Walter Scott

Writer

Born

August 15, 1771 · Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Died

September 21, 1832

Sir Walter Scott was born August 15, 1771, in Edinburgh, Scotland, as the ninth child (and the fourth surviving) of Walter Scott, a solicitor, and his wife Anne Rutherford. Polio, contracted when he was two, resulted in a crippled left leg, but even this illness did not prevent Scott from growing into a tall and energetic man. Raised on the old Border tales and ballads that would later influence his historical novels, Scott was a clever and active child. Unfortunately, poor health interrupted his studies at Edinburgh University, and after being apprenticed to his father's legal firm for a year, Scott decided to study law. While visiting the Highlands on business in 1786 and 1787, he met not only Alexander Stewart of Invernahyle (who once fought a duel with Rob Roy MacGregor) but also the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns. After his first love broke his heart by marrying another man, Scott married a Frenchwoman, Charlotte Charpentier, on Christmas Day, 1797, after a whirlwind romance. They remained happily married until her death in 1826. Scott began writing poetry at an early age, and so distinguished himself in this that he was offered the Poet Laureateship in 1813, which he turned down. He published his first novel, "Waverley," in 1814, and it quickly became one of the most successful English language novels ever published. Scott chiefly concentrated on novels in his latter years, putting aside his poetry to publish "Ivanhoe" in 1819 and "Rob Roy" in 1817. After suffering a stroke and apoplectic paralysis in 1831, Scott died on 21 September 1832.