Scott, Sir Walter

(1771-1832).

   Scottish poet born in Edinburgh. He was lame in his right leg from a young age (possibly from poliomyelitis). Educated at Edinburgh High School and at the university, he was called to the bar in 1792. From 1799 until his death he was sheriff deputy of the county of Selkirk as well as clerk to the Court of Session in Edinburgh, and was a partner the publishing firm owned by James Ballantyne and his brother John. He incurred debts in saving the company from bankruptcy, as well as building his house, Abbotsford, on the Scottish Borders. His novel Waverly was published in 1814 and altogether he wrote 28 novels and short stories. He is buried at Dryburgh Abbey, Scotland, and is memorialized by a stone in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. Some of his poetry publications: Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 1802-1803. The Lay of the Last Minstrel, 1805. Marmion, 1808. The Lady of the Lake, 1810. The Bridal of Triermain, 1813. The Lord of the Isles, 1815. Rob Roy, 1817. Some of his other poems: "Hunting Song," "MacGregor's Gathering," "The Dreary Change," "The Eve of Saint John," "The Fire."

   Sources: A Book of Scottish Verse. Maurice Lindsay and R.L. Mackie, eds. St. Martin's Press, 1983. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Golden Treasury of the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language. Francis Turner Palgrave, ed. Oxford University Press, 1964, Sixth edition, updated by John Press, 1994. Microsoft Encarta 2006 (DVD). Microsoft Corporation, 2006. Poets of the English Language. Vol. IV. W.H. Auden and Norman Holmes Pearson, eds. Viking Press, 1950. Selections from the Poems of Sir Walter Scott. A. Hamilton Thompson, ed. Reprint Services 1921. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Faber Book of War Poetry. Kenneth Baker, ed. Faber and Faber, 1996. The Oxford Book of Christmas Poems. Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark, eds. Oxford University Press, 1983. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).