Novelist and poet. Born on August 15, 1771 in Edinburgh, Scotland; died on September 21, 1832 in Abbotsford, Roxburghshire. His historical romances had a wide influence in reviving Scottish pride in her glorious past, and restoring her cultural activity long under the blight of Knox and the Reformation. He was Presbyterian, but loved the noble past, the ages of Faith, and, little as he understood her, his sympathetic attitude towards the Catholic Church, especially in The Monastery and The Abbot did much to lay the dust of anti-Catholic prejudice, and helped pave the way for Catholic Emancipation. The leaders of the Oxford Movement acknowledged their indebtedness to him. Newman said that Scott turned men's minds in the direction of the Middle Ages, and Keble paid tribute to his genius in influencing men's minds to nobler ideals, and wished he had become the poet of the Church. His short songs and lyrics are among the finest in the language. His translation of the Dies Irae is well known. On his deathbed he frequently recited the Stabat Mater See also the Project Gutenberg collection of his works.