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By the author of Waverley

Case 7 - Waterloo and Harold the dauntless

Sir Walter Scott. <em>The field of Waterloo: a poem.</em> [1st edition]. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne & Co. for Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Murray, London, 1815.

Sir Walter Scott. The field of Waterloo: a poem. [1st edition]. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne & Co. for Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Murray, London, 1815.

Scott’s first journey abroad was to Belgium in 1815, and he was amongst the first British civilians to view the battlefield at Waterloo. He thus began The field of Waterloo, utilising both his personal observations and information from his escorts, General Adam’s aide-de-camp, Captain Campbell and Major Pryse Gordon. In Paris, Scott spoke to the Duke of Wellington himself.

Profits from the poem went to widows and orphans of soldiers, and its worthy purpose perhaps softened the barbs of critics. The increasingly popular Lord Byron, however, ranked among its admirers.

Sir Walter Scott. <em>The field of Waterloo: a poem.</em> [1st edition]. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne & Co. for Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Murray, London, 1815.

Sir Walter Scott. The field of Waterloo: a poem. [1st edition]. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne & Co. for Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and John Murray, London, 1815.
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Sir Walter Scott. <em>Harold the dauntless: a poem in six cantos.</em> [1st edition]. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London; and Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh, 1817.

Sir Walter Scott. Harold the dauntless: a poem in six cantos. [1st edition]. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London; and Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh, 1817.

Scott’s last long narrative poem, Harold the dauntless was inspired by his keen interest in Old Norse sagas, of which he possessed a substantial collection. Ever fond of mystification, Scott had the poem published as “by the author of the Bridal of Triermain.”

Harold is the son of Witikind, a Viking converted to Christianity by St. Cuthbert and granted lands between the Wear and Tyne. The narrative follows Harold, a fierce adherent of traditional Viking ways, as he struggles to reclaim his lands and his eventual conversion.

Sir Walter Scott. <em>Harold the dauntless: a poem in six cantos.</em> [1st edition]. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London; and Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh, 1817.

Sir Walter Scott. Harold the dauntless: a poem in six cantos. [1st edition]. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London; and Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh, 1817.
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