at this day of great and deserved celebrity, whose early history, distinguished by a wonderful prematurity of musical taste and skill, has fortunately been preserved by Dr Burney.* At the age of only eighteen months, Master Crotch shewed a decided preference for the pleasures of music, by deserting his playthings, and even his food, to listen to it; and when only two years old, and unable to speak, in order to induce his father, whose skill in music seems to have been very limited, to play his favourite tunes, the child would touch the key-note on the organ, or, if that was not enough, would play two or three of the first notes of the air. At the age of two years and three weeks, he had taught himself to play the first part of God Save the King on the organ. In the course of a few days he made himself. master of the treble of the second part; and the day after attempted the bass, which he performed correctly, with the exception of a single note. In about two months after this period, he was able to play several passages from voluntaries, which had only once been performed in his presence, by the organist of the cathedral at Norwich. About the same time, he was capable of making a bass to any melody which he had recently caught by his ear. At the age of only two years and a half, he was able to distinguish, at a distance, and out of sight of the instrument, any note that was struck upon it, within half a note, which, Dr Burney observes, is beyond the power of many old and skilful performers. Another wonderfully premature attainment was, his being able to transpose, into the most extraneous and difficult keys, whatever he played, and to contrive an extemporary bass to easy melodies, when performed by another person on the same instrument. From that time to the present he has continued to advance in reputation; and is now, I believe, considered as the most scientific musician that Great Britain can boast. Examples of the same kind have occurred in Mozart, in the two Messrs Wesley, and in a few other persons; and they would almost warrant the conclusion, that the ear has an instinctive power of discriminating harmony, independently of education or Philosophical Transactions, lxix. experience. I know, indeed, no other principle on which we can explain the fact, that the pleasure of melody, even to a person of simple and natural taste, is greatly heightened by harmony, if not too intricate and multifarious. May not the pleasure which is thus occasioned, bear some analogy to that derived from symmetry and proportion in visible objects,-qualities, the absence of which is quickly discerned, even by a common eye, in objects that are familiar to it? In the usual acceptation of language, only an agreeable succession of sounds is called melody, and only the co-eristence of agreeable sounds harmony. An ingenious speculation, however, has been proposed by Dr Franklin, in a letter to Lord Kames, by which he would resolve all melody into harmony. The hypothesis is founded on a quality ascertained to exist in our organs of sense, viz. that they have the power of retaining, for a time, any impression made by an external object; in consequence of which, in a series of sensations, any one impression becomes intermingled with that which immediately precedes, and with that which immediately follows it. This law of sensation, so far as it is applicable to the phenomena of vision, had not escaped the sagacity of Dr Franklin; but it has since been more fully developed, and ingeniously illustrated, by Dr Darwin, in his essay on Ocular Spectra. On looking long and attentively at a bright object, as the setting sun, and then shutting the eyes, or excluding the light, an image, resembling in form the object that was contemplated, continues some time to be visible. This appearance in the eye Dr Darwin calls the ocular spectrum of the object. That a similar power exists in the ear, is highly probable, since, as Dr Franklin observes, we are capable of retaining, for some moments, a perfect idea of the pitch of a past sound, so as to compare it with the pitch of a succeeding sound. Thus, in tuning an înstrument, a good ear can as easily determine that two strings are in unison, by sounding them separately, as by sounding them together. Their disagreement," he adds, "is also as easily, I believe I may say more easily, and better distinguished when * See Darwin's Zoononia. sounded separately." This ability of comparing the pitch of a present to the pitch of a past tone, is, in common language, ascribed to the memory; but Dr Franklin distinctly expresses his belief, that it depends on a property of the ear, similar to that which exists in the eye; and on this principle he explains the sense of harmony between present and past sounds, in which, according to his theory, much of the pleasure of melody consists. The gratification derived from the more complicated productions of harmony, it can scarcely be doubted, is to be explained on entirely different principles from that which arises either from the simple strains of melody, or from harmony, in which the expression of the melody predominates. Melody appears to be an universal language, addressing itself to the heart, and powerfully exciting its affections and sympathies. But to enjoy the more elaborate productions of