The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volumes 1-6. The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century

[Illustration:

THE

MODERN SCOTTISH MINSTREL;

BY

CHARLES ROGERS, LL.D.
F.S.A. SCOT.

VOL. I.


THE AULD HOUSE O' GASK.
_THE BIRTH PLACE OF LADY NAIRN._
_(Copied by permission of Patterson & Sons)_

EDINBURGH:
ADAM & CHARLES BLACK, NORTH BRIDGE,
BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS TO THE QUEEN.]

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[Illustration:

SIR WALTER SCOTT BART.

Lithographed for the Modern Scottish Minstrel, by Schenck & McFarlane.]

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THE

MODERN SCOTTISH MINSTREL;

OR,

THE SONGS OF SCOTLAND