Walter Scott, Earl of Tarras

Who was Walter Scott, Earl of Tarras?

Walter Scott, 1st Earl of Tarras was a Scottish nobleman.

Born Walter Scott of Highchesters, he married his kinswoman Mary Scott, 3rd Countess of Buccleuch, daughter of Francis Scott, 2nd Earl of Buccleuch and Lady Margaret Leslie, on 9 February 1659 in Wemyss, Fife. She died in 1661 and the couple had no children. He married Helen Hepburn of Humbie in 1677, and they had a number of children.

He was granted the titles Earl of Tarras and Baron Almoor and Campcastill in the Peerage of Scotland in 1660. These were early examples of a life peerage, being granted ‘for the days of his natural life,’ to make Walter Scott of equal rank to his wife. In 1685 he was attainted, but restored in 1687.