[Illustration: WHITE HORSE INN FROM AN ILLUSTRATION TO "WAVERLEY"
DRAWN BY G. CATTERMOLE AND ENGRAVED BY E. FINDEN]
Thus for forty years, while he was a working lawyer and a sheriff of
his county, he was really laying up stores of material upon which he
drew for his many novels. His literary tastes were first developed by
study of German and by the translation of German ballads and plays.
This practice led him to write _The Lay of the Last Minstrel_, and its
success was responsible for _Marmion_, and _The Lady of the Lake_. But
great as was his triumph in verse, he dropped the writing of poems
when Byron's work eclipsed his own.
Then, in his forty-third year, he turned to prose and began with
_Waverley_; that series of novels which is the greatest ever produced
by one man. The success of his first story proved a great stimulus to
his imagination, and for years he continued to produce these novels,
three of which may be ranked as the best in English literature. The
element of mystery in regard to the authorship added to Scott's
literary success. It was his habit to crowd his literary work into the
early hours from four to eight o'clock in the morning; the remainder
of the day was given up to legal duties and the evening to society.
His tremendous energy and his power of concentration made these four
hours equal to an ordinary man's working day. His mind was so full of
material that the labor was mainly that of selection.
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