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Summary of the Speech:

Grierson reflects on Scott’s enduring literary and cultural legacy nearly a century after his death. He contrasts Scott with Burns and Carlyle, showing how each contributed uniquely to Scottish identity. Scott, though sometimes underestimated by contemporaries like Carlyle, deeply influenced historical imagination through his novels. Carlyle's critique of Scott—especially that Scott merely entertained and lacked depth—is rebutted by Grierson, who argues that Scott's work blends comic and tragic elements, portrays a wide range of characters sympathetically, and indirectly serves a moral purpose by enriching and harmonising human experience.

Grierson defends Scott’s artistic method, comparing his approach to characterisation with Shakespeare’s: both reveal character through action and dialogue, not introspection. He also suggests Scott’s strength lies in his rich humanity and generosity of spirit, placing him closer to Cervantes than Shakespeare in this regard.

Scott is portrayed as a cultural reconciler: between Highlands and Lowlands, Scotland and England, aristocracy and common folk, and even between opposing religious traditions. His novels helped reframe Scotland’s image in the wider world, moving it from suspicion and satire to sympathy and admiration.

Interesting Points and Insights

• Personal Connection: Grierson shares a charming personal link—Scott once visited land owned by his grandfather in Shetland, and characters in The Pirate were based on his ancestors.
• Scott’s Humanism: Grierson praises Scott’s sympathetic portrayal of all social classes. Unlike Shakespeare, who often mocks the lower classes, Scott gives depth and dignity to peasants, servants, and outsiders.
• Critique of Carlyle’s Critique: Carlyle, Grierson notes, was unable to fairly assess Scott because of his own personal struggles. While Carlyle accused Scott of being worldly and superficial, Grierson argues that Carlyle misunderstood Scott's mission as an artist rather than a prophet.
• Tragic Power in Scott’s Novels: Though often dismissed as light or comic, Scott’s work contains profound tragedy. Grierson offers The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor as examples of deeply moving, even Shakespearean, tragic art.
• Scott and Shakespeare: Grierson finds significant parallels in their narrative technique, particularly their reluctance to over-analyse character motivation. He challenges Carlyle’s notion that Scott’s characters are “automatons,” insisting instead on their vitality and emotional complexity.
• Scott’s Role as Cultural Bridge: Perhaps the most powerful argument is that Scott reconciled internal Scottish divisions—religious, regional, and class-based—and also improved Scotland’s reputation internationally. His portrayal of Scotland’s past gave dignity and richness to a nation that had been seen negatively in England and elsewhere.
• Literary Style Debate: Grierson addresses criticism of Scott’s prose style, aligning him with Balzac in valuing creative vision over meticulous stylistic polish. He contrasts Scott’s emotional depth and narrative power with Flaubert’s cold perfectionism.
• Final Emphasis: Scott is not merely an entertainer but a national treasure whose fiction enriched the soul of Scotland and built bridges across historical, social, and emotional divides.

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Subsidiary Toasts Summary

1. Toast to “The Imperial Forces”
2. Speaker: Very Rev. Charles L. Warr
3. Warr addressed the perceived tension between Christianity and supporting armed forces. He resolved it by affirming that Britain's forces serve not for conquest but for peace, justice, and protection, especially of vulnerable nations within the Empire.
4. He acknowledged war's devastating legacy and affirmed universal disarmament as a Christian goal, but insisted such disarmament must be mutual and simultaneous.
5. He praised the Territorial Army for reducing the need for a large standing force and closed with a tribute to the soldier as a champion of peace rather than an agent of aggression.
6. Reply: General Sir William Peyton
7. Peyton echoed Warr’s sentiments, warning against naïve disarmament in a world still recovering from the Great War.
8. He noted that military strength remains a necessary insurance, due to the failures of diplomacy and broken treaties.
9. His tone was humorous and lightly self-deprecating, lamenting that disbanding the army would also remove his livelihood.
10. Toast to “The City of Edinburgh”
11. Speaker: P. H. B. Lyon (headmaster of Edinburgh Academy)
12. Though an Englishman, Lyon expressed deep admiration for Edinburgh’s beauty and history. He invoked poetic imagery of the city and praised its romantic and heroic atmosphere, especially referencing the Royal Mile and the new Scottish National War Memorial at the Castle.
13. He emphasised that Edinburgh's greatness lies not just in its architectural splendour but in the people who have served and shaped it, praising especially the current Lord Provost.
14. Reply: The Lord Provost, Alexander Stevenson
15. Stevenson thanked the Club and spoke of his civic pride, linking modern accomplishments with Edinburgh’s historic grandeur.
16. He cited key civic memorials erected that year (War Memorials and the Scottish National Shrine) as proof of the city’s living traditions and moral vision.
17. His guided walk down Princes Street—highlighting statues of Simpson, Guthrie, Ramsay, Adam Black, and the Scott Monument—served as a symbolic journey through Edinburgh’s civic and cultural achievements.
18. Toast to “The Chairman”
19. Speaker: Professor A. Blyth Webster
20. Webster delivered a witty and affectionate tribute to Professor H. J. C. Grierson, blending anecdotes from Scott’s history (such as Scott's declined election as Rector of St Andrews) with warm recollections of Grierson’s mentorship.
21. He likened Grierson’s intellectual energy to a bracing Shetland wind, celebrating his boldness in scholarship and the inspiration he brought to others.
22. Entertainment
23. The evening included a portrait of Grierson on the menu card, a reproduction of “Effie Deans in the Tolbooth” by R. Gemmell Hutchison on the reverse, and musical interludes from Miss Margaret Stewart and Mr Philip Malcolm, accompanied by Mr J. W. Cowie.

Notable and Interesting Points

• The tone was remarkably pacifist and forward-thinking given it was only nine years after World War I. Both Warr and Peyton advocated peace, tempered with realism.
• P. H. B. Lyon’s speech offers vivid romanticisation of Edinburgh, but with a wise reminder: cities must not rest on their past, but build upon it.
• The Scott Monument, War Memorials, and Princes Street statuary were positioned as civic “texts” teaching young citizens about greatness, sacrifice, and cultural continuity.
• Grierson’s role as Chairman is warmly praised as both orator and scholar—particularly his expansive literary scholarship and character.

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