The Lay of the Last Minstrel by Sir Walter Scott (Illustrated)

By Sir Walter Scott

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The Lay of the Last Minstrel’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Sir Walter Scott’.

Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Scott includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

eBook features:
* The complete unabridged text of ‘The Lay of the Last Minstrel’
* Beautifully illustrated with images related to Scott’s works
* Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook
* Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Jul 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781786568786

Sir Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott was born in Scotland in 1771 and achieved international fame with his work. In 1813 he was offered the position of Poet Laureate, but turned it down. Scott mainly wrote poetry before trying his hand at novels. His first novel, Waverley, was published anonymously, as were many novels that he wrote later, despite the fact that his identity became widely known.

Book preview

The Complete Works of

SIR WALTER SCOTT

VOLUME 40 OF 62

The Lay of the Last Minstrel

Parts Edition

By Delphi Classics, 2015

Version 7

COPYRIGHT

‘The Lay of the Last Minstrel’

Sir Walter Scott: Parts Edition (in 62 parts)

First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2017.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78656 878 6

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

Delphi Publishing Ltd

Hastings, East Sussex

United Kingdom

Contact: [e-mail]

www.delphiclassics.com

Sir Walter Scott: Parts Edition

This eBook is Part 40 of the Delphi Classics edition of Sir Walter Scott in 62 Parts. It features the unabridged text of The Lay of the Last Minstrel from the bestselling edition of the author’s Complete Works. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. Our Parts Editions feature original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of Sir Walter Scott, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

Visit here to buy the entire Parts Edition of Sir Walter Scott or the Complete Works of Sir Walter Scott in a single eBook.

Learn more about our Parts Edition, with free downloads, via this link or browse our most popular Parts here.

SIR WALTER SCOTT

IN 62 VOLUMES

Parts Edition Contents

The Novels

1, Waverley

2, Guy Mannering

3, The Antiquary

4, Black Dwarf

5, Old Mortality

6, Rob Roy

7, The Heart of Midlothian

8, The Bride of Lammermoor

9, A Legend of Montrose

10, Ivanhoe

11, The Monastery

12, The Abbot

13, Kenilworth

14, The Pirate

15, The Fortunes of Nigel

16, Peveril of the Peak

17, Quentin Durward

18, St. Ronan’s Well

19, Redgauntlet

20, The Betrothed

21, The Talisman

22, Woodstock

23, The Fair Maid of Perth

24, Anne of Geierstein

25, Count Robert of Paris

26, Castle Dangerous

The Shorter Fiction

27, Chronicles of the Canongate

28, My Aunt Margaret’s Mirror

29, The Tapestried Chamber

30, Death of the Laird’s Jock.

31, Miscellaneous Short Pieces

The Plays

32, Goetz von Berlichingen

33, Halidon Hill

34, Macduff’s Cross

35, The Doom of Devorgoil

36, Auchindrane

37, The House of Aspen

The Poetry Collections

38, Translations and Imitations from German Ballads

39, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border

40, The Lay of the Last Minstrel

41, Ballads and Lyrical Pieces

42, Marmion

43, The Lady of the Lake

44, The Vision of Don Roderick

45, The Bridal of Triermain

46, Rokeby

47, The Field of Waterloo

48, The Lord of the Isles

49, Harold the Dauntless

50, Miscellaneous Poems

The Non-Fiction

51, The Life of John Dryden

52, Paul’s Letters to His Kinsfolk

53, The Journal of Sir Walter Scott

54, The Letters of Malachi Malagrowther

55, The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte

56, Tales of a Grandfather

57, Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft

58, Trial of Duncan Terig, Alias Clerk, and Alexander Bane MacDonald

59, Miscellaneous Prose Works

The Criticism

60, The Criticism

The Biographies

61, Sir Walter Scott by Richard H. Hutton

62, Sir Walter Scott by George Saintsbury

www.delphiclassics.com

The Lay of the Last Minstrel

Scott began The Lay of the Last Minstrel in 1802, intending it as part of The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. He had been kicked by a horse, while on maneuvers with his cavalry regiment and worked on the first Canto while recuperating. When the Countess of Dalkeith suggested he include the local legend of the goblin Gilpin Horner in his original tale of Border rivalries, he realised it would be too long for The Minstrelsy and decided to publish it as a separate work. It was eventually finished in 1804 and published in early 1805.

Written in six cantos, The Lay of the Last Minstrel is a verse romance in the gothic style. Scott’s use of the metrical scheme was modified by the influence of the old ballad verse, of the old romance stanzas and of the verse forms of the old Scottish poets, providing an antique flavour of the form, as well as the substance, of his poem. Necessarily, the presentation is selective, poetical, and more or less idealised. The four-beat lines that create its distinctive galloping rhythm were influenced by a recital that Scott had heard in Coleridge’s Christabel.

The poem concerns an aging minstrel, who seeks hospitality at Newark Castle and in recompense tells a tale of a sixteenth century Border feud. In this tale, Lady Margaret Scott of Buccleuch, the Flower of Teviot is beloved by Baron Henry of Cranstown an ally of the Ker Clan, but a deadly feud exists between the two border clans of Scott and Carr/Ker, which has resulted in the recent murder of Lady Margaret’s father, Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch by the Kers on the High Street in Edinburgh. Maragaret’s widowed mother – Lady Janet – hates the Ker clan as a result, and is adamant in refusing her consent to any suggestion of marriage between the lovers.

The Lay of the Last Minstrel was an immediate publishing phenomenon, bringing Scott instant fame. There were six editions within three years, with sales rising to 27,000 copies within a decade, unmatched figures for poetry. The description of the moonlit Melrose Abbey in Canto II, stanza 1, brought a stream of tourists to the ruined Abbey and led to it becoming a popular subject with nineteenth-century painters. The poem’s enthusiasts included even the Prime Minister, William Pitt, who was reported to have recited passages of the poem at his dinner table.

The critics were also mostly favourable. Francis Jeffrey in the Edinburgh Review thought that many passages were ‘in the very first rank of poetical excellence’. The Critical Review praised the skill with which Scott had refined his ‘rich but unpolished ore’ of ballad poetry. The Annual Review thought the poem ‘elegant, spirited, and striking’ welcoming the move away from the stiffness of classical poetics.

The original title page

CONTENTS

THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL. INTRODUCTION

THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL. CANTO FIRST

THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL. CANTO SECOND

THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL. CANTO THIRD

THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL. CANTO FOURTH

THE LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL. CANTO FIFTH

THE