Sir Walter Scott’s Tartan Revival
Sir Walter Scott played a key role in Scotland’s tartan revival, helping to turn tartan into a powerful national symbol during King George IV’s historic visit to Edinburgh in 1822.
Continue reading →Category Archives: Sir Walter Scott
Notes about “Rob Roy” by Sir Walter Scott…
Going on with my reading notes about Sir Walter Scott’s books, the next in file on my chronological reading list is Rob Roy, one of his most famous novels which was published in December 1817. I’ve just finished it and it is still open on my desk together with a number of extremely interesting books about the author and his … Continue reading →
Notes about “Old Mortality” by Sir Walter Scott…
When Janice and I made our promise to Sir Walter Scott to read all his books, we certainly did not realise the magnitude of the task 😉 How many books did the great Scottish author write, I could not tell exactly but what I do know is that there are many of them! 😉 Today, I can check off another … Continue reading →
Discovering the Scottish Borders: “Peel towers”…
Recently, I came across a very interesting article published by Holly Kirkwood in the magazine Country Life. In this article Holly Kirkwood draws our attention to the so-called “peel-towers”, a type of construction typical of the Scottish Borders. “There are more than 100 peel towers in various states of repair and ruin scattered the breadth of the Borders“, she writes. … Continue reading →
Notes about ‘The Black Dwarf’ by Sir Walter Scott…
Dear readers, Here we are again, at the beginning of a new year, hoping for the best in the coming months. Given the sanitary situation we still don’t know when we will be allowed to return to Scotland. En attendant des jours meilleurs I try to compensate my frustrations by browsing our pictures of Scotland, reading or re-reading books about … Continue reading →
Notes about “The Antiquary” by Sir Walter Scott…
Dear readers, Autumn is back with its gorgeous colours and shorter days. A good time for fireside reading and for me to go on with my promise to Sir Walter Scott to read all his books. A promise that seems to be well on its way though I still feel like the climber at the foot of the Himalayas ;-). … Continue reading →
15 August 2021: Happy Birthday Sir Walter!!!
Today, 15 August 2021, is a keydate on the Scottish calendar. It is the 250th birthday of Sir Walter Scott, one of the most popular authors in Scotland and his popularity goes far beyond its frontiers. As one of his French admirers, I could not help writing a few lines on Scotiana today. How I would like to be in … Continue reading →
Celebrating the 250th birthday anniversary of Walter Scott
On April 16th 2021, I decided (at last) to fulfill the promise we made a few years ago to Sir Walter Scott during one of our unforgettable visits at Abbotsford in the Scottish Borders…
Continue reading →Sir Walter Scott’s ‘Kenilworth’: a strange blacksmith…
(Kenilworth by Walter Scott, French edition adapted by Emile Pech, Boivin & Cie Editeurs 1929) Hi everybody, I’m still reading Sir Walter Scott’s Kenilworth, greatly enjoying this travel back in time to Merry Old England in company of a colourful team of characters (*) and following with much anticipation the fate of each of them and the twists and … Continue reading →
Re-discovering Sir Walter Scott’s novels: KENILWORTH…
What a good idea, Janice, to have drawn our attention to Kenilworth, one of the famous historical novels by Sir Walter Scott. I’m a great admirer of ‘The Magician of the North’ and I’ve not forgotten our promise to read all his books when we visited his home at Abbotsford, I mean the books he wrote and not those contained … Continue reading →
Behind Long-Loved Fables Are Great Stories!
Indeed, behind long-loved fables of gallants and fairy tales, are great stories, but … are they true? Let’s take for example the fable about Sir Walter Raleigh, a very handsome gentleman, quick-witted gallant, who’s story is said to have laid down his cloak over a mud puddle when Elizabeth I, Queen of England passing by with her retinue stopped near … Continue reading →
Scottish Gifts under the Christmas Tree…
Hi everybody, BONNE ANNEE A TOUS !!! We’re just coming back from Sologne where we spent the New Year holidays not far from Aubigny-sur-Nère and a few kilometers from two of the most famous châteaux de la Loire: Chambord and Cheverny. Cheverny is the castle which served as a model to the Belgian comic book creator Hergé for … Continue reading →
In Memoriam of Sir Walter Scott: September 21st 2011…
Hi everybody, Today is September 21st, the first day of the autumn season though here, in the south of France, it looks like a summer day, warm and sunny! I wonder what is the weather like in Scotland now… Is it as beautiful as it was, 179 years ago, in that quiet and beautiful corner of the Scottish Borders … Continue reading →
Save Abbotsford: Sir Walter Scott’s House in the Scottish Borders
Hi everybody! Hope this article finds you well and enjoying life. 🙂 We received a letter in reference with the restoration of Sir Walter Scott’s House in the Borders region of Scotland and thought it would be great to share its contents as it is a cause that is close to our heart. Samantha Hobrough is part of the … Continue reading →
15 August 2011: Sir Walter Scott’s 240th Birthday!
… Hi Mairiuna! While checking my agenda this morning, I noticed a scribble indicating that today was Sir Walter Scott’s birthday! I said to myself that we could not let this day go by without honouring our favorite scottish writer . To celebrate his priceless legacy which had such a great impact on historical fiction and upon so many worldwide … Continue reading →