Smailholm Tower / Walter Scott

The quote “There’s always a bit of magic (in the ballads)” is from Anne Carrick, the artist and maker of a set of costumed figures at Smailholm Tower. The ballads she refers to are the works of Sir Walter Scott, whose “Minstrelsy of the Scottish Borders” inspired her work.

On his part. Walter Scott spent a lot of his childhood at the farm beside Smailholm Tower, which is believed to have inspired his work.