John Leyden

“ The quality of humour can scarcely be defined; but it evidently depends so much on the nice discrimination of minute and local peculiarities of manners, and the individual forms of expression adapted to these, that its most exquisite efforts must be lost on those who are not familiar with the various shades of dialect. In the sixteenth century, while Scotland had yet a capital, and while its language had not yet dwindled into a vulgar dialect, the Scotish poets excelled particularly in humour. ”

“ And we suffer a greater than all other losses, in not having the Holy Bible printed in the Gaelic, as it is printed in Latin, English, and many other tongues. And besides, we have never had, in print, the history of antiquity, or of our ancestors, although a certain portion of the literature of the Gaels of Scotland and Ireland exists in manuscripts, in the possession of Bards and Teachers, and their Patrons.
Great is the labour of writing by the hand, in comparison of printing, which shortens, and speedily finishes whatever is done by it, however great. ”

“ The daftard Douglas, who surviv'd his honour,
The first of all his race who fear'd to die———
After the reign of Bruce, no Scotish clan ever attained such power as the Douglasses, or acquired such popularity on the marches. They united, in an eminent degree, feudal pomp with martial bravery, and in England and France their fame was as great as in Scotland. ”

“ And rare is the man who knows the true orthography of the Gaelic, not in Scotland only, but in Ireland also, unless it be found among a few excellent and eloquent bards, who attend to poetry and history, and a certain part of the distinguished men of learning. ”

“ The Scots, however, who piqued themselves on never submitting to the Romans, deduced their origin directly from the Greeks, the mortal foes of the Trojans, and consequently stated themselves as the inveterate and native enemies of the English, a race who claimed a Trojan origin. Jealousy and incessant hostility aggravated the mutual animosities of the Scots and English, till the tempers of their writers became almost as hostile as the swords of their warriors, and it was considered as the indispensable duty of a good citizen to abuse the sister kingdom. ”

“ The habit of maintaining an air of superiority among boys, tends to produce an adventitious aspect of importance among men; and this habit is stiffened into formality, by real superiority to the peasants in information, and by comparative leisure for reflection. Among this useful class of men, therefore, these peculiarities are very observable; and they are frequently combined with a caustic humour, and a shrewdness of observation, which give them a greater zest. ”

“ In the biography of literary men, it is a common observation, that a paucity of incidents may be naturally expected in the life of a recluse scholar, whose history is generally comprehended in the account of his productions. Though my materials are scanty, I am not inclined to use this apology for writing a plain narrative instead of a romance; and am content to have saved from oblivion a few notices concerning the only loco-descriptive poet whom Scotland has produced.
John Wilson, author of "Clyde," was born in the vicinity of Lanark June 30. ”

“ The present publication will be found entitled to the highest commendation, for vigour, elegance, and harmony."—British Critic, August 1800.
"When the ear of a Reviewer is palled, and his attention is nearly exhausted, by listening to the monotones of mediocrity which sound from modern lyres, it is a rich reward for his labour, it is a cordial for his wearied spirits, to hear the breathings of ardent Genius, and to hail the approaches of the real muse. ”

“ So uncommon a degree of merit appears in the first and principal of these poems, that we cannot let it pass without particular notice. The Pleasures of Hope are surely as good a subject for a rising poet as can well be chosen. It is the very essence of genius to form ideal scenes of future gratification. ”

“ This regard for morality and religion has induced him to subjoin an after-scene to the catastrophe, for the express purpose of suggesting moral reflections; an amiable purpose, for the sake of which many authors have injured their compositions, without improving their readers. The proper moral of a drama is to excite vivid virtuous emotions in the heart, not to exhibit a demonstration of some abstract principle of morality. ”

“ May almighty God grant his holy Spirit to us, and to you, brethren and elect; and may we be taught to do his will, and to avoid what he forbids, through the mediation and sufferings of Christ, our Lord and only Saviour, and our only knowledge, and our only messenger. ”

