Walter Scott's "Memoirs", first published as "Memoir of the Early Life of Sir Walter Scott, Written by Himself" and also known as the Ashestiel fragment, is a short autobiographical work describing the author's ancestry, parentage, and life up to the age of 22. It is the most important source of information we have on Scott's early life. It was mainly written between 1808 and 1811, then revised and completed in 1826, and first published posthumously in 1837 as Chapter 1 of J. G. Lockhart's multi-volume Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. It was re-edited in 1981 by David Hewitt.
Synopsis
The author begins with the hope that his memoir will be both interesting and edifying. He traces the history of his family, giving particulars of his great-grandfather, Walter Scott, a Jacobite, his grandfather Robert Scott, a Whiggish sheep-farmer, and the Haliburton family, into which Robert Scott married. He then turns to his father, Walter Scott, an able and zealous but unbusinesslike solicitor, and his father's in-laws, the Rutherford family. Next he lists those of his siblings who survived to adulthood, including Robert, a junior naval officer of poetical tastes and bullying temperament, Anne, who was remarkably accident-prone and died young, Thomas, an unsuccessful farmer turned army officer, and Daniel, a ne'er-do-well. The author now reaches his own birth in Edinburgh on 15 August 1771 ("I believe") and his infancy, in the course of which he fell ill and lost the use of one leg and also survived an attempt on his life by a deranged servant. Sent to recover with his maternal grandparents on their farm he heard tales of the Jacobite rebellions and traditional songs and ballads which formed his future taste and pursuits. He describes the parish clergyman, Dr. Duncan, a historian of the 1745 rebellion. When he was aged 3 his family sent Scott to Bath for a year under the care of an aunt, hoping, in vain, that this would accelerate his recovery. Aged about 6 he stayed for the sake of the sea air at Prestonpans, where he first met George Constable, later to be the model of his character Jonathan Oldbuck. Scott returned to family life in his father's house in George's Square, Edinburgh, and in 1779 he was enrolled in the High School. Though a popular boy his record as a scholar there was not at first distinguished, but it later improved under the teaching of the school's rector, Dr. Adams, from whom he derived a love of Latin literature. His growing love of English literature owed much to his own researches and the encouragement of Thomas Blacklock, who introduced him to the poems of Ossian and Spenser. He thus left the High School with much ill-organized knowledge and a love of books. The author then mentions his discovery of Percy's Reliques, which he adored, and his growing appreciation of natural beauty. As a student at the University of Edinburgh Scott entirely failed to learn Greek and made a poor showing at mathematics, but did better at ethics and moral philosophy, and also studied history and law. He was indentured to his father as an apprentice solicitor and drudged at the study of law, while also reading widely in chivalric romances and histories, especially during an illness which prostrated him, and studying French and Italian to enable himself to read yet more. Returned to health, he delighted in riding and walking through the countryside around Edinburgh in search of sites of scenic and historic interest. He also tried, but failed, to acquire any proficiency in painting and singing. He joined a number of literary societies, and used them to develop his skills in debating and composition and to improve his general education. His father offered to take him into partnership, but instead Scott began studying to be an advocate alongside his friend William Clerk. They qualified in Civil law in 1791, in Scots law in 1792, and "on 11 July 1792 we both assumed the gown with all its duties and honours". Scott had reached the status of a gentleman with a place in Edinburgh society.