Sir Walter Scot: Perceptions of the Highlands and Highlanders

Lt Cdr Dairmid Gunn OBE

Thursday 19th November 2015

Summary of the Talk:

This talk explored Sir Walter Scott’s evolving perception of the Highlands and Highlanders, his role in shaping the romanticised view of Highland culture, and how his works contributed to changing public attitudes towards the region. It examined Scott’s literary influences, travels, historical perspectives, and his orchestration of the Royal Visit of 1822.

1. The Influence of the Ossian Poems and Early Perceptions of the Highlands

In the 1760s, James Macpherson’s Ossian poems—allegedly translations of ancient Gaelic poetry—introduced the mystique and heroism of the Highlands to a European audience.
Though later exposed as partly fabricated, they fascinated Napoleon, Romantic writers, and European audiences.
Scott was initially skeptical but found the idea of a mysterious, ancient Highland culture appealing.
He realised the Highlands were vastly different from Edinburgh and the Lowlands—a different language, social structure, and culture.
The Highland-Lowland relationship had always been turbulent, but trade—especially cattle droving—kept them connected.
Scott explored the drovers' way of life in The Two Drovers (1827).

2. Government Control and the Transformation of the Highlands

The Highlands had a history of lawlessness and insurrection, seen in events like:
Battle of Killiecrankie (1689) – A Jacobite victory, which alarmed the government.
Jacobite uprisings (1715 and 1745) – Led to harsh suppression of Highland culture.
Government strategies to control the Highlands:
General Wade’s military roads improved accessibility for British troops.
The Disarming Act (1746) banned tartan, weapons, and bagpipes.
English replaced Gaelic in education and religious reform aimed to stamp out Catholicism.
Ironically, the British Army revived Highland identity by forming Highland regiments, which gained prestige and public admiration.
By 1782, the ban on tartan was lifted, and Highland culture slowly re-emerged.

3. Scott’s First Encounters with the Highlands

Scott’s legal training introduced him to former Jacobites, including Alexander Stewart of Invernahyle, a veteran of Culloden.
A visit to Invernahyle in his teens left a deep impression:
Heard first-hand stories of the 1745 rebellion.
Witnessed Highland hospitality and traditions.
Described the laird’s wife and daughters working on the land, only to transform into elegant ladies in the evening.
Encountered bagpipe rituals and haggis processions.
His 1792 tour of the Highlands with Adam Ferguson further deepened his knowledge.
Inspired by tales of Rob Roy and Highland clan politics, he saw the Highlands as a land of heroism, loyalty, and poetic beauty.

4. The Role of Landscape and Romanticism in Scott’s Writing

Scott drew inspiration from Highland scenery, which he incorporated into his poetry and novels.
His Minstrelsy of the Scottish Borders (1802-03) reflected his deep knowledge of Borders folklore, but he sought to apply the same approach to the Highlands.
The Lady of the Lake (1810) was a poetic masterpiece, set in the Trossachs, which:
Glorified Highland landscape and history.
Sparked a tourism boom, with wealthy English visitors flocking to the Trossachs.
Served as an early “guidebook” to the Highlands.
The novel Waverley (1814), published anonymously, introduced a romanticised yet complex view of the Jacobites and their cause.
Edward Waverley, a naïve English officer, immerses himself in Highland culture.
Flora MacIvor (Jacobite idealist) and Rose Bradwardine (Lowland pragmatist) symbolise the contrast between Highland passion and Lowland stability.

5. Scott’s Interpretation of Highland Society and Culture

Scott admired Highlanders but lacked direct experience of ordinary Gaelic-speaking people.
He admitted his lack of Gaelic knowledge was a barrier.
Rob Roy (1817) portrayed both the heroism and the lawlessness of the Highlands.
Rob Roy MacGregor is both a noble outlaw and a practical survivor.
Baillie Nicol Jarvie, a Glasgow merchant, provides a Lowland perspective on Highlanders.
Redgauntlet (1824) explored Jacobite nostalgia and Highland loyalty.

6. The Highland Clearances and Scott’s Response

Scott witnessed the impact of the Highland Clearances, where clans were displaced for sheep farming.
In 1814, during a voyage with the Northern Lighthouse Commission, he saw firsthand the economic transformation.
He observed that Highland chiefs had become landlords, breaking the ancient clan bonds.
He struggled to reconcile economic progress with social cost.
He did not explicitly criticise the clearances but acknowledged their tragic impact.

7. Scott’s Role in Reviving Highland Identity – The Royal Visit of 1822

In 1822, King George IV visited Scotland, the first reigning monarch to do so since Charles II (1651).
Scott orchestrated the visit, crafting a spectacle of Highland pageantry.
He urged clan chiefs to attend in tartan, transforming Edinburgh into a sea of Highland dress.
Scott presented the king with a Gaelic-inscribed St Andrew’s Cross.
This event revived Highland culture, but some critics (e.g., Henry Cockburn, Thomas Carlyle) saw it as theatrical and historically inaccurate.
It established Highland dress as Scotland’s national identity, though Gaelic language continued to decline.

8. Scott’s Legacy in Shaping Highland Perceptions

Scott popularised a romanticised view of the Highlands, blending history, legend, and landscape.
He helped redefine Scotland’s national identity, giving Highland culture a central role despite its earlier suppression.
His literary influence extended worldwide, inspiring opera (La Donna del Lago), art, and tourism.
His Highland novels preserved the memory of clan society, even as the real Highlands were changing.
His fusion of Highland and Lowland identities helped Scotland maintain its cultural distinctiveness within the Union.

Key Takeaways and Interesting Points

Scott was both an observer and a creator of Highland identity, helping redefine Scotland’s image through literature and public spectacle.
His encounters with former Jacobites influenced his perception of Highland loyalty, honour, and hardship.
The Lady of the Lake (1810) sparked a tourist boom, as visitors sought to see the romantic Highlands Scott described.
Waverley (1814) humanised the Jacobites, showing their bravery and tragedy without outright endorsing their cause.
Scott’s romanticised view of Highlanders shaped public attitudes, but he never fully understood the Gaelic-speaking lower classes.
The Royal Visit of 1822 cemented tartan as a national symbol, blending Highland tradition with British loyalty.
Scott was sympathetic to the Highland Clearances, but avoided political condemnation.

Final Thoughts

Lt Cdr Dairmid Gunn’s talk highlighted Scott’s deep but evolving understanding of the Highlands, his romantic imagination, and his role in crafting the modern image of Scotland.

Download the [transcript]

Speech introduction by Alasdair Hutton:

The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club is exceedingly fortunate to have Lt Commander Diarmid Gunn OBE as one its longest standing and most loyal and effective members.

Diarmid has been on the Council for more than twenty years and as our Chairman saw the Club’s transition from the twentieth century to this one.

Diarmid was a career officer with the Royal Navy for 20 years serving in Korea and at Suez and of course, since this was the period of the Cold War, at Dartmouth he had learned Russian and as a result he was appointed the Assistant Naval Attache in Moscow and developed a life-long attachment to the country

Diarmid’s OBE came not from his naval service but for his services to Scottish agriculture as Director of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation and his co-ordination of the British Food and Farming Campaign promoted by the Duke of Edinburgh.

But, most importantly for us, Diarmid’s roots are in the highlands. His parents hailed from Caithness and Sutherland and his uncle was the writer Neil Gunn who was one of the group of influential Scottish fiction writers working in the first half of the 20th century and whose literary estate Diarmid looks after.

In this talk Diarmid casts a highlander’s eye over the way Sir Walter Scott perceived and portrayed the Highlands and Highlanders