_Literature of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (continued)_
SECTION I.
_Poetry of the Eighteenth Century._
IN the preceding volumes of this work some account of the ballad literature and the poetry of Scotland was presented. In the period now under review, the number of poetical writers had largely increased, and it should be understood that the poets noticed in the following pages may not in every case be the ones most worthy of attention. Among them will be found poets who wrote in English, and others who composed in their native tongue.
The fierce struggles of the seventeenth century were unfavourable to efforts of culture of any kind, but during the eighteenth century the internal condition of the country improved. When Allan Ramsay1 appeared as an author, the nation was not altogether unprepared to receive his humorous and lively sketches of Scottish life. Although he had a keen literary taste, he applied himself attentively to business, and did not commence writing till he was about twenty-five years of age. His writings are pretty various, and consist of comic, satirical, pastoral pieces, songs, and tales; he sometimes wrote in English, but usually in Scotch, in which his best efforts appeared. Ramsay’s tales are very humorous, but occasionally rather indelicate. Some of his songs were long favourites, such as “The Last Time I came o’er the Moor,” “Lochaber no More,” and “The Yellow Haired Laddie.”
1 He was born in the village of Leadhills, in Lanarkshire, in 1686, his father having died when he was an infant. Allan remained at Leadhills till his fifteenth year, and was educated at the village school, where he learned a smattering of Latin. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a wig-maker in Edinburgh, at which occupation he worked for thirteen or fourteen years. He then set up as a bookseller, and soon embarked in earnest on his literary career. The Easy Club was founded in 1712, and Ramsay addressed it in a rhymed effusion. He was a social man, and to this Club read a number of his early efforts in verse, which gave him confidence. He died in 1758.
In 1721 he published a collection of his poems, which had before appeared in leaflets. In 1724 the first volume of his well-known collection, _The Tea Table Miscellany_, appeared, and was followed at intervals by other three volumes, which contained some of his own songs. Soon after he published _The Evergreen_, a collection of Scottish poems written before 1600, in which he presented as ancient poems two pieces of his own. In one of these, “The Vision,” he has obviously drawn inspiration from an Ossianic source, as may be seen in the following lines:――
“Great daring darted frae his e’e, A braid sword shogled at his thie, On his left arm a targe; A shining spear filled his right hand, Of stalwart make in bane and brawnd, Of just proportion large; A various rainbow-coloured plaid Owre his left spaul he threw, Down his braid back, frae his white head, The silver wimplers grew.”
In 1725, his celebrated pastoral drama, _The Gentle Shepherd_, appeared, and was received with almost universal approbation; and his fame soon extended beyond the limits of Scotland. An edition of his poetical works was published in London, in 1731, and another in Dublin, in 1733. This drama is Ramsay’s greatest work; its conception and construction are exceedingly natural. He drew his shepherds from real life, placed them in scenes which he had seen, and makes them utter the idiomatic speech of their own native vales and hills. His art is chiefly shown in the selection of materials, in the grouping of natural and well-defined characters, in the clear conception of an interesting, natural, and romantic plot; and in the forming of every character, speech, and incident into a harmonious and pleasing unity, which finally results in a charming work.
Ramsay possessed several of the qualities of a real poet, imagination, the elaborative faculty, passion, wit, humour, and pathos. The pathos in some of his poems and songs, is very remarkable; his “Lochaber no More” breathes a strain of genuine feeling with touches of pure pathos. Though not a very original genius or a great poet, yet he has the merit of having led the Scottish poetical revival of the eighteenth century.1
1 Allan Ramsay was the first that established a circulating library in Scotland. In his shop many of the wits of Edinburgh used to meet for amusement, and to hear the news of the day. He continued to sell and lend out books till towards the close of his life.
William Hamilton, of Gilbertfield, wrote several pieces of verse which were printed in Watson’s Collection. He also entered into a poetical correspondence with Ramsay, and through this, his verses were printed along with Ramsay’s works. Hamilton’s verses are not of high poetical merit, though some of them present keen humorous characteristics. In 1722 his modernised edition of Blind Harry’s _Wallace_ appeared, which was long popular among the country people. He died in 1751 at an advanced age.
Robert Crawford was a contributor to Ramsay’s _Tea-table Miscellany_, and was the author of two fine lyrics――“The Bush aboon Traquair,” “Tweedside,” and other songs. He was drowned when coming from France in 1733, in his thirty-eighth year.
James Thomson was born at Ednam in Roxburghshire, in 1700, where his father was minister. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh; but the death of his father, in 1720, seems to have cut short his University career. He manifested a taste for poetry at an early age, and wrote in English. The earliest printed specimen of his poetry appeared in 1720, in the _Edinburgh Miscellany_ issued by the Athenian Society. In 1725 Thomson proceeded to London to push his fortune, where he had a pretty hard struggle. His description of Winter was published in 1726, for which he received three guineas; and a second and a third edition appeared the same year. In 1728 his work, entitled _The Four Seasons_, was published by subscription. His tragedy of _Sophonisba_ appeared in 1730, and had a brief success on the stage. _The Castle of Indolence_, on which he had worked long, was published in May, 1748. In the end of the following August he died.
Although a highly-gifted poet, he advanced slowly, by often repeated efforts, toward the realisation of his ideal of poetic style and finish of composition. This is seen in the different editions of his _Seasons_, on each succeeding one he made many improvements in thought and diction; while the superiority in style and taste of _The Castle of Indolence_, compared with his earlier efforts, is very manifest. In short, he was staidly working to his strength, when cut off in the prime of life. His genius was luxuriant, glowing, and enthusiastic, but required disciplining. His feelings were warm and wide, his sympathies universal, embracing all mankind. His love of nature was intense; and his heart and soul throbbed with humanity. The following few stanzas from The _Castle of Indolence_ may be taken as a brief specimen of his powers and style:――
“Behold! ye pilgrims of this earth, behold! See all but man with unearned pleasure gay: See her bright robes the butterfly unfold, Broke from her wintry tomb in prime of May; What youthful bride can equal her array? Who can with her for easy pleasure vie? From mead to mead with gentle wing to stray, From flower to flower on balmy gales to fly, Is all she has to do beneath the radiant sky. Behold the merry minstrels of the morn, The swarming songsters of the careless grove, Ten thousand throats! that from the flowering thorn, Hymn their good God, and carol sweet of love, Such grateful kindly raptures then emove; They neither plough, nor sow; ne, fit for flail, E’er to the barn the nodding sheaves they drove; Yet theirs each harvest dancing in the gale, Whatever crowns the hill, or smiles along the vale. Outcast of nature, man! the wretched thrall Of bitter dropping sweat, of sweltry pain, Of cares that eat away the heart with gall, And of the vices, an inhuman train, That all proceed from savage thirst of gain: For when hard-hearted Interest first began To poison earth, Astræa left the plain; Guile, violence, and murder, seized on man, And, for soft milky streams, with blood the rivers ran! Come, ye who still the cumbrous load of life, Push hard up hill; but at the furthest steep You trust to gain, and put an end to strife, Down thunders back the stone with mighty sweep, And hurls your labours to the valleys deep, For ever vain; come, and, withouten fee, I in oblivion will your sorrows steep, Your cares, your toils, will steep you in a sea Of full delight: O come, ye weary wights, to me.”
Thomson wrote a number of short poems and songs, some of which were popular; but his fame mainly rests on the two poems――_The Seasons_ and _The Castle of Indolence_. The appearance of these two poems marked an era in the history of English poetry. The chief characteristics of these poems consist in the genuine and charming realisation of the beauty of external nature; and it was in this that his genius and originality appeared. Although he was not the founder of a school, yet he wielded a marked influence over the poets of his time, and also on some eminent English poets of a later period.
David Mallet, whose original name was Malloch, was a native of Perthshire, and born about the end of the seventeenth century. He studied for some time under Professor Ker at King’s College, Aberdeen; and subsequently, having obtained a situation as tutor in the family of the Duke of Montrose, in 1723 he went to London with the Duke’s family. In 1724 his ballad, entitled _William and Mary_, appeared, which was long popular, and continued to be printed in school books till past the middle of the present century. Afterwards he engaged in a variety of literary ventures, none of which had much real merit. In 1728 his poem, _The Excursion_, was published, in which the imitation of Thomson’s _Seasons_ is simply shameless. He wrote several tragedies, and a _Life of Bacon_. He seems to have been a venal writer, and not a very honest man. He died at London in 1765.
