John Galt

Scottish Writers #5

by Paul Henderson Scott

John Galt was born in 1779 and, like his contemporary Walter Scott, was heavily influenced by the ideals and aspirations of the Scottish Enlightenment. His contributions to literature range from poetry and plays to travel books, biographies and journalism, but he is best known as a novelist ? the creator of Ringan Gilhaize, The Provost, and The Entail. In his descriptions of everyday domestic life, shrewd observations of character, pungent dialogue in Scots and ironic self-revelation, Galt was continuously entertaining and often comic, but he was not afraid of pathos. In this study Paul Henderson Scott concentrates on his thirteen most famous novels for it is on these that Galt's claim to be regarded as an important writer must rest."

130 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Paul Henderson Scott was a former British diplomat who became a Scottish cultural and political activist. He wrote extensively on Scottish literature, history and politics, and made a special study of the 1707 Union of England and Scotland, both in its origins and its consequences.

Scott was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, and at Edinburgh University. He entered the Diplomatic Service in 1947, retiring in 1980. He is a staunch advocate of Scottish independence and the author of numerous books on Scottish topics, including 1707: The Union of Scotland and England (1979), Walter Scott and Scotland (1981), and Andrew Fletcher and the Treaty of Union (1993).

He is the co-editor with A.C. Davis of The Age of MacDiarmid, published in 1980.

Reviews

[Graeme · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Paul Henderson Scott provides a useful introduction to the Scottish author, John Galt, outlining his life, examining the influences on his work, his relationships with other authors such as Walter Scott and Lord Byron, and the tensions with his publisher, William Blackwood, and considering how critical responses to his work have varied over the past 200 years.

Scott's assessment of Galt's work concentrates on his 13 most famous novels, particularly those which the author categorised as his 'Tales of the West', such as Annals of the Parish, The Ayrshire Legatees, The Provost, The Entail and The Last of the Lairds. He also assesses Ringan Gilhaize, Galt's stark novel about Scotland's 17th century wars of religion, and the two novels about North American settlement, Lawrie Todd and Bogle Corbet.

Scott highlights Galt's strength as an observer of social change informed by Enlightenment thought, his skill in the creation and analysis of character, his deft handling of comedy, pathos and irony, and his adept use of the Scots language in narrative and dialogue. He attributes the abrupt decline in Galt's popularity from the 1830s to the rise of a prim and censorious Presbyterian gentility which drove Scottish literature into the Kailyard.