of the Ayrshire Bard as the warmest of his own countrymen," although the Poet himself, in all his voluminous works, makes only one solitary allusion to him. It is in his

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Patron," the tale of a nobleman who takes under his patronage a young poetical genius of humble birth, whose satirical talents he foresees might be invaluable on the wavering minds of voting men in political elections; and so resolves not only that "such worth to the world must be no longer blind," but prophesies that, under his protecting and fostering wing,

"His glory will descend from sire to son,

The Burns of English race, the happier Chatterton."

It is of the same poem that Sir Walter Scott, who was a life-long admirer of the genius of Crabbe, writes to the author, evidently genuinely distressed by the realistic depiction of

"Nature's sternest painter, yet the best,"

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as Byron aptly styled him, of the strained and unhappy relations existing between patron and poet : "Did any one of my sons show poetical talent, of which, to my great satisfaction, there are no appearances, the first thing I should do would be to inculcate upon him the duty of cultivating some honourable profession, and qualifying himself to play a more respectable part in society than the mere poet. And as the best corollary of my doctrine, I would make him get your tale of 'The Patron' by heart from beginning to end."

Lockhart, in a footnote, chapter IX., of his Life of Burns, further suggests that Crabbe" obviously" had the Scottish Poet in his view when he penned his tale of "Edward Shore," an observation with which I cannot agree, and question the justice or the wisdom of dealing in this kind of surmise where character and honour are concerned. It may be my dullness, but I have gone carefully over the poem again and fail to see what he says was obviously in the mind of Crabbe. There are no proofs whatever, so far as I can discover, that Burns was his model when

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he drew the picture of "Edward Shore," with all the harrowing details of that person's sins and sorrows, imprisonment, madness, and final imbecility, as he wandered about the streets while "the heedless children" call after him "Silly Shore." It might, with even more justification be said, that "Edward Shore" sat to Lockhart when he painted the portrait of Burns in his last Dumfries years of broken health and hopes and happiness. But in any case, if Crabbe must needs have a model, why, it may be asked, choose Burns, when the life of any one of the many errant sons of genius in letters and in art, of which the domain of biography is so full and so uniform in their tragic and melancholy resemblances, would have served his purpose equally well? This sort of literary treatment of a great and serious theme - the deeply perplexing problem of life and conduct-casts not only a doubt on the sanity of the whole fabric of the writer's own criticism, but makes him guilty of doing the very thing he so solemnly blames others for doing-slandering, however unintentionally, the Poet's character and memory on insufficient evidence, or no evidence at all but that of gossip and hearsay, his own, let us hope, thoughtlessly-flung-out surmise being in the same category. It is of a piece with Henley's hearsay statement that Burns was burnt to a cinder before he died; contributes nothing essential to the better understanding of the subject in hand, but is provocative rather of confusion, and of mischief among the undiscerning.

In pleasant contrast to that against which the foregoing strictures are directed, I might cite here in conclusion a still further Crabbe-Burns contribution by Lockhart, in a letter of reminiscences, December 26th, 1833, to the Poet's son when he was writing his father's "Life." The reverend author, now famous in the world of letters, an honoured clergyman, and considerably advanced in years, paid his long-promised visit to Sir Walter Scott at the very time that King George the Fourth, in his northern progress, was being fêted in the Scottish capital. consequence," says Lockhart, "of Sir Walter's being con

"In

or,

stantly consulted about the details of every procession and festival of that busy fortnight, the pleasant task of showing Mr Crabbe the usual lions of Edinburgh fell principally to my share. . . . It surprised me, on taking him to see the house of Allan Ramsay on the Castle Hill, to find that he had never heard of Allan's name; at all events, was unacquainted with his works. The same evening, however, he perused The Gentle Shepherd,' and he told me next morning that he had been much pleased with it, but added, there is a long step between Ramsay and Burns.' He then made Sir Walter read and interpret some of old Dunbar to him; and said, 'I see that the Ayrshire Bard had one giant before him.'

WILLIAM FINDLAY, M.D.

("GEORGE UMBER "),

Author of Robert Burns and the Medical Profession, &c.

وو

DEATH OF "GEORGE UMBER,'

THE LATE DR WM. FINDLAY.

WE

E regret to announce the death of Dr William Findlay, one of the founders of the Burns Chronicle and a prominent medical practitioner in Glasgow. He retired about ten years ago, and in the interval he resided at Lyttle Park, East Kilbride.

Dr Findlay was a man of strong personality and intellectual versatility. He was in practice for nearly forty years, but notwithstanding heavy professional demands he found time to engage in literary pursuits, and under the name of "George Umber he produced several thoughtful works in prose and verse. He was born in Kilmarnock in 1846. Receiving his early education at Kilmarnock Academy, he afterwards removed to Glasgow, and in his twentieth year entered as a medical student the old College in the High Street. The late Lord Lister was one of his teachers, and he was privileged to witness Lister's first attempts in the antiseptic treatment.

Dr Findlay graduated in 1870, and was one of the last batch to be capped in the famous seat of learning before it was transferred to Gilmorehill. He set up in practice in Dennistoun, a small community compared with what it is to-day, and soon made his mark, for to professional skill was added a forceful and kindly character. Dr Findlay never sought the publicity that is to be earned by membership of public bodies, but unobtrusively he forwarded many causes beneficial to the East-End.

While assiduous in the pursuit of his profession (and Dr Findlay had an exceptionally large practice) he found time to cultivate his intellect in other directions.

He

became attached to the Glasgow Ballad Club, whose first president was the late William Freeland, and of that select and gentle brotherhood he was a notable member.

His

friendship was relished not only by reason of the admirable verses he submitted to the critical judgment of the club, but also for his entertaining and genial conversation. Under the name of "George Umber" he became known to a wide circle; but though the identity of the author was known by his personal friends, not many outsiders