Archiv der Kategorie: Scott, Sir Walter

Scott, Sir Walter. Sir Walter Scott, was born at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1771. He was educated at the high school and university of Edinburgh. In 1786 he entered his father‘s law office, and was admitted to the practice of the law in 1792. Literature. however, soon engrossed his thoughts. In 1797 he married Miss Charlotte M. Carpenter, and in 1799 he was appointed to a sheriff’s office. In 1806 he became one of the principal clerks in the Scottish court of session, with a good salary and plenty of time for literary pursuits. Previous to 1817 he had written most of the poems, tales in verse, ballads, translations and metrical romances that have made him famous as a poet. He also edited Dryden‘s works and wrote a life of that poet. “Waverley,” his first distinguished novel, was published in July, 1814, anonymously, but paved the way by its literary excellence for the extensive series of “Waverley Novels,” on which his reputation is based. In the meantime he had founded and built his castellated mansion of “Abbotsford,” to which his literary fame has given a popular interest. In 1815 “Guy Mannering” succeeded “Waverley” and from that period to 1825 he wrote his other novels in rapid succession. Besides these he had written some of his dramas, edited the works of Swift and other authors, contributed to the leading reviews and other periodicals of the day, and wrote several articles for the “Encyclopedia Britannica.” His wealth and popularity made Abbotsford a great resort for visitors of every degree and rank. In 1820 King George IV. conferred upon him a baronetcy. In 1826 he became pecuniarily embarrassed by the failure of his Edinburgh publishers, and another firm, by its failure, also involved his means. He owed the creditors of both houses about $600,000, and at the age of fifty-five years he set about the task of paying off these demands by his literary labor. In 1826 appeared his “Life of Napoleon Bonaparte,” and other works well-known to his readers, but it was not until 1827 that he acknowledged himself to be the author of Waverley and the Waverley Novels, although he had long been credited with that distinction. He continued to write voluminously, including two series of his “Tales of a Grandfather;” his “History of Scotland,” “Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft,” and reduced his indebtedness materially. His health began to fail about 1830 and a hereditary disease manifested itself so severely that literary labor was suspended by medical advice, and he visited Italy in a vessel furnished by the admiralty. Finding himself failing, he desired to be taken home, but was insensible when London was reached in June, 1832, and died within a short time after his arrival at Abbotsford. He was buried in Dryburgh Abbey, and a noble Gothic structure, erected at Edinburgh in 1844-36, perpetuates his memory.

The Bride Of Lammermoor

The Bride Of Lammermoor – Sir Walter Scott

Although the period of this tragedy of Lammermoor is placed within the reign of William and Mary, the story (unlike most of the others) has little historical connection. It tells, instead, of the feud of two Scotch families, which—as in “Romeo and Juliet”—brings woe to two lovers who have dared plight their troth despite the ancestral hatred. Scott states that it is based closely upon fact. Edgar of Ravenswood is the last of a noble house which has formerly been rich and powerful; but his father, having been involved in the Jacobite cause, is ousted from the family estates by Sir William Ashton. After the old lord’s death, nothing remains to Edgar … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Scott, Sir Walter | Schreib einen Kommentar

Redgauntlet

Redgauntlet – Sir Walter Scott

In a historical sense ” Redgauntlet” is a sequel to ” Waverley.” It takes up the action some eighteen’ years later, at “that point of time when the Chevalier Charles Edward, though fallen into the sere and yellow leaf, was yet meditating a second attempt, which could scarcely have been more hopeless than his first.” Mr. Alexander Fairford, a worthy advocate of Edinburgh, has received into his home, for his son Alan’s sake, an impulsive young man known as Darsie Latimer. Darsie has an ample income and is assured of a legacy upon reaching the age of twenty-five; but meanwhile knows nothing of his family history and is warned not to venture into England. The … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Scott, Sir Walter | Schreib einen Kommentar

