Scotland

Scottish History

*In a 16 Apr. [1892] letter to Stevenson (Demoor, Dear Stevenson 131), Lang writes, “I believe Mary did write the Casket Letters. I wish I didn’t, but I do. Anyhow she was a better Christian than John Knox: I hate no man but John Knox” (131). Lang’s 1905 biography of Knox was received with controversy. For some of the responses, see Lang’s letter to the editor in the The Speaker (26 Aug. 1905, p. 503), A. F. Pollard’s 1906 review in the English Historical Review, and Australian T. D. Wanliss’s diatribes “Scotland and Presbyterianism Vindicated” (May 1905) and “The Muckrake in Scottish History: Mr Andrew Lang Re-Criticised” (Dec. 1905), both of which were published by W. J. Hay at John Knox’s House, Edinburgh. See also Catriona M. M. MacDonald’s 2015 article, “Andrew Lang and Scottish Historiography: Taking on Tradition.”

Biographies

Editions of Rare Historical Texts

Fiction

Landscape and Pastimes Within

  • Lost Leaders (Longmans, Green, 1889) includes articles on “Scotch Rivers,” “Salmon Fishing,” and “Golf.””
  • Angling Sketches (Longmans, Green, 1891)
  • Golf, by Horace G. Hutchinson, with contributions by Lord Wellwood, Sir Walter Simpson, Bart., Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P., Andrew Lang, H.S.C. Everard, and Others (Longmans, Green and Co., 1895 [fifth edition, thoroughly revised]. Andrew Lang wrote the first chapter, “The History of Golf,” on pp. 1–28.)
  • A Batch of Golfing Papers: By Andrew Lang and Others (M. F. Mansfield, 1897)
  • Highways and Byways in The Border (Macmillan, 1913) with John Lang

Literature (Editions and Criticism)

Robert Burns:

Robert F. Murray [Lang’s friend]

Sir Walter Scott:

  • Waverley Novels (by Walter Scott, edited with introductory essays and notes, by Andrew Lang), 48 volumes (Nimmo 1892–94). These were reissued in 24 volumes as a “Large Type Border Edition” in 1898. I was able to find scans of the following volumes (note that pre-1898 editions are often only one volume of a multi-volume work by Scott; Lang’s introduction always appears in the first volume):
    Vols. 1–2, Waverley [The Nimmo 1898 one-volume Border Edition is linked here, with Lang’s editor’s note, introduction (dated Sep. 1892, pp. lxxxi–cii), and notes]
    Vols. 3–4, Guy Mannering, the Astrologer (vol. 2 in 1898, introduction dated Oct. 1892) 
    Vols. 5–6 The Antiquary (vol. 3 in 1898, introduction dated Nov. 1892)
    Vols. 7–8 Rob Roy (vol. 4 in 1898, introduction dated Dec. 1892)
    Vols. 9–10 Old Mortality (vol. 5 in 1898, introduction dated Jan. 1893)
    Vols. 11–12 The Heart of Mid-Lothian (vol. 6 in 1898, introduction dated Feb. 1893)
    Vol. 13, A Legend of Montrose (A Legend of Montrose; and The Black Dwarf were vol. 7 in 1898 (1898 introduction to LM, pp. ix–xv; BD, pp. 315–320, both introductions dated Mar. 1893)
    Vol. 14–15, The Bride of Lammermoor; The Black Dwarf (The Bride of Lammermoor was vol. 8 in 1898; the introduction was dated Mar. 1893, ix–xxiv) (Linked introduction from New York E. B. Hall edition of 1893)
    Vols. 16–17, Ivanhoe (vol. 9 of the 1898 edition; the introduction is dated Apr. 1893, pp. ix–xxv)
    Vols. 18–19, The Monastery; (vol. 10 in 1898; the introduction is dated May 1893)
    Vols. 20–21, The Abbot (vol. 11 in 1898; the introduction is dated June 1893)
    Vols. 22–23, Kenilworth (vol. 12 in 1898; the introduction is dated July 1893, pp. ix–xxvi)
    Vols. 24–25, The Pirate (vol. 13 in 1898; the introduction is dated Aug. 1893, pp. ix–xx)
    Vols. 26–27, The Fortunes of Nigel (vol. 14 in 1898; the introduction is dated Sep. 1893, pp. ix–xxii)
    Vols. 28–30, Peveril of the Peak, vol. 2, vol. 3; the Lang intro is at Internet Archive in the Boston Dana Estes edition (vol. 15 in the 1898 Nimmo edition; the introduction is dated Oct. 1893, pp. ix–xviii.)
    Vols. 31–32, Quentin Durward (vol. 16 of the 1898 edition; the introduction is dated Nov. 1893, pp. ix–xix).
    Vols. 33–34, St. Ronan’s Well (vol. 17 in 1898) (link to Lang’s introduction in the New York E. B. Hall edition; introduction to the 1898 Nimmo edition is dated Dec. 1893)
    Vols. 35–36, Redgauntlet (vol. 18 of the 1898 edition; the introduction is dated Jan. 1894.)
    Vol. 37, The Betrothed (The Betrothed and The Talisman formed volume 19 of the 24-volume 1898 edition; the introductions are from Feb. 1894).
    Vol. 38, The Talisman 
    Vols. 39–40, Woodstock (vol. 20 in 1898; the introduction is dated Mar. 1894, pp. ix–xviii)
    Vols. 41–42, The Fair Maid of Perth (vol. 21 in 1898; the introduction is dated to Apr. 1894, pp. ix–xviii)
    Vols. 43–44, Anne of Geierstein (vol. 22 in 1898; the introduction is dated May 1894, ix–xiv)
    Vols. 45–46, Count Robert of Paris; and The Surgeon’s Daughter (vol. 23 in 1898; the introduction is dated June 1894, pp. ix–xiv) 
    Vol. 47, Castle Dangerous  (introduction dated July 1894, pp. ix–xv in the 1898 Nimmo edition, in which Castle Dangerous; and, Chronicles of the Canongate were volume 24)
    Vol. 48, Chronicles of the Canongate. (Lang’s introduction appears on pp. 307–312 of the 1898 edition, in which Chronicles of the Canongate followed Castle Dangerous in vol. 24.)
    Please let me know through the Contact section if you are able to find open-access scans of the other novels.
  • The Lyrics and Ballads of Sir Walter Scott (J. M. Dent, 1894)
  • Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrelsy (1910)