John Armstrong, the son of a minister, was born in 1709 at Castleton in Roxburghshire. He studied medicine in Edinburgh, and graduated in 1732. Shortly after he went to London, and became a friend of Thomson and a writer of verses. In 1744 his didactic poem in blank verse, entitled _The Art of Preserving Health_, was published, which is his chief work. It is divided into four books, and the tone of the verse rises or sinks according to the character of the subject. The first book treats on air; the second on diet; the third on exercise; and the fourth on the passions. There are a few touching passages in the poem, but on the whole it is rather stiff. He wrote a considerable number of pieces of verse on various subjects. He died in 1779, and left £3000.
Robert Blair1 was a native of Edinburgh, the son of a Scottish minister, and, having studied for the Church, in 1731 he was appointed minister of the parish of Athelstaneford, in East Lothian. He was a cultured man, a botanist and florist, and of pleasing manners. He had a large family, and one of his sons, an eminent lawyer, rose to be Lord President of the Court of Session. He was the author of a poem entitled _The Grave_, which is written in blank verse, and appeared in 1743. Although of limited scope, it is a powerful poem. The following lines are from his description of the death of the strong man:――
1 Born in 1699; died in 1746.
“Strength, too, thou surly and less gentle boast Of those that laugh loud at the village ring! A fit of common sickness pulls thee down With greater ease than e’er thou didst the stripling That rashly dared thee to the unequal fight. What groan was that I heard? deep groan, indeed, With anguish heavy laden let me trace it: From yonder bed it comes, where the strong man, By stronger arm belaboured, gasps for breath Like a hard-hunted beast. How his great heart Beats thick, his roomy chest by far too scant To give the lungs full play! What now avail The strong-built sinewy limbs and well-spread shoulders? See, how he tugs for life, and lays about him, Mad with his pain! Eager he catches hold Of what comes next to hand, and grasps it hard, Just like a drowning creature. Hideous sight!”
William Hamilton, of Bangour,1 was descended from an old Ayrshire family, and attained some distinction as a poet. He was a contributor to Ramsay’s _Tea Table Miscellany_, and usually lived in Edinburgh. In 1745 he joined the standard of Prince Charles, but in 1749 he received a pardon; and in 1750, on the death of his brother, he succeeded to the estate of Bangour. A collection of his poems was published at Glasgow in 1760. His language and style is English, and rather ornate. He composed a serious poem on “Contemplation,” and a national one on the “Thistle,” in blank verse. He had a lively fancy, but lacked intellectual power, and his verse wants strength. The best of his efforts is his ballad called “The Braes of Yarrow.”
1 Born in 1704; died in 1754.
Alexander Ross was born in 1699 at Kincardine O’Neil in Aberdeenshire, and was educated at Marischal College. After graduating in 1718 he acted as schoolmaster in the parish schools of Moyne and Lawrencekirk, and in 1732 he was appointed schoolmaster of Lochlee in Forfarshire. At Lochlee he spent the rest of his life. He was the author of _Helenore_, or, _The Fortunate Shepherdess_, published in 1768, and composed in Scotch. Dr. Beattie took a warm interest in Ross, and addressed a letter and a poetical epistle in praise of the poem to the _Aberdeen Journal_, and the work soon became popular. _Helenore_ is a pastoral narrative poem, extending to upwards of 4000 lines, and it has much merit; it is as bold and true to nature as Ramsay’s _Gentle Shepherd_, though his poetic gift was inferior in some points to that of his predecessor. His poem is vigorous, interesting, and the chief characters well drawn. He was also the author of a number of songs, of which the most popular are “The Rock and the Wee Pickle Tow,” “Woo’d an’ Married an’ a’,” and “To the Begging we will Go.” These have energy and much humour. Ross left a number of ♦unpublished writings in verse and prose. He died at Lochlee in 1784, at the advanced age of eighty-five.
♦ “unpubblished” replaced with “unpublished”
John Skinner was born in 1721 at Birse, Aberdeenshire, where his father was parish schoolmaster. He became an Episcopal minister, and officiated at Linshart, Longside, in Aberdeenshire. He was a humble, very amiable, and cultured gentleman. After the suppression of the Rising of 1745, for his Church’s political and his own poetical offences, he was arrested and imprisoned in 1753 for six months in Aberdeen. His son, John Skinner, was elected bishop of Aberdeen in 1782. After a long, a conscientious and industrious life, he died in his son’s house at Aberdeen in 1807, at the age of eighty-six years.
Skinner was gifted with a vigorous mind. He had imaginative power, keen feelings, and a fine sense of the humorous; while a number of his poetical pieces and songs show characteristic merits. The most noted of his songs are “Tullochgorum,” “John O’ Badenyon,” and “The Ewie wi’ the Crooked Horn.” He was also the author of _Ecclesiastical History of Scotland_, published in 1788, in two volumes, and a number of other religious and theological works.
Dr. Thomas Blacklock, the son of a bricklayer, was born at Annan, Dumfriesshire, in 1721. When an infant of six months he was entirely deprived of sight by small-pox. But his father amused the solitary boy by reading to him, and he became familiar with the writings of some of the English poets, and particularly with the works of Thomson and Allan Ramsay. When he was nineteen years of age his father was accidentally killed. Shortly after Dr. Stevenson took him to Edinburgh, where he was enrolled as a student of divinity. A volume of his poems appeared in 1746, which was re-issued in 1754 and 1756. He was licensed to preach in 1759, and was appointed minister of Kirkcudbright. But the parishioners were opposed to church patronage, and to the exercise of it in favour of a blind man, and he relinquished the appointment on receiving a small annuity. He afterwards resided in Edinburgh, and took boarders into his house. Notwithstanding the want of his eyesight, he had acquired a considerable degree of learning, and was an exceedingly amiable man. He was a warm friend of Burns, who often refers to him. In August, 1789, he addressed a poetical epistle to Burns, of which a few lines may be quoted:――
“Dear Burns, thou brother of my heart Both for thy virtues and thy art.
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Most anxiously I wish to know, With thee of late how matters go; How keeps thy much-loved Jean her health? What promises thy farm of wealth? Whether the Muse persists to smile, And all thy anxious cares beguile? Whether bright fancy keeps alive? And how thy darling infants thrive?”
Although the poems of Blacklock are not remarkable for strong sentiment or imaginative power, yet he was a fluent versifier. He also wrote several treatises on religious subjects, and an article on blindness for the _Encyclopædia Britannica_. He died in 1791.
Dr. T. G. Smollett, already mentioned in a preceding section, occasionally tried his hand at poetry as well as history and fiction. He was born in Dalquharn House, Dumbartonshire, in 1721, and educated at the Grammar School of Dumbarton, and the University of Glasgow. He served his apprenticeship with a medical practitioner in Glasgow, and, before he was twenty, proceeded to London to seek his fortune. But it is beyond my scope to narrate his chequered career. He produced no long poems, but he was the author of a number of short pieces of some merit, such as his “Ode to Independence,” “Ode to Leven Water,” and the “Tears of Scotland.” The latter was written soon after the battle of Culloden, and refers to the cruelties committed by the English forces in the Highlands. It is a touching and powerful piece, and extends to seven stanzas. There is both fire and real pathos in it, as these lines show:――
“Mourn, hapless Caledonia, mourn Thy banished peace, thy laurels torn! Thy sons, for valour long renowned, Lie slaughtered on their native ground; Thy hospitable roofs no more Invite the stranger to the door; In smoky ruins sunk they lie, The monuments of cruelty.
The wretched owner sees afar His all become the prey of war; Bethinks him of his babes and wife, Then smites his breast, and curses life. Thy swans are famished on the rocks, Where once they fed their wanton flocks; Thy ravished virgins shriek in vain; Thy infants perish on the plain.
* * * * *
Oh! baneful cause, oh! fatal morn, Accursed to ages yet unborn; The sons against their fathers stood, The parent shed his children’s blood. Yet, when the rage of battle ceased, The victor’s soul was not appeased: The naked and the forlorn must feel Devouring flames and murdering steel.
