www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk The Queen is visiting the Scottish Borders to officially reopen the former home of Sir Walter Scott near Melrose, UK, after its multi-million pound restoration.
Abbotsford House will open again to the public on Thursday.
One of the great Scottish writers, the genial Sir Walter Scott forged the way to modern novel-writing.
Abbotsford House will open again to the public on Thursday.
One of the great Scottish writers, the genial Sir Walter Scott forged the way to modern novel-writing.
www.writingbar.com At the age of 14 yrs, I sat in the theatre spellbound, watching the movie made from his novel Ivanhoe. The drama of a knight on a quest changed me forever and planted the seed which grew to my own novel writing. Although I don't write in the same genre, I love the idea of a quest. My characters don't need to be knights. Hold on—one of my futuristic novels is titled, Knights in Dark Leather. That's because the anti-heroine gives her two protectors that title. Getting right to the heart of life, we all chase dreams or earnest desires.
Sir Walter Scott factfile. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica:
· Born in Edinburgh, 15 August 1771
· Works included The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, Rob Roy, The Heart of Midlothian and Ivanhoe
· Described as "a born storyteller who could place a large cast of vivid and varied characters in an exciting and turbulent historical setting"
· Badly affected by financial collapse of 1825
· Died at Abbotsford, 21 September 1832
· Considered a founder of a "virtually new literary form" the historical novel
· A literary prize is presented in his name annually
Sir Walter Scott factfile. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica:
· Born in Edinburgh, 15 August 1771
· Works included The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, Rob Roy, The Heart of Midlothian and Ivanhoe
· Described as "a born storyteller who could place a large cast of vivid and varied characters in an exciting and turbulent historical setting"
· Badly affected by financial collapse of 1825
· Died at Abbotsford, 21 September 1832
· Considered a founder of a "virtually new literary form" the historical novel
· A literary prize is presented in his name annually
Though best known now as the author of The Waverley Novels, Sir Walter Scott's first love and earliest success was as a poet. http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poetry/poets/sir-walter-scott
Such was the success of The Lay that Scott’s publisher offered him 500 guineas, sight unseen, for his next poem, the ‘tale of Flodden Field’, Marmion (1808). In the person of Marmion, the ‘bold, bad man’, Scott created a new kind of anti-hero, one which would profoundly influence Byron. He followed Marmion with The Lady of the Lake (1810).
Excerpt from 'The Lay of the Last Minstrel', Canto sixth
Such was the success of The Lay that Scott’s publisher offered him 500 guineas, sight unseen, for his next poem, the ‘tale of Flodden Field’, Marmion (1808). In the person of Marmion, the ‘bold, bad man’, Scott created a new kind of anti-hero, one which would profoundly influence Byron. He followed Marmion with The Lady of the Lake (1810).
Excerpt from 'The Lay of the Last Minstrel', Canto sixth
II
O Caledonia! stern and wild,
Meet nurse for a poetic child!
Land of brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and the flood,
Land of my sires! what mortal hand
Can e'er untie the filial band,
That knits me to thy rugged strand! ...
Scott turned mostly to novels after 1814, becoming the world’s first best-seller. He candidly admitted to the Countess Pürgstall that his decision to forgo poetry was partly motivated by the success of the ‘more forcible and powerful’ Lord Byron.
Now, visitors to Scotland will be able to wander his ancestral home Abbotsford House and soak up the atmosphere.
Now, visitors to Scotland will be able to wander his ancestral home Abbotsford House and soak up the atmosphere.
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