The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-01-26

Burns, one of the brightest lights the
creator ever placed among men, but is
Burns the only sweet singer or Literary
genius Scotland has produced? ! think
not Just eat present civilized people
the world over are craz.' over Scotch
dialect stories which Ian McLaren
(Watson) is manufacturing to order
at fancy figures These however. will
have their little day and pass into OBJ
livion, but ii Is different with Scott,
with Carlyle, with Hogg and many 9TH
ers. These men will live, and while the
English tongue is. spoken, they will
never grow old. Why? Because they
have left the indelible stamp of genius
on their work and have made the world
better by their lives.
But | must close here even if / have
only touched on the edges of the subject
allotted to me. 1t is one that is ever
dear to the Scottish heart. ] would ask
you all to join with me in the wish that
the land of Wallace. Knox and Burns
may long continue to hold the hon
ored place which she now does among
the nations and that her influence for
good which has been so marked in the
past may never Wane
Clansman Andrew Swanston sang
THE Battle of Stirling in way which
evoked the heartiest applause. Attor-
ney John NJ. Harris was given a warm
ovation as he was introduced to respond
to the toast Scottish Literature" and
was frequently Interrupted with APP
pause as he proceeded. He said in
substance
SCOTTISH LITERATURE
Few nations can show a longer and
more even line of development in their
verse than Scotland. Every Scotch
man." wrote Sir Walter Scott in his
fragment of autobiography has a
pedigree" 1t is a national prerogative
as inaienable as his pride and his
poverty If we can catch the spirit of
these lines and transfer it to Scotch
literature. we shall see that it can
boast of klngly descent.
Scotch poetry began with king by
birth, and reached a point of sturdy
excellence and sublmty in the writ
ings of Il man who was a king by rea-
son of his mighty genius, Robert Burns.
James |. was a royal poet in more than
one sense and the first of long line
which has made the land of the noun
tain and the flood famous as land of
poetry. The influence he eXerted upon
Scottish poetry was strong and last
ing, and he is the father of Scottish
melody, though Scottish music was
little known until the days of Allan
Ramsay, dear to the heart of every
SCOt as tHb dulnOt OF the SneDnelu :
Calendar"
But between King James and Ram
say there are milestones in the road
leading to Burns and Scott that make
it delightful travelling. Henrysou
Dunbar Linsay, Montgomery, are
names which come very close to the
hearts of every lover of true poetry.
Those who have read the "Thistle and
the Rose" (Dunba), and THE Dream
Linsay), can not have failed to see
that they are passages of wonderful
excellence. where intensity of the emo
ton, and the penetrating insight touch
ing nature at her very depths. show
that the words of these sons of Scotia
expressed the language of the heart.
the feeling of the soul" Between the
reigns of James VI and Queen Anne,
there was no poetry of note written in
LoWland Scotch.
THE SONG WRITER'S.
But with the return swing of Times
pendulum came genuine enthusiasm
for song writer's, in which the whole
population participated. From the
bold, black-eyed, lucky Isabel Pagan,
who kept an ale house in AYRSHIRE, to
the ACCOMPLISHED Lady Anne Linsay,
one and all We're ambitious of trying
their hands at rhyme. We can easily
account for this phenomenon, when We
recolleCt that there has never been an
other nation In which, through all its
ranks, reading and writing was a COM
mon attainment.
Whatever be the cause, Immediately
after the union of the Kingdoms, there
came a revival of Scottish poetry. The
lea der of this movement was Allan