Scott

Sir Walter, a Scottish poet and novelist. He was born at Edinburgh, August 15, 1771, and died at Abbotsford, September 21, 1832. The Scotts were an old border family. Sir Walter traced his descent directly to Auld Watt of Harden, "whose name I have made ring in many a ditty," and to "his fair dam, the Flower of Yarrow,--no bad genealogy for a border minstrel."

When a child Walter took great pleasure in listening to the tales of border forays in which his ancestors took so great a part, Fortunately, from a nurse, an old soldier, and a blind poet, who found the little chap a receptive listener, he acquired a wealth of material which he afterwards used to the great an advantage in his poems and tales. At six he would sit for hours listening to tales. At ten he had a large collection of border tales and ballads. He took the greatest delight in Percy's Reliques, even to the forgetting of his dinner.

At the age of eight Scott was sent to the Edinburgh high school. Although lame from infancy, he was a leading spirit. He led the school boys in their fights with the boys of the town, and permitted no one to surpass him in climbing Salisbury Crag. Nothing pleased him better than to scale some precipice, gather friends around him, and entertain them with border tales and ballads until the sun went down. He was so full of high spirits, so generous, and, withal, so entertaining, that Walter was always in demand whenever fun or an excursion was planned.

Scott's father was an industrious lawyer. He desired his son to fit himself for the legal profession. Scott was a dutiful son and endeavored to comply; but, while a student at the university of Edinburgh, whither he was sent, he took more delight in haunting old bookshops in search of some stray chapman's book or ballad than in applying himself to musty volumes of law. He was very fond of taking long trips through Liddesdale and other valleys of southern Scotland. His steady father in despair declared he would never be anything but a "gangrel scrape-gut," that is a player on a violin, but as a friend who accompanied him on these excursions afterward said: "He was makin' himself a' the time, but he didna ken, maybe, what he was about till years had passed; at first he thought o' little, I daresay, but the queerness and the fun." Scott's affectionate relations to his father and his endeavor to do the latter's will are related with close adherence to facts in Redgauntlet, Alan Fairford being no less than Walter Scott himself.

Scott was in due time admitted to the practice of law, and, indeed, conducted a few cases; but he never became known as a lawyer. His legal studies were, however, of great service to him. Through his cheery manners and wide acquaintance he secured an appointment as sub-sheriff, a sort of justice of Selkirkshire, and was made also a clerk of the court in Edinburgh. The courts sat for about six months during the year. During this period Scott's duties required intense application for about four hours a day, leaving him free the rest of the day and year for literature. He held these positions for about twenty-five years. The joint salary was not far from $8,000 a year. He was able, therefore, to realize his oft quoted remark that "literature should be a staff, not a crutch."

It is convenient to treat of Scott's various lines of effort independently without following the order of time. His first literary efforts were translations from the German. He was an enthusiastic admirer of Goethe. In 1802 he completed a collection of the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, on which he may be said to have been engaged from his earliest childhood. This work appears to have suggested to him The Lay of the Last Minstrel, his first important poetical composition. It appeared in 1805, and brought him immediate fame. Scott himself was astonished at his own success, and rejoiced in it as genially as though he were complimenting another. Marmion appeared in 1808; The Lady of the Lake in 1810. The Vision of Don Roderick, Rokeby, The Lord of the Isles, Harold the Dauntless, and The Bridal of Triermain followed in order. Scott became convinced, however, that he had worked out his vein of poetry. He felt that after the publication of The Lady of the Lake his poems had fallen off in merit. The rise of Byron as a popular poet assisted Scott in coming to this conclusion.

In July of 1814, some time before he had ceased entirely to produce poetry, Scott's first novel, Waverley, appeared. He had had it in mind, however, and had done work on it at odd times from 1806. It was published anonymously, purporting to come from the pen of an untried writer. Scott strove laboriously to conceal the authorship. Waverley was received with the greatest enthusiasm. The "Great Unknown," as the author was termed, was the literary problem of the day. Other novels by the "Author of Waverley" appeared at the rate of six volumes a year. Guy Mannering, The Antiquary, The Black Dwarf, and Old Mortality were published in rapid succession. The authorship became an open secret. It was avowed publicly at a literary banquet in Edinburgh. Rob Roy, The Heart of Midlothian, The Bride of Lammermoor, The Legend of Montrose, Ivanhoe, The Monastery, The Abbot, Kenilworth, The Pirate, The Fortunes of Nigel, Peveril of the Peak, Quentin Durward, St. Roman's Well, Redgauntlet, The Betrothed, The Talisman, Woodstock, The Two Drovers, The Highland Widow, The Surgeon's Daughter, The Fair Maid of Perth, Anne of Geierstein, Count Robert of Paris, and Castle Dangerous complete the extraordinary list of novels from his pen. In all, seventy volumes were given to the press between the years 1814 and 1831. Lovers of Scott do not find a dull volume in the list. Young readers do well to begin with Ivanhoe and Rob Roy, Quentin Durward and The Talisman.

