the kingdom in his name, but the scheme did not work out according to their hopes and expectations. When he was sixteen years of age he astonished his secret foes, who were practically those of his own household. By the administrative capacity which seemed so natural to him he speedily foiled their secret machinations, and through his resolute and decisive energy became the absolute power in Scotland. With an iron hand he broke the power of the Douglases, who were the country's secret enemies, and swept away the corruption and disorder which had become everywhere rampant under their usurpation. By his diplomatic foresight he checkmated the insidious encroachments of Henry VIII. A terror to the freebooters of the Border, he likewise stamped out rebellion in the Orkneys and the Western Isles; renewed the ancient commercial treaty between Scotland and the Netherlands; instituted the College of Justice; and used his efforts to protect the peasantry against the tyranny of the barons, even to the printing of the whole Acts of Parliament in the vulgar tongue. As a means of becoming acquainted with the wants and necessities of the common people, he visited their homes in disguise -a habit which subsequently gave rise to the designation of King of the Commons." Combined with this desire for good government and the well-being of his subjects, James not only encouraged learning in others, but was himself a contributor to the literature of Scotland. His literary reputation was perhaps not secured by writing poetry "in the grand style," for the time in which he lived was a transitional period when canons of style were a fluctuating medium at the whim and caprice of the writer; but he so far appealed to the popular taste that his efforts have been of an enduring character, and four of his poems-viz., "Peblis to the Play," "Christ's Kirk on the Green," "The Gaberlunzie Man," and "The Jolly Beggar" are read and appreciated even by those who have but a scanty knowledge of the dynasty of vernacular poets which preceded Burns. The poet Pope's suggestive reference to "Christ's Kirk on the Green," in his "Imitation of Horace," conveys the idea of its popularity in his day :

"One likes," he says,

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no language but the Faery Queen,

A Scot will fight for Christ's Kirk on the Green."

In "Christ's Kirk on the Green" there is a vein of coarseness which more modern canons of taste and refinement would

hardly justify, but allowance must be made when one considers the time in which it was written. Indeed the value of the poem consists in that it is a good illustration of the type of rustic humour and uncouth manners prevalent in James's day, which is not so vividly conveyed by any other contemporary document. Two additional cantos to "Christ's Kirk on the Green" were written by Allan Ramsay, but though he gained so high a reputation as a pastoral poet he failed to rise to the occasion, or vitalise his continuation of King James's poem. Both cantos lack the rollicking fun and sprightliness which is so conspicuous in King James's portion of the production. "Peblis to the Play" is written in a similar vein to "Christ's Kirk on the Green," but is inferior to it in point of merit, though the rustic fun and frolic of the lads and lasses when they meet at a country fair are happily sustained throughout. The authorship of the two poems was long a matter of dispute, but they are now generally accepted as the work of King James V. With regard to the authorship of "The Gaberlunzie Man" and "The Jolly Beggar," it is rather singular that it should never have been seriously disputed, considering their modernised phraseology compared with "Peblis to the Play" and "Christ's Kirk on the Green,” which have both had that distinction, unless it is that the two former poems lend themselves more to iteration, and their phraseology have been modernised in the process. Apart from this aspect of the question, however, "The Gaberlunzie Man" and "The Jolly Beggar" are notable examples of the waggish humour which was so characteristic of the actual life of the common people of Scotland in James's day, and posterity is indebted to the author of these poems for preserving it in so fascinating a manner. Small though his contributions to literature may be, one can imagine what great possibilities were outlined in the work of the author whose talents commenced to bud and blossom so early had his life not been cut short at an age when most writers begin to develop. What has already been said of James V., however, must suffice, as the middle of the century has nearly been reached. As we approach the latter half of the sixteenth century there are two names specially deserving of a brief notice in connection with Scottish literature, not so much on account of their original contributions to it, but rather because we are indebted to them for preserving

some of the choicest specimens of Scottish poetry at a time when more prosaic events were taking the place of poetic feeling and thrusting literary productions into the background.

The individuals indicated are George Bannatyne G. Bannatyne, and Sir Richard Maitland. Indeed, the former 1545-1608. of the two, who was born in 1545 and died in 1608, owes his reputation exclusively to his transcription of the best work of some of the national makars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, which he rendered in a folio of eight hundred closely-written pages. Owing to his achievements a literary club in Edinburgh was instituted, bearing the name of "The Bannatyne Club." This club was instituted in 1823 by Sir Walter Scott, who was the first of a succession of distinguished presidents. In the course of its thirty-eight years' existence the club printed 116 works, which are now scarce and valuable.

