Solicitor-Barrister Becomes Poet-Historian: Sir Walter Scott born August 15th 1771.

SIR WALTER SCOTT, born August 15, 1771, in Edinburgh, Scotland, studied law as his father’s apprentice, before becoming an influential novelist, poet, and historian.

Scott’s impact on both Scottish and English literature cannot be denied. He created the modern historical novel which has inspired generations of writers and audiences alike and his input to the Highland revival. Whilst perhaps not as synonymous with Scotland as his predecessor Burns, Scott has been immortalised in monuments as far apart as Glasgow and New York and still appears on the Scottish bank notes.

He loved the history of Scotland and he cherished the company of dogs. He was quoted as saying……“The misery of keeping a dog is his dying so soon. But, to be sure, if he lived for fifty years and then died, what would become of me?”