In his prime, he outsold Jane Austen and Byron while putting Scotland on the literary map.
But while Sir Walter Scott’s contemporaries are still among the lauded greats, the author of Waverley and Ivanhoe is much less read and less celebrated, and every day thousands of Scots walk underneath his statue in Glasgow without even knowing he’s there.
Whether it was his politics, his use of language or a generally unfashionable image, the man who graces the £10 note has fallen from prominence.
This week, to mark the forthcoming 250th anniversary of Scott’s birth, the author and literary TV presenter Damian Barr is launching a documentary exploring how the world’s favourite writer became so forgotten, and arguing that it is time for a proper reappraisal of one of the country’s most important figures.
For the BBC Scotland programme In Search of Sir Walter Scott this Tuesday, Barr researched his incredible impact on Scottish history, ranging from classic books and poems to banknotes and tourism, but also the flaws and contradictions which affected his legacy.
Advertisement
“As a Scottish writer, his shadow is very long but he is very rarely cited by writers as their favourite Scottish writer,” he said. “If you think of how unbelievably popular he was in his lifetime, in a way that no writer has been as popular in our time, and yet now he’s kind of little read and appreciated.
“I wanted to know why. The writers from that era who we still read, like Jane Austen, were jealous of his success. The world has changed, but we’ve still got Jane Austen in it, so why don’t we appreciate Scott?”
The Edinburgh-born sheriff depute had survived a lengthy battle with polio as a child. Waverley, his first novel, was launched in 1814 and was easily the era’s greatest publishing sensation.
One of the hurdles his work has faced today is the writing style. “A lot of it is to do with the language. If you read Waverley, you have this character, who speaks Greek, Latin, French and Scots, you shouldn’t need to have a dictionary next to you to read; it’s really hardcore,” Barr said.
“There are some really good abridged versions of Scott you can get your hands on, and there are good audio books.”
Advertisement
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to his legacy was his controversial politics. A keen member of the establishment, close to government and royalty, he held great political influence and is still seen on Scottish banknotes today after mounting a one-man campaign to keep them.
Also, decades after tartan had been banned in Scotland after the 1745 uprising, he reclaimed it and the popularity of kilts to this day can be traced to him encouraging George IV to symbolically wear tartan on a key visit to Scotland in 1822.
“He was a man who was terrified of change, and opposed to extending the voting franchise, but believed in innovation,” Barr said. “He was a keen unionist who supported Scottish causes and culture. He was also opposed to extending the voting franchise.
Barr added: “People think they know about the politics, but look at The Heart of Midlothian, a book about the Porteous riots, police brutality and working-class women like Jeanie and Effie Deans.
“He was a keen supporter of women writers and put women’s voices in his books. I was surprised when I looked back that he’s much less stuffy and more progressive than we’re led to believe.
Advertisement
“He was a royalist and a unionist but he absolutely did not want Scotland to be subsumed by its richer and more powerful neighbour to the south. That’s why he fought to preserve the Border ballads, the banknotes, why he used the Scots language.
“He loved power and being close to power. Some of his views are worthy of condemnation, like not extending the franchise.
“We need to look at both his life and his work and put them in context. We do that with Austen and Byron, but we don’t do that for one of the most famous writers there ever was.”
Barr, the author of Maggie & Me and You Will Be Safe Here, and presenter of TV series The Big Scottish Book Club and Shelf Isolation, wants his new film to start a debate about the man who invented historical fiction with descendants including everything from Ben-Hur to Outlander, and has Waverley train station named after his titular hero.
“I really hope we can have this conversation about his place in the canon and a wider conversation about literature.
Advertisement
“Even if you don’t think you know Scott, you do. The spider in the web, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again,’ that’s a Scott story.
“This is a man who would review his own books under a pseudonym, and give them bad reviews. He had a great sense of humour.
“He was a flawed man, he wasn’t the best writer there ever was, but that doesn’t mean he is not worth reading or not thinking about.”
Scott, who died at Abbotsford in 1832, aged 61, is today marked with countless street names, a largely unnoticed statue in Glasgow’s George Square and the towering Scott monument in Edinburgh — which Barr believes could host a fitting legacy for the writer.
He said: “When I was walking around it, I noticed all these empty spaces which have always been there.
Advertisement
“How brilliant would it be in Edinburgh, the Unesco city of literature, to have a national conversation about literature and how to use these spaces, like the fourth plinth. Get Janice Galloway up there, get Begbie up there. I think Scott would welcome that.”
In Search of Sir Walter Scott,
BBC Scotland, Tuesday, 10pm