The Poetical Works of Henry Scott Riddell: Volume 1

The Poetical Works Of Henry Scott Riddell by Henry Scott Riddell is a two-volume collection of Border and Scottish verse edited with a memoir. The volume gathers lyric songs, Border ballads, hymns, and pieces celebrating Scotland's landscapes—the Borders, Teviotdale, Yarrow, Ettrick, and the Highlands—infused with a deep patriotism and pastoral sensibility. The attached memoir (edited by James Brydon, M.D.) recounts Riddell's life from his birth in 1798 at Sorbie, Langholm, through his upbringing as a shepherd in the Border regions, his education and friendships with figures like the Ettrick Shepherd and Professor Wilson, his years as a Scottish minister at Teviothead, and his later years as a recluse and prolific writer. It also narrates his illness in 1841, his recovery, family life with Mrs Riddell, and his death in 1870. The work situates Riddell within the tradition of Scottish Border poetry, illustrating how landscape, memory, history, and faith inform his eloquent, often melancholic verse.