SELECT SCOTISH BALLADS.
VOLUME I.
CONTAINING BALLADS IN THE TRAGIC STYLE.
THE SECOND EDITION, CORRECTED AND ENLARGED.
SELECT SCOTISH BALLADS.
VOLUME I.
LONDON, PRINTED BY AND FOR J. NICHOLS.
MDCCLXXXIII.
HARDYKNUTE, AN HEROIC BALLAD, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED COMPLETE; WITH THE OTHER MORE APPROVED SCOTISH BALLADS, AND SOME NOT HITHER TO MADE PUBLIC, IN THE TRAGIC STYLE.
TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED TO DISSERTATIONS,
- I. ON THE ORAL TRADITION OF POETRY.
- II. ON THE TRAGIC BALLAD.
JAMQUE SACRUM TENERIS VATEM VENERSTUR AB ANNIS.
TO HIS GRACE THE Duke of BUCCLEUGH.
[vii]IT is with much pleaſure I embrace this opportunity of teſtifying my ſincere reſpect for YOUR GRACE's exalted character, as the friend and as the ornament of your coun⯑try, by addreſſing theſe volumes to a name ſo much revered and beloved by the nation [viii]whoſe poetry they are intended to preſerve and to illuſtrate.
The chief compoſitions in this volume, MY LORD, will be found to breathe the living ſpirit of the Scotiſh people, a race of men who have left monuments of their martial glory in every country. YOUR GRACE, it is hoped, will with pleaſure here recogniſe the noble ardour your example lately tended to revive, by raiſing and commanding in perſon a military force in defence of your country, at a period when her natives had not diſcernment to perceive, nor ſpirit to aſſume, the privileges of Britiſh ſubjects.
The ſecond volume, MY LORD, contains chiefly pieces deſcriptive of rural merriment, and of love and domeſtic happineſs. Even theſe, it is humbly believed, YOUR GRACE will not diſdain; for it is well known that the felicity of the poor in general, and of your numerous tenants and dependants in [ix]particular, is regarded by YOUR GRACE as eſſential to your own. In reward, YOUR GRACE enjoys a domeſtic felicity now ſel⯑dom or never known to the great who are generally obliged to exchange the free en⯑joyment of true pleaſure for the gaudy ſla⯑very of oſtentation.
At a period when many of the Britiſh nobility are waſting their patrimonial eſtates in profligate diſſipation; men trained to arms in defence of their rights and liberties, vil⯑lages beautified and rendered ſalubrious, and their inhabitants rendered happy, have been the monuments of expence of the DUKE OF BUCCLEUGH.
The ſilent gratitude of the poor will ever ſpeak YOUR GRACE's praiſes with an ex⯑preſſion unknown to the moſt exalted elocu⯑tion; and it were ſurely abſurd for any wri⯑ter to enlarge on what is the common ſubject [x]of converſation, and known to all; I ſhall not therefore any longer intrude on YOUR GRACE's patience.
That SCOTLAND may long conſider YOUR GRACE as one of the beſt guardians of her liberty, and the living aſſertor of her an⯑cient ſpirit, is the earneſt wiſh of,
CONTENTS.
[xi]- DISSERTATION I. Page xv
- DISSERTATION II. Page xxviii
- 1. Hardyknute, Part I. Page 1
- 1. Hardyknute, Part II. Page 16
- 2. Child Maurice. Page 34
- 3. Adam o Gordon. Page 44
- 4. The Child of Elle. Page 52
- 5. Gilderoy, Page 62
- 6. "The Gypſies came to our good Lord's gate. Page 67
- 7. The Cruel Knight. Page 69
- 8. Young Waters. Page 72
- 9. Sir Hugh, or the Jew's Daughter. Page 75
- 10. Flodden Field, or the Flowers of the Foreſt. Page 78
- 11. Edward. Page 80
- 12. Sir Patrick Spence. Page 83
- 13. Lady Bothwell's Lament. Page 86
- 14. Earl of Murray. Page 88
- 14. Sir James the Roſe. Page 90
- [xii]16. Laird of Woodhouſelie. Page 94
- 17. Lord Livingſton. Page 98
- 18. Binnorie. Page 102
- 19. Death of Menteith. Page 105
- 20. Lord Airth's Complaint. Page 107
- 21. "I wiſh I were where Helen lyes." Page 109
- Fragments. Page 111
- Notes. Page 115
- Gloſſary. Page 156
DISSERTATIONS ON THE ORAL TRADITION OF POETRY, AND ON THE TRAGIC BALLAD.
[]DISSERTATION I. ON THE ORAL TRADITION OF POETRY.
[xv]IT has long been a ſubject of regret, that the inven⯑tors of the fine Arts have by oblivion been deprived of the reputation due to their memory. Of the many realms which lay claim to their birth, Egypt ſeems to poſſeſs the preference. Yet, like the Nile, which ani⯑mates that country, while they have diffuſed pleaſure and utility over kingdoms, their origin remains hid in the moſt profound obſcurity.
That poetry holds a diſtinguiſhed ſuperiority over all theſe ſciences is allowed; yet the firſt practiſer of this enchanting art has loſt the renown it was deſigned to confer. We muſt either allow the conteſted claim of the Oſiris of the Egyptians, and Apollo of the Greeks, or be content to withhold from any, the fame which indeed ſeems due to as many inventors as there are diſ⯑tinct nations in the world. For poetry appears not to [xvi]require the labour of diſquiſition, or aid of chance, to invent; but is rather the original language of men in an infant ſtate of ſociety in all countries. It is the effuſion of fancy actuated by the paſſions: and that theſe are always ſtrongeſt when uncontrouled by cuſtom, and the manners which in an advanced community are termed polite, is evident. But the peculiar advantages, which a certain ſituation of extrinſic objects confers on this art, have already been ſo well illuſtrated by emi⯑nent critics *, that it is unneceſſary here to remember them. I have beſides noted a few ſuch as immediately concern the compoſitions now under view in the ſub⯑ſequent Diſſertation; and only propoſe here to give a brief account of the utility of the Oral Tradition of Poetry, in that barbarous ſtate of ſociety which neceſ⯑ſarily precedes the invention of letters; and of the cir⯑cumſtances that conſpired to render it eaſy and ſafe.
Among the Egyptians, probably the moſt ancient authors of the elegant, as well as uſeful ſciences, we find that verſes were originally uſed ſolely to preſerve the laws of their princes, and ſayings of their wiſe men from oblivion †. Theſe were ſometimes inſcribed in their temples in their hieroglyphic character, but more [xvii]frequently only committed to the memory of the ex⯑pounders of their Law, or diſciples of their ſages. Pythagoras, who was initiated in their ſecret ſcience, conveyed in like manner his dictates to his diſciples, as appears from the moral verſes which paſs under his name at this day. And though the authenticity of theſe may be queſtioned, yet that he followed this mode of bequeathing his knowledge to his followers, is proved from the conſent of all antiquity *. Nay, before him, Thales compoſed in like manner his Syſtem of Natural Philoſophy. And even ſo late as the time of Ariſtotle, the Laws of the Agathyrſi, a nation in Sarmatia, were all delivered in verſe. Not to mention the known laws of the Twelve Tables, which, from the fragments ſtill remaining of them, appear to have conſiſted of ſhort rythmic ſentences.
From laws and religion poetry made an eaſy progreſs to the celebration of the Gods and Heroes, who were their founders. Verſes in their praiſe were ſung on ſolemn occaſions by the compoſers, or bards themſelves. We meet with many before Homer, who diſtinguiſhed themſelves by ſuch productions. Fabricius † has enu⯑merated near ſeventy whoſe names have reached our times. That immortal author had the advantage of [xviii]hearing their poems repeated; and was certainly in⯑debted to his predeceſſors for many beauties which we admire as original. That he was himſelf an ΑΟΙΔΟΣ, or Minſtrel, and ſung his own verſes to the lyre, is ſhown by the admirable author of the Enquiry into his Life and Writings *. Nor were his poems reſcued from the uncertain fame of tradition, and committed to wri⯑ting till ſome time after his death †.
Such was the utility of the poetic tradition among the more poliſhed nations of antiquity: and with thoſe they denominated Barbarians we find it no leſs practiſed ‡. The Perſians had their Magi, who preſerved, as would ſeem in this way, the remarkable events of former times, and in war went before the army ſinging the praiſes of their illuſtrious men, whom the extraordinary gratitude and admiration of their countrymen had exalted into Deities. If they gained the victory, the Song of Triumph recorded the deeds of thoſe who had fallen, and by their praiſes animated the ambition of thoſe who enjoyed the conqueſt to farther acts of valour. The latter cuſtom [xix]was in uſe ſtill more anciently among the Jews, as appears from the ſongs of Moſes * and Deborah † preſerved in Sacred Writ.
The Druids of Gaul and Britain afford a noted in⯑ſtance ‡. Such firm hold did their traditions take of the memory, that ſome of them are retained in the minds of their countrymen to this very day §. The [xx]Germans, as we learn from Tacitus, had no other mode of commemorating the tranſactions of paſt times than by verſe. The brave actions of their anceſtors were always ſung as an incentive to their imitation before they entered into combat. The like we read of the ancient Goths *, thoſe deſtroyers of all literature, who yet poſſeſſed greater ſkill in the fine arts than is com⯑monly aſcribed to them. From them this cuſtom paſſed to their deſcendants the inhabitants of the Northern regions, many animated ſpecimens of whoſe traditio⯑nal poetry have been preſerved to our times † and quoted by their modern hiſtorians as uncontroulable vouchers; as the Arabian hiſtorians refer for the truth of many events to the Spaniſh romanzes, ſaved in like manner by tradition for many ages, many of which are of very remote antiquity, and abound with the higher beauties of poetry ‡. Traditional verſes are to this day a favourite amuſement of the Mahometan nations; though, inſtead of recording the illuſtrious actions of their real heroes, they chaunt the fabled exploits of [xxi]Buhalul their Orlando *, or the yet more ridiculous ones of their Prophet †. From them it would appear that rime, that great help to the remembrance of tra⯑ditional poetry, paſſed to the Troubadours of Provence; who from them ſeem alſo to have received the ſpirit and character of their effuſions. Like them, they compoſed amorous verſes with delicacy and nature; but when they attempted the ſublimer walk of the Heroic Song, their imagination was often bewildered, and they wandered into the contiguous regions of the incredible and abſurd ‡.
In proportion as Literature advanced in the world, Oral Tradition diſappeared. The venerable Britiſh Bards were in time ſucceeded by the Welſh Beirdh §, [xxii]whoſe principal occupation ſeems to have been to pre⯑ſerve the genealogy of their patrons, or at times to amuſe them with ſome fabulous ſtory of their predeceſ⯑ſors ſung to the harp or crowd *, an inſtrument which Griffith ap Conan, King of Wales, is ſaid to have brought from Ireland, about the beginning of the twelfth century.
