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Scott (SIR WALTER a British author He)

SIR WALTER, a British author. He was born in Edinburgh on August 15, 1771, the son of Walter Scott, writer of the Signet, and Anne Rutherford, daughter of a professor in the University of Edinburgh. His family belonged to the border country between England and Scotland, and numbered among its members many adventurers and heroes such as figure in the writings of their illustrious descendant. Losing the use of his right leg while an infant, he was sent to his grandfather's farm, where he recovered his general health though he remained lame for life. Here he learned from his grandmother the songs and legends of the countryside, and began to store his memory with the folklore that served him so well when he began to write. He was educated at the Edinburgh High School and the University, but did not graduate. Before he was fifteen he became apprentice to his father, and in 1792 he was called to the bar. His practice grew slowly, and he used his leisure for society, in which he distinguished himself by his gift of storytelling, for excursions in which he got to know thoroughly many any parts of Scotland and their local legends, and for wide reading in French, Italian, Spanish, and German as well as English. In 1797, he married Charlotte Mary, daughter of Jean Charpentier, a French refugee.

By this time he had begun to turn to literature and was translating German ballads. Publication began with versions of "Bürger's Lenore" and "The Wild Huntsman" (1796), which were followed in 1799 by a translation of Goethe's "Goetz von Berlichingen." Meantime he had developed a military enthusiasm and had organized a volunteer regiment and a body of cavalry; and through the friends made in this connection he was appointed sheriff-substitute of Selkirkshire. This increased his income, and at the same time gave him opportunity for touring his favorite district. In 1802 he began the publication of "The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," in which he gave the public the benefit of years of balladcollecting, and in which he included some imitations by himself and his friends.

This work led to the composition of his first long poem, "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" (1805), the success of which definitely decided him to adopt a literary career. He retained his office, however, and went to live at Ashestiel on the Tweed, near Selkirk. In 1805 he became a partner of his printer Ballantyne, and got interested in publishing speculations, among which was his own edition of Dryden's complete works. He also took an active interest in politics as a warm Tory partisan. "Marmion" was published in SCOTT 1808 and repeated the success of the "Lay," and the next year he joined the staff of the new "Quarterly Review." "The Lady of the Lake" followed in 1810, and sold 20,000 copies. In 1812 he bought the estate and began building the mansion of Abbotsford on the Tweed, and continued his poetical work with "Rokeby" (1812) and "The Bridal of Triermain" (1813). These poems had less success than their predecessors. They were less animated, his style had lost its novelty, and Byron's romantic tales were beginning to rival Scott's. He published later "The Lord of the Isles" (1815) and "Harold the Dauntless" (1817), but their comparative lack of success was more than redeemed by a new triumph. In 1814 he took up and completed a manuscript novel, "Waverley," begun long before and laid aside. It was an immediate success, and for the next decade Scott poured forth with amazing fertility a series of novels of which the most important were "Guy Mannering" (1815), "The Antiquary" (1816), "Old Mortality" (1817), "Rob Roy" (1818), "The Bride of Lammermoor" (1819), "Ivanhoe" (1819), "The Monastery" (1820), "The Abbot" (1820), "Kenilworth" (1821), "The Fortunes of Nigel" (1822), "Quentin Durward" (1823), "St. Ronan's Well" (1824), "Red Gauntlet" (1824), "The Talisman" (1825). In 1827 the authorship, hitherto a secret, was acknowledged. In these romances Scott availed himself of the vast store of history and legend he had been accumulating from childhood, and of his extraordinary power of making vivid the personages, manners, and customs of past times. Most of the qualities of his poems find in his prose fiction a more favorable medium, and in the latter he displayed a power of drawing character of which the poems gave little sign. The novels were received at home with unexampled enthusiasm, and their vogue extended over the continent and evoked many imitations.

The enormous sale of the novels brought Scott large sums, some £76,000 of whicls he spent on Abbotsford, completed as a baronial castle in 1824. He entertained lavishly, bought land to enlarge his estate, and was generous in his gifts to relatives and fellow authors. In 1820 he was made a baronet. He became, however, deeply involved in the affairs of his printers and publishers, and when in 1826 these failed, Scott was ruined. While the publishers went into bankruptcy, Scott personally assumed the liabilities of £117,000 of Ballantyne & Co., and set to work to earn money to pay the creditors in full. Scarcely had he begun this colossal task when Lady Scott died. His life was clouded further by fears for the SCOTT life of his grandson, John Hugh Lockhart, who was suffering from a mortal disease. Nevertheless, he kept heroically at work, earned £8,228 with "Woodstock" (1826) in three months, and $18,000 with his "Life of Napoleon" in nine volumes. "Tales of a Grandfather" (1828-1830) followed, and with the "Chronicles of the Canongate" (1827) and an edition of his works with autobiographical prefaces enabled him to raise nearly £40,000 in two years. He went on with "The Fair Maid of Perth" (1828) and "Anne of Geierstein" (1829), but in 1830 was interrupted by a stroke of paralysis. When he resumed with "Count Robert of Paris" (1831) a decline in his powers was unmistakable. A second and third attack followed, but he toiled on, and even found time for political activity. After finishing "Castle Dangerous" (1831) he was taken to Naples in the hope of prolonging his life, and there heard of the death of his grandson. In the following spring, on his return journey, struck down by paralysis, and was on his return journey, he was again brought home half unconscious. They carried him to Abbotsford, where he died within sound of his beloved Tweed, on Sept. 21, 1832. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son Walter, on whose death in 1847 the title became extinct. Scott's life insurance and his copyrights were sufficient to settle the unpaid balance of his obligations, so he may be regarded as having won his heroic fight to clear his name and estate from debt.

Scott's struggle to the death to pay what was due to his creditors is typical of the most fundamental trait in his character. From his ancestry or from the age of chivalry to which he gave so romantic a devotion he caught the spirit of honor which he carried into the mazes of modern business. For the rest he was a loyal friend, a generous enemy, a warm partisan without personal rancor, a devoted patriot. In spite of his romanticism, his character had a basis of solid common sense, and his broad sympathy and hearty humor made his contact with his fellows human and healthy. These qualities pervaded his work. His poetry is vivacious and picturesque, seldom passionate or lofty; his prose admirably suited to a born story teller with a keen observation of the variety if not the subtlety of human nature. In his fiction he professed no higher motives than the providing of wholesome entertainment, and the awakening of patriotism and an interest in the past. These purposes he achieved with brilliant success; for few writers have given more harmless pleasure, or have aroused in more readers a curiosity about former ages, or have created so large a company of imaginary SCOTT characters. He succeeded best with figures that could be drawn in strong colors, least with normal young men and women. He was a great artist in the picturesque. Among men of letters it is hard to find a truer man.