Sir Walter Scott: Heart of Midlothian, Bride of Lammermoor, Waverley, "Wandering Willie's Tale," &c.

[Extollager]

Here's a place to discuss the writings of this author who was once ranked with Shakespeare, who was one of Britain's most noted authors, and who is now little read. If you are quite at home in our time, such that obsessing about raceclassandgender seems to you the natural occupation of an educated mind, or that what we need most is "equality," you will not likely find Scott to your taste. On the other hand, if you think that things called moderation and magnanimity might be desirable, and if you're curious about one of the main authors who helped to create the modern sense of history... Scott might be a good author for you to try.

Here are a few suggestions.

1.In reading Scott's novels, consider beginning with Chapter 2. This works, for example, with two that I recommend as first Scott novels, namely the first two listed in the thread title. It is not that Scott is writing simply to beef up his page count. Rather he wrote for an audience that enjoyed being eased into a fine long tale with a leisurely, affable introduction.

By the way, I haven't read Scott's verse yet, to speak of. He was celebrated as a writer of narrative poetry and authors used to be able to quote from it without attribution, knowing it would be recognized. However, his short poem "Proud Maisie" strikes me as the real deal. I just read it again and it raised goosebumps. (See below.)

2.Scott's prose may be best known now for medieval romances, such as Ivanhoe, but these are not necessarily his best. He is better with scenarios from around the time of the English Civil War on up to within a generation or two of his own time. In addition to the three novels listed above, I have enjoyed Redgauntlet (from which the "Tale" is taken), Old Mortality, The Antiquary, Rob Roy, etc. I didn't think Kenilworth was great (although it was my first by him), and Ivanhoe did seem to need some skipping. I didn't like Guy Mannering as much as I'd have liked to.

3.Take a look at John Buchan's book on Scott or C. S. Lewis's paper on him in Selected Literary Essays. Their enthusiasm may be infectious.

4.Settle in and read Scott in sizeable portions. This is particularly important with the Scottish novels because of the use of dialect. I suspect that, today, some people literally cannot read dialect, because they have been taught to read by sight rather than by phonics. I hope that's not an obstacle for anyone here. The dialect takes some settling into, but when you do you may find it really adds zest (e.g. the solitary caretaker of Ravenwood's ruinous, still trying to keep up appearances in absurd ways, in The Bride of Lammermoor).

Anyone care to comment on Scott?

Proud Maisie is in the wood,
Walking so early;
Sweet Robin sits on the bush,
Singing so rarely.

"Tell me, thou bonny bird,
When shall I marry me?"—
"When six braw gentlemen
Kirkward shall carry ye."

"Who makes the bridal bed,
Birdie, say truly?"—
"The gray-headed sexton
That delves the grave duly.

"The glowworm o'er grave and stone
Shall light thee steady;
The owl from the steeple sing,
'Welcome, proud lady.'"

 

[j d worthington]

I will attempt to keep up with this discussion,* but at the moment, I've not too much to add, save that I did, some years ago, read his complete poetical works... some of which I thought was very good, some mediocre, though I don't recall finding any that were outright bad. (Unlike Thomas Moore, most of which I read at about the same time... there I found a fair amount which was forgettable, though what was good was quite memorable.)

I've never been a great fan of Scott's work, though some of it I do think is very good, and have enjoyed. I notice the listing of "Wandering Willie's Tale" (part of the lengthy Redgauntlet); given my penchant for the supernatural tale, it isn't surprising that this is one I have a fondness for.

On the subject of dialect... yes, sadly, this has become an increasing problem over the past few decades, which is a great pity, as dialect, when done well, can greatly enhance the effect of a work (e.g., Stevenson's "Thrawn Janet", which simply would not work nearly as well were it told in straightforward standard English prose, any more than Buchan's Witch Wood), as well as lending a piquancy and picturesque quality which adds layers of charm.

*though, as you know, my schedule has a terrible tendency to go through the wringer without warning a fair amount of the time

 

[The Ace]

I've always had an ambivalent attitude towards Scott because, while he could spin a good yarn, he wasn't too bothered about the facts getting in the way (witness the way he mashed up historical events in, 'The Fair Maid of Perth,' or his turning brutal, treacherous gangster Rob Roy MacGregor into a hero) - he was also writing for Victorian society, turning Scotland into the shortbread-tin image that we're still trying to shake off today.

During the indyref, it was speculated that Robert Burns would be a solid, 'Yes,' Scott wouldn't want to alienate his audience and would be an equally solid, 'No,' and R. L. Stevenson wouldn't be eligible to vote from Tahiti.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Fenimore cooper wrote the Pilot due to disgust at Scott's nautical effort. But Scott can be good fun too.

