[2] The Antiquary was Scott's own favourite of his novels,[3] and is one of his most critically well-regarded works; H. J. C. Grierson, for example, wrote that "Not many, apart from Shakespeare, could write scenes in which truth and poetry, realism and romance, are more wonderfully presented.

Scott contracted to write The Antiquary in January 1815 with a publication date of 4 June, but a substantial part of the year was taken up with other commitments, social and literary, the most substantial being his expedition to Belgium and France which resulted in the poems The Field of Waterloo and 'The Dance of Death' and Paul's Letters to His Kinsfolk.

Oldbuck invites Lovel to come to Monkbarns and takes the opportunity of a willing listener to divulge his ancient knowledge.

Edie Ochiltree, the local beggar, disputes the antiquary's history, in one of the more amusing scenes of the story (see image at left).

When she sees Lovel standing in the road waiting to talk to her, she convinces her father to take the long way home, walking down to the beach.

Luckily, Edie Ochiltree, having the insight that someone may be trapped on the beach not knowing that the tide was coming in, finds the Wardours and helps them escape the rising waters.

A while later, Oldbuck takes Lovel, the Wardours, his niece and nephew, Dousterswivel and a minister to the ancient ruins of Saint Ruth on Sir Arthur's property.

Digging further under the same stone under which Dousterswivel had previously found treasure, they discover a chest full of silver, which Sir Arthur promptly takes back home.

Edie convinces the German mage that this phrase means there is a second chest nearby, this time full of gold.

As the family is in mourning, Elspeth, Steenie's grandmother, comes out of a long senility to tell Edie to take a ring and a message to Lord Glenallan.

Oldbuck, whose land the Mucklebackits occupy, comes to help carry the casket and pay his respects, to the awe and thanks of the family.

He had married a woman named Eveline Neville, who his mother helped convince was his sister after she had already become pregnant.

The child is taken by another maid named Theresa and is raised by Glenallan's younger brother as his own illegitimate son.

Oldbuck dons his sword and travels to town to help with defence along with his nephew, who promptly assumes the role of a commander.

5: Oldbuck (a Whig) invites his Tory neighbour Sir Arthur Wardour and his daughter Isabella to meet Lovel at dinner.

6: Sir Arthur and Oldbuck have an antiquarian dispute at dinner, after which the Wardours choose to walk home by the sands to avoid meeting Lovel again.

9: Lovel is to be put up in the Green Room at Monkbarns, which Griselda Oldbuck indicates has a reputation for being haunted by the spirit of the printer Aldobrand Oldenbuck.

Oldbuck informs him of the charlatan Dousterswivel's plans to take advantage of the impecunious Sir Arthur's gullibility.

3 (18): Still at St Ruth's, Lovel reads to the company Isabella's version of the German story of Martin Waldeck.

7 (22): Sir Arthur shows Oldbuck a cache of old coins, which he has witnessed Dousterswivel dig up at St Ruth's with the promise of more to come.

8 (23): Oldbuck, Sir Arthur, and Dousterwivel find silver ingots by digging in a place indicated by Edie at St Ruth's.

He witnesses the Roman Catholic burial service for the Countess of Glenallan, and is offered accommodation by Sir Arthur's estate officer Ringan Aikwood.

4 (33): Elspeth tells Glenallan of her part in bringing about the death in childbirth of his wife Eveline, hated by the late Countess and herself, and of the disappearance of his infant son.

7 (36): Caxon tells Oldbuck of reactions in the village to the unwonted appearance at Monkbarns of Glenallan, who bonds with the family at breakfast.

8 (37): Edie is unresponsive before the unsympathetic Baillie Littlejohn, but Oldbuck arrives and persuades the magistrate to hand the examination over to him.

14 (43): Edie returns with a letter from Sir Arthur's son Reginald announcing that 'the generosity of a matchless friend' has enabled him to discharge his father's debts.

15 (44): Edie and Oldbuck laugh together as the plot is further tied up: Lovel had arranged for the ingots to be buried at St Ruth's for Sir Arthur's benefit.

16 (45): The local militia assemble when a beacon gives warning of a French invasion, but this is revealed to be a false alarm on the arrival of Major Neville, who turns out to be Glenallan's lost son, and is married a month later to Isabella.

[11] The figure of Edie Ochiltree attracted particular praise, recalling Meg Merrilees from Guy Mannering but in a more natural mode.

Lovel's disappearance from the action and Isabella Wardour's ineffectiveness were seen as blemishes, and the plot as a whole was often judged ill-conducted, especially the abruptness of the winding up.