In like manner, among the Caledonians, as an inge⯑nious writer † acquaints us, ‘Every chief in proceſs of time had a bard in his family, and the office be⯑came hereditary. By the ſucceſſion of theſe bards the poems concerning the anceſtors of the family were handed down from generation to generation; they were repeated to the whole clan on ſolemn occa⯑ſions, and always alluded to in the new compoſi⯑tions of the bards.’ The ſucceſſors of Oſſian were at length employed chiefly in the mean office of preſerving fabulous genealogies, and flattering the pride of their chieftains at the expence of truth, without [xxiii]even fancy ſufficient to render their inventions either pleaſing or plauſible. That order of men, I believe, is now altogether extinct; yet they have left a ſpirit of poetry in the country where they flouriſhed *; and Oſſian's harp ſtill yields a dying ſound among the wilds of Morven.
Having thus given a faint view of the progreſs of the Oral Tradition of Poetry to theſe times †, I proceed to ſhew what arts the ancient bards employed to make their verſes take ſuch hold of the memory of their countrymen, as to be tranſmitted ſafe and entire without the aid of writing for many ages. Theſe may be conſidered as affecting the paſſions and the ear. Their mode of expreſſion was ſimple and genuine. They of conſequence touched the paſſions truly and effectively. And when the paſſions are engaged, we liſten with avidity to the tale that ſo agreeably affects them; and remember it again with the moſt prompt facility. This may be obſerved in children, who will forget no circumſtance of an intereſting ſtory, more eſpecially if ſtriking or dreadful to the fancy; when they cannot remember a ſhort maxim which only oc⯑cupies the judgement. The paſſions of men have been and will be the ſame through all ages. Poetry is the ſovereign of the paſſions, and will reign while they [xxiv]exiſt. We may laugh at Sir Iſaac Newton, as we have at Deſcartes; but we ſhall always admire a Homer, an Oſſian, or a Shakſpere.
As the ſubjects of theſe genuine painters of nature deeply intereſted the heart, and by that means were ſo agreeable and affecting, that every hearer wiſhed to remember them; ſo their mode of conſtructing their verſe was ſuch, that the remembrance was eaſy and expeditious. A few of their many arts to aid the me⯑mory I ſhall here enumerate.
I. Moſt of theſe Oral poems were ſet to muſic, as would appear, by the original authors themſelves. That this was the cuſtom ſo early as the days of Homer, may be ſeen in the excellent author formerly adduced *. How ſhould we have been affected by hearing a compoſition of Homer or Oſſian [...]ung and played by theſe immortal maſters themſelves! With the poem the air ſeems to have paſſed from one age to another; but as no muſical compoſitions of the Greeks exiſt, we are quite in the dark as to the nature of theſe. I ſuppoſe that Oſſian's poetry is ſtill recited to its ori⯑ginal cadence and to appropriated tunes. We find, in an excellent modern writer †, that this mode of ſinging poetry to the harp was reckoned an accompliſhment ſo late as among the Saxon Eccleſiaſtics. The ancient [xxv]muſic was confeſſedly infinitely ſuperior to ours in the command of the paſſions. Nay, the muſic of the moſt barbarous countries has had effects that not all the ſublime pathos of Corelli, or animated ſtrains of Handel, could produce. Have not the Welſh, Iriſh, and Scotiſh tunes, greater influence over the moſt in⯑formed mind at this day than the beſt Italian concerto? What Modern refined muſic could have the powers of the Rance de Vaches * of the Swiſs, or the melancholy ſound of the Indian Banſha †? Is not the war-muſic of the rudeſt inhabitants of the wilds of America or Scot⯑land more terrible to the ear than that of the beſt band in the Britiſh army? Or, what is ſtill more ſurprizing, will not the ſofter paſſions be more inflamed by a [xxvi]Turkiſh air than by the moſt exquiſite effort of a polite compoſer? as we learn from an elegant wri⯑ter *, whom concurring circumſtances rendered the beſt judge that could be imagined of that ſubject. The harmony therefore of the old traditional ſongs poſſeſſing ſuch influence over the paſſions, at the ſame time that it rendered every expreſſion neceſſary to the ear, muſt have greatly recommended them to the remembrance.
II. Beſides muſical cadence, many arts were uſed in the verſification to facilitate the rehearſal. Such were:
1. The frequent returns of the ſame ſentences and deſcriptions expreſſed in the very ſame words. As for inſtance, the delivery of meſſages, the deſcription of battles, &c. of which we meet with infinite examples in Homer, and ſome, if I miſtake not, in Oſſian. Good ones may be found in Hardyknute, Part I. v. 123, &c. compared with part II. v. 107, &c. and in Child Maurice, v. 31, with v. 67; and innumerable ſuch in the ancient Traditional Poetry of all nations. Theſe ſerved as land marks, in the view of which the memory travelled ſecure over the intervening ſpaces. On this head falls likewiſe to be mentioned what we call The Burden, that is, the unvaried repetition of one or more lines fixing the tone of the poem throughout the whole. That this is very ancient among the barbaric nations, may be gathered from the known Song of Regner [xxvii]Lodbrog, to be found in Olaus Wormius *; every ſtanza of which begins with one and the ſame line. So many of our ballads, both ancient and modern, have this aid to the memory, that it is unneceſſary to condeſcend on any in particular.
2. Alliteration was before the invention of rime greatly uſed, chiefly by the nations of Northern origi⯑nal, to aſſiſt the remembrance of their traditional poe⯑try. Moſt of the Runic methods of verſification con⯑ſiſted in this practice. It was the only one among the Saxon poets, from whom it paſſed to the Engliſh and Scotiſh †. When rime became common, this which [xxviii]was before thought to conſtitute the ſole difference between proſe and verſe, was ſtill regarded as an acceſ⯑ſary [xxix]grace, and was carried to a ludicrous length by ſome poets of no mean rank in both nations. So [xxx]late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth we find the fol⯑lowing lines in a court poet:
And William Dunbar, the chief of the old Scotiſh poets, begins a copy of verſes to the King thus,
I imagine, however, they are all the compoſures of one hand; and, if I may uſe a conjecture, were written immediately after the viſions of Pierce Plowman, every Engliſh poem of note in thoſe days being ſoon ſucceeded by an imitation in Scotland.
[xxxi]III. But the greateſt aſſiſtance that could be found to the tradition of poetry was derived from the invention of rime; which is far more ancient than is commonly believed. One of the moſt learned men this age has produced *, has ſhewn that it is common in Scripture. All the Pſalms conſiſt of riming verſes, and many other paſſages which he names. They were uſed among the Greeks ſo early as the time of Gorgias the Sicilian, who taught the Athenians this practice. And though the ſpirit of the Greek and Latin languages did not always admit of them in poetry, yet they were uſed as occaſional beauties by their moſt celebrated writers. Homer, Heſiod, and Virgil, have a few, though ap⯑parently more from chance than deſign. The ancient Saturnine verſes were all rimes, as an old commentator † informs us. And it is more than probable they were ſo conſtructed merely that the memory might the more eaſily preſerve them, their licence forbidding their being committed to writing. Thoſe who would wiſh to know more particularly the univerſality of this mode of verſifying among the other ancient nations, may conſult the Huetiana of the moſt learned and reſpect⯑able Biſhop of Avranches ‡. The Eaſtern poetry con⯑ſiſts altogether, if I miſtake not, of riming lines, as may be obſerved in the ſpecimens of Hafiz their moſt [xxxii]illuſtrious writer, lately publiſhed *. It appears, how⯑ever, that alliteration ſupplied the place of rime with the Northern nations till within a recent period †. Oſſian's poetry, I ſuppoſe, is in ſtanzas ſomething like our ballad meaſure; though it were to be wiſhed the tranſlator had favoured us with ſome information on this head evidenced by ſpecimens of the original. He indeed acquaints us that ‘Each verſe was ſo con⯑nected with thoſe which preceded, or followed it, that if one line had been remembered in a ſtanza, it was almoſt impoſſible to forget the reſt ‡:’ but this ſtands greatly in need of explanation.
The common ballad ſtanza is ſo ſimple, that it has been uſed by moſt nations as the firſt mode of con⯑ſtructing rimes. The Spaniſh romanzes bear a great reſemblance in this, as in other reſpects, to the Scotiſh Ballads. In both, every alternate line ends with ſimilar vowels, though the conſonants are not ſo ſtrictly at⯑tended to. As for inſtance, in the former we have bana, eſpada; mala, palabra; vega, cueva; rompan, vol⯑canos; for rimes: and in the later, m [...]dale, girdle; keep, bleed; Buleighan, tak him; &c. The Engliſh, even in the ruder pieces of their firſt minſtrels, ſeem to have [xxxiii]paid more attention to the correſpondence of their con⯑ſonants, as may be obſerved in the curious Collection publiſhed by Dr. Percy.
As the ſimplicity of this ſtanza rendered it eaſy to the compoſer, and likewiſe more natural to expreſs the paſſions, ſo it added to the facility of recollection. It's tone is ſedate and ſlow. The rimes occur ſeldom, and at equal diſtances: though when a more violent paſſion is to be painted, by doubling the rimes, they at once expreſſed the mind better, and diverſified the harmony. Of this the reader will obſerve many inſtances in this collection, as, Here maun I lie, here maun I die: Like beacon bricht at deid of nicht: Na river heir, my dame, [...] deir: &c. and, to give a very ſolemn movement to the cadence, they ſometimes tripled the rime, an inſtance of which may be obſerved in the firſt ſtanza of Child Maurice.
When all the circumſtances here hinted at are conſi⯑dered, we ſhall be leſs apt to wonder, that, by the concurrence of muſical air, retentive arts in the com⯑poſition, and chiefly of rime, the moſt noble produc⯑tions of former periods have been preſerved in the me⯑mory of a ſucceſſion of admirers, and have had the good fortune to arrive at our times pure and uncor⯑rupted.
DISSERTATION II. ON THE TRAGIC BALLAD.
[xxxiv]THAT ſpecies of poetry which we denominate Ballad, is peculiar to a barbarous period. In an advanced ſtate of arts, the Comic Ballad aſſumes the form of the Song or Sonnet, and the Tragic or Heroic Ballad that of the higher Ode.
The cauſe of our pleaſure in ſeeing a mournful event repreſented, or hearing it deſcribed, has been attempted to be explained by many critics *. It ſeems to ariſe from the mingled paſſions of Admiration of the art of the author, Curioſity to attend the termination, De⯑light ariſing from a reflection on our own ſecurity, and the Sympathetic Spirit.
[xxxv]In giving this pleaſure, perhaps the Tragic Ballad yields to no effort of human genius. When we peruſe a poliſhed Tragedy or Ode, we admire the art of the author, and are led to praiſe the invention; but when we read an unartful deſcription of a melancholy event, our paſſions are more intenſely moved. The laboured productions of the informed compoſer reſemble a Greek or Roman temple; when we enter it, we admire the art of the builder. The rude effuſions of the Gothic Muſe are like the monuments of their Architecture. We are filled with a religious reverence, and, forgetting our praiſe of the contriver, adore the preſent deity.
