and genuine passion. "The Waes o' War" is evidently written with the view of illustrating the painful climax to the history of "Will and Jean," who, after three years' separation, are re-united, during which time they experienced many hardships and the direst poverty.

"After three lang years' affliction,

A' their waes now hush'd to rest,
Jean ance mair in fond affection
Clasps her Willie to her breast;

Tells him a' her sad, sad suffering,

How she wandered, starving, poor,
Gleaning Pity's scanty offerings

Wi' three bairns frae door to door."

When Macneill returned to Scotland from the Indies in 1800, he found that his works were still in general request, and surreptitious editions of many of his songs being set to music and offered for sale in shops, he was induced to publish a complete collected edition of his works. After being revised by the author the collection appeared in 1801 in two volumes, and soon became popular with the general public, going through several editions in the next ten years. In 1812 a third edition was published, to which a war-song was added, entitled "The Battle of Barrosa," which did not enhance his fame in any way, and it would have been as well if it had been excluded altogether. Some versatility can be claimed for our author even in his later years, for in 1811-12 he appeared in a new literary function by the publication of a series of works, two of which were entitled "By-Gane Times and Late Come Changes," and "Town Fashions," which were presented in verse. 'The third was a historical tale, entitled The Scottish Adventurers, or the Way to Rise. All three were designed to show that with by-gane times, wisdom and morality and many of the virtues which were manifest in the character of the people of old were gradually but surely vanishing. The assumption is that ill-health had ploughed deeply into his constitution, and thus he was predisposed to judge events through the "sere and yellow leaf," only seeing degeneracy and corruption in the changing conditions of moral and intellectual life. If the literary efforts of Macneill had terminated with his collected works his fame would not have

suffered to the same extent, but he attempted to add to his wellearned laurels when his physical nature could give no new stimulus to thought, but only have a deteriorating effect on his mind.

Michael Bruce, 1746-1767.

In one respect at least the life of Michael Bruce differed from that of Hector Macneill. While Macneill lived till old age bound him to the past, and his outlook upon life became narrow and circumscribed, Bruce was cut off in the spring-time of his age before his intellectual faculties were matured or had a chance of attaining the full measure of their strength. Michael Bruce was born in 1746, of poor parents, at Kinnesswood in Kinross-shire, where his father was a weaver, and a man with a deep sense of religious duty which generated the desire to give his children as good an education as his humble circumstances would allow. To further this end Michael was put to herd cattle in the summer months in the vicinity of Loch Leven, amid the scenery overlooking the loch and its ruined castle with its romantic associations of the past. There he held communion with Nature, getting poetical inspiration amid its solitude, where the day-dreams of his boyhood were seldom disturbed by the sight of a fellow mortal. When in his fifteenth year a relation of his father left him a small legacy, amounting to a little over £11, which his father carefully set aside for the education of his son, thus furnishing another proof of the love of education among the poorer classes in Scotland, which has made North Britain a power throughout the world. He went to college in December, 1762, just when he was about sixteen years of age, and was enrolled a student at Edinburgh University, where he was. soon distinguished for general proficiency and taste in poetry, which was esteemed among the Scottish peasantry as the acme of all literary attainment. After attending college for three sessions he became a schoolmaster at Gairney Bridge on a salary of £11 per annum, but soon gave it up for one which held out better prospects at a place called Forest Mill, on the banks of the Devon, in Clackmannanshire. While at Gairney Bridge, he had formed an

attachment to a young woman, and wrote on the occasion of his departure a song called "Lochleven no More," (in imitation of Allan Ramsay's "Lochaber no More,") from which the following verses are taken :

"Farewell to Lochleven and Gairney's fair stream,

How sweet on its banks of my Peggy to dream;

But now I must go to a far distant shore,

And I'll maybe return to Lochleven no more.

No more in the spring shall I walk with my dear,
Where gowans bloom bonny and Gairney runs clear;
Far hence I must wander-my pleasure is o'er,

Since I'll see my dear maid and Lochleven no more.

