^^fe SELECT SCOTISH BALLADS. VOLUME L 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. 103880 , vHARDYKNUTE, j AN HEROIC BALLAD, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED COMPLETE; WITH THE OTHER MORE APPROVED r^. ^ SCOTISH BALLADS, 5V* AND SOME NOT HITHERTO MADE PtTBLIC, \ ; " IN THE TRAGIC STYLE. RY. o TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED TWO DISSERTATIONS, I. ON THE ORAL TRADITION OF POETRY. "- IT. ON THE TRAGIC BALLAD. JAMoui numerous tenants and dependants in particular, particular, is regarded by YOUR GRACE as cffential to your own. In reward, YOUR GRACE enjoys a domeflic felicity now fel- dom or never known to the great, who are generally obliged to exchange the free en- joyment of true pleafure for the gaudy (la- very of oftentation* At a period when many of the British nobility are wafting their patrimonial eftates in profligate diffipstion ; men trained to arms in defence of their rights and liberties, vil- lages beautified and rendered falubrious, and their inhabitants rendered happy, have been the monuments of expence of the DUKE OF BuCCLfiUQH. The filent gratitude of the poor will ever fpeak YOUR GRACE'S praifes with an ex- prcflion unknown to the mod exalted elocu- tion ; and it were furely abfurd for any wri- ter to enlarge on what is the common fubjcft of C of converfation, and known to all; I fhall not therefore any longer intrude on YOUR. GRACE'S patience. That SCOTLAND may long confider YOUR GRACE as one of the belt guardians of her liberty, and the living aflertor of her an- cient fpirit, is the earneft wilh of, MY LORD, YOUR GRACE'S Moil obedient Servant^ JOHN PINKERTON, t " 3 CONTENTS. DISSERTATION I. Page tfr DISSERTATION II. xxviii /I . Hardyknute, Part I. Part II. x6 /2. Child Maurice, a> 3 . A Jam o Gordon. 4. Tht Child cfElle. 5 , /$. Gildery. 62 . . " 7*^ Gypfies came to our good Lord's gate. 67 7. 72v Cruel Knight. 69 8. Young Waters. yj yQ. &'r Hugb t or the Jew's Daughter. j? xio. Flodden Field, or the Flown of the FtreJI. 78 1 1 . Edward, go j 2. Sir Patrick Spenct. 83 /1 3. Lady Bath-well's Lament. 86 , 14. Earl of Murray. 88 1 4. &V 7 /Af /?/?. 90 16. Laird xii CONTENTS, 1 6. Laird 'f WoodhouJclH. 94. 17. Lord Lt-vingjtoit. 98 18. Binnorie. 101 19. Death of Mentiitb, 105 20. Lard Atrttfs Complaint. 107 2.1 . * * / JJertati',n en the Monuments ivbicb JttpfEed the Deftfi cf Writing aming the firjl Il'ijloriatn, by the Abbe Anfelm, in Les Memoirca de 1' Academic des lufcrirtions, &c. DISSERTATION!. xix fc-as in xife flill more anciently among the Jews, as appears from the fongs of Mofes * and Deborah f prclerved in Sacred Writ. The Druids of Gaul and Britain afford a noted in- ftance j. Such firm hold did their traditions take of the memory, that fome of them are retained in the minds of their countrymen to this very day . The * Exod XV. f Judges V. * Et Bardi quidem fortia virorutn illuftrinm fafta heroicis com- pofita verlibus, cum dalcibus lyrae modulis camitarunt. Ammian. Marcell. lib. xvi. Atque horum (Bardorum fen Druidarum) cantiones, aut ad fitnilitudincm potiua earundem f.clx etiamnum aliquae extant die I'angc, fed recentiores plerzque, nee vel quingentos annos excedentts. JSeJJel. in natlt ad Eglnbart. Trajeft. 1711, p. 130. Nonnulli eruditi rirt obfervarunt veterem ilhm Gallorum confue- tudinem {fill, vifci facrum ufum apud druidas) etiam nunc multis Gallix locis retineri, cum anni initio clamitar.r, Au guy fan ntuf. I. c. Ad vifcum ; annus novus. Hctoman. miCtf. I. 6. Druydcs vero Heduorum, qui tune habitabant in quodam loco, hodiernis temnoribus Mons druidum diftus, diflans a nol>r-> civitate Heduenfi per cnum milliare ubi adhuc reftant vedigia loci habttationis eorum, utebantur pro eorum armis anguibas in campo azureo; ha- bebant ctiam in parte fuperiore ratniim vifci quercinei (ung ramet-l de gwg d; cb.ifnc) ct in parte infcriore unum cumulum parvorurn ar.guiucn feu krpcniium argcntcotum qu*li tune nafcentium, qui vulgo dicitur, coul><.e de ftrftm d' argent. Cba/tntuK Catalog! Gloriae munJi, 15:9, fvilo ver/o 26. b a Germans, xx DISSERTATION L Germans, as we learn from Tacitus, had no other mode- of commemorating the tranfaftions of paft times than by verfe. The brave aclions of their anceftors were always fung as an incentive to their imitation before they entered into combat. The like we read of the anqient Goths *, thofe deftroyers of all literature, who yet poflefled greater fkill in the fine arts than is com- monly afcribed to them. From them this cuftom pafled to their defcendants the inhabitants of the Northern regions, many animated fpecimens of whofe traditio- nal poetry have been preferved to our times f and quoted by their modern hiftorians as uncontroulable vouchers ; as the Arabian hiftorians refer for the truth of many events to the Spanifh romanzes, faved in like manner by tradition tor many ages, many of which are of very remote antiquity, and abound with the higher beauties of poetry j. Traditional verles are to this day a favourite Umufemeiit of the Mahometan