I believe no Tragic Ballad of renowned Antiquity has reached our times, if we deny the beautiful and pathetic CARMEN DE ATY in Catullus a title to this claſs; which, as a modern critic of note has obſerved *, ſeems a tranſlation from ſome Greek Dithyrambic †, far more ancient than the times of that poet. His tranſlation of Sappho's Ode might ſhew that he took a delight in the ancient Greek compoſitions, from which indeed he ſeems to have derived in a great meaſure his peculiarly delicate vein.
[xxxvi]But it was with the nations in a ſtate of barbarity that this effuſion of the heart flouriſhed as in it's pro⯑per ſoil; their ſocieties, rude and irregular, were full of viciſſitudes, and every hour ſubject to the moſt dreadful accidents. The Miniſtrels, who only knew, and were inſpired by the preſent manners, caught the tale of mortality, and recorded it for the inſtruction and en⯑tertainment of others. It pleaſed by moving the paſ⯑ſions, and, at the ſame time, afforded caution to their auditors to guard againſt ſimilar miſ-adventures.
It is amuſing to obſerve how expreſſive the poetry of every country is of its real manners. That of the Northern nations is ferocious to the higheſt degree. Nor need we wonder that thoſe, whoſe laws obliged them to decide the moſt trifling debate with the ſword *, delighted in a vein of poetry, which only painted deeds of blood, and objects horrible to the imagination. The ballad poetry of the Spaniards is tinged with the romantic gallantry of the nation. The hero is all complaiſance; and takes off his helmet in the heat of combat, when he thinks on his miſtreſs. That of the Engliſh is generous and brave. In their moſt noble ballad, Percy laments over the death of his [xxxvii]mortal foe. That of the Scots is perhaps, like the face of their country, more various than the reſt. We find in it the bravery of the Engliſh, the gallantry of the Spaniſh, and I am afraid in ſome inſtances the ferocity of the Northern.
A late writer * has remarked, that, ‘the Scottiſh tunes, whether melancholy or gay, whether amorous, martial, or paſtoral, are in a ſtyle highly original, and moſt feelingly expreſſive of all the paſſions from the ſweeteſt to the moſt terrible.’ He proceeds, ‘Who was it that threw out thoſe dreadful wild ex⯑preſſions of diſtraction and melancholy in Lady Cul⯑roſs's Dream? an old compoſition, now I am afraid loſt, perhaps becauſe it was almoſt too terrible for the ear.’
This compoſition is neither loſt, nor is it too terri⯑ble for the ear. On the contrary, a child might hear it repeated in a winter night without the ſmalleſt emo⯑tion. A copy † of it now lies before me, and as ſome [xxxviii]curioſity may have been raiſed by the above remark, I ſhall here give an account of it. The dreadful and melancholy of this production are ſolely of the religious kind, and may have been deeply affecting to the enthu⯑ſiaſtic at the period in which it was written: It begins thus;
[xxxix]Her Saviour is then ſuppoſed to appear in a dream, and lead her through many hair-breadth ſcapes into Heaven:
The moſt terrible paſſage to a ſuperſtitious ear, is that in which ſhe ſuppoſes herſelf ſuſpended over the Gulph of Perdition:
[xl]At length ſhe arrives in view of the Heavenly man⯑ſions in a ſtanza, which, to alter a little her own ex⯑preſſion, 'Gliſters with tinſel.'
And the whole concludes with an exhortation to a pious life.
But what has the Chriſtian religion to do with poetry? In the true poetic terrible, I believe, ſome paſſages in Hardyknute yield to no attempt of a ſtrong and dark fancy. The Ballad ſtyled Edward may, I fear, be ra⯑ther adduced as an evidence that this diſpleaſes, when it riſes to a degree of the horrible, which that ſingular piece certainly partakes of.
The Pathetic is the other principal walk of the Tragic Muſe: and in this the Scotiſh Ballads yield to no compoſitions whatever. What can be imagined more moving than the cataſtrophes of Oſſian's Dar⯑thula, the moſt pathetic of all poems? or of Hardyk⯑nute, [xli]Child Maurice, and indeed moſt of the pieces now collected? Were ever the feelings of a fond mother expreſſed in a language equal in ſimplicity and pathos to that of lady Bothwell?—This leads me to remark, that the dialect in which the Scotiſh Ballads are written gives them a great advantage in point of touching the paſſions. Their language is rough and unpoliſhed, and ſeems to flow immediately from the heart *. We meet with no concettos or far-fetched thoughts in them. They poſſeſs the pathetic power in the higheſt degree, becauſe they do not affect it; and are ſtriking, becauſe they do not meditate to ſtrike.
Moſt of the compoſitions now offered to the public, have already received approbation. The mutilated Fragment of Hardyknute formerly in print, was ad⯑mired and celebrated by the beſt critics. As it is now, I am inclined to think, given in it's original perfection, it is certainly the moſt noble production in this ſtyle that ever appeared in the world. The manners and characters are ſtrongly marked, and well preſerved; the incidents deeply intereſting; and the cataſtrophe new and affecting. I am indebted for moſt of the ſtanzas, now recovered, to the memory of a lady in Lanarkſhire.
[xlii]A modern lyric poet of the firſt claſs * has pro⯑nounced Child Maurice a Divine Ballad. ‘Ariſtotle's beſt rules,’ ſays he, ‘are obſerved in it in a man⯑ner that ſhews the author had never read Ariſtotle.’ Indeed if any one will peruſe Ariſtotle's Art of Poetry with Dacier's Elucidations, and afterwards compare their moſt approved rules with this ſimple Ballad, he will find that they are better illuſtrated by this rude effort of the Gothic Muſe, than by the moſt exquiſite Tragedy of ancient or modern times. The Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, the Athalie of Racine, the Merope of Maffei, and even the very excellent Drama, which ſeems immediately founded on it, not excepted; there being many delicate ſtrokes in this original, which the plot adopted by that author forbade his making proper uſe of. This does honour at once to the un⯑known compoſer of this Ballad, and to the firſt of cri⯑tics. In the former the reader will admire a genius, that, probably untracked by erudition, could produce a ſtory correſponding to the intricate though natural rules of the Greek author. To the latter will be readily confirmed the applauſe of an ancient †, that, he was the ſecretary of Nature, and his pen was ever dipped in good ſenſe.
[xliii]Theſe, and the other monuments of ancient Scotiſh Poetry, which have already appeared, are in this edi⯑tion given much more correct; and a few are now firſt publiſhed from tradition. The Editor imagined they poſſeſſed ſome ſmall beauties, elſe they would not have been added to this Selection. Their ſeeming antiquity was only regarded as it enhanced their real graces.
MDCCLXXVI * Theſe Diſſertations, &c. were written of this date, but ſlight additions have been made to them from time to time; as the reader will obſerve from references to books publiſhed ſince that period..
HAVING in the Firſt of the foregoing Diſſertations mentioned with applauſe the Spaniſh Ballads, or Romanzes, contained in the HISTORIA DE LAS GUERRAS CIVILES DE GRANADA, and that book being ſeldom to be met with, and written in a language of no wide ſtudy, the Editor has been induced to give a few tranſlations from that work; the two which Dr. Percy has publiſhed having rather excited than gra⯑tified curioſity.
Before producing theſe tranſlations, it may be pro⯑per to give ſome ſhort account of the work whence they are taken. The Hiſtory of the Civil Wars of Granada is a well-written narration of thoſe diſſentions which tore that kingdom in pieces, for ſome years be⯑fore the period that Ferdinand and Iſabella, king and queen of Chriſtian Spain, conquered it, down to the time of conqueſt. The chief ſources of thoſe diſſen⯑tions were the two great Vandos, or factions, of the Zegris and the Abencerrages; whoſe exploits and ad⯑ventures, with thoſe of their adherents, are here diſ⯑played with a minute detail that ſavours very ſtrongly of romance, though the great outlines of the work are evidently founded on hiſtorical truth; which, if the [xlvi]reader pleaſes, is indeed only another name for a cer⯑tain ſpecies of romance.
This Hiſtory, as we learn from the work itſelf to⯑wards the cloſe, is a tranſlation from the Arabic of an anonymous Moor, who fled to Africa with many of his countrymen, when Granada was yielded to the arms of Ferdinand. His grandſon, by name Argutaafa, found this work among his grandfather's papers, and preſented it to a Jew, called Rabbi Santo, who tranſlated it into He⯑brew; and gave the Arabic Original to Don Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, Conde de Baylen. That lord being intereſted by it, as his anceſtors had been concerned in the wars there related, ordered the Jew to tranſlate it into Caſtillan Spaniſh; and afterwards gave the tranſlation to the Spaniſh editor, whoſe name from the firſt edition, Barcelona printed by Seb. Matevad, 1610, appears to be Ginez Perez.
On almoſt every occaſion the author produces ſome romanze, as the voucher of his incidents, tranſlations of a few of which ſhall now be produced. It muſt, however, be premiſed, that the firſt tranſlation is merely meant to convey to the reader an idea of the verſe in which moſt of the originals are written; for which purpoſe one of the feebleſt was choſen, as, had ſtrength of thought or incident been attempted in this way, the ſpirit would have totally evaporated in the midſt of attention to the double rimes, of which the Engliſh language is remarkably penurious.
ROMANZE I.
[xlvii]ROMANZE II.
[1]ROMANZE III.
[liv]ROMANZE IV *.
[lxi][1]HARDYKNUTE. AN HEROIC BALLAD.
[]PART I.
PART II.
[16]II. CHILD MAURICE▪
[34]III. ADAM O GORDON.
[44]IV. The CHILD of ELLE.
[52]V. GILDEROY.
[62]VI.
[67]VII. THE CRUEL KNIGHT.
[69]VIII. YOUNG WATERS.
[72]IX. SIR HUGH; OR, THE JEW's DAUGHTER.
[75]X. FLODDEN FIELD; OR, THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST.
[78]XI. EDWARD.
[80]XII. SIR PATRICK SPENCE.
[83]XIII. LADY BOTHWELL's LAMENT.
[86]XIV. THE EARL OF MURRAY.
[88]XV. SIR JAMES THE ROSE.
[90]XVI. THE LAIRD OF WOODHOUSELIE.
[94]From TRADITION.
XVII. LORD LIVINGSTON. From TRADITION.
[98]XVIII. BINNORIE.
[701]From TRADITION.
To preſerve the tone as well as the ſenſe of this Ballad, the burden ſhould be repeated through the whole, though it is here omitted for the ſake of conciſemeſs.
XIX. THE DEATH OF MENTEITH.
[105]From TRADITION.
XX. LORD AIRTH's COMPLAINT.
[107]From a MANUSCRIPT.
XXI.
[109]From TRADITION.
FRAGMENTS.
[iii]Appendix A NOTES.
[115]Appendix A.1 HARDYKNUTE.
Appendix A.1.1 PART I.
