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Even if I weren’t a literature person, we would have to study Sir Walter Scott to understand modern Scotland. Fortunately, Scott lived in a beautiful and interesting part of the province, and his world-wide fame meant that the places where he lived and worked and dreamed would be preserved for future generations to enjoy. We’ll visit some of these places and learn to understand Scott’s love for the region.

Our Scott days are centered in Melrose, Roxburghshire, a beautiful village in the Scottish Borders. The town grew up around Melrose Abbey, a Cistercian abbey founded in the early 12th century that was already a ruin in Scott’s day, thanks to the English armies under Henry VIII. The abbey is thought to be one of the most beautiful ruins in the UK. Robert the Bruce’s heart is buried on the grounds. Look for the bagpipe-playing pig gargoyle when you’re visiting the abbey. Scott grew up in this area, and once he had won fame and fortune, made his home at Abbotsford, just outside Melrose, where we’ll have a guided visit.

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)—jurist, poet, novelist, collector, architect, renaissance man—took what Burns had unwittingly accomplished to the next level. Many scholars and popular writers credit Scott with Scotland’s modern-day identity—tartans, Highland heroes, romantic legends, nationalism, and all.

He is probably the most popular author ever on a world scale with one exception—another Scot named J. K. Rowling. The monument commemorating him in Edinburgh bears this out: at 200 feet, 6 inches tall, it has 68 figurative statues in addition to the enormous one of Scott and his dog. No monument to a writer anywhere in the world comes close to it in size.

Had he only written poetry, Scott’s fame would have still been phenomenal. No writer has done more to bring poetry to a wide audience. But in 1814 he changed careers and became even more famous as novelist, penning over 20 novels along with numerous plays and short stories before he was through. In addition to his astounding literary career, he orchestrated several dramatic historical events worthy of Geraldo Rivera and modern reality television. What did Scott accomplish and why was he so popular? Why are his works hardly mentioned and rarely taught today? We’ll try to answer these questions and more.

Readings
Waverley by Walter Scott, published 1814 (any edition). This is Scott’s first and most famous novel and a good “way in” to his fiction.  It is credited with being the first historical novel, but we’ll talk about why that claim is overblown.

If you want to read more, try Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, and The Heart of Midlothian (said to be his best).

Sir Walter Scott: his Life and Work by John Buchan (Luath Press Ltd. 2015, 1925) is an excellent, though older biography of Scott, reissued in 2015.

Scott-land: The Man Who Invented a Nation by Stuart Kelly  takes on some of the difficult questions about Scott’s life and work while crediting him with creating an identity for modern Scotland (Birlinn Ltd. 2011).

Scott was a world famous poet before he was a novelist. Like his novels, his poems reflect his interest in history and mythology. Here are his two most famous poems.

The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Sir Walter Scott

The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott

Films
An interesting lecture about Scott’s importance to Scottish identity.
Did Sir Walter Scott invent Scotland? A Lecture by Dr. Juliet Shields.

The Story of Scott’s home, Abbotsford.
Sir Walter Scott’s Home in Scotland–Abbotsford

Tentative Itinerary
June 10 – Today we’ll visit Sir Walter Scott’s magnificent home, Abbotsford House, for a guided tour; the beautiful ruins of Dryburgh Abbey, where Scott is buried; and several local spots that were important to the author. The afternoon is free. There are many fascinating places to visit within a few miles of Melrose (castles and estates, gardens, abbeys, walks, etc.), or you may want to spend time in this lovely village and visit the famous Melrose Abbey. Overnight Melrose.

June 11 – We’ll drive to nearby Selkirk to visit Bowhill House, a magnificent estate and residence of the Duke of Buccleach and Queensberry that was important to Sir Walter Scott, followed by a guided tour of Locharron Tartan Mill Visitor Centre (and shopping). Return to Melrose for few hours of free time. In the evening we’ll have a group dinner and ceilidh [KAY-lee] (traditional music and dance) performance at the Townhouse Hotel. Be sure to wander the streets of Melrose before departing. Overnight Melrose.

June 12 – It’s short drive to Roslin, where we will have a guided tour of the stunning Rosslyn Chapel, a 15^th-century church with elaborate carvings made famous by Scott in his “Lay of the Last Minstrel,” and more recently by Dan Brown in his thriller The Da Vinci Code. We continue our journey to South Queensferry for free time to explore this pretty town, where three magnificent bridges cross the Firth of Forth. The Hawes Inn next to the famous Forth Bridge (a cantilever bridge built for trains in 1890) was the setting for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped, and Stevenson used to stay here. We’ll drive to our Loch Lomond hotel to stay for the next two nights. Overnight Loch Lomond.

June 13 – After all this literary and historical tourism, we need a day on a lake! This morning the group will tour the magnificent Loch Lomond by boat and later by bus. The lake is the dividing line between the Highlands and the Lowlands. There will also be opportunities to arrange individual excursions. Farewell dinner for the group at our hotel tonight (even though we have one more night in Scotland). Overnight Loch Lomond. Overnight Loch Lomond.

June 14 – Transfer to Edinburgh where the group will take a half-day guided tour focused on the literary perspective: the world famous “Book Lovers Tour.” We’ll have a few free hours in the city before driving to our airport hotel for the last night. Overnight Edinburgh.

June 15 – Transfer to Edinburgh airport and fly home to Atlanta or elsewhere!