John Guthrie Tait ( 1861-1945 ) attended the University of Edinburgh and the University of Cambridge and then proceeded to the English Bar. He left for India while still in his twenties, to assume the Chair of English in the Mysore Government Central College at Bangalore, India, where he was later to become Principal, from which he retired in 1917 ; and he married while there as well. On his return to Edinburgh after the First World War, he began a detailed examination of the journals of Sir Walter Scott, collating the MSS in the Pierpoint Morgan Library, New York, with the edition published in 1890 . This work showed that that edition had been incomplete, and Tait commenced the work which would lead to his eventual 3-volume edition, The Journal of Sir Walter Scott (Edinburgh and London, 1939-1946 ).
Margaret Tait ( 1930-1986 ) was the daughter of John Guthrie Tait, and shared his enthusiasm for the works of Sir Walter Scott ( 1771-1832 ).
From the guide to the Papers of John Guthrie Tait, 1861-1945, Professor of English literature and principal of the Central College, Bangalore, India, 1924-1986, (Stirling University Library)