HARDYKNUTE.] This name is of Daniſh extract, and ſignifies Canute the ſtrong. Hardy in the original implies ſtrong, not valiant; and though uſed in the latter ſenſe by the Engliſh, yet the Scots ſtill take it in its firſt acceptation. ‘The names in Cunningham,’ ſays Sir David Dalrymple, ‘are all Saxon, as is the name of the country itſelf.’ An⯑nals of Scotland, an. 1160, note. The Daniſh and Saxon are both derived from the old Gothic, and were ſo ſimilar, that a perſon of the one nation might underſtand one of the other ſpeaking in his proper tongue. From the names and whole tenor of [116]this poem, I am inclined to think the chief ſcene is laid in Cunninghamſhire; where likewiſe the battle of Largs, ſuppoſed to be that ſo nobly deſcribed in the firſt part, was fought.
Ver. 5. Britons.] This was the common name which the Scots gave the Engliſh anciently, as may be obſerved in their old poets; and particularly Blind Harry, whoſe teſtimony indeed can only be relied on, as to the common language and manners of his time; his Life of Wallace being a tiſſue of the moſt abſurd fa⯑bles ever mingled.
V. 9. Hie on a bill, &c.] This neceſſary caution in thoſe times, when ſtrength was the only protection from violence, is well painted by a contemporary French bard:
V. 12. Knicht.] Theſe knights were only military officers attending the earls, barons, &c. as appears from the hiſtories of the middle ages. See Selden, Tit. Hon. P. II. c. 5. The name is of Saxon origin, and of remote antiquity, as is proved by the following fragment of a poem on the Spaniſh expedition of Charles the Great, written at that period: [117]
The oath which the ancient knights of Scotland gave at their inveſtiture is preſerved in a letter of Drummond of Hawthornden to Ben Jonſon, and is as follows:
I ſhall fortifie and defend the true holy Catholique and Chriſtian Religion, preſently profeſſed, at all my power.
I ſhall be loyal and true to my Sovereign Lord the King his Majeſty; and do honour and reverence to all orders of che⯑valrie, and to the uoble office of arms.
I ſhall fortifie and defend juſtice to the uttermoſt of my power, but feid or favour.
I ſhall never flie from the King's Majeſty my Lord and Maſter, or his lieutenant, in time of battel or medly with diſhonour.
[118] I ſhall defend my native country from all aliens and ſtrangers at all my power.
I ſhall maintain and defend the honeſt adoes and quarrels of all ladies of honour, widows, orphans, and maids of good fame.
I ſhall do diligence, wherever I hear tell there are any traitors, murtherers, rievers, and maſterful theeves and out⯑laws, that ſuppreſs the poor, to bring them to the law at all my power.
I ſhall maintain aed defend the noble and gallant ſtate of chevalrie with horſes, harneſes, and other knichtly apparel to my power.
I ſhall be diligent to enquire, and ſeek to have the know⯑ledge of all points and articles, touching or concerning my duty, contained in the book of chevalry.
All and ſundry the premiſes I oblige me to keep and fulfill. So help me God by my own hand, and by God himſelf.
A curious account of the riſe and progreſs of knight⯑hood, and its influence on ſociety, may be found in a learned and ingenious work lately publiſhed by Dr. Stuart, intitled, A view of Society in Europe, or Enquiries concerning the Hiſtory of Law, Government, and Manners.
V. 16. Emergard.] In the common copies it is Elenor, and indeed in all the recitals I have heard; but in a late edition publiſhed with other Scotiſh ſongs at Edinburgh, 1776, it is rightly read as here. Emergard, or Ermengarde, was daughter of the Viſcount of Beau⯑mont, [119]and wife of William the Lyon. She died in 1233 As the name was uncommon, and of difficult pronun⯑ciation, the rehearſers ſeem to have altered it to Elenor, which has none of theſe defects.
The battle of Largs, ſuppoſed to be that meant in this poem, was fought on the firſt of Auguſt 1263, ſo that queen Emergard was dead thirty years before; yet this can amount to no error in chronology, as the verſes evidently imply that the lady of Hardyknute had no equal in the kingdom for beauty ſave the queen in the prime of the youth and beauty of both, which might well be forty years, or more, before the period of action in the poem.
V. 25. Fairly.] This name ſeems likewiſe of Saxon origin. There is a ſmall iſland and a rivulet in Cun⯑ningham ſtill called Fairly iſle and Fairly Burn.
V. 43. Twenty thouſand glittering ſpeirs, &c.] This agrees with Buchanan's account, Acho—viginti millia militum expoſuit. lib. 7. Torfaeus aſſerts this number of the Norwegians was left dead on the field; but upon what authority I know not, as the ancient relations of the battle of Largs ſupport not his teſtimony. See Johnſtone's Tranſlation of Haco's Expedition to Scotland in the year 1263, from the Plateyan and Friſian MSS. printed at Copenhagen 1782.
V. 49. Page] The Pages in the periods of chi⯑valry were of honourable account. The young war⯑riers [120]were firſt denominated pages, then valets, or damei⯑ſeaux, from which degree they reached that of ecuyer, or ſquire, and from this that of knight. See Du Cange, voc. Valeti, & Domicellus. St. Palaye, Mem. ſur l'anc. Cheval. P. I.
V. 61. He has tane a horn; &c.] The horn, or bugil, was anciently uſed by the Scots inſtead of the trumpet. They were ſometimes richly ornamented, as appears from Lindſay's deſcription of that of Sir Robert Coch⯑ran. ‘The horn he wore was adorned with jewels and precious ſtones, and tipped with fine gold at both ends. Hiſt. of Scotland, J. III.’
V. 88. Weſtmoreland's ferce heir.] Heir, in the old Scotiſh acceptation, ſeems derived from the Latin he⯑rus, and ſignifies not apparent ſucceſſor, but preſent lord. As in the following lines of Blind Harry:
And in this of Dunbar, ‘Befoir Mahoun the heir of hell.’
V. 107—112.] This minute deſcription might lead us to ſuſpect, that a female hand had ſome part in this compoſition. But, before our minſtrel, Homer has ſhewn [121]himſelf an adept in the lady's dreſs. To the curious remarks on the variation of the Britiſh habit, given us by Mr. Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, and Mr. Granger, in his Biographical Hiſtory, might be added the follow⯑ing notice from a reverend miniſter of the church of Scotland. ‘About 1698 the women got a cuſtome of wearing few garments: I myſelfe have ſeen the young briſk ladies walking on the ſtreets with maſks on their faces, and with one onlie thin petticoat and their ſmoak; ſo thin that one would make a conſcience of ſweiring they were not naked.’ Miſcellanies, by Mr. John Bell, miniſter at Gladſmuir, MS. pen. Edit. title Apparel.
V. 112. Save that of Fairly fair.] Working at the needle, &c. was reckoned an honourable employment by the greateſt ladies of thoſe times. Margaret, the queen of Malcolm III. as we learn from her life written by Turgot her confeſſor, employed the leiſure hours of her ladies in this manner. See Lord Hales' Annals of Scotland, an. 1093.
V. 121. Sir Knicht.] ‘The addition Sir to the names of knights was in uſe before the age of Ed⯑ward I. and is from Sire, which in old French ſignifies Seignieur or Lord. Though applicable to all knights it ſerved properly to diſtinguiſh thoſe of the order who were not barons. Dr. Stuart, View of Society, &c. Notes on ſect. 4. chap. ii. p. 269.’
[122]V. 123—128. The cuſtom of the ladies tending the wounded knights was common in thoſe romantic ages. Lydgate, whoſe ſtory is ancient, but whoſe man⯑ners are thoſe of his own times, has an inſtance in The Story of Thebes, part ii. Speaking of the daughter of Ly⯑curgus and Tideus;
And in an excellent piece of old Engliſh poetry, ſtyled Sir Cauline, publiſhed by Dr. Percy in the firſt volume of his Reliques, when the king is informed that knight is ſick, he ſays,
[123]V. 145—152.] This ſtanza is now firſt printed. It is ſurpriſing it's omiſſion was not marked in the frag⯑ment formerly publiſhed, as without it the circum⯑ſtance of the knight's complaint is altogether foreign and vague. The loſs was attempted to be gloſſed over by many variations of the preceding four lines, but the defect was palpable to the moſt inattentive peruſer.
V. 154. Lord Chattan.] This is a very ancient and honourable Scottiſh ſurname. Some genealogiſts derive them from the Chatti, an ancient German tribe; but others, with more probability, from the Gilchattan of Ireland. St. Chattan was one of the firſt Scotiſh confeſſors, to whom was dedicated the priory of Ard⯑chattan in Lorn, founded in 1230, and ſome others through the kingdom. The chief of the clan Chattan dying in the reign of David I. without male iſſue, the clan aſſumed the anceſtor of the M'Pherſons for ſu⯑perior, by which means the name appears to have been loſt in that of M'Pherſon. See Buchanan's Brief Enquiry into the Genealogy and Preſent State of Ancient Scottiſh Surnames. Glaſgow, 1723, 4 to, p. 67.
We however find the Clan Chattan mentioned as late as 1590 in The Hiſtory of the Feuds and Conflicts of the Clans, publiſhed from a MS. of the reign of James VI. Glaſgow, 1764; where a Macintoſh is called their chief.
[124]V. 159.] Though we learn from Buchanan's Equiry, &c. that the clan Chattan are ſaid to have come into Scotland long before the expulſion of the Picts, yet I do not find this pretty anecdote, which is much in the ſpirit of Homer, has any foundation in hiſtory. The empire of the Picts was demoliſhed by Kenneth about four centuries before the apparent date of the events narrated in this poem.
V. 169. Mak oriſons, &c.] This is perfectly in the ſtyle of knighthood. Before they entered into com⯑bat they ſolemly invoked the aid of God, their Saviour, or their miſtreſs: religion and gallantry being the prime motives of all their adventures. Les premieres leçons qu'on leur donnoit regardoient principalement l'amour de Dieu et des dames, c'eſt à dire la religion et la galanterie. St. Palaye, tome i. p. 7. The poets of theſe times be⯑gan, in like manner, the deſcription of a ſavage con⯑flict, or of their lady's graces, with religious invocation. Many examples of which appear in the Hiſtoire des Trou⯑badours of L'Abbé Milot, and the Specimens of Welſh Poetry publiſhed by Mr. Evans. So blind is the untu⯑tored mind to the proper diſcrimination of it's ideas!
V. 179. Playand Pibrochs.] Of the pibroch I can⯑not give a better account than in the words of an ex⯑cellent author. ‘A pibroch is a ſpecies of tune pe⯑culiar, I think, to the Highlands and Weſtern Iſles of Scotland. It is performed on a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other muſic. Its rythm is ſo irregu⯑lar, [125]and its notes, eſpecially in the quick movement, ſo mixed and huddled together, that a ſtranger finds it almoſt impoſſible to reconcile his ear to it, ſo as to perceive its modulation. Some of theſe pibrochs, being intended to repreſent a battle, begin with a grave mo⯑tion reſembling a march, then gradually quicken into the onſet; run off with noiſy confuſion, and turbu⯑lent rapidity, to imitate the conflict and purſuit; then ſwell into a few flouriſhes of triumphant joy; and perhaps cloſe with the wild and ſlow wailings of a funeral proceſſion. Eſſays by Dr. Beattie, 8vo. ed. p. 422. note.’
