The Black Dwarf

We present to your attention one of the early novels by the famous English writer Walter Scott, “The Black Dwarf” (1816), included in the cycle “Tales of the Innkeeper.” The novel is set in 1707 during the Jacobite uprising—supporters of the exiled after the events of 1688 King James II Stuart of England. The hero was based on the real-life dwarf David Ritchie, whom the writer met in the summer of 1797. Eccentric, irritable, suspicious, and envious, he was very sensitive to mockery and even to other people’s stares; he hated children and strangers, but he loved nature tremendously and could spend hours admiring beautiful landscapes.