Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...

son-in-law and biographer, so aptly called ‘Sir Walter’s Celtification of Scotland’. 70 Not
only was George IV established as a popular and proper king for the Scots, but Scotland
itself was offered a new, more picturesque version of its history, which was accepted with
enthusiasm on both sides of the border. Scott undertook operations as part of a hastily
convened committee of five, of whom three were antiquaries. The principal events they
organised all relied on historic resonance for their effect though not one of them had any
historic precedent. The first was a procession, in which the regalia were carried to
Holyrood. This was followed by the King’s landing at Leith. Another procession, along
the Royal Mile brought the King and the regalia together back to the Castle and the
climax was a ‘gathering of the clans’ at the Assembly Rooms. One of Scott’s first acts
was to augment the regalia with an item from his own collection, the Sword of Montrose,
which he had lent to his friend the actor Daniel Terry in London. Terry, who advised on
various aspects of the visit, was urged to return the sword which was later carried by
Scott’s distant cousin Alexander Keith of Ravelston in the processions. Ravelston was, by
Scott’s reckoning, heir to the Knights Marischal of Scotland and he duly promoted him to
that role for the ceremony.
Figure 43 The Entrance of George IV at Holyrood House, by David Wilkie, 1828
George IV was thus conducted into his northern kingdom surrounded by historic
artefacts that emphasized his place in Scotland’s continuous history. He was also
accompanied not only by the newly promoted Knight Marischal but by another even
more striking group of Scott’s walking fictions, the Company of Archers. Scott, as
70 Quoted in Prebble, The King’s Jaunt p.18.
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