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Chapter 2 - Shifting Ecologies

Grasslands, Rivers and Shorelines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2021

Susan Oliver
Affiliation:
University of Essex
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Summary

This chapter explores Scott’s writing about familiar landscapes comprising cultivated land, rivers and coastlines. Topics include the history of farming and effects of new agricultural policies associated with enlightenment and the culture of ‘improvement’. The expansion of sheep farming is discussed with attention to changes in soil structure, flora and rural population levels. Sections address foods that are associated with Scotland, including salmon, beef and mutton. Whisky is explored for its ecological and national significance. River and offshore environments are considered in terms of the use of marine products and technologies that threatened fish stocks. The chapter has a temporal framework that looks from the nineteenth century back to the end of the last great ice age, exploring Scott’s interest in environmental history through his accounts of fossils, prehistoric tools and animal bones found in peat bogs. Environmental memory, folklore, supernatural creatures and eco-gothic tropes of haunting are key themes.

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Chapter
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Walter Scott and the Greening of Scotland
Emergent Ecologies of a Nation
, pp. 28 - 63
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Shifting Ecologies
  • Susan Oliver, University of Essex
  • Book: Walter Scott and the Greening of Scotland
  • Online publication: 30 July 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108917674.002
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  • Shifting Ecologies
  • Susan Oliver, University of Essex
  • Book: Walter Scott and the Greening of Scotland
  • Online publication: 30 July 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108917674.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Shifting Ecologies
  • Susan Oliver, University of Essex
  • Book: Walter Scott and the Greening of Scotland
  • Online publication: 30 July 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108917674.002
Available formats
×