Tucked just off the Royal Mile, Edinburgh’s Writers’ Museum commemorates the
lives of three of Scotland’s greatest writers: Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and
Robert Louis Stevenson. It is housed in the charming “Lady Stair’s house” — and
stairs there are many —one could say accessibility access may be a concern! The
cobbled courtyard and winding staircases transport you back in time to late medieval Scotland, creating the perfect historical backdrop to explore the nation’s literary heritage.
Despite the evocative setting, the museum does little to match to creative
forces of some of Scotland’s greatest storytellers, instead displaying an assortment
of random objects including Louis Stevenson’s riding boots and a plaster cast of
Burns’ skull. While they offer an intriguing introduction to tourists with limited
knowledge of the writers’ lives, the museum offers little to those interested in gaining a deeper understanding of their works or influences.
Divided into separate rooms, downstairs encloses the display of Robert Louis
Stevenson. His section houses a variety of objects from his travels — including a ring from a Samoan chief — illustrating his adventurous spirit but offering little insight into how these experiences impacted his writing.
Upstairs focuses on Sir Walter Scott, whose display exhibits the printing press used to print his novels alongside first editions of his works, such as Waverley — the novel that lends its name to the central Edinburgh train station.
The largest section of the museum is dedicated to Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet. While offering a modest display of portraits and manuscripts, the exhibit does not come close to the passion or emotion conveyed in Burns’ poetry.
While an important landmark to pay homage to the history of Scotland’s greatest
writers who developed some of the most imaginative works of Scottish fiction,
Edinburgh Writers’ Museum does little to inspire the future generation of Scottish
writers. One could say that the museum lacked any engaging narrative and instead
provided a static retelling of dates and a disjointed collection of artefacts with no
tangible link.
Writers’ museums are an important tool for offering the modern-day
visitor a chance to engage with significant literary figures, but they need to be
immersive and intimate. For a nation so proud of its literary heritage, the museum
could do much more to engage visitors, which ultimately leaves them more intrigued
than enlightened and fails to capture the imagination that so vividly defined the works of Burns, Scott and Stevenson.
Image via Ulia Makoveeva for The Student