GREAT SCOTT
A Scottish professor who taught two future prime ministers and the man who would be king is promoting an even more daunting goal than teaching Britain’s elite.
In Washington earlier this month, Eric Anderson issued an urgent appeal to Americans and British expatriates to raise money to restore Abbortsford House, the iconic home of one of Scotland’s greatest writers, Walter Scott.
To hear Mr. Anderson describe the property, the once-elegant 19th century mansion built in the Scottish baronial style with soaring turrets and manicured gardens is now - what a real estate agent might call - a fixer-upper.
Scott, who purchased the land in the Scottish Borders region in 1811, almost lost his house in 1825 because of debts. However, he saved it through the profits of his voluminous novels, which included “Rob Roy” and “Ivanhoe,” and epic poems like “The Lady of the Lake.”
“Abbortsford is now in danger again,” Mr. Anderson told members of the English-Speaking Union of the United States and the Living Legacy of Scotland.
He said the estate needs a new roof and new windows, electricity and plumbing. The Abbortsford Trust, created in 2007 to restore the mansion, has raised nearly $14 million of the $21 million needed for the restoration. Mr. Anderson is counting on Scott’s fans to help.
Even those who know little of Scott’s work might be familiar with one of his most notable quotes:
“Oh! what a tangled web we weave
“When first we practice to deceive!”
Critics might accuse Scott, himself, of being a grand deceiver because his works promote a romanticized version of Scotland, mostly of misty highlands with heroic Scotsmen wearing kilts and wretched witches casting spells. Other novels built on the legend of King Arthur.
To Mr. Anderson, those are qualities to celebrate.
“The most influential Scot who ever lived was Sir Walter Scott,” he said.
Scott’s work is full of “stirring tales of derring-do, knights, witchcraft,” Mr. Anderson added. Scott is also credited with inventing a new literary genre, the historic novel.
“It’s impossible for me to exaggerate the effects these novels have had,” Mr. Anderson said.
Scott’s work was widely read in 19th century America, especially among antebellum Southern gentry inspired by his themes of chivalry, honor and loyalty. Mark Twain, who mocked Scott, once complained that Scott’s influence on the South was responsible for the Civil War.
Mr. Anderson, a Scott scholar, has promoted his love of British literature through a teaching career that included students including Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, Tony Blair, the former Labor Party prime minister, and David Cameron, the current Conservative Party prime minister.
He taught Mr. Blair at 14 at Fettes College in Scotland; Mr. Cameron at 16 at Eton in England; and Charles at 18 at Gordonstoun in Scotland.
“Blair has divulged that Ivanhoe was his favorite novel,” Mr. Anderson said.
He added that he is “very hopeful” about Mr. Cameron’s ability to lead Britain.
“He has inherited a very difficult job, but my prophesy is he will do well,” Mr. Anderson added.
On Prince Charles, Mr. Anderson believes that Charles, once ridiculed for embracing fads like organic food before they were accepted, is a “man of great sensibilities and sense.”
- Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297 or e-mail jmorrison@washington times.com.
• James Morrison can be reached at jmorrison@washingtontimes.com.
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