The pious mother, doomed to death, Forsaken wanders o’er the heath, The bleak wind whistles round her head, Her helpless orphans cry for bread; Bereft of shelter, food, and friend, She views the shades of night descend: And stretched beneath the inclement skies, Weeps o’er her tender babes, and dies.
While the warm blood bedews my veins, And unimpaired remembrance reigns, Resentment of my country’s fate Within my filial breast shall beat; And, spite of her insulting foe, My sympathising verse shall flow: ‘Mourn, hapless Caledonia, mourn Thy banished peace, thy laurels torn.’”1
1 “I was in the coffee-house with Smollett when the news of the battle of Culloden arrived, and when London all over was in a perfect uproar of joy.... About 9 o’clock I wished to go home to Lyon’s, in New Bond Street.... I asked Smollett if he was ready to go, as he lived at Mayfair; he said he was, and would conduct me. The mob were so riotous, and the squibs so numerous and incessant, that we were glad to go into a narrow entry to put our wigs in our pockets, and to take our broadswords from our belts and walk with them in our hands, as everybody then wore swords; and after warning me not to speak a word, lest the mob should discover my country and become insolent, ‘For, John Bull,’ says he, ‘is as haughty and valiant to-night as he was abject and cowardly on the black Wednesday when the Highlanders were at Derby.’... When I saw Smollett again, he showed me the manuscript of his ‘Tears of Scotland,’ which was published not long after, and had such a run of approbation. Smollett, though a Tory, was not a Jacobite, but he had the feelings of a Scotch gentleman on the reported cruelties that were said to be exercised after the battle of Culloden.” ――_Autobiography of the Rev. Alexander Carlyle_, page 190. Dr. Robert Anderson, the biographer of the British poets, wrote a life of Smollett.
John Home, the author of _The Tragedy of Douglas_, was born in Leith in 1722. He was educated for the Church, and succeeded Blair as minister of Athelstaneford. In the end of the year 1756 _Douglas_ was first acted in Edinburgh, and proved a complete success, as it held the stage for many nights, and was attended by all the literary notabilities and some of the judges. The citizens were greatly elated that a Scotsman had written a first-rate tragedy, and that its merit was first submitted to their judgment; though there were a few opposers, who pretended to superior taste in literature, and endeavoured to cry down the performance in pamphlets and ballads, while one section of the clergy were unanimous against it. But _The Tragedy of Douglas_ maintained its hold on the stage for more than fifty years, and still ranks amongst the better class of the productions of the modern English drama.
A party of the clergy, and especially Home’s own presbytery, raised a clamour, and were preparing a prosecution against him, when he resigned his charge, and withdrew from the Church.1 Lord Bute, however, rewarded Home with the sinecure office of conservator of Scots privileges at Campvere; and when George III. ascended the throne he received a pension of £300 per annum. He wrote several other tragedies which were soon forgotten; yet, with an income of about £600 a year, he lived in easy and happy circumstances. In the later years of his life, he wrote a _History of the Rising of 1745_, published in 1802; it is not, however, of much historical value. He survived all the literary associates and companions of his youth, and having attained the great age of eighty-six, died in 1808.
1 _Autobiography of the Rev. Alexander Carlyle_, pages 310‒325.
Richard Gall, while working as a painter in Edinburgh, wrote several songs which became popular. One entitled, “My only Jo and Dearie O,” and another, “Farewell to Ayrshire,” has often been printed as a composition of Burns. Gall was born in 1776, and died in 1800.
William Falconer, the son of a barber, was born at Edinburgh in 1732. He went early to sea, and before he was eighteen years of age, had attained the rank of second mate in the _Britannia_, which, when trading between Venice and Alexandria, was wrecked off Cape Colonna. Falconer and other two men alone escaped. It was his experiences on this occasion which formed the subject of his poem, “The Shipwreck.” This poem appeared in 1762, and was very successful. In 1764 a second edition was issued, enlarged by nine hundred new lines; and a third was published in 1769, with two hundred lines added to the poem, and many alterations of the text. But his literary activity was closed by an untimely death. In 1769 he sailed on board a vessel bound for India, which reached the Cape of Good Hope in December, but was never after heard of. Since Falconer’s death, several editions of his poem has been published.
Although “The Shipwreck” is very unequal, it has the merit of being exceedingly animated and interesting. As he wrote of what he actually saw and felt, the poem has the characteristic attraction of truth and reality.
A great stir was raised in literary circles in Scotland, especially in Edinburgh, by the publication of Macpherson’s translation of Ossian’s poems. James Macpherson was born at Kingussie, in Inverness-shire, in 1738. He was intended for the Church, and was educated at the University of Aberdeen. In 1760 he published a small volume entitled _Fragments of Ancient Poetry Translated from the Gaelic_, which attracted much attention. His friends encouraged him to make a tour in the Highlands to collect other pieces. As the result of his journey, he published, in 1762, _Fingal_, an ancient epic poem, in six books; and in 1763, _Temora_, another epic poem in eight books. The sale of these poems was great, and it is reported that Macpherson realised a sum of £1200 from them. His patrons, Mr. Home, Dr. Blair, Dr. Alexander Carlyle, and others, were much pleased and rejoiced. But many doubted, and some disbelieved that the poems were genuine; and then a vehement controversy arose on the subject of their authenticity, which raged long. Meanwhile, Macpherson fixed his residence in London, and became a popular pamphleteer in support of the Government of the day; and finally he entered parliament as the representative of the Borough of Camelford. Having realised a large fortune, in 1789 he purchased the estate of Raitts, in his native parish, built upon it a fine residence, in the style of an Italian villa, in which he died on the 17th of February, 1796. In accordance with his own explicit directions his remains were interred in Westminster Abbey, while a monument was erected to his memory on his own estate, which may be seen by the roadside near Kingussie.
That Macpherson was gifted with remarkable abilities, his career amply demonstrates; but considering his extreme vanity, his veracity is a totally different question. There is no doubt that he collected a certain quantity of the traditional pieces of verse and fragments of ancient Gaelic poetry, which was then current among the Celtic people of the Highlands. The only question is, how much Macpherson himself added to complete the poems which he published. When the circumstances connected with the subject are fairly weighed, the question is not a very difficult one; and the obvious conclusion is, that he drew from his own imaginative and elaborative faculties all that was needed to give the poems the completed and finished form in which they appeared in his published translations. The original material of these poems was probably not very bulky, and perhaps more than the half of the two published epic poems, should be assigned to the genius of Macpherson.
Dr. James Beattie, already mentioned, was a poet as well as a writer and teacher of moral philosophy. In 1760, he published a collection of his poems, with some translations, which was reprinted in 1766, without the translations. The first part of his _Minstrel_ appeared in 1771, the second in 1774. The volume met with a flattering reception, while honours flowed in on the author. He visited London, and was admitted to its brilliant circles; he also had an interview with the king and queen, and received a pension of £200 per annum; while the University of Oxford conferred upon him the degree of LL.D.
Beattie’s fame now chiefly rests on _The Minstrel_, which is a didactic poem, in the Spenserian stanza, intended to “trace the progress of a poetical genius, born in a rude age, from the first dawning of fancy and reason till that period at which he may be supposed capable of appearing in the world as a minstrel.” The poem, though left unfinished, is well worked out so far as it goes, and there are many fine passages in it. He had good descriptive powers, and the command of appropriate and expressive language, but he was deficient in grasp and range of thought. The following lines describing a morning landscape is a fair specimen of his poetry:
“Even now his eyes with smiles of rapture glow, As on he wanders through the scenes of morn, Where the fresh flowers in living lustre blow, Where thousand pearls the dewy lawns adorn, A thousand notes of joy in every breeze are borne. But who the melodies of morn can tell? The wild brook babbling down the mountain side; The lowing herd; the sheepfold’s simple bell; The pipe of early shepherd dim descried In the lone valley; echoing far and wide The clamorous horn along the cliffs above; The hollow murmur of the ocean tide; The hum of bees, the linnet’s lay of love, And the full choir that wakes the universal grove. The cottage curs at early pilgrim bark; Crowned with her pail the tripping milkmaid sings: The whistling ploughman stalks a field; and hark! Down the rough slope the ponderous waggon rings; Through rustling corn the hare astonished springs; Slow tolls the village clock the drowsy hour; The partridge bursts away on whirring wings; Deep mourns the turtle in sequestered bower, And shrill lark carols clear from her aerial tower.”
