Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sir Walter Scott
In 1787 Robert Burns was introduced to a 16-year-old boy at a social gathering in the
house of an Edinburgh professor. The boy grew up to be Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832),
Scotland's greatest and most prolific novelist. The son of an Edinburgh lawyer, Scott lived
at various New Town addresses before moving to his country house at Abbotsford, south
of Edinburgh.
Scott's early works were rhyming ballads, such as The Lady of the Lake, while his first
historical novels - Scott effectively invented the genre - were published anonymously. He
almost singlehandedly revived interest in Scottish history and legend in the early 19th
century, and was largely responsible for organising King George IV's visit to Scotland in
1822. Plagued by debt in later life, he wrote obsessively - to the detriment of his health -
in order to make money, but will always be best remembered for classic tales such as
Waverley, The Antiquary, The Heart of Midlothian, Ivanhoe, Redgauntlet and Castle Dan-
gerous .
Robert Louis Stevenson
Along with Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) ranks as Scotland's best-known
novelist. Born at 8 Howard Pl in Edinburgh into a family of famous lighthouse engineers,
Stevenson studied law at Edinburgh University but was always intent on pursuing the life
of a writer. An inveterate traveller, but dogged by ill health, he finally settled in Samoa in
1889, where he was revered by the natives as 'Tusitala' - the teller of tales. Stevenson is
known and loved around the world for those tales: Kidnapped, Catriona, Treasure Island,
The Master of Ballantrae and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde .
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was born in Edin-
burgh and studied medicine at Edinburgh University. He based the character of Holmes on
one of his lecturers, the surgeon Dr Joseph Bell, who had employed his forensic skills and
powers of deduction on several murder cases in Edinburgh. There's a fascinating exhibit
on Dr Bell in Edinburgh's Surgeons' Hall Museums.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search