Miscellaneous Literary Criticism:

  • Essays in Little (1891) [The Internet Archive scan is from the 1901 New York Charles Scribner’s Sons edition.] [Chapters of Scottish interest include “Mr. Stevenson’s Works” and “The Poems of Sir Walter Scott.”]
  • Adventures Among Books (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1901) [This Internet Archive scan is from 1905.] [Some of the chapters of Scottish interest include Lang’s reminiscences of his childhood reading in “Adventures Among Books,” “Recollections of Robert Louis Stevenson,” “Rab’s Friend,” “A Scottish Romanticist of 1830,” “Smollett,” and “An Old Scottish Psychical Researcher.”]

Original Poetry:

  • Almae matres (1887)
  • “Ode to Golf.” Contribution to On the Links; being Golfing Stories by various hands (Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1889). See the WorldCat entry.

Reminiscences: 

  • Old St. Leonard’s Days. Alma Mater’s Mirror. Ed. Thomas Spencer Baynes. St Andrews, 1887. See the WorldCat entry.
Lang also frequently writes about Scottish subjects in his periodical writings. See particularly Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine and the contents of Lang’s “At the Sign of the Ship” articles for Longman’s. Linda Hughes has written about how Scottish topics are given a central place in “Ship” in “Andrew Lang’s Discursive Cosmopolitanism in Longman’s Magazine.“
Currently, I have not listed all works that only partially deal with Scotland (in a chapter or in passing). I may add these in the future. Please contact me if you would like to make the case for inclusion of a particular work.
This list was compiled using Roger Lancelyn Green’s Andrew Lang: A Critical Biography, Eleanor De Selms Langstaff’s Andrew Lang, the Andrew Lang listings in Wikipedia, and searches of Internet Archive. WorldCat was consulted when an Internet Archive scan did not exist; however, I did not check WorldCat against every entry (yet). If you are working with a particular text and are unsure of the publication date from other sources, I do recommend that you double-check WorldCat.
Please do contact me if you have any corrections or additions.

This page was last updated on 3 Feb. 2025.