John Logan1 was a native of the parish of Fala, in Midlothian, the son of a small farmer. He was educated for the Church, and in 1773 he was appointed one of the ministers of South Leith. He delivered a course of lectures on the philosophy of history in Edinburgh, the substance of which was published in 1781. In 1782 he published his poems, and the following year he issued a tragedy entitled “Runnymede,” founded on the signing of Magna Charta. But his congregation were displeased at this application of his powers, and unfortunately Logan himself had fallen into dissipated habits; the result was that he resigned his charge and went to London, where he resided till his death.
1 Born in 1748 and died in 1788. In 1770 Logan edited the poems of Michael Bruce, an ingenious and persevering youth, who died in his twenty-second year, Bruce’s poems were reprinted in 1784, and afterwards included in Anderson’s edition of the poets. Among the best of Bruce’s pieces is “Lochleven,” a descriptive poem in blank verse. If his life had been spared, it is probable he would have taken a high rank among the national poets.
When in London, Logan contributed papers to _The English Review_, and wrote a pamphlet on the charges against Warren Hastings――an able defence of the accused, and attack on his accusers, which led to the trial of Stockdale the printer, and to one of the most memorable of Erskine’s speeches. Among Logan’s MSS. were found some unfinished tragedies, thirty lectures on Roman History, and a collection of sermons, from which two volumes were selected and published by his executors. The best of Logan’s poetical efforts are his “Visit to the Country in Autumn,” and his ballad stanzas on the “Braes of Yarrow.” In his lines on the death of a young lady, the following occurs:――
“What tragic tears bedew the eye! What deaths we suffer ere we die! Our broken friendships we deplore, And loves of youth that are no more! No after-friendship e’er can raise The endearments of our early days, And ne’er the heart such fondness prove, As when it first began to love.” Amen.
The genial Robert Fergusson was a native of Edinburgh,1 a poet whose life was short. He has sometimes been called the poet of Scottish city-life. He was educated at the University of St. Andrews, where he spent four years; but it seems that he had failed to form a definite end in life, and unhappily he became a victim of dissipation. His chief characteristics as a poet are――a keen sense of the ludicrous, a strong vein of original comic humour, a talent for describing the peculiarities of local manners, and a copious command of expressive language. He wrote poems both in English and Scotch; his Scotch pieces, however, are most esteemed. He was a genius, but his career was short, having died in his twenty-third year. In 1773 he collected and published his poems in a volume, which was well received. Some of the most notable of his pieces are “The King’s Birthday,” “The Sitting of the Session,” “Guid Braid Claith,” and “Auld Reekie,” that is, Edinburgh.
1 Born in 1751, and died in 1774.
Burns avowedly had an excessive admiration for the writings of Fergusson, and even preferred them to those of Ramsay. Perhaps a few lines from Fergusson’s effusion entitled “Cauler Water” will indicate why it was that Burns admired him so much:――
“When father Adie first pat spade in The bonny yard o’ ancient Eden, His aumrie had nae liquor laid in To fire his mou, Nor did he thole his wife’s upbraidin’ For bein’ fou.
A cauler burn o’ siller sheen Ran cannily out-ower the green, And when our gutcher’s drouth had been To bide right sair, He loutit down and drank bedeen A dainty skair.
His bairns had a’ before the flood A langer tack o’ flesh and blood, And on mair pithy shanks they stood Than Noah’s line, Wha still hae been a feckless brood Wi’ drinkin’ wine.
The fuddlin’ bardies now-a-days, Rin maukin-mad in Bacchus’ praise, And limp and stoiter through their lays Anacreontic, While each his sea of wine displays As big’s the Pontic.
* * * * *
But we’ll hae nae sic clitter-clatter; And, briefly to expound the matter, It shall be ca’d guid cauler water; Than whilk, I trow, Few drugs in doctors’ shops are better For me or you.
* * * * *
What makes Auld Reekie’s dames sae fair? It canna be the halesome air; But cauler burn, beyond compare The best o’ ony, That gars them a’ sic graces skair, And blink sae bonny.
On May-day, in a fairy ring, We’ve seen them round St. Anthon’s spring,1 Frae grass the cauler dew-draps wring To weet their een, And water, clear as crystal spring, To synd them clean.”
1 A well on Arthur’s Seat, near Edinburgh, to which it is still the practice of young Edinburgh maidens to resort on May-day.
A student of Burns will hardly fail to observe in the above, and in many other of Fergusson’s verses, certain turns of thought, modes of feeling and strains, common to both poets, although the latter had not the volume of passion nor the intellectual power of the former.
So much has been written about Burns, and his poems and songs are so well known among all classes throughout Scotland, that any lengthened account of them is unnecessary; but something may be said, however, on the influence which his writings have had on the imaginative literature of the nation, and of his general influence upon the people.
Burns was a great reader, and an assiduous student. He was familiar with the history of his native country and the heroic national struggles. He was well acquainted with the early ballads, songs, and poetry of Scotland, and also the poetical writings of his immediate predecessors and contemporaries. He says himself:――“I have paid more attention to every description of Scots songs than perhaps any body living has done.” His “Remarks on Scottish Songs and Ballads” afford evidence that this statement was well founded. His knowledge, however, was not limited to songs and poetry; he knew a good deal about general literature, and even philosophy. In some fragments of his Common Place Book he says: “I entirely agree with that judicious philosopher, Mr. Smith, in his excellent _Theory of Moral Sentiments_, that remorse is the most painful sentiment that can embitter the human bosom. Any ordinary pitch of fortitude may bear up tolerably well under these calamities, in the procurement of which we ourselves have had no hand, but when our follies or crimes have made us miserable and wretched, to bear up with manly firmness, and at the same time have a proper penitential sense of our misconduct, is a glorious effort of self-command.
“I have often observed in the course of my experience of human life that every man, even the worst, has something good about him, though very often nothing else than a happy temperament of constitution inclined him to this or that virtue. For this reason, no man can say in what degree any other person besides himself can be, with strict justice, called wicked. Let any of the strictest for regularity among us examine impartially how many vices he has never been guilty of, not from any care or vigilance, but for want of opportunity or some accidental circumstance intervening; how many of the weaknesses of mankind he has escaped, because he was out of the line of such temptations; and what often, if not always, weighs more than all the rest, how much he is indebted to the world’s good opinion, because the world does not know all. I say, any man who can thus think, will scan the failings, nay, the faults and crimes, of mankind around him with a brother’s eye.” This is pretty good philosophy.
“I have every possible reverence for the much talked of world beyond the grave, and I wish that what piety believes, and virtue deserves, may be all matter of fact.
“Strong pride of reasoning, with a little affectation of singularity, may mislead the best of hearts. I likewise, in the pride of despising old women’s stories, ventured in ‘the daring path Spinoza trod,’ but experience of the weakness, not the strength, of human powers, made me glad to grasp at revealed religion.”
He had a high ideal of the poet’s functions, and says――“I glory in being a poet, and I want to be thought a wise man.... Poets, of all mankind, feel most forcibly the powers of beauty. If they are really poets of nature’s making, their feelings must be finer, and their taste more delicate, than those of most of the world. In the cheerful bloom of spring, or the pensive mildness of autumn, the grandeur of summer, or the hoary majesty of winter, the poet feels a charm unknown to the rest of his species. Even the sight of a fine flower, or the company of a fine woman (by far the fairest of God’s works below), have sensations for the poetic heart that the herd of mankind are strangers to.”
The first edition of Burns’s poems appeared in the summer of 1786, and consisted of 600 copies, and several other authorised editions were published in his lifetime――one in 1787, another in 1793, with the addition of “Tam o’ Shanter” and other pieces. Since his death, one hundred years ago, the number of editions of his works published amount to upwards of three hundred and forty.1
1 When on a visit to Glasgow recently, the intelligent and amiable librarian of the Mitchell Library, Mr. Barrett, kindly showed me through every department of the establishment under his charge; and I was delighted to find that this Library possessed a special corner containing a most extensive and valuable collection of editions of the works of Burns, embracing upwards of a 1000 volumes, and comprises 343 separate editions of his works, in from one to eight volumes each. The citizens of Glasgow may well be proud of this special and memorable collection.
