At the end of The Antiquary (1816) the heroine receives a ring inscribed "Kunst macht gunst." This Teutonic phrase is the family motto of the Antiquary, Jonathan Oldbuck, who explains its meaning as "skill, or prudence, ... will compel favour and patronage." This motto describes Walter Scott's own life and career. He lived by it, wrote by it, and illustrated it in his themes. Scott's great skill as lawyer, scholar, critic, poet, and novelist brought him fame, favors, some power, and great success. He recalled for his son-in-law and biographer John Gibson Lockhart that, as a youngster at the Edinburgh High School, he was involved in a school-yard dispute with a fellow who initially refused to fight him because "there was no use to harglebargle with a cripple." Young Scott, whose right leg had been lamed by infantile paralysis, bristled and said he would fight anyone his own height, "if...