1983

Our President in 1983/4 was:

Lady Antonia Fraser

She proposed the Toast to Sir Walter at our 76th Annual Dinner on 2nd March 1984 at the North British Hotel. 

Summary of the Speech:

Lady Antonia Fraser (Pinter) delivered a deeply personal and literary tribute to Sir Walter Scott, centred on her childhood introduction to Kenilworth. She recounted her early emotional investment in Amy Robsart’s tragic fate, revealing how Scott's storytelling first captivated her imagination and later shaped her as both a reader and historian. Her clandestine reading ahead of her mother’s aloud sessions—culminating in her emotional outburst upon learning Amy's fate—sparked a lifelong devotion to Scott’s works.

She praised Scott’s power to “bite” the reader and highlighted how his narrative style, especially his handling of suspense and historical hindsight, had influenced her own biographical approach. She discussed Old Mortality, Peveril of the Peak, and The Abbot, admiring Scott’s ability to dramatise uncertainty and historical atmosphere, even when readers know the outcome.

Fraser also explored Scott’s attention to historical detail—like clothing inventories—and his enthusiasm for relics and "association objects", which she saw as symbols of his historical curiosity. She described his collecting habits and his founding of the Bannatyne Club as further proof of his contribution to historical memory.

She closed by quoting Scott’s own words—sapere est principium et finis (“knowledge is the beginning and the end”)—affirming that Scott’s motto could rightfully designate him the patron saint of historical writing.

Notable Points:

• Kenilworth was Fraser’s first Scott novel, read secretly in childhood.
• She connected Scott’s style with principles of effective historical biography—especially the importance of narrative uncertainty.
• Scott's use of material detail (e.g., clothes of Mary Queen of Scots) influenced her descriptive style.
• She praised his archival and collecting efforts as formative to Scottish historical preservation.
• Her tone combined warmth, scholarship, and humour, with literary and personal anecdotes.