The Father of Historical Novels

Sir Walter Scott1771 - 1832

A Short BiographyWalter Scott was born in Edinburgh, as the

son of a solicitor Walter Scott and

Anne, a daughter of professor of medicine. An early illness - polio - left him lame in the right leg. Six of his 11 brothers and sisters

died in infancy. However, Scott grew up to be a man over six feet and great

physical endurance

Scott's interest in the old Border tales

and ballads had early been awakened, and he devoted much of

his leisure to the exploration of the

Border country. His early years Scott spent in Sandy-

Know, in the residence of his

paternal grandfather. There

his grandmother told him tales of old

heroes.

At the age of eight he returned to

Edinburgh. He attended Edinburgh High School (1779-

1783) and studied at Edinburgh University arts and law (1783-86, 1789-92). At the age

of sixteen he had already started to

collect old ballads and later translated into

English Gottfried Bürger's ballads 'The Wild Huntsman' and 'Lenore' and 'Goetz of Berlichingen' (1799)

from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play

Scott was apprenticed to his father in 1786 and in 1792 he was called to the bar. In

1799 he was appointed sheriff

depute of the county of Selkirk. Scott married in 1797

Margaret Charlotte Charpentier ,

daughter of Jean Charpentier of Lyon in France. They had

five children.

In 1802-03 appeared Scott's first major work, “Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border”. As a poet Scott rose into fame with the

publication of “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” (1805) about an old border

country legend. He had burned its first version, when his friends did not like it. Scott returned to

the poem in 1802, when a horse had kicked him and he spent three days in

bed. “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” became a

huge success and made him the most popular author of the day.

It was followed by “Marmion” (1808), a historical romance in tetrameter, set in 1513, and concerning the attempts of Lord Marmion to marry the rich Lady

Clare. In 1810 appeared “the Lady of the Lake” and in 1813 “Rokeby”. Scott's last major

poem, “The Lord of the Isles”, was published in 1815.

Soldier, rest! thy warfare

o'er, Sleep the sleep that knows not

breaking, Dream of

battled fields no more,

Days of danger, nights of waking.

(from The Lady of the Lake,

1810)

In 1806 Scott became clerk to the Court of Session in Edinburgh - this work took only a few hours daily and half of the year he was free. His long

holidays Scott spent at Ashestiel, situated on the Tweed River. To increase his income he started a

printing and publishing business with his friend James Ballantyne.

The firm had in the 1810s financial difficulties, and Scott spent his time in

immense labours for his publishers, much of it hack editorial work. Scott also expanded during these years his Abbotsford estate, but it was not until

1826 when the final crash came. He accepted all Ballantyne's debts

and decided to pay them off with his writings - the sum was £130,000

(millions today)

In the 1810s Scott published several

novels anonymously or under the pseudonym Jebediah Cleisbotham

or 'Author of Waverley.' From this period date

such works as “Waverley” (1814),

dealing with the rebellion of 1745,

which attempted to restore a Scottish

family to the British throne. The book set the classic pattern of the historical novel. It

had a hero, whose loyalty is split between

two rulers and two ways of life.

IVANHOE (1819) was set in the reign of Richard I and depicted the

rivalry between the King and his

wicked brother John (King

1199-1216).

Ivanhoe, a tale of chivalry, was set in the

age of Richard the Lion-Hearted. Wilfred

of Ivanhoe loves Rowena, but his father

plans marry her to Athelstane of

Coningsburgh. Ivanhoe serves with King Richard in the

crusades. King's brother John tries to

usurp the throne with the help of Norman

barons. Richard appears in disguise at

the tournament at Ashby de la Zouch,

where he helps Ivanhoe to defeat John's knights. At the

tournament Sir Brian falls in love with

Rebecca, a beautiful Jewess.

Michael Ragussis has argued that Scott's

Isaac the Jew and his daughter Rebecca restaged England's

medieval persecution of Jews and criticized

the barbarity of persecution and

forced conversion. In the story Rebecca is a healer and a voice of moderation between Saxon knights and

Normans.

She is taken captive with her father Isaac, Rowena,

Ivanhoe, and Cedric by the Norman barons and

imprisoned in Torquilstone. The King and his band of outlaws, among them Robin Hood,

release the prisoners. Rebecca is carried off by Bois-Gilbert and charged

of witchcraft. Ivanhoe appears as her champion, opposing Bois-Guilbert,

who dies. Rebecca, seeing Ivanhoe's love for Rowena, leaves England

with her father .

In the 1820s appeared KENILWORTH (1821), THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

(1822), PEVERIL OF THE PEAK (1823)

, QUENTIN DURWARD (1823), THE TALISMAN (1825),

WOODSTOCK (1826), THE SURGEON'S DAUGHTER (1827), ANNE

OF GEIERSTEIN (1829). After the financial crash of 1825-26 the author's anonymity

was

destroyed, and he was exposed to the general public as Sir Walter

Scott. He had at least five pen names, including Jebediah

Cleisbotham, Crystal Croftangry, Malachi Malagrowther, Lawrence

Templeton, and Captain Clutterbuck. According to an anecdote,

when mortally sick, Beethoven (1770-1827) hurled away Scott's

novel with the cry: "Why, the fellow writes for money".

Scott's historical novels fall into three groups; those set in the background of

Scottish history, from Waverly to A Legend of Montrose; a group which

takes up themes from the Middle Ages and Reformation times, from Ivanhoe to

Talisman, and his remaining books, from Woodstock onwards. Scott's

dramatic work include HALIDON HILL (1922), MACDUFF'S CROSS (1823),

THE DOOM OF DEVORGOIL, A MELODRAMA (1830), and

AUCHINDRANE (1830), which was founded on the case of Mure of

Auchindrane in Pitcairn's Ancient Criminal Trials.

In 1820 Scott was created a baronet. A

few years later he founded the Bannatyne Club, which published

old Scottish documents. Scott

visited France in 1826 to collect material for

his LIFE OF NAPOLEON, which was published in 9 volumes

in 1827. A few years earlier Scott had

started to keep his Journal, recording in

undiscourageable spirit his deteriorating

health and other misfortunes.

His wife, Lady Scott, died in 1826, and the author himself had a stroke in 1830. Next year Scott sailed to Italy. In Malta he

wrote one novel and a short story, and in Naples he collected

old songs and ballads. After return to England in 1832,

he died on September 21. Scott was buried beside his

ancestors in Dryburgh Abbey.

From the profits of his writings all his

debts were ultimately paid