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The River Tweed and the Eildon Hills, by Sutton Palmer, 1920 (Corson P.1442)

Links for Places Associated with Scott

Kelso: The River Tweed and Abbey Ruins, by Sutton Palmer, 1922 (Corson P.3310)

For the moment, this page lists only links which specifically discuss Scott's relationship with the place in question. It will eventually be expanded to include more general pages on places with Scott associations.

1. General

The follow pages deal with more than one category of sites associated with Scott:
  • EdinPhoto: The History of Photography - Peter Stubbs's site charting the history of photography in Edinburgh provides many nineteenth-century images of the Scott Monument and of Scott's homes at 25 George Square, 39 North Castle Street, and Lasswade.

  • Literary Locales - Sponsored by San Jose State University's Department of English, this page provides weblinks to places that figure in the lives and writings of famous authors including the following Scott-related locales: Abbotsford, Ashby Castle, Durham Cathedral, Egglestone Abbey, Kenilworth, Loch Katrine, Lochinvar, and Peveril Castle.

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2. Homes and Haunts

The 'Scott Country' | Abbotsford | Bowhill | Edinburgh | Gilsland | Kelso | Melrose | Selkirk | Smailholm

The 'Scott Country'

  • Save Scott's Countryside - Home page for a non-profit-making organisation opposed to development of Sir Walter Scott's lands between Abbotsford and Melrose. The site features a discussion of the planning issues, photographs of sites under consideration for development, news and events pages.

  • Sir Walter Scott@VisitBritain - From the tourist information site VisitBritain, a guide to the 'Scott Country' with suggested routes.

  • Sir Walter Scott by Fred Gordon - From Worldisround, photographs of Kelso, Abbotsford, and Dryburgh Abbey.

  • The Sir Walter Scott Way - An illustrated guide to the Sir Walter Scott Way, a 92 mile/148 kilometre cross-country walk from Moffat in South Central Scotland to Cockburnspath on the South East Scottish Coastline. It provides biographical and historical information on Scott's homes and haunts (with excellent recent photographs) together with details of facilities for walkers and other visitors.
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Abbotsford

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Bowhill

  • Bowhill House and Country Park - An entry from Information Britain on the principal seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch (Scott's feudal patrons), evoked as 'Sweet Bowhill' in The Lay of the Last Minstrel. The 'Scott Room' contains the manuscript of the Lay, several historical proof editions, and Scott's plaid. The entry includes a description of the important art collection, opening times, admission charges, and directions.

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Edinburgh

  • Homes of Sir Walter Scott in Edinburgh - From Astoft, A. Soedring's site devoted to British and Danish architecture, this page contains photographs of Scott's surviving homes at 25 George Square, 10 South Castle Street, 39 North Castle Street, and 3 Walker Street, together with images of Old College (built on the site of Scott's birthplace in College Wynd) and the Old High School. The images are accompanied by brief extracts from Pevsner Architectural Guides: Edinburgh (1991) and from Scott's Journal.
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Gilsland

  • The Popping Stone, Gilsland, Cumbria - Part of local historian Will Higgs's local history site Laverocks, this page contains a discussion of the local tradition that Scott proposed to his wife Charlotte Carpenter at the 'Popping Stone', a boulder formation in the grounds of the Gilsland Spa Hotel (formerly the Shaws Hotel). It concludes that Scott may well have been attracted to folklore surrounding the stone but that the naming of the stone predates its association with Scott. There are links to images of the Popping Stone (both historical and contemporary), to further Gilsland sites and to an e-text of The Bridal of Triermain, which some think contains reminiscences of Scott's courtship of his wife. See Williamina, Charlotte and Marriage for more on Scott and Charlotte Carpenter.

  • South Tynedale: Alston to Haltwhistle - From David Simpson's North East England History Pages, this page has a paragraph 'Sir Walter and the Wall' describing Scott's courtship of Charlotte Carpenter at Gilsland and including the text of Scott's 'To a Lady, with Flowers from the Roman Wall'.

