SCOTT’S CENTENARY

Taranaki Daily News, 17 September 1932, Page 13 (Supplement)

SCOTT’S CENTENARY

MEMORIES OF HIS COUNTRY

(By

T.C.L.)

Next Wednesday will see the formal commemoration of the centenary of the death of Sir Walter Scott. The ceremony will be more than a local tribute, more than a national expression of pride, for there are thousands who can claim no Scottish, or even British, blood in their veins who -will remember again the genius who gave them many hours of happy interest and entertainment. To those who have had the privilege of visiting the “Scott country,” and of meeting hi’s countrymen, who take such pride in keeping Scott’s memory green, next week’s ceremonies will have a special appeal.

Commemorations almost always provoke an inclination to compare past and present. It is said that while Burns rescued the Scottish language from oblivion Scott rescued 'Scottish history .from the mass of tradition and inaccuracy in which it had been engulfed. He showed that historical research meant a real acquaintance not only with, the 'big figures on the world’s stage, but with the lowly folk as well. Scott was a believer in his own country with a vivid, intense and unremitting patriotism. Were he, the man who had listened to stories of the “45” uprising from those who ‘had followed the flag of the Stuarts, alive to-day, he would have little fear that the union of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland meant an eclipse of Scottish influence or a diminution in the importance of the northern partner in the United Kingdom. He would find the principal offices in Church and State held by his countrymen, for the Prime Minister and the Archbishop -of Canterbury are both (Scots, to say nothing of the fair share of Ministerial positions that are also held by men from north of the Tweed.

In New Zealand the story is the same. Men of Scottish birth or descent hold at least half the seats in the Ministry and similar predominance of Scotchmen in public affairs is found throughout the Empire. In the Great War it was to a “Border Scot” the Empire’s destinies were entrusted, and Earl Haig and Sir Walter Scott sleep alongside each other in that peaceful abbey'burying ground at Dryburgh to which so many will turn their steps next week. It is good to think that a descendant of Sir Walter is. still the Laird of Abbotsford, the home he built, of which he was so proud, though he knew its architectural weaknesses and called it in his whimsical fashion “Conundrum Castle.”

Edinburgh will share in next week’s ceremonies. She has full right to do so. It was there that Scott discovered “Waverley” was a saleable story. It was there he met the lady who turned his thoughts, to poesy, though she did not reciprocate 'his affection. It was in Edinburgh that he progressed in formal dignity in his profession of law and as an officer of the Court, and it was Edinburgh which made him its literary “lion” before he was 34 years of age. But with all honour to Scott the lawyer, the poet or the teller of tales arid citizen of one of the proudest communities in the world, it is at Abbotsford that the man himself becomes clearer. It was at Abbotsford that he played the charming host, the benevolent friend. It. was there that lie designed rooms and embellishments to suit his own desires and antiquarian tastes. It was to Abbotsford he returned when ruin overtook him to take up "a burden which would 'have frightened a man of half his years. Abbotsford house is a jumble of all styles of architecture, but in its grounds the influence of Sir Walter remains in one respect at least. He was a great tree-lover and he was a great treeplanter. He d'esigned his estate, before Abbotsford was 'built, to be “half cultivation and half wooded,” and he kept somewhere near to his intention. The result is an estate that has the loveliness to which only the' umbrageous' trees of the Old Land can give the proper setting. - ■ ■ Of Scott’s work much is likely to be said next week. When all that is ephemeral has been deducted, when the second 'best has been forgotten, there will still remain sufficient of his work to honour British literature so long as it shall last. . Almost unconsciously consideration of Scott’s writings leads to a comparison with those of his earlier compatriot, Bobbie Burns. It is astonishing at. how many points their writings agree. Burns the peasant and Scott the aristocrat saw eye to eye on many things. They 'both possessed love of country so conspicuous that it quickened others’ love of country, too; they were both “good company,” splendid talkers; 'both of them hated meanness or hypocrisy and both of thein endured misery at the call of friendship. Burns found his country’s language and song bedraggled and almost smothered. He transmuted it to poetry that is immortal. (Scott found his country’s history just as grievously mistreated, and from its pages he drew stories that will last so long as youth thrills ■to adventure and the art of reading remains.

However high may 'be the praise of Scott’s work it will be thought of the man himself which will quicken interest in the centenary of his death. That thought will develop best In the quiet of Abbotsford. In those grounds the cheerful ripple of the river Tweed, which Scott loved so well, is an antidote to morbid reflection. Passing through the gardens, through the comely countryside and over the hill to Dryburgh Abbey many a visitor has renewed admiration for genius and ref spect for the man who made mistakes like lesser folk, -who trusted much and ■was betrayed, who met his troubles like a hero, and who “died fighting.” And the peace and dignity of his rest-ing-place at Dryburgh, perhaps the most impressive sylvan treasure of the Kingdom, leaves an impression no one wishes ever io forget.