Sir Walter Scott

A lawyer by profession, Walter Scott (1771 - 1832) was the outstanding writer of his generation in Scotland, and is with Burns one of the most internationally known.

Scott achieved success in many fields: as lawyer, as collector of ballads and folk songs, as translator from the German, as critic, biographer and historian and as poet and novelist.  A man of immense energy, he was also an important public figure, and entertained lavishly at the castle he built at Abbotsford in his beloved Border country.

His poetry was of world popularity (The Lady of the Lake, The Lay of the Last Minstrel) and from 1814 his novels (starting with Waverley in that year) made him the indisputable leader in historical fiction.  Among his best-known are The Heart of Midlothian, set in Edinburgh, and Redgauntlet. In 1826 he was ruined in a financial crash, and spent the rest of his life heroically writing to pay his debts. 

His influence remains strong in conveying the idea of Scotland and its history to a world-wide readership.



 
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