AN ACADEMIC is to call for an end to the negativity about Sir Walter Scott's creation of the "shortbread tin lid" perception of Scotland on the 200th anniversary of the publication of his seminal novel Waverley.
Professor Alison Lumsden, from the Walter Scott Research Centre at Aberdeen University, said such criticism of Scott should be put aside and instead he should be honoured as "Scotland's greatest writer".
She will make the case for Scott as academics gather in Aberdeen at a conference.
Prof Lumsden said: "At the time of the publication of Waverley in 1814 Scott was already a best-selling poet and the anonymous Waverley was soon to become a phenomenal success.
"But Scott has often been given a bad press for producing a redundant image of Scotland. While some of the many adaptations of Scott offer such clichéd stereotypes of Scotland, Scott writes fiction that confronts many of the issues that are relevant for Scotland today and offers surprisingly modern conclusions."
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