'Letters from a gentleman in the north of the country
to his friend in London' (London, 1754) [NLS shelfmark: F.5.g.1].
One of the main sources for Walter Scott's depiction of Highland incidents in 'Waverley' is Edward Burt's volume of 'Letters from a gentleman in the north of the country'.
Burt provides an eye-witness account of the Highlands by an English official. Scott owned copies of both the first and the second edition of the 'Letters', and acknowledged their influence in his Postscript.
This illustration of the washerwomen from Burt's 'Letters' is reflected directly in the scene from 'Waverley' entitled: 'Eh, sirs!' (volume 1, chapter 10):
'He observed two bare-legged damsels, each standing in a spacious tub, performing with their feet the office of a patent washing machine'.
The original manuscript and the first edition of the book featured in the display about Walter Scott's 'Waverley' at the National Library of Scotland from 10 September to 16 November 2014.