Over the years, I have enjoyed visiting houses where famous
authors created their stories and found inspiration. Literary pilgrimages if
you will. Recently I took a
literary pilgrimage and visited
Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott. While he can be a bit overlooked
today, Sir Walter Scott was the first successful commercial novelist so it felt
appropriate to visit his house. In his day and for decades afterwards, he was
the world’s most popular novelist. In doing so, I was retracing the steps of
other writers such Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charlotte Bronte who had also come to see where
the man wrote his books.
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| Abbotsford from the walled garden |
Sir Walter Scott purchased the farmhouse and set out about refashioning
it into a Scottish baron’s castle. At
the time, he was the world’s most
popular novelist. The main train station in Edinburgh — Waverley — is named after
the novel which made his name, rather than the opposite.
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| A grandfather clock belonging to Scott |
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| Sir Walter Scott's marriage lines |
He was such a Scottish patriot that he obtained permission
from George IV to search for the Scottish crown jewels and then actually
discovered them in a box in Edinburgh castle where they had been put a 100 years before when the Act of Union happened.
Partly as a reward for the discovering the missing jewels, Sir Walter Scott
became the mastermind behind George IV’s visit to Edinburgh which among other
things resulted in tartans and whiskey
being legalized.
Unfortunately for Scott, shortly after his great triumph with
George IV’s visit, his publisher went bankrupt. Because of how it worked back
then, Scott also become bankrupt and had to go back to writing (as well as
selling his Edinburgh property) to pay off the debts.
He worked so hard that
his health was damaged and he died in
the dining room in 1832.
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| An outfit belonging to Sir Walter Scott |
Shortly afterwards, the family decided to open the house to
visitors. They only showed the main public rooms, including Scott’s wood paneled study while living in the rest
of the house. Scott was a great collector of stuff — old armor, arms, books on
the occult, locks of Robert Burns and Nelson’s hair etc. The library remains
just as it was in Scott’s day when they
used to use it for entertaining. There
are no bedrooms or backstairs areas open
but they have significantly altered since Scott’s day. The main purpose of a
visit to the house is to worship the genius of storytelling that was Sir Walter
Scott.
He also landscaped the grounds and walled garden. On the day
I visited there was a group of artists (including one in full artist regalia –
beret and smock) painting in the garden. The grounds also host a number of
adventure play areas for children and walks along the Tweed and through the
woods Scott planted.
There is also a newish tea room (the food is good and
reasonably priced) above a small museum
where items associated with Scott can be found, including his marriage lines to
his wife. I will admit to never really having seen the proper document before.
It is no wonder they went to simple licenses. They also have a gift shop where Scott’s books and inevitable Scottish shortbread
is sold.
Apparently weddings are often held in the grounds and the
former private area of the house has now become accommodation for guests. There
is a
The house is quite close to Melrose Abbey where Robert the
Bruce’s heart was buried. The name Abbotsford harkens back to the abbey. It is a forgotten corner of Scotland in many ways but
well worth a trip.
In Other News
My 27th historical romance Sent as The Viking’s Bride has been accepted
and will be published in January 2019. As it is set on the Scottish Islands of
Jura and Colonsay, I feel grateful that Scott first popularized such things all
those years ago.
