Sir Walter Scott
The tower provided inspiration to Sir Walter Scott, who visited his paternal grandfather here when still a boy. Scott spent considerable time at the tower during his youth, reportedly for the benefit of his health. Smailholm provides the setting for Scott's ballad The Eve of St John, and also appears in Marmion. As a result of Scott's poetry, his uncle restored the tower, making it safe, around 1800. Turner visited Smailholm with Scott in the author's later years; his sketch of the tower was included in Scott's Poetical Works. Turner's journey with Scott traced scenes from Marmion, and not long after this, the pioneer of photography Fox Talbot repeated Turner's itinerary, publishing what is considered to be the first photographic travelogue or tourist coffee-table book, Sun Pictures in Scotland in homage to both Scott and Turner.
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