nations; though, inilead of recording the illuftrious aclions of their real heroes, they chaunt the fabled exploits of * Jornand. See Warton't Hifi. ofEngli/b Poetry, f See the Hiftones of Saxo Giammat. Jo Magnus, Torfseus, &c. pafjim; and Dr. Percy's Five Pieces of Runic Poetry. J Hi/t. de lot guerras civi/es de Granada. A moft beautiful imi- tation of their manner may be found among the Poems of Voiture. The Spaniih word Rmarxt feems now applied to auy fhort lyric tale on whatever fubjedt. We find in Gongora, their moft emi- nent poet, Rcmancet /Imeroftt, y Bvrlefc^t. Buhalul DISSERTATION I. xxi Buhalul their Orlando*, or the yet more ridiculous ones of their Prophet f . From them it would appear that rime, that great help to the remembrance of tra- ditional poetry, pafled to the Troubadours of Provence; who from them feem alfo to have received the fpirit and character of their effufions. Like them, they compofed amorous verfes with delicacy and nature; but when they attempted the fublimer walk of the Heroic Song, their imagination was often bewildered, :>nd they wandered into the contiguous regions of the incredible and abfurdf. In proportion as Literature advanced in the world, Onl Tradition difappeared. The venerable Britifh Bards were in time fucceeded by the VVelfh Beirdh, * Huct, Lcttrc a Monfieur Segrais, fur 1'origine des Romans, p. LXVII. edit. d'Amft. 1715. f Hiftoriale defcrption de 1'Afrique, cfcritc de notre temps par Jean Leon, African, premierement en langue Arabefque, puis n Tofcane, et a prefent mife en FrancoisEn Anveri, 1556. Ib III. ?.I75- A curious fpecinren of the Eaftern religious poetry may be fecn in ^ir John Chardin's Voyage to Perfia, TO!. I. J Huet, ubi fupra, p. LXX. Ermengardc vicotntefTe de Nar bonne L'accueil favorable qu'ellc fit aux Poetes Provenceaux, a fait croire qu'ellc tcnoit cour (Tamtur dans fon Palais, moorot 1 104. Almanach Hiflonque dc Languedoc, a Touloufe, 1752, p. 277. See Hirt. Liter, dcs Troub. Parity 1774. Tranllations of Prorenzal Sirventcs, and an imitation of the Provenzal Heroic Romanz- , rr.ay be found in a volume lately publilbed by Mr. Diliy, intituled, RIMES. Odes, Book II. Odes, 8, 9, 10, n, u, 13. 16. Hiflory of Wales, by Caradoc of Lhar.carvan, &c. 1701. p. 159 b 3 xxii D I S S E p. T A T I O N I. whofe principal occupation feems to have been to pre- ferve the genealogy of their patrons, or at times to amufe them with feme fabulous flory of their predecef- fors fung to the harp or crowd *, an Snftrument which Griffith ap Conan, King of Wales, is faid 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 proeefs ** of time had a bard in his family, and the office be- " came hereditary. By the fucceffion of thefe bards the *' poems concerning the ancestors of the family were *' handed down from generation to generation ; they *' were repeated to the whole clan on folemn occa- * c fions, and always alluded to in the new compofi- " tions of the bards." The fuccelTors of Oflian were at length employed chiefly in the mean office of preferving fabulous genealogies, and flattering the pride of their chieftains at the expence of truth, without * This is the inftrument meant in the following verfes of Ven, 1'ortunatus, lib. vii. Romanufque lyra plaudat tibi, barbarus harpa, Grsecus Achilliaca, Crotta Britanna canat. See more of the Harp in War. Antic}. Hibern. cap. 22. And &Ir. Evans, Differ:, de Bardis, p. 80. f Mr. Macpherfon, in his Diflertation on the Era of Ofiian, p. aS, ed, 1773.' evca DISSERTATION I. xxiii even fancy fufficient to render their inventions cither pJeafing or plaufible. That order of men, I believe, is now altogether extinct ; yet tney have left a Ipirit of poetry in the country where they flourifhed * ; :;nd Offian's harp ftill yields a dying found among the wilds ofMorven.' Having thus given a faint view of the progrefs of the Oral Tradition of Poetry to thefe times f, I proceed to (hew what arts the cyjcient bards employed to make their vcrfes take fuch hold of the memory of iheir countrymen, as to be traniinitted fafe and entire without the aid of writing for many ages. r i hefe may be confidered as affecting the paffions and the ear. Their mode of expreffion was fimjple and genuine. They of confequence touched the pajfions truly and effectively. And when the paffions are engaged, we liften with avidity to the tale that fo agreeably affects them ; and remember it again- with the moft prompt facility. This ma) be obferved in children, who will forget no circumftance of an interefling ftory, more efpecially if finking or dreadful to the fancy ; when they cannot remember a jhort maxim which only oc- cupies the judgement. The paffions of men have been and will be the fame through all ages. Poetry is the ibvereign of the paffions, and will reign whi'e they * Sec Martin's, and other Dcfcripiions of the Weftcrn Iflcs, pilTim. f For an account of the more modern minftrcls fee Dr. . Diffcrtation^ which i* fo complete that it leaics nothing lo add/ b 4 exiil. *xiv DISSERTATION I. exift. We may laugh at