Events

The Annual Dinner of the Club is held in May each year. Among other meetings there is a Joint Lecture with the University of Edinburgh English Department.

Forthcoming Programme 



  • Friday 15th August 2025, 10:30am, Abbotsford, the Home of Sir Walter Scott. To register your interest in the Abbotsford excursion please contact the Hon Secretary for details of costs, transport, lunch, schedule and timings will follow.


  • Thursday, 4th September 2025: ‘How Scottish, in fact, are the Waverley Novels?’ by Dr Gerard McKeever. Tickets: £20 each (includes wine and canapés).


  • Thursday, 2nd October 2025, 5.15pm:‘Out-of-the-way Reading and Hoary-headed Tradition’: Walter Scott’s Supernatural Scholarship and Poetry’ by Dr Natalie Harries. Tickets: FREE (includes wine reception) 


  • Thursday, 6th November 2025: ‘Scott and Classics’ by Dr Kristian Kerr. Tickets: £20 each (includes wine and canapés).

Try Before You Buy: If you are not a member and would like to attend one of our regular lectures* in Edinburgh as our guest please phone the Treasurer to obtain a ticket. We are happy for you to come along to one meeting for free to see if you like the Club before officially joining. (*excludes the Annual Dinner and external trips).

Past Talks and Papers

All previous Club lectures and articles since 1894

(excluding Annual Dinners and Summer Excursions)

2014 


Lt Cdr Dairmid Gunn  - Russia and Scottland: Russia’s debt to Sir Walter > [transcript]


Margaret Bennett and Lori Watson- Beyond the Border: Sir Walter Scott’s Minstrelsy in Story and Song >[video]


Professor Claire Lamont  and  Professor Peter Garside  - A Colloquium on Waverley >  [transcript]


Sir Hew Strachan - Kaiser Wilhelm II 1914 – Napoleon Bonaparte 1814 > [video] 


Paul H. Scott - The Letters to Malachi Malagrowther (n/a)


David McClay - Discovering Walter Scott in the John Murray Archive


John Malden - The Artist and the Bride of Lammermoor (n/a)


William Zachs - “Breathes There the Man”: Sir Walter Scott 200 Years Since Waverley. 

An exclusive visit to a private exhibition at Blackie House, Lady Stair's Close (n/a)


Professor Ian Duncan - Scott and the “Science of Man” (n/a)

2013


Lucy Macrae  and Kaye McAlpine - Reiving and Bereaving: Walter Scott and the rich ballad tradition of the Scottish Borders (n/a)


Lt Cdr Dairmid Gunn  - Scott and Malta: A Mediterranean Adventure >  [transcript]


Fiona Robertson  - Scott in 2013: New Scholarship, Old Connections, and the Case of Rokeby >  [transcript]


Professor David Purdie - An IVANHOE for the 21st Century (n/a)


Richard and Caroline Wiseman - 39 North Castle Street: A Private Viewing > [photos]


Dr. Matthew Withey - A Private Tour of Sir Walter’s newly restored home > [photos]


Alasdair Hutton  - Marmion, A Tale of Flodden Field: A Marketing Triumph >  [transcript]


Lindsay Levy - Abbotsford Library Catalogue 1838 and 2013 (n/a)


Dr. Sigrid Rieuwerts - Editing Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (n/a)

2012


Prof. David Purdie - Scott and the Pharos: The Lighthouse Tour of 1814 Revisited (n/a)


Sandra McNeil - Abbotsford: an Exciting Future  (n/a)


Dr Gillian Hughes  - Sir Walter Scott and James Hogg: A City and Country Friendship > [transcript]


Dr Susan Rennie - Besoms, Keelies, and Merry Men: Scott’s contributions to Jamieson’s Dictionary > [transcript]


William Payne and Lee A. Simpson - A Colloquium on The Antiquary (n/a)


Joanna Cooke and Matthew Withey - Out and In: The Decant and Recant of Sir Walter Scott’s Collection at Abbotsford (n/a)


Professor Christopher Harvie - Scott, The Brothers Grimm and the Lost Union  (n/a)


J. H. Alexander  - Editing Scott’s Last Edition > [transcript]


2011


Professor Claire Lamont - Story-telling in the Introductions to the Magnum Edition of the Waverley Novels (n/a)


Lt. Cdr. Dairmid Gunn  - Scott, Newman and Abbotsford > [transcript]


Dr. John Morrison   - Walter Scott and the Painting of Scottish History > [transcript]


Professor Kathryn Sutherland   and Professor David Hewitt- Colloquium on Redgauntlet > [transcript]


Dr. Alison Lumsden - Retuning the Harp of the North: Editing Scott's Poetry (n/a)


Dr. Michael Buck - William Stark, and the Cottage that Never Was: Early Planning at Abbotsford, 1811-12 (n/a)


Prof. Peter Garside - Illustrating Scott's Fiction > [transcript]


Dr. Robert Irvine - Scott, India, and the Muslim Gentleman  > [transcript]



2009


Brian Gill and Paul H. Scott - Colloquium on The Heart of Midlothian


Jacquie Wright - Abbotsford: Past, Present and Future > [transcript]


Dr. R. A. Silvester - Scott as Poet, Critic and Historian > [transcript]


Lindsay Levy - Walter Scott – bibliophile or bibliomaniac?   (n/a)


Alasdair Hutton   and Professor David Hewitt- Colloquium on Rob Roy  >[transcript]


2002


Lt. Cdr. Dairmid Gunn – The Pirate > [transcript]


Allan Massie - Why We Should Read Scott Today > [transcript]


Dr. Alison Lumsden  - Textual Messaging: The Making of Meaning in the Waverley Novels


Anne Lorne Gillies and Rhona Mackay - The Lady of the Lake > [programme]


2000


Arnold Kemp  – Sir Walter Scott and Politics > [transcript]


Richard D. Jackson – Scott and St. John’s > [transcript]


Rod Paterson - A Recital of Scottish Songs at Abbotsford (n/a)


Dr. Iain Brown - Collecting Scott for Scotland 1850-2000 (n/a)



1992


Alex Cameron - Illustrated Talk on the Border County (n/a)


Professor Peter Garside – Scott and the Borderlands of Romance > [transcript]

1989


John McQueen  – On Editing Rob Roy > [transcript]


Sir Eric Anderson – Scott: The Author as Actor. In light of the death of Dr. J.C. Corson the title of this talk was changed to The Building of Abbotsford.


1988 


Margaret Bennett and Martyn Bennett – Scott's Border Songs  



1986 


Dr. Iain Gordon Brown - A private viewing of the Interleaved Set of the Waverley Novels (the so-called ‘Magnum Opus’) and the Pforzheimer Scott Manuscripts repatriated from the United States

Newspaper Cuttings

Newspaper clipping of articles from all the mayor Scottish Newspapers on stories about Sir Walter Scott or The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club.

1927-1933 View them here: [1927 Newspaper Cuttings]


1933-1949 View them here: [1933 Newspaper Cuttings]