) The Chase (translator) (1796 ) Goetz of Berlichingen (translator) (1799 ) Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk (1816) Provincial Antiquities of Scotland (1819 -1826 ) Lives of the Novelists (1821-1824 ) Essays on Chivalry, Romance, and Drama Supplement to the 1815-24 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica Halidon Hill (1822) The Letters of Malachi Malagrowther (1826) The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte (1827) Religious Discourses (1828 ) Tales of a Grandfather, 1st series (1828) History of Scotland, 2 vols. (1829-1830 ) Tales of a Grandfather, 2nd series (1829) The Doom of Devorgoil (1830) Essays on Ballad Poetry (1830) Tales of a Grandfather, 3rd series (1830) Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (1831 ) The Bishop of Tyre [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Walter_Scott ] 3 - Scott's historical novels were read and admired throughout Europe. Those which dealt with Scottish themes, like Heart of Midlothian and Waverley, have had a major influence on how Scots see their own past and on how Scotland is viewed from outside. By 1826 he was bankrupt, and his health was destroyed from the need to write his way out of debt. 4 - In 1811, the lease of his house, Ashestiel, fell in, he bought a farm -house near a ford across the Tweed. It was called Clarty Hole (Clarty means dirty), probably because of the noisome duckpond in front of the house. The land had once belonged to the Abbot of Melrose, so he called the house Abbotsford. It was in tune with his romantic nature to cram all his famous relics, like the freebooter Rob Roy's pistol, and the sword Charles I gave to Montrose, into a little farmhouse, and then build a baronial mansion with towers and stepped gables, as well as fine grounds and gardens as their proper setting. The great cost of these improvements, added to his publisher's debts, which he insisted on shouldering, brought financial ruin and obliged him to turn out novel after novel, their brilliance betraying no sign of the pressure under which they were produced. Scotland must have breathed a sigh of relief when his creditors gave him hack Abbotsford. It's a fascinating memorial to a man who was, apart from many other achievements, Scotland's greatest publicist. It's doubtful if Sir Walter Scott would have found the squabbles over whose design should be chosen for his monument in Princes Street particularly edifying. George Meikle Kemp, a joiner and draughtsman, won the compet ition, despite accusations of plagiarism, but the poor chap was drowned in the River Tweed before his monument was built. It would be nice to think that he's able to Hook down with satisfaction on his handiwork, which instantly became a popular landmark, and has remained so ever since. What may have given him and Sir Walter a good laugh was the arrival at Leith of the 30 tons of Carrara marble for the twice life-size sculpture of the great man and his dog, Maida, by Sir John Steen. As it was being unloaded, it smashed through the bottom of the ship and vanished beneath the water. A superhuman effort was required to raise it. If you can manage 287 steps, the view from the top on a clear day will take away what's left of your breath. [ "Reflections on Scotland" by Ian Wallace pub.1988 ] 5 - Born on 15th August 1771 in Edinburgh to Anne Rutherford and Walter Scott, Sir Walter's childhood was full of illness and physical difficulties. He went to Edinburgh University aged 12, and by the age of 21 was a fully qualified practising Member of the Faculty of Advocates. He was appointed Deputy Sheriff of Selkirk Sheriff Court in 1799, which, combined with a childhood love of Border countryside, prompted Sir Walter to buy property and take up residence on the banks of the River Tweed. Sir Walter lived at Abbotsford with his French wife, Charlotte Charpentier, and their four children, and died at home on 21st September 1832. Abbotsford is the house built and lived in by Sir Walter Scott, the 19th century novelist, and author of timeless classics such as Waverley, Rob Roy, Ivanhoe and The Lady of the Lake. In 1811 Sir Walter bought the property which was to become Abbotsford, set in the heart of the Scottish Borders, on the banks of the River Tweed. The building of Abbotsford took six years, and was completed in 1824. William Atkinson was the chosen architect, and George Bulloch gave his advice on the furnishings, while local craftsmen carried out the work. The house was opened to the public in 1833, five months after Sir Walter's death, and has been enjoyed by visitors ever since. The house contains an impressive collection of historic relics, weapons and armour, (also Rob Roy's Gun and Montrose's Sword), and a library containing over 9,000 rare volumes. Visitors will be able to see Sir Walter Scott's Study, Library, Drawing Room, Entrance Hall, Armouries and the Dining Room where he died on 21st September 1832. "It is a kind of Conundrum Castle to be sure and I have great pleasure in it for while it pleases a fantastic person in the stile and manner of its architecture and decoration it has all the comforts of a commodious habitation." - Journal, 7 January 1828 [ http://www.scottsabbotsford.co.uk/history.html ] 6 - Scott was responsible for rescuing the Honours of Scotland', or Scottish royal regalia, from obscurity. These comprised the crown, sceptre and sword of state which had been 'lost' since they had last been used at the time of the Union of the Crowns in 1601. After repeated requests, Scott finally obtained the Prince Regent's permission to search for them. On 4 February 1818 the Honours of Scotland were finally discovered in a great oak chest in the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle. After this episode, Scott made persistent efforts to entice the Prince Regent to Scotland, and in 1822 the Prince, by then King George IV, finally assented, landing at Leith on 15 August. Although not a full state visit, this was the first formal appearance of the monarch in Scotland since Charles I in 1641. The King wore a kilt as a gesture to the Highlanders who only a short time before had been forbidden by law to wear tartan and Highland dress. To commemorate the Scottish sailors and soldiers slain in the Napoleonic wars, it had been decided to erect a monument on Calton Hill in the form of a replica of the Parthenon. However, the 12 huge Doric pillars are the only part of the monument to have been completed when funds ran out. Some refer to the unfinished edifice as 'Edinburgh's Folly'. While the King was still in the city, Scott persuad-ed him that Mons Meg, the famous fifteenth-century cannon, should be returned to its rightful home in Edinburgh Castle from the Tower of London. Royal permission was also granted to reinstate the estates and titles which had been forfeited by the Scottish noblemen during the Jacobite uprising. Scott had proved himself to be something of a distinguished ambassador for his country. [ An Illustrated History of Scotland by Elisabeth Fraser pub. 1997 ]

• Sources

  [S346] Stirnet Genealogy, Peter Barns-Graham, Scott07 (Reliability: 3) [S550] Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)