2023

Our President for 2023/4 was:

Penny Fielding

She gave the Toast to Sir Walter at our 114th Annual Dinner on 9th May 2024 in the New Club, Edinburgh.

Download the [transcript]

Summary of the Speech:

Professor Penny Fielding delivered a rich and personal address exploring her long journey with Scott's work. She reflected on her Cumbrian roots, her academic discovery of Scott at university, and her evolving appreciation of Waverley, particularly after a revelatory re-reading during a flight to California.


She linked Scott's narrative themes to broader European anxieties about identity and history—especially the experience of being “stranded in the present” after major political upheavals. She drew comparisons between Waverley and 20th-century spy fiction, highlighting Scott’s subtle grasp of surveillance, suspicion, and moral uncertainty.


She also spoke of her research into Scott’s local references in The Monastery and praised current scholarly efforts, especially the new editions of Scott’s poetry. Looking ahead, she celebrated the Club’s future, its growing youth engagement, and international collaborations.


Interesting Points:

  1. Waverley as Proto-Spy Novel: Fielding draws a compelling parallel between Waverley and modern espionage fiction, particularly Epitaph for a Spy, showing Scott's relevance in themes of surveillance and political suspicion.
  2. “Stranded in the Present”: The concept of people disconnected from past and future—a legacy of the Napoleonic Wars—is applied both to Scott’s time and ours, underlining Scott’s enduring insight.
  3. Revelation in Re-reading: Her change of heart about Waverley—from reluctant reader to admirer—emphasises the value of uninterrupted, immersive reading.
  4. Local History in Fiction: Her detective work tracing “Van Haaren’s Ale” shows Scott’s rich embedding of real historical detail, connecting literature to local heritage.
  5. Institutional Support for Young Scholars: Her mention of the Club supporting early career researchers underscores a commitment to Scott’s future readership and scholarship.


  • List of Members Present

    On Thursday 9th May 2024, the Annual Dinner of the Club took place in the New Club, Edinburgh. Dr. Lucy Wood (Chairperson) presided over a company of 40+ members: 

    William Agnew, Jan Bateman, Margaret Bennett, Simon Burton, Lady Caplan, Ian Chisholm, Margaret Collingwood, Ian Davitt, Professor Penny Fielding, Jane Ferrier, Dr. Marian Gilmore, Louise Gardiner, Brigadier Ian Gardiner, Eric Graham, James Hardie, Kath Hardie, Rosaleen Harley, Peter Hunter, Robert Irvine, Ruaridh Mackintosh, Madeleine Mackenzie, Jackie Marsh, Gary Marsh, Anne McCarthy, David McClay, Ainsley McIntosh, Tom Murison, Krystyna Szumelukowa, Lee Simpson, Astrid Silins, Lord Stewart, Lady Stewart, Rhoddie Stewart-Meiklejohn, Morag Torrance, Prof. Sir Iain Torrance KCVO Kt FRSE, Michael Turpie, Eric Wishart, Dr. Michael Wood,  David Withington. 

Professor Penny Fielding is Grierson Chair of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She teaches Scottish literature of all periods, but particularly in the nineteenth century. Her books include Writing and Orality, Scotland and the Fictions of Geography and the Edinburgh Companion to Robert Louis Stevenson.  She edited Scott's The Monastery for the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, and she is a General Editor of the New Edinburgh Edition of Robert Louis Stevenson for which she is preparing the first modern edition of The Dynamiter. Penny is co-director of Edinburgh University's research group Scottish Writing in the Nineteenth Century (SWINC)  and she is currently writing a book on Fiction and Espionage in Scotland from Scott to Spark.