SELECT SCOTISH BALLADS.
VOL. II.
LONDON, PRINTED BY AND FOR J. NICHOLS.
MDCCLXXXIII.
THE pieces here ſelected under the title of Comic Ballads fall under the ſeveral denominations of Paſtoral, Amatory, Ludicrous, and Convivial; this Diſſertation therefore naturally divides itſelf into theſe ſeveral heads.
No ſubject of critical diſcuſſion has been examined with more aſſiduity, and leſs ſucceſs, than Paſtoral compoſition. The French critics, whom a writer of any diſcernment ſeldom quotes but to confute their abſurdities, have here blundered with more than or⯑dinary addreſs. Rapin has found that paſtoral writing [x]muſt faithfully repreſent the manners of the golden age. Dubos, a more judicious writer, has diſcovered that the real dialogues of modern ſhepherds are too groſs for poetic relation; he therefore adviſes a poet, who would now venture into this walk of verſe, to chooſe for his ſpeakers princes who had loſt themſelves in a wood. He is ſurely himſelf loſt in a wood of falſe criticiſm, when he informs us that the firſt Dialogue of Fontenelle's Plurality of Worlds, is an excellent Paſtoral Eclogue. It is no doubt a very fine piece of writing, but, conſidered in the light of a Bucolic Po⯑em, it makes fully as aukward a figure as an ancient River God in a French Opera with a tye wig, and ſilk ſtockings.
Did theſe writers ever read Theocritus? Did they not know that he was the father, and his works the only models, of this kind of poetry?
Of all the poets of antiquity, none has been imitated with leſs ſucceſs than that excellent writer. He would himſelf appear to be perfectly original; for though we read that Homer was indebted for ſome of his beauties to his poetical predeceſſors, we never find Theocritus lay under this accuſation. His eclogues breathe the very ſpirit of nature; and ſurpaſs thoſe of all his imi⯑tators in beauty, as much as a romantic river, wander⯑ing through the richeſt rural ſcenes, does a Dutch jet⯑d'eau [xi]ſquirting among hedges of clipt yews. Virgil, who was born an elegiac poet, but never happened upon his proper province, has in paſtoral only diſplayed excellent ſkill in verſification, which is indeed his firſt and almoſt only praiſe in all his works. His very perſons are ridiculous; for what have Thyrſis and Corydon to do with the Po? An abſurdity followed by the whole imitators of this imitator; and among others by Pope, who gravely makes Alexis ſing upon the banks of the Thames. His admired French author Boileau, might have told him that Truth alone is fair and lovely. To confound the names of different climates and ages muſt, to every reader of taſte, appear fully as ludicrous as to confound places and dates in defiance of geography and chronology. Who but muſt ſmile if he read that Theocritus was born at the Devil tavern, in the Strand at Paris, in the year of Chriſt 908, and had the honour to recite one of his eclogues before that merry prince Charles I. of England, who was ſo pleaſed with it, that he cut three capers of a moſt ſurpriſing height, to the amazement of the bard; and afterwards made him a preſent of a lottery ticket? Yet this is not more abſurd than to mingle names, places, and ſubjects, that are perfectly heterogeneous, as is done in Pope's paſtorals; which are very much inferior to them of Philips, though Phillips has no [xii]claim to praiſe. The fact is, that paſtoral eclogue is quite foreign to modern manners. Thoſe of The⯑ocritus appear natural from their antiquity, and from his inimitable language and manner, but he ſtands alone, and ever will.
Any eclogues that occur in this collection, ſuch as Robene and Makyne, &c. are of a lyric nature; and may with much more propriety be called ſongs than eclogues, though they partake of the manner of both. I there⯑fore leave the paſtoral eclogue to come to the paſtoral ſong or ballad, a ſpecies of compoſition, which, though not very remote in its eſſence from the paſtoral dialogue, is infinitely more conſonant to modern man⯑ners, as it implies no perſonal repreſentation. It is not ſuppoſed to be written or ſpoken by a ſhepherd, but merely to convey rural ſentiments and images.
Dubos tells us, that the peaſants of Italy at this day go to keep their flocks, or labour the ground, with their guitar on their backs; and that they ſing their loves in extempore verſes, which they accompany with their inſtrument. This they call Improviſadare *, Were [xiii]any of theſe ſongs to be committed to writing, and of high merit, it might be conſidered as a paſtoral ſong complete in every circumſtance.
Yet I queſtion if in truth of character, it could exceed ſome of the pieces of that kind now under our eye, though written perhaps in the ſmoke and noiſe of a capital. But to paſs from this theory, many of the Scotiſh ſongs now ſelected, muſt be allowed by every good judge to have uncommon excellence in the paſtoral mode of poetry. They poſſeſs the utmoſt truth of manner and of colouring. They have all that ſweetneſs which an ancient critic * obſerves, is the reſult of perfect ſimplicity. As moſt of the Paſtoral pieces in this Selection are likewiſe of the Amatory ſtyle, I ſhall proceed to conſider theſe kinds of poetry in conjunction.
If the antiquity of the different kinds of poetry were properly aſcertained, it is to be believed that love, poetry would be found among thoſe of the firſt inven⯑tion. Love, that ſweeteſt and beſt of paſſions, is ever the inſpirer of poetry. Love is a maſter that can call forth muſical ſounds from the heart of the ſavage of Iceland, amid his half year's wintry night, as well as from that of the exulting inhabitant of Arabia the [xiv]happy under the influence of the ſummer ſun. His effects are controlled by no manner of life, and con⯑fined by no zone. In the moſt barbarous countries Love will be found the inſpirer of ſentiment, and re⯑finer of thought and of language:
As Love is perhaps the father of poetry *, ſo it is obſerved that the fair objects, and beſt judges of that paſſion, have always eſteemed it the moſt complete triumph of their charms when their lovers are ſo en⯑flamed as to commence poets in their praiſe. Amorous poetry has often been the ſuppoſed magic charm that has caught the heart of the fair novice in that paſſion. This has not eſcaped Shakſpere, that anatomiſt of the heart.
[xv]If we except Sappho, the only female who ever wrote any thing worth preſervation; there is no writer who has painted love in more genuine and tender co⯑lours than are uſed in the Scotch Amatory Ballads. Yet there are none of them, that I remember, are written by ladies *. That profligacy of manners which always reigns before women can ſo utterly forget all ſenſe of decency and propriety as to commence authors, is yet almoſt unknown in Scotland. May it ever be ſo! May domeſtic duties and affections be ever the ſole employments and amuſements of my fair country-women, while thoſe of other kingdoms are ſhowing themſelves naked in love ſongs and romances, or ſtalking the ſtreets in the breeches of criticiſm and morality!
The love verſes in this volume are of almoſt every different hue incident to that changeable paſſion; but a plaintive tenderneſs is the more general characteriſtic of them. Fielding, I think, has obſerved that love is generally accompanied by a pleaſing melancholy. The ſongs in this collection called Lochaber, Ewbuchts Ma⯑rion, Low down in the broom, and many others have, [xvi]when accompanied witn their proper airs, a moſt ex⯑quiſite pathos:
Others again poſſeſs an equal power of ſprightlineſs; ſuch as An thou wert my ain thing, Soger Ladie, O'er the Bogie, &c. which do not yield to the beſt French ſongs in ſpirit, though theſe are likewiſe excellent in their kind. Indeed if the French excel in any ſpecies of poetry, it is in their ſongs, though their beſt efforts in this way do not ſeem much known in England. As this is the caſe, and it is perfectly coherent with my ſubject, I ſhall beg leave to preſent my reader with a few French ſongs of the firſt merit.
