Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
Scottish poet and novelist, born at College Wynd, Edinburgh, on 15 August 1771. Educated at Edinburgh University. Scott spent his boyhood at his grandfather's house in Kelso where he heard traditional tales and ballads of the Borders from his relatives, in addition to being much stimulated by Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765) when he was thirteen. When he was an apprentice to his father, a writer for the Signet, he devoted much of his leisure time to collecting Border tales and ballads. Influenced by German Romantics, Scott translated Gottfried August Bürger's "The Wild Huntsman", and wrote an imitation ballad, "William and Helen" in 1797. Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802-03), the fruition of his exploitation of traditional ballads, contains Border ballads, his imitations, and some articles full of his patriotism. Other longer poems are "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" (1805), "Marmion" (1808), and "The Lady of the Lake" (1810). He published over twenty novels, from Waverly (1814) to Castle Dangerous (1831). (H. N.)
Critical Essays 1 | Hisayo Nakashima. |
Critical Essays 2 | Mitsuyoshi Yamanaka. 'Ballads : On Some of Scott's Editorial Problems' Studies in the Humanities (48) 23-73. 1984. |
1. Alice Brand |
2. The Battle of Sempach |
3. Bonny Dundee |
4. Cadyow Castle |
5. The Castle of the Seven Shields |
6. Christie’s Will |
7. Elspeth’s Ballad |
8. The Erl-King |
9. The Eve of St. John |
10. The Fire King |
11. Frederick and Alice |
12. Glenfinlas |
13. Jock of Hazeldean |
14. The Noble Moringer |
15. The Orphan Maid |
16. Proud Maisie |
17. The Reiver’s Wedding |
18. Rosabelle |
19. Thomas the Rhymer III |
20. The Wild Huntsman |
21. William and Helen |
22. Young Lochinvar |