The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-11-14 00:00:00

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THE INFANT ANGEL.
Infaut fires!--beauty rarest—
.l; hn repairest front Iltsolrf j
11 lane sweet smiling, wnt.heguiling,
Light tut with a heavenly love.
Mother ! mourn no:— I re•urn not—
%l'lierefore learnt not to be blast ?
Ile,t(n's my honie how, where I roam now-
-I—nn angel, and at rAtt.
Why distress thee ? I bless thee—
S!.11 eareys thee, though I'm tied ;
th.lheas--ix.itr heaven's fulness
Of bright glory on thy head.
In ve flellird thee, thoughts that hind tha—
t:realms that blind thee in their glare
Lnoit before thee, rosod thee, o'er thee--
p (leaven invites thea—l am there.
'" giteiwt as of ac Mitch Poets.

—....•--
LITERARY GLEA.NINC;S.
--........—.
No. MX.
eve following letter from Attaxs to his musical
ll iihoinson i the origin of the beautiful air of " Ye hanks
o.l7ra,ef bonnie Donn," records an interesting fact. We
surprised tit, should not have dwelt
ratlwr " •
6rt pbstically upon as starting a curious topic of
LIN eP • • .-
1 uill •
Illietil ICI 'sq I 0 XI. Tnonso*.
November. 1794.
hem to you, my dear Sir, for your yesterday it is a book
Meer 1,0 importance to me. I have begun my
O she ' -g,,t for your work. I intend drawing it up in the form
sesidos°' to
which will save me from the tediou dull bun-
• ko', mu..
otemstic strangement. Indeed, as all I haves, to lay c0n-
.... moneeted remarks anecdotes, scraps of old songs,
in
.t''airk; be impossible to give the work a beginning,a middle,
&WI 'I
which the critice insist to be absolutely necessary in •
asiair efi.ine Iser I told you my objections to the song you had
_,.,...i fa my lodging is on the cold vowed. On my visit the
""--410„ to my fan Uhloeis (that Is the poetic name of the lovely
..A...".. •of my insoiratiou), she suggested an idea, which I, in
r----esee from the visit, wrought into the following song :
W.f.—Thiel? Minds, mark how green the groves." &c.
sh, go pm like the simplicity and tenderness of this pastoral I
.1;/0 patty well-
itieyos for entering so candidly and go kindly into the story
olere antic. I assure you I was never more in enmest in my
etis
ea se in the account of that affair which I sent you in my last.
'..edlhole it a passion which I deeply feel, and highly vene-
le somehow it does not make such a figure in poesy as
ma' ti - •
, gee 'peon of the p nolo°,
—" ti Where Love iv liberty, and Nature law."
„..,• le waking. the first is an matrument of which the gamut
,„' sod confined. but the tones inexpressibly sweet; while
erlahtime powers equal to all the intellectual modulations of the
keno
i Soli lam • very poet in my enthusiasm of the pas.
a., '
.•The ,myere sue happiness of the beloved object is the first
lot ogietet, tentimest that pervades my soul ; and whatever
I might wish for, or whstever might he the raptures they
tiltr7te we, yet, if they interfere whet thee first principle, it is
ha -
lithe
pleaturee at a dishonest price; and juetice forbids, and
engsies die purchase ! • ••• • 4 .
.1▪ - Doeibing of my own powers to give you variety enough in
xaiiii wogs, I have been coining over old colleations, to pick
aawea‘ ge which the measure is something similar to what I
;le;; isa, sinks little alteration, so as to suit the rhythm of the
autism/, to give you them for your work. Where the songs
henkitterm been but little noticed, nor have ever been set to
max. !think the shift • fair one. A song, which, under the
noes tire tern, you will find in Itamsey's Tea-Table Miscellany,
I one cut Coen for an English dress to your Dointie Davie, as
iii.n t—
" rt IMP the charming month of May," &c.
you mar think meanly of this, hut take a look at the bombast
*Owi aid ton will be surprised that I have made so much of
i!. I have finished my song to Rotheneurches Rant ; and you
het Clarke to consult as to the set of the air for tonging.
Chorus—" Lassie wi the lint-white locks," &c.
This piece has at least the merit of being a regular pastoral :
lee feral morn, the stammer noon, the autumnal evening, and
me river night. are regularly rounded. If you like it, wall; if
go, I will intim it in the Museum.
Ism out interne* that you should set so sweet, so tender an air,
eDM Ws dm IF"urs, to the foolish old verses. You talk of the
sillheten Styr sly Father 31 by heavens ! the odds is gold to
hmil Saw the hid song, though now pretty well modernised
lethellisteWil bowline. is originally, and in the early editions,
kw imitation of the Scottish manner, by that genius
1111119; so has no inventions to be a Scottish production.
b. pietty English song by Sheridan, in the Deanna, to this
AM le sot of sight, superior to D'Crfey's. It begins,
a Who sable night each drooping plant restoring."
%slat I eolentand the expression of it properly. is the very
uMime of simplicity, tenderness, and love. I have again
ser my song to the tune as follows.
lose hir my English song to Nancw's to afar Grerutcood, le.
-Farewell, thou stream that winding flows," &c.
Ines is an air, The Cakdoneare Hunt's delight, to which I
were s meg that you will find In Johnson.
Yr tasks tad braes o' bonnie Donn; this ale, I think, might
I:A a plus among your hundred, as Lear says of his knights. Do
me tut the history of the sir ? It is curious enough. A good
PM yen ago, Mr. ..lomos Miller, writer in your good town, a
:rilWho possibly you know, was in company with our
l/hale; soli Slitting of Scottish music, Miller expressed an
elm embitter' to be able to compose a Scots air. Mr. Clarke,
midh by say of joke, told him to keep to the black keys of the
Wwnelionl4eed preserve some kind of rhythm, and he would in.
Unity_ eumpose a Scots air. Certainly it is, that in a few days
XL Mks produced the rudiments of an air, which Mr. Clarke,
sith tome 'niches end corrections, fashioned into the tune in ques-
tion. Ritsoo, you know, has the same story of the Black dews
let this mango which I have just given you, Mr. Clarke informed
goof tercel yeses ago. Now to show you how difficult it is to
eow OW wiener our airs, I have heard it repeatedly asserted that
his ses sr' Irish air: nay, I met with an Irish gentleman who
aired St lud heard it in Ireland among the old women ; while,
• alidor band, a countess informed me, that the firm pees*
vie iredmed the sir into this oitintry, eras a baronet's lady of het
senestrece, who took down the notes from an itinerant piper in
!kind Man, How difficult then to ascertain the truth respect-
er/Immo/ and music ! I myself have lately seen a couple of
Maims/ through the streets of Dumfries, with my name at
filed of dim se the author, through it was the first time I had
ON Ka them.
I theak • you for Admitting Cralegit.born-irood; and I shall
Otte, to farnitth you with a new charts.. In fact the chortle was
stetwywerir. bat a part of some old verses to the air. If I can
: eiskeyeelf In a more than ordinarily propitious moment, I shall
reititert Cro.git.birn-Wood altogether. My heart is much In
leo ashamed, my dear fellow, to make the request ; 't is dunning
Isaretinr.) ; but in a moment, when I had forgotten whether I
with or pour I promised Clitoris a copy of your songs. It
ono= honest pride so write you this; but an ungracinue re-
pot iicloubly so by • tedious apology. To make you some
1111116,u sown as I have extracted the necessary information out
a :teii. I silt return you Ittitson's volumes.
Thirty is not a little proud that she is to make so distinguished
lime is your collection, and I am not a little proud that I hate
5 a at poser to please her so much. Lucky it is for your patience
hies paper is done, fax when I um in a scribbling humour, I
het te; when 13 give over.
AoiogeniLus writer in the TrestminAter Review accounts
Ir!ianly (pr the apparent phenomenon to which the po-
rim .Scoith air of ' Ye buisksaNel braes' owes its rise, with-
wa kir; apparently swatter( the strong illustration of it
sfantal in the singular Incident recorded in the above
kit.

