"Ye Gods! should one swear to the truth of a song?"

When the glorious battle-ballads of Homer were collected by order of Pisistratus, no doubt he had some Grecian Walter Scott at hand to arrange, correct, eke out, and fuse them into one grand and magnificent work of art; and, to descend to lesser things, when Percy made his collection of the "Reliques of English Poetry," he had better sense than to send them maimed by time and polluted by the ignorance of reciters to encounter the sneers of the captious Steevenses and critical Johnsons of the hour-no, he purified and repaired them, and, when he had set them in a fair and proper light, produced them to the world. Scott did not go any thing like the length of Percy in such emendations; I am not aware that, hitherto, any one has charged him with having either altered or interpolated, but those conversant with the old ballad lore of the Border will, on reading the "Minstrelsy," soon perceive that to him belongs not a little of the praise which he has bestowed on Burns. "We are not here speaking of the avowed lyrical poems of his own composition, but of the manner in which he recomposed and repaired the old songs and fragments for the collection of Johnson and others, when, if his memory supplied the theme or general subject of the song, such as it existed in Scottish lore, his genius contributed that part which was to give life and immortality to the whole." Scott somewhere says, that the first edition of the "Minstrelsy" supplied the demand of the Scottish market. English taste had not been sufficiently awakened to the merits of such rough rude verses; the second edition proved, in the language of the trade, rather a heavy concern." That, for many years, the "Minstrelsy" had not penetrated farther than the antiquarian circles in England I can bear witness. In 1810, I think, I chanced to be dining in Carlisle when a bet was made concerning some debateable Border story; I appealed to the "Minstrelsy;" the work was sought for among the booksellers, some had not heard of it, and none had it. We decided who was right by referring to the landlord, who declared for both sides like a sensible Border vintner.

The history of the "Lay of the Last Minstrel" the poet has himself related; he is speaking of the difficulty which he felt in finding a subject which might admit of being treated with the simplicity and wildness of the ancient ballad. 66 Accident," he says, " dictated both a theme and measure which decided the subject as well as the structure of the poem. The lovely young Countess of Dalkeith had come to the land of her husband with a desire of making herself acquainted with its traditions and customs. All who remember this lady will agree that the intellectual character of her extreme beauty, the amenity and courtesy of her manners, the soundness of her understanding, and her unbounded benevolence, gave more the idea of an angelic visitant than of a being belonging to this nether world. She soon heard enough of Border lore; among others Mr. Beattie of Mickledale, near Langholm, communicated to her ladyship the story of "Gilpin Horner," a translation, in which the narrator, and many more of that country, were firm believers. The young Countess, much delighted with the legend, and the gravity and full confidence with which it was told, enjoined it on me as a task to compose a ballad on the subject. Of course to hear was to obey, and thus the goblin

story, objected by several critics as an excrescence upon the poem, was, in fact, the occasion of its being written. Being provided with a subject, accident supplied him with the measure. Dr. Stoddart, a

gentleman of fine taste in poetry, at that time travelling in Scotland, repeated a part of the "Christabel" of Coleridge, which, from the singularly irregular structure of the stanzas, and the liberty which it allowed the author to adapt the sound to the sense, seemed to be exactly suited to such an extravaganza as I meditated on the subject of Gilpin Horner."

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Had not the pen of Scott himself traced the words I have quoted, I should have hesitated to give credence to this account of the origin of the measure of "The Lay of the Last Minstrel." All who are acquainted with the rude legendary poetry of our ancestors, are aware that something of the same wild irregularity occurs in the structure of many of the stanzas-nay, that it had been employed by divers poets, living and dead, whose names are known, and, what is more to the point, had been resorted to by Scott himself, in his sufficiently wild ballad of the "Eve of St. John." It is probable enough, that the singularly wild and beautiful Christabel" induced Scott to string his harp anew with emulating vigour; my belief can go no farther, till I can forget the ballads of Scotland and England, and the works of Hall, Anstey, Wolcot, and of Sir Walter himself. Moreover, had the measure of the "Thalaba" of Southey no influence? a poem original, beautiful, and at that time in print. Sir Walter, however, knows best; and I mean to insinuate no more than that he was unwittingly under earlier influences when he was kneeling at the shrine of Christabel. A whole year elapsed before the poet obeyed the injunctions of the Countess of Dalkeith. He then composed several stanzas, and, receiving one morning a visit from two friends of learning and talent, read them aloud, and desired their opinion. Now it is not unwise to ask the opinions of friends concerning works of genius; but I hold it desperately unwise to follow them. All productions of an original nature are startling to men whose notions and tastes are formed from works of a totally different character; they look upon every change of style as a departure from the settled principles of taste, and on every innovation in the handling of a subject, as a direct insult to the established opinions of the learned and the critical. They hold, that if poets made critics in the early and barbarous ages, critics in the enlightened ages which followed were quits, by making poets in return. They should study the old saying, 66 Ilka man wears his ain belt his ain gate," and allow all works of genius, which are true to nature, to be right in taste.

