of two hundred and twenty-six, which were sold at Christie's after his death in 1810. In addition to the honours already referred to, the Society for the Improvement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce elected him Chairman of their Committee in 1786, and Vice-chairman of the Society in 1800-a position which had usually been conferred on persons of the highest rank only. The circumstances of Oliver Goldsmith's "Retaliation" are too well known to need a detailed reproduction, except to state that the epitaph on Whitefoord was published in the fourth and subsequent editions of Goldsmith's Poems, and is worth quoting :

"Here Whitefoord reclines, and deny it who can,
Though he merrily liv'd, he is now a grave man,
Rare compound of oddity, frolic, and fun,
Who relish'd a joke, and rejoiced in a pun;
Whose temper was generous, open, sincere,
A stranger to flatt'ry, a stranger to fear;
Who scatter'd wit and humour at will,
Whose daily bon mots half a column might fill;
A Scotsman from pride and from prejudice free;
A scholar, but surely no pedant was he."

:-

Previous to, and contemporary with, Robert Fergusson, there was quite a dynasty of small poetasters who did not write much, but yet were the authors of songs which were memorable for their popularity. For instance, there was Dr Austin, 1726-1776, the author of "For Lack of Gold," who made his name in Edinburgh in medicine and only appears to have been once inspired, and then owing to a disappointment in love. It appears that the lady was Miss Jean Drummond, who, in 1749, married the Duke of Athole, leaving her earlier lover to lament that

"A star and garter have more art

Than youth, a true and faithful heart."

After the fashion of human kind, the wound ultimately healed; nor did he carry out his threat to rove henceforth in distant climes, nor yet the other resolution thus expressed :—

"No cruel fair shall ever move

My injured heart again to love."

Then there is "Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch," which was for some

time attributed to Mrs Grant of Laggan, the celebrated authoress of Letters from the Mountains, Essays on the Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland, a volume of Poems, &c. ; but it was written. by Mrs Grant of Carron, a native of Banffshire, who was born 1745, and married for her second husband Dr Murray, of Bath, where she died in 1814. According to tradition, Roy of Aldivalloch distinguished himself in one of the risings of the clans by holding a small island in the Firth of Forth with a mere handful of men. The Balloch mentioned in the still popular song is situated at the foot of Loch Tay, and is now known as Tay Mouth.

"The Nabob" and "Ye shall Walk in Silk Attire " are also deservedly popular songs, and were written by Susanna Blamire (1747-1794), who was not born in Scotland, but at Cardew Hall, near Carlisle, and was the daughter of the laird of the Oakes, in Cumberland. While very young she lost her mother, and was brought up by a wealthy aunt named Mrs Simpson of Thackwood. In Scotland much of her life was spent, and she became greatly attached to its history and traditions. It is true she wrote a number of English pieces, but her reputation as an author is due to her Scottish songs. She was most happy in the expression of her sentiments through the medium of the Scots vernacular. Her longest poem is entitled "Stocklewath, or the Cumbrian Village." For a considerable time her songs and poems were circulated among her friends and acquaintances in manuscript form, but they were published in Edinburgh in 1842, forty-eight years after her death, the authoress being designated on the title page, "The Muse of Cumberland."

In this connection the song of "Roslin Castle may also be mentioned, as it was so highly appreciated by the poet Burns, whose judgment on the qualities of a song is, of course, entitled to a hearing. As to the author, Richard Hewitt, little is known, except that when a lad he was employed to take Dr Blacklock, the blind poet, from place to place during his residence in Cumberland. In addition to this he acted as his amanuensis, subsequently becoming Secretary to Lord Milton, then Lord Justice

Clerk, and Sub-Minister for Scotland under Archibald, Duke of Argyle, but his health gave way under the pressure of work, and he died in 1764. The air to "Roslin Castle" was formerly known as 66 The House of Glammis."

James Tytler, 1747-1805.

A far better-known name than Richard Hewitt is that of James Tytler, a man who played many parts, and yet his talents were vastly underrated. The son of a Brechin minister, he was originally educated with a view to the Church, but subsequently changed his mind, entering the medical profession, which he could easily have adorned had he made that his aim, but he had too keen a desire for travel and adventure to make an indelible mark in any one walk in life. As an instance of his adventurous spirit, he was the first person in Scotland to make a balloon ascent, in face of much opposition and a wide-spread belief that such an adventure was a temptation of Providence, which it was wicked to incur, and which earned him the soubriquet of "Balloon Tytler" In the course of his life he devoted much time to general literature, to which he added chemical investigation. It is worthy of remark that he was editor and principal compiler of the original Encyclopædia Britannica, which now holds so important a place among books of reference. Besides his other literary gifts he had the faculty of rhyming, and left at least three well-known songs to further enrich the poetry of Scotland-"Loch Errock Side," which derives its name from a lake in Perthshire; "The Bonnie Bruckit Lassie," and "Lass, gin ye Lo'e Me," the last of which was probably suggested to the author by an old fragment which was. published by Herd. After a life of much activity and adventure Tytler died at Massachusetts, in 1805, at the age of fifty-eight.