harmony, a refinement of taste is necessary, attainable only by great cultivation, and enhanced by a knowledge of the principles of music as a science. The pleasure excited in a person thus accomplished, resembles that of a painter, who, in examining a picture, is capable of discovering both faults and beauties, in design and in colouring, that escape the eye of a spectator, who may yet be deeply affected by the general expression of the performance. From this point begins the progress of luxurious refinement in music, by which, whatever it may have gained in the estimation of the adept has been lost, and more than lost, by bereaving it of its natural charms. It has been found necessary to excite enjoyment by the expedient of perpetual novelty, and by substituting surprise, at the skill of the performer, for that simple pleasure which has its origin in the best affections of our nature. Hence the ear has been palled with harmony, and our public performances of music have often been rendered irksome and disgusting, to all persons of uncorrupted taste, by compositions destitute of expression and character, and incapable of exciting motion. Another evil, arising from this sacrifice of meaning to the display of skill, is, that music is every day becoming an attainment of greater difficulty, and that from being the enjoyment of our social hours, in the bosoms of our VOL. I. own families, it is in danger of falling, not perhaps as in ancient Rome, into the hands of slaves, but into those of professional performers only. It has become painful to the young and the diffident to incur the risk of disgusting that fastidiousness of taste, which cannot be gratified, unless difficulties of execution are overcome, that may display the skill of the performer, but can never touch the feelings of the heart. If any proof were wanting of the superior charms of simple music over harmony thus complicated, it might be furnished by what every person must have observed at public musical performances. At these, intricate pieces of music are often listened to with general languor and apathy, till the introduction of a popular melody, harmonized with taste and forbearance, awakens the dormant feelings of every hearer, and calls forth one universal expression of delight. This effect is sometimes produced by a melody new to the audience, and incapable, therefore, of exciting the feelings, through the medium of established associations. There is one subject, connected with the theory of the effects of music, on which I should have hazarded a few remarks, if this paper had not already attained too great a length, I mean the moral influence of mu sic. Whether music has, or has not, a tendency favourable to virtue, is an inquiry of considerable importance, and one, for the investigation of which we are not without some data. Examples have been collected by writers on this subject, in which there appears to have been a connexion between a national attachment to music, and purity of national character. Facts of this kind, however, scarcely justify, to the full extent, the inferences which have been drawn from them, not only because it may reasonably be doubted whether the taste for music has not been the consequence, rather than the cause of general refinement of manners and conduct, but because national character is founded on so many circumstances, that nothing is more difficult than to distinguish between what has been essential to its production, and what has been adventitious. Authority, therefore, which would at once decide the question in the affirmative, must be received in this case with 3 N great hesitation. It is perhaps taking And imitates her actions where she is not." to observe, so noted a family as the Marshalls aftogether omitted. I beg leave to add, that your author will be considered either a very ignorant, or a very partial historian, by all the readers and critics in the extensive districts of Galloway and Ayrshire, if he persists in passing over in silence the distinguished family of Billy Marshal, and its numerous cadets. I cannot say that I, as an individual, owe any obligations to the late Billy Marshal; but, sir, I am one of an old family in the stewartry of Galloway, with whom Billy was intimate for nearly a whole century. He visited regularly, twice ayear, my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father, and partook, I dare say, of their hospitality: but he made a grateful and ample return; for during all the days of Billy's natural life, which the sequel will shew not to have been few, the washings could have been safely left out all night, without any thing, from a sheet or a tablecloth down to a dishclout, being in any danger. During that long pe riod of time, there never was a goose, turkey, duck, or hen, taken away, but what could have been clearly traced to the fox, the brock, or the fumart; and I have heard an old female domestic of ours declare, that she had SOME ACCOUNT OF BILLY MARSHAL, known Billy Marshal and his gang, A GYPSEY CHIEF. MR EDITOR, AMONG Some instructive and many very entertaining articles in your Magazine, I have been a good deal amused in reading your account of the gypsies, and more particularly of the gypsies of our own country. The race has certainly degenerated (if I may be allowed to use the