Q 01/05

In which year was Walter Scott born?

A) 1788

B) 1775

C) 1771

D) 1801

Answer · why

C) 1771

He arrived in a third-floor flat on College Wynd in Edinburgh's Old Town, the ninth child of a Writer to the Signet; six of his siblings died in infan...

Q 02/05

A childhood illness in 1773 left Scott with a lifelong limp. What was it?

A) Scarlet fever

B) Tuberculosis

C) Polio

D) Rickets

Answer · why

C) Polio

He was sent to his grandparents' Borders farm at Sandyknowe to recover, where his aunt Jenny taught him to read and fed him ballads.

Q 03/05

Which famous Scottish poet did the 15-year-old Scott meet, just once, at an Edinburgh literary salon?

A) Robert Burns

B) Allan Ramsay

C) Robert Fergusson

D) James Hogg

Answer · why

A) Robert Burns

Scott alone could name the author of a poem Burns asked about, and was thanked for it.

Q 04/05

What was Scott's profession alongside writing?

A) Minister

B) Physician

C) Lawyer

D) Soldier

Answer · why

C) Lawyer

He served as Clerk of Session and Sheriff-Depute of Selkirkshire throughout his literary career.

Q 05/05

Scott's wife Charlotte Charpentier was born in which country?

A) Italy

B) Switzerland

C) France

D) Belgium

Answer · why

C) France

They married on Christmas Eve 1797 in Carlisle after a three-week courtship, having met in the Lake District.