In the ſerious ſtyle here is one never yet publiſhed.
Others follow.
Theſe ſhall be ſucceeded by a few Amatory French ſongs in the ſprightly ſtyle.
In the Ludicrous ſtyle, the following may be ac⯑ceptable.
[xxiii]To conclude with a few Convivial ones, the follow⯑ing are given.
The following is equal to any thing written by Anacreon.
But to return, I muſt not quit this ſubject without offering a few remarks on the principal ſcene of the Scotiſh paſtoral ſongs, namely the ſouthern part of Scotland in the neighbourhood of the Tweed. I can⯑not do this better than in the words of an excellent writer. He forms a fine contraſt by beginning with a deſcription of the Northern parts of Scotland. ‘The highlands of Scotland, ſays he, are a pictureſque, but in general a melancholy country. Long tracts of mountainous deſert covered with dark heath, and often obſcured by miſty weather; narrow vallies, thinly inhabited, and bounded by precipices, reſound⯑ing with the fall of torrents; a ſoil ſo rugged and a climate ſo dreary, as in many parts to admit neither the amuſements of paſturage, nor the la⯑bours [xxv]of agriculture; the mournful daſhing of waves along the friths and lakes that interſect the country; the portentous noiſes which every change of the wind, and every increaſe and diminution of the wa⯑ters is apt to raiſe in a lonely region full of echoes, and rocks, and caverns: the groteſque and ghaſtly appearance of ſuch a landſcape by the light of the moon:—Objects like theſe diffuſe a gloom over the fancy, which may be compatible enough with oc⯑caſional and ſocial merriment, but cannot fail to tincture the thoughts of a native in the hour of ſilence and ſolitude.’ And a little further he ob⯑ſerves, ‘that the ancient highlanders of Scotland had hardly any other way of ſupporting themſelves than by hunting, fiſhing, or war; profeſſions that are continually expoſed to fatal accidents. And hence, no doubt, additional horrors would often haunt their ſolitude, and a deeper gloom overſhadow the imagi⯑nation even of the hardieſt native.’ He proceeds,
‘What then would it be reaſonable to expect from the fanciful tribe, from the muſicians and poets, of ſuch a region? Strains expreſſive of joy, tranquillity, or the ſofter paſſions? No. Their ſtyle muſt have been better ſuited to their circumſtances. And ſo we find in fact that their muſic is. The wildeſt ir⯑regularity appears in its compoſition; the expreſſion [xxvi]is warlike and melancholy, and approaches even to the terrible—And that their poetry is almoſt uni⯑formly mournful, and their views of nature dark and dreary, will be allowed by all who admit of the authenticity of Oſſian; and not doubted by any who believe theſe fragments of highland poetry to be ge⯑nuine, which many old people, now alive, of that country remember to have heard in their youth, and were then taught to refer to a pretty high an⯑tiquity.’
‘Some of the Southern provinces of Scotland pre⯑ſent a very different proſpect. Smooth and lofty hills covered with verdure, clear ſtreams winding through long and beautiful valleys, trees produced without culture, here ſtraggling or ſingle, and there crowding into little groves and bowers, with other circumſtances peculiar to the diſtricts I allude to, render them fit for paſturage, and favourable to ro⯑mantic leiſure, and tender paſſions. Several of the old Scotch ſongs take their names from the rivulets, villages and hills adjoining to the Tweed near Mel⯑roſe, a region diſtinguiſhed by many charming va⯑rieties of rural ſcenery, and which, whether we conſider the face of the country, or the genius of the people, may properly enough be termed the Arcadia of Scotland. And all theſe ſongs are ſweetfully and [xxvii]powerfully expreſſive of love and tenderneſs, and other emotions ſuited to the tranquillity of paſtoral life *.’
Thus far this eminent philoſopher and poet; whoſe ideas are ſo fully expreſſed, and ſo conſonant with my own, that they leave me little or nothing further to add. I muſt, however, obſerve that the genuine Old Songs, which were originally ſet to the moſt ad⯑mired of the Scotiſh airs, are moſt of them unfor⯑tunately loſt. For the preſent words to the greater part of them we are indebted to Allan Ramſay, and his friends, as he himſelf informs us in the fol⯑lowing words of the preface to his Tea-table Miſcel⯑cellany, or Collection of Songs. ‘My being well aſ⯑ſured how acceptable new words to known good tunes would prove, engaged me to the making verſes for above SIXTY of them in this and the ſecond vo⯑lume:’ (which are Scotiſh ſongs, the third and laſt volume containing moſtly Engliſh,) ‘about THIRTY more were done by ſome ingenious young gentlemen.’ I heartily wiſh honeſt Allan and his ingenious young gentlemen had rather uſed their endeavours to recover and preſerve the real ancient ballads, than to compoſe new ones. For uncouth as thoſe might be, I much [xxviii]ſuſpect they exceeded their ſubſtitutes in variety at leaſt. Indeed as I meant this as a POETICAL, not as a MUSICAL work, I found myſelf obliged to admit only the beſt of theſe modern pieces, always prefering the ancient when it could be found. Thoſe who wiſh for words to all the Scotiſh airs, may find them in many collections. This only means to preſent the reader of taſte with the very beſt of Scotiſh ballad poetry. The reader, whom I could wiſh to pleaſe, would turn with contempt from a conſtant ſucceſſion of the ſame ideas expreſſed in the ſame words and ſtanza. For though the airs vary, their verbal accom⯑paniments have in general a ſimilarity as diſguſting as the poems of Blackmore, or the pictures of Angelica Kauffman. Though the ancient ſongs were perhaps leſs ſmooth than their ſucceſſors, they were doubtleſs more varied, being compoſed at diſtant periods by different minſtrels, than they could poſſibly be by Allan Ramſay (a writer not rich in ideas) and his young friends, who perhaps begun and finiſhed their labours in this way in the ſpace of a few weeks. And if they were harſh or uncouth, the ancient compoſer might plead with Taſſo:
A very celebrated and intelligent phyſician, who was born, and paſſed his early years in the ſouth of Scotland, informs me, that it is his opinion, that the beſt of the ancient Scotiſh airs were really compoſed by ſhepherds. In his remembrance there was, in al⯑moſt every village of that diſtrict, a chief ſhepherd, who had acquired celebrity by compoſing better ſongs than others of the ſame profeſſion. And he thinks that though the beſt airs are in general known, yet the words to at leaſt one half have never been publiſhed. The muſical inſtruments uſed by theſe rude minſtrels, are the common flute, and the ſtock-and-horn, which is a flute with a ſmall horn faſtened to the further end of it, and which forms a baſe, in the nature of a baſſoon.
The beginning of one of their unpubliſhed ballads of the mournful kind, he happens to remember. It was written on the fatal expedition to Darien, in the end of laſt century, a project that ſeems to have been [xxx]formed for the deſtruction of the Scotiſh youth, and opens with the following moſt ſtriking couplet.
I believe not above half a dozen of theſe genuine Scotiſh paſtoral ballads are in print; and ſuſpect all ſuch may be found in this volume. They have certain ſtrokes in them which, in my opinion, could only occur to real ſhepherds. Such are The yellow-hair'd laddie, Ewbuchts Marion, In ſimmer I maw'd my meadow, &c. What a ſad exchange to give ſuch ſongs for the poor tinſel of Allan Ramſay, and his bottle companions!
