CHAPTER VIII. THE EARLIER ANGLO-SCOTTISH SCHOOL OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. THE proof of the assertion made in the preceding chapter, that in the eighteenth century the Scotch writers of the English language were instrumental in bringing about important changes in literature, must be found in a consideration of the men and their works. They are divisible into two groups—the first consisting of men who were born just about the opening of the century, and who flourished chiefly in the earlier half of it; the second of men some twenty or thirty years younger. The first class were the more original poets. They carried with them to England or retained in their Scottish surroundings characteristics of their own, and proved, alike by the subjects they chose, the measures they affected, and their style of treatment, that they were, if not themselves original, the scholars of masters so different from those generally followed as to give them the influence of originality. In the earlier group are Hamilton of Bangour, Thomson, Mallet, Blair, Armstrong, and the author of Albania. They vary widely in power from Thomson, a man of unquestionable and most original genius, to Mallet, who was little better than a mere parrot; but all of them, even the weakest, brought into English literature some element which was not in it before, and which, but for the Scotch influence, either would not have appeared there or would have been later in development. It would be well to group these men together if it were only to show to what a large extent the "return to nature" towards the close of the century was influenced by Scotland. With reference to individuals, such as Thomson in his Seasons and Ramsay in his vernacular poems, the fact is sufficiently plain, and is readily enough acknowledged; but it is only when we gather the Scotchmen together that it becomes manifest how far their nationality was from being a mere accident, how far their ideas and tendencies were the product of their early surroundings. Of the six men who have been mentioned, three, though born in Scotland, spent their literary life in England; of the other three, two certainly and the third probably remained in their native country. The English taste spread to Scotland and was by no means confined to those Scots who migrated to London. When Allan Ramsay began to write, the predilection of Edinburgh literary society was, as has been pointed out, all for English; and though he taught anew the relish for native verse, he never displaced the ambition to imitate and reproduce what was done in London. Among the younger wits who worked along with Ramsay, and who contributed to The Tea Table Miscellany, it is clear that there was as a rule a preference for English. It is a fact not without significance that in the later parts of the collection there is less and less of the Scottish tongue. Among the contemporaries and fellow-workers of Ram say, the most considerable was unquestionably William Hamilton of Bangour, a man sometimes but erroneously ranked with the native Scottish school. At the age of twenty he contributed to the first part of The Tea Table Miscellany. His life was for the most part passed uneventfully in the best society which Edinburgh afforded, until, having involved himself in the rebellion of 1745, he had to seek safety in exile. Having been pardoned he returned in 1749; and in the following year succeeded, on the death of his elder brother, to the estate of Bangour. He died in 1754 at Lyons, whither he had gone for the sake of his health. The most widely known of Hamilton's compositions, and on the whole the best, is the ballad of The Braes of Yarrow, which won from Wordsworth more admiration than it quite deserved. It professes to be written in the ancient Scottish manner; but the imitation is of the most transparent description; and it is not to be compared for depth of pathos with the best of the genuine old ballads. Hamilton has caught from them the trick of repetition; but his repetitions, which somewhat obtrusively display their purpose of heightening the effect, are quite different in spirit from the guileless yet effective repetitions of the old minstrels. The following verses present the picture which charmed Wordsworth : : "Sweet smells the birk, green grows, green grows the grass, Yellow on Yarrow's braes the gowan; Fair hangs the apple frae the rock, Sweet the wave of Yarrow flowan. Flows Yarrow sweet, as sweet, as sweet flows Tweed, As green its grass, its gowan as yellow, As sweet smells on its braes the birk, The apple from its rock as mellow. The secret of the enduring popularity of this ballad is its somewhat feminine sentiment and the sweetness of fancy it displays. That which delighted Wordsworth was the note of sincerity in reference to nature, a note rare enough then in England, but common to all the Scotch poets of the time. The poem is marred by that want of force which proved to be Hamilton's defect in all he ever wrote. Among the other writings of Hamilton are included a number of translations and imitations from Homer Of these the only one Horace, Virgil, Anacreon, etc. worthy of a passing mention is a soliloquy in imitation of that of Hamlet. It is remarkable, not for its intrinsic merit, but as showing by what slight changes it is possible to pass from excellence to mediocrity. Of Hamilton's original poems, the most considerable in point of length and the most ambitious in design are The Maid of Gallowshiels, Contemplation, and a pair of odes To Fancy. The first is a fragment of an unfinished mock-heroic poem which was to have extended to twelve books, but of which only about 700 lines were written. In forming this design Hamilton had clearly mistaken the bent of his own mind. Of humour he was entirely destitute; and without humour the mock-heroic must be a failure. The other pieces mentioned give the clue to their author's poetic descent. In an age puffed up with conceit of itself and fully assured of its superiority to all former times, he had the good taste to admire Milton and to choose him for his model. The later and weightier works of Milton were, it is true, too lofty and too austere for Hamilton; but his lively fancy and keen sensibility found in the early writings of his master something more congenial than the antithetic neatness of Pope, something in appearance at least more approachable than the terse and vigorous sense of Dryden. Accordingly, though Contemplation is introduced with rhymed heroics on the model of Pope, the principal part of it is written in octosyllabic verse after the manner of Milton's L'Allegro and Il Penseroso. These poems are very closely followed, and frequently with much skill. Hamilton's piece however is too long, and the verse has neither the variety nor the melody of Milton's. As a rule the reader would be inclined to credit the Scotch poet with a sensitive ear; but there are occasional lapses which suggest a doubt whether he had any ear at all; and that power of fancy, which was his best gift, looks poor beside the boundless wealth of Milton. The following extract illustrates at once the character of Hamilton's verse and the extent of his indebted ness:- 66 Bring Faith, endued with eagle eyes, And bring the meek-ey'd Charitie, Not least, tho' youngest of the three, |