In the early decades of the nineteenth-century, the most famous writer in the world was an Edinburgh lawyer named Walter Scott. His poems and novels were global bestsellers. Many of Scott’s stories took as their subject Scottish history, featuring people, places, and events which had shaped the nation; and many were closely connected with Edinburgh’s royal residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

To mark the 250th anniversary of his birth, explore Scott’s writing of Scotland’s stories through resources, short talks, activities and more throughout 2021. Check this page and follow us on social media to keep up to date as we explore this fascinating figure, the courtly characters represented in his works and his royal readership.