SCOTT 300 SCOTT SCOTT, 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 Ruther- ford, daughter of a professor in the Uni- versity of Edinburgh. His family be- longed 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 folk- lore that served him so well when he be- gan to write. He was educated at the Edinburgh High School and the Univer- sity, 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 story- telling, for excursions in which he got to know thoroughly many parts of Scotland and their local legends, and for wide read- ing in French, Italian, Spanish, and Gei-- man 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 "Burger'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 Selkirk- shire. 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 ballad- collectine, 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 Dry- den's complete works. He also took an active interest in politics as a warm Tory partisan. "Marmion" was published in 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 man- sion of Abbotsf ord on the Tweed, and con- tinued 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 begin- ning to rival Scott's. He published later "The Lord of the Isles" (1815) and "Har- old the Dauntless" (1817), but their com- parative 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 Anti- quary" (1816), "Old Mortality" (1817), "Rob Roy" (1818), "The Bride of Lam- mermoor" (1819), "Ivanhoe" (1819), "The Monastery" (1820), "The Abbot" (1820), "Kenilworth" (1821), "The For- tunes of Nigel" (1822), "Quentin Dur- ward" (1823), "St. Ronan's Well" (1824), "Red Gauntlet" (1824), "The Talisman" (1825). In 1827 the authorship, hither- to 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 cus- toms of past times. Most of the quali- ties of his poems find in his prose fic- tion a more favorable medium, and in the latter he displayed a power of draw- ing 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 which 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 rela- tives and fellow authors. In 1820 he was made a baronet. He became, however, deeply involved in the affairs of his print- ers and publishers, and when in 1823 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 credi- tors in full. Scarcely had he begun this colossal task when Lady Scott died. His life was clouded further by fears for the