Sir Ifaac Newton, as we have at Defcartes ; but we fhall always admire a Homer, an Offian, or a Shakfpere. As the fubjects of thefe genuine painters of nature deeply interefted the heart, and by that means were fo agreeable and affefting, that every hearer wifhed to remember them ; fo their mode of conftru&ing their verfe was fuch, that the remembrance was eafy and expeditious. A few of their many arts to aid the me- mory I mail here enumerate. I. Moft of thefe Oral poems were fet to mufic, as would appear, by the original authors themfelves. That this was the cuilom fo early as the days of Homer, may be feen in the excellent author formerly adduced *. How fhould we have been affected by hearing a compofition of Homer or Offian fung and played by thefe immortal matters themfelves ! With the poem the air feems to have pafffd from one age to anorher ; but as no muficril compofitions of the Greeks exifr, we are quite in the dark as to the nature of thefe. I iuppofe thatCflian's poetry is ftiil recited to its ori- ginal cadence and to appropriated tunes. We find, in an excellent modern writer f, that this mode of fmging poetry to the harp was reckoned an accomplifhment fo late as among the Saxon Eccleliailics. The ancient # Enquiry, &c. Seft. VIII. f Mr. Warion, la his Hiflory of Euglilh Poetry. mufic DISSERTATION I. * rnufic was confefledly infinitely fuperior to our in the command of the paffions. Nay, the mufic of the moft barbarous countries has had effects that not all the fublime pathos of Corelli, or animated flrains of Handel, could produce. Have not the Welfli, Irifii, and Scotifli tunes, greater influence over the moft in- formed mind at this day than the bell Italian concerto ? What Modern refined mufic could have the powers of the Ranee a* 7aches * of the Swiis, or the melancholy found of the Indian Banfha -j- ? Is not the war-muiic of the rudeft inhabitants of the wilds of America or Scot- land more terrible to the ear than that of the beft band in the Britifh army ? Or, what is Hill more furprizing, will not the fofter puflions be more inflamed by a * See Roufl~.au, Dift. de Mufique, fur rttte article. Though the Swifs are brave nation, yet their danre, which correfponds to the Ranee dtt P"a.bei, is, like their others, rather exprcflive of an effemi- nate fpirir. ' Les dances des Suilies confiilent cu un continue! ' trainement de Jambe, ces pas repondoicut mal au courage ferme 4 decette nation. Coquilltrt en fon Blazon des armes, et dts damei.' * Les Efcoffoys font les repliques, * Prar;oii ct Bretons briton.ians, * Les Suilfes dancent leurs Mor.-fques, ' A touts leurs tabourins foiinans.' Monf. L. D. Notes a Rabtlaif, Tom. IV. p. 164. 1725. f See Granger's Profo-poetic Account of the Culture of the Sugar-cane, Book IV. TurltiQi xxv! DISSERTATION!. Txrrkifh air than by the mo ft exquifite dFort of a polite cor> pofer ? as we learn from an elegant wri- ter*, whom concurring circumftances rendered the beft judge that could be imagined of that fubjecl. The bar my therefore of the old traditional fongs poffeffing filch influence over the ptiffions, at the fame time that it rendered every expreffion rreceffary to the ear, rmift have greatly recommended them to the remembrance. II. Befides mufical cadence, many arts were ufed in the verification to facilitate the rehearfal. Such were : i. The frequent returns of the fame fentences and defcriptions exprelled in the very fame words. As for inftance, the delivery of meflages, the description of battles, &c. of which we meet wkh infinite examples in Homer, and fome, if I miitake not, in Olfian. Good ones may be found in Hardjknute, i'artl. v. 123, Sec. compared with part II. v. 107, &c. and in Child INjaurice, v. 31., with v. 67; and innumerable fuch in the a... rional Poetry of all nations. Thefe feyved as krxl marks, in tb-: view of which the memory travelled fee. .re over the intervening fpaces. On this head falls likevriie to be mentioned what we call The Burden, that is, the un'.aried repetition or one or more I : .nes fixing the tone of the poem throughout the whole. That this' is very ancient among the barbaric nations, eaay be gathered from the known Song of Regner * Leiten of Lat. TbeJ. c. 23. From the Saxons he obferves, that the author of Pierce Phiunton drew this praiftice, c. 21. This poem was written about 1350. There is a remarkable fimilarity in its ftyle and manner with thofe very curious pieces of ancient Scotilh poetry, ftyle'S The Prophecies of Thoma- Ryrr.cr, Marvellous Merling, Beid, Berlington, Waldhavc, Eltraine, Ba- nifter, and Sybilla, printed at Edinburgh in 1615, and reprinted from that edition, 1741, 8vo. It is very furprifiug that the re- fpetfablc editor of Ancunt Stettijb Psenu, fram iht MS. tf Gtorgt Bannaryne, 1568. EJin. 1770, fecms to regard thefc as not more ancient than the time of Q^een Mary. His rrafons are only founded on the modern appearance of fomc particular pal-.i MS. That thi-y have been modernized and corruptcj, I will readily xxviii DISSERTATION I. was before thought to