There is a book printed at St. Andrews in 1548, called The Complaint of Scotland. It is written by a Sir James Inglis, and is of ſuch exceeding rarity as to be almoſt unique: but Dr. George Mackenzie in his Lives of Scotiſh Writers, has given us an abſtract of it. The author mentions a maſque, and enumerates the following ſongs, as forming part of the entertain⯑ment.
This liſt, which is of exceeding curioſity, may teach us that not one of our Scotiſh popular airs is ſo ancient as 1548. Indeed I ſuſpect theſe of which the ſcene lyes in the ſouth of Scotland, as Tweedſide, &c. are all of them poſterior to the acceſſion of James VI. to the throne of England. Any of the above ſongs, that have local marks, belong to the Northern parts of Scotland; and it is to be ſuppoſed that the provinces which firſt felt the bleſſings of repoſe, would firſt break out into finging. Not above two of the pieces in this liſt are now known. If I do not miſtake, numbers 2 and 19, or ſomething like them, may be found in Smith's Songs in ſcore before the year 1500. They are Engliſh ſongs; and prove the author has intermingled Engliſh airs with thoſe of his own country. I am told No. 17 uſed lately to be ſung on the ſtage at Edinburgh, and contains a mock courtſhip between a frog and a mouſe, of ſome ſatyrical merit.
Some few of the modern ſongs have the merit of being written on real occaſions, and ſuch always ſpeak [xxxiii]the language of the heart, a language of difficult ſimulation. Some of ſuch yield not to the Elegies of Tibullus in nature and pathos, though that ancient poet is a wonderful maſter in Amatory verſe. Ham⯑mond has never caught his ſpirit, except in imitations, which are ſo cloſe as to be almoſt tranſlations, but I have lately had the pleaſure of ſeeing ſome Elegies of this kind in manuſcript, which rival thoſe of Tibullus himſelf.
The moſt ancient pieces in this ſelection are of the LUDICROUS ſtyle of poetry, which is ſomething ſur⯑priſing, as that ſpecies of writing has been thought by able crities to be an effort of modern refinement. It is true the images given us in the Scotiſh Ludicrous pieces are often not the moſt agreeable or delicate; but have the moſt modern writers, Swift for example, been more laudable in this reſpect? In Peblis to the Play, Chriſt's Kirk on the Green, and others, the reader will find curious deſcriptions of low life and manners, as they were in Scotland in the fifteenth and ſixteenth centuries; the more curious as they were drawn by the hands of monarchs themſelves. It is certainly much to the credit of the united kingdoms that, while the poets of the other countries of Europe were writing extravagant romances, Chaucer, and the princely bards of Scotland, were employed in delineating real life and manners.
[xxxiv]In the Wyfe of Auchtermuchty, and ſimilar productions here given, there is abundance of humour, though a critic of faſhion may perhaps pronounce it low. But [...]t is NATURE, and will ever be ſo. Had Chaucer only written, or rather tranſlated, the Romaunt of the Roſe, his works might now have been faſt aſleep in ſome old cheſt; but his [...]ales, replete with humour of the lower kind, will perpetuate his fame. That father of Eng⯑liſh poetry appears to have been as much eſteemed in Scotland, as in his native country. Dunbar, the chief of the Scotiſh poets, has in his Goldin Terge the following ſpirited apoſtrophe in his praiſe, which is highly generous, if we conſider the inveterate enmity at that time ſubſiſting between the two kingdoms. It proves that the purſuit of poetry is productive of large and liberal ſentiments, even in a barbarous period.
[xxxv]Chaucer may indeed be regarded as the father, not only of Engliſh poetry, but of that remarkable quality of writing called humour; a word which, I believe, has no correſponding term in any language, as we have none for the French naïveté, for they are diſtinct ideas. Naïveté, if I mïſtake not, only implies a na⯑tive gaiety, an unconſcious ſimplicity, and is never uſed in a ſynonymous ſenſe with humour, which implies ſomething characteriſtic, even though ſevere or moroſe, as we ſay a humourous gravity. Fontaine has naïveté, Chaucer has hu⯑mour. Wit is an aſſimulation of diſtant ideas: Humour is confined to manner either of ſpeaking or writing.
It has been affirmed by ſome eminent critics, that the moderns much excel the ancients in witty and hu⯑mourous compoſition; and alledged, that the ancients have no writers in theſe kinds to oppoſe to Don Quixote, Hudibras, The Splendid Shilling, the Adventures of Gil Blas, The Tale of a Tub, and the Rehearſal *. But in this they did not reflect that they only ſaw one ſide of the queſtion. The fact is, that with is the moſt fleeting and tranſitory quality writing can have. Like an exquiſite eſſence, it waſtes itſelf, and leaves [xxxvi]only the vaſe that contained it. The Margites of Homer I ſuſpect began, like Hudibras in our time, to ceaſe being underſtood before it was allowed to periſh. But the argument I would uſe is, in ſhort, that we cannot judge of the efforts of the ancients in this way, becauſe their beſt works are loſt. Surely then to pro⯑nounce againſt them, when they cannot be heard in their defence, is not candid. It muſt, however, be allowed, that the modern Novel, deſcriptive of real life, and the moſt uſeful kind of writing known, when properly conducted, appears to have been fo⯑reign to ancient conception. But it appears to me very evident that the human mind, in the progreſs of ages, alters its ſhape and powers, if I may ſo expreſs myſelf. In the days of Greece and Rome, its criterion would ſeem to have been ſtrength: in modern times, ver⯑ſatility aud acuteneſs. Hence the dignity and grandeur of their writings; and the wit and preciſion of ours. Reaſons might be given for the difference, but this is not the proper place.
As we have ſeen Chaucer was ſo much regarded by the ancient Scotiſh poets, I ſuppoſe it was from him they took their ideas of burleſque deſcriptions of vulgar life.
[xxxvii]The CONVIVIAL ſongs in this Selection are not many, I ſhall not therefore inſiſt on this head. It may, however, be obſerved that, conſidering how much the French have written in this way, it is ſomething ſtrange their ancient allies, the Scots, ſhould have been ſo barren in this very eaſy mode of compoſition. One would imagine the juice of the grape, that inſpired Anacreon, was equally potent in his numerous French imitators; while the Scots, having little of that liquid inſpiration, were by ale confined in the bands of ſleep at the ſocial hour that gave the French bons vivants free acceſs to the regions of fancy.
It may perhaps be expected that, before cloſing this eſſay, I ſhould offer ſome remarks on Scotiſh Muſic, a ſubject of much intereſt and curioſity to every lover of that beſt ſort of melody which ſpeaks to the heart and paſſions. But the ingenious author of an eſſay on Scotiſh Muſic, annexed to Mr. Arnot's Hiſtory of Edinburgh, has left me nothing to add on that head. Dr. Beattie has likewiſe treated this ſubject more briefly, but with his uſual elegance and ability, in his Eſſay on Poetry and Muſic as they affect the Mind. Another good writer * has likewiſe dropt a few re⯑marks on this matter. Both theſe eminent authors [xxxviii]have uſed many arguments to confute the opinion of thoſe who aſcribe to David Rizzio the invention of our Scotiſh melodies; an idea that, like many hereſies, is only made important by its opponents, for it carries abſurdity and confutation in itſelf *.
