The National Register. — London, England, 1811-01-27 00:00:00

REV REMAINS OF NITIISDA LE AND. GALLOWNY SONG; WITH HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL NQTICES .RELATIVE TO THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEASANTRY. FUBLISIIED BY R.-.H. CHIMER, EDITOR OF " THE RE.. LIVES OF DIJRNS.3:=4.i To preserve what is useful, ornamental, curious, and amusing, from sinking among the.wreck which new opinions, new ideas, :Ind new necessities, always. create, is the chief purpose of art Antiquarian ; and of all the different pursuits into which Anti quarianism branches her. 'research, it is perhaps the most diffi cult to collect remains of poetinthought, broken outlines of cus toms and opinion, decayed. and almost forgotten popular man ners, all of which were once the delight of our forefathers, and cut of which our own knowledge and greatness have arisen, and ta select, combine, and condense these in a clear l distinct, and in-- t. lligent manner, at once useful and pleasing. To cast aglow, a vivacity of colouring, partaking of the same kind of genius witlatlie object of illustration, on the remarks and critical acu men which connect the broken and disjointed outline, would seem to be the height which. Antiquarianism has attempted to. reach, and in which she has almost always failed. Such have., been the laltpurs of the venerable Percy, and such have been the researches of ScOtt. The first possessed all that courtly know-. ledge necessary for elucidating Romance, and. the latter's views were confined by his subject to illustrate marauding depredations 4111 the savage ferocities of the feudal times. A work seemed to wanting to lead us into the hearts of the peaceful and. , retired cottager, to show us the workings of genius which had stayer a chance to be weighed in the balance of public opinion. ln short, to unveil the rustic Domes of the inland. peasantry in ruder and in better times, before refinement had sapped their characteristic originality, and commerce and acquaintance with foreign vices and manners had rendered them suspicious and nnhospitable; such a work. the public voice has evidently demanded, and we are now presented with a portion of it from the Editor of the Reliques of Robert Burns. The aim of the work, as the title eyinees, is confined to Nithsdale and. Galloway, two districts of country which,, though ;g dby the din of English inrottel and of border luistility, enjoyed. much pastoral quiet, harriered. by- their woody fastnesses and. by the warlike Max. - .. wells, their hereditary chieftains. Ilia Book divides itself into four parts, . Sentimental :.'engs„Huniourous Songs, Jacobite Songs of 171.5 and 1745, and Ancient tallads a all of which, saving one or tw_ o, have never before been presented to the nation. The Firstdlasa contains many. lyric? in the .highest order of SCQUiSh songs, which cer tainly, could _not five the Editor more pleasure to collect and publish, than Any, will gii; the Public in their perusal ; they are accoMpatiied by notes gthich would seem to be dictated by the individual aeniuS that prompted and produced. the songs. contain true notions of poetic feeling and excellence, a • Feenpytent keowledge of the romantic. spirit of Scotishwooing and love adventure, and are highly illustrative of the religious austerity of Calvinism. The Humourous Songs certainly contain iaany flashes of attic wit, which will be lost in an English". ear, they are,deeper tinctured with the rustic dialect of Scntland, and have a. dash of co/loquialqUaintness, highly humourous, and for which apative alone can. hare a proper relish. It is the prero gative of every nation to have strokes of. untranslatable wit and flashes of humour, which no other languagecan assume. "The quaint felicity of expression in which they are conveyed cannot. be transplanted, v:hile the pathos of the heart, the flush. of sen timent passing in the delightfulapparel of nature, is owned and. familiarized in every nation. Thus, though these. huanotirous songs possess merit canal to the sentimental ones, they will per haps never go any I'3l.'r3ier than to be national favourites, owing to the dirficulty of appreciating their excellence. Of t ic Jaco bit e songs of 1715 and 14-c: 3 t is no comtnenda ./. 