conftitute the fole difference between profe and verfe, was flill regarded as an accef- iary allow; but tttst they are on the main nearly as ancient as Rymer's time, who died aboot the beginning of the j^th Century, I believe the learned mnft confefs from intrinfic evidence, in fuch cafes the fnreftof all. Not to mention that Sir David Lindfay, who wrote in tbe reign of James V. is an undoubted witnefs that they muft be more ancient than this eminent Antiquary would infer. For in enumerating the methods he took to divert that prince while under bs care in his infancy, after condtfcending on fome rifible cir- cnmftances, as Whan thou waft young I bare thee in my arm Foil tenderly till thou began to gang; And in thy bed oft happed thce full warm, With lute in hand than fweetly to thee fang, Sometime in dancing fiercefuily I fling, And fometimes playing fairfes on the flurc, And fometimes of mine ofoce taking cure. And fometimes like a feind transfigurate, And fometimes like a greefy ghoft of gay, 10 divers forms oft times dishgur&ie, &c. He ad^s, The Prophefif s f Ryoifr, JBtJe, and Meilin, And many other pleafant hiftory Of tbe reJ Erin, and Gyre Carlin, Comforting thee when that I faw thre fory. Efljlli ti tbe Kng, prefixed to 'tis Dream* They DISSERTATION I. xxix fary grace, and was carried to a ludicrous length by fome poets of no mean rank in both nations. So late They begin thus: Merling fays in his book, who will read right, Althouch hi} fayings be uncouth, they Ihall be tree found, In the feventh chapter read who fo will, One thoufand and more after Chrilt's birth. Then the Chalnalider of Cornwall is called, And the wolf out of Wales is vanquilhed for aye, Then many ferlies Ihall fall, and many folk ihall die. This exordium is evidently retouched by a modern kind. Bat very many of the psflages feem to ftand in their orig ; nal form, as the following lines, which are all in the Saxon macner, will tefiify : And derfly dung down without any doome A proud prince in the preis lordly Ihall light. With bold Barons in bulhment to bat tie (hall wend. There (hall a galyart goat with a golden horn. And many fimilar. That prophecy which bears the name of Thoma* Rymer is not defliiute of poetic graces. It opens wkh the following lines : Still on my v;ays as I went Out throuch a land befide a Ice, I met a bairn upon the bent *, Mcihought him fecmly for 10 fee, iktgk *g ul *fl tbt rim. ixx DISSERTATION, t late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth we find the fefc lowing lines in a court poet : Princes puff'd; barons bluftered; lords began lowr, Knights ftorm'd ; fquires ftartled, like fteeds in a itowr 5 Pages and yeomen yelled out in the hall*. And William Dunbar, the chief of the old Scotifh poets, begins a copy of verfes to the King thus, San<5t Salvator fend filver forrow f . I afked him wholly his intent j Good Sir, if four will be, Since that ye bide upon the bent, Some uncouth tidings tell you me : When fliall all thefe wars be gone ? That leil men may live in ke ; Of when (ball Fafehude go from homej And La\vtie blow his horn on hie * I looked from me not a mile, And faw twa knights upon a lee, &c< T imagine, however, they are all the compofures of one hand; and, if I may ufe a conjecture, were written immediately after the rifons of Pierce Plowman, every Englifh poem of note in thofe days being foon futceeded by an imitation in Scotland. ' i:\ng fyetcc's Cbollcnge, in the Rtliques of Ancient Eiiglifb Postrv. Vol. III. /. 27. { Bannatyns's Scottifli Focms^ p. 6?. IB. DISSERTATION I. xxxi HI. But the grcateft affiftance that could be found to ihe tradition of poetry was derived from the invention of rime ; which is far more ancient than is commonly believed. One of the moil learned men this age has produced *, has ihewn that it is common in Scripture. All the Pfalms conliir of riming veiles, and many other paflages which he names. They were uied among the Greeks ib early as the time of Gorgias the Sicilian, who taught the Athenians this practice. And though the fpirit of the Greek and Latin languages did not always admit of them in poetry, yet they were ufed as occaficnal beauties by their moft celebrated writers. Homer, Heiiod, and Virgil, have a few r though ap- parently more from chance than dellgn. The ancient Saturnine verles were all rimes, as an old commentator f informs us. And it is more than probable they were fo conftrucled merely that the memory might the more eaGly preferve them, their licence forbidding their being committed to writing. Thofe who would wifli to know more particularly the univerfality of this mode of verifying" among, the other ancient nations, may confult the Huctlana of the moft learned and refpecl- able Bifhop of Avranchcs ;. The Eaftern poetry con- fills altogether, if I mitfake not, of riming lines, as iay be obierved in the Ipccinieus of Hafiz their raoil * LcClcrc, Biblloth. Unlvcrfc-lle, torn. IX. f Scrvius ad Georg. II. vcr. 356. J Sea. 78. . flluflriou* DISSERTATION. I. ill uftrious writer, lately publiflied *. It appears, how- ever, that alliteration fupplied the place of rime with the Northern nations till within a recent period f . Offian's poetry, I fuppofe, is in ftanzas fomething like our ballad meafure 5 though it were to be \vifhed the tranflator had favoured us with fome information on this head evidenced by fpecimens of the original. He indeed acquaints us that " Each verfe was fo con- " nefted with thole which preceded, or followed it, * that if one line had been remembered in a ftanza, it " was almoft impoffible to forget the reft j :" but this flands greatly in need of explanation. The common ballad ftanza is fo fimple, that it has been ufed by moft nations as the firft mode of con- ftrufting rimes. The Spanifh romanzes bear a great refemblance in this, as in ether refped~h, to the Scotiih Ballads. In both, every alternate line ends with fimilar vowels, though the confonants are not fo ftriclly at- tended to. As for inflance, in the former we have lana, efpada; mala, falakra; i>ega, citcva; rcn:pan t vof- car.oi; for rimes : and in the later, midJli, girdle', kccp^ Heed', Buleighan, tal- him ; &c. The Englifli, even in the ruder pieces of their firlt minftrels, leem to have * Jones, Comment. PoefeoS Aliaticae Richardfon's Specimen of Perfian Poetry. f Ol. Worm. Lit. Run. p. 165 & 176. % Diflcrt. on the Era of Offian, p. 228, ed. 1773. j paid DISSERTATION I. xxxiii paid more attention to the correfpondence of their con- ionants, as may be obferved in the curious Collection publiflied by Dr. Percy. As the fimplicity of this ftanza rendered it eafy to the compofer, and likewife more natural to exprels the paflions, fo it added to the facility of recollection. It's tone is fedate and flow. The rimes occur feldom, anr- rupted. VOL. I. c D I S- xxxiv J DISSERTATION IL ON THE TRAGIC BALLAD. THAT fpecies or" poetry which we denominate Ballad, is peculiar to a barbarous period. In an advanced ftate of arts, the Comic Ballad afTumes the form of the Song or Sonnet, and the Tragic or Heroic Ballad that of the higher Ode. The caufe of our pleafure in feeing a mournful event reprefented, or hearing it defcribed, has been attempted to be explained by many 'Critics *. It feems to arife from the mingled paffions of Admiration of the art of the author, Curioiity to attend the termination, De- light ariiing from a reflection on our ov, n fecurity, and the Sympathetic Spirit. * Ariftotle, Scaliger, Dubos, Trapp In his Praeleflions, Hurte, Iffay on Tragedy ; but, above all; Mr* Burke in his Enquiry intt tfa Sublimt and Beautiful. b DISSERTATION II. xxxv In giving this pleafure, perhaps the Tragic Ballad yields to no effort of human genius. When we perufe * poliflied Tragedy or Ode, we admire the art of the author, and are led to praife the invention ; but when we read an unartful defcription of a melancholy event, our paffions are more intenfely moved. The laboured productions of the informed compofer refemble a Greek or Roman temple; when we enter it, we admire the art of the builder. The rude effufions of the Gothic Mule are like the monuments of their Architecture. We are filled with a religious reverence, and, forgetting our praife of the contriver, adore the prefent deity. I believe no Tragic Ballad of renowned Antiquity has reached our times, if we deny the beautiful and pathetic CARMEK DE AfY in Catullus a title to this clafs; which, as a modern critic of note has obferved *, feems a tranflation from fome Greek Dittyrambic f , far more ancient than the times of that poet. His tranllation of Sappho's Ode might (hew that he took a delight in the ancient Greek compolitions, from which indeed he feems to have derived in a great meaiurc his peculiarly delicate veim * Eflay on the writings and genius of Pope, f. 514. -$d tL f The Drtbjranbifj were Heroic Songs, written with the higheft jlow of poetic fancy in honour of the ancient deities. Anftotle informs ut, tht the Greek Tragedy originated frwn them ; as then Comedy did from their Paftoral Love Song!. c z But xxxvi DISSERTATION II. But it was with the nations in a ftate of barbarity that this effufion of the heart flouriflied as in it's pro- per foil; their focieties, rude and irregular, were full of . viciffitudes, and every hour fubjeft to the mofl dreadful accidents. The Minftrels, who only knew, and were infpired by thq prefent manners, caught the tale of mortality, and recorded it for the inftruclion and en- tertainment of others. It pleafed by moving the pal- fions, and, at the fame time, afforded caution to their auditors to guard againft fimilar Biif-adventures. It is amufing to obferve how expreffive the poetry of every country is of its real manners. That of the Northern nations is ferocious to the higheft degree. Nor need we wonder that thofe, whole laws obliged them to decide the moil trilling debate with the iword *, 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 complaifance ; and takes off his helmet in the heat of combat, when he thinks on his miftrefs. That of the Englifli is generous and brave. In their