Sir Walter Scott

Biography Born Edinburgh 1771 (capital of Scotland), but largely raised by grandparents in Border counties (border with England); son of attorney, trains in law himself 1745 – failed Jacobite rebellion by highland Scots against Hanover dynasty; Scott’s lifetime sees a sometimes brutal suppression of “Scotland” in favor of a “United Kingdom,” and a loss of Scots culture as it is assimilated into “British” culture

Begins to Publish Collects (and “improves”) traditional border ballads from rural shepherds and peasant women into Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Long narrative poetic romances set in medieval times: Lay of Last Minstrel (1805), Marmion (1808), Lady of the Lake (1810) – Bestsellers – Establishes 19 th C interest in medievalism – Establishes Scott’s enduring interest in seeing his time as negotiating between advantages of “modern” world and advantages of heroic past

Prose Fiction In 1814, publishes Waverly, first of the “Waverly” novels in which figures embrace both current Enlightenment ideals and heroic medieval ideals – My personal favorite Scott novel is Ivanhoe, with its Jewish heroine who saves the knight (so he can save Robin Hood, King Richard & the Christian lady). It assumes that 12 th C figures believe in the essential equality of all persons. Publishes prose anonymously