59 .. most afflicting eloquence of the overwhelmed the land. The Muse of for a moment to have forsaken the fancies o poetic embellishmeni, and to have deemed truth sufficient top describe the afflictions of bet: country. These songs having been treasured up in the bosoms of Catholic families,' for rea sons of which the severities of law may inform us, have now. when On claims and"the. very name of Stuart. have become ex tinct, burst all at Once on the nation, and, setting ancient att tachments aside, we may. regard them as the most valuable ac quisition of national Lyrics which has been made for a 'century. The notes are exceedingly valuable, and contain many remark, able anecdotes altogether new and curious. The 4th Class,which contained the ancient ballads,is not so in teresting, and gives one optacto very fine songs under the title of Ballads. The concluding Poem is the most strikingly poetic Scotish Romance ever recovered from tradition, and it is curious to know how it, izakikKapr,{l the researches of Scuts and other ballad collectors j i Mr. Croto*Z.doncludes his book with a most remarkable and valuable Appendix, giying tales of " factie" and historic skctche. of the. Scottish opinions and belief in witchcraft. A History of the Scottish "Brownie" or . " udginl:, Goblin:* poetically tie sctibed by Milton, and , a. Life of Mr. Lowe, aut.:toe of the sublime song of " 3.4ary"s.Dream." In characterizing those fabled beings of witchcraft jatul,,S' ,fainie,“ the Editor 4ias n lost judiciously forsaken the gonttnun resource of consulting scarce had dull boas, and making black-letter references; he has gone direct to the fountain spring of such intelligence, by drawing them from tradittOnary belief and popular opinion. 'Thus he has contrived to give them an original and 1-.terestirg appearance, much more natural and enlivening than ever they had before, with many tr ok s of character unrecorded 411 hitherto kept among the peasantry. It is justice to notice, that. Mr. Cromek has scrupulously printed the persons' names from whom be received these songs, and has acknowledged the assistance of several beautiful criti cisms which adorn his volume; these at once elucidat e th e songs, and identify that. they are genuine, besides. giving us a very fine specimen of the genius and knowledge of the Seattish. peasantry. • On. examining these beautiful lyrics with a strict critical eye, we are delighted to see that they owe none of their beauties to scholastic livery, or to classic imagery ; they appear the spontaneous productions of minds to which such aids were unknown, or who disdained to employ them. To conclude, every person of taste must be sorry that researches which pr. - duce and redeem so many exquisite songs from the oblivion into which they I,ven2 thrown, should not extend to a %eider te;cl beyond.the confines of a county, or the nook of a k The subjoined specimen of the Songs, and their Notes, is se lected, because it is complete of itself, and contains two of the boldest samples of i‘;tional character which have ever beers recorded; it belongs to the Jacobite songs of 1745-6. THE YOUNG MAXWELL. • A young gentleman of the family of Maxwell, art betrour- I able and potent name in Galloway and Nithsdale, being au ad herent of Charles, suffered in the general calamity of his friends. After seeing his paternal house reduced to ashes ; his father killed in its defence; his only sister dying with grief for her father and three brothers slain ; he assumed the habit a an old shepherd ; and in one of his, excursions singled out °tie of the individual men who had ruined his family. After upbraiding him for his cruelty, he slew him in single COMba. 0. " z , r•., -n3fto 41,1 TRY YOUNG. MAXWELL.• 1 > C . ! V gang j ye,. thou silly auld carle • - • •-• And what do ye carry there ?" •:;T It I'm gaun to the hill-side, thou wager gcntlesnani , To shift my sheep their lair."l _ • ~+. .. .... ...- . - .... . . .3 1 1MISI , ~....,....•••••I•Plin...i. 4 ~...... , n. , ,a'vg , , ...a.a.a. • _ay. a s -¢lO , EGI ST ER , R E viE iv of FASIII . OIVABLE 4Li± AT *.. 'rs - . tion to say that they spealiWiti disasters and rtiin which oven v