Sir Walter Scott

Born in Edinburgh, Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832) spent some of his childhood in the Scottish Borders, before being educated at Edinburgh High School and Edinburgh University, where he studied law. In 1799 he was appointed Sherriff-Depute for Selkirkshire, where he settled. He first wrote immensely popular long romantic historical poems such as Marmion (1808) and Lady of the Lake (1810), then turned to historical fiction. Works such as Waverley, (1814), Rob Roy, (1818) The Heart of Midlothian,(1818), and Redgauntlet (1824), created a vogue for Scottish history and created a romantic vision of Scotland and Scottishness.