Scott's legacy to his country was not just that of a body of great literature that was to be known and loved all over the world. He was also instrumental in giving Scotland back the pride and sense of identity that had been missing since the traumas of the Union and the Jacobite Risings. Without him it is doubtful if the rest of the world would look upon Scotland with quite the same romantic affection, or the Scots look back with quite the same confidence.

SIR Walter Scott was born on August 15, 1771 in Edinburgh. At the age of 18 months he contracted infantile paralysis - probably a form of Polio - which left him lame in his right leg. As a result he was sent to recuperate with his grandfather in the Borders where he first started to hear the history and legendss of the area which would provide him with much of his inspiration. He returned to Ednburgh for his schooling and attended classes at the university at a young age. He became an apprentice at his father's legal practice in 1786 and came into contact with many of the literati of Edinburgh. He studied at the classes of people like Prof. Dugald Stewart to prepare for his Bar exams and was called to the Bar in 1792. At around this time he started collecting the ballads of the Border areas which were to later be published as The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.

He had developed an interest in German literature and in 1796 published translations including one of Goethe. The following year saw him marry Charlotte Carpenter and after a period of living in Lasswade he was appointed Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire in 1799. He completed the Minstrelsy and was encourage by the Countess of Dalkeith to compose a ballad of a Border story which developed into The Lay of the Last Minstrel which was published in 1805 and became a great success. The romantic story set against a Scottish historical background became a main theme of his and he continued this with Marmion in 1808 and his most popular poem The Lady of the Lake in 1810.

The following year saw him build the house at Abbotsford where he would live for the rest of his life and which he added to over the years. He was now moving more towards prose and in 1814 his novel Waverley, which was to be the beginning of a long and famous series, was published by Constable. This was in many ways the birth of the historical novel, and he brought it immediately to a fine art which would seldom be equalled. Over the next few years he produced a stream of titles such as Guy Mannering, The Antiquary, Rob Roy, The Heart of Midlothian, Ivanhoe and Redgauntlet. They were written anonymously - appearing variously as "by the writer of Waverley", and by the fictitious Jedediah Cleishbotham. He seemed to feel that novel writing was not a fit profession for someone in his position but was also a lover of mystery and saw the value of it a a promotional device.

Scott had been made a baronet in 1818 and was instrumental in organising the successful visit to Scotland of King George IV in 1822, the first reigning monarch to do so since Charles I in 1641. When they met the king is said to have exclaimed 'Sir Walter Scott: the man in Scotland I most wish to see.' The visit created a much improved degree of popularity for the monarchy largely due to Scott's stage-management - for instance the king wore a kilt of Royal Stuart Tartan, a custom which has continued - and it is said that the event drew the Highlands and Lowlands closer together than had previously been the case. Through his work and campaigning Scott gave Scotland back an identity and pride that had been missing since the Union of 1707 - he had researched and rediscovered the Honours of Scotland (The Scottish Crown Jewels) which had lain forgotten in a sealed room in Edinburgh Castle and negotiated the return to the castle of the famous seige gun Mons Meg, which had been taken to the Tower of London many years earlier. He also arranged for the restoration of the peerages forfeited during the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745.

In 1825 he began to keep a journal - considered by many to be amongst his best work - in which he detailes his life and work and describes the world in which he moved. His descriptions of Edinburgh capture the city at the height of its renaissance, with the New Town not long built and expanding and filled with some of the finest thinkers of the day.

The following year however was to bring disaster - the publishing houses of Ballantynes and Constable with whom he was closely linked, suffered financial collaspse owing over £100,000. Four months later his wife died. To his great credit he refused to take an easy settlement of the debts and resolved to pay them all off through his writing. By the time of his death in 1832 he had paid off £70,000 and the rest was resolved from his copyrights, though the effort had undoubtedly contributed to the failure of his health - he frequently rose at 5am in order to find time for his writing.

His output in this period was prodigious. As well as his novels he had produced in 1827 a biography of Napoleon in nine volumes, which was praised by Goethe, and in the same year Tales of a Grandfather was published. This was a history of Scotland as told to his young grandson and aimed primarily at children, although it was so well-received that three more versions were produced. At the same time he produced an adult History of Scotland in two volumes which was also highly successful.

By October 1831 his health was failing and the government put a frigate at his disposal in which to tour the Mediterrenean. While matters improved during his stay in Italy he became ill again during the trip home via the Rhine and by the time he got to London in June 1832 his condition was serious. Daily bulletins appeared in the newspapers and the Royal family were being kept in constant touch. He recovered enough to be taken home to Abbotsford where he stabilised for a while, but the end was not far away. He rallied briefly before passing away in Sept.

He was buried with great ceremony and national mourning in Dryburgh Abbey. It is said that on that final journey his carriage horses, which had been given the task of pulling the hearse, stopped on Bemersyde Hill, as had been their practice on every journey in his lifetime when he would pause to look at his favourite view of the Eildon Hills.