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Kelso

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Melrose

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Selkirk

  • Scott's Selkirk - Website for a festival held annually on the first weekend in December, celebrating Scott's connection with Selkirk. For details of the 2006 festival, see Recent Events. For Scott's work as Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire see Professional Life.

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Smailholm

  • Smailholm Tower - From the visitor information site Discover the Borders, a page on the fifteenth-century tower house on the grounds of Sandyknowe Farm. Discusses Scott's connections with Sandyknowe which belonged to Scott's grand-parents Robert and Barbara Scott and where he spent much of his infancy (see Sandyknowe and Early Childhood). In addition to directions and information on opening hours, admission charges, and facilities, the page contains images of a display of dolls housed in the Tower illustrating scenes from Scott's poems.

  • Smailholm Tower - From Clan Pringle, a page, with many photographs, on the fifteenth-century tower built by the Pringle family. It lists Scott's connections with the Tower, which he knew from his childhood stay at Sandyknowe and used as a setting in Marmion and 'The Eve of St. John'.

  • Pringles of Whitsome and Smailholm - From Tom Paterson's Scottish Roots, this extract from William Anderson's The Scottish Nation (1863) discusses Scott's associations with Smailholm Tower which was built by Robert Pringle at the beginning of the fifteenth century. It goes on to quote Scott's discussion, in Chapter 1 of The Monastery, of a bridge built over the Tweed by Sir John Pringle.

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3. Monuments and Museums

General | Dryburgh | Edinburgh | Glasgow | New York | Philadelphia | Rome

General

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Dryburgh

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Edinburgh

  • The Writers' Museum - Located within the seventeenth-century Lady Stair’s House, the Writers' Museum is dedicated to the lives and work of Scotland’s great literary figures, laying particular emphasis on Scott, Robert Burns, and Robert Louis Stevenson. The rich collection of manuscripts, first editions and portraits is complemented by a series of personal exhibits, including Scott's chessboard and dining table, together with the press on which many of the Waverley Novels were printed.
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Glasgow

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New York

  • Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns Monuments, New York - Information page, with images, on the statues of Scott and Robert Burns in Central Park, New York City. The Scott statue is a bronze replica of Sir John Steele's sculpture for the Edinburgh Scott Monument. It was gifted to the park by Scottish-Americans to mark the centenary of Scott's birth in 1871.

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Philadelphia

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Rome

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4. Settings

The Antiquary | The Black Dwarf | The Bride of Lammermoor | The Fair Maid of Perth | The Heart of Mid-Lothian | Ivanhoe | The Lady of the Lake | The Lay of the Last Minstrel | 'Lochinvar' | The Lord of the Isles | Marmion | The Monastery | Old Mortality | Peveril of the Peak | The Pirate | Rob Roy | Rokeby | Saint Ronan's Well

The Antiquary

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The Black Dwarf

  • Manor (Parish) - An article from the Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland (1868), hosted by RootsWeb, which identifies the parish's greatest attraction as the cottage of the 'Black Dwarf', home to the reclusive David Ritchie, on whom Scott partially modelled the titular character of The Black Dwarf. The Parish Kirkyard also contains a monument to Ritchie's memory.

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The Bride of Lammermoor

  • Baldoon Castle - From the Bladnoch Distillery site, an extract from Peter Underword's Gazetteer of Scottish and Irish Ghosts (1973) which describes the wedding night of Janet Dalrymple and David Dunbar at Baldoon Castle near Wigtown, an episode on which Scott based the conclusion to The Bride of Lammermoor.

  • Baldoon Castle - From the tourist information site VisitSouthernScotland.com, a page on Baldoon Castle, discussing its role as a historical setting for The Bride of Lammermoor (see above) and providing full visitor information.

  • Baldoon Castle - From Haunted Places in the UK, a page on Baldoon Castle, in which the events of Janet Dalrymple's wedding night are told from her own perspective.