The influence of Burns on the imaginative literature of Scotland has been deep and abiding. Many Scotsmen have been so touched, moved, and stirred by his writings, as to arouse an irrepressible feeling within then to compose verse themselves; and to-day there are many in the humble walks of life who can write passable and even animated verse and song, and appreciate the highest works of the imaginative and elaborate faculties of the race. Burns has exercised much influence over the mind of the Scottish people by removing prejudice and superstition, fostering liberty and independence of spirit, and greater freedom of thought. In regard to prejudice and superstition, the satirical and comic features of many of Burns’ pieces have had a very beneficial effect upon the mind of the people. In conjunction with other influences, these have contributed greatly to enlighten the understanding, and thus enabled the people to banish from their minds a host of delusive and absurd fears.1
1 For instance, in such pieces as his “Address to the Deil,” though he adopted the common superstitions of the people concerning the attributes of Satan, the elements of the ludicrous, the sly humour, and the veins of satire and irony which he introduced, have produced surprising changes in the notions of the people. He even expressed a wish for the salvation of the Deil himself:――
“But fare-you-well, auld Nickie-ben! Oh! wad you tak’ a thocht and men’! Ye aiblins micht――I dinna ken―― Still hae a stake: I’m wae to think upo’ yon den, Even for your sake.”
Touching liberty and independence, the writings of Burns are clear and emphatic. His own manly spirit of independence often shows itself in many forms in his poems and songs; and in this connection their influence upon the people have been considerable. Even politically his writings have had a beneficial influence in Scotland. “The Tree of Liberty,” and that “a man is a man whatever his lot may be,” with all the rights of humanity, were not written in vain. Thus the writings of Burns have contributed to the enlightenment of the national mind, by relieving it from a burden of obnoxious notions, slavish fears, and silly prejudices.1
1 There are a number of what are usually called minor poets, but I can only notice a few of them.
Alexander Wilson was born in Paisley on the 6th of July, 1766. He is the author of a number of songs and poems, including a humorous ballad――“Watty and Meg.” A small volume of his songs and poems was printed at Paisley in 1790. In 1794 he emigrated to America, where he assiduously prosecuted the study of ornithology, and gained distinction as an ornithologist. He is the author of an important work on this branch of science. He died in 1813 in America. Some years ago Wilson’s verse and miscellaneous prose were published by Mr. Gardner in two volumes.
Hector Macneil was born in 1746, and died in 1818. He is the author of several productions in verse. In 1789, he published a legendary poem, “The Harp,” and in 1795, his moral tale, “Scotland’s Skaith:” the object of this tale was to describe in a vivid manner the evil effects of intemperance, and the idea is pretty well worked out.
Carolina Oliphant, Baroness ♦Nairne, born in 1766, and died in 1845; she belonged to the Oliphants of Gask, and was much celebrated for her beauty, talents, and worth. She is the authoress of the two fine Scottish songs, “The Land o’ the Leal,” and “The Laird o’ Cockpen.”
John Lowe, born in 1750, and died in 1798, is the author of the touching lyric, “Mary’s Dream,” beginning――
The moon had climbed the highest hill Which rises o’er the source o’ Dee, And from the eastern summit shed Her silver light on tower and tree.”
♦ “Nairn” replaced with “Nairne”
SECTION II.
_Poetry of the Nineteenth Century._
Robert Tannahill,1 a lyrical poet of high distinction, was a native of Paisley. His education was limited: at an early age he was sent to the loom, and he continued to follow this occupation. He was a dutiful and kind son to his mother, full of the warmest filial piety.
1 Born in 1774; died in 1810. James Montgomery, though born at Irvine, in Ayrshire, in 1771, can hardly be called a Scottish poet, for he was educated in England, and afterwards lived there till his death in 1854. He is chiefly distinguished as a religious poet; but he was a man of marked ability and culture, and is the author of a large quantity of poetry. A collected edition of his works, in four volumes, was issued in 1841.
The first edition of his poems and songs appeared in 1807; and the volume, consisting of 900 copies, was sold out in a few weeks. He afterwards contributed some songs to Mr. Thomson’s _Select Melodies_, and interested himself in collecting Irish airs, of which he was exceedingly fond. Many of his own songs are very fine, rich, and original in sentiment and description. His diction is copious, appropriate, and expressive, and often touching and pathetic. His “Gloomy Winter’s noo Awa’” may be taken as a fair specimen of his songs:――
“Gloomy winter’s noo awa’, Saft the wastlin breezes blaw: ‘Mang the birks o’ Stanley-shaw The mavis sings fu’ cheerie O.
Sweet the craw-flower’s early bell Decks Gleniffer’s dewy dell, Blooming like thy bonny sel’, My young, my artless dearie O.
Come, my lassie, let us stray O’er Glenkilloch’s sunny brae, Blithely spend the gowden day ‘Midst joys that never wearie O.
Towering o’er the Newton woods, Lavrocks fan the snaw-white clouds; Siller saughs, wi’ downie buds, Adorn the banks sae brierie O.
Round the sylvan fairy nooks Feathery breckans fringe the rocks, ‘Neath the brae the burnie jouks, And ilka thing is cheerie O.
Trees may bud, and birds may sing, Flowers may bloom, and verdure spring, Joy to me they canna bring, Unless wi’ thee, my dearie O.”
John Mayne was a native of Dumfries,1 and was trained to the printing business. When an apprentice, in 1777, he published the germ of his “Siller Gun,” in twelve stanzas. The subject of the poem is an old custom in Dumfries, called “Shooting for the Siller Gun;” the gun itself is a small silver tube presented by James VI. to the incorporated trades as a prize to the best marksman. He continued to enlarge and improve the poem till the year of his death, when it was reprinted for the fourth time, and extended to five cantos. He is the author of some other pieces, including his ballad of “Logan Braes,” which begins thus:――
1 Born in 1761; died in 1836.
“By Logan’s streams, that rin sae deep, Fu’ aft wi’ glee I’ve herded sheep: Herded sheep and gathered slaes, Wi’ my dear lad on Logan braes.
But wae’s my heart, thae days are gane, And I wi’ grief may herd alane, While my dear lad maun face his faes, Far, far frae me and Logan braes.”
John Leyden was born at Denholm, (1775), in Roxburghshire, and the centenary of his birth was celebrated at Edinburgh, ♦1875. He was an oriental scholar of some note, as well as a poet. He was a persevering youth, and early manifested a taste for literature. He contributed to Lewis’ _Tales of Wonder_, and to Scott’s _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_. In 1802, he published his poem entitled, “The Scenes of Infancy,” and left Scotland for India. His career there was successful and honourable, but it was cut short by his death from fever in 1811. His poetical remains were published in 1819, with a memoir of his life by the Rev. James Morton; while Sir Walter Scott and Sir James Malcolm both honoured his memory with notices of his life and genius. His longest poem is the one already mentioned, which is devoted to a description of his own native vale of Teviot. His poetry is smooth and flowing, but rather lacking in strength. The following is from the opening of his ballad called “The Mermaid”:――
♦ “1785” replaced with “1875”
“On Jura’s heath how sweetly ♦swell The murmurs of the mountain bee! How softly mourns the writhed shell Of Jura’s shore, its parent sea! But softer floating o’er the deep, The mermaid’s sweet sea-soothing lay, That charmed the dancing waves to sleep, Before the bark of Colonsay.”
♦ “swells” replaced with “swell”
Thomas Campbell1 was a native of Glasgow, the son of a merchant in the city. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, and began early to manifest a taste for poetry. His _Pleasures of Hope_ appeared in 1799, the copyright of which was sold for £60; but it is said that the publishers for some years gave him £50 on every new edition of two thousand copies. The poem was immediately successful. After the publication of the first edition, he added 154 lines to the poem. It attracted all classes of readers by its varied and fine melody, polished style, and the strain of generous sentiment pervading it. He touched on many points and incidents of deep human interest; and in depicting the dismal horrors of war, and the infamous partition of Poland, he rose to a high pitch of inspiration, as in these lines:――
1 Born in 1777; died in 1844.
“Oh, bloodiest picture in the book of time! Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime; Found not a ♦generous friend, a pitying foe, Strength in her arms, nor mercy in her woe! Dropped from her nerveless grasp the shattered spear, Closed her bright eye and curbed her high career: Hope for a season bade the world farewell, And freedom shrieked as Kosciusko fell! The sun went down, nor ceased the carnage there; Tumultuous murder shook the midnight air―― On Prague’s proud arch the fires of ruin glow, His blood-dyed waters murmuring far below. The storm prevails, the rampart yields a way, Bursts the wild cry of horror and dismay! Hark! as the smouldering piles with thunder fall, A thousand shrieks for hopeless mercy call! Earth shook, red meteors flashed along the sky, And conscious nature shuddered at the cry!”
