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Books Quiz - Author - Sir Walter Scott (Questions)

Scott was born in 1771 in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. His father was a solicitor and, after university, Walter became apprenticed to his father. He was called to the bar in 1792 and was appointed the Sheriff Depute for Selkirk 7 years later. At this time his literary career was just a hobby. After translating some German works, the first poems by Scott himself were published in 1802 and he shot to fame when Lay of the Last Minstrel caught the public’s imagination 3 years later. He then moved from poetry to novels in 1814 when Waverly was published.

Scott wrote more than 20 novels in total, including Rob Roy and Ivanhoe. In addition he had 13 books of poetry, 2 short story collections and 20 works of non-fiction published, together with 5 plays. He died in 1832 at the age of 61.

Sir Walter Scott is the author of many classics of both English and Scottish literature. Test your knowledge of him with this quiz.

1. In 1844 work was completed on a monument to Scott in which city?
[ ] Aberdeen
[ ] Dundee
[ ] Edinburgh
[ ] Perth
2. In the novel Ivanhoe, what is the first name of the title character?
[ ] Walter
[ ] Wilbert
[ ] Wilfred
[ ] William
3. Rob Roy is set at the time of the Jacobite Rising that took place in what year?
[ ] 1715
[ ] 1725
[ ] 1735
[ ] 1745
4. In The Antiquary, the character Edie Ochiltree is a licenced 'gaberlunzie'. What is the modern term for a gaberlunzie?
[ ] Beggar
[ ] Innkeeper
[ ] Tax collector
[ ] Vet
5. In 1799 Scott was appointed Sheriff-Deputy of which county?
[ ] Fife
[ ] Lanark
[ ] Lothian
[ ] Selkirk
6. Which term is used to refer to Scott's novels?
[ ] The Highland Novels
[ ] The Lowland Novels
[ ] The North British Novels
[ ] The Waverley Novels
7. Which novel is set in England at the time of the Civil War?
[ ] Guy Mannering
[ ] Kenilworth
[ ] Peveril of the Peak
[ ] Quentin Durward
8. Which Scottish football club was named after a Scott novel?
[ ] Buckie Thistle
[ ] Heart of Midlothian
[ ] St Johnstone
[ ] Third Lanark
9. The 1819 novel The Bride of Lammermoor was the inspiration for an opera by which composer?
[ ] Bellini
[ ] Donizetti
[ ] Verdi
[ ] Wagner
10. Scott's former residence, Abbotsford House, stands near which town in the Scottish Borders?
[ ] Dumfries
[ ] Jedburgh
[ ] Melrose
[ ] Peebles

 

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Books Quiz - Author - Sir Walter Scott (Answers)
1. In 1844 work was completed on a monument to Scott in which city?
[ ] Aberdeen
[ ] Dundee
[x] Edinburgh
[ ] Perth
It's over 200 ft tall and stands in Princes Street Gardens
2. In the novel Ivanhoe, what is the first name of the title character?
[ ] Walter
[ ] Wilbert
[x] Wilfred
[ ] William
Ivanhoe is an unusual hero for Scott: he's English
3. Rob Roy is set at the time of the Jacobite Rising that took place in what year?
[x] 1715
[ ] 1725
[ ] 1735
[ ] 1745
Despite the book's title, Robert "Rob Roy" McGregor Campbell is not the protagonist - that honour belongs to Francis "Frank" Osbaldistone
4. In The Antiquary, the character Edie Ochiltree is a licenced 'gaberlunzie'. What is the modern term for a gaberlunzie?
[x] Beggar
[ ] Innkeeper
[ ] Tax collector
[ ] Vet
Gaberlunzie is a medieval Scots word which may derive from the wallet that licenced beggars carried, although the origin is uncertain
5. In 1799 Scott was appointed Sheriff-Deputy of which county?
[ ] Fife
[ ] Lanark
[ ] Lothian
[x] Selkirk
Scott was a lawyer by trade and was now a judge as well as a writer
6. Which term is used to refer to Scott's novels?
[ ] The Highland Novels
[ ] The Lowland Novels
[ ] The North British Novels
[x] The Waverley Novels
Scott did not put his name to his novels until 5 years before his death. Consequently his books were named after his first piece of fiction, Waverley, which was published in 1814
7. Which novel is set in England at the time of the Civil War?
[ ] Guy Mannering
[ ] Kenilworth
[x] Peveril of the Peak
[ ] Quentin Durward
The title character is a Cavalier in love with a Roundhead's daughter
8. Which Scottish football club was named after a Scott novel?
[ ] Buckie Thistle
[x] Heart of Midlothian
[ ] St Johnstone
[ ] Third Lanark
In the novel, the Heart of Midlothian is the old Tolbooth Prison in Edinburgh
9. The 1819 novel The Bride of Lammermoor was the inspiration for an opera by which composer?
[ ] Bellini
[x] Donizetti
[ ] Verdi
[ ] Wagner
Donizetti wrote Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835, 16 years after The Bride of Lammermoor was published and 3 years after Scott's death
10. Scott's former residence, Abbotsford House, stands near which town in the Scottish Borders?
[ ] Dumfries
[ ] Jedburgh
[x] Melrose
[ ] Peebles
The house was occupied by Scott's descendants until 2004. The last of his direct descendants to inhabit Abbotsford was his great-great-great-granddaughter, Dame Jean Maxwell-Scott