 

[Extollager]

Could one, I wonder, get a ways into Scott's work and life by discussing "amateurishness"? I'm thinking in terms of the old idea of the person who does a thing for love of it and perhaps without having been formally trained in it. I've begun a rereading of The Antiquary,* and it seems so far that Scott writes, as a non-professional novelist,**with affection for his title character who, like Scott himself, is an antiquary. In other words, the book is pervaded so far with liking: Scott likes writing the book; he likes his principal character; he likes very much what his principal character likes.

So far no plot seems to be emerging (one senses it's probably going to depend largely on Lovel, the younger man who's fallen in with Oldbuck, the antiquary); rather, the pages evoke the relish of antiquarianism and of language (e.g. Oldbuck's basically good-natured verbal abuse of the old woman).

*This was my second Scott novel, read back in Nov. 1987, and I hardly remember the plot now.

**He didn't begin as a journalist, writing for money, but was, as I recall, working in some capacity in the legal profession when he began writing his novels anonymously.

 

[j d worthington]

I'd say it's a good place to start, given that so much of Scott's work relies on an odd sort of nostalgia which doesn't necessarily pay much attention to historical fact, but rather to legendry and sentimental views of characters, incidents, and the like (which may be closely related to the problems The Ace has with him and his work). You see much of the same thing at work in Machen, at times in Lovecraft, etc., as well.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I began with Ivanhoe as a child and went on to read several of the Waverley novels. I don't remember any detail after all these years, but I know it took me a while to get into his style, although I didn't find the phonetically-written dialogue an issue. I remember thoroughly enjoying them.

Having said that, it was a choice between Scott and O-level revision. Even the telephone directory might have seemed interesting!

Digressing from Scott, I also read most of Dickens' works during that period. A Tale of Two Cities got me through my history O-level. We hadn't covered the French Revolution, but there was a question on it. Dear old Charlie saved the day.

 

[svalbard]

Quentin Durward is an old favourite of mine. I always found Scott's style easy to read. His historical inaccuracies can be forgiven, because as with a lot of HF, the plot drives the story with the history as a colourful background.

 

[Bick]

I'm tempted to try and get into Scott. As some may have picked up, I've become a bit of a Balzac fan of late, and he was of course heavily influenced by and an admirer of Scott. What should I seek out, in addition to the obvious novels easily obtained?

 

[Extollager]

Not sure what you mean by "the obvious novels," Bick, other than, probably, Ivanhoe.

I'll recommend The Heart of Midlothian. It features what I suppose is Scott's best treatment of a woman character, Jeanie Deans, who has neither class nor beauty to ease her way in society. Her sister is accused of killing her baby and Jeanie sets out to walk from Scotland to London to seek audience with the Queen in hopes of saving her sister's life. It also features one of Scott's weird characters, Madge Wildfire. There's a lot more to the plot than these elements. The novel features plenty of dialect, which may put off readers now but was one of Scott's recognized excellences formerly.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Not sure what you mean by "the obvious novels," Bick, other than, probably, Ivanhoe.

I'll recommend The Heart of Midlothian. It features what I suppose is Scott's best treatment of a woman character, Jeanie Deans, who has neither class nor beauty to ease her way in society. Her sister is accused of killing her baby and Jeanie sets out to walk from Scotland to London to seek audience with the Queen in hopes of saving her sister's life. It also features one of Scott's weird characters, Madge Wildfire. There's a lot more to the plot than these elements. The novel features plenty of dialect, which may put off readers now but was one of Scott's recognized excellences formerly.

I read this book a long time ago and would agree that it is an excellent Scott novel - I seem to remember that it had a great set piece involving the Porteous riots, which I believe inspired Dickens when he wrote Barnaby Rudge which is has a very graphic account of the Gordon Riots in London (Actually another book I enjoyed greatly and one that is usually off people's Dicken's radar.)

Again from memory another Scott book I would tentatively suggest, @Bick, is Waverley.

I have to say I didn't really like the faux-historical nonsense of Ivanhoe.

 

[galanx]

I liked Rob Roy, though the dialect conversations are a pain to read.

A good historical account of Scott's influence is "The King's Jaunt: George IV in Scotland 1822" by John Prebble, showing Scott's influence in simply making up many of the "ancient" traditions of Scotland

‘We are THE CLAN, our King is THE CHIEF’ (Scott, ‘Hints’). And so the tartans were invented, all those diced tweeds in scarlet and yellow, blue and green and black, with their entirely bogus link to the tribal names of Highland Scotland, described by the Lord Lyon King of Arms as ‘humbug’ and by Lt-Col. M. M. Haldane in the most closely-argued study of the matter as a ‘myth’.

LRB · David Craig · Taking the hint