V. 188. Eir faes their dint mote drie.] This is ſubſti⯑tuted in place of a line of conſummate nonſenſe, which has ſtained all the former editions. Many ſuch are cor⯑rected in this impreſſion from comparing different re⯑hearſals, and ſtill more from conjecture. When an ig⯑norant perſon is deſired to repeat a ballad, and is at a loſs for the original expreſſion, he naturally ſupplies it with whatever abſurdity firſt occurs to him, that will form a rime. Theſe the Editor made not the ſmalleſt ſcruple to correct, as he always imagined that common ſenſe might have its uſe even in emendatory criticiſm.
V. 203. But on his forehead, &c.] The circumſtances in this deſcription ſeem borrowed from thoſe of different battles betwixt the Kings of Scotland and Norway. I find in no hiſtorian that Alexander was wounded in the battle of Largs; on the contrary, it is even doubted [126]whether he was preſent; but in that near Nairn Mal⯑colm II. was wounded on the head. Rex, accepto in capite vulnere, vix a ſuis in propinquum nemus ablatus, ac ibi equo pofitus, mortem evaſit. Buchan. lib. VI.
V. 223. Hire dames to wail your darling's fall.] This cuſtom of employing women to mourn for the warriors who fell in battle, may be traced to the moſt diſtant antiquity. Lucilius, one of the earlieſt Roman poets, in a couplet preſerved by Nonius, mentions this prac⯑tice;
Among the Northern nations it partook of their bar⯑barity. ‘Inter eas autem ceremonias a barbara gente acceptas fuiſſe et has, ut genas roderunt mulierculae, hoc eſt unguibus faciem dilaniarent et leſſum facerent, id eſt ſanguinem e venis mitterent, doloris teſtandi ergo; id quod Germani patria voce dicunt, Ein laſſu thun oder baben. Elias Schedius de Diis Germ. Syng. II. c. 51.’ A ſimilar mode of teſtifying their grief for the death of their chiefs, ſtill obtains in the Highlands, as we are informed by Mr. Pennant in his amuſing Tour in Scotland.
V. 225. Coſtly Jupe.] This was the Sagum, or mili⯑tary veſt of the Gauls and Germans. Dr. Stuart has with curious ingenuity derived the ſcience of Blazonry from the ornaments which were in time added to them. Ubi ſupra, p. 286, 287.
[127]Virgil has a paſſage remarkably ſimilar to this, in deſcribing the habit of the Gauls, I think in Aeneid VIII.
V. 229. Beir Norſe that gift, &c.] This has been generally miſunderſtood: the meaning is, Bear that gift to the King of Norway, and bid, &c.
V. 239. 245.] Theſe vaunts are much in Homer's manner, and are finely characteriſtic. The obſcure metaphor which conveys them illuſtrates a beautiful re⯑mark of an ancient critic, That allegory has a ſublime effect when applied to threatning. [...]. Demet. Phal. de Eloc. c. 99.
V. 265. Whar lyke a fyre to hether ſet.] This appoſite ſimile alludes to an ancient practice of the Scots, termed Mure burning. The progreſs of the flame was ſo quick, that many laws appear in their Acts of Parliament, pro⯑hibiting its being uſed when any corn was ſtanding on ground adjacent to the heath intended to be burnt, though at a conſiderable diſtance from the ſpot where the flame was kindled.
V. 285. Sore taken he was, fey!] Fey here ſignifies only indeed, in fay, or, in faith: it is commonly uſed by the old Scotiſh poets in a ſarcaſtic or ironical ſenſe.
[128]V. 305. On Norway's coaſt, &c.] Theſe verſes are in the fineſt ſtyle of Ballad poetry. They have been well imitated by a modern writer, who ſeems indebted, for the beſt ſtrokes of his firſt production, to a taſte for ſuch compoſitions:
I cannot conclude my obſervations upon the deſcrip⯑tion here given of the battle, without adding, that though perhaps not the moſt ſublime, it is the moſt animated and intereſting to be found in any poet. It yields not to any in Oſſian for lively painting, nor to any in Homer for thoſe little anecdotes and ſtrokes of nature, which are ſo deſervedly admired in that maſ⯑ter. 'Poetry and Rhetoric,' ſays the author of an En⯑quiry into the origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, ‘do not ſucceed in exact deſcription ſo well as Painting does; their buſineſs is to affect rather by ſympathy than imitation; to diſplay rather the effect of things on the mind of the ſpeaker, or of others, than to preſent a clear idea of the things themſelves. This is their moſt extenſive province, and that in which they ſucceed the beſt.’ Will he forgive me if I offer this rude Scotiſh Poem as an example ſufficiently illuſtrative of this fine remark?
[129]V. 321. Loud and chill blew the Weſtlin wind, &c.] This ſtorm is artfully raiſed by the magic of Poetry to heighten the terrible, which is ſoon carried to a degree not ſurpaſſed in any production ancient or modern. It will recall to the reader the like artifice employed in the moſt ſublime paſſage of Taſſo's Gieruſalemme, end of Canto 7.; and of Homer's Iliad, VIII. ver. 161. of Mr. Pope's Tranſlation.
V. 327. Seimd now as black as moruning weid.] It was anciently the cuſtom on any mournful event to hang the caſtle gates with black cloth. This is alluded to here, and more particularly mentioned in an excellent modern Ballad, entitled The Birth of St. George, which diſplays no mean knowledge of the manners of chivalry:
Appendix A.1.2 HARDYKNUTE. Part II.
[130]I HAVE given the ſtanzas now added the title of a Second Part, though I had no authority from the recital. The break formerly made here by accident ſeemed to call for this pauſe to the reader.
V. 115. Penants.] Theſe were ſmall banners charged with the arms of the owner, and ſometimes borne over the helm of the ancient knight by his ſquire, and, as would ſeem, even that of the prince, Earl, or Chief Baron, by his Baneret. See ver. 331. The Engliſh word is penon:
Says Chaucer ſpeaking of Theſeus in The Knight's Tale.
V. 252. Draffan's touirs.] The ruins of Draffan⯑caſtle are in Lanarkſhire.—They ſtand upon a vaſt rock hanging over the Nethan (ſee v. 329.) which a little below runs into the Clyde. From this a houſe ſituated very nigh the ruins is called Craignethan. This caſtle is ſo ancient, that the country people there ſay it was built by the Pechts, which is their common way of expreſſing the Picts.
[131]V. 273. His halbrik.] This term for a coat of mail occurs in Blind Harry. It was properly uſed for one compoſed of ſmall rings of ſteel which yielded to every motion of the warrior, and was the ſame with the lorica hamata of the Romans, ſo pictureſquely deſcribed by Claudian:
V. 275. Securit by a warloc auld, &c.] The belief that certain charms might ſecure the poſſeſſor from danger in combat was common in dark ages. ‘I know a ſong, by which I ſoften and enchant the arms of my enemies, and render their weapons of no affect,’ ſays Odin in his Magic. Northern Antiq. Vol. II. p. 217. Among the Longobards they were forbidden by a poſi⯑tive Law. ‘Nullus Campio adverſus alterum pugna⯑turus audeat ſuper ſe habere herbas nec res ad maleficia pertinentes, niſi tantum corona ſua, quae conveniunt. Et ſi ſuſpicio fuerit quod eas occulte habeat, inquira⯑tur per Judicem, et ſi inventae fuerunt, rejiciantur. Poſt quam inquiſitionem, extendet manum ſuam ipſe in manu Patrini aut Colliberti ſui, ante judicem, dicens, ſe nullam rem talem ſuper ſe habere, deinde ad certamen prodeat LL. Longob. apud L. Germ. J. Baſil. Herold.’ A ſimilar notion obtained even in England, [132]as appears from the oath taken in the Judicial Combat. ‘A. de B. ye ſhall ſwere that ye have no ſtone of virtue, nor hearb of virtue, nor charme, nor experiment, nor none othir enchauntment by you nor for you, whereby ye truſt the better to overcome C. de D. your adverſarie, that ſhall come agens you within theſe liſts in his defence, nor that ye truſt in none othir thynge propirly bot in God, and your body, and your brave quarel. So God you help and all halowes, and the holy goſpells. Apud Dugdale, Orig. Juridic. & Miſcell. Aulica, Lond. 1702. p. 166.’ And we find in a moſt acute and ingenious treatiſe on the point of honour, written in the middle of the ſixteenth century, that this precaution was eſteemed neceſſary ſo late as that period. Il Duello del Mutio Juſ⯑tinopolitano, In Vineg. 1566. lib. II. c. 9. De i maleficii [...]t incante. ‘Et non ſenza ragione i moderni Padrini fanno ſpogliare i cavallieri, che hanno da entrare in battaglia, et iſcuotere, et diligentemente eſſaminare i loro panni, &c.’ Many inſtances occur in the ac⯑counts of the civil wars of France, and of the Nether⯑lands: and more particularly in the very curious ſtory of Gowrie's Conſpiracy, publiſhed by James VI. at Edin⯑burgh, 1600, 4to. ‘His Majeſty having before his parting out of that towne, cauſed to ſearch the ſayde Earle of Gowries pockets, in caſe any letters that might further the diſcovery of that conſpiracie might be founde therein. But nothing was found in them, but a little cloſe parchment bag full of magical [133]characters, and wordes of enchantment, wherein it ſeemed that hee had put his confidence, thinking him⯑ſelf never ſafe without them, and therefore ever car⯑ried them about with him; being alſo obſerved, that while they were upon him, his wound, whereof he died, bled not; but incontinent, after the taking of them away, the blood guſhed out in great abundance, to the great admiration of all the beholders.’ See likewiſe Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, by David Moyſes, Edin. 1755. where this piece is reprinted ver⯑batim. Maiſter William Rynd, a ſervant of Lord Gowrie's, depoſition in the ſame volume, p. 297, has ſingular anecdotes with regard to theſe characters.
V. 276. Fairy charm.] The word fairy ſeemes to have been accepted by the ancient Engliſh and Scotiſh poets for ſupernatural, or enchanted. So Chaucer ſpeaking of Cambuſcan's horſe, ‘It was of fairie, as the peple ſemed. Squires Tale, p. 1.’
V. 362.] It was the priviledge of the knights to hide their faces with armour, ſo that it was impoſſible to diſtinguiſh any one from another, except by his blazon, which ſeems at firſt to have been diſplayed over them, but came at length to be painted on their ſhields, whence Coats of Arms. A villein was obliged to have his countenance uncovered in battle. This circumſtance attended to will ſave our wonder at Hardyknute's not [134]knowing Draffan in the Firſt Part, and Draffan's not perceiving Malcolm here till his ſpear tore off his viſor: though Rothiay knows Draffan either from his wearing a blazon on his armour, or from his face being uncovered in order to breathe from the combat.
V. 389. Cheir ye my mirrie men, &c.] It ſhould have been remarked on the firſt appearance of this word, P. I. v. 199, that mirrie was anciently uſed in a very different ſenſe from its preſent. It ſignified honeſt, true, faithful, but no where jovial. King James VI. in his Daemonologie MS. pen. Edit. ‘Surelie the difference vul⯑gaire put betwixt thame is verrie mirrie, and in a man⯑ner trew. p. 10.’ And again in p. 18. ‘Many honeſt and mirrie men.’ In like manner Merlin's Prophecies are ſtyled 'Mirrie words,' in that of Beid. Proph. of Rymer, &c.