I ſhall therefore conclude with an obſervation or two reſpecting the volume now under the reader's eye.
He has already been admoniſhed not to look upon this Work as a Collection, but as a Selection; not as pretending to offer the whole of the Scotiſh Ballads to his view, but only the very beſt of them. The firſt volume † indeed preſents the reader with a complete digeſt of ſuch tragic pieces yet diſcovered in the Scotiſh dialect, as any ways deſerve preſervation; thoſe omitted being of no merit of any kind. Such are Johnie Armſtrong, Young Waters, Laird of Ochiltree, The Battle of Harlaw, The Battle of Raidquair, and others. Not to mention Lord Thomas and fair Annet which is an Engliſh Ballad; as well as Chevy Chace, though ſome who have not ſeen Dr. Percy's ancient [xxxix]ballad of this name, will ſtill contend for its being Scotiſh *. Of the Scotiſh Ballads, which fall under the title of this ſecond volume, I muſt confeſs, perhaps, twenty or thirty more would have been admitted, had the limits of the work allowed it. Yet here, I have, to uſe a vulgar metaphor, preſented the reader with the cream of about a dozen volumes, moſt of them un⯑common in this part of the kingdom. The comic [xl]pieces here given, are choſen either from their being rare, their being unpubliſhed, or their intrinſic merit.
For the very curious piece, which is placed at the head of this volume, and now firſt publiſhed, I am in⯑debted to the friendſhip of the moſt learned and in⯑genious Editor of the Reliques of Ancient Engliſh Poetry. Peblis to the Play will certainly be looked upon as a very conſiderable acquiſition to ancient Scotiſh Poetry, and will, I doubt not, gain Dr. Percy, to whom alone the reader is beholden for it, much grate⯑ful applauſe in the Northern part of the kingdom in particular. Indeed conſiderable fame is already due to him who firſt ſet the example of a legitimate collec⯑tion of this kind, than which, if conducted with taſte, nothing can well be more entertaining to the lover of Poetry. The Reliques of Ancient Engliſh Poetry were only the amuſement of his youthful hours of relaxa⯑tion from ſeverer ſtudies; but might well be called a work of infinite labour and diſquiſition, if executed by a writer of leſs genius to form a noble plan, and leſs ability to put it in execution. For the politeneſs peculiar to himſelf, with which the communication of this poem was made, I now beg leave to offer him my public acknowledgments.
[xli]Some readers may perhaps think, that a few of the pieces in this volume might, with equal propriety, have been allotted to the firſt, as being of a plaintive or mournful kind. In excuſe it may be alledged, that the melancholy of theſe productions is not of the deepeſt ſhade, but ſuch as may, with no blame, fall in with the preſent arrangement; in the ſame manner as the beſt comic writings are interſperſed with a few ſcenes of fugitive gravity.
FOR this very curious ſpecimen of ancient Scotiſh poetry, the reader has already been informed that the editor was indebted to Dr. Percy; who to the copy in his hand-writing, from which this is printed, annexed the following account of the original MS.
‘This old ſong is preſerved in the Pepyſian Library, at Magdalen College in Cambridge, in p. 155, of an ancient MS. collection of old Scotiſh ſongs and poems in folio; which MS. had, I believe, been a preſent to the founder of that library, (old Mr. Pepys) from the duke of Lauderdale, miniſter to king Charles II. It had originally belonged to that duke's [162]anceſtor, Sir Richard Maitland, knt. who lived in the reign of queen Mary, and her ſon king James VI; and contains a great number of ſongs and poems by the ſaid Sir Richard Maitland, which are of high poetical merit, and throw moreover great light on the incidents and manners of that age. It is remarkable that this old bard, Sir Richard Maitland, was blind (like Homer and Milton), at leaſt at the time when ſome of his poems were written; as he expreſsly mentions it, and conſoles himſelf very poetically under the loſs of his ſight, and very advanced age, in one of his pieces intitled, The blind Baron's Comfort. Beſides his own pieces, the MS. contains a ſelection of the pieces of other bards collected by him: ſome of them (as this of James I.) no where elſe pre⯑ſerved.’
‘The foregoing poem is expreſsly quoted for king James I's compoſition, and poſtiively aſcribed to that monarch, in John Major's Scotiſh Hiſtory, 4to. See his account of king James I. towards the end, where Major ſeems to hint that a parody had been made of this ſong of the king's, to ridi⯑cule him for ſome low intrigue in which the king had been detected, &c. I have not the book by me, but with this clue the meaning of that very obſcure paſſage, I think, may be decyphered.’
[163] ‘This ſong written by king James I. is a proof that Chriſt's Kirk on the Green, was written by his de⯑ſcendant James V. being evidently a more modern compoſition.’
The paſſage of Major, mentioned above, is as fol⯑lows. ‘Artificloſum libellum de Regina dum captivus erat compoſuit, antequam eam in conjugem duceret: et aliam artificioſam cantilenam ejuſdem, Yas ſen, &c. et jucundum artificioſumque illum cantum, At Bel⯑tayn, &c. quam alij de Dalkeith et Gargeil mutare ſtuduerunt, quia in arce aut camera clauſus ſerva⯑batur, in qua mulier cum matre habitabat.’
Dr. P. after writing his own remarks, having communicated this poem to ſeveral of his learned friends, they interſperſed theirs; and I ſhall here give their obſervations, and a few of my own, upon this ſingular production, after a few preliminary notices that may be neceſſary to the Engliſh reader.
James I, king of Scotland, and the undoubted au⯑thor of the production now under view, was born in the year 1393, being the ſon of Robert III. His fa⯑ther to ſcreen him from the ambitious deſigns of his uncle, the duke of Albany, ſent him to France, but he was unfortunately taken at ſea; and ungenerouſly detained in captivity by the kings of England, though during a truce between the two realms, for nineteen [164]years: nor was he releaſed without payment of an immenſe ranſom. Upon his aſſuming the government on the death of his father, in 1424, he enacted many wiſe laws, and acquired the eſteem and af⯑fection of his people; but attempting to reform the feudal ſyſtem of his kingdom, and in conſequence to curb the power of his nobles, he was by ſome of the chief of them murdered in his bed in 1437, being the 44th year of his age, and 13th of his reign.
Ballenden, in his tranſlation of Hector Boece's Hiſ⯑tory, gives this character of him: ‘He was weil learnit to fecht with the ſword, to juſt, to turnay, to wer⯑ſyl, to ſyng and dance; was an expert mediciner, richt crafty in playing baith of lute and harp, and ſindry othir inſtrumentis of muſik. He was expert in gramar, oratry, and poetry; and maid ſo flowand and ſententious verſis apperit well he was ane natural and borne poete.’
Mr. Walpole, in his Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors, gives us this liſt of the works of James I.
A panegyric on his queen.
Scotch Sonnets; one book. One of them, a lamen⯑tation while in England, is in MS, in the Bodleian Li⯑brary, and praiſes Gower and Chaucer exceedingly.
Rythmos Latinos, lib. I.
On Muſic.
[165]He is ſaid to have written ſome poetical pieces when in England, which is very likely; but it appears to me, that Peblis to the Play could not be one of theſe. He being not more than twelve years of age when he left Scotland, it is not to be ſuppoſed that he was ſo fa⯑miliar with the manners of his countrymen, as to paint them ſo minutely as is done in this poem.