♦ “generons” replaced with “generous”
This poem was a wonderful effort for a youth of twenty-one years. But the chief source of its inspiration was not British, as the lines just quoted show traces of ancient Grecian heat, and especially Homeric fire.
Campbell’s minor poems and songs are universally admired. Such as his “Exile of Erin,” “Lochiel’s Warning,” “The Battle of Hohenlinden,” and the songs, “Ye Mariners of England,” and the “Battle of the Baltic,” are popular favourites.
In 1809, his poem, _Gertrude of Wyoming, a Pennsylvanian Tale_, appeared; but his subsequent literary efforts added little to his fame as a poet.1 The finest of his later pieces is one entitled “The Last Man,” which may be ranked among his best compositions; the following lines are from this poem:――
1 Campbell contributed several papers to the _Edinburgh Encyclopædia_, and also wrote the _Annals of Great Britain from the Accession of George III. to the Peace of Amiens_, in three volumes. In 1806, through the influence of Fox, he received a pension. He delivered a course of lectures on poetry at the Surrey Institution, in 1820; and in 1827, he was elected Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow. In 1849, a selection from his correspondence and an account of his life was published by Dr. Beattie.
“All worldly shapes shall melt in gloom―― The sun himself must die, Before this mortal shall assume Its immortality! I saw a vision in my sleep, That gave my spirit strength to sweep Adown the gulf of time! I saw the last of human mould That shall creation’s death behold As Adam saw her prime! The sun’s eye had a sickly glare, The earth with age was worn; The skeletons of nations were Around that lonely man; Some had expired in fight――the brands Still rusted in their bony hands―― In plague and famine some: Earth’s cities had no sound nor tread; And ships were drifting with the dead To shores where all were dumb!”
The whole of the poem shows high conceptive power and elevated sentiment. I shall quote a few lines from his piece――“A Thought suggested by the New Year”:――
“The more we live, more brief appears Our life’s succeeding stages: A day to childhood seems a year, And years to passing ages. The gladsome current of our youth, Ere passion yet disorders, Steals, lingering like a river smooth Along its grassy borders. But as the careworn cheek grows wan, And sorrow’s shafts fly thicker, Ye stars that measure life to man, Why seem your courses quicker? When joys have lost their bloom and breath, And life itself is vapid, Why, as we reach the falls of death, See we the tide more rapid?”
His _Specimens of the British Poets, with biographical and critical notices_, which appeared in 1818, is a work of much value. The truth, justness, and beauty of his criticisms have been universally recognised, and some of them present elegant models of this branch of literature.
Sir Walter Scott1 was not only a distinguished poet, but also a novelist of the first rank, and wrote on various other subjects. He studied law, and was called to the bar in 1792. He was a diligent reader, and acquired some knowledge of the German, French, Italian, and Spanish languages; but from his early years the bent of his mind was manifested in his fondness for ballads and romantic stories. In 1799 he was appointed sheriff of Selkirkshire. He had already begun to collect the materials for the ballad literature of the Border; and the result appeared in his _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_, two volumes of which were published in 1802, containing more than forty pieces never before published, along with a large quantity of prose illustration, in the form of introduction and notes. The following year, a third volume appeared, which contained some imitations of the old ballads by Scott himself and his friends. After performing other editorial work in the field of early rhyme, he made an independent effort, which appeared in 1805, under the title of _The Lay of the Last Minstrel_.
1 Born in 1771; died 1832.
This poem at once placed him in the front rank of living poets. His chief gifts and powers were admirably displayed in it. Its success was great and unexampled in Scotland; and, for a time, Scott was worshipped as the poet of the day. But, unfortunately, his natural ambition to found a family to vie with the ancient Border names seems to have developed into an over-ruling passion, which obscured his sagacity and good sense, and thus he was led into doubtful projects, and financial responsibilities which proved ruinous.
In 1808, his remarkable poem of _Marmion_ was published; and the same year he published his edition of Dryden. Scott was now fairly launched as a poet, and volumes from his pen flowed rapidly. In 1810, _The Lady of the Lake_ appeared, which was exceedingly popular. The following year, _The Vision of Don Roderick_ was published; in 1713, _Rokeby_ and _The Bride of Triermain_; in 1814, _The Lord of the Isles_; in 1815, _The Field of Waterloo_; and in 1817, _Harold the Dauntless_. By this time, it had become manifest that his later poems were inferior to his earlier ones, while the star of Byron was rising, and the readers of poetry were turning to the new worship. No one with any title to give an opinion on the point would venture to place Scott upon a par with Byron. Scott had merits of his own, within a limited circle of poetic conception and execution he is a real poet. For emotional power, passion, and poetic fire, as well as intellectual qualities, Byron stands above Scott. In short, Byron is, perhaps, the greatest poet that has appeared in Britain during the past two centuries. He has the true glow of poetic fire, which in intensity of emotion, passion, and intellectual qualities, warms his poetry to a high pitch.
Scott himself was no doubt well aware of this, and turned his attention to fiction, in which his genius attained its highest development. _The Lady of the Lake_ was the most popular of his poems; in a few months twenty thousand copies of it were sold. His poems, though still read, are not so popular as his novels. It is unnecessary to dwell on his poetry, and I shall only quote a few lines from _Marmion_, which is mainly a tale of Flodden field. The following refers to the close of the battle:――
“Tweed’s echoes heard the ceaseless plash, While many a broken band, Disordered through her current dash, To gain the Scottish land; To town and tower, to down and dale, To tell red Flodden’s dismal tale, And raise the universal wail. Tradition, legend, tune, and song, Shall many an age that wail prolong; Still from the sire the son shall hear Of the stern strife and carnage drear Of Flodden’s fatal field, Where shivered was fair Scotland’s spear, And broken was her shield.”
The next poet was a contemporary and friend of Scott’s. James Hogg,1 a native of the vale of Ettrick, in Selkirkshire, was descended from a family of shepherds, and is best known by his poetic name of “The Ettrick Shepherd.” He was sent to service when a child, and received but little education: however, his mother was in the habit of reciting old legends and ballads, and many of the evenings in his early years were occupied in listening eagerly to her. He also became an earnest reader of poetry and romances, and devoured the contents of a circulating library in Peebles. He assisted Sir Walter Scott in the collection of old ballads for the _Minstrelsy of the Border_.
1 Born in 1771, and died in 1836.
At first he tried his hand in song writing, and in 1801, he published a small volume of pieces. He soon acquired a felicity of imitating the style of the old ballads; and under the title of _The Mountain Bard_, he published another volume of songs and poems, in 1807. In 1810, he published a collection of songs called _The Forest Minstrel_; and in 1813, his legendary poem, entitled _The Queen’s Wake_, appeared. This work consists of a number of tales and ballads supposed to be sung to Queen Mary of Scots by the native bards of Scotland assembled at a royal wake at Holyrood, so that the fair Queen might prove
“The wondrous powers of Scottish song.”
The work was well conceived, and its elaboration so complete that Hogg was soon placed in the front rank of Scottish poets. At the end of this poem, he alluded to his friend Scott, and adverts to an advice which Sir Walter had once given him, to abstain from his worship of poetry:――
“The land was charmed to list his lays; It knew the harp of ancient days. The border chiefs that long had been In sepulchres unhearsed and green, Passed from their mouldy vaults away In armour red and stern array. And by their moonlit halls were seen In visor, helm, and habergeon. Even fairies sought our land again So powerful was the magic strain. Blest be his generous heart for aye! He told me where the relic lay; Pointed my way with ready will Afar on Ettrick’s wildest hill; Watched my first notes with curious eye, And wondered at my minstrelsy; He little weened a parent’s tongue Such strains had o’er my cradle sung. But when to native feelings true, I struck upon a chord was new; When by myself I ‘gan to play, He tried to wile my harp away. Just when her notes began with skill, To sound beneath the southern hill, And twine around my bosom’s core, How could we part for evermore? ’Twas kindness all――I cannot blame―― For bootless is the minstrel flame: But sure a bard might well have known Another’s feelings by his own!”
