The Heart of Midlothian

Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet. Scott was the first modern English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime with many contemporary readers in Europe, Australia, and North America. His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and Scottish literature.


The Heart of Midlothian by Walter Scott is the seventh novel of Waverley Novels. Originally it was published in four volumes in 1818, and firstly named Tales of My Landlord. Any way novel earned a huge number of positive feedbacks and gave to its creator wide popularity. Novel itself is divided into two parts. The main storyline of first one refers to the Old Tollbooth Prison in Edinburgh where the historical backdrop is the event known as the Porteous Riots. The second and main element of the novel is based on a story Scott claimed to have received in an unsigned letter. A young woman from a family of highly devout Presbyterians goes to London by foot hoping to achieve an audience with the Queen through the influence of the Duke of Argy II. But for what purpose?