  • Famous Haunted Places: Baldoon Castle - From Angels & Ghosts, an account by Walter Bissell of the wedding night of Janet Dalrymple and David Dunbar (see above) which quotes from Scott's fictional elaboration of the episode in The Bride of Lammermoor. Janet Dalrymple's ghost is reputed to haunt the castle.

  • Nunraw Past and Present - From the Nunraw Abbey Homepage, this page by Fr. Michael Sherry OCSO includes a discussion of Nunraw's claim to be recognised as the 'Ravenswood' of Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor.

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The Fair Maid of Perth

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The Heart of Mid-Lothian

  • The Luckenbooths - JK Gillon's page on the Luckenbooths ('locked booths') in Edinburgh's High Street, which were the centre for trade in the city until their demolition in 1817, includes a descriptive passage from The Heart of Mid-Lothian along with a number of nineteenth-century prints.

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Ivanhoe

  • Yorkshire's Castles: Conisbrough Castle - From h2g2, an interactive encyclopaedic project run by the BBC, this page quotes Scott's description of Conisbrough Castle in Ivanhoe (where it features as the home of Athelstane). It describes the role played by Conisbrough Castle in Scott's novel and quotes an extract from Scott's correspondence recalling his first vision of the castle through the window of a mail coach in 1801.

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The Lady of the Lake

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The Lay of the Last Minstrel

  • Branxholm - From GENUKI, the UK and Ireland genealogical site, this is an entry from the Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland (1868) on Branxholm (or Branxholme or Branksome) Castle near Hawick, ancestral seat of the Scotts of Buccleuch. Quotes Canto I, stanzas 1-5 of The Lay of the Last Minstrel, depicting a medieval feast at the castle.

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'Lochinvar' (see also Marmion)

  • Lochinvar - From Andy Potts's genealogical site, the Sorbie Family Page, this page provides historical information on the site of the now submerged ruins of the former stronghold of the Gordons of Lochinvar, one of whom was featured as 'Young Lochinvar' in Lady Heron's song in Scott's Marmion. There is a paragraph on Scott followed by the text of 'Lochinvar'.

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The Lord of the Isles

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Marmion

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The Monastery

  • A Lost House: Cairncross of Colmslie - From the Cairncross Family Web Site, a reprint of a 1905 article by the Rev. T. S. Cairncross about Comslie Tower near Melrose. The article quotes the introduction to the Magnum Opus edition of The Monastery where Scott denies any real resemblance between Colmslie (and the neighbouring towers of Hillslap and Langshaw) and his fictional Glendearg. It also discusses Scott's citation of an extract from a traditional ballad on Colmslie.

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Old Mortality

  • The Annals of Lesmahagow - From the Lesmahagow.com community website, this extract from the Annals lists the grounds for considering Craignethan Castle as the model for Tillietudlem in Old Mortality.

  • Draffan - From Malcolm Hutton's Family History hosted by RootsWeb, this page discusses how Scott based Tillietudlem Castle in Old Mortality on Craignethan Castle in Lanarkshire (built on the site of the earlier Draffan Castle). It describes how a railway station named 'Tillietudlem' was subsequently built near the castle and how a village of that name grew up around it.

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Peveril of the Peak

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The Pirate

  • Brims Family History: Myths and Legends - This page refers to the tradition that Brims Castle, near Thurso, Caithness, was the model for Jarishof in The Pirate.

  • The Standing Stones o' Stenness: Sir Walter Scott's 'Sacrificial Altar' - From Orkneyjar, a site dedicated to preserving, exploring and documenting the ancient history, folklore and traditions of Orkney, this page discusses Scott's description of the Standing Stones in his 'Essay on Border Antiquities' (1814). Scott's contentious claim that the central stone slab originally formed part of a sacrificial altar eventually led to the 'altar''s reconstruction in 1907. The 'altar' was dismantled in mysterious circumstances in 1972. The Stones also feature in The Pirate.

