It is a deep regret to me that this book has come out when Angus Calder (1942–2008) is no longer with us, as he was an inspirational figure with whom to discuss Scott, and I would have relished his complaints, quibbles and vast erudition. The novelists Allan Massie, Andrew Crumey and James Robertson were generous with their knowledge, as were, on vastly tangential and peculiar topics, Alison Kennedy, Walter Elliott, Kenny Farquharson, Bill Jamieson, Marc Lambert, David Stenhouse, Carolyn Becket, Peggy Hughes, Colin Fraser and David Bishop. They knew not what they did. Professors Ian Campbell, Douglas Gifford, Willy Maley and Michael Schmidt all answered my sometimes eccentric questions with accuracy and benevolence, and I wish to express particular thanks to Michael Schmidt, in his other capacity with Carcanet Press, for permission to reproduce Hugh MacDiarmid’s poem. Jacqui Wright at the Abbotsford Trust and Dr Paul Barnaby at Edinburgh University provided superb access to and expertise in their respective institutions. Thanks to Hugh Andrew, Neville Moir, Jan Rutherford, Alison Rae and Kenny Redpath at Birlinn, and Peter Straus at Rogers, Coleridge & White. Finally, Brian and Carolyn Kelly started my interest in Scott, and, Dad, I can still remember the dirty version of Lay of the Last Minstrel. Sam, as always: just for everything.