It was in 1765 he completed his Arts course and entered the Divinity Hall in connection with the Burgher or Association Synod with the view of becoming a minister, which was still regarded in Scotland as the profession most favourable for the attainment of social and intellectual distinction. The idea of having a son "to wag his head in a pu'pit" was the one dream of ambition which took possession of the Scottish mother in circumstances however humble, irrespective of qualification for such a profession; thus many a poor minister has been made, and good cobbler, tinkler, or tailor lost to the community. Bruce's absence from Lochleven and the object of his affection was not destined to be for long, and though he manfully struggled against failing health at Forest Hill for a while, he was soon compelled to return to his father's cottage and the associations of his early youth, to remain till he was separated from them for ever. Consumption had become firmly fixed on a constitution predisposed to weakness from the first. It was in this state, and from his father's cottage, he wrote his "Elegy," with the full consciousness that the grave was not far distant, which is clearly indicated in the course of the poem :—

"Now Spring returns, but not to me returns

The vernal joy my better years have known;
Dim in my breast life's dying taper burns,
And all the joys of life with health are flown.

Farewell ye blooming fields, ye cheerful plains,
Enough for me the churchyard's lonely mound,

Where Melancholy with still silence reigns,

And the rank grass waves o'er the cheerless ground."

The " Elegy" is perhaps Bruce's finest poem, though we get a strong echo of Blair's grave in its doleful strains; but his circumstances offer more justification for such strains than did Blair's circumstances. In claiming foremost place for the "Elegy among Bruce's poems, an exception should be made with respect to the "Cuckoo," the authorship of which has so long been a subject of dispute. It was first included among Bruce's poems, published in 1770, by his college friend John Logan, and afterwards included among Logan's own poems, published in 1781. One of the principal claims given in favour of Logan's authorship is, that the "Cuckoo" is superior to any of Bruce's other poems, and that Logan lived to create a higher literary reputation than could be claimed for his dead friend. It should be remembered at the same time that Logan had a longer lease of life and experience of the world in which to mature his talents, and it proves nothing respecting the merit of the "Cuckoo," for when he first published it he was about the age when Bruce died; therefore, in point of age and experience no additional advantages can be claimed for Logan.

In Dr M'Kelvie's edition of Bruce's poems, published in 1837, and that of Dr A. B. Grosard, published in 1865-86, valuable evidence is given in favour of Bruce's authorship, and it would be difficult to minimise the trustworthiness of either of the two editors, the latter of whom was so steadfast in the belief of Bruce's claim that during the twenty years which intervened between the issue of the two editions, and with his vast antiquarian research, Grosard still maintained Bruce's claim to the authorship of the "Cuckoo." On the other hand the claim of Logan to the authorship of the ode has been maintained with equal conscientiousness by David Laing and Dr Small, but at this time of day demonstrative proof is well-nigh impossible. Let it be borne in mind that Logan was not very scrupulous in several instances in appropriating matter belonging to others, but it should also be borne in mind that literary matter was regarded more as common property in the eighteenth century than it is in the twentieth century. The principal productions which may be

assigned to Bruce without question are "Alexis," a pastoral; "Lochleven no More," a descriptive poem in blank verse; his "Elegy," written in spring; "A Rhymed Fable," "A Historical Ballad on Sir James the Ross," and "The Last Day." These are exclusive of Scripture paraphrases printed as the work of Logan, including the "Complaint of Nature," which was said to have been composed by Michael Bruce for Buchan's psalmody class in Kinnesswood, in 1764, and printed by Logan as his own production in 1781.* When the youth of our author is taken into consideration, there is no reason to expect that he should startle the world by the production of verses with new ideas or novel images. Like most young authors who have not gained full confidence in their own judgment and their own powers, Bruce took several of his predecessors as his models, such as Blair, Thomson, and Ossian, especially Ossian's poems, which were greatly in vogue in Bruce's day. In his description of the ruins of Lochleven Castle, for example, it is evident that he had recourse to Macpherson's description of Balclutha's towers in Ossian's "Carthon." Although originality cannot be claimed for Bruce in the strictest sense, he cannot be accused of slavish imitation, and he is entitled to the same qualification that has been allowed to John Logan. If the life of Bruce had not been cut off at the early age of twenty-one, it is fair to assume that he would have held a more commanding position than he does in the literature of his country.

John Logan, 1748-1788.

John Logan played so conspicuous a part in connection with the literary remains of Michael Bruce, that he may appropriately be dealt with in immediate succession. The charge of appropriating some of the poetical work of his dead friend has done his character in men's eyes much wrong and prevented him obtaining the justice his talents deserve. The writings of John Logan have many qualities which entitle him to an important place among men of talent, if not genius, and he is included by Isaac D'Israeli, in his Calamities of Authors, among unfortunate men of genius. In his sympathetic notice, D'Israeli states that Logan died of a broken heart, but it is well to remember at this point that

* Scottish Poetry of Eighteenth Century, Vol. II., p. 74.