About the time that Scott's success as an author became pronounced, he formed the unfortunate plan of taking an interest in the printing house of James Ballantyne and Company, of Edinburgh. This firm was saved from bankruptcy only by the sale of valuable assets to the publishing house of Constable and Company. The two houses became associated in business matters. In spite of the enormous sales of Scott's works, the firms became involved in financial difficulties, owing chiefly, it is said, to the publication of expensive illustrated works for which there was insufficient demand to pay expenses. In 1826 the crash came. Sir Walter Scott found that, as a partner in the concern, he was morally responsible for debts amounting in the aggregate to $600,000. The blow would have crushed an ordinary man. Though weighed down by the burden, he set himself at work heroically to pay off the debt. He prepared a new edition of his works, so far as they had yet appeared. The entire British book-buying public, sympathizing with their favorite author in his distress, bought and bought liberally. In an incredibly short time he was able to pay off a large portion of the amount due. At a public meeting held by his creditors, he was complimented for his high sense of honor. His personal belongings, including his antiquities and treasures of art at Abbotsford, were released from the obligation which hung over everything that he possessed. Scott struggled on, however, to the end of his life. His last novels, showing unmistakably that his power was failing, were written with a view to diminishing the mountain of debt. The income from his works during the last years of his life was over $50,000 a year. Every available penny went to pay debts. He also completed the premiums on an insurance policy which netted his creditors over $100,000.

Even though Scott had not written a poem or a novel, he would have been one of the noted literary men of Scotland. He was a contributor to the Edinburgh Review. He fell out with the editorial management of that periodical and took part in the foundation of the Quarterly Review. He was a diligent collector and editor, as stated, of Scottish minstrelsy, and a voluminous writer on Scottish antiquities. He wrote a History of Napoleon Bonaparte in nine volumes. Though too lengthy to be popular, it is interesting from cover to cover. He also wrote a History of Scotland in two volumes. In the total number of works contributed to various departments of literature, Scott is said to have been excelled in volume only by Anthony Trollope.

In 1812, when Scott was in the tide of financial prosperity, he purchased an old farm on the Tweed near a former crossing, much used by the ancient abbots of Melrose. He named the estate Abbotsford. He purchased adjacent lands, set out plantations of trees with skill, and began the erection of a baronial home, adding wing after wing and turret after turret as rapidly as he acquired the means. Here he did the greater part of his literary work. He provided himself with a fine library and amassed a great quantity of armor and medieval antiquities. He was a hospitable man and liked nothing better than to entertain friends with walks through his plantations and with excursions on horseback to various parts of the surrounding country. He was immensely popular with everybody in the vicinity, whether noble or peasant. People in every walk of life were eager to get a word with him. Tales of Sir Walter, his horse, and his dog are still current among the peasantry of that part of Scotland.

In 1797 Scott married a beautiful lady, the daughter of a French Protestant refugee. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. Sophia married J. G. Lockhart, a writer of no mean ability. His Life of Sir Walter Scott, in seven volumes, is one of the world's great biographies, ranking with Boswell's Life of Johnson. A short autobiographical sketch by Sir Walter, covering his childhood, forms the introduction to the first volume.

Sir Walter traveled extensively in Scotland. The scenes described in his poems and tales were visited by himself in person, and the details noted at first hand. He visited London repeatedly, and traveled on the continent. Toward the close of his life, when his powers were evidently failing, he was persuaded to go to the Mediterranean, if possible, to recover his health. Finding that he obtained no relief, he turned his face homeward and hastened his journey with a rapidity that impaired his strength. He reached Abbotsford in July, 1832, where he died one beautiful autumn afternoon. His last hours were soothed by the sound of the rippling waters of the Tweed, a stream whose silver shallows and furze-covered banks he never ceased in life to admire. His remains were buried in Dryburgh Abbey. Critics agree that Sir Walter Scott's life and character leave little to be desired. He was a gentleman in the best sense of the word. He kept clear of literary squabbles and jealousies. Seemingly everybody respected him--loved him. It was a sad day for the countryside--a sad day for the city--a sad day for Scotland--when Sir Walter Scott died. His principal poems and tales have been translated into many languages. His position in literature can never be disputed.

A complete list of Scott's writings comprises, beside novels and long poems, an astonishing number of articles and poems on miscellaneous subjects written for current periodicals. It contains also works of criticism and biography, editions of Dryden and Swift, the Life of Napoleon in nine volumes, Tales of a Grandfather, and Demonology and Witchcraft. The following list includes the more important poems:

POEMS.

The following is a complete list of Scott's novels. The dates given are those of the period in which the scenes are laid:

NOVELS.

See Abbotsford

In a little while, the "lord of the castle" himself made his appearance. I knew him at once by the descriptions I had read and heard, and the likenesses that had been published of him. He was tall and of a large, powerful frame. His dress was simple and almost rustic; an old green shooting coat with a big whistle at the buttonhole, brown linen pantaloons, stout shoes that tied at the ankles, and a white hat that had evidently seen service. He came limping up the gravel walk, aiding himself by a stout walking staff, but moving rapidly and with vigor. By his side jogged along a large, iron-gray staghound of most grave demeanor, who took no part in the clamor of the common rabble but seemed to consider himself bound for the dignity of the house to give me a courteous reception.--Irving, A Visit to Abbotsford.