Napoleonic & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Thursday 26 September 2019

Hmmm....

On a visit to Edinburgh this week, I noticed this. On the 200th anniversary of the publication of Sir Walter Scott's novel Waverley (which was a couple of years ago, I think), the management of Edinburgh main railway station put up a selection of quotes from Scott around the station concourse - the station, you understand, was (and maybe still is) known as Edinburgh Waverley.


I know a number of Old Wally's quotations, but hadn't come upon this one before. It got me thinking - you don't think it's a message of some sort to self-indulgent bloggists, do you? Apparently it is from The Pirate, of which I have no knowledge.

I confess I am not a big fan - when my grandmother died, I was given a stack of her old books, which included a lot of Scott. I was very pleased to receive these, but was very disappointed with the stories. I guess they have not dated well, and I am also aware that many of them were published in serialised form in periodicals, which

(a) does something odd to the flow of the story (a cliff-edge every 30 pages), and

(b) encouraged Sir Walter to keep the story going forever, to maximise his income.

This is going to be a sacriligious thing to admit, but I gave up very quickly. If ever a man had the gift of taking an exciting story outline and turning it into a lengthy grind, it was Scott. If you are passionately fond of his stuff then you have my respect and admiration. You must drink a lot of whisky.

10 comments:

  1. Have tried reading him and retired defeated .

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    1. I am with you. I recall that after I'd walked the West Highland Way in 1999, from Milngavie to Fort William, I was filled with inspiration for that part of the country and its traditions, and dug out "Rob Roy" when I got home. Despite my enthusiasm, I gave up after a couple of evenings.

      I guess Sir Walter's novels are probably rather better when edited into movies? His house at Abbotsford (near Melrose) is worth a visit, complete with museum of his collection of weapons and equipment from the Waterloo battlefield.

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    2. A contemporary anonymous skit on Scott's epic poem "The Field of Waterloo" is a favourite of mine:

      "On Waterloo's ensanguined plain
      Full many a gallant man was slain,
      But none, by sabre or by shot,
      Fell half so flat as Walter Scott."

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    3. 'Last of the Mohicans' is another on my 'fail list'

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  2. Guilty, m'lud - I am that Scott fan. Though to be honest, his most famous novels (Rob Roy, Waverley and, worst of all, Ivanhoe) are my least favourite. Old Mortality, Redgauntlet and Fair Maid of Perth the best. They are a bit like wargaming - important and serious subjects treated in a more lighthearted way, if you see what I mean.
    I shall draw a veil over my whisky intake.

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    1. Ah - maybe my starting with his Greatest Hits was a mistake. In fact that pile of books from my Nan also contained a load of RL Stevenson, and that was so good that I was happy to be distracted. Some of those books actually had bookworms in - only time I ever saw them. They were also very dirty, and they stank, since my Nan's house had a gas poker for the coal fire in the parlour where the bookcases were, so everything stank.

      There's a pub in Peebles which I used to go to occasionally, and they have lots of Walter Scott memorabilia, since he used to be a patron of the place back in the day. He used to ride his horse up the Tweed valley from Melrose, apparently, which is not a bad effort, since the countryside is fairly rugged and SWS was not a very strong man. The pub is the Cross Keys, which apparently is now a Wetherspoon's - I suppose it's better that it's a Wetherspoon's than that it should be closed down, but why does that make me feel strangely weary?

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    2. Ah, right - that wouldn't help your enthusiasm - worse than inheriting books from a heavy smoker.

      Well, love them or hate them, Wetherspoons do often celebrate the history of the building or area they are in, which is good. I pass Carbrook Hall on my way to work; it's 15th century and was once home of John Bright, Cromwell's pal from the Civil War. As an inveterate Royalist I don't approve of him much, but it's still depressing to see that it's now a Starbucks.

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    3. There's a Wetherspoon's in Liverpool City Centre which is named after Blackler's which used to be a lovely department store - occupies the same site. Blackler's was famous - iconic - in the city - it was rebuilt after being destroyed in the May 1941 blitz, it was where George Harrison once worked as an electrician, and it is even where my mum bought my first blazer when I started grammar school in 1723. That's how famous it was.

      I guess pubs have to be named after something - any day now we may find that the Taj Mahal, the Tower of London and the Houses of Parliament have all become Wetherspoon's pubs. Discuss.

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    4. Better Wetherspoon's than closed...?? With the added benefit that the Houses of Parliament might be a slightly more tasty option than it currently is... On the subject in question.. I still have my childhood copy of Ivanhoe, which I liked, never read anything else from him, though like Svjek I would say Fenimore Cooper was far worse... his books are also way better as films... :o)

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    5. A couple of years ago I had a shot at listening to an audiobook of "Rob Roy" in my car - I like audiobooks when driving, and figured that this might be a less soporific way to get into Scott. Disaster - whoever the narrator was, his attempts at Scottish accents were so embarrassing that he was snuffed out after about 10 minutes!

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