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151-507: The Lincoln Imp is a grotesque on a wall inside Lincoln Cathedral , England, and it has become the symbol of the city of Lincoln . The carving is situated high on the north side of the Angel Choir and is not conspicuous. The Angel Choir was built between 1250 and 1280, so the carving must date from then. It became well known in the late nineteenth century, and its associated folk tales are an elaboration of earlier traditions involving

302-582: A PR event, with the King dressed in tartan and greeted by his people, many of them also in similar tartan ceremonial dress. This form of dress, proscribed after the Jacobite rising of 1745 , became one of the seminal, potent and ubiquitous symbols of Scottish identity. In 1825, a UK-wide banking crisis resulted in the collapse of the Ballantyne printing business, of which Scott was the only partner with

453-511: A " Grimsby Imp " story, a variation of the two-imp story originally told by Arnold Frost in 1898, but with the second character relocated to a different Lincolnshire church, Grimsby Minster . The Grimsby Imp has been spoken about since at least 2017 when it was mentioned by Paul Martin on the television show Flog It! Everywhere you look, here, in Grimsby Minster, there's something to see. Little delights, little treats. Now, here in

604-442: A Gothic anomaly, and the work is complete long before I have attained the point I proposed." Yet the manuscripts rarely show major deletions or changes of direction, and Scott could clearly keep control of his narrative. That was important, for as soon as he had made fair progress with a novel he would start sending batches of manuscript to be copied (to preserve his anonymity), and the copies were sent to be set up in type. (As usual at

755-495: A North Lincolnshire man, sixty years of age, who, as a boy, had heard his father relate it." Frost summarised the legend: “The coming of Bishop Remigius to Lincoln made the devil very angry, for up to that time he had had it all his own way in the town and district. The devil tried his utmost to turn him from his purpose of building a Cathedral, but without success. At last in desperation — the Minster then nearing its completion —

906-586: A Turret of the South Porch of the Cathedral. 'Tis called by the inhabitants, the 'Devil on the Witch's back, looking over Lincoln'." Guides to the cathedral published in 1837 and 1856 also mentioned this exterior sculpture, and made no mention of the imp. An 1869 book by Richard John King did mention the imp carving, though not by nickname. "The grotesque below the second corbel on the north side (counting from

1057-603: A basis for the emerging style that would become the style of grotesques in architecture. This developing architectural style drew heavily from artistic influences combining the rising public interest in myths and monsters into a sound architectural element in many Renaissance buildings. Similarly, architects in the Renaissance often started out as sculptors lending themselves to the rise in Grotesques created on buildings. This then led to architects creating buildings that had

1208-500: A chat with my friends the Dean and Canons .’ ‘All right,’ said the wind, and he has been waiting there ever since!” The other was a story about a proverbial expression, “looking as the devil over Lincoln”. It meant to regard something or someone with malicious envy, and can be dated at least as far back as 1562 (“Like as the diuel lookt oer Lincolne”). The expression was well known, used by writers including Pope , Swift and Scott . It

1359-564: A cleft in the Angel Choir. The Lincoln Imp is the best known of all the grotesque carved figures in the Cathedral. Its half human, half animal form was probably meant to represent the devil – a popular theme for sculptors of the thirteenth century. The stone figure of the Imp is about 12 inches high, and sits cross-legged high up between two arches on the north side of the Choir. There is also

1510-572: A declined aristocratic family, with Edgar Ravenswood and his fiancée as victims of the wife of an upstart lawyer in a time of political power-struggle before the Act of Union in 1707. In 1820, in a bold move, Scott shifted period and location for Ivanhoe (1820) to 12th-century England. This meant he was dependent on a limited range of sources, all of them printed: he had to bring together material from different centuries and invent an artificial form of speech based on Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. The result

1661-649: A determined walker, he experienced greater freedom of movement on horseback. Scott began studying classics at the University of Edinburgh in November 1783, at the age of 12, a year or so younger than most fellow students. In March 1786, aged 14, he began an apprenticeship in his father's office to become a Writer to the Signet . At school and university Scott had become a friend of Adam Ferguson , whose father Professor Adam Ferguson hosted literary salons. Scott met

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1812-604: A feature in their designs included Brunelleschi and Gundulf of Rochester . Bridaham, in his book Gargoyles, Chimeres, and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture , pointed out that the sculptors of the gothic cathedrals in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were tasked by the Pope to be "preacher[s] in stone" to the illiterates who populated Europe at the time. It fell to the sculptors not only to present

1963-620: A financial interest. Its debts of £130,000 (equivalent to £13,500,000 in 2023) caused his very public ruin. Rather than declare himself bankrupt or accept any financial support from his many supporters and admirers (including the King himself), he placed his house and income in a trust belonging to his creditors and set out to write his way out of debt. To add to his burdens, his wife Charlotte died in 1826. Despite these events or because of them, Scott kept up his prodigious output. Between 1826 and 1832 he produced six novels, two short stories and two plays, eleven works or volumes of non-fiction, and

2114-451: A humorous embodiment of the existing proverb. Frost was not aware of this history when he wrote his poem, but said he learned some of it while his pamphlet was in press, causing him to release a second edition, with a new introduction, five months later. There he wrote of “the notorious attempt made by ‘Oxford men’ to appropriate one more good thing from the City of Lincoln, namely, the cult of

2265-507: A journal, along with several unfinished works. The non-fiction included the Life of Napoleon Buonaparte in 1827, two volumes of the History of Scotland in 1829 and 1830, and four instalments of the series entitled Tales of a Grandfather – Being Stories Taken From Scottish History , written one per year over the period 1828–1831, among several others. Finally, Scott had recently been inspired by

2416-469: A key element of architecture in many periods including the Renaissance and Medieval periods and have stylistically developed in conjunction with these times. Although grotesques typically depict a wide range of subjects, they are often hybrids of different mythical, human, and animalistic features. Many scholars describe grotesques as being used to ward off evil and as reminders of the separation of

2567-507: A key role in this adding often humorous and subtly subversive touches to these institutions of faith. Fudge describes the importance of the inclusion of grotesques in Medieval architecture in his book Medieval Religion and Its Anxieties. In his book he highlights the deep importance that religious institutions had in this period, this is often reflected in the architecture of the time as churches stood out and often loomed over entire towns. As

2718-616: A local inn during the circuit. In 1804, he ended his use of the Lasswade cottage and leased the substantial house of Ashestiel , 6 miles (9.7 km) from Selkirk, sited on the south bank of the River Tweed and incorporating an ancient tower house . At Scott's insistence the first edition of Minstrelsy was printed by his friend James Ballantyne at Kelso. In 1798 James had published Scott's version of Goethe 's Erlkönig in his newspaper The Kelso Mail , and in 1799 included it and

2869-773: A member of a cadet branch of the Clan Scott and a Writer to the Signet , and his wife Anne Rutherford, a sister of Daniel Rutherford and a descendant both of the Clan Swinton and of the Haliburton family (descent from which granted Walter's family the hereditary right of burial in Dryburgh Abbey ). Walter was, through the Haliburtons, a cousin of the London property developer James Burton (d. 1837), who

