Walter Scott
Birth
The son of a Writer to the Signet, Scott was born in 1771 in his Presbyterian family's third floor flat on College Wynd in the Old Town of Edinburgh, a narrow alleyway leading from the Grassmarket to the gates of the old University of Edinburgh. He survived a childhood bout of polio in 1773 that left him lame.To cure his lameness he was sent in 1773 to live in the rural Scottish Borders at his paternal grandparents' farm at Sandyknowe, adjacent to the ruin of Smailholm Tower, the earlier family home.
The Early Years
Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime,[1] with many contemporary readers in Europe, Australia, and North America. His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature. Famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor.
Although primarily remembered for his extensive literary works and his political engagement, Scott was an advocate, judge and legal administrator by profession, and throughout his career combined his writing and editing work with his daily occupation as Clerk of Session and Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire.
His Legacy
A prominent member of the Tory establishment in Edinburgh, Scott was an active member of the Highland Society and served a long term as President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1820–32).
His Death
He returned to Scotland and, in September 1832, died (in unexplained circumstances) at Abbotsford, the home he had designed and had built, near Melrose in the Scottish Borders. (His wife, Lady Scott, had died in 1826 and was buried as an Episcopalian.) Two Presbyterian ministers and one Episcopalian officiated at his funeral. Scott died owing money, but his novels continued to sell, and the debts encumbering his estate were discharged shortly after his death.