Sir Walter Scott

Sire Walter Scott (1771 - 1832) was a writer, poet, historian, and biographer. He invented and was the greatest writer of the historical novel.

He was born in Scotland to a lawyer and the daughter of a physician. When he was young, he liked to listen to his grandparents telling him stories of the Scottish Border. He soon grew to like reading history, poetry, drama, fairy tales, and romance novels. He had an excellent memory and surprised visitors to his home by reciting them poetry. He was made a sheriff depute of the county of Selkirk in 1799, and remained in this position for all his grown up life, and worked part-time as clerk to the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

He was well known in his country for being a good romantic writer, and he succeeded in writing down romanticized poems in an attempt to “restore” accounts of the Scottish Border to their former glory.

Sir Walter Scott began writing historical novels when Lord Byron started writing poems that were finer than Walter's. He is best known for writing the famous historical fiction book Ivanhoe.

Sir Walter Scott, dedicated his life to revive Scottish tradition, and some of his greatest works can be still found all over the world today.