Subsequently, Hogg wrote many other works――_Mador of the Moor_, a poem in the Spenserian stanza; _The Pilgrims of the Sun_, in blank verse; _The Poetic Mirror_; _Queen Hynde_; _Dramatic Tales_, etc. He also produced several novels――_Winter Evening Tales_; _The Three Perils of Man_; _The Three Perils of Woman_, etc., and _Jacobite Relics_, referred to in a preceding volume.
He was a strong and versatile man, a veritable genius. His imaginative and reproductive faculties were of a high order, his sympathies were wide and catholic, and his power of realisation has rarely been excelled. What he wanted was culture, and more art. There are passages in his writings which, for lofty imaginative representation, few poets or painters have ever surpassed. It is true, that both his poetry and prose is unequal in composition; yet few can read them without being impressed with the poet’s inspiration. The following is from his verses to the Comet of 1811:――
“How lovely is this wildered scene, As twilight from her vaults so blue, Steals soft o’er Yarrow’s mountains green, To sleep embalmed in midnight dew! All hail, ye hills, whose towering height, Like shadows, scoops the yielding sky! And thou, mysterious guest of night, Dread traveller of immensity!
Stranger of heaven! I bid thee hail! Shred from the pall of glory riven, That flashest in celestial gale, Broad pennon of the King of heaven! Art thou the flag of woe and death, From angel’s ensign staff unfurled? Art thou the standard of His wrath. Waved o’er a sordid, sinful world?
* * * * *
Whate’er portends thy front of fire, Thy streaming locks so lovely pale―― Or peace to man, or judgment dire, Stranger of heaven, I bid thee hail!
* * * * *
O! on thy rapid prow to glide! To sail the boundless skies with thee, And plough the twinkling stars aside, Like foam-bells on a tranquil sea! To brush the embers from the sun, The icicles from off the pole; Then far to other systems run, Where other moons and planets roll!”
His lyric, “The Skylark,” has often been quoted as one of the best of his short pieces; and his song, “When the Kye comes Hame,” is also fine. His life was recently published by his daughter, Mrs. Garden.
Sir Alexander Boswell,1 the eldest son of Johnson’s biographer, was the author of some amusing songs which were very popular, such as “Jenny’s Bawbee,” “Jenny Dang the Weaver,” etc. This gentleman was a warm admirer of early Scottish literature, and reprinted several works at his own private printing-press at Auchinleck. One of his songs, entitled “Good-night, and joy be wi’ ye a’,” is supposed to proceed from the mouth of an aged chieftain, thus:――
1 He was born in 1775. “When politics ran high, he unfortunately wrote some personal satires, for one of which he received a challenge from Mr. Stuart of Dunearn. The parties met at Auchtertool in Fifeshire. Conscious of his error, Sir Alexander resolved not to fire at his opponent, but Mr. Stuart’s shot took effect, and the unfortunate baronet fell. He died from the wound on the following day, the 26th of March, 1822. He had been elevated to the baronetcy only the previous year. His brother, James, was an accomplished scholar and student of early literature, and edited Malone’s edition of Shakespeare, 21 volumes, in 1821; but he died in 1822, and Sir Alexander had just returned from the funeral of his brother when he engaged in the fatal duel.”
“Good-night, and joy be wi’ ye a’; Your harmless mirth has charmed my heart; May life’s fell blasts out owre ye blaw, In sorrow may ye never part. My spirit lives, but strength is gone; The mountain fires now blaze in vain; Remember, sons, the deeds I’ve done, And in your deeds I’ll live again!
* * * * *
The auld will speak, the young maun hear; Be cantie, but be good and leal; Your ain ills aye hae heart to bear, Anither’s aye hae heart to feel. So, ere I set, I’ll see you shine, I’ll see you triumph ere I fa’; My parting breath shall boast you mine―― Good-night, and joy be wi’ you a’.”
Allan Cunningham,1 a native of Blackwood, in Dumfriesshire, was a man of varied accomplishments and marked abilities, combined with persistent application. In his early days he had few advantages, and was sent to learn the trade of a mason, but in 1810 he removed to London and engaged in newspaper work. In 1814 he entered the establishment of Sir Francis Chantrey, the eminent sculptor, as superintendent of the works, and remained in this situation until his death.
1 Born in 1784, died in 1842. William Tennant, a native of Anstruther, originally a clerk in a mercantile establishment, studied ancient and modern literature, and taught himself Hebrew, is the author of the mock-heroic poem, “Anster Fair,” which appeared in 1812, and soon became popular. The subject of the poem was the marriage of Maggie Lauder. After the appearance of this remarkable production, Tennant obtained an appointment as a schoolmaster, and finally he was appointed Professor of Oriental Languages in St. Mary’s College, St. Andrews. He was the author of several other poems on local subjects. He died in 1848.
He was an exceedingly industrious writer. He began at an early age to contribute poetical effusions and songs to the periodical press, and attained a facility of imitating the strains of the old Scottish ballads. In 1822 he published a dramatic poem entitled _Sir Marmaduke Maxwell_, founded on Border tradition and superstition, and afterwards two volumes of traditional tales, and three novels drawn from similar sources. In 1832 his rustic epic, _The Maid of Elvar_, in twelve parts, appeared. He edited a well-known collection of _Scottish Songs_ in four volumes; and an edition of Burns in eight volumes, to which he prefixed a valuable life of the poet. Cunningham contributed to Murray’s “Family Library” a series of _Lives of Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects_, which extended to six volumes. It is an interesting and very useful work. His last work was a _Life of Sir David Wilkie_ in three volumes, which he completed a few days before his death.
All Cunningham’s literary work was executed in his spare hours, in the intervals from his regular occupation. His taste and attainments in the fine arts were considerable, and his art criticisms are candid and able. His prose style is remarkable for its freshness, energy, and ease, and in some of his songs there is warm emotion and real pathos. The two following stanzas are from his piece called “The Poet’s Bridal-day Song”:――
“Oh! my love’s like the steadfast sun, Or streams that deepen as they run; Nor hoary hairs, nor forty years, Nor moments between sighs and tears―― Nor nights of thought, nor days of pain, Nor dreams of glory dreamt in vain―― Nor mirth, nor sweetest song which flows To sober joy and soften woes, Can make my heart or fancy flee One moment, my sweet wife, from thee.
* * * * *
At times there come, as come there ought, Grave moment of sedater thought―― When fortune frowns, nor lends on night One gleam of her inconstant light; And Hope, that decks the peasant’s bower, Shines like the rainbow through the shower. O, then I see, while seated nigh, A mother’s heart shine in thine eye; And proud resolve and purpose meek, Speak of thee more than words can speak: I think thee, wedded wife of mine, The best of all that’s not divine.”
William Motherwell1 was a native of Glasgow, and early manifested a taste for poetry and song. He attained a thorough knowledge of the early history of Scottish literature. Reference was made in a preceding volume to the admirable historical introduction to his _Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern_. In 1832 he collected and published his own poems in one volume. Some of his pieces are very touching, and the following short one may be taken as a specimen:――
1 Born in 1797 and died in 1835.
“Mournfully! oh, mournfully This midnight wind doth sigh, Like some sweet plaintive melody Of ages long gone by. It speaks a tale of other years―― Of hopes that bloomed to die―― Of sunny smiles that set in tears, And loves that mouldering lie! Mournfully! oh, mournfully This midnight wind doth moan; It stirs some chord of memory In each dull heavy tone. The voices of the much-loved dead Seem floating thereupon―― All, all my fond heart cherished Ere death had made it lone. Mournfully! oh, mournfully This midnight wind doth swell, With its quaint pensive minstrelsy, Hope’s passionate farewell, To the dreamy joys of early years, Ere yet grief’s canker fell On the heart’s bloom――ay, well may tears Start at that parting knell!”
William E. Aytoun1 was born in Edinburgh, educated in the University there and in Germany, and having studied law, he was called to the bar in 1840. In 1845 he was elected to the chair of rhetoric in the University of Edinburgh, and in 1852 he was appointed Sheriff of Orkney.