Sir Richard Maitland, 1496-1586, was also distinguished as a collector of early Scottish poetry. His collection consisted of two MS. vols., the first containing 176, and Sir R. Maitland, the second 96 pieces, now in the Pepysian 1496-1586. Library, Magdalen College, Oxford. The greater portion of this collection was probably made in the early part of his life, for in the latter part of it he was affected with blindness, which, however, did not deter him from fulfilling his duties as judge of the Court of Session. In an age of intolerance, strife, and fanaticism he was able to maintain an independent and impartial attitude, using every legitimate effort to promote law and order within his jurisdiction. He was religious and honourable in the highest degree, though the fire and fervour of John Knox which was influencing so many, failed to make him an injudicious political or religious partisan. Not only was he an able and upright lawyer, but he was a poet, a political antiquary, and an historian. As a poet, however, he does not appear to have been brought under the inspiration of the Muses till rather late in life—most, if not all, of his own verses having been written after he had attained the age of sixty, and as poetical productions merely they do not rank high. They possess sober and reflective thought, it is true, but though free from many of the illusions of youth, they have none of the glow of that optimistic spirit which constitutes one of the great charms of poetry. The dominating idea in his

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verses is that the stream and tendency of things was following a dangerous course, and that the times were sadly out of joint. In his "Satire of the Age," for example, the impression he wishes to convey is that religious devotion, chastity, refinement, mirth, peace, and justice are all worn away." In "The Thieves of Liddisdaill" he loudly bewails the robberies which then disgraced the Scottish Border. Indeed all his verses are conceived in a strain of doleful lamentation for the distracted condition of the country, the feuds of the nobles, and the increasing discontent of the common people James V. had done so much to appease. In addition to Maitland's original poems and the poems he collected, he wrote "A History of the House of Seytoun" which is perhaps the most important among his original works, and was printed by the Maitland Club in 1829.

A. Scot, 1520-1588.

Leaving Maitland we come to another writer in the person of Alexander Scot, who might be mentioned among the galaxy of sixteenth century poets. Little is really known of the life and character of Scot, and what is known is mainly derived from the poet's own writings. His period was probably trom 1520 to about 1588, or perhaps even later, for it is recorded of him that he lived to an advanced age. Scot is one of several poets whose works have been preserved in the Bannatyne manuscript, and may be estimated as one of the principal minor poets of the sixteenth century. From all that can be ascertained respecting him it may be assumed that he was a man of good education, though it does not appear that he was connected with the Church, at anyrate in an official capacity, but that he was a jurist, and that he was sufficient of a literary enthusiast to have made himself acquainted with the writings of many of his predecessors. From his poem entitled "Ane New Yeir Gift to the Quene Mary," there is reason to believe he was a pronounced religious partisan and favoured the principles of the Reformers. At all events he was a bitter opponent of the Church of Rome, and in the poem already alluded to he associates it with oppression and vice. The concensus of opinion is that his pictures are true to the life; and if such is the case, the light he sheds on the social and political conditions of 1542, when Mary ascended the throne, is strange as well as unsatisfactory, and leaves much to be imagined in the ordinary historical records

of the period. "Ane New Yeir Gift to the Quene Mary" is the longest of Scot's compositions that has come down to us, and was obviously written with the view of eliciting the favour of the Court, which appears to have been a happy hunting ground for the litterati in those days. Next in length, if not in importance, comes the "Justing at the Drum," the construction of which was doubtless suggested by "Peblis to the Play" and "Christ's Church on the Green"; and though less realistic and animated than either, it is certainly not so suggestive of the Merry Andrew. The poems by which Scot is more especially entitled to the esteem of posterity are of an amatory character, the best of which are those entitled "The Flower of Womanheid,” “To his Heart,” and “The Rondel of Love.” The three poems referred to manifest much elegance of expression and skill in poetic numbers. "The Flower of Womanheid" is decidedly the best of the three, and shows that Scot had mastered the art of versification to a degree none of his predecessors had attained. Although Scot must be included among the minor poets of his country, he was none the less an epoch-making poet. Anterior to his time the theme of the lay was thought to be everything that was necessary for the achievement of poetic effect and skill, and was responsible for a good deal of the coarseness and bad taste to be found in the writings of his more distinguished predecessors. With the exception of Surrey, his English contemporary, Scot was the first poet who had formed anything like a correct idea of how elegance and force of expression could be enhanced by an artistic arrangement of cadences. No doubt he was largely influenced by Dunbar; and though he was inferior in intellectual scope and realistic vivacity, he was Dunbar's superior in gracefulness and the niceties of poetic construction. Indeed, he appeared to be able to handle successfully a variety of stanza forms which were never attempted by his predecessors, if they were at all known to them.

As the sixteenth century drew near its close, the effects of the Reformation and the theological polemics which followed in its wake became more apparent in the secular literature of the time. The movement in Scotland exercised so vast an influence that it not only crippled intellectual freedom and a harmless gaiety of spirit, but it deterred men from taking interest and pleasure in the various objects of every-day life.