PEBLIS TO THE PLAY.] Peblis or Peebles is the county-town of Twedale. Ettrick foreſt is not far diſ⯑tant from it. That foreſt was a royal chace: hence the kings of Scotland frequently reſided there. Darn⯑ley was there in the winter before his death. H.
Play appears to me here to mean an annual feſtival: ſome of which are ſtill celebrated in different villages in England. The day is ſtill obſerved, though the occaſion is loſt in remote antiquity. ED.
Stanza 1. Beltane.] A great Celtic feſtival on the firſt or ſecond of May. See more of it in Macpherſon's Diſſertations. H.
Ib. found.] Perhaps from the A. S. [...] tendere. (to go) [...] aliquo tendens. Vide Lye, Lexicon Anglo-Saxon. P.
The conſtruction of this paſſage, which is miſerably confuſed, owing ſolely as would appear to the luſt of alliteration, ſeems to me this; They found the ſolace (of the ſinging and muſic) ſooth to ſay, by firth and by foreſt furth, (or around.) ED.
[166]St. 2. Garray.] Perhaps the ſame as deray: vulgar words for jollity. P.
Gariſh is uſed in England for ſhewy, vain pomp. H.
Garray perhaps is prattle, from Anglo-Saxon [...], Garrire. P.
Ib. Glew.] In Engliſh Glee, Mirth. Anglo-Saxon [...] and [...]. P.
Ib. Blew.] That is blue, quite gloomy, out of hu⯑mour. P.
To look blue is ſtill a phraſe implying to ſeem melan⯑choly. ED.
St. 3. Gend.] Gent is an epithet often applied to la⯑dies by Spenſer. It probably means delicate, or perhaps ſlender; or it may be an abbreviation of gentle. J.B.
The annotator has not obſerved that none of his in⯑terpretations has any connexion with the context. The girl was ſo guckit (fooliſh) and ſo gend, that ſhe would not eat. Gend muſt imply peeviſh. ED.
St. 4. Amang yon marchands my dudds do?] Dr. P. reads, Amang yon marchands, (my dudds do) and interprets the latter clauſe, My clothes or dudds being done. I think the line only required the point of interroga⯑tion which I have lent it, to be perfectly intelligible: What! ſays the country girl, My ragged cloths do amang [167]you fine folk? An expreſſion quite natural, and in cha⯑racter. The whole ſtanza ſtrongly paints the affecta⯑tion of a ruſtic beauty and coquette. Alas! ſays ſhe, am I not clearly ruined? I dare not go to the ſhow I am ſo ſunburnt! (though at the ſame time ſhe was too ſenſible of the luſtre of her complexion;) Will my ragged clothes do among you folks dreſt as fine as foreign merchants? (though at this time ſhe was dreſt out in all her ſinery:) Marry I ſhall only try to ſtand afar off and look at them, as if I was at home in my homely habit; (though at the ſame time ſhe meaned not to go as a gazer, but as knowing her⯑ſelf an object that would draw univerſal admiration.) ED.
St. 5. Hop, Hop; Calyé, and Cardronow.] Cailyé is the name of a place in the neighbourhood of Peebles, ſo alſo is Cardrona. H.
Hop or Hope is the ſame. If I remember right I have ſeen in print a metrical charter of a Scotiſh king, either of Hop by itſelf, or with other lands, for ſervice of a braid arrow, whenever he came to hunt in Yarrow. ED.
Ib. Rohumbelow.] is the burden of an old Scotiſh tune.
It was the burden or chorus of a triumphal ſong made by the Scots on occaſion of the victory gained at Bannock-burn. P.
[168]One ſtanza of this ſong is preſerved by Abercromby; and is, if my memory ſerves me,
St. 6. birkin hat.] A hat made of birch interwoven like ſtraw hats, worn by ruſticks. P.
Ib. There fore ane man to the holt.] This ſeems to be a piece of an old ſong. P.
St. 7. How at thai wald diſpone thame.] How at, that is, How that; a common Northern defect. So in the Northumberland Houſhold Book, paſſim. As ye wald eſ⯑chew that at may enſue, for 'that which may follow.' P.
St. 8. Malkin.] The Scots cant word for a hare, and ſomething of Eſau's beauty. ANONYM.
St. 10. Oly-prance.] is a word ſtill uſed by the vulgar in Northamptonſhire, for rude ruſtic jollity. Oly prancing doings are ſtrange, diſorderly, inordinate ſport⯑ings formerly uſed in Pilgrimages. P.
Ib. Adone with ane miſchance!] Have done with a plague or miſchief to you! P.
Ib. (He hydis tyt.] Probably, He ſpreads the table quickly expeditiouſly. P.
I do not approve of this explanation of the very in⯑genious annotator, as the ſpeaker, in the next line, [169]ſave one, deſires the landlady to ſee that the napré, or table cloth be white, which implies he had not got it to ſpread. I have no doubt but we ſhould read he bydis tyt without a parentheſis. He bids dreſs out the table quickly. ED.
St. 11. At ye aucht.] That is, that ye owe. P.
St. 12. broggit ſtauf.] is a ſtump of a ſmall tree, ſtript of the bark, and ſtuck into the ground, with the ends of the branches left projecting out a little way; in order to hang cups, &c. on for ready uſe. P.
It is, I think, a ſtaff with a ſpike in it, of the nature of a goad, but ſhorter. H.
St. 15.] Two lines of this ſtanza appear to be loſt, which ſeems to throw a little embarraſſment over this part of the narration. ED.
St. 18. I wait weil qubat it was.] The word nocht has been omitted by the tranſcriber. H.
I am rather led to think the uſual phraſe of this bal⯑lad, quod he, is here omitted, I wait weil quhat it was, quod he. The ſenſe of this confuſed ſtanza appears to be 'you have bedaubed me; fy for ſhame!' ſays the wife, ſie how you have dreſt me. How fell you, Sir? (Sir is often uſed in Scotland for Sirrah. If you ſay Sir to a peaſant, he will ſometimes retort Sir rogue? or Sir gentleman?) He anſwers, As my girden brak—She interrupts him with What meikle devil may leſt ye, for I think it ought to be ye, not me. Leſt ſeems to be equivalent with leze [170]to hurt, as leze majeſty, high treaſon. What the devil hurt you? He anſwers, I know well it was my own gray mare that threw me. As (Or ſeems an error of the old tranſcriber, indeed in old writ the words will be quite ſimilar,) if I was faint, and lay doun to reſt me. If this is not the ſenſe, I leave the paſſage to future com⯑mentators; for when Chriſts Kirk on the Green boaſts of ſuch learned and reſpectable interpreters as Biſhop Gib⯑ſon, and Mr. Calendar, it is not to be ſuppoſed that a poem of ſuch ſuperior antiquity and curioſity as this is, will want illuſtration. ED.
St. 19. nokks.] The nich in the ends of the bows in which the bowſtring is inſerted. P.
St. 20. Schamon's dance.] That is the Showman's dance. P.
I take this to be an Iriſh word. H.
Schamon I interpret, with Dr. P. Show-man; but think Show-man here means player, or actor: ſuch a dance as was danced on the ſtage.
In a fragment of a ballad, publiſhed in a collection, Edinburgh, 1776, 2 vols. 8vo. in the deſcription of a fairy is this line, ‘His legs were ſcant a ſhathmonts length.’