V. 413. Oh King of Hevin!] This is a common ap⯑pellation of the Deity with the more ancient Scottiſh Poets. By Hevins King, is the familiar oath of Blind Harrie's heroes.
V. 419. By my Forbere's ſaul.] Swearing by the ſouls of their anceſtors was another uſed mode in thoſe times. The greateſt thought this oath moſt ſtrong and honour⯑able; probably becauſe it implied the ſouls of their forefathers were in heaven, and, as was then believed, might lend them a ſupernatural aid, if the intention of their oath was juſt and unblameable.
V. 421. 'Now mind your aith,' &c.] This paſſage is obſcure: the meaning I apprehend is, that Draffan [135]had, before the combat, exacted an oath of Allan his baneret, that he would ſlay him, ſhould the neceſſity of his affairs demand this ſacrifice. More willing to loſe his own life than poſſibly to take that of his great anta⯑goniſt, he commands Allan to fulfil his engagement, which, with all the heroic faith of thoſe times, he does without a pauſe. The particular expreſſion ‘The ſhynand blade’ might lead us to imagine, that it was thought impoſſible to pierce the ſuppoſed enchanted armour, but with one particular weapon, likeways perhaps charmed.
V. 437. Icolm.] The Nunnery at Icolm, or Icolm⯑kill, was one of the moſt noted in Scotland. The Nuns were of the order of Auguſtine, and wore a white gown, and above it a rocket of fine linen. Spotiſwood's Account of the Religious Houſes in Scotland, p. 509. The ruins of this nunnery are ſtill to be ſeen, with many tombs of the Princeſſes; one of which bears the year 1000. Martin's Weſtern Iſlands, p. 262.
I cannot conclude my remarks on this Poem without waſting one on the ſtory of Mrs. Wardlaw. That this lady may have indeed received a MS. of it as mentioned in Dr. Percy's introductory note, is highly probable. Many valuable MSS. prepared for the preſs, have had a worſe fate. But that ſhe was the author of this capital compoſition, ſo fraught with ſcience of ancient manners as the above notes teſtify, I will no more credit, than that the common people in Lanarkſhire, [136]who can repeat ſcraps of both the parts, are the authors of the paſſages they rehearſe. That ſhe did not refuſe the name of being the original compoſer is a ſtrange argument: would not the firſt poet in Europe think it added to his reputation? If conjecture may be allowed where proof muſt ever be wanting, I ſuſpect, if we aſſign the end of the fifteenth century as the date of the antique parts of this noble production, we ſhall not greatly err; though at the ſame time the language muſt convince us that many ſtrokes have been beſtowed by modern hands.
Since the firſt publication of this volume, Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hales, whoſe abilities have been ſo often, and ſo ſucceſsfully, exerted in illuſtrating the antiquities of his country, to the law and the literature of which he is ſo great an ornament, has communi⯑cated to the Editor ſome notices with regard to this poem of Hardyknute, which ſhall here be laid before the reader, almoſt in his own words.
The following are extracts of a letter written by Sir John Bruce of Kinroſs, to Lord Binning, about the year 1719.
‘To perform my promiſe, I ſend you a true copy of the manuſcript I found, ſome weeks ago, in a vault at Dumferline. It is written on vellum in a fair Gothic character; but ſo much defaced by time, as you'll find that the tenth part is not legible.’
[137]Sir John tranſcribes ſome ſtanzas, which he calls verſes. After l. 112, P. I. he ſays, ‘here are four verſes defaced,’ and then he tranſcribes l. 113.
At l. 128 he adds, hiatus in MS. and then he tran⯑ſcribes l. 153. At l. 320 he ſays, ‘Here are ten verſes (ſtanzas) ſo ſpoilt that I can only gueſs by the many proper names, that they contain the order of battle of the Scots army, as they ſtood ranged under their different chieftains.’
In concluſion Sir John ſays, ‘there's a vaſt deal more of it, but all defaced.’
The reader is left to judge whether this ſtory of the manuſcript on vellum, &c. has moſt the appearance of a true narrative, or of a jeu d' eſprit addreſſed to a fami⯑liar friend.
Lord Hales has a copy of the original edition of Har⯑dyknute, with MS. alterations, in the hand writing of Dr. John Clerk, Phyſician in Edinburgh. At l. 85, it has 'brade Thomas;' Sir John Bruce has ‘bred Mal⯑colm.’ At l. 98, Sir John Bruce's MS. has 'Walter' inſtead of 'Malcolm.' At l. 103, 'brazen' for 'ſilver;' and at l. 104, 'iron doors,' for ‘painted bowers.’
In Dr. Clerk's MS. lines, 176—180 run thus;
[138]In Dr. Clerk's MS. the ſtanza On Norway's coaſt, &c. comes in after the ſtanza There on a lee with much pro⯑priety: that reading is therefore followed in this edi⯑tion.
but has been changed into that which occurs in later editions.
Appendix A.2 CHILD MAURICE.
THIS is undoubtedly the true title of this incom⯑parable Ballad, though corrupted into Gil Mor⯑rice by the nurſes and old women, from whoſe mouths it was originally publiſhed. Child ſeems to have been of equal importance with Damoiſeau (See note on P. I. v. 49. of Hardyknute) and applicable to a young noble⯑man when about the age of fifteen. It occurs in Shak⯑ſpeare's Lear, in the following line, probably borrowed from ſome old romance or ballad,
[139]And in Chaucer's Rime of Sir Topas, Child is evidently uſed to denote a young and noble knight. Many in⯑ſtances might likewiſe be brought from Spenſer for this ſignification.
Gil Morrice is only the northern pronunciation of the true name of this ballad: Gil about Aberdeen, &c, ſtill ſignifies Child, as it does in Galic; witneſs the name Gilchriſt, the child of Chriſt, &c.
V. 52. He bent his bow.] Archery was enjoined the Scotiſh warrior at a very early age, as appears from many ſpecial laws to that effect, and particularly the following one of James I. ‘Item, That all men buſk them to be Archeres fra they be twelfe yeir of age, and that in ilk ten pundis worthe of lande their be maid bowmarkis, and ſpeciallie neir to Paroche kirkis, quhairin upon haly daies men may cum, and at the leiſt ſchutte thriſe about, and have uſage of archerie: and quha ſa uſis not the ſaid archerie, the Laird of the lande ſall raiſe of him a wedder; and giff the Laird raiſes not the ſaid payne, the King's ſchireffe or his miniſters, ſhall raiſe it to the King. Parl. I. § 18.’
V. 95. ezar.] This word is perhaps the ſame with mazer, as uſed by the Engliſh poets,
ſays Hall in the prologue to his admirable Satires. Ezar cup will then mean a large bowl of any material.
V. 107, 8. O what means a the folk coming? My mother tarries lang.] This ſtroke of nature is delicate. It paints the very thought of youth and innocence. In ſuch happy tenuity of phraſe, this exquiſite compoſi⯑tion is only rivalled by the Merope of Maffei, the moſt finiſhed Tragedy in the world. Some lines fancifully interpolated by a modern and very inferior hand are here omitted.
V. 122. And ſlaided owr the ſtrae.] The meaning is, He went baſtily over the rank graſs.
V. 144. As the hip is o the ſtean.] This would appear the corruption of ſome nurſe; but taking it as it ſtands, the ſimile, though none of the moſt delicate, has a parallel in the Father of Engliſh Poetry:
Appendix A.3 ADAM O GORDON.
[141]THE genuine ſubject of this Ballad has long re⯑mained in obſcurity, though it muſt have been noted to every peruſer of Crawford's Memoirs.
'But to return to Gordon,' (viz. Sir Adam Gordon of Auchindown, brother to the Earl of Huntly) ‘as theſe two actions againſt Forbes, or, to ſpeak more properly, againſt the rebels, gained him a vaſt repu⯑tation—his next exploit was attended with an equal portion of infamy; and he was as much decryed for this unlucky action (though at the ſame time he had no immediate hand in the matter) as for his former ones he had been applauded. He had ſent one Captain Ker with a party of foot to ſummon the Caſtle of Towie in the Queen's name. The owner Alexander Forbes was not then at home, and his lady confiding too much in her ſex, not only refuſed to ſurrender, but gave Ker very injurious language; upon which, unreaſonably tranſported with fury, he ordered his men to fire the caſtle, and barbarouſly burnt the unfortunate gentlewoman with her whole family, amounting to thirty-ſeven perſons. Nor was he ever ſo much as caſhiered for this inhuman action, which made Gordon ſhare both in the ſcandal and the guilt. An. 1571. p. 240. edit. 1706.’
[142]In this narrative is immediately perceived every lead⯑ing circumſtance in the Ballad. The Captain Car, by which name it was diſtinguiſhed in Dr. Percy's Manu⯑ſcript, is evidently the Ker of Crawford. The Houſe of Rodes I have corrected, according to the truth of ſtory, Towie. Of which name, I find in Gordon of Straloch's map of Aberdeenſhire, there were two gentlemen's ſeats, or caſtles, in his time, one upon the Don, and another upon the Ythan. The neareſt ſeat to the latter is that of Rothy, which from wrong information may have originally ſtood in the Ballad, the miſtake riſing naturally from the vicinity of their ſituation, and from this have been corrupted to Rodes. The courage of this lady, as repreſented in the Ballad, was equalled by that of the famous Counteſs of Saliſbury, at the ſiege of Roxborough; and of Ladies Arundel and Banks, in the laſt civil wars of England. See particularly the Mercu⯑rius Ruſticus, &c. Lond. 1647. Sections V. and XI.
V. 129. Freits.] This word ſignifies ill omens; and ſometimes as here Accidents ſupernaturally unlucky. King James VI. in his Daemonologie, MS. pen. Edit. B. I. cb. III. p. 13. ‘But I pray you forget not likeways to tell what are the Devill's rudimentis. E. His ru⯑dimentis I call firſt in generall all that quhilk is called vulgairelie the vertu of woode, herbe, and ſtaine; quhilk is uſed by unlawfull charmis without naturall cauſis. As lykeways all kynd of prattiques, freitis, or [143]uther lyk extraordinair actions, quhilk cannot abyde the tre [...] twiche of naturall raiſon.’ It occurs again in the ſame ſenſe in p. 14. marg. note; and in p. 41. ſpeaking of Sorcerers. ‘And in generall that naime was gevin thaime for uſing of ſic chairmis and freitis, as that craft teachis thame.’
Appendix A.4 THE CHILD OF ELLE.
THIS ballad is admitted into this collection, as being ſuppoſed, from many minute marks, to be a Scotiſh ballad in an Engliſh dreſs. Whan for when, kirk for church, &c. are ſome of theſe marks.
Though it is publiſhed by Dr. Percy, and of conſe⯑quence in every body's hands; yet it was neceſſary to give it here, elſe this digeſt of ſuch Scotiſh tragic bal⯑lads as deſerve preſervation could not have been called complete.
