Clad in Plaid: Finding the Nation in Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley

Abstract

Sir Walter Scott is the de facto national author of the Scots, writing from the early 19th century and still sending significant ripples across contemporary society despite modernity and globalization being issued from the bi-centennial gap. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the meticulous lengths Scott took in reproducing the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion—a moment in history crucial to the understanding of Scotland’s nation-making—and investigate the unique national identities that divide his cast of characters from one another.