Another well-known name at all events a name that deserves to be known-is that of Elizabeth Hamilton, who, though born in Belfast, was of Scottish parentage, and from them she inherited strong Scottish sympathies, which were no doubt strengthened from the fact that she spent much of her life in Scotland.

Elizabeth Hamilton, 1758-1816.

She

was a versatile writer, and her works comprise Letters of a Hindoo

Rajah, which appeared in 1796; Memoirs of Modern Philosophers, 1800; Letters on Education, 1802; Life of Agrippina, 1804; and Letters on the Moral and Religious Principle, 1806. The work by which she is now best known, however, is the Cottagers of Glenburnie. Briefly, it is a vivid and realistic representation of rural life in Scotland a century ago, and is valuable owing to its historical side-lights. For nearly a century it was to be found on the shelves of almost every cottage library in Scotland. The Memoirs of the Life of Agrippina is a fascinating and interesting sketch. Although the authoress does not claim to be a Latin scholar, but frankly acknowledges her indebtedness to Murphy's Translation of the Annals of Tacitus, Adams on Roman Antiquities, and other sources, she seems to have grasped the Roman spirit in a thorough and sympathetic manner. We are also indebted to her for that popular Scots song, "My Ain Fireside," which will be readily recalled by the first few lines :—

"I ha'e seen great anes, an' sat in great ha's,

'Mang lords and fine ladies a' covered wi' braws;

At feasts made for princes, wi' princes I've been

Whare the grand sheen o' splendour has dazzled my een;
But a sight sae delightfu', I trow, I ne'er spied

As the bonnie blithe blink o' mine ain fireside."

John Lowe,
1750-1798.

Another well-known ballad is popular in Galloway-the author's native place-" Mary's Dream," which is deservedly popular throughout the whole of Scotland; and a poem entitled, "A Morning Poem." Both are by John Lowe, who was born in 1750 and died in 1798. The latter composition is characterised by a kind of weird pathos, with a fine admixture of natural light and shade, the opening scene being vividly before the author's mind's-eye when he wrote:

"The moon had climbed the highest hill
Which rises o'er the source of Dee,

And from the eastern summit shed

Her silvery light on tower and tree."

The author was the son of a gardener at Kenmure Castle, NewGalloway. He acquired the rudiments of a classical education at the Parish School of Kells, which fired his ambition for still more

extensive knowledge. In his ardent desire to become a scholar worthy of the name, he was induced to engage in the teaching of sacred music and the violin during his spare hours from weaving, to which he had been apprenticed. He was thus enabled to secure the advantages of the University of Edinburgh, to which he betook himself in 1771, entering the Divinity Classes. While at Edinburgh he was made tutor to the family of Mr M'Ghie of Airds, a gentleman of limited means, a good reputation, and a large family. Lowe ultimately went to reside with the M'Ghie's, whose estate was situated in the peninsula where meet and blend the rivers Dee and Ken.

Here, amidst congenial surroundings, his poetical talent was first manifested, and he composed the verses which have preserved his name till the present time. His other most popular piece is entitled "A Morning Poem," and is of a descriptive and pastoral character, while "Mary's Dream" is pathetic and sentimental, bearing evidence of having been inspired by a painful incident. During the time he was tutor in the M'Ghie family, Alexander Miller, a young and promising surgeon, the betrothed lover of Mary M'Ghie, was drowned at sea, and the sad incident supplied the subject of the poem. The gist of the poem is that a spirit appeared to Mary in a dream, which can best be conveyed by the concluding four lines :

"Loud crow'd the cock, the shadow fled,

No more of Sandy could she see ;

But soft the passing spirit said

'Sweet Mary, weep no more for me.'"

It was Lowe's intention to enter the Church of Scotland, for which he was fully qualified, but seeing no immediate prospect he emigrated to America, and subsequently became tutor in the family of the brother of the illustrious George Washington. He crossed the Atlantic to Virginia, where he forgot Jessie M'Ghie, the girl he left behind him in Scotland, marrying a Virginian lady, with whom he lived unhappily. Although he became a clergyman in an Episcopal Church in Virginia, his ill-assorted marriage appears to have changed his whole outlook on life, and