3020-497: A modest price of five shillings (60p) these were an innovative and profitable venture aimed at a wide readership: the print run was an astonishing 30,000. In a "General Preface" to the "Magnum Edition", Scott wrote that one factor prompting him to resume work on the Waverley manuscript in 1813 had been a desire to do for Scotland what had been done in the fiction of Maria Edgeworth , "whose Irish characters have gone so far to make

3171-633: A narrative poem in which I felt the sense of Progress so languid." But the metrical uniformity is relieved by frequent songs and the Perthshire Highland setting is presented as an enchanted landscape, which caused a phenomenal increase in the local tourist trade. Moreover, the poem touches on a theme that was to be central to the Waverley Novels: the clash between neighbouring societies in different stages of development. The remaining two long narrative poems, Rokeby (1813), set in

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3322-576: A neighbouring ford used by the monks of Melrose Abbey . Following a modest enlargement of the original farmhouse in 1811–12, massive expansions took place in 1816–19 and 1822–24. Scott described the resulting building as 'a sort of romance in Architecture' and 'a kind of Conundrum Castle to be sure'. With his architects William Atkinson and Edward Blore Scott was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial style of architecture, and Abbotsford

3473-514: A niece of Lady Margaret Ferguson. In 1799 Scott was appointed Sheriff-Depute of the County of Selkirk , based at the courthouse in the Royal Burgh of Selkirk . In his early married days Scott earned a decent living from his work as a lawyer, his salary as Sheriff-Depute, his wife's income, some revenue from his writing, and his share of his father's modest estate. After the younger Walter

3624-498: A novelist in 1814 did not mean he abandoned poetry. The Waverley Novels contain much original verse, including familiar songs such as "Proud Maisie" from The Heart of Mid-Lothian (Ch. 41) and "Look not thou on Beauty's charming" from The Bride of Lammermoor (Ch. 3). In most of the novels Scott preceded each chapter with an epigram or "motto"; most of these are in verse, and many are of his own composition, often imitating other writers such as Beaumont and Fletcher . Prompted by Scott,

3775-492: A poet and the tentative nature of Waverley ' s emergence, it is not surprising that he followed a common practice in the period and published it anonymously. He continued this until his financial ruin in 1826, the novels mostly appearing as "By the Author of Waverley " (or variants thereof) or as Tales of My Landlord . It is not clear why he chose to do this (no fewer than eleven reasons have been suggested), especially as it

3926-560: A raid on his Lowland host's cattle, it "seemed like a dream ... that these deeds of violence should be familiar to men's minds, and currently talked of, as falling with the common order of things, and happening daily in the immediate neighbourhood, without his having crossed the seas, and while he was yet in the otherwise well-ordered island of Great Britain." A more complex version of this comes in Scott's second novel, Guy Mannering (1815), which "set in 1781‒2, offers no simple opposition:

4077-454: A result, the unique style of grotesques was allowed to develop and flourish to adorn churches and cathedrals but exist separately from them. This explains the number of grotesques that exist in Venice, Italy as the church was well established there allowing for the unique style of grotesques to develop separately from the church. These bizarre forms also show a “capacity for transformation” which

4228-402: A result, their decorative grotesques served to watch over entire towns acting not just as protectors but as watchful eyes for any potential acts of blasphemy . Medieval sculpture also often depicted its subjects with a striking “moral transparency” which was a key element of the gothic art that was emerging at the time. This concurrent sculptural depiction of what is biblically good, and evil saw

4379-641: A sculptural feature during the medieval period and their often-intricate designs developed alongside the gothic architecture period that took place in Europe from the 12th to the 16th century establishing a basis for the common features of grotesque designs. The earliest examples of grotesques in architecture exist at historic sites such as the Salisbury Cathedral . The earliest instances of grotesques in architecture were initially deeply intertwined with religious spaces. The architect of buildings such as

4530-411: A similar pattern emerge in the sculpting of grotesques at the time. Medieval art was sculpted by religious influences hence the often mythical and whimsical depictions within architectural grotesques at the time. Key examples of grotesques in Medieval architecture include the grotesques adorning St Vitus Cathedral and Colegiata de San Pedro de Cervatos . The presence of grotesques in the Medieval period

4681-435: A singular period. The combined history of religion and grotesques in architecture is also potentially a result of the stability of religion that existed at the times when grotesques became prominent, in both the Medieval and Renaissance periods, specifically in Europe. Scholar Majumdar argues that consistency in religion has allowed for the stylistic development of churches architecturally separate to their specific teachings. As

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4832-408: A succession of poetasters had churned out conventional and obsequious odes on royal occasions." He sought advice from the 4th Duke of Buccleuch , who counselled him to retain his literary independence. The position went to Scott's friend, Robert Southey . Scott was influenced by Gothic romance , and had collaborated in 1801 with 'Monk' Lewis on Tales of Wonder . Scott's career as a novelist

4983-408: A thousand copies were printed, but the work was an immediate success and 3,000 more were added in two further editions the same year. Waverley turned out to be the first of 27 novels (eight published in pairs), and by the time the sixth of them, Rob Roy , was published, the print run for the first edition had been increased to 10,000 copies, which became the norm. Given Scott's established status as

5134-409: Is also changing in architecture. Aside from the sculpture, for instance, the term has been used to describe the search for the abnormal or the representation of caricature. There are also scholars who use the architectural definition of grotesque as a term for disharmony. This include Peter Eisenman , a Jewish Deconstructivist architect who used this conceptualization in his work. Particularly, he used

5285-482: Is as much myth as history, but the novel remains his best-known work, the most likely to be found by the general reader. Eight of the subsequent 17 novels also have medieval settings, though most are set towards the end of the era, for which Scott had a better supply of contemporaneous sources. His familiarity with Elizabethan and 17th-century English literature, partly resulting from editorial work on pamphlets and other minor publications, meant that four of his works set in

5436-515: Is consistent with common ideas in the church at the time. Although the significance of grotesques being included in religious spaces is contested, their commonality on these buildings of importance showcases their stylistic development that occurred in tandem with the rising influence of religion, in particular, with the influence of the Catholic Church in Europe in the time from the 12th to

5587-487: Is festooned with turrets and stepped gabling. Through windows enriched with the insignia of heraldry the sun shone on suits of armour, trophies of the chase, a library of more than 9,000 volumes, fine furniture, and still finer pictures. Panelling of oak and cedar and carved ceilings relieved by coats of arms in their correct colours added to the beauty of the house. It is estimated that the building cost Scott more than £25,000 (equivalent to £2,600,000 in 2023). More land

5738-635: Is mine!" Frost produced a third edition of his pamphlet in June 1898, and in the same year his version of the imp legend was given far wider currency by being reproduced in ‘’The Magic of the Horseshoe’’ by the American writer Robert Means Lawrence . An 1898 cathedral guidebook by A.F. Kendrick called the Lincoln Imp a “delightfully grotesque little specimen of ugliness” and “a characteristic record of