“ But it is true, that in polite companies a Scotsman is prohibited, by the imputation of vulgarity, from using the common language of the country, in which he expresses himself with most ease and vivacity, and, clothed in which, his earliest and most distinct impressions always arise to his own mind. ”

“ The best of bergamots, and other pears.
The balmy plums you may in order view,
In taste and shape, of various kinds and hue;
Who yield in relish unto none we know,
That in more southern climes are wont to grow. ”

“ Already has the God of all power, and King of mercies, and of archangels, opened to us a path to the everlasting ways, by revealing that we are permitted to read and to enforce the Holy Scriptures among all people. ”

“ The memory of the incursions of the Annandale and Liddisdale borderers is still preserved, not only in the Scotish and English border districts, but even in the interior of Scotland. I have been informed by persons of good authority in Lothian, that they recollected to have heard in their infancy different songs which celebrated the prowess of the men of Lothian in repulsing the Scotish borderers. It is probable, however, that these rude lays have been suffered to elude the grasp of tradition. ”

“ He uses a species of translation, which checks the versatility of fancy, and restrains the genuine and spontaneous flow of his conceptions. Mr. Wilson's humour, as well as his dialect, was native Scotish; and hence it might sometimes be little relished by an Englishman, when it afforded the most exquisite pleasure to his Scotish friends. He was a Scotsman of that genuine old class, which seems now to be nearly extinct; who blended with their characteristic plainness of speech and manners, the taste of the scholar, and the information of the man of the world ”

“ In the south of Scotland, especially in the countries adjacent to England, there is a dog of marvellous nature, called the Suth-hound; because, when as he is certified by wordes of arte spoken by his master, what goodes are stolne, whether horse, sheepe, or neat, immediatly he addresseth him suthly to the sent, and followeth with great impetuositie, through all kinde of grounde and water, by as many ambages as the theeves have used, till he attaine to their place of residence: by the benefit of the which dog, the goodes are recovered. ”

“ For neither prophet nor apostle, nor the Son of God himself, escaped the abuse of the priests and enemies of the truth; and yet the victory was obtained by patience through the power of God. To that one true God in three Persons, the Father, powerful, merciful; and the Son, beauteous, miraculous; and the Spirit, strong, holy; be all superiority, honour, and high glory, now and through eternity, Amen.
This little book was finished by the Bishop of the Isles on the 24th day of April, in the year of Christ 1567, in the 25th year of the reign of the moft potent Queen Mary of Scotland. ”

“ It is probable, that when Celtic antiquities are more accurately investigated, many heroes will be found to be common to the Welch and the Gael. King Arthur is well known in Gaelic tradition; and the editors of the Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, have discovered in their poetry, the name of Cuchullin, the Gaelic hero. ”

“ This is a circumstance which renders loco-descriptive poetry peculiarly difficult, and suggests one of the probable causes why it has been so little attempted in Scotland. Many proper names in Scotland are significant in the Scotish dialect, and have a ludicrous effect when introduced into an English composition. Wilson's Clyde is the first Scotish loco-descriptive poem of any merit, and it is still the only national one of the species. In the early part of last century was published "Don," a loco-descriptive poem, equally devoid of merit in sentiment and in versification. ”

“ He was the youngest son of William Wilson, a farmer on the estate of Corehouse, in the parish of Lesmahago. William Wilson, in imitation of his father, conjoined the occupation of blacksmith with the cultivation of his farm. Before the introduction of the present system of agriculture, which has nearly extirpated the middle class of peasantry in Scotland, this practice was extremely common among the Scotish farmers, but has fallen into disuse since the abolition of small farms. ”

“ The Corra Lin, by a late measurement, is found to be 84 feet in height. The river does not rush over in one uniform sheet like the Bonniton Lin, but in three different, though almost imperceptible, precipitate leaps. On the southern bank, and when the sun shines, a rainbow is perpetually seen forming itself upon the mist and fogs, arising from the violent dashing of the waters——— [7] ."
"The next fall of consequence is the Stonebyres Lin, situated about two and a half miles below the Corra Lin. ”