mod noble ballad, Percy laments over the death of hit *' Frothoetiam III. Danorum rex, quemadmodum Saxo, lib. V. refert, de qualibct controverfia ferre decerni fanxit: fpeciofius vi- ribus quam verbis, confligendum exiftimans. Scbsdiui de di'u Ger. mortal DISSERTATION II. xxxvii mortal foe. That of the Scots is perhaps, like the face of their country, more various than the reft. We find in it the bravery of the Englifh, the gallantry of the Spanifh, and I am afraid in fome inftances the ferocity of the Northern. A late writer * has remarked, that, " the Scottifli " tunes, whether melancholy or gay, whether amorous, *' martial, or paftoral, are in a ftyle highly original, " and moil feelingly expreffive of all the paffions from " the fweeteft to the moft terrible." He proceeds, *' Who was it that threw out thofe dreadful wild ex- " preffions of diftraclion and melancholy in Lady Cul- " rofi'i Dnam? an old compofition, now I am afraid " loft, perhaps becaufe it was almoil too terrible for the ear." This compofition is neither loft, nor is it too terri- ble for the ear. On the contrary, a child might hear it repeated in a winter night without the fmalleft emo- tion. A copy f of it now lies before me, and as fome curiofity Mifccllanics by John Armflrong, M.D. vol. II. p. 254. f It is intituled, " A Godly Dream compiled by Elizabeth " Melvil, Lidy Culrofs younger, at the requeft of a friend." Edinburgh, 1737, iimo. p. 20. It is either reprinted from fome former edition, or from a MS. It was written, I conjeaure, about the end of the Sixteenth Century ; but in this edition I fufpeft feve- ral exprertions re modernized and altered to accommodate it to the ommon capacity. c 3 Th xxxviii DISSERTATION II. curiofity may have been raifed by the above remark, I fhall -here give an account of it. The dreadful and melancholy of this production are folely of the religious kind, and may have been deeply affecting to the enthu- fiaftic at the period in which it was written : It begins thus ; Upon a day as I did mourn full fore, For fundry things wherewith my foul was grieved, My grief increafed, and grew more and more, I comfort fled, and could not be relieved ; With heaviness my heart was fore mifchieved, I loathed my life, I could not eat nor drink, 1 might not fpeak, nor look to none that lived, But mufed alone, and diverfe things did think. This wretched world did fo moleft my mind, I thought upon this falfe and iron age, And how our hearts arefo to vice inclined, That Satan feems molt fearfully to rage, Nothing on earth my forrow could afwage, I felt my fin fo ftrongly to increafe ; 1 grieved the fpirit was wont to be my pledge ; My foul was plunged into molt deep diftrefs. The lady Culrofs here meant was Elizabeth daughter of Sir James Melvil of Halhill, and wife of Jehn Colvil Commendator of Culrofs. She is believed to have been the mother of Samuel Colvil the fatyrical poet, author of the Scow Hadibras, Sec. Her DISSERTATION II. xxxbc Her Saviour is then fuppofed to appear in a dream, and lead her through many hair-breadth fcapes into Heaven: Through dreadful dens, which made my heart aghafl f He bare me up vyhen I began to tire j Sometimes we clamb oer cragie mountains high ; And fometimes flayed on ugly braes of fand, They were fo flay that wonder was to fee ; But when I feared, he held me by the hand. Through great deferts we wandered on our way. Forward we pafl on n.irrow bridge of tree, Ger waters great which hideoufly did roar, &. The moft terrible paflage to a fuperftitious ear, is that in which flie fuppofes herfelf fufpendcd over the Gulph of Perdition : Ere I was ware, one gripped me at laft, And held me high above a flaming fire. The fire was great, the heat did pierce me fore, My faith grew weak, my grip was very fmall. I trembled faft, my fear grew more and more. My hands did (hake that I held him withall, At length they loofed, then I began to fall, &c. st D I S S R T A T I O N II. At length flie arrives in view pf the Heavenly man- fions in a ftanza, which, to alter a little her own ex- jn'elilon, ' Glitters with tinfctt I looked up unto that caflle fair Glittering with gold ; and filming filver bright The ftately towers did mount above the airj They blinded me they caft fo great a light, My heart was glad to fee that joyful fight, My voyage then I thought it not in vain, I him befought to guide me there aright, With many vows never to tire again. And the whole concludes with an exhortation to a pious life. But what has the Chriftian religion to do with poetry? In the true poetic terrible, I believe, fome paflages in Hardyknute yield to no attempt of a ftrong and dark fancy. The Ballad %}pd Edward may, I fear, be ra- ther adduced as an evidence that this difpleafes, when it rifes tp a degree of the horrible, which that iingular piece certainly partakes of. The Pathetic is the other principal walk of the Tragic M,u.fe : and in this the Scotifii Ballads yield to no compositions whatever. What can be imagined more moving than the cataitrophes of Offian's