 |
| Painting depicting a young Sir Walter Scott meeting Robert Burns |
Today I was going to write about The National Library of Scotland planning in the next 10 years to make 8 million items in their care, accessible online to all. Featured will be manuscripts, poetry and letters belonging to famous Scots such as Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott.
 |
| National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh |
However, yesterday I went Abbotsford House, Melrose, home of Sir Walter Scott in the Scottish Borders. The large castle like building and gardens sit on the banks of the River Tweed and I can only describe them as being very grand. Befitting of an advocate and judge as Sir Walter Scott was.
 |
| Visitor book at Abbotsford House including signature of Oscar Wilde |
Scott was a collector of famous literary works and the visitors centre have some of these exhibited, one glass case contained volumes of, Pamela, by Samuel Richardson, dating back to the mid-eighteenth-century. There were also two visitor books which included the signatures of Oscar Wilde and Charles Dickens, to name but two of the many prestigious visitors to his home.
 |
| Burns, Tam O'Shanter changes done by Burns himself. |
One other thing that caught my eye was a painting by Charles Martin Hardie in 1893, depicting the one occasion that a young Sir Walter Scott met Robert Burns, a poet he much admired. The colours are still rich and captured the encounter as though it was painted recently.
 |
| Scott's home, Abbotsford House |
I'm sure when the 15-year-old Scott met Burns in Edinburgh in 1786, he never dreamed that both their works would be acclaimed by the World, or would be able to be accessed hundreds of years on.
 |
| Views from the terrace overlooking the River Tweed |
digital.nls.uk
http://www.scottsabbotsford.com/visit/the-house/
No comments:
Post a Comment