Synopses of Scott's Poems
Two hundred years ago, Walter Scott's poems were read everywhere, by everyone. They offered glimpses into history; presented scenes of drama, magic and intrigue; they were tragic, romantic, comedic, and human. They were also, often, incredibly long! Some of Scott's longer poems could amount to thousands of lines- which would take many hours to read, and even more to read aloud, as was popular to do.
In case you don't have those hours to spare when preparing to explore Scott with your class, we've summarised several of Scott’s poems that feature in this resource, to help give you context and understanding of the poems when looking at excerpts with your class. You can find summaries of all poems by clicking here to view in Word: Walter Scott Poem synopses Word, and clicking here to view in PDF: Walter Scott Poem synopses pdf. You can supplement these synopses with our video summaries below, which you may find it helpful to watch or listen to with your class.
'Jock of Hazeldean' is a short ballad. Click here for a synopsis video of Jock of Hazeldean. The only sound in the video is audio description for visually impaired people. If you do not wish to listen to the
Magic, love, fighting, and mystery are all prominent in The Lay of the Last Minstrel. Click here for a short synopsis of The Lay of the Last Minstrel. Click here for the synopsis with captions.
The Lord of the Isles is a poem about political intrigue, hidden identities, and love. Click here for a synopsis of The Lord of the Isles.
The Lady of the Lake starts with a knight meeting a strange woman on Loch Katrine. What follows is a story of political intrigue and love. Click here for a synopsis of The Lady of the Lake.
This work was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council Grant Number AH/V011111/1.
It is part of The Edinburgh Edition of Walter Scott's Poetry: Engaging New Audiences. It was developed by Dr Anna Fancett as part of the Walter Scott Research Centre at the University of Aberdeen with the support of Abbotsford, Scott's home in the Scottish Borders and The Association for Scottish Literature.
