ofessor of the Practice
of Physic in the University of Edinburgh, and his mother's brother, Dr
Daniel Rutherford, an eminent chemist, afterwards occupied the chair of
Botany. His mother was a person of a vigorous and cultivated mind. Of a
family of twelve children, born to his parents, six of whom survived
infancy, Walter only evinced the possession of the uncommon attribute of
genius. He was born a healthy child, but soon after became exposed to
serious peril by being some time tended by a consumptive nurse. When
scarcely two years old he was seized with an illness which deprived him
of the proper use of his right limb, a loss which continued during his
life. With the view of retrieving his strength, he was sent to reside
with his paternal grandfather, Robert Scott, who rented the farm of
Sandyknowe, in the vicinity of Smailholm Tower, in Roxburghshire.
Shortly after his arrival at Sandyknowe, he narrowly escaped destruction
through the frantic desperation of a maniac attendant; but he had
afterwards to congratulate himself on being enabled to form an early
acquaintance with rural scenes. No advantage accruing to his lameness,
he was, in his fourth year, removed to Bath, where he remained twelve
months, without experiencing benefit from the mineral waters. During the
three following years he chiefly resided at Sandyknowe. In his eighth
year he returned to Edinburgh, with his mind largely stored with border
legends, chiefly derived from the recitations of his grandmother, a
person of a romantic inclination and sprightly intelligence. At this
period, Pope's translation of Homer, and the more amusing songs in
Ramsay's "Evergreen," were his favourite studies; and he took delight in
reading aloud, with suitable emphasis, the more striking passages, or
verses, to his mother, who sought every incentive to stimulate his
native propensity. In 1778 he was sent to the High School, where he
possessed the advantage of instruction under Mr Luke Fraser, an able
scholar, and Dr Adam, the distinguished rector. His progress in
scholarship was not equal to his talents; he was already a devotee to
romance, and experienced greater gratification in retiring with a friend
to some quiet spot in the country, to relate or to listen to a
fictitious tale, than in giving his principal attention to the
prescribed tasks of the schoolroom. As he became older, the love of
miscellaneous literature, especially the works of the great masters of
fiction, a