Appendix A.5 VI.
John Faw was king of the gypſies in Scotland in the reign of James IV. who, about the year 1495, iſſued a proclamation, ordaining all ſheriffs, &c. to aſſiſt John Faw in ſeizing and ſecuring fugitive gypſies; and that they ſhould lend him their priſons, ſtocks, fetters, &c. for that purpoſe: charging the lieges, that none of them moleſt, vex, unquiet, or trouble the ſaid Faw [144]and his company in doing their lawful buſineſs within the realm; and in their paſſing, remaining, or going forth of the ſame, under penalty: and charging ſkip⯑pers, maſters of ſhips, and mariners, within the realm, at all ports and havens, to receive ſaid John and his company, upon their expences, for furthering them furth of the realm to parts beyond ſea. See Mr. Mac⯑laurin's Remarkable Caſes, &c. p. 774.
V. 8. Glamour.] The glamour was believed to be a kind of magical miſt raiſed by ſorcerers, which deluded their ſpectators with viſions of things which had no real exiſtence, altered the appearance of theſe which really did exiſt, &c. The Eaſtern nations have a ſimilar ſuperſtition, as we may learn from Mr. Galland's Mille et un nuit, and other tranſlations of works of Oriental fiction.
SIR HUGH, OR THE JEW's DAUGHTER, is compoſed of two copies, one publiſhed by Dr. Percy, the other in a collection of Scotiſh Songs, &c. Edin. 1776. The Mirryland toun of the former, and Mirry Linkin of the latter, evidently ſhew that the noted ſtory of Hugh of Lincoln is here expreſſed.
Appendix A.6 FLODDEN FIELD.
[145]THE ſtanzas here given form a complete copy of this exquiſite Dirge. The inimitable beauty of the original induced a variety of verſifiers to mingle ſtanzas of their own compoſure. But it is the painful, though moſt neceſſary duty of an Editor, by the touch⯑ſtone of truth, to diſcriminate ſuch droſs from the gold of antiquity.
SIR PATRICK SPENCE is given from Dr. Percy's Edition, which indeed agrees with the ſtall copies, and the common recitals. I have, however, lent it a few corrections, where palpable ab⯑ſurdity ſeemed to require them. The phraſe in v. 25. of ſeeing the old moon in the arms of the new is ſtill fa⯑miliar in Scotland. It means that the opaque part of the moon's diſk caſts a glimmering light, while the illumi⯑nated part is waxing; and is to this hour eſteemed to prognoſticate a ſtorm.
Appendix A.7 LADY BOTHWELL's LAMENT.
[146]THESE four ſtanzas appeared to the Editor to be all that are genuine in this elegy. Many additional ones are to be found in the common copies, which are rejected as of meaner execution. In a quarto manu⯑ſcript in the Editor's poſſeſſion, containing a collection of Poems by different hands from the reign of Queen Elizabeth to the middle of the laſt century, when it was apparently written (pp. 132.) there are two Balowes as they are there ſtyled, the firſt The Balow, Allan, the ſe⯑cond Palmer's Balow; this laſt is that commonly called Lady Bothwell's Lament, and the three firſt ſtanzas in this edition are taken from it, as is the laſt from Allan's Balow. They are injudiciouſly mingled in Ram⯑ſay's Edition, and ſeveral ſtanzas of his own added; a liberty he uſed much too often in printing ancient Scotiſh poems.
Appendix A.8 EARL OF MURRAY.
V. laſt. Toun.] This word is often uſed in Scotland to denote only, perhaps, a farm-houſe and office-houſes, or a number of hovels ſcattered here and there; and on which the Engliſh would not beſtow the name of a village.
[147]A very eminent Scotiſh antiquary informs me, that in Saxon ton ſignifies an habitation: and that caſtle downe in the laſt ſtanza of this ballad ought to be read Caſtle Downe, the ſeat of Lord Murray in his own right.
SIR JAMES THE ROSE is given from a modern edition in one ſheet 12mo. after the old copy. A renovation of this Ballad, compoſed of new and improbable circumſtances, decked out with ſcraps of tragedies, may be found in the Annual Re⯑giſter for 1774, and other collections. Roſe is an an⯑cient and honourable name in Scotland: Johannes de Roſe is a witneſs to the famous Charter of Robert II. teſtifying his marriage with Elizabeth More, as appears in the rare edition of it printed at Paris, 1695, 4to. p. 15.
V. 27. Belted Knichts.] The belt was one of the chief marks which diſtinguiſhed the ancient knight. To be girt with the belt of knighthood often implied the whole attending ceremonies which conſtituted that order. That of the common knight was of white leather.
Appendix A.9 LAIRD OF WOODHOUSELIE.
[148]THIS Ballad is now firſt publiſhed. Whether it has any real foundation, the Editor cannot be poſitive, though it is very likely. There is a Woodhouſelie nigh Edinburgh, which may poſſibly be that here meant.
Appendix A.10 LORD LIVINGSTON
[...] probably an anceſtor of Livingſton Earl of Linlith⯑ [...], attainted in 1715. This affecting piece likewiſe, with the four following, now appears for the firſt time.
V. 13. Saith dreims are ſcant] This ſeems a prover⯑biai expreſſion: King James in his Daemonologie, ‘That is a ſuith dream (as they ſay) ſence thay ſee it walking. MS. p. 100.’
Appendix A.11 BINNORIE.
V. 32. Her wraith.] ‘And what meanis then theſe kyndis of ſpreitis when they appeare in the ſhaddow of a perſonne newlie dead, or to die, to his friend? E. When thay appeare upon that occaſion, they are called wraithis in our langage. Ib. p. 81.’
The following larger extract relating to the Fairies, another creation of ſuperſtition, is given by way of ſpecimen of this ſingular MS. Book III. Ch. 5.
Appendix A.11.1 ARGUMENT.
[149]‘The deſcription of the fourth kynde of Spreitis, called the Pharie. What is poſſible chairin, and what is but illuſions. Whow far this dialogue entreates of all thir thingis: and to what ende.’
‘P. Now I pray you come on to that fourt kynd of ſpreittis. E. That fourt kynde of Spreitis, quhilk be the gentiles was called Diana and her wandring court, and amongs us was called the Pharie (as I tolde you) or our guid neighbouris’ (the King has added on the margin 'or ſillie wightis') ‘was ane of the ſortis of alluſions that was ryfeſt in tyme of Papiſtrie; for all⯑though it was holdin odious to propheſie be the devill, yet whome theſe kynd of ſpreittis caried away, and informed, thay wer thought to be ſoncieſt, and of beſt lyfe. To ſpeak of the manie vaine tratlis foundit upon that illuſion; how thair was ane king and queine of Pharie, of ſic a jolie court and traine as thay had; how thay had a teind and a dewtie, as it wer, of all guidis: how thay naturallie raid and yeld, eat and drank, and did all other actions lyke naturall men and wemen; I think it is lyker Virgilis Campi Eliſei, nor any thing that aught to be beleived be Chriſ⯑tianis.’
This Manuſcript is written in a beautiful Italic hand, ſo nearly reſembling copper-plate engraving, as to have been taken for ſuch even after accurate examination. It is bound in gilded vellum, ſtamped with the King's eypher beneath the crown; and is in all probability the [150]original copy of this royal monument of ſuperſtition. Many additions are inſerted on the margin, as would ſeem, of the hand-writing of James VI. and ſome notes for his own private uſe. As for inſtance on B. II. ch. 1. ſpeaking of the Magicians of his time, over againſt the words ‘Thay are ſume of thame riche and worldlie wyſe,’ he has noted F. M. ‘ſum of tham fat or cor⯑pulent in their bodies,’ R. G. ‘and maiſt pairt of thame altogethir gevin ouer to the pleaſours of the fleſche,’ B. N.
We need not wonder at the ſeverity with which the imaginary crime of withcraft was puniſhed in his reign, when we remark his ſentiment expreſſed on this head, in B. III. ch. 6. of this ſingular tract. ‘P. Then to make ane ende of our conference ſence I ſee it drawis leatt, what forme of puniſhment think ye merites thir Magiciens and Witches? For I ſee that ye account thame to be all alyke giltie. E. (The King) Thay aught to be put to deathe, according to the law of God, the civill and imperiall law, and the municipal law of all Chriſtiane nations. P. But what kynde of death I pray you? E. It is commonly uſed be fyre, but that is ane indifferent thing to be uſed in every countrey according to the law or cuſtume thairof. P. But aught no ſexe, aage, nor rank, to be eximed? E. NONE AT ALL.’
[151]The language of this pedantic Monarch is particular; it is that of a Scotiſh ſchool-boy beginning to read Engliſh.
In the printed copies the ſtyle is much altered and improved. It was printed at Edinburgh, and re⯑printed at London in the ſame year, 1603, 4to.
Appendix A.12 LORD AIRTH's COMPLAINT.
THESE verſes, though ſomewhat uncouth, are moving, as they ſeem to flow from the heart. They are now firſt publiſhed from the Editor's quarto Manu⯑ſcript, p. 16. corrected in ſome lines, which appeared too inaccurate for the publick eye. Two entire ſtanzas are rejected from the ſame cauſe. I know nothing of the nobleman to whom they are aſcribed.
In the ſame Manuſcript (p. 17. and 116) are to be found the two following Poems, which I believe have never been in print. They are here added, with a few corrections. They were both written by Sir Robert Aytoun, who bore ſome office under government in the reign of James VI. if I miſtake not. His Latin poems are in the Delitiae Poetarum Scotorum.
Appendix A.12.1 SONNET.
Appendix A.12.2 SONG.
[153]Appendix A.13 FRAGMENTS.
The two firſt of theſe are given from a Collection, Edinburgh, 1776, but poliſhed by the preſent Editor; the two others from recital.
Appendix B GLOSSARY.
[154]- Ablins, perhaps.
- Aboon, above.
- Ae. ane, one.
- Aff, off.
- Aft, oft.
- Aith, oath.
- Ain, own.
- Alſe, except.
- Anes, once.
- Auld, old.
- Auſterne, ſtern.
- Ayont, beyond.
- Ba, ball, tennis.
- Baird, beard.
- Baith both.
- Bairn, child.
- Bale, miſery.
- Balow, buſh.
- Band, ſolemn oath.
- Baſe-court, bas court, French, the lower court of a caſtle.
- Baſnet, helmet.
- Begyle, beguile.
- Beſtraught, diſtracted.
- Banſters, bluſterers.
- Beik, baſk.
- Belyve, immediately.
- Beſprent, covered.
- Betide, n. fortune.
- Bedeen, preſently,
- Bleiſe, blaze.
- Bleirit, dim with tears.
- Blink, glimpſe of light.
- Blinking, twinkling.
- Blude, blood.
- Blythſum, ſprightly.
- Boughts, ſheepfolds.
- Boiſt, boaſt.
- Bonny, pretty.
- Botand, likeways.
- Bown, make ready.
- Bogle, hobgoblin.
- Bot, without.
- Bouir, a room arched in the Gothic manner.
- Bouir woman, chamber-maid.