The words ſeem the ſame; perhaps ſhathmont, or ſchamon, is, after all, the old Scotiſh word for a cricket, [171]or ſome other nimble inſect; Schamons dance will in that caſe denote a quick reel. ED.
St. 21. Than all the wenſchis Te he thai playit.] This bears a great reſemblance to this line of a ſpirited modern poem,
St. Tiſhe. 22.] Iſabel: pronounced Tibby. H.
Ib. Seckell.] Perhaps ſickle; but I doubt if any hay was ever made in Scotland in the beginning of May. ED.
Perhaps from Sacellum a chapel. ANONYM.
I ſuppoſe we ſhould read heckel; ſee Gloſſary. ED.
Ib. As her taill brynt.] This may innocently mean, She ran as if the tail of her gown was in flames. ED.
St. 25. He fippillit lyke an faderles fole.] He chirped like a featherleſs fowl; like a young unfledged callow bird. P.
He cried like a child that has loſt its father. ANON.
Ib. ſayis the ſang.] This proves that love ſongs were current, and committed to memory in Scotland before the year 1430, about which time this poem muſt have been written; and, if we may judge from this line, of [172]no mean merit, it being as ſmooth as could be expected at this day. ED.
St. 26. Settand ſchaftis.] I ſuſpect the word ſchaftis has been brought from the end of the third line to this. The ſun ſettand ſchaftis, if it means throwing darts, and no other interpretation can be thought of, may indeed be that kind of baſtard ſenſe that is not uncommon in old verſifiers of the middling claſs, but I believe James I. would not have written it. The ſun was ſett, and—Or, The ſun was ſetting, (a word wanting,) would appear the proper way of reading this line. ED.
Settand is the old termination of the participle of the preſent tenſe, now altered to ſetting. P.
Ib. Had thair bein mair, &c.] This dry joke of the king's calls to remembrance a ſimilar ſtroke in the Morgante Maggiore of Pulci, where a hermit, in the middle of an intereſting ſtory, breaks off by telling the knight, his gueſt and auditor, that his candle is done, that he has no more, and muſt of conſequence go to bed. ED.
THIS edition is given from the laſt, intitled, Two ancient Scottiſh poems; The Gaberlunzie Man, and Chriſts Kirk on the Green; with Notes and Obſervations by John Calendar, Eſq. of Craigforth, Edinburgh, 1782, 8vo. Biſhop Gibſon's edition of this ballad, printed at Oxford 1691, from Bannatyne's MS. is the earlieſt edition. I am ſorry, however, to ſee Mr. Calendar quoting Ramſay's edition for ſome parts of his text, as there certainly never was a more ignorant or raſh tranſcriber of an⯑cient Scotiſh poetry than Allan Ramſay. He ſeems to have conſidered it as very much his property; and to have exerciſed his own profeſſion upon it by ſhaving, curling, and powdering it at his will and pleaſure. Mr. Calendar might have given us a tranſcript of this piece from Bannatyne's MS. in the Advocate's library at Edinburgh; in which Dr. Percy has obſerved in a MS. note, Chriſts Kirk on the Green is very different from what it was when filled with the innovations of Allan Ramſay. This moſt ingenious and faithful of all editors of ancient Engliſh poetry has likewiſe the fol⯑lowing notice prefixed to his MS. copy of Peblis to the [174]Play.
In conſequence of theſe well founded remarks, I have preſerved the burthen in this edition throughout.
As the foregoing piece was undoubtedly written by James I. of Scotland, ſo we have good authority, thongh not ſo infallible, to aſcribe this to James V. a [175]prince who delighted in low manners and adventures ſo much, as often to diſguiſe himſelf in order to enjoy them. He reigned from 1514 to 1542. A moſt cu⯑rious account of his death may be found in Knox's Hiſ⯑tory of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland. He was the Zerbino of Arioſto; and is celebrated by Ronſard in as good verſes as ever came from his pen.
The notes of Mr. Calendar are fraught with that knowledge of Northern literature for which he is ſo juſtly celebrated; and, though my opinion can add nothing to the general ſuffrage, I cannot help ſaying that, for univerſal ſcience of Northern Antiquities and languages, Mr. Calendar may juſtly be regarded as the moſt learned man in Europe. I am ſorry to ſee he takes no notice of a work he publiſhed a ſpecimen of ſome time ago in his preſent publication; which leads me to fear he has dropt that grand deſign. This was his Bibliotheca Septentrionalis in the manner of D'Her⯑belot's Bibliotheque Orientale, containing a complete ſyſtem of Northern ſcience of every kind to be com⯑prized in two folio volumes. An amazing work! and which ought to be made a national concern. In his preſent volume he promiſes a Gloſſary of the ancient Scotiſh language; but would he return to the large deſign above praiſed, the fame would be infinitely greater, without much greater labour. Words are for [176]pedants, but facts are for all. There is, perhaps, no branch of learning more painful, and leſs glorious, than etymology. To Mr. Calendar the gloſſary to this vo⯑lume is much obliged. They who would ſee what vaſt intelligence may be beſtowed in elucidating Chriſts Kirk on the green, and the following piece called The Gaber⯑lunyie man, are referred to his work.
I muſt remind the reader of a curious circumſtance, which is, that Sappho, the celebrated poeteſs, wrote a ballad (if I may ſo call it) on a Country Wedding, which is mentioned by Demetrius Phalereus; and which, I doubt not, reſembled this. He obſerves, ſhe made the Ruſtic Bridegroom and the Porter ſpeak in mean and vulgar language, though ſhe was herſelf happy in the moſt exquiſite expreſſion, where it was to be uſed with propriety. See Dem. Phal. §. 166 & ſeq.
Chriſts Kirk on the green.] The kirk-town of Leſlie, near Falkland in Fife.
St. 1. Falkland on the green.] Dr. Percy obſerves, there poſſibly once exiſted a Scotiſh ſong of this title. Could this be recovered, he adds, the ſubject would be com⯑plete.
St. 3. As ony roſe, &c.] The alliteration in the firſt of theſe two lines is happy, in the ſecond unfortunate and harſh; lire ſignifying fleſh, nor ſkin.
[177]St. 5. morreis dance.] is ſo called from the Moors its inventors; as they were of the fiddle or violin. Pulci mentions it as uſed in the days of Charles the Great, but, I ſuppoſe on no authority:
Curious notices with regard to it may be ſeen in the laſt edition of Shakſpere.
St. 13. Fy! he had ſlain a prieſt.] That is, committed the moſt atrocious of murders. To kill a prieſt was thought to unite ſacriledge and murder. Cardinal Beaton was ſenſible of this when he cried, upon receiv⯑ing his mortal wound, I am a prieſt, I am a prieſt, fy, fy, all is gone. See Knox.
is likewiſe aſcribed to James V, but I am afraid upon no authority. If it is his, the ſtanza flows amazingly ſmooth indeed! From ſtanza II. it would appear the writer wiſhed to have it aſcribed to James I; the firſt lines of that ſtanza bearing an analogy to his impriſon⯑ment in England. The nature and naiveté of this piece are exquiſite.
[178]St. I. for your courteſie.] That is, by your courteſie.] an adjuration.