'Almost every European nation," rays he, " has
own peculiar set of popular melodies, differing as
n.sch from each other in character as the nations them-
it.3; but there are none more marked, or more exten-
cr,:y known than those of the Scotch and Irish. Some of
ts,ee maybe ut.ced to a very remote era ; while, of others,
the tulip is scarcely known ; and this is the case, esp•i•
dirty, with the airs of Ireland. With the exception of
those which werepr•xlucell by Carolan, who dieel in 1798,
tyre are few of chick we can discover .he dates or coin-

•: 'het many of these airs possess great beauty and
.:tos, no one can doubt who is acquainted with the se-
-ms that have beer made by Mr. Moore; but as a
...pis or style, they also exliibit the most unequivocal
Mat of a aide and barbarous orl?,in,and there is scarcely a
more stinting instance of the proneness of mankind to exalt
the suppownl wisdom of their ancestors, and to lend a ready
ear to the marvellous. titan the exaggerated praise which
the atahon of this music have obtained.
" It is natural to suppose that in music, as in all other
arri, the pro7r,!,s of savage man was gradual; that there
u nn more rea4m fur supposing lie should have discovered
none; the seven rotes of the scale, than that he should
have keen ahle at once to find appropriate language for all
the. site distinction.' of morals or metaphysics. We have,
almost conclusive proof that the scale of the early
•ct and Irish was imperfect. The marked peculiarity
rc ardent music is the rare use, if not the satire onsis-
• I'f ie four 1,1! and sreenth notes of Me scale, from which
' r.re fairly infer that those intervals were for a long
!'411.7:1). Let any person compose an air, steadily
'ella. towel and Ilse scuenth, and we will engage that
perplex the least learned musical antiquary. The
:".:-Inlent is easily made:—Pass your fingers over the
Chu, keys of a plano-forte, taking care not to touch any of
the tellite ones—choose F sharp for the key note—and
lulshall produce melodies ad libitum, which a bag-piper
I'd swear you had stolen from him or his brethren.—
.. !lee. (g. Moore'.; Iri.vh Melodies, Jae. 1845.