“ His "Earl Douglas," as we have mentioned, was only an evolution of his Dramatic Essay; his "Clyde" was only an expansion of his descriptive poem, the Nethan. The Dramatic Essay is evidently the work of an author unpractised in composition: The measure of the verse is languid and prosaic, the style flat and unpoetical, and the conduct of the drama unskilful and inartificial. In the advertisement prefixed, the author observes, that he is less unwilling to incur the censure of critics, than to strain historical facts. He is apprehensive that the moral reflections may be thought too numerous ”

“ This fault was to be expected in a young writer, practised in descriptive poetry; in which species of composition, the habits of mind which fit a person for excellence, are extremely different from those which enable him to exhibit dramatic characters successfully. ”

“ For the world loves falsehood more than the truth; and as a proof of it, worldly sinful men will pay for falsehood, and will not listen to the truth, though they have it for nothing.
A great portion of the darkness and ignorance of such persons, arises, too, from the foresaid truths pot being taught in good books, understood by all who {peak the general language, or habitual Gaelic tongue. ”

“ Wilson continued to apply himself ardently to the study of the classical models of composition, and prepared for the press that improved edition of his "Clyde," which is here presented to the Public. He had even circulated proposals for the publication of this poem, when he was invited to superintend the grammar school of Greenock in 1767.
I have now to relate a singular transaction, which I can scarcely believe would have taken place in any district of Scotland, but the West, so late as the year 1767. Greenock at this period was a thriving seaport, rapidly emerging into notice. ”

“ They still love the sport of their youth, and mount the wind with joy [17] ." The superstition still exists in the West Highlands; and the editor has heard some traditionary Gaelic verses repeated, in which it was described. The wilds of Ross were the scene of the great huntings of the potent Highland chiefs; and it is not impossible that the tradition of the East coast may have been originally derived from the Gaelic. The German superstition, adopted by Bürger in his Wild Huntsman, has some more terrible features, as it represents a mighty hunter himself pursued in the infernal chace. ”

“ The historical allusions refer to the Scotish history, as detailed by Fordun, Boethius, Major, and Buchanan. In this edition of Clyde, the topics of general description are more skilfully connected with particular scenery than in that of 1764, and blend more easily with the localities of the poem. His descriptions of rural scenes and occupations are always true to nature, and often diversified by striking and picturesque touches. He never appears as a servile imitator, though several of his topics had been anticipated by Somerville and Thomson ”

“ Perlin, a French author, who wrote a Description of England and Scotland in 1588, describes Scotland as a wilderness, and greatly prefers England; as in the following passages:
"Prenons le cas que l'Angleterre soit Paris, l'Escoffe soit le faulx-bourgz Sainct Marceau: la ville vault trop mieulx que les faulx-bourgz, aussi vault trop mieulx l'Angleterre que l'Escosse, et n'y a poinct de proportion [10] ."
"Le pays est asses pauvre en or et en argent: mais fort bon en vivres. Les terres labourables en ce pays la ne font gaires bonnes, et la plus part du pays est desert. ”

“ In England, however, since Denham's Cooper's Hill, various models have been produced, in this species of composition; which are enumerated by Dr. J. Warton in his edition of Pope's Works.
The fundamental subject of the local poem, as Dr. Johnson properly observes, is some particular landscape, to be poetically described, with the addition of such embellishments as may be supplied by historical retrospection or incidental meditation [5] . The subject which Wilson proposed to himself, has the merit of unity; a merit in which the greater part of descriptive poems are extremely defective. ”

“ I am very sure that men of ingenuity and levity, will sneer, and ridicule, and treat with contempt this little work, because poetical neatness is wanting to the expressions, and precision to the single words: And if there is a deficiency in the orthography or arrangement, or some letters substituted in place of others in this book, we need not be surprised, for the man who printed the book had not one word of Gaelic, but printed as his fancy chanced to direct him. ”