5889-513: Is my own, my native land! Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, As home his footsteps he hath turned,   From wandering on a foreign strand!— If such there breathe, go, mark him well; For him no minstrel raptures swell. Three years after The Lay Scott published Marmion (1808) telling a story of corrupt passions leading up as a disastrous climax to the Battle of Flodden in 1513. The main innovation involves prefacing each of

6040-601: Is yet forthcoming that the quaint figure in the Minster which is known as ' the Imp' was originally intended to represent the devil, or till recent days had any connexion with the devil-legend of the city or other traditionary beliefs.” Modern folk tales about the Lincoln Imp are mostly variations on the traditions described in the previous section. Reproduced in newspapers, tourist guides and websites, they are often presented as ancient legends, but lack definite pre-20th century sources. Visit Lincoln (a not for profit community interest company that sponsors tourism and investment) gives

6191-511: The Battle of Melrose (1526). During the summers from 1804, Scott made his home at the large house of Ashestiel, on the south bank of the River Tweed, 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Selkirk. When his lease on this property expired in 1811, he bought Cartley Hole Farm, downstream on the Tweed nearer Melrose. The farm had the nickname of " Clarty Hole", and Scott renamed it "Abbotsford" after

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6342-511: The County of Roxburgh , Scotland, on 22 April 1820; the title became extinct upon his son's death in 1847. Walter Scott was born on 15 August 1771, in a third-floor apartment on College Wynd in the Old Town , Edinburgh, a narrow alleyway leading from the Cowgate to the gates of the old University of Edinburgh . He was the ninth child (six having died in infancy) of Walter Scott (1729–1799),

6493-547: The Florence Cathedral and Notre-Dame de Paris . Historically, grotesques have also had significant design influence from sculptural trends and often their architects were originally sculptors or artists. This meant that the widespread emergence of grotesques also often converged with popular art styles that existed at the time, especially the combined rise of the gothic style and the addition of grotesques in architecture. Key architects that often included grotesques as

6644-749: The Yorkshire estate of that name belonging to Scott's friend J. B. S. Morritt during the Civil War period, and The Lord of the Isles (1815), set in early 14th-century Scotland and culminating in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Both works had generally favourable receptions and sold well, but without rivalling the huge success of The Lady of the Lake . Scott also produced four minor narrative or semi-narrative poems between 1811 and 1817: The Vision of Don Roderick (1811, celebrating Wellington's successes in

6795-427: The 1679 Covenanters as fanatical and often ridiculous (prompting John Galt to produce a contrasting picture in his novel Ringan Gilhaize in 1823); The Heart of Mid-Lothian (1818) with its low-born heroine Jeanie Deans making a perilous journey to Richmond in 1737 to secure a promised royal pardon for her sister, falsely accused of infanticide; and the tragic The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), with its stern account of

6946-611: The 1790s for modern German literature. Recalling the period in 1827, Scott said that he "was German-mad." In 1796, he produced English versions of two poems by Gottfried August Bürger , Der wilde Jäger and Lenore , published as The Chase, and William and Helen . Scott responded to the German interest at the time in national identity, folk culture and medieval literature, which linked with his own developing passion for traditional balladry. A favourite book since childhood had been Thomas Percy 's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry . During

7097-464: The 1790s he would search in manuscript collections and on Border "raids" for ballads from oral performance. With help from John Leyden , he produced a two-volume Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border in 1802, containing 48 traditional ballads and two imitations apiece by Leyden and himself. Of the 48 traditionals, 26 were published for the first time. An enlarged edition appeared in three volumes

7248-403: The 17th century expanding from a staple feature of Renaissance architecture into a key aspect of Renaissance landscape design as well. Many examples of grotesques are still preserved today on Renaissance buildings such as the Florence Cathedral . Grotesques in the Renaissance period are largely influenced by Renaissance styles that were prominent at the time. These included design features such as

7399-975: The 17th century. "What are gargoyles? | Gloucestershire Archives". www.gloucestershire.gov.uk. Retrieved 2024-11-22. "Gargoyles and Grotesques". https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/learning-for-all/families/ugly-mugs/what-are-gargoyles/#:~:text=Gargoyles%20and%20grotesques%20are%20carved,and%20other%20old%20stone%20buildings Mortimer, Marke (1910–1918). "THE GROTESQUE IN ARCHITECTURE: FRIVOLOUS WHIMS OF A SEVERE ART". Arts & Decoration (1910-1918). Vol. 3 (No. 1 (NOVEMBER, 1912)): pp. 22-24 – via JSTOR. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/4wUxM3GPNKfqLA https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/learning-for-all/families/ugly-mugs/what-are-gargoyles/#:~:text=Gargoyles%20and%20grotesques%20are%20carved,and%20other%20old%20stone%20buildings . [REDACTED] Media related to Neidkopf at Wikimedia Commons Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet FRSE FSAScot (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832),

7550-501: The 1822 visit of King George IV to Scotland . In spite of having only three weeks to work with, Scott created a spectacular, comprehensive pageant, designed not only to impress the King, but in some way to heal the rifts that had destabilised Scots society. Probably fortified by his vivid depiction of the pageant staged for the reception of Queen Elizabeth in Kenilworth he and his "production team" mounted what in modern days would be

7701-470: The Canongate (1827). Crucial to Scott's historical thinking is the concept that very different societies can move through the same stages as they develop, and that humanity is basically unchanging, or as he puts it in the first chapter of Waverley that there are "passions common to men in all stages of society, and which have alike agitated the human heart, whether it throbbed under the steel corslet of

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7852-492: The Canongate to Castle Dangerous ). In his last years Scott marked up interleaved copies of these collected editions to produce a final version of what were now officially the Waverley Novels , often called his 'Magnum Opus' or 'Magnum Edition'. Scott provided each novel with an introduction and notes and made mostly piecemeal adjustments to the text. Issued in 48 smart monthly volumes between June 1829 and May 1833 at

8003-631: The Cathedral that they were afraid to enter. But soon, one imp plucked up courage, flew into the Cathedral where he tried to trip up the Lord Bishop, and to knock down the Dean, and teased the Vergers and Choir. When he started to break windows the Angels told him to stop his wicked doings; he cheekily replied "Stop me if you can!" Whereupon he was at once turned into stone, and made to sit for evermore in

8154-481: The Dean, smashing the stained glass windows and destroying the lights. In a bid to put a stop to their antics, an angel was sent to warn the imps off causing any more chaos. One of the imps hid underneath a table, whilst the other started throwing stones and rocks at the Angel in a final act of defiance - "Stop me if you can!" it cheekily retorted. In a moment of anger, the Angel turned the Imp to stone. He has remained in

8305-697: The England of that period – Kenilworth (1821), The Fortunes of Nigel and Peveril of the Peak (1821), and Woodstock (1826) – present rich pictures of their societies. The most generally esteemed of Scott's later fictions, though, are three short stories: a supernatural narrative in Scots, "Wandering Willie's Tale" in Redgauntlet (1824), and "The Highland Widow" and "The Two Drovers" in Chronicles of

8456-577: The English familiar with the character of their gay and kind-hearted neighbours of Ireland, that she may be truly said to have done more towards completing the Union, than perhaps all the legislative enactments by which it has been followed up [the Act of Union of 1801]." Most of Scott's readers were English: with Quentin Durward (1823) and Woodstock (1826), for example, some 8000 of the 10,000 copies of

8607-479: The Imp' serves as club mascot. The Lincoln Imp also lends its name to the Gibraltar club Lincoln Red Imps F.C. , and Lincoln Hockey Club share the nickname and crest design of their footballing counterparts. The Lincoln Imp is the badge of No. LXI Squadron RAF . Chimera (architecture) The Difference Between Gargoyles and Grotesques Gargoyles and grotesques are both carved figures commonly found on

8758-545: The Last Minstrel (1805), in medieval romance form, grew out of Scott's plan to include a long original poem of his own in the second edition of the Minstrelsy : it was to be "a sort of Romance of Border Chivalry & inchantment". He owed the distinctive irregular accent in four-beat metre to Coleridge 's Christabel , which he had heard recited by John Stoddart . (It was not to be published until 1816.) Scott

8909-403: The Lincoln Imp led to a copy being installed at Oxford in 1899, replacing Lincoln College’s earlier claimant that had become damaged. The imp became famous in the early twentieth century as a good-luck charm after a wealthy local jeweller, James Ward Usher , secured sole rights to use its image on merchandise for a period of time. This was met by scepticism in some quarters, as shown by a letter to

9060-550: The Lincoln Imp placed at various sites around Lincolnshire in a venture organised by the Lincoln Business Improvement Group. Grimsby Minster website makes no mention of the imp. An 1899 reproduction of the Lincoln Imp also overlooked the Front Quad of Lincoln College, Oxford until 2000 when it was transferred to the bar (Deep Hall) and another Imp was erected in the traditional position above

9211-838: The Literary Society in 1789 and was elected to the Speculative Society the following year, becoming librarian and secretary-treasurer a year after. After completing his law studies, Scott took up law in Edinburgh. He made his first visit as a lawyer's clerk to the Scottish Highlands, directing an eviction. He was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1792. He had an unsuccessful love suit with Williamina Belsches of Fettercairn, who married Scott's friend Sir William Forbes, 7th Baronet . In February 1797,

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9362-785: The Past and the Ancient, the Desire & the admiration of Permanence, on the one hand; and the Passion for increase of Knowledge, for Truth as the offspring of Reason, in short, the mighty Instincts of Progression and Free-agency , on the other." This is clear, for example, in Waverley , as the hero is captivated by the romantic allure of the Jacobite cause embodied in Bonnie Prince Charlie and his followers before accepting that

9513-628: The Peninsular Campaign, with profits donated to Portuguese war sufferers); The Bridal of Triermain (published anonymously in 1813); The Field of Waterloo (1815); and Harold the Dauntless (published anonymously in 1817). Throughout his creative life Scott was an active reviewer. Although himself a Tory he reviewed for The Edinburgh Review between 1803 and 1806, but that journal's advocacy of peace with Napoleon led him to cancel his subscription in 1808. The following year, at

9664-616: The Prince Regent (the future George IV ) gave Scott and other officials permission in a Royal Warrant dated 28 October 1817 to conduct a search for the Crown Jewels (" Honours of Scotland "). During the Protectorate under Cromwell these had been hidden away, but had subsequently been used to crown Charles II . They were not used to crown subsequent monarchs, but were regularly taken to sittings of Parliament, to represent

9815-488: The Renaissance period. Morgan in his book The Monster in the Garden described the integral position that grotesques had aesthetically in Renaissance design and architecture. Morgan described the use of grotesques in this time as not just sculptural but also a wider depiction of the massive art movement of grotesque imagery that was then occurring. Grotesque imagery in art in the Renaissance period with depictions of “monstrous births, hybrid creatures and legendary beasts,” created

9966-431: The Salisbury Cathedral was a monk, contributing to the rising interest of grotesques upon religious buildings. Even after their establishment as a key feature of early medieval architecture they continued to be based in religious circumstances even up until the Renaissance period almost 500 years later. Even in these early examples of grotesques in architecture there are clear mythological influences, and their whimsical style

10117-450: The Scotland represented in the novel is at once backward and advanced, traditional and modern – it is a country in varied stages of progression in which there are many social subsets, each with its own laws and customs." Scott's process of composition can be traced through the manuscripts (mostly preserved), the more fragmentary sets of proofs, his correspondence, and publisher's records. He did not create detailed plans for his stories, and

10268-559: The Scottish Borders: there he attended Kelso Grammar School , where he met James Ballantyne and his brother John , who later became his business partners and printers. As a result of his early polio infection, Scott had a pronounced limp. He was described in 1820 as "tall, well formed (except for one ankle and foot which made him walk lamely), neither fat nor thin, with forehead very high, nose short, upper lip long and face rather fleshy, complexion fresh and clear, eyes very blue, shrewd and penetrating, with hair now silvery white". Although

10419-433: The absent monarch, until the Act of Union 1707 . So the honours were stored in Edinburgh Castle, but their large locked box was not opened for more than 100 years, and stories circulated that they had been "lost" or removed. On 4 February 1818, Scott and a small military team opened the box and "unearthed" the honours from the Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle . On 19 August 1818 through Scott's effort, his friend Adam Ferguson

10570-415: The blind poet Thomas Blacklock , who lent him books and introduced him to the Ossian cycle of poems by James Macpherson . During the winter of 1786–1787, a 15-year-old Scott met the Scots poet Robert Burns at one of these salons, their only meeting. When Burns noticed a print illustrating the poem "The Justice of the Peace" and asked who had written it, Scott alone named the author as John Langhorne and

10721-421: The carvings that are created around gargoyles, which are the spouts designed to drain water from buildings. They largely portray mythical creatures which were considered to protect the buildings they reside on from evil and encourage the viewer to reflect on the separation between themselves and the divine. Due to the use of weighty stone to create the grotesques, they were carved in workshops and then lifted into

10872-527: The city and the surrounding countryside. His reading included chivalric romances, poems, history and travel books. He was given private tuition by James Mitchell in arithmetic and writing, and learned from him the history of the Church of Scotland with emphasis on the Covenanters . In 1783, his parents, believing he had outgrown his strength, sent him to stay for six months with his aunt Jenny at Kelso in

11023-509: The city too: on door knockers, in gift shops and even in the nickname of the local football team - the Red Imps. The Lincoln Cathedral shop sells a Lincoln Imp keyring, and the cathedral website tells this story: One day, according to a very old legend, the Devil sent his imps out to play, and the wind blew two of them all the way to Lincoln. At first they were so awestruck by the splendour of

11174-404: The column, And grins at the people who gaze so solemn; Moreover, he mocks at the wind below. And says, “you may wait till doomsday , O !” Frost was aware of a problem of chronology: the imp carving was made two centuries after Remigius founded the cathedral. He wrote in a footnote: “it is natural to suppose the devil would shift his quarters from time to time, choosing with each remove

11325-402: The context of the last judgment with the introduction of a version of the " Dies irae " at the end. The work was an immediate success with almost all the reviewers and with readers in general, going through five editions in one year. The most celebrated lines are the ones that open the final stanza: Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said,   This

11476-781: The debts encumbering his estate were discharged shortly after his death. Scott was raised as a Presbyterian in the Church of Scotland. He was ordained as an elder in Duddingston Kirk in 1806, and sat in the General Assembly for a time as representative elder of the burgh of Selkirk. In adult life he also adhered to the Scottish Episcopal Church : he seldom attended church but read the Book of Common Prayer services in family worship. Scott's father

11627-543: The defects noted in Marmion largely absent. In some ways it is more conventional than its predecessors: the narrative is entirely in iambic tetrameters and the story of the transparently disguised James V (King of Scots 1513‒42) predictable: Coleridge wrote to Wordsworth : 'The movement of the Poem... is between a sleeping Canter and a Marketwoman's trot – but it is endless – I seem never to have made any way – I never remember

11778-409: The depiction of an unfamiliar society, while having no difficulty in relating to the characters. Scott is fascinated by striking moments of transition between stages in societies. Samuel Taylor Coleridge , in a discussion of Scott's early novels, found that they derive their "long-sustained interest " from "the contest between the two great moving Principles of social Humanity – religious adherence to

11929-651: The designs of their water draining features to achieve aesthetic continuity within their buildings. Despite adorning mostly religious spaces and buildings of importance the bizarre thematic patterns of grotesques are unusual and often not necessarily aligned with the views of the institutions they occupy. Often meant to be humorous, such as the long-necked grotesques at the Bayeux Cathedral , their contradictory meanings and placement still raise many questions. For example, grotesques on religious buildings sometimes included sexually explicit content. The juxtaposition of

12080-406: The devil hiding from wind inside the cathedral, the devil looking at Lincoln with malicious envy, and stone sculptures (at Lincoln Cathedral or Lincoln College, Oxford ) said to represent either theme. A 1780 guide to early English sculpture by John Carter had a section on "Antiquities from Lincoln". It made no mention of the imp but had an illustration of "A Sculpture projecting over the angle of

12231-581: The devil waylaid the bishop at the south-western corner of the building and tried to kill him. But the good prelate in his extremity called for aid upon the Blessed Virgin Mary — to whom the Church was to be dedicated — whereupon, the Blessed Virgin sent a mighty rushing wind, which, catching the devil, so hustled and buffeted him, that he slipped inside the Church for safety, where he has been ever since, nor dare he come out, knowing that

12382-458: The diaries of Samuel Pepys and Lord Byron , and he began keeping a journal over the period, which, however, would not be published until 1890, as The Journal of Sir Walter Scott . By then Scott's health was failing, and on 29 October 1831, in a vain search for improvement, he set off on a voyage to Malta and Naples on board HMS Barham , a frigate put at his disposal by the Admiralty. He

12533-502: The earth and the divine. Grotesques are predominantly carved into buildings of religious significance, in particular churches and cathedrals. Despite their presence in religious spaces, their anthropomorphic designs are largely not directly religious and instead are often more whimsical without religious connotations. They commonly exist on high ledges and rooftops and are frequently positioned out of view from common areas. Prominent examples of preserved grotesques exist on buildings such as

12684-564: The east—it is in the retro-choir) represents an elf with large ears, and may perhaps be regarded as illustrating the mediaeval folk-lore." The nickname "Lincoln Imp" arose some time before 1897, when it featured in a pamphlet by Arnold Frost (real name G. T. Hemsley), containing his poem "The Ballad of the Wind, the Devil and Lincoln Minster ". Frost said it was based on an "old Lincolnshire legend" that had "not hitherto appeared in print". He said it had been told to him "some five or six years ago by

12835-404: The entrance to Hall. This has given rise to a traditional Oxford expression: 'to look on someone like the Imp looks over Lincoln' (a variant of the older proverb discussed above) as well as giving rise to the title of the college's undergraduate newspaper: The Lincoln Imp . The Lincoln Imp is also the mascot of the college boat club, an image of which is used to decorate the oars and jerseys of

12986-456: The epistles did not link up with the narrative, there was too much antiquarian pedantry, and Marmion's character was immoral. The most familiar lines in the poem sum up one of its main themes: "O what a tangled web we weave,/ When first we practice to deceive" Scott's meteoric poetic career peaked with his third long narrative, The Lady of the Lake (1810), which sold 20,000 copies in the first year. The reviewers were fairly favourable, finding

13137-534: The exteriors of buildings, but they serve distinct purposes: Gargoyles are functional sculptures designed to direct water and melted snow away from a building’s walls that protect the walls of which they lay upon from damages. The word "gargoyle" comes from the French term gargouille , meaning "throat," referencing the way water flows through these figures. Common Gargoyles forms are animals, humans, and hybrids. Different categories of Gargoyles are: Grotesques , on

13288-461: The exuberant fancy of our mediaeval artists.” Kendrick also mentioned the south porch carving, calling it “an imp on the back of a witch”, plus another exterior sculpture that locals connected with the same tradition, above the south-east chapel next to St Hugh’s. “The gable of this chapel is worthy of notice. At the head of its tall central lancet is a grotesque figure, commonly pointed out as the ‘Devil looking over Lincoln’.” The growing popularity of

13439-421: The fifteenth century, the brocaded coat of the eighteenth, or the blue frock and white dimity waistcoat of the present day." It was one of Scott's main achievements to give lively, detailed pictures of different stages of Scottish, British, and European society while making it clear that for all the differences in form, they took the same human passions as those of his own age. His readers could therefore appreciate

13590-613: The figures body or from an object that the carving is holding instead. As grotesques were extensions of waterspouts, most sustained water damage where the water flowed out, making them difficult to repair without replacing the entire sculpture. Due to their necessity in draining water from gutters in buildings, grotesques are commonly found placed high on rooftops and on cornices in interior walls. This also often makes grotesques commonly slightly hidden, allowing their subject matter to be more playful than architectural features placed at eye level also allowing their architects to be more creative in

13741-520: The first edition went to London. In the Scottish novels the lower-class characters normally speak Scots, but Scott is careful not to make the Scots too dense, so that those unfamiliar with it can follow the gist without understanding every word. Some have also argued that although Scott was formally a supporter of the Union with England (and Ireland) his novels have a strong nationalist subtext for readers attuned to that wavelength. Scott's new career as

13892-414: The first had been completed. Constable's faith was justified by the sales: the three editions published in 1808 sold 8,000 copies. The verse of Marmion is less striking than that of The Lay , with the epistles in iambic tetrameters and the narrative in tetrameters with frequent trimeters. The reception by the reviewers was less favourable than that accorded The Lay : style and plot were both found faulty,

14043-452: The following year. With many of the ballads, Scott fused different versions into more coherent texts, a practice he later repudiated. The Minstrelsy was the first and most important of a series of editorial projects over the next two decades, including the medieval romance Sir Tristrem (which Scott attributed to Thomas the Rhymer ) in 1804, the works of John Dryden (18 vols, 1808), and

14194-510: The great men who have loved dogs no one ever loved them better or understood them more thoroughly". The best known of Scott's dogs were Maida , a large stag hound reported to be his favourite dog, and Spice, a Dandie Dinmont terrier described as having asthma , to which Scott gave particular care. In a diary entry written at the height of his financial woes, Scott described dismay at the prospect of having to sell them: "The thoughts of parting from these dumb creatures have moved me more than any of

14345-584: The grotesque in design. Additionally, Post created four whimsical grotesques as corbels under a balcony on the twelfth story of the National Arts Club Building in New York, representing the "Four Arts"—Painting, Architecture, Sculpture, and Music. Unfortunately, their high placement makes them hard to fully appreciate. Grotesques in architecture are decorative figures carved in stone. Often also referred to as Chimera, grotesques describe

14496-473: The growing number of grotesques that were designed and executed in architecture. Grotesques were a key feature of architecture and landscape design in the Renaissance Period. Grotesques rose to prominence in the 14th century as a popular architectural feature on churches and other buildings of religious importance. They remained a staple of Renaissance architecture until the end of the period in

14647-490: The height of his poetic career, he was instrumental in establishing a Tory rival, The Quarterly Review to which he contributed reviews for the rest of his life. In 1813 Scott was offered the position of Poet Laureate . He declined, feeling that "such an appointment would be a poisoned chalice," as the Laureateship had fallen into disrepute due to the decline in quality of work suffered by previous title holders, "as

14798-430: The heights of buildings after they were completed. The main materials used to create grotesques included marble , sandstone , and limestone with the option of including metal rods to reinforce their structural integrity. In most instances grotesques are open mouthed with their attached waterspout emerging from their mouths however they are a variety of ways for the waterspout to emerge. In many instances they emerge from

14949-701: The highest in the whole Kingdom, and when the Spire was standing on it, it must, in Proportion to the Height of the Tower, have exceeded that of old St. Paul's , which was 520 Feet. The Monks were so proud of this Structure, that they would have it, that the Devil looked upon it with an envious Eye; whence the Proverb of a Man who looks invidious and malignant, He looks as the Devil over Lincoln .” Another explanation for

15100-417: The magazine Notes and Queries , quoted in a 1908 book on Lincolnshire folklore: “A friend of mine informs me that, according to a ladies' fashion paper which she was reading not long ago, a trinket in the form of 'the Lincoln Imp' will prevent its wearer losing things. I am anxious to know whether this superstition has been made to order. It does not seem probable that it is veritable folk-lore, as no evidence

15251-412: The men's 1st VIII. The Lincoln example is by far the best-known example. James Ward Usher , local businessman and philanthropist, obtained sole rights to use the image of the Lincoln Imp on jewellery, in the late 19th century, a venture which contributed greatly to his fame and wealth. Lincoln City Football Club are nicknamed 'The Imps'. An image of the Lincoln Imp appears on their crest, and 'Poacher

15402-410: The most beautiful portion of the Cathedral as his particular stall!” Frost’s introduction to the poem gave two other legends from published sources, linking the devil with Lincoln Cathedral (but not the imp). One ran as follows: “The wind and the devil being on a friendly tour, [they] arrived at Lincoln Minster, where the latter addressed his friend thus, ‘just wait outside here whilst I go in and have

15553-520: The most prominent religious buildings in the Medieval era including Rochester Cathedral and with this established the use of grotesques as a staple on religious buildings such as churches. One of the most notable uses of the grotesque in architecture is seen in George B. Post's buildings for the College of the City of New York, which display both diversity and originality, offering valuable insight into

15704-543: The nave of Carlisle Cathedral ). After renting a house in Edinburgh's George Street , they moved to nearby South Castle Street. Their eldest child, Sophia, was born in 1799, and later married John Gibson Lockhart . Four of their five children survived Scott himself. His eldest son Sir Walter Scott, 2nd Baronet (1801–1847), inherited his father's estates and possessions: on 3 February 1825 he married Jane Jobson, only daughter of William Jobson of Lochore (died 1822) by his wife Rachel Stuart (died 1863), heiress of Lochore and

15855-520: The other hand, are exclusively decorative carvings with no functional purpose. Grotesque figures originated from Roman ornamental designs found in underground ruins known as grotte during the Renaissance, and their name is derived from these discoveries. Unlike gargoyles, grotesques serve as artistic ornamentation, often featuring facial expressions and gestures of fantastical or whimsical forms. Grotesques often depict whimsical, mythical creatures in dramatic or humorous ways. They have historically been

16006-484: The possibility of adding sculptural features such as the grotesques that sit atop them. This was the case with the architect Brunelleschi who designed the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore . As he was previously an artist before becoming an architect, the grotesques and other sculptures that exist within the cathedral are a clear choice by him as a result his previous experience with sculpture. Renaissance architecture

16157-565: The proverb linked it with a sculpture at Lincoln College, Oxford. Thomas Fuller discussed this in his Worthies of England (1662). “Some fetch the original of this Proverb from a stone picture of the Devil, which doth (or lately did) over-look Lincoln College… [however] it is conceived of more antiquity… [and] related originally to the Cathedral Church in Lincoln.” In Fuller’s view, the sculpture at Oxford had simply come to be seen as

16308-409: The reflections I have put down". Between 1805 and 1817 Scott produced five long, six-canto narrative poems, four shorter independently published poems, and many small metrical pieces. Scott was by far the most popular poet of the time until Lord Byron published the first two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage in 1812 and followed them up with his exotic oriental verse narratives. The Lay of

16459-473: The remarks by the figure of "the Author" in the Introductory Epistle to The Fortunes of Nigel probably reflect his own experience: "I think there is a dæmon who seats himself on the feather of my pen when I begin to write, and leads it astray from the purpose. Characters expand under my hand; incidents are multiplied; the story lingers, while the materials increase – my regular mansion turns out

16610-456: The ruin of Smailholm Tower , the earlier family home. Here, he was taught to read by his aunt Jenny Scott and learned from her the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends that later marked much of his work. In January 1775, he returned to Edinburgh, and that summer with his aunt Jenny took spa treatment at Bath in Somerset, southern England, where they lived at 6 South Parade . In

16761-458: The same spot ever since, sitting cross-legged on top of the pillar overlooking the Angel Choir – a constant reminder of how good will always triumph over evil. Ever wondered why it's so windy outside the Cathedral? That's thought to be caused by the second Imp, waiting for his friend to return! Head to Lincoln Cathedral and see the petrified Lincoln Imp high up for yourself - there's a spotlight to help you if you give in! You’ll also find imps across

16912-484: The separation of the practical and the stylised. This allowed grotesques to flourish as a key design feature on many Renaissance buildings as they became a key element of the Renaissance aesthetic which became more important than their usefulness as decorative waterspouts. The grotesques on Renaissance buildings such as the Sistine Chapel are examples of the decorative interpretations of grotesques that existed in

17063-421: The six cantos with an epistle from the author to a friend: William Stewart Rose , The Rev. John Marriot , William Erskine , James Skene , George Ellis , and Richard Heber : the epistles develop themes of moral positives and special delights imparted by art. In an unprecedented move, the publisher Archibald Constable purchased the copyright of the poem for a thousand guineas at the beginning of 1807, when only

17214-480: The south aisle, I've spotted something I want to show you. He's a little imp, he's known as the Grimsby Imp, and he's more than likely a stonemason's joke, and he's right up there. The figure is supporting the weight of the tower on his back like Atlas carrying the globe. Now, it's thought, legend has it, that he was one of two imps that escaped from Lincoln Cathedral, he found his way here, caused lots of mischief,

17365-458: The stories of the Bible but also to portray the animals and beings who populated the folklore of the times. Many of these showed up as grotesques. Some critics, such as Frances Barasch, dismissed the use of the grotesque as an idle toy and not of any great use. They also argued that it perpetuated superstition instead of articulating what is real or the truth. The meaning and use of the grotesque

17516-410: The story as follows: Legend has it that one day the Devil was in a frolicsome mood, and sent two naughty creatures to cause mischief on Earth. After allegedly stopping at Chesterfield, twisting the spire of St Mary and All Saints Church, the two imps went to Lincoln to wreak havoc in the city's Cathedral. Upon arriving, the naughty imps went inside the cathedral and started to cause mayhem, knocking over

17667-454: The story to include the twisted spire of Chesterfield Parish Church . It said a vicar at Grimsby Minster "has a more logical and historical explanation for the figure suggesting one of the craftsmen who built the Minster carved the figure of a man bending over supporting the church." In September 2021 North East Lincolnshire Council announced that Grimsby Minster was to be part of the "Lincoln Imp Trail", involving 32 painted sculptures inspired by

17818-492: The subversive carvings in largely religious contexts remains contested. Scholars such as Zajac hypothesise the use of crude humour as a tactic to ward away evil while other scholars point this crudeness to the rise of the gothic art style that began to emerge in the 12th century. While grotesques are often considered a key feature of Medieval architecture their equal prominence on buildings such as Parish churches explain their longstanding religious involvement separate from just

17969-525: The term in presenting a stylistic opposition to the form of aesthetics that is identified with the Kantian notion of the sublime in architecture. Grotesques in architecture can be traced back to its origins in medieval architecture, however they rose to prominence in Renaissance building design becoming more whimsical and elaborate during this time. Originally designed as spouts to drain water from buildings and gutters, now called gargoyles, grotesques became

18120-514: The threat of a French invasion persuaded Scott and many of his friends to join the Royal Edinburgh Volunteer Light Dragoons , where he served into the early 1800s, and was appointed quartermaster and secretary. The daily drill practices that year, starting at 5 a.m., indicate the determination with which the role was undertaken. Scott was prompted to take up a literary career by enthusiasm in Edinburgh in

18271-429: The time and were featured heavily on churches and other religious buildings. Even architects in the medieval period were heavily influenced by the rise of Catholic Church at the time and the style of grotesques developed in tandem with this. Architects such as Gundulf of Rochester heavily influenced the rising style of grotesques on religious buildings. Previously a monk, Gundulf of Rochester went on to design some of

18422-523: The time for such enthusiasms has passed and accepting the more rational, humdrum reality of Hanoverian Britain. Another example appears in 15th-century Europe in the yielding of the old chivalric world view of Charles, Duke of Burgundy to the Machiavellian pragmatism of Louis XI . Scott is intrigued by the way different stages of societal development can exist side by side in one country. When Waverley has his first experience of Highland ways after

18573-568: The time, the compositors would supply the punctuation.) He received proofs, also in batches, and made many changes at that stage, but these were almost always local corrections and enhancements. As the number of novels grew, they were republished in small collections: Novels and Tales (1819: Waverley to A Tale of Montrose ); Historical Romances (1822: Ivanhoe to Kenilworth ); Novels and Romances (1824 [1823]: The Pirate to Quentin Durward ); and two series of Tales and Romances (1827: St Ronan's Well to Woodstock ; 1833: Chronicles of

18724-507: The two Bürger translations in a privately printed anthology, Apology for Tales of Terror . In 1800 Scott suggested that Ballantyne set up business in Edinburgh and provided a loan for him to make the transition in 1802. In 1805, they became partners in the printing business, and from then until the financial crash of 1826 Scott's works were routinely printed by the firm. Scott was known for his fondness of dogs , and owned several throughout his life. Upon his death, one newspaper noted "of all

18875-405: The wind awaits his return in order to make an end of him.” The legend made no mention of a stone carving. That was Frost’s own addition, in the last part of his poem: The bishop we know died long ago. The wind still waits, nor will he go Till he has a chance of beating his foe; But the devil hopp'd up without a limp. And at once took shape as the “Lincoln Imp.” And there he sits a'top of

19026-443: The wind still haunts the Minster precincts waiting their return, now hopelessly disconsolate ! and now raging with fury !" The other related to the “devil over Lincoln” theme: “When the Minster was nearing its completion, the devil, who had narrowly and jealously watched the good bishop's proceedings, at once took up his position as over-lord, saying with a grim smile, as he looked over Lincoln, "Ah! my good friend, all this

19177-635: The winter of 1776, he went back to Sandyknowe, with another attempt at a water cure at Prestonpans the following summer. In 1778, Scott returned to Edinburgh for private education to prepare him for school and joined his family in their new house, one of the first to be built in George Square . In October 1779, he began at the Royal High School in Edinburgh (in High School Yards). He was by then well able to walk and explore

19328-648: The works of Jonathan Swift (19 vols, 1814). On a trip to the English Lake District with old college friends, he met Charlotte Charpentier (Anglicised to "Carpenter"), a daughter of Jean Charpentier of Lyon in France and a ward of Lord Downshire in Cumberland , an Anglican. After three weeks' courtship, Scott proposed and they were married on Christmas Eve 1797 in St Mary's Church, Carlisle (now

19479-414: The ‘Lincoln Imp’.” He quoted Fuller as evidence against the “Oxford plagiarists” and provided “two other versions of the legend… from two widely different sources.” He did not specify what the sources were, but said “there is every reason to believe them genuine [though] neither version can boast a Lincolnshire origin.” One of them involved two imps rather than one, thus connecting the Angel Choir carving with

19630-408: The “devil on the witch’s back” sculpture at the south porch, and linking both with the theme of the wind: "The wind, one day, brought two imps to view the new Minster at Lincoln. Both imps were greatly impressed with the magnitude and beauty of the structure, and one of them, smitten by a fatal curiosity, slipped inside the building to see what was going on. His temerity, however, cost him dear, for he

19781-405: Was a Freemason, being a member of Lodge St David, No. 36 (Edinburgh), and Scott also became a Freemason in his father's Lodge in 1801, albeit only after the death of his father. When Scott was a boy, he sometimes travelled with his father from Selkirk to Melrose, where some of his novels are set. At a certain spot, the old gentleman would stop the carriage and take his son to a stone on the site of

19932-623: Was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature , notably the novels Ivanhoe (1819), Rob Roy (1817), Waverley (1814), Old Mortality (1816), The Heart of Mid-Lothian (1818), and The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), along with the narrative poems Marmion (1808) and The Lady of the Lake (1810). He had a major impact on European and American literature. As an advocate and legal administrator by profession, he combined writing and editing with his daily work as Clerk of Session and Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire . He