The Talisman

The Talisman – Sir Walter Scott

King Richard I, of England, known as ‘Lionheart’, leads the Third Crusade to the Holy Land. A truce is declared between his forces and those of the Saracens under Saladin, just prior to the abandonment of the Crusade; and during this trucethe events of the present story take place. The “Talisman” itself is a pebble of wonderful healing powers carried by Saladin. Sir Kenneth, a Scottish Crusader, rides alone through the Dead Sea desert of Syria, when he is suddenly attacked by an Emir of the Saracens. The Scot is victorious and the two warriors declare a friendly truce. They ride together to the cave of Theodorick, a fanatic monkish recluse, who at first … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Scott, Sir Walter | Schreib einen Kommentar

Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe – Sir Walter Scott

The period of “Ivanhoe” is a few months subsequent to “The Talisman.” Richard I has abandoned his Crusade, and, after an incarceration in an Austrian prison returns to his English throne to find plots against him headed by his brother John, and also a general state of unrest. Normans and Saxons still quarrel, and the story as a whole gives an admirable picture of feudal times. Ivanhoe is the only son of Cedric the Saxon, and has been disinherited by his father on account of his love for Cedric’s ward, the Lady Rowena. lie thereupon goes with King Richard to Palestine and wins renown in the Crusade. He returns to England disguised as a Palmer. … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Scott, Sir Walter | Schreib einen Kommentar

The Pirate

The Pirate – Sir Walter Scott

“The Pirate” is not connected with historic annals, nor does it deal with the sea, except in an incidental way. It is a tale of neighborhood life off the northeast coast of Scotland. Basil Mertoun, a reticent and misanthropic man about which nothing is known, takes up his residence in a tumble-down mansion on a Shetland cape, which he rents at a nominal sum from Magnus Troil, an old landowner. Basil is accompanied only by a young son, Mordaunt, who, more sociable and agreeable than his father, makes acquaintances all about the countryside. Especially does he frequent the Troil home, attracted thither by the two charming daughters of Magnus, Minna and Brenda; but he … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Scott, Sir Walter | Schreib einen Kommentar

Rob Roy

Rob Roy – Sir Walter Scott

Rob Roy MacGregor was a historical figure—an outlaw who “owed his fame in a great measure to his residing on the very verge of the Highlands, and playing such pranks in the beginning of the eighteenth century as are usually ascribed to Robin Hood in the Middle Ages,—and that within forty miles of Glasgow.” He was implicated in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 —which is the period of this story—but from motives of self-interest. Francis Osbaldistone, the ostensible narrator of this tale, is a young Londoner whose father is a successful merchant and naturally wishes his son to succeed him in the business. But Francis has other ideas, and a quarrel results, in which Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Scott, Sir Walter | Schreib einen Kommentar

Waverley

Waverley – Sir Walter Scott

“Waverley” is noteworthy not only in being the author’s first novel, but also because it gives a fine panorama of an important historic period. The story is written around the Jacobite insurrection of 1745, led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart in the endeavor to place his exiled father upon the English throne. It deals closely with Scotch people and customs. Edward Waverley, the hero, is a young English gentleman, prospective heir to his uncle’s large estate. As a means of completing his education, he is sent with a captain’s commission to join the regiment of Colonel Gardiner, stationed in Scotland. Affairs in camp not being of warlike nature at this time, he obtains an extended Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Scott, Sir Walter | Schreib einen Kommentar

The Heart Of Midlothian

The Heart Of Midlothian – Sir Walter Scott

The Porteous Riot, which occurred in Edinburgh during the reign of George II, is the historical rallying point of this story of Scotch middle life. The narrative, however, harks back several months and also extends forward some years; the present argument, therefore, will be more intelligible if it gives the facts in their proper order, rather than as set forth in the opening chapters of the novel. David Deans, an honest but stern old Scotch Covenanter and farmer, marries twice in the course of his life, and by each wife has a daughter—Jeanie being some ten years older than her half-sister, Effie. Jeanie has two suitors—a childhood’s playmate, Reuben Butler, now a Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Scott, Sir Walter | Schreib einen Kommentar