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Rob Roy

  • Clan Gregor Burial Sites - From Clan Gregor International, this page includes clickable images of photographs of Rob Roy's Grave and 'The Heart of Midlothian' and of a portrait of Roderick Dhu by Howard Chandler Christy taken from a 1910 edition of The Lady of the Lake.

  • Rob Roy in Northumberland - From Louis Stott's Website, this essay discusses Scott's knowledge of Northumberland and his portrayal of the country and of the Northumbrian Jacobites in Rob Roy. In particular, it considers the competing claims of Chillingham Castle and Biddlestone Hall to be considered the models for Scott's Osbaldistone Hall.

  • The Rob Roy Way - A site tracing a seven-day walk across the Southern Highlands, following the tracks and paths used by Rob Roy MacGregor in the 17th and 18th centuries and noting locations featured in Scott's novel Rob Roy.

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Rokeby

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Saint Ronan's Well

  • Innerleithen - From VisitScotland.com, the official site of the Scottish Tourist Board, a page noting the identification of Innerleithen with the eponymous fictional spa-town of Saint Ronan's Well and its consequent development as a tourist attraction. The town is home to the St. Ronan's Well Interpretative Centre, which houses a display on the history of the spa and on its links with Burns, Scott, and James Hogg.

  • Innerleithen (Parish) - From GENUKI, the UK and Ireland genealogical site, this entry from the Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland (1868) includes two paragraphs on the village of Innerleithen which note its emergence as a tourist destination following its identification with Scott's Saint Ronan's Well.

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5. Other

  • Border Island, Whitsunday Islands, Australia - From the Tourist Information site of the Whitsundays, this page discusses how local place names (Cateran Bay, Mosstrooper Peak, Minstrel Rocks) derive from The Lay of the Last Minstrel, as do the names of the neighbouring Deloraine and Esk Islands.

  • Deloraine, Tasmania - From Walkabout, an Australian travel guide, an entry on a town named after Sir William Deloraine in Scott's The Lay of the Last Minstrel. The district was first surveyed and the settlement named by Thomas Scott (1800-55), a kinsman of the author.

  • Robsart - From Saskatchewan Ghost Towns, an account of a settlement founded in 1910 and named after Amy Robsart, heroine of Kenilworth. The settlement declined during the Great Depression and is now home to only a handful of residents.

  • A Tribute to Jorstadt Castle (now 'Singer Castle') - From Patty Mondore's Home Page on Gold Mountain, a personal tribute page to a castle built between 1902 and 1904 on Dark Island in Upstate New York for Commodore Frederick Gilbert Bourne, fourth President of the Singer Sewing Manufacturing Company. The architect Ernest Flagg, who also designed both the Singer Building in New York City, modelled his design on the description of the royal hunting lodge in Woodstock Park in Scott's Woodstock. A video and book on the Castle are also available from the site.

  • Singer Castle on Dark Island - Official site providing visitor information on Singer Castle which was modelled by Ernest Flagg on a description in Scott's Woodstock (see above). The site provides a brief history of the building and numerous images.

  • Singer Castle (formerly Jorstadt Castle) - From Castles of the United States, a page on Singer Castle (see above) collating information on the castle which was modelled by Ernest Flagg on a description in Scott's Woodstock.

  • Waverly, Baltimore - This article by 'Mater Braün' from the John Hopkins News-Letter, October 19, 2000, praises the Lake Trout sandwiches served in the Baltimore neighbourhood of Waverly. It notes that the neighbourhood, originally called Huntington, was renamed Waverly [sic] in honour of Scott. The author makes the humorous suggestion that the inhabitants may have been inspired to fry fish by the innkeeper Mackitchinson in The Antiquary.

Abbotsford, drawn by John Bower, 1833 (Corson P. 1820)

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Last updated: 01-Sept-2009
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