- Bra, bravely dreſſed.
- Brae, ſide of a hill.
- Braid, broad.
- Brand, Iſl. a ſword.
- Brawe, brave.
- Brayd, haſten.
- Bruik, enjoy.
- Brin, burn.
- [155]Brig, bridge.
- Buſk, prepare.
- Brechan, plaid; cloke ſtriped with various colours.
- Cauld, cold.
- Cauldrif, chill, damp.
- Canny, prudent.
- Cheis, chuſe.
- Claught, graſped.
- Cliding, wardrobe.
- Daffin, waggery.
- Dar'd, lighted, hit.
- Darrain, ſuffer, encounter.
- Deft, taken off haſtily.
- Dint, blow, ſtroke.
- Dawning, dawn of day.
- Dought, could.
- Doughty, valiant, ſtrong.
- Dowie, dreadful, melancholy.
- Drie, ſuffer, endure.
- Dule, grief.
- Eard, earth.
- Eild, eld, old age.
- Eine, eyes.
- Eithly, eaſily.
- Eydent, ayding, aſſiſting.
- Elric, diſmal.
- Eldern, ancient, venerable.
- Egre, eager, keen, ſharp.
- Effray, affright.
- Emraud, Emerald.
- Ettle, aim.
- Fae, foe.
- Fay, faith, ſincerity.
- Fere, companion.
- Ferly, wonder.
- Feid, enmity.
- Fey, in ſooth.
- Flinders, ſplinters.
- Fleeching, flattering.
- Forbere, forefather, anceſtor.
- Forbode, denial.
- Frae, fro, from.
- Frawart, froward.
- Ga, gae, gang, go.
- Gabbing, prattle.
- Gait, way, path.
- Gar, cauſe.
- Gie, give.
- Gin, gif, if.
- Glaive, ſword.
- Gleit, glittered.
- Glie, mirth. In H. P. II, 120. it ſeems to ſignify a faint light.
- Glent, glanced.
- Gliſt, gliſtered.
- Gloming, dusk.
- Glowr, glare, diſmal light.
- Grein, deſire.
- Greit, weep.
- [156]Graith, dreſs, v. and n.
- Gouſty, ghaſtly.
- Grie, prize, victory.
- Gude, good.
- Gurly, bitter, cold; applied to weather.
- Gyle, guile.
- Gyſe, manner, faſhion.
- Harſt, harveſt.
- Hauld, hold, abode.
- Hain, ſpare, ſave.
- Hap cover.
- Hecht, promiſed.
- Hip, the berry of the wild roſe.
- Hyt, frantic.
- Hyn [...], hence.
- Jimp, delicate, ſlender.
- Ilk, ilka; each.
- Irie, terrible.
- Kaming, combing.
- Kin, kindred.
- Kyth, v. to ſhow or make appear.
- Kyth, n. acquaintance, friends, companions.
- Laigh, low.
- Lane, alone.
- Lap. leaped.
- Law, low.
- Lave, the reſt.
- Leil, true, faithful.
- Leir, learn
- Leglen, a milking pail.
- Leman, lover, miſtreſs.
- Leugh, laughed.
- Lawing, reckoning.
- Lever, [...]ather.
- Leech, phyſician.
- Lift, the firmament.
- Lig, lye ſcatteredly.
- Lilting, merry making with muſic, &c.
- Lin, a fall of water.
- Linkis, lamps or other artifi⯑cial lights.
- Loaning, a common green near a village.
- Loch, lake.
- Low, v. and n. flame.
- Lown, ſheltered, calm.
- Lout, to bow.
- Lue, love.
- Lure, cunning device, ſnare.
- Lyart, hoary.
- Makleſs, matchleſs.
- Maun, muſt.
- Mair, more, f. rather.
- Mahoun, Mahomet, and by abuſe the devil.
- Mane, moan, lament.
- Meikle, much.
- [157]Meiny, train, army.
- Menſe, to meaſure, to try.
- Mede, reward.
- Meid, port, appearance.
- Meiſe, ſoften, mollify.
- Mirk, dark.
- Mony, many.
- Mote, might.
- Na, nae, no, none.
- Neiſt, [...]
- Norſe, often the King of Norway, ſo France [...]s often uſed by Sha [...]ſpere for the king of that country.
- On caſe, perhaps.
- Ony, any.
- Or, f. ere, before, f. elſe.
- Owr, Over.
- Outowr, Over above.
- Oriſon, Fr. prayer.
- Pall, robe of ſtate.
- Payne, penalty.
- Perle, pearl.
- Pleaſance, pleaſure.
- Pou, pull.
- Pratique, experiment.
- Preaſs, to preſs, to paſs with difficulty.
- Prime of day, dawn.
- Prive, pruve, prove.
- Propine, reward.
- Qu, is uſed in old S [...]ſh ſpelling for W. as Qunat, What, &c.
- Quat, quitted.
- Quell, ſubdue.
- Raught, recht, reached.
- Recule, recoil.
- Rede, warn.
- Reiking, ſmoking.
- Rief, robbery.
- Riever, robber,
- Reid, red.
- Roun, ſound ſoftly, whiſper.
- Rue, repent.
- Ruth, pity.
- Rude, croſs.
- Runkled, wrinkled.
- Sark, ſhirt.
- Saw, a wiſe ſaying.
- Sawman, counſellor.
- Sabbing, ſobbing.
- Scant, ſcarce.
- Scorning (F [...]od. v. 5.) jeſting ironica [...]y.
- Sey [...]ſſ [...]y, try.
- Seen, to ſee.
- Seim, appearance.
- [158]Selcouth, uncommon as a pro⯑digy.
- Share, to cleave, pierce.
- Sic, ſuch.
- Sindle, ſeldom.
- Skaith, hurt.
- Slaid, to move ſpeedily.
- Slee, v. ſlay.
- Sen, ſeeing.
- Sin, ſith, ſince.
- Soncie, lucky.
- Stalwarth, ſtout, valiant.
- Steik, to ſhut.
- Sleuth, ſloth.
- Strecht, ſtretched.
- Swankies, merry fellows.
- Swaird, turf, graſſy ground.
- Swith, quickly.
- Steid, eſtate.
- Spent, drew.
- Splent, armour for the thighs and legs.
- Speir, aſk.
- Stoup, pillar.
- Sucred, ſugared.
- Syre, lord.
- Tane, taken.
- Targe, ſhield.
- Tein, ſorrow.
- Teind, tyth, tenth part.
- Thilk, thir. theſe.
- Thole, ſuffer, permit.
- Thud, ſadden noiſe.
- Tide, time, ſeaſon.
- Tint, loſt.
- Trieſt, make an aſſignation.
- Twin'd, parted, ſeparated.
- Veir, avoid, or perhaps alter.
- Unmuſit, without wonder; to muſe often means to wonder in Shakſpere.
- Unſonlie, unlucky.
- Waddin, ſtrong, firm.
- Wad, wald, wold; would.
- Warloc, wizard.
- Wallow, withered, and fig. pale.
- Ward, ſentinel.
- Wate, warrand.
- Wax, to ſpread, to become famous.
- Wee, little.
- Weit, wet, rain.
- Wete, hope.
- Weſtlin, weſtern.
- Wae worth ye, woe befall you.
- War, aware.
- Whilk, which.
- Wighty, ſtrong.
- Wicht, from Wiga Sax. a hero, or great man.
- Winſum, agreeable, winning.
- Whyle, until.
- [159]Weir, war.
- Weily, full of whirlpools; a weil is ſtill uſed for a whirlpool in the weſt of Scotland.
- Wraith, a ſpirit or ghoſt.
- Wyte, blame.
- Wreak, revenge.
- Wreken, avenged.
- Wreuch, grief, miſery.
- Yeſtreen, the evening of yeſterday.
- Yet, gate,
- Yied, went.
- Youthheid, ſtate of youth,
Hiſtoriale deſcription de l'Afrique, eſcrite de notre temps par Jean Leon, African, premierement en langue Arabeſque, puis en Toſcane, et à preſent miſe en François—En Anvers, 1556. lib. III. p. 175.
A curious ſpecimen of the Eaſtern religious poetry may be ſeen in Sir John Chardin's Voyage to Perſia, vol. I.
This is the inſtrument meant in the following verſes of Ven. Fortunatus, lib. vii.
See more of the Harp in War. Antiq. Hibern. cap. 22. And Mr. Evans, Diſſert. de Bardis, p. 80.
See Hickes, Ling. Vet. Sept. Theſ. c. 23. From the Saxons he obſerves, that the author of Pierce Plowman drew this practice, c. 21. This poem was written about 1350. There is a remarkable ſimilarity in its ſtyle and manner with thoſe very curious pieces of ancient Scotiſh poetry, ſtyled The Prophecies of Thomas Rymer, Marvellous Merling, Beid, Berlington, Waldhave, Eltraine, Ba⯑niſter, and Sybilla, printed at Edinburgh in 1615, and reprinted from that edition, 1742, 8vo. It is very ſurpriſing that the re⯑ſpectable editor of Ancient Scottiſh Poems, from the MS. of George Bannatyne, 1568. Edin. 1770, ſeems to regard theſe as not more ancient than the time of Queen Mary. His reaſons are only founded on the modern appearance of ſome particular paſſages. That they have been modernized and corrupted, I will readily allow; but that they are on the main nearly as ancient as Rymer's time, who died about the beginning of the 14th Century, I believe the learned muſt confeſs from intrinſic evidence, in ſuch caſes the ſureſt of all. Not to mention that Sir David Lindſay, who wrote in the reign of James V. is an undoubted witneſs that they muſt be more ancient than this eminent Antiquary would infer. For in enumerating the methods he took to divert that prince while under his care in his infancy, after condeſcending on ſome riſible cir⯑cumſtances, as
He adds,
They begin thus:
This exordium is evidently retouched by a modern hand.—But very many of the paſſages ſeem to ſtand in their original form, as the following lines, which are all in the Saxon manner, will teſtify:
And many ſimilar. That prophecy which bears the name of Thomas Rymer is not deſtitute of poetic graces. It opens with the following lines:
I imagine, however, they are all the compoſures of one hand; and, if I may uſe a conjecture, were written immediately after the viſions of Pierce Plowman, every Engliſh poem of note in thoſe days being ſoon ſucceeded by an imitation in Scotland.
It is intituled, ‘A Godly Dream compiled by Elizabeth Melvil, Lady Culroſs younger, at the requeſt of a friend.’ Edinburgh, 1737, 12mo. p. 20. It is either reprinted from ſome former edition, or from a MS. It was written, I conjecture, about the end of the Sixteenth Century; but in this edition I ſuſpect ſeve⯑ral expreſſions are modernized and altered to accommodate it to the common capacity.
The lady Culroſs here meant was Elizabeth daughter of Sir James Melvil of Halhill, and wife of John Colvil Commendator of Culroſs. She is believed to have been the mother of Samuel Colvil the ſatyrical poet, author of the Scots Hudibras, &c.
- Zitationsvorschlag für dieses Objekt
- TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 4289 Select Scotish ballads pt 1. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-61AE-3