Dar- thula, the moil pathetic of all poems ? or of Hardyk* 3 rmte, DISSERTATION H. xl! nute, Child Maurice, and indeed moft of the piecei now collected? Were ever the feelings of a fond mother exprefled in a language equal in fimplicity and pathos to that of lady Bothwell? This leads me to remark, that the dialed in which the Scotifli Ballads are written gives them a great advantage in point of touching the paffions. Their language is rough and tinpolilhed, and feems to flow immediately from the heart *. We meet with no concettos or far-fetched thoughts in them. They poifcfs the pathetic power in the higheft degree, becaufe they do not affect it ; and are ftriking, becauic they do not meditate to ftrike. Moft of the compofitions now offered to the public, have already received approbation. The mutilated Fragment of Hardyknute formerly in print, was ad- mired and celebrated by the bed critics. As it is now, I am inclined to think, given in it's original perfection, it is certainly the moft noble production in this ft vie that ever appeared in the world. The manners and characters are ftrongly marked, and well preferred ; the incidents deeply intereiling; and the cataftrophe new and affecting. I am indebted for moft of the ftanzas, now recovered, to the memory of a lady in Lanarkfhire. Dionyi. Hal. *!ii DISSERTATION II, A modern lyric poet of the firft clafs * has pro- nounced Child Maurice a Divine Ballad. " Ariftotle's *.* beft rules," fays he, " are obferved in it in a man- <' oer that fhevvs the author had never read Ariftotle.'* Indeed if any one will perufe Ariftotle's Art of Poetry with Dacier's Elucidations, and afterwards compare their moft approved rules with this fimple Ballad, he will find that they are better illuftrated by this rude effort of the Gothic Mufe, than by the moft exquifite Tragedy of ancient or modern times. The Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, the Athalie of Racine, the RIerope of Maffei, and even the very excellent Drama, which feems immediately founded on it, not excepted ; there being many delicate ftrokes in this original, which the plot adopted by that author forbade his making proper ufe of. This does honour at once to the un- known compofer of this Ballad, and to the firft of cri- tics* In the former the reader will admire a genius, that, probably untracked by erudition, could produce z ftory correfponding to the intricate though natura} rules of the Greek author. To the latter will be readily confirmed the applaufe of an ancient -J-, that, ke was the fecretary of Nature, and his pen was ever dipped in good ienfe. Mr. Gray. See his Betters pttWUhed by Mr, Mfbn. Sc^UV. Lee. XXV. -j- Apud Suidam. Thefe, DISSERTATION II. xlui Thefe, and the other monuments of ancient Scotifti Foetry, which have already appeared, are in this edi- tion given much more correct; and a few are now firft publi flied from tradition. The Editor imagined they poflefled fome final 1 beauties, elfe they would not have been added to this Selection. Their ieeming antiquity was only regarded as it enhanced their real graces. MDCCJLXXVI *. * Thcfe DiftVrtations, &c. were written of this date, but flight additions have been made to them from time to time ; as the reader will obitrve from references to books publilhed ince that period. HAVESfQ HAVING in the Fii it of the foregoing Diflertationt mentioned with applaufe the Spanilh Ballads, or Romanzes, contained in the HISTORIA DE LAI GUERRAS CIVILES DE GRANADA, and that book being feldom to be met with, and written in a language of no wide ftudy, the Editor has been induced to give a few tranflations from that work ; the two which Dr. Percy has publifhed having rather excited than gra* lifted curiolity. Before producing thefe tranflations, it may be pro* per to give Ibme fhort account of the work whence they are taken. The Hiftory of the Civil Wars of Granada is a well-written narration of thofe difientions which tore that kingdom in pieces, for fome years be- fore the period that Ferdinand and Ifabella, king and queen of Chriftian Spain, conquered it, down to the time of conqueft. The chief fources of thofe diflen- lions were the two great Vandot. or factions, of the Zegris and the Abencerrages ; whole exploits and ad- Tentures, with thofe of their adherents, are here dif- played with a minute detail that favours very ftrongly of romance, though the great outlines of the work are evidently founded on luiioi ical truth ; which, if the reader ( xivi ) itader pleifes, is indeed only another name For a cer- tain fpccies of romance. This Hiftory, as we learn from the work itfelf to- wards the clofe, is a tranflation from the Arabic of an imonymous Moor, who fled to Africa with many of his countrymen, when Granada was yielded to the arms of Ferdinand. His grandibn, byname Argutaafa, found this work among his grandfather's papers, and prefented it to a Jew, called Rabbi Santo, who tranflated it into He- brew ; and gave the Arabic Original to Don Rddrigo Ponce de Leon, Conde de Baylen. That lord being interefted