Walter Scott

Waverley Walter Scott

The English family of Waverley is long known for its Jacobite sympathies. In 1745, Waverley-Honour, the ancestral home of the family, is a quiet retreat for Sir Everard Waverley, an elderly Jacobite. In an attempt to seek political advantage in London, his brother, Richard Waverley, swears loyalty to the king. Edward Waverley, the son of Whig Richard, divides his time between his father and his Uncle Everard at Waverley-Honour. On that great estate, Edward is free to come and to go as he pleases, for his tutor Pembroke, a devout dissenter, is often too busy writing religious pamphlets to spend much time with the education of his young charge. When Edward becomes old enough, his father obtains a commission in the army for him. Shortly afterward, he is ordered to Scotland to join the dragoons of Colonel Gardiner. Equipped with the necessary articles of dress, accompanied by a retinue of men selected by Sir Everard, and weighed down by the dissenting tomes of Pembroke, Edward leaves Waverley-Honour in quixotic fashion to conquer his world.