The Ballantyne Plaque in Canongate Kirkyard

A Plaque Without a Paper Trail - Can You Help Solve a Scott Club Mystery?

In Canongate Kirkyard, set against the grave of John and James Ballantyne, there is a substantial bronze plaque erected by the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club.

Its inscription records a moment in June 1821 when Sir Walter Scott stood beside the open grave of his friend and publisher John Ballantyne and said:

“I feel as if there would be less sunshine for me from this day forth.”

The plaque goes on to note that James Ballantyne, Scott’s printer and John’s brother, also lies buried there. It concludes simply:

Erected by The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club

It is dignified, carefully cast, and clearly not recent. Yet its origins are proving unexpectedly elusive.

What We Know

One firm reference point comes from William Pitcairn Anderson’s Silences that Speak (1931), a detailed survey of Edinburgh’s historic burial grounds. Anderson discusses John Ballantyne at length but makes no mention of any Scott Club plaque at the grave. Given that he refers elsewhere in the kirkyard to recently erected memorial tablets, it seems likely that the Ballantyne plaque was not present — or at least not prominent — in 1931.

Beyond that, the documentary trail becomes faint.

The plaque itself states that it was erected by the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club. Yet, despite consulting the Club’s available annual reports, council reports and ledgers, no clear reference to its commissioning or installation has yet been identified.

There is no recorded resolution, no subscription list, no unveiling notice — at least none that has so far come to light.

What Remains Uncertain

This absence raises intriguing questions:

• Was the plaque installed quietly, without ceremony?
• Was it funded privately by a member and only informally sanctioned?
• Was it part of a broader kirkyard repair or restoration effort?
• Does the relevant reference lie buried in handwritten minute books not yet fully deciphered?

It is also possible that the wording used in the minutes differs from what we expect. References to “a tablet”, “a memorial”, or “permission to affix a bronze plate in Canongate” may not immediately reveal themselves under the heading “Ballantyne”.

Further transcription and careful review of the Club’s earlier handwritten records will be required.

Why It Matters

The plaque itself is significant. It does not celebrate Scott’s literary triumphs. It preserves a private expression of grief.

In commemorating this moment, the Club chose to remember Scott not as monument, but as friend. The Ballantyne brothers were integral to the making of the Waverley Novels, and their story is inseparable from Scott’s own.

Understanding when and why this plaque was erected would tell us something important about how Scott was being remembered at that time — and about the evolving priorities of the Club itself.

Can You Help?

We are continuing to examine the Club’s minute books and archival material in the hope of locating a definitive reference to the plaque’s installation.

If you are aware of:

• Newspaper reports mentioning a plaque at the Ballantyne grave
• Correspondence relating to memorials in Canongate Kirkyard
• References in the personal papers of Club members
• Records held by the Kirk, City of Edinburgh archives, or monumental masons

we would be very grateful to hear from you.

Sometimes a single overlooked reference can illuminate an entire story. Until then, the Ballantyne plaque stands as both memorial and mystery — a bronze tribute to friendship whose own history remains, for now, partially hidden.