



Produced by Al Haines








[Frontispiece: Sir Walter Scott]




  THE COUNTRY OF
  SIR WALTER SCOTT

  BY
  CHARLES S. OLCOTT


  _Author of George Eliot: Scenes and People of Her Novels_



  ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
  BY THE AUTHOR



  BOSTON AND NEW YORK
  HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
  The Riverside Press Cambridge




COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY CHARLES S. OLCOTT

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Published September 1913




  TO

  MY WIFE

  THE COMPANION OF MY TRAVELS
  TO WHOSE SYMPATHETIC COOPERATION I AM
  INDEBTED FOR MUCH OF THE MATERIAL
  THIS BOOK
  IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED




  CONTENTS

  Introduction

  I. The 'Making' of Sir Walter
  II. The Lay of the Last Minstrel
  III. Marmion
  IV. The Lady of the Lake
  V. Rokeby
  VI. The Bridal of Triermain
  VII. The Lord of the Isles
  VIII. Waverley
  IX. Guy Mannering
  X. The Antiquary
  XI. The Black Dwarf
  XII. Old Mortality
  XIII. Rob Roy
  XIV. The Heart of Midlothian
  XV. The Bride of Lammermoor
  XVI. A Legend of Montrose
  XVII. Ivanhoe
  XVIII. The Monastery
  XIX. The Abbot
  XX. Kenilworth
  XXI. The Pirate
  XXII. The Fortunes of Nigel
  XXIII. Peveril of the Peak
  XXIV. Quentin Durward
  XXV. St. Ronan's Well
  XXVI. Redgauntlet
  XXVII. Tales of the Crusaders
  XXVIII. Woodstock
  XXIX. The Fair Maid of Perth
  XXX. The Chronicles of the Canongate and Other Tales
          The Highland Widow
          The Two Drovers
          The Surgeon's Daughter
          Anne of Geierstein
          Count Robert of Paris
          Castle Dangerous
  XXXXI. A Successful Life

  Index




ILLUSTRATIONS

Portrait of Sir Walter Scott...... Frontispiece
  Photogravure from an engraving by William Walker of a painting
  by Sir Henry Raeburn, R.A., 1822.

Smailholm

Kelso Abbey

The Popping Stone

Lasswade Cottage

Map Of Scotland
  Showing localities of Scott's writings

St. Mary's Loch

Branksome Hall

Melrose Abbey

Ashestiel

Entrance to Norham Castle

Llndisfarne Abbey

Tantallon Castle

Loch Achray

Cambusmore

Glenfinglas

Stirling Castle

Brackenbury Tower, Barnard Castle

The Valley of the Tees
  From Barnard Castle

The Valley of St. John
  Showing Triermain Castle Rock

Turnberry Castle, Coast of Ayrshire

Grandtully Castle

Doune Castle
  From the Teith

Ullswater
  Waverley's retreat after the defeat of the Chevalier

Caerlaverock Castle

Edinburgh from the Castle

Auchmuthie

The Black Dwarf's Cottage

Craignethan Castle (Tillietudlem)

Crichope Linn

Chillingham Castle

Loch Lomond from Inversnaid

St. Anthony's Chapel

Crichton Castle

Loch Lubnaig

Map of England
  Showing Localities of Scott's writings

Castle of Ashby de la Zouch

The Buck-Gate
  Entrance to the Duke of Portland's estate, Sherwood Forest

The Avenue of Limes, Sherwood Forest

Interior of Fountains Abbey

Coningsburgh Castle

Cathcart Castle

Leicester's Buildings, Kenilworth

Cæsar's Tower, Kenilworth

Entrance to Warwick Castle

Mervyn's Tower, Kenilworth

Lerwick, Shetland

A Crofter's Cottage, Orkney

Sumburgh Head, Shetland

Scalloway, Shetland

The Standing Stones of Stennis

Stromness, Orkney

Map of London
  Showing localities of Scott's writings

The Pack-Horse Bridge, Haddon Hall

The Saxon Tower, Isle of Man

The Tweed and Eildon Hills

Scott's Tomb, Dryburgh

Hoddam Castle

Powis Castle, Wales

Godstow Priory
  Burial-place of 'The Fair Rosamond'

Loch Tay

House of the Fair Maid of Perth

Abbotsford

Scott Monument, Edinburgh




{xiii}

INTRODUCTION

On the first day of May, 1911, we began our exploration of the 'Scott
Country.'   I say we, because I was accompanied by the companion of a
much longer journey, of which that year was the twenty-fifth milestone.
Whether from reasons of sentiment resulting from the near approach of
our silver anniversary, or because of more prosaic geographical
considerations, we began at the place where Walter Scott discovered
that he would be likely to see more of the beauty of life if he were
equipped with two pairs of eyes rather than one.  This was at the
village of Gilsland, in the north of England, where the poet first met
the companion who was to share the joys and sorrows of the best years
of his life.  A pony and dogcart took us clattering up to the top of
the hill, where, leaving our conveyance, we started down the glen to
the banks of the river Irthing.  Here the camera promptly responded to
the call of a beautiful view and the first exposure was made:--a gently
flowing stream of shallow water, scarcely covering the rocky bed of the
river; a pleasant path along the bank, well shaded from the sun; and a
slender little waterfall in the distance;--the same scene which so
often met the eyes of Walter Scott and his future bride as they
strolled along the stream in their 'courting' days.

This was the beginning of a tour which eventually led into nearly every
county of Scotland, as far north as the Shetland Islands, and through a
large part of England {xiv} and Wales.  We went wherever we thought we
might find a beautiful or an interesting picture, connected in some way
with the life of Sir Walter, or mentioned by him in some novel or poem.
Knowing that he had derived his inspiration from an intimate knowledge
of the country, we sought to follow his footsteps so far as possible.
Months of preparation had been devoted to the work before leaving home.
Every novel and poem had to be read, besides many books of reference,
including, of course, Lockhart's _Life_, for it would not have been
safe to trust to the recollections of earlier reading.  Notes were made
of the places to be sought, and two large maps were prepared on which I
marked circles with a red pencil around all points which I thought
ought to be visited, until my maps began to look as though they were
suffering from a severe attack of measles.  Then the route was laid out
by 'centres.'   The first was Carlisle, then Dumfries, Melrose,
Edinburgh, Berwick, Glasgow, Stirling, Callander, the Trossachs, Oban,
and so on until the entire country had been covered.  From each
'centre' as a convenient point of departure we explored the country in
many directions, visiting so far as possible every scene of the novels
and poems that could be identified.

It was surprising to find so many of these scenes exactly as Sir Walter
had described them.  The mountains and valleys, the rivers, lakes, and
waterfalls, the wild ruggedness of the seaside cliffs, the quaint
little old-fashioned villages, the ruined castles and abbeys, all
brought back memories of the romances which he had so charmingly set
amidst these scenes.  It was like actually living the Waverley Novels
to see them.  And in seeing {xv} them, we came to know, on intimate
terms, Sir Walter himself; to feel the genial influence of his presence
as if he were a fellow traveller, and to love him as his companions