by it, as his anceftors had been concerned in the wars there relatedj ordered the Jew to translate k into Caftillan Spanifh ; and afterwards gave the tranflation to the Spanifli editor, whole name from the firil edition, Barcelona printed by Seb. Matevad, i6iOj appears to be Ginez Perez. On almoft every occafion the author produces fomi tomanze, as the voucher of his incidents, tranflations f a few of which fhall now be produced. It rmift, however, be premifed, that the firft tranfiation is merely meant to convey to the reader an idea of the verfe in which moil of the originals are written ; for tvhich purpofe one of the feebleft was chofen; as, had ftrength of thought or incident been attempted in this Way, the Ipirit would have totally evaporated in the midft of attention to the double rimes, of which the Engliih language is remarkably penurious; ROMANZE xlvii 3 ROMANZE L ! i. AT the pleafant dawn of morning, Moorifh knights in numbers fall/ To maintain a folemn turney In Granada's verdant valley. n Jufting they wheel their fleet horles ; On his lance each warrior fteady Bears a rich and beauteous penon, Wrought with art by his fair lady. ; III. The bright fun they dazzle, (hewing Jupes of filk and golden tifliie : Each young hero hopes to foften His proud dame by that day's iflue. IV. From the towers of proud Alhambra* Moorifh hdies view the trial ; And among them two the fr.irefl Of the court without denial, *tte eeltbrattd palace oftke Moorijl kingt of Granada. 4 V. Fati: ROMANZE I. V. Fatima they and Xarifa Love on both has play'd his ^quiver j Thee, Xarifa, O that Alia Would from jealoufy deliver ! VI. Tho friends they, for this has filencc ' O'er them fpread his fullen pinion. Fatima the heart ha ftolen OfXarifa'sfaithlefs minion. VII. Abendarrez call the rover ; Guiltlefs me of his defe&ion ; For of Fatima's firm paffion Abenamar was th' cleftion. VIII. Spoke at length the wrong'd Xarifa, As with fcorn her rage to cover ; For flie thought her friend with favour Heard the fuit of her falfe lover. IX. e Love cannot be hid, my lifter, ' But himfelf he ftill difclofes ; * Of thy tongue where is the prattle ? * Of thy checks where arc the rofes ? X. *Thou ROMANZEI. xlix X. * Thou art not in love, I know it ! * See the caufe of thy condition ; * Thy knight, Abendarrez, tilting, * Hopes the prize with fond ambition. XL Beauteous Fatima her filencd In wife anfwer thus has broken : ' Never yet did Love, Xarifa, ' Of my heart receive a token. XII. * If my fpeech and colour leave me * It is not without a reafon ; Short time fince my gracious father * Died by Alabez's treafon. XIII. * And if ever Love, my fitter, * To his law could bring me over, ' Abendarrez fliould not win me, * From thy charms a cruel rover.' XIV. Thus the Moorifli dames have fpoken ; Then in filence clos'd their prattle, To remark each gallant chieftain Who maintain'd the feeming battle. d ROMAN ZE t 1 R O M A N Z E IL WHEN valiant Ferdinand beheld Granada to his prowefs yield j And o'er A'hambra's higheft tower The banner fly of ChrifHan power ; II. Thus to the flower of Spaniih ground, His peers and loyal leaders round, The mandates of his mighty breafr, The monarch in his pride addreis'd. III. ' Who when the morning fpr'ngs, will go ' Our chief againft the mountain foe ; * And fpread our princely enfign tall ' O'er Alpuxarra's rebel wall * ? * When Ferdinand *was occupied a lone manfion of her friends, In lafting durance there to ftay. XXVIII. ' Tell him,' fhe faid, 4 where'er I go, * My firm love ftiall attend me fUH. c Alas, what barrier can be fet * Againft an amorous monarch's will ! ? ROMANZE R O M A N Z E IV*. i. ALON T G San Lucar's ample fqiure See gallant Gazul ride ; In fnowey hue anray'd, and green, And purple's radiant pride. To Gelves he dcfigns to go, His valiant /kill to try ; In turaament with many a knight Of high renown to vie. II. The chief a noble dame adores ; Of her farewell to take, A thoufand anxious turns before Yon manfion fee him make. Lo, from the balcony at length, The lovely maid inclines, As o'er a diitant hill the morn, In rofy radiance fhines. This ballad ;'/ cwfcfeJ of three Jiferext ones on tie famt f*bjti ; tbefrj) beginning, Por la ph^a dc San Lucar j let fecond, Sale h dJiLJla UcA'caus; aid tls :b;rjl, Nodcttl b:areza Uciio. . Ill Ixii R O M A N Z E IV* III. Swift from his fteed the warrior lights, And kneels upon the ground, As ftruck with awe : fuch power has love The valiant to confound. * O fair,' he cries with trembling voice, ' This day mutt fame be mine : * What chance can hurt me now that I * Have Jeen thy charm-s divine ? IV. * Yet of thy favour I befeech ' Some badge to bear along*; * That, with it grac'd, my haughty lance * May as my love be ftrong.* In jealous rage the maid replied, For then full well fhe knew That Zaida, his firft defire, An elder duty drew. V. ' If in the combat thy fuccefs ' My heart's defire may crown; * No more, falfe knight, lhalt thou return, * But life lofe, and renown. * // was the cuftom for ladies to prefent their lovers