Ib. ayont the ingle.] That is, beyond the fire; the warmeſt place in the room. In farm houſes of Scot⯑land, to this day the fire-place often ſtands in the midſt of the kitchen, ſo that the family can all ſit around. Ingle is a word appropriated to familiar fire in Scot⯑land; to call ſuch fire, is thought ominous among the country people.
is likewiſe aſcribed to James V. I believe upon no au⯑thority, but a blunder of Mr. Walpole's, who con⯑founds this with the former. The adventure may be the king's, but I ſuſpect the deſcription is another's. This piece is no leſs ſpirited than the former. The tranſitions to oppoſite paſſions in both are deſcribed in ſuch a rapid and eaſy manner, as would have done credit to the firſt comic writer.
In a letter which the Editor received ſome time ago from the author of the Minſtrel, the following remarks are made upon this poem; which, being of ſo good a judge, will, he doubts not, have great weight with the reader.
‘The beſt Scotiſh poem of modern times that I have ſeen (for, though the title pretends that it was written four hundred years ago, I have reaſon to think that it was produced in this century) is called The Viſion. I am inclined to think that the Author of it, whoever he was, muſt have read Arbuthnot's Hiſ⯑tory of John Bull. But there are noble images in it, and a harmony of verſification ſuperior to every thing I have ſeen in the kind. I ſuſpect that is the work of ſome friend of the family of Stuart, and that it muſt have been compoſed about the year 1715.’
St. 6. Saya Fere.] Fere, for mate, is a common word in ancient Scotiſh. The Scotiſh writers even carried it into England with them, as we may obſerve in the Tra⯑gedies of William Alexander of Menſtrie, London, 1607.
St. 13.] It is with regret I obſerve, that the latter part of this ſtanza is ſtill applicable. Many Scotiſh [180]peers have not ſufficient ſpirit to ſlight Engliſh gold, but ignobly to this hour, barter the liberties of their country, and their own independence for it. May ex⯑ecration purſue their memories! Scotland is, perhaps, at this day, the only country in Europe to which the philoſophical light of liberty has not penetrated. To oppoſe a fooliſh or corrupt miniſter is, with my coun⯑trymen, to oppoſe legal power. One of their moſt cele⯑brated writers is juſt now engaged, at a rated ſalary, to defend the cauſe of corruption.—Not all his talents will ſave him from the contempt of more enlightened poſ⯑terity.
St. 19.] This ludicrous deſcription of the drunken gods is perfectly riſible. Nothing in Midas or The Golden Pippin can exceed it. The ſeveral attributes are finely preſerved.
St. 25.] Bruce is here uſed for him the Jacobites eſteem legal heir of the crown. The principles of this poem are utterly deteſted by the Editor, as they are by every friend of mankind: he only gives it as a piece of fine writing in its way. The unhappy attachment to the family of Stuart, has waſted the fineſt eſtates, and ſhed ſome of the beſt blood in Scotland. It now exiſts only in the breaſts of old women.
The real Bruce (Robert I.) was a hero, if ever any ſuch exiſted. The fineſt epic poem in the world might [181]be founded on his ſtory. The famous Hiſtory of the va⯑liant Bruce in heroic verſe, by Patrick Gordon, gentleman. Dort, 1615; reprinted at Edinburgh, 1718, is the beſt attempt in this way. Some of the ſtanzas are worthy of Spenſer.
This and the eleven following are given from Lord Hales's very accurate publication of Ancient Scotiſh poems from Bannatyne's MS. dated 1568. Edin. 1770.
was written by Robert Henryſon, Schoolmaſter at Dunfermline about 1560. It ought to have been ob⯑ſerved before that VI, VII, VIII, are written by the celebrated William Dunbar, the author of the Goldin Terge, and chief of the ancient Scotiſh poets.
St. 3. an A, B, C.] That is a ſhort inſtruction, a catechiſm, not a whimſical alphabet of vertues, as I believe we meet with in Don Quixotte: A. Amorous, B. Benevolent, &c.
[182]St. 4. Thay,] That is people, folks would blame us.
St. 5. Tak tent.] Take beed. This Scotiſh phraſe, as I am told, being uſed to an Engliſh lady, his patient, by a Scotiſh phyſician, occaſioned a miſtake almoſt fatal. The Phyſician always repeated to her, Above a things, Ma'am, take tent. She underſtood he meant ſhe ſhould take tent-wine after every meal; and ſuffered much by following the ſuppoſed preſcription.
This piece, as Lord Hales obſerves, exhibits a lu⯑dicrous picture of the curta ſupellex of the Scotiſh com⯑mons in the 16th century. Every country muſt be poor till agriculture or commerce enrich it. That the firſt of theſe was little cultivated in Scotland till within theſe late years is well known. The following epiſtle of James VI. to Queen Elizabeth of England, is a curious proof of the poverty of the grain in Scotland in former times. It is copied from a MS. in the Editor's poſſeſ⯑ſion.
‘Richt excellent, Richt heich, and michtie prin⯑ceſſe, our deareſt ſuſter, and couſing, in our hartieſt maner we recommend us unto you. The great, and [183]almaiſt univerſall, failyie of the peis and beanis within our realme, thir tua yeiris begane, occaſioned be the continuation of maiſt tempeſtuous, and unſeaſonable wether, fallin out with us baith in the ſawing and reaping tymes, greatlie to the intereſt * of the haile pure anis of our land, comfortit cheefly be that ſort of graine, has moved us to requeiſt your favor to the relief and help of this neceſſitie, be ſpairing ſum part of the great ſtore of the ſaid graine within your realme; and granting therefore licence to ſum truſtie marchand, as we ar to employ that erand, to by, carie, and tranſport fyftie thouſand quarteris thereof quhair maiſt comodiouſlie thay may be had to the ſaid uſe. Quhairin ye ſall baith greatlie benefite the puir anis of our realme, and ſall alwyis find us lyke affected to help your ſubjectis diſtreſſed with ony ſic neceſſitie, and having the like requeiſt from you. And thus excellent, richt heich, and michtie princes, our deareſt ſuſter, &c. From halryrudhous, the xx day of December, 1595. Your maiſt loving and af⯑fectioned brother, and couſing, James R.’
Indeed at this day peaſe bannocks or cakes made of peaſe, are the principal bread of the Scotiſh peaſantry.
Among the above letters of James VI. in MS. is one to the Dutch about their detention of the Earl of Errol, and [184]another relating to a ſhip belonging to Adrian Wauch⯑ton the king's painter.
St. 3. Ane fute-braid-ſawin.] That is a piece of cul⯑tivated ground of a foot ſquare. A joke like that of the ancient writer who compared a ſmall eſtate to a Spartan epiſtle.
Lord Hales obſerves on this ſingular piece, that ‘ſome traces of theatrical compoſition may be diſ⯑covered in Scotland during the 16th century. Sir David Lindſay wrote ſeveral interludes.’
By the way, Sir David Lindſay was once a moſt po⯑pular author in Scotland, witneſs the proverb, Its no in Davie Lindſay; meaning any thing out of the common road. He was in great celebrity in his own life time, about the period of the reformation. A ſtory is told of an honeſt farmer, who being on his death-bed, a pious neighbour brought an Engliſh bible to read to him. The dying man had to that day never known of ſuch a book, and, upon hearing ſome of its mi⯑raculous contents, cried out, Hoot awa! Bring me Davie Lindſay. That's all a made ſtory.
[185]St. 4, Fyn Mackowl.] 'Better known in England, ſays Lord Hales, ‘under the moderniſed name of Fingal.—Concerning this perſonage, whether real or imaginary, there are innumerable legends in the highlands of Scotland. He is more celebrated as a giant, then as the hero of Oſſian.’
