Editing Walter Scott (section)

==Literary career, marriage and family==
[[File:Scott's Minstrelsy Of The Scottish Border.JPG|thumb|A copy of Scott's ''Minstrelsy'', in the National Museum of Scotland]]
Scott was prompted to take up a literary career by enthusiasm in Edinburgh in the 1790s for modern German literature. Recalling the period in 1827, Scott said that he "was German-mad."<ref>''The Letters of Sir Walter Scott': 1826‒1828'', ed. H. J. C. Grierson (London, 1936), p. 331: Scott to Mrs Hughes.</ref> In 1796, he produced English versions of two poems by [[Gottfried August Bürger]], ''Der wilde Jäger'' and ''Lenore'', published as ''The Chase'', and ''William and Helen''. Scott responded to the German interest at the time in national identity, folk culture and medieval literature,<ref name="hewitt"/> which linked with his own developing passion for traditional balladry. A favourite book since childhood had been [[Thomas Percy (bishop of Dromore)|Thomas Percy]]'s ''[[Reliques of Ancient English Poetry]]''. During the 1790s he would search in manuscript collections and on Border "raids" for ballads from oral performance. With help from [[John Leyden]], he produced a two-volume ''Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'' in 1802, containing 48 traditional ballads and two imitations apiece by Leyden and himself. Of the 48 traditionals, 26 were published for the first time. An enlarged edition appeared in three volumes the following year. With many of the ballads, Scott fused different versions into more coherent texts, a practice he later repudiated.<ref name="hewitt"/> The ''Minstrelsy'' was the first and most important of a series of editorial projects over the next two decades, including the medieval romance ''[[Sir Tristrem]]'' (which Scott attributed to [[Thomas the Rhymer]]) in 1804, the works of [[John Dryden]] (18 vols, 1808), and the works of [[Jonathan Swift]] (19 vols, 1814).

On a trip to the English [[Lake District]] with old college friends, he met Charlotte Charpentier (Anglicised to "Carpenter"), a daughter of Jean Charpentier of [[Lyon]] in France and a [[wardship|ward]] of Lord Downshire in [[Cumberland]], an Anglican. After three weeks' courtship, Scott proposed and they were married on Christmas Eve 1797 in St Mary's Church, Carlisle (now the nave of [[Carlisle Cathedral]]).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/biography/marriage.html |title=Williamina, Charlotte and Marriage |publisher=University of Edinburgh |date=24 October 2003 |access-date=31 October 2017}}</ref> After renting a house in Edinburgh's [[George Street, Edinburgh|George Street]], they moved to nearby South Castle Street. Their eldest child, Sophia, was born in 1799, and later married [[John Gibson Lockhart]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Abbotsford – The Home of Sir Walter Scott|url=https://www.scottsabbotsford.com/history/the-descendants-of-sir-walter-scott/scotts-children|access-date=19 November 2021|website=www.scottsabbotsford.com}}</ref> Four of their five children survived Scott himself. His eldest son [[Scott baronets|Sir Walter Scott, 2nd Baronet]] (1801–1847), inherited his father's estates and possessions: on 3 February 1825<ref>Monuments and monumental inscriptions in Scotland: The Grampian Society, 1871.</ref> he married Jane Jobson, only daughter of William Jobson of Lochore (died 1822) by his wife Rachel Stuart (died 1863), heiress of [[Lochore]] and a niece of Lady Margaret Ferguson.<ref>C. S. M. Lockhart, 1871 [https://archive.org/details/centenarymemori00lockgoog ''The Centenary Memorial of Sir Walter Scott'']. Virtue & Co. p. 62.</ref> In 1799 Scott was appointed [[Sheriff Court|Sheriff-Depute]] of the [[County of Selkirk]], based at the [[Selkirk Town House|courthouse]] in the [[Royal Burgh]] of [[Selkirk, Scottish Borders|Selkirk]]. In his early married days Scott earned a decent living from his work as a lawyer, his salary as Sheriff-Depute, his wife's income, some revenue from his writing, and his share of his father's modest estate.

[[File:39 North Castle Street, Edinburgh.JPG|thumb|left|Right to left: numbers 39, 41 and 43 North Castle Street, Edinburgh. No 39 was the home of Sir Walter Scott from 1801]]
After the younger Walter was born in 1801, the Scotts moved to a spacious three-storey house at 39 North Castle Street, which remained his Edinburgh base until 1826, when it was sold by the trustees appointed after his financial ruin. From 1798, Scott had spent summers in a cottage at [[Lasswade]], where he entertained guests, including literary figures. It was there his career as an author began. There were nominal residency requirements for his position of Sheriff-Depute, and at first he stayed at a local inn during the circuit. In 1804, he ended his use of the Lasswade cottage and leased the substantial house of [[Ashiestiel|Ashestiel]], {{convert|6|mi|km}} from Selkirk, sited on the south bank of the [[River Tweed]] and incorporating an ancient [[tower house]].<ref name="homes"/>

At Scott's insistence the first edition of ''Minstrelsy'' was printed by his friend James Ballantyne at Kelso. In 1798 James had published Scott's version of [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]]'s ''[[Erlkönig]]'' in his newspaper ''The Kelso Mail'', and in 1799 included it and the two Bürger translations in a privately printed anthology, ''Apology for Tales of Terror''. In 1800 Scott suggested that Ballantyne set up business in Edinburgh and provided a loan for him to make the transition in 1802. In 1805, they became partners in the printing business, and from then until the financial crash of 1826 Scott's works were routinely printed by the firm.<ref>[[#Johnson|Johnson]], p. 171.</ref><ref name=hewitt/><ref>Sharon Ragaz, 2004. "James Ballantyne", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/1228}}</ref>

Scott was known for his fondness of [[dog]]s, and owned several throughout his life. Upon his death, one newspaper noted "of all the great men who have loved dogs no one ever loved them better or understood them more thoroughly".<ref name=platte>{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=14 November 1894 |title=The North Platte tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1890–1894, November 14, 1894, Image 7 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/2010270503/1894-11-14/ed-1/seq-7/ |access-date=6 November 2022 |issn=2165-8838}}</ref> The best known of Scott's dogs were [[Maida (dog)|Maida]], a large stag hound reported to be his favourite dog,<ref>[[iarchive:bub_gb_cC6FoV8cND4C/page/84/mode/2up|Thomas Brown's written portrait of Maida]]</ref> and Spice, a Dandie Dinmont terrier described as having [[asthma]], to which Scott gave particular care. In a diary entry written at the height of his financial woes, Scott described dismay at the prospect of having to sell them: "The thoughts of parting from these dumb creatures have moved me more than any of the reflections I have put down".<ref name="platte"/>