Young Scott in the Presence of an Idol

From the Abbotsford website, "The Meeting of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott
at Sciennes Hill House by Charles Martin Hardie"

It is no secret that I did not particularly enjoy Sir Walter Scott's Waverley, as I have and continue to avoid writing in depth about the novel itself. While I am not much interested in historical novels such as this, I am, however, fascinated with the personal life of Sir Walter Scott and other writers he was both inspired by and acquainted with during the time of writing his novels. I have previously written about his biography on Henry Fielding and the possible influence on his own work, and upon learning more about Scott, I found he also has ties to Robert Burns, another writer we have read in this class.

It is not surprising that Scott and Burns had at least met, having lived in (or in Burns' case, frequented) Edinburgh around the same time. The site for Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott, details the only meeting of these two Scottish icons:

As a young man of 15, in Sciennes House, the auspicious Edinburgh residence of Professor Adam Ferguson which hosted many a literary salon, Sir Walter Scott had his first and only meeting with Robert Burns. This encounter was brief, but the profound effect it had on Scott and his literary development lasted until the end of his life.

On the evening in question, Scott, with the rest of the youngsters present, ‘sate silent, looked and listened’. When Burns sought to discuss lines of poetry under a print on the wall and asked whose they were, Scott was the only person who knew. Too shy to speak to the Poet, Scott whispered the information to a friend who passed it on to Burns.

Scott remembered that Burns: “Rewarded me with a look and a word, which, though of mere civility, I then received and still recollect, with very great pleasure”.

Burns, twelve years Scott's senior and whose work was highly revered, was evidently intimidating to Scott. Though their work greatly differed -- Scott being known more as a novelist, though he did write some poetry -- Scott took inspiration from Burns' work and applied it to his own. I find it really interesting to think about a young Scott meeting such an influential writer during that time, years before he himself received his own fame. Normally, when I think about writers from around the same time period, I don't always think of them in the context of what was happening around them, and this is something I have recently been learning to do more and more. Not only does it allow us to see the larger implications of their writing, but it also gives us a glimpse into their careers as writers; who they looked up to and who they were surrounded by certainly had a significant impact on their lives. 

All of us, as writers or as anything else, can identify figures in our lives that we hold in great esteem. We are all shaped by those who came before us, as well as those working alongside us. Instead of seeing Scott solely as a literary giant, this anecdote lets us see who he was before he really was: an incredibly bright young man seeking the approval of his predecessors. 

 “The Impact Robert Burns Had on Sir Walter Scott.” Abbotsford, 25 Jan. 2021, https://www.scottsabbotsford.com/news/the-            impact-robert-burns-had-on-sir-walter-scott#:~:text=As%20a%20young%20man%20of,only%20meeting%20wit                         h%20Robert%20Burns.