the21st century and hardly any longer a household name That wasn't the case in his lifetime though,when he was the best-known and most widely read novelist writing in English Nor is Sir Walter regarded as the most highly innovativeof writers.Much ofhis prolific output calls on old songs and tales that he learned at his grandmother's knee.He was no plagiarist though and is now thought ofas the inventor of the historical novel.He coined several phrases that are no in everyday use.Or at least,as was his style,headapted existing texts and brought the phrases to the public attention.Atthis distance in time it's quitehardto tell just how much was the transformation ofinherited materials and how much was pure invention.Take the phrase'caught red-handed'for example.'Redhand'was an existing Scottish legal term meaning'in the act ofcrime'.It's a small step for a Scottishauthor from'redhand'to'caught red-handed'.Nevertheless,without Scott we wouldn't have the phrase. Scott went a little further than most authors in his coining of language.He also gave a name to a breed of terrier dogs calling them Dandie Dinmonts,after a character in Guythe 21st century and hardly any longer a household name. That wasn't the case in his lifetime though, when he was the best-known and most widely read novelist writing in English. • Nor is Sir Walter regarded as the most highly innovative of writers. Much of his prolific output calls on old songs and tales that he learned at his grandmother's knee. He was no plagiarist though and is now thought of as the inventor of the historical novel. He coined several phrases that are now in everyday use. Or at least, as was his style, he adapted existing texts and brought the phrases to the public attention. At this distance in time it's quite hard to tell just how much was the transformation of inherited materials and how much was pure invention. Take the phrase 'caught red-handed' for example. 'Redhand' was an existing Scottish legal term meaning 'in the act of crime'. It's a small step for a Scottish author from 'redhand' to 'caught red-handed'. Nevertheless, without Scott we wouldn't have the phrase. • Scott went a little further than most authors in his coining of language. He also gave a name to a breed of terrier dogs, calling them Dandie Dinmonts, after a character in Guy