Had these "critics twain" foreseen that the verses at which they shook their sagacious heads would not only become popular, but descend with applause to posterity, they doubtless would have exclaimed, "Bravo! go on, Scott, go on!" but they thought only of their different sound, compared with other men's verses; so they looked the words which the Scotch philosopher uttered, when invited to dine on stewed snails-" Damned green-damned green!" and so vanished, while the verses-Sir Walter, I am afraid thy temper, so serene now, was hasty in thy youth-the verses were thrown into the fire. But, put not thy faith in critics, should be the motto of all men of

genius-lo! on the third day, one of the "twain" returned, inquired for the interesting verses, entered into a friendly expostulation on hearing their fate, said that neither himself nor his companion could judge at once of lines so much out of the beaten road of song, and concluded by earnestly urging the completion of the poem. The poem was accordingly completed-an introduction was added, one of the finest ever written, to enable the common reader to comprehend the story, and in order either to mollify the severity of criticism,-the Edinburgh Review was then holding authors in order with its hangman's whip, or from a singular diffidence in the author, the work was shown to many critical friends, and, amongst others, to Francis Jeffrey, who was pleased to nod approbation, and say, "Print it.” "Print it." Archibald Constable set his press to work, and "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" appeared early in the year 1805.

Rivals of no common power were at that time with all their forces in the field. Campbell had produced his " Pleasures of Hope," and some of those lesser inimitable poems, which can never die. Wordsworth had shown unrivalled skill in awaking poetry of the deepest kind from subjects of common occurrence. Coleridge was living on the reputation of the "Ancient Mariner" in print, and "Christabel" in manuscript; and Southey had sent his name over Europe in the "Joan of Arc" and "Thalaba the Destroyer." It is true, that upon these poets, with the exception of Campbell-who was a favourite -the Edinburgh Review had poured forth its satire, its invective, and its venom; but though, no doubt, the sale of the works of those distinguished poets had been much injured by such poisonous criticisms, still they had made their way to thousands of bosoms, and might be considered as serious rivals to any new candidate who should appear in the field. Yet a moment's consideration will satisfy any one that the author of "The Lay" had nothing to fear. His poem was, in fact, an appeal from the critical pedantry and affectations of mankind to national feeling, national taste, and, if you will, to national prejudices. The rapture with which I first read it, I had never before experienced in any work of genius,—a Borderer myself, I was familiar from my cradle with similar traditions, similar supernatural stories, and similar acts of daring or heroism. But then the allurements of glowing verse gave such increase of glory to those rude legends, that they became with me resistless. I carried the poem to a quiet room, and, whether I am believed or not, I assert that I read it twice fairly through before I rose from my seat. fame of the work spread far and wide-edition was added to edition— it was praised and read by peer and peasant, and critics hinted about the revival of the fire of Homer, and admonished the poet to refine, and polish, and prepare for a higher and more equal flight. would be affectation," says the illustrious author, writing five-andtwenty years afterwards, "not to own frankly that the author expected some success from The Lay of the Last Minstrel.' The attempt to return to a more simple and natural style of poetry was likely to be welcomed at a time when the public had become tired of heroic hexameters, with all the buckram and binding which belong to them of later days. But whatever might have been his expectations, whether moderate or reasonable, the result left them far behind."

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