Celebrating Sir Walter Scott in Words and Music at Rosslyn Chapel

The event will take place at Rosslyn Chapel on February 25.

This event forms part of the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Sir Walter Scott, whose poetry and prose had such a huge influence on Scotland, on how it was seen abroad, and on 19th century European music.

Scott had a great interest in Rosslyn Chapel and attracted visitors there through his work.

The format of the event will alternate readings from Scott’s work with musical settings of Scott’s poetry from Marmion and The Lay of the Last Minstrel. The readers will be Alasdair Hutton OBE, the ‘voice’ of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and Brian Taylor, formerly Political Editor for BBC Scotland.

The event will start at 7.30pm. Seating is limited and will be socially distanced.

Tickets should be booked in advance and are available through the Rosslyn Chapel website - www.rosslynchapel.com.

Texts have been selected by Professor Alison Lumsden, of the Walter Scott Research Centre at the University of Aberdeen and, because the event comes as we emerge from the pandemic, the readings will emphasise resilience and recovery after tragedy.

The event celebrates the connection between Rosslyn Chapel and Sir Walter Scott, who brought the building to public attention when his epic work, The Lay of the Last Minstrel, was published in 1805.

The work’s sixth canto includes references to the St Clair family, Rosslyn Chapel and Rosslyn Castle. It was an immediate publishing success, bringing Scott widespread recognition and bringing fame – and an influx of visitors – to Rosslyn Chapel.

Scott’s interest in Rosslyn Chapel even extended to his Borders home, Abbotsford, which he bought in 1811. Copies of some of the Chapel’s stone carvings were made and can still be seen in Abbotsford today.