On the next line, 'That dang the devill, &c.' his lordſhip obſerves, ‘This may allude to the conteſt with the ſpirit of Loda. Here let me obſerve, that to doubt Fingal and Temora being ancient compoſitions, is indeed, a refinement in ſcepticiſm. They contain various alluſions to the manners of other times, which have eſcaped the obſervation of Mr. Macpher⯑ſon himſelf.’
The Editor has been called a zealous defender of the antiquity of Oſſian by thoſe who had not underſtanding enough to perceive the ſcope of his diſſertation on the Oral Tradition of Poetry; which only attempts to prove that poetry may be a long time preſerved by tradition; without the ſlighteſt reference to Oſſian's antiquity, but from probability only of preſervation; which the candid reader will confeſs to be no argu⯑ment. Theſe people will ſtare when he aſſures them that, ſo far from being an advocate of Oſſian's an⯑tiquity, he does not regard twenty pages in the whole work as ancient, and has always expreſſed that notion. [186]Nay be muſt add that, if not two lines in the poems of Oſſian are ancient, that circumſtance would, if in⯑fallibly proved, give an infinite addition in his opinion, to their ſuperlative merit. So little has he of the ſpirit of an antiquary.
St. 6.] Three ſtanzas are here omitted, as full of filth, without humour to palliate it.
is a ſingular mixture of religion and ſatire; as is XIII. of religion and good fellowſhip. Such abſurd mingling of heterogeneous ideas is common in the poets of that period. Witneſs the Morgante Maggiore of Pulci, where every canto is begun with an addreſs to ſome perſon of the Trinity, or to the Virgin Mary, and a tranſition immediately made to the wild adventures of the Paladins.
St. 2. Ane puir treſour without meſſour.] That is, a poor treaſure of no meaſure, or account: not a pure treaſure without meaſure, or bounds.
[187]St. 3. To rege with gude adwyiſs.] ſeems a tranſlation of Inſanire docet certa ratione modoque.
This ballad has always been very popular in Scot⯑land; and deſerves it, as it is fraught with genuine nature and humour. In Bannatyne's MS. it is inſerted in a modern hand.
This is given from A ſpecimen of a book intituled, Ane compendious book of godly and ſpiritual ſangs, &c. Edin. 1765.
is given from a Collection, Edin. 1776, in which is this note: The firſt verſe of this ſong is cited in a book [188] ‘intitled, The Complaint of Scotland, &c. printed at Saint Andrews, 1548; whereby it appears to have been a current old Scots ſong in the reign of James V.’ See the prefatory Diſſertation.
This copy is evidently modernized.
is one of Ramſay's ſongs, and one of his beſt; but the woeful mixture of heathen mythology quite disfigures it. Pallas, Jove, &c. never come from mortal mouth in common life, except within the walls of Bedlam; but they are a great reſource to a writer who wants ideas. It may be called the Phoebus of poetry. The French, I think, uſe le phebus leſs properly for hombaſt.
This and XXIX, XXXI, XXXIV, XXXVI, XL, XLIII, XLV, XLVIII, have not appeared in print.
This favourite air is in D'Urfey's Pills to purge Me⯑lancholy, London, 1719, ſix vols. 12mo. It is com⯑monly thought much more modern.
In the third ſtanza of this pretty ſong, the reader will obſerve imitations of Tibullus and Parnell.
‘So fell it out of late years, that an Engliſh gentle⯑man travelling in Paleſtine, not far from Jeruſalem, as he paſſed through a country town, he heard by chance a woman ſitting at her door, dandling her child, to ſing Bothwel bank thou blumeſt fair. The gentleman hereat exceedingly wondered, and forth⯑with [190]in Engliſh ſaluted the woman, who joyfully anſwered him; and ſaid ſhe was right glad there to ſee a gentleman of our iſle: and told him that ſhe was a Scotiſh woman, and came firſt from Scotland to Venice, and from Venice thither, where her for⯑tune was to be the wife of an officer under the Turk; who being at that inſtant abſent, and very ſoon to return, ſhe intreated the gentleman to ſtay there untill his return. The which he did; and ſhe, for country-ſake, to ſhew herſelf the more kind and boun⯑tiful unto him, told her huſband at his home-coming, that the gentleman was her kinſman; whereupon her huſband entertained him very kindly; and at his departure gave him divers things of good value.’ Verſiegan, in his Reſtitution of decayed Intelligence. Ant⯑werp, 1605. Chap. Of the ſirnames of our ancient fa⯑milies.
This was written by the celebrated Marquis of Mon⯑troſe; and ſhows that he thought there was a neceſſity for diſplaying his ſuperſtitious loyalty, even in a ſong. A drawling ſecond part, and one ſtanza of this are omitted.
[191]This nobleman, who was certainly a great warrior, and is eſteemed a hero by the defenders of Charles I. ‘was diverſe yeires very zealous for the covenant, and at the firſt time that the Engliſh came down to the kirks, when the Scots army lay at Dunſlaw, the lot of his regiment was firſt to croſs Tweed, whilk he did himſelf, in the midſt of the winter, boots and all. Yet thereafter, at the ſubſcryving of the league and covenant, finding that General Leſly was preferred to him, he changed his mind, and betook himſelf to the king's party.’ Scot of Scotstarvet's Staggering State of the Scottiſh Stateſmen, MS. 1662. Heroes are mighty cheap baubles in the eyes of people of reflection and knowledge of mankind.
There is a curious account of his condemnation, &c. in a MS. in the Editor's poſſeſſion, intitled, A Letter of the proceedings of the parliament (of Scotland) Anno 1650, written from Edr. May 20, an. 1650, by Mr. Thomas Winzat, to his brother George Winzat, 4to.
This ſweet air was written by the late Dr. Auſtin of Edinburgh, upon a lady's marriage with one of the dukes of Scotland, after ſhe had given him much en⯑couragement in his addreſſes to her.
Blackford hill is one of the romantic environs of Edinburgh, that moſt romantic of all cities in ſituation.
This excellent ſong is already popular in England. The author of the words, and of the air, are, I be⯑lieve, both unknown, though they are both of ſuper⯑lative beauty.
This fine little air is in the ſtyle of what the French call a rondelet: and in none of their rondelets is the re⯑turn of the words better managed.
*⁎* Any words not in this will be found in the Gloſſary to the Firſt Volume.
[...].
Such has been the generous impartiality of the minſtrel who compoſed this fine ballad, and who perhaps had been entertained with equal attention at Alnwick and at Douglaſs caſtles, that hardly one intrinſic mark could be given to authoriſe the aſcribing of it to a native of either country, till the ancient copy appeared, which at once terminated the diſpute.
An edition printed at Aberdeen 1754, has a preface and notes, which preſent the arguments that were then valid for Chevy chace being a Scotiſh compoſition.
The loſs of Chevy chace might be compenſated to Scot⯑land by the recovery of many tragic pieces of no inferior merit, were means uſed by thoſe who have opportunities for that purpoſe. Bertram the archer, the Robin Hood of Scotland, is now hardly known to have exiſted, though he was celebrated in many a heroic ditty. The only ſtanza known to the Editor is given, as it cloſes with a pretty thought. Bertram, being ſurrounded by his enemies, ad⯑dreſſes his weapons in this manner: