Scottish History
Subject History

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

Scottish history, like history in general, became a distinct subject in the nineteenth century. Its greatest initial influence came from Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), the renowned poet and novelist, who himself studied at the University of Edinburgh. Scott communicated his ideas about Scottish history through the most successful historical novels of his time - perhaps the most successful of any time. It may be a paradox to suggest that academic history could flow from imaginative literature, but Scott’s novels were not only based on a deep knowledge of Scotland’s past; they also gave compelling reasons for studying that past further.

To take just a few of these novels: Waverley (1814), about the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, set the tone with its subtitle - 'Tis Sixty Years Since. Scott was aware of massive changes that had taken place in the recent past, so that another Jacobite rebellion was inconceivable. His novels were thus windows into an older world. Old Mortality (1816) dramatised the struggles of the covenanters of the later seventeenth century. Rob Roy (1817) refurbished the myths surrounding the Highland outlaw of the early eighteenth century, but contained a valuable historical introduction. The Heart of Mid-Lothian (1818) was to some extent a portrait of Edinburgh at the time of the Porteous Riot of 1736. Scott wrote less about medieval Scotland, though The Fair Maid of Perth (1828) was set in the 1390s and returned to a familiar theme - the place of the Highlands in the history of Scotland as a whole.

Manuscripts and publications

Scott was also a notable editor of ballads and literary and historical documents. He fostered the establishment of historical publishing societies that would produce scholarly editions of the original sources of Scotland’s past. Many of the works published by the Bannatyne Club (1823-67) and Maitland Club (1829-59) remain standard sources used by Scottish historians to this day.

Even before Scott, there was already some teaching of Scottish history at the University of Edinburgh. Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813) was its professor of ‘universal history’ - Scott attended his lectures - and Tytler included the history of Scotland in his teaching. His son, Patrick Fraser Tytler (1791-1849), an alumnus of the University, wrote (at Scott’s prompting) an eight-volume history of Scotland that is still worth consulting. Another connection with the University came with the antiquary David Laing (1793-1878), who collected hundreds of valuable manuscripts concerning medieval and early modern Scotland, and edited many of them for publication. On his death he bequeathed his manuscripts to Edinburgh University Library, where they remain as an important archive.

The Scottish History Society

The Scottish History Society was founded in 1886, continuing and extending the tradition of publishing primary documents. It was innovative in having an interest in social history, and in seeing Scottish history as continuing into recent times; until then, most historians had assumed that Scottish history ended with the union of parliaments in 1707, or even with the union of crowns in 1603. One noted historian of Scotland at this time was David Masson, professor of rhetoric and English literature at the University of Edinburgh from 1865 to 1895. He edited fourteen volumes of the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland and was the first Chairman of Council of the Scottish History Society (1885-1907).

Next: The twentieth century and the Chair of Scottish History