expression), and is in some risk of becoming extinct, whether to the advantage of society or not I will leave to the profound to determine. In the mean time, I am very well pleased that you have united with the anonymous author of Guy Mannering, in recording the existence, the manners, and the customs, of this wonderful people. But, I have been, I assure you, in no small degree disappointed, when reading the names of the Faas, the Baileys, the Gordons, the Shaws, the Browns, the Keiths, the Kennedys, the Ruthvens, the Youngs, the Taits, the Douglasses, the Blythes, the Allans, and the Montgomeries, &c. again and again, mend all the "kettles, pans, and crackit pigs in the house, and make twa or three dozen o' horn spoons into the bargain, and never tak a farthin o' the laird's siller" I am sorry that I cannot give you any very minute history of my hero: however, I think it a duty I owe on account of my family, not to allow, as far as I can hinder it, the memory, and name, of so old a friend and benefactor to fall into oblivion, when such people as the Faas and Baileys, &c. are spoken of Where he was born I cannot tell. Who were his descendants I cannot tell; I am sure he could not do it himself, if he were living. It is known that they were prodigiously mumerous; I dare say, numberless. For a great part of his long life, he reigned with sovereign sway over a numerous and powerful gang of gypsey tinkers, who took their range over Carrick in Ayrshire, the Carrick mountains, and over the stewartry and shire of Galloway; and now and then, by way of improving themselves, and seeing more of the world, they crossed at Donagh " adee, and visited the counties of Down and Derry. I am not very sure about giving you up Meg Merrilies quite so easily; I have reason to think, she was a Marshall, and not a Gordon: and we folks in Galloway, think this attempt of the Borderers, to rob us of Meg Merrilies, no proof that they have become quite so religious and pious, as your author would have us to believe, but rather that, with their religion and piety, they still retain some of their ancient habits. We think, this attempt to deprive us of Meg Merrilies, almost as bad as that of the descendants of the barbarous Picts, now inhabiting the banks of the Dee in Aberdeenshire, who some years ago attempted to run off with the beautiful lyric of Mary's Dream; and which we were under the necessity of proving, in one of the courts of Apollo, to be the effusion of Low's muse, on the classic and romantic spot, situated at the conflux of the Dee and the Ken, in the stewartry of Galloway. But to return from this digression to Billy Marshal:-I will tell you every thing more about him I know; hoping this may catch the eye of some one who knew him better, and who will tell you more. Billy Marshal's account of himself was this: he was born in or about the year 1666; but he might have been mistaken as to the exact year of his birth; however, the fact never was doubted, of his having been a private soldier in the army of King William, at the battle of the Boyne. It was also well known, that he was a private in some of the British regiments, which served under the great Duke of Marlborough in Germany, about the year 1705. But at this period, Billy's military career in the service of his country ended. About this time he went to his commanding officer, one of the M'Guffogs of Ruscoe, a very old family in Galloway, and asked him if he had any commands for his native country: Being asked, if there was any opportunity, he replied, yes; he was going to Keltonhill fair, having for some years made it a rule never to be absent. His officer knowing his man, thought it needless to take any very strong measure to hinder him; and Billy was at Keltonhill accordingly. to Now Billy's destinies placed him in a high sphere; it was about this period, that, either electively, or by us urpation, he was placed at the head of that mighty people in the south west, whom hegoverned with equal prudence and talent for the long space of eighty or ninety years. Some of his admirers assert, that he was of royal ancestry, and that he succeeded by the laws of hereditary succession; but no regular annals of Billy's house were kept; and oral tradition and testimony weigh heavily against this assertion. From any research I have been able to make, I am strongly disposed to think, that, in this crisis of his life, Billy Marshal had been no better than Julius Cæsar, Richard III., Oliver Cromwell, Hyder Ally, or Napoleon Bonaparte: I do not mean to say, that he waded through as much blood as some of those, to seat himself on a throne, or to grasp at the diadem and sceptre; but it was shrewdly suspected, that Billy Marshal had stained his character and his hands with human blood: His predecessor died very suddenly, it never was supposed by his own hand, and he was buried as privately about the foot of Cairnsmuir, Craig Nelder, or the Corse of Slakes; without the ceremony, or perhaps, more properly speaking, the benefit of a precognition being taken, or an inquest held by a coroner's jury. During this long reign, he and his followers were not outdone in their exploits, by any of the colonies of Kirk-Yetholm, Horncliff, Spital, or Lochmaben. The following anecdote will convey a pretty correct notion, of what kind of personage