20083-787: Was a fairly open secret, but as he himself said, with Shylock , "such was my humour." Scott was an almost exclusively historical novelist. Only one of his 27 novels – Saint Ronan's Well – has a wholly modern setting. The settings of the others range from 1794 in The Antiquary back to 1096 or 1097, the time of the First Crusade , in Count Robert of Paris . Sixteen take place in Scotland. The first nine, from Waverley (1814) to A Legend of Montrose (1819), all have Scottish locations and 17th- or 18th-century settings. Scott

20234-405: Was able to draw on his unrivalled familiarity with Border history and legend acquired from oral and written sources beginning in his childhood to present an energetic and highly coloured picture of 16th-century Scotland, which both captivated the general public and with its voluminous notes also addressed itself to the antiquarian student. The poem has a strong moral theme, as human pride is placed in

20385-403: Was also marked by an increased interest to display personal character which quickly developed into the anthropomorphic style that has become a staple for the stone carvings. The distinct style of medieval grotesques is considered by journalist Redgrave to be “the strange mixture of the sacred and the profane.” Medieval grotesques were similarly influenced by prominent religious beliefs in Europe at

20536-509: Was appointed Deputy Keeper of the " Scottish Regalia ". The Scottish patronage system swung into action and after elaborate negotiations the Prince Regent granted Scott the title of baronet : in April 1820 he received the baronetcy in London, becoming Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet. After George's accession, the city council of Edinburgh invited Scott, at the sovereign's behest, to stage-manage

20687-401: Was attended with uncertainty. The first few chapters of Waverley were complete by roughly 1805, but the project was abandoned as a result of unfavourable criticism from a friend. Soon after, Scott was asked by the publisher John Murray to posthumously edit and complete the last chapter of an unfinished romance by Joseph Strutt . Published in 1808 and set in 15th-century England, Queenhoo Hall

20838-522: Was better versed in his material than anyone: he could draw on oral tradition and a wide range of written sources in his ever-expanding library (many of the books rare and some unique copies). In general it is these pre-1820 novels that have drawn the attention of modern critics – especially: Waverley , with its presentation of the 1745 Jacobites drawn from the Highland clans as obsolete and fanatical idealists; Old Mortality (1816) with its treatment of

20989-530: Was born in 1801, the Scotts moved to a spacious three-storey house at 39 North Castle Street, which remained his Edinburgh base until 1826, when it was sold by the trustees appointed after his financial ruin. From 1798, Scott had spent summers in a cottage at Lasswade , where he entertained guests, including literary figures. It was there his career as an author began. There were nominal residency requirements for his position of Sheriff-Depute, and at first he stayed at

21140-552: Was born with the surname 'Haliburton', and of the same's son the architect Decimus Burton . Walter became a member of the Clarence Club , of which the Burtons were members. A childhood bout of polio in 1773 left Scott lame, a condition that would greatly affect his life and writing. To improve his lameness he was sent in 1773 to live in the rural Scottish Borders , at his paternal grandparents' farm at Sandyknowe, by

21291-657: Was established early on. Grotesques in architecture are most found on religious buildings and in religious contexts, however some are found in odd places such as the urinals in the Square at Minsterley, Shropshire England . Historically grotesques in architecture existed to amplify the traditionally dull waterspouts that existed on buildings throughout the Medieval and Renaissance time periods. As many practicing sculptors such as Brunelleschi would later venture into architecture in their careers and bring with them their knowledge and understanding of sculpture and design contributing to

21442-470: Was found out by the angels and turned into stone. But I've got another theory. I think it reflects the pride of the master stonemason, whose skills underpin the whole building. This has been here for centuries. It's going to remain here for many more centuries to come. I love it, absolutely love it. In May 2021 an item in Grimsby Live, "The truth behind Grimsby's very own legendary imp", further expanded

21593-493: Was greatly shaped by the inclusion of grotesques and the two distinct styles of grotesque sculptural design, and Renaissance architecture had the ability to develop in tandem and shape each other as a result of this. Grotesques also were a key feature of medieval architecture. As the Middle Ages were often referred to as “The Age of Faith,” religious institutions were hugely important and heavily decorated. Grotesques played

21744-454: Was illustrated by George Cruikshank as a man with a grotesque expression. Lincoln Cathedral stands in an exposed position, vulnerable to high winds, and its tall wood and timber spire was “blown down during a tempest in January 1547-8”. Seen as the work of a spiteful devil, this would explain both traditions. In a book published in 1748, Daniel Defoe wrote, “The Middle or Rood Tower is

21895-463: Was landed in England, Scott was transported back to die at Abbotsford on 21 September 1832. He was 61. Scott was buried in Dryburgh Abbey , where his wife had earlier been interred. Lady Scott had been buried as an Episcopalian; at Scott's own funeral, three ministers of the Church of Scotland officiated at Abbotsford and the service at Dryburgh was conducted by an Episcopal clergyman. Although Scott died owing money, his novels continued to sell, and

22046-437: Was not a success due to its archaic language and excessive display of antiquarian information. The success of Scott's Highland narrative poem The Lady of the Lake in 1810 seems to have put it into his head to resume the narrative and have his hero Edward Waverley journey to Scotland. Although Waverley was announced for publication at that stage, it was again laid by and not resumed until late 1813, then published in 1814. Only

22197-603: Was prominent in Edinburgh's Tory establishment , active in the Highland Society , long time a president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1820–1832), and a vice president of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (1827–1829). His knowledge of history and literary facility equipped him to establish the historical novel genre as an exemplar of European Romanticism . He became a baronet of Abbotsford in

22348-440: Was purchased until Scott owned nearly 1,000 acres (4.0 km ). In 1817 as part of the land purchases Scott bought the nearby mansion-house of Toftfield for his friend Adam Ferguson to live in along with his brothers and sisters and on which, at the ladies' request, he bestowed the name of Huntlyburn. Ferguson commissioned Sir David Wilkie to paint the Scott family resulting in the painting The Abbotsford Family in which Scott

22499-457: Was so petrified with astonishment at the wonderful things he both saw and heard, that his heart became as stone within him, and he remained rooted to the ground. The other imp, full of grief at the loss of his brother, flew madly round about the minster, seeking in vain for the lost one. At length, being wearied out, he alighted, quite unwittingly, upon the shoulders of a certain witch, and was also, and in like manner, instantly turned to stone! But

22650-609: Was thanked by Burns. Scott describes the event in his memoirs, where he whispers the answer to his friend Adam , who tells Burns; another version of the event appears in Literary Beginnings . When it was decided that he would become a lawyer, he returned to the university to study law, first taking classes in moral philosophy (under Dugald Stewart ) and universal history (under Alexander Fraser Tytler ) in 1789–1790. During this second university spell Scott became prominent in student intellectual activities: he co-founded

22801-423: Was welcomed and celebrated wherever he went. On his journey home he boarded the steamboat Prins Frederik going from Cologne to Rotterdam. While on board he had a final stroke near Emmerich . After local treatment, a steamboat took him to the steamship Batavier , which left for England on 12 June. By pure coincidence, Mary Martha Sherwood was also on board. She would later write about this encounter. After he

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