solidarity of Britain in the 1790s, when men of all classes felt threatened by Revolutionary France. Scott's biographer Edgar Johnson acknowledged that some readers find the scenes between Ochiltree and the fraudster Herman Dousterswivel too redolent of low comedy. He himself doubted if Ochiltree's eloquence was entirely realistic in a beggar, and he also noted his tendency to be conveniently present whenever the plot needs to be moved forward. The academic Robin Mayhead however disagreed, arguing that "The Antiquary" does not have the conventions of the realist school; for him Ochiltree functions as an embodiment of dependability, necessary to offset the faults and fallibilities of other characters in the novel. This, rather than the attraction of Ochiltree's "racy vernacular", led Mayhead to declare himself as great an admirer as any of this character. A. N. Wilson wrote about Ochiltree's "strangely moving (though so stagey) wisdom". John Buchan noted that he was depicted with "minute realism" as a typical Scottish beggar, and yet was sometimes able "to speak words which, though wholly in character, are yet part of the world's poetry". He approvingly quoted another critic as saying that Ochiltree is the most Shakespearean figure outside Shakespeare. Hesketh Pearson also compared Ochiltree with Shakespeare's creations, and found him more realistic than any of them, and more humorous than all but Falstaff. He was, for Pearson, Scott's first great character. Henry A. Beers likewise numbered him among Scott's greatest creations, one of those who "brought into play his knowledge of men, his humour, observation of life, and insight into Scotch human nature".