1 1813, and died in 1865.
Mr. Aytoun is the author of _Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers_, which appeared in 1849. These range from the battle of Flodden to the extinction of the Jacobite cause at Culloden, and are pervaded by a warm spirit, interspersed with scenes of pathos and mournful regret. In 1858 he published a collated edition of the _Old Scottish Ballads_ in two volumes, which was noticed in a preceding volume.1 He also attained distinction by his satirical and humorous compositions; his tales and sketches, which appeared in _Blackwood’s Magazine_, are vigorous and amusing.
1 Mackintosh’s _History of Civilisation Scotland_, Volume I., page 446.
1. Robert Nicoll was born at Auchtergaven, Perthshire, in 1814, and cultivated literature in the face of many difficulties and discouragements, but his severe struggles probably shortened his life; he died in the twenty-fourth year of his age. His poems consist of short pieces and songs, which display a command of happy imagery and fancy.
2. Robert Gilfillan was born at Dunfermline in 1798, and died in 1850. His poems and songs have passed through several editions, and some of his songs have been set to music. His pieces are marked by warm and kindly feelings, and one called “The Exile’s Song” is very fine and touching.
3. William Thom, commonly called “The Inverurie Poet,” was born in Aberdeen in 1789, and died in 1848. He was a weaver, and followed this trade for many years. In 1844 he published a volume of _Rhymes and Recollections_. He subsequently visited London, and was warmly patronised by Scotsmen there and others. Thom, within his own range of ideas, was a real poet, and some of his pieces are very fine, sweet, pathetic, smooth, and flowing in versification.
4. David Gray was born at Merkland, near Kirkintilloch, in 1838, a son of humble parents, who intended him for the Church. He studied for four sessions in the University of Glasgow, and supported himself by teaching. He was passionately fond of poetry, and wrote many verses, some of which had appeared in the _Glasgow Citizen_. In his twenty-second year, this warm-hearted youth went to London to push his fortune; but he was soon attacked by consumption, and naturally longed to return to his father’s house, and he came back to Merkland. There he worked hopefully at his poems, but his strength was fast ebbing away. He ardently desired to see his poems in print, and they were sent to the press. One page was immediately set up, and the dying poet had the ineffable gratification of seeing and reading it on the day before his death. The dying poet then exclaimed that “he could now depart tranquilly into his eternal rest.” In 1865, a monument was erected to his memory in Kirkintilloch. His chief poem is called “The Luggie,” but he composed a number of sonnets, which have many touching features both in feeling and expression. His genius was rich though immature.
Alexander Smith was born at Kilmarnock in 1830, but he passed his early life as a designer in a Paisley factory. His first volume of verse appeared in 1853, and the chief poem in it was “A Life Drama,” a series of thirteen dramatic scenes. Afterwards he was appointed to the office of secretary to the University of Edinburgh, and continued his literary efforts. He contributed prose articles to periodicals, and, in 1857, he published another volume called _City Poems_. In 1861, his _Edwin Deira_ appeared. But his health began to fail, and he died in 1867.
Smith had a vein of fervid poetic feeling, and his imaginative faculty was pretty keen, but in chaste poetic elaboration he was not strong. The greater part of his poetry is immature, overloaded with imagery and ornament――defects which, if his life had been spared, he might have overcome. On the other hand, his prose writings are better than his poetry. His short papers and essays, “Dreamthorp,” “A Summer in Skye,” and some literary remains published after his death, are written in an easy, pleasing, and admirable style.
Dr. Charles Mackay was born in Perth in 1814. He united political sympathies and aspirations with lyrical poetry, and some of his songs have long been familiar to the people of this country and America. His first poems were published in 1834, in a small volume. Soon after he became connected with the London press――_The Morning Chronicle_, a daily journal. In 1840, his poem called _The Hope of the World_ appeared; and in 1842, _The Salamandrine_, one of the most finished of his works. In 1845, his _Legends of the Isles_ was published; _Voices from the Crowd_, 1845; _Voices from the Mountains_, 1847; _Town Lyrics_, 1848; _The Spirit of Nature_, 1850; _The Lump of Gold_, 1856; _Songs for Music_, 1857; _Under Green Leaves_, 1858. He is also the author of a number of prose works, among which may be mentioned, _The History of London from its Foundation by the Romans to the Accession of Queen Victoria_, published in 1838; _Memoirs of Extraordinary Public Delusions_, in three volumes, 1841; _A History of the Mormons_, 1851; _Life and Liberty in America_, 1859, in two volumes; _The Gaelic and Celtic Etymology of Western Europe_, 1877; and other works. The following lines are from the opening of his song, “Tubal Cain”:――
“Old Tubal Cain was a man of might In the days when earth was young; By the fierce red light of his furnace bright The strokes of his hammer rung; And he lifted high his brawny hand On the iron glowing clear, Till the sparks rushed out in scarlet showers, As he ♦fashioned the sword and spear. And he sang: Hurra for my handiwork! Hurra for the spear and sword! Hurra for the hand that shall wield them well, For he shall be king and lord!”
♦ “fashoned” replaced with “fashioned”
Alexander G. Murdoch was born in Glasgow in April, 1843. He is the author of many poems and songs of much merit. He had a wide command of expressive language, and some of his poems roll in very powerful strains. His _Humorous Readings_ were published in 1888‒89; he also wrote several interesting tales. He died at Glasgow on the 13th of February, 1891.
Lewis Morrison-Grant was born on the 9th of December, 1872, at a cottage in the vicinity of Loch Park, in the parish of Botriphnie, Banffshire. He received the rudiments of education at the parish school and at the Public School of Keith, and entered the University of Aberdeen in 1890. After attending two sessions his health failed, and he was unable to attend his third session. His short life was remarkable. When a mere boy he commenced to write verse, and his passion for this kind of writing became very strong. In the spring of 1892 his _Protomantis and Other Poems_ was published in a volume of three hundred and nine pages, containing four pretty long poems, and one hundred and thirty-two shorter ones, which touch on a wide variety of subjects. His poems are of unequal merit, and in general they lack concentrated thought and strength; yet, taking into account that they were all written before he was twenty years of age, and the circumstances in which he was placed, his volume of poems is an extraordinary effort. If his life had been longer spared, no doubt he would have produced more highly finished work. After a protracted illness he died at Goldenwells, near Keith, on the 29th of June, 1893.1 The following lines are from his fine poem entitled “More Light”:――
1 A very interesting account of him, under the title of _His Life, Letters, and Last Poems_, edited by Jessie A. Anderson, was published by Gardner in 1894.
“I wait for light, I wait for God To fall in living lines on thee, O Soul!――in thoughts on which bestowed Gleams some unveiling mystery. And light is that I seek alone, A light wherein all things shall seem Even as to God they all are known: Our human light is faint and dim.”
Before passing from this branch, I may remark that though a number of poets have been noticed in the preceding pages, they only form a fraction of the Scottish Poets, for “The Poet’s Corner” of the Mitchell Library in Glasgow contains upwards of 5336 volumes of Scottish poetry, embracing the writings of 2000 different authors. Even this collection, which I understand is the most complete in existence, may not contain specimens of all the Scottish rhymers and poets.1
1 In connection with this, a volume appeared in 1887 entitled _The Bards of Bon-Accord_, by William Walker, Aberdeen, which is an important work of its class. It covers the period from 1375 to 1860, and embraces notices of many poets and writers of rhyme――natives of Aberdeen and the neighbouring counties. In itself the work is exceedingly interesting. The notices of the various writers are very well executed――with taste, judgment, and sometimes keen and warm sympathy. The numerous quotations also show care and discrimination in their selection, while the author’s comments exhibit much consideration, fairness, and good sense.
In an Appendix a Bibliography of the subject of the work is given which greatly enhances its value, especially to all those who take a lively interest in matters of this kind――a class gradually increasing in numbers with the advance of exhaustive historical inquiries and liberal culture. The work has also a very complete index, which the author has very skilfully arranged, “to serve a threefold purpose ――biographical items being printed in small capitals――poems quoted, in italics――other matters, in ordinary type.” Those who have had occasion to make literary inquiries will appreciate the value of an index of this character.