A great change was wrought in the literature of Scotland in the early part of the seventeenth century by Drummond of Hawthornden and William Alexander, (afterwards Earl of Sterling); Drummond has not only the merit of teaching his nation a purer and more classical style of writing in the themes which he so poetically handled, but is now generally and justly considered as one of the early refiners of English versification. On comparing Drummond's and his friend Alexander's poems with those of Scott and Montgomery, it is easily perceived how much those poets did for the literature of their country:-wearing the cloaths not the garb of English writers, Drummond appeared as the first poet who wrote sonnets strictly and elegantly. King James to his last hour never could throw off his Scottish Let me observe here that the castle downe,' means no more than the following passage in Gil Morice: The lady sat on castil wa', Beheld baith dale and doun; And there she saw Gil Morice's head Cum trailing to the toun. or this in Edom o' Gordon,' The ladie stude on her castle wa' Beheld baith dale and down; There she was ware of a host of men and to have done with instances-the following in Young Waters: The Quein luikt oure the castle wa, Beheld baith dale and down, And then she saw zoung Waters Cum ryding to the town. accent, or rid his mind of northern phrases, and his letters written in the latter part of his reign, are full of the language of his native country. Few English poets of that period are so free from obsolete expressions as Drummond and Sterling: the former, I think, has but two words of northern birth, he speaks of the blackbird as the 'merle,' and the eyes as the een,' and even these two are found both in Shakspeare and Ben Jonson. The following pastoral song by Drummond, will fully bear out all I have said, it seems to have been written as a companion piece to Raleigh's beautiful little poem, The Shepherd's description of Love,' printed in that curious miscellany, The Phoenix Nest,' 1593. A PASTORAL SONG. PHILLIS AND DAMON. PHIL. Shepherd, dost thou love me well? PRIL. Like to what, good shepherd, say? DAM. PHIL. O how strange these words I find! Shepherd, without mocking me, DAM. Like to thee, fair cruel May. To say thou lov'st me as thine eyne. DAX. Wo is me! these I love not, PHIL. Like to what, dear shepherd, say? PHIL. Once, dear shepherd, speak more plain, DAM. Say, to end this gentle strife, Is 'reft, and I'm but a dead corse. DAM. The few pieces of poetry that remain of Sir Robert Ayton's, shew he possessed not only correctness and elegance of language, but simplicity and originality of thought. Had Ayton been born to fill a less prominent situation in the court of his' Sovereign, the fancy and taste he possessed might have been more largely and more beneficially cultivated. His genius had then been called upon to support him as well as to afford him amusement and delight. The little he wrote excites pleasure and regret-pleasure that he wrote so sweetly and so well-and regret that the gift of poesy he had from Nature, was suffered so seldom to shew forth its sunny rays. The ewe-bughts Marion,'' Tak your auld cloak about ye,' and 'Waly, waly up yon bank,' are songs of great merit; all three probably belong to the reign of Queen Mary. Whatever lady was the love of Montrose, she is made glorious through his sword and famous by his pen. If tradition is right in ascribing to Francis Semple' The blythesome bridal,' She rose and loot me in,' and Maggy Lauder,' his name may safely be placed in the first rank of lyric poets. Those songs, serious and witty, are alike clever. 'Katherine Ogie,' Bessy Bell and Mary Gray,' 'Muirland Willie,' 'The Country Lass,' 'The Brisk young lad,' 'Andro and his cutty gun,'' My wife has taen the gee,''Clout the Cauldron,'' Get up and bar the door,' 'Ettrick banks,' 'Saw ye Johnie coming?' 'An thou wert my ain thing,'' Our gudeman came hame at een' are all first-rate songs, of various descriptions, and nearly all of the same merit ; and no one knows who are their authors!" their very names," writes Burns', " (O, how mortifying to a bard's vanity!) are now 'buried among the wreck of things which were.'" There is what Scott calls "a bold, rude, original cast of thinking" about some of the above mentioned comic songs. "Whoever," says Allan Cunningham," was the author of Willie was a wanton wag,'-no one ever conceived a more original lyric, or filled up the outlines of his conception with more lucky drollery, more lively flashes of native humour, or brighter touches of human character. Willie, is indeed, the first and last of his race: no one has imitated him, and he imitated none."* In Allan Ramsay we see the restorer and reviver of our songs, and a poet full of natural outbursts of fancy and feeling. If we except Bishop Percy, no poetical antiquary has done as much for the Songs and Ballads of his country as Ramsay; if he had not the faithfulness of Ritson, his taste and his judgment were more eminently fine. To Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellany, we stand indebted for the preservation of many an excellent song; that work introduced to the world Hamilton, Crawford and Mallet. No writer has happier and more frequent touches of delicacy and pastoral sweetness than Ramsay: no poet has blended together more than he has done of absurdity and beauty. Few of his songs, taken upon the whole, are good; but not even Burns himself has paid luckier compliments to beauty, or thought oftener as a poet more finely; than Allan Ramsay. Who is there that does not admire the pastoral beauty and sweetness of Crawford, and the elegance and refinement of Hamilton? "It may be questioned," says Ritson, "whether an English writer has produced so beautiful a pastoral as Tweedside. Crawford is in the first rank of lyric poets."† *Songs of Scotland, I. 178. + Scott. Songs, lxxviii. |