Billy was, in the evening of his life; as for his early days, I really know nothing more of them than what I have already told. The writer of this, in the month of May 1789, had returned to Galloway after a long absence: He soon learned, that Billy Marshal, of whom he had heard so many tales in his childhood, was still in existence. Upon one occasion he went to Newton-Stewart, with the late Mr M'Culloch of Barholm and the late Mr Hannay of Bargaly, to dine with Mr Samuel M'Caul. Billy Marshal then lived at the hamlet or clachan of Polnure, a spot beautifully situated on the burn or stream of that name: We called on our old hero, he was at home,-he never denied himself, and soon appeared; he walked slowly, but firmly towards the carriage, and asked Mr Hannay, who was a warm friend of his, how he was?-Mr Hannay asked if he knew who was in the carriage? he answered, that his eyes" had failed him a gude dale;" but added, that he saw his friend Barholm, and that he could see a youth sitting betwixt them, whom he did not know. I was introduced, and had a gracious shake of his hand. He told me I was setting out in life, and admonished me, to "tak care o' my han', and do naething to dishonor the gude stock o' folk that I was come o," he added, that I was the fourth generation of us he had been acquaint wi'. Each of us paid a small pecuniary tribute of respect,-I attempted to add to mine, but Barholm told me, he had fully as much as would be put to a good use. We were returning the same way, betwixt ten and eleven at night, after spending a pleasant day, and taking a cheerful glass with our friend Mr M'Caul; we were descending the beautifully wooded hills, above the picturesque Glen of Polnure, my two companions were napping, the moon shone clear, and all nature was quiet, excepting Polnure burn, and the dwelling of Billy Marshal, the postillion stopt, (in these parts the well-known, and well-liked Johnny Whurk), and turning round with a voice which indicated terror, he said, "Gude guide us, there's folk singing psalms in the wud!" My companions awoke and listened,-Barholm said, " psalms, sure enough;" but Bargaly said, "the Deil a-bit o' them are psalms." We went on, and stopt again at the door of the old king: We then heard Billy go through a great many stanzas of a song, in such a way as convinced us that his memory and voice had, at any rate, not failed him; he was joined by a numerous and powerful chorus. It is quite needless to be so minute, as to give any account of the song which Billy sung; it will be enough to say, that my friend Barholm was completely wrong, in supposing it to be a psalm, it resembled in no particular, psalm, paraphrase, or hymn. We called him out again,-he appeared much brisker than he was in the morning we advised him to go to bed; but he replied, that "he didna think he wad be muckle in his bed that night, they had to tak the country in the morning (meaning, that they were to begin a rainble over the country), and that they were just takin a wee drap drink to the health of our honours, wi' the lock siller we had gi'en them." I shook hands with him for the last time, he then called himself above one hundred and twenty years of age; he died about 1790. His great age never was disputed to the extent of more than three or four years: The oldest people in the country allowed the account to be correct.The great-grandmother of the writer of this article died at the advanced age of one hundred and four; her age was correctly known; she said, that Wull Marshal was a man when she was a bit callant, (provincially, in Galloway, a very young girl.) She had no doubt as to his being fifteen or sixteen years older than herself, and he survived her several years. His long reign, if not glorious, was in the main fortunate for himself and his people: Only one great calamity befel him and them, during that long space of time in which he held the reins of government. It may have been already suspected, that with Billy Marshal, ambition was a ruling passion; and this bane of human fortune, had stimulated in him a desire to extend his dominions, from the Brigg end of Dumfries to the Newton of Ayr, at a time when, he well knew, the Braes of Glen-Nap, and the Water of Doon, to be his western precinct: He reached the Newton of Ayr, which I believe is in Kyle; but there he was opposed, and compelled to recross the river, by a powerful body of tinkers from Argyle or Dumbarton: He said, in his bulletins, that they were supported by strong bodies of Irish sailors, and Kyle colliers: Billy had no artillery, but his cavalry and infantry suffered very severely. He was obliged to leave a great part of his baggage, provisions, and camp equipage, behind him; consisting of kettles, pots, pans, blankets, crockery, horns, pigs, poultry, &c. A large proportion of shelties, asses, and mules, were driven into the water and drowned; which occasioned a heavy loss, in creels, panniers, hampers, tinkers' tools, and cooking utensils; and although he was as well appointed, as to a medical staff, as such expeditions usually were, in addition to those who were missing, many died of their wounds: However, on reaching Maybole with his broken and dispirited troops, he was joined by a faithful ally from the county of Down; who, unlike other allies on such occa |