V. "Or on fome bellying rock that fhades the deep, "The broad, unbroken billows heave and fwell, "The labouring moon; or lift the nightly yell "O'er the dire whirlpool, that, in ocean's wafte, "Draws inftant down whate'er devoted thing "The failing breeze within its reach hath plac'd- "Or, if on land the fiend exerts his fway, "Silent he broods o'er quickfand, bog, or fen, And frequent round him rolls his fullen eyes, If chance his favage wrath may fome weak wretch furprite; Ah, lucklefs fwain, o'er all unblest indeed! Whom late bewilder'd in the dank, dark fen, Far from his flocks and smoking hamlet then! To that fad fpot "his wayward fate fhall lead † :". To fome dim hill that feems uprising near, In all its terrors clad, fhall wild appear. ++ First written, mark. ‡‡ A leaf of the manuscript, containing the fifth fianza, and one half of the fxth, is here loft. The chafm is fupplied by Mr. Mackenzie. *First written, fad. † A blank in the manufcript, The line filled up by Dr. Carlyle. I i 2 Mean Meantime, the wat'ry furge fhall round him rise, His fear-shook limbs have loft their youthly force, VIII. For him, in vain, his anxious wife shall wait, His babes fhall linger at th' unclofing ‡ gate. Her travell'd limbs in broken flumbers steep, At dawn or dusk, induftrious as before; Drown'd by the Kaelpie's wrath, nor e'er fhall aid thee more! IX. Unbounded is thy range; with varied ftile Thy Mule may, like thofe feath'ry tribes which spring Round the moift marge of each cold Hebrid ifle, To that hoar pile which still its ruin shows *: And culls them, wond'ring, from the hallow'd ground! The mighty kings of three fair realms are laid t: No flaves revere them, and no wars invade: Firft written, cottage. First written, Shali feem to prefs her cold and shudd'ring check. A name given in Scotland to a fuppofed fpirit of the waters. On the largest of the Flannan Islands (ifles of the Hebrides) are the ruins of a chapel dedicated to St, Flannan. This is reckoned by the inhabitants of the Western Isles a place of uncommon fanctity. One of the Flannan Islands is termed the Ile of Pigmies; and 'Martin fays, there have been many fmall bones dug up here, resembling in miniature thofe of the human body. The inland of Iona or Icolmkill. See Martin's Defcription of the Western Islands of Scotland. That author informs us, that forty-eight kings of Scotland, four kings of Ireland, and five of Norway, were interred in the church of St. Ouran in that island. There were two churches and two monafteries founded there by St. Columbus about A. D. 565. Bed, Hift. Eccl. 1. 3. Collins has taken all his information refpecting the Western Ifles from Martin; from whom he may likewife have derived his knowledge of the popular superstisions of the Highlanders, with which this Ode fhews so perfect an acquaintance. X. But O! o'er all, forget not KILDA's race t. On whose bleak rocks, which brave the wafting tides, Go, juft as they, their blameless manners trace! Of thofe whofe lives are yet fincere and plain, Hard is their fhallow foil, and bleak, and bare, XI. Nor need'st thou blush, that fuch falfe themes engage For not alone they touch the village breast, There SHAKESPEARE's felf, with ev'iy garland crown'd §, And with their terrors dreft the magic fcene. The fhadowy kings of BANQUO's fated line The native legends of thy land rehearse; XII. In fcenes like thefe, which, daring to depart Th' Heroic Mufe employ'd her TASSO's art! And the wild blaît upheav'd the vanish'd sword ||! Believ'd the magic wonders which he fung! The character of the inhabitants of St. Kilda, as here defcribed, agrees perfectly with the accounts given by Martin and by Macauley, of the people of that ifland. It is the mott wefterly of all the Hebrides, and is above 130 miles diftant from the main land of Scotland. This ftanza is more incorrect in its structure than any of the foregoing. There is apparently a line wanting between this and the fubfequent one, In mufing bour, &o. The defcient line ought to have rhymed with feene. Thefe four lines were originally written thus: How have I trembled, when at Tancred's fide When charm'd by Ifmen, through the foreft wide, Hence Hence at each found imagination glows; Hence his warm lay with fofteft sweetness flows; Melting it flows, pure, numerous, ftrong and clear, XIII. All hail, ye fcenes that o'er my foul prevail, Then will I drefs once more the fided bow'r, fade, Or crop from Tiviot's dale cach "claffic flower," And mourn on Yarrow's banks "the widow'd maid §." To him I lofe, your kind protection lend, And, touch'd with love like mine, proferve my absent friend. HISTORICAL and BIOGRAPHICAL ANECDOTES. [From the Second Volume of Sir J. DALRYMPLE'S "Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland," lately published.] EARL OF STAIR. WHEN all his offices and honours were taken from him by Sir Robert Walpole, for voting in parliament agamit the excifc-fcheme, he retired to Scotland, and put his estate into the hands of trufces, to pay bills drawn by him in his magnificent embally at Paris, which Administration had reffed to accept, referving only a hundred pounds a-month for himflf. During this period, he was often feen holding the plough three cr four hours at a time. Yet on receiving Vifits of ceremony, he could put on the great man and the great ftyle of living; for he was fond of adorning a fine person with graceful drefs; and two French horns and a French cook had refused to quit his fervice when he retired. When the meffenger brought the late King's letter for him to take the command of the army, he had only ten pounds in the house. He fent expreffes for the gentlemen of his own family, thewed the King's letter, and defired them to find money to carry him to London. They asked how much he wanted, and when they should bring it ; his anfwer was, "the more the better, "and the fooner the better." They brought him three thousand guineas. The circumstance came to the late King's ears, Thefe lines were originally written thus : Though firong, yet fweet, Though faithful, tweet; though ftrong, of fimple kind. Hence, with each theme he bids the bofom glow, While his warm lays an eafy pallage find, Pour'd through each inmoft nerve, and lull th' harmonious ear. + A blank in the manufcript. The word fpacious fupplied by Dr. Carlyle. Ben Jonion undertook a journey to Scotland a-foot in 1619, to visit the poet Drummond, at his feat at Hawthornden, near Edinburgh. Drummond has` preserved, in his work, fome very curious heads of their converfation. A blank in the manufcript-focial fapplied by Dr. Carlyle. Both thefe lines left imperfect; supplied by Dr. Carlyle. This laft ftanza bears more marks of haftineis of compofition than any of the reft. Befides the blanks which are fupplied by Dr. Carlyle, there is apparently an entire line wanting after the feventh line of the ftanza. The deficient line ought to have rhymed with broom. who who expreffed to his Minifters the uneafinefs he felt at Lord Stair's difficulties in money-matters. One propofed that the King should make him a prefent of a fum of money when he arrived. Another faid, Lord Stair was fo high-fpirited, that if he was offered money, he would run back to his own country, and they should lofe their General. A third fuggefted, that to fave his delicacy, the King fhould give him fix commiffions of Cornets to difpofe of, which, at that time, fold for a thousand pounds a-piece. The King liked this idea bett, and gave the commiffions biank to Lord Stair, faying, they were intended to pay for his journey and equipage. But in going from Court to his own houfe, he gave all the fix away. As the following anecdote marks the manners of the age during the Duke of Marlborough's wars, and the character of another fingular man, I shall hazard it. Lord Mark Ker and Lord Stair were at play in a c-houfe, when a ftranger overlooked thar game, and difturbed them with quations. Lord Mark said, "Let us throw the dice which of us shall "pink (a cant word of the time for "fighting) this impudent fellow." They threw, Lord Stair won. Lord Mark Ker "Ah, Star, Star, you have been always more fortunate in life than "me." cried out, When Lord Stair was Ambassador at Paris, during the Regency, le gave or ders to his coachman to give way to nobody except the King, meaning that an English Ambaffador fhould take the pafs, even of the Regent, but without naming him. The Holt was feen coming down a ftreet through which the coach paffed. The late Colonel Young, from whom I had the ftory, who was Matter of Horfe, rode to the window of the coach, and aiked Lord Stair if he would please to give way to God Almighty. He anIwered," By all means, but to none elfe;" and then stepping out of the coach, paid refpect to the religion of the country in which he was, and kneeled in a very dirty street. Lewis XIV. was told, that Lord Stair was one of the belt bred men in Europe. "I fhall foon put that to the teft," faid the King; and asking Lord Stair to take an airing with h, as foon as the door was opened, he bade him pafs and go in : The other bowed and obeyed. The King faid, "The world is in the right in the "character it gives: another perfon would "have troubled me with ceremony." During the rebellion in the year 1745, the clan of Glenco were quartered near the houfe of Lord Stair. The Pretender being afraid they would remember that the warrant for the mafficre of their clan had been figned by the Earl's father, fent a guard to protect the house. The clan quitted the rebel army, and were returning home: the Pretender fent to know their reafon. Their answer was, that they had been affronted; and when asked what the affront was, they faid, the greatcft of any; for they had been fufpected of being capable of visiting "the injuries of the father upon the in nocent and brave fon." He was brave indeed; a iure proof of which was, that he ufed all the influence and power he poffeffed, to obtain mercy for thofe rebels against whom he had commanded one of the armies which guarded England. WILLIAM III. IN cold countries, in which the mind freezes when the body freezes, mer of parts are generally lovers of wine. King William at his private parties drunk fometimes to excels. Perhaps the two following Anecdotes, which the late Mr. Stone told me he had from the Duke of Newcastle, may refer to a period, when his mind, wafted with vexation, might recruit itfelf with wine. In one of his parties with Lord Wharton, whon he always called Thom Wharton, heftid, "Thom, I know what you with fo; you wish for a republic." Lord Wharton anfivered, "And not a bad thing, Sir, "neither." "No, no," faid the King, "I fhall difappoint you there, I will "bring over King James's fon upon you." Lord Wharton making a very affected low bow, faid, with a fncer, "That is as your Majefty pleafe's." Yet the King took neither the manner nor the anfwer amifs. At another time, having invited the Earl of Pembroke to one of his parties, he was told that the Earl was quarrelfome in his cups: He laughed, and faid, he would defy any man to quarrel with him, as long as he could make the bottle go round. What was foretold however happened; and Lord Pembroke was carried from the room and put to bed. When told the next morning what he had done, he hastened to the palace, and threw himfelf upon his knee. "No apologies," faid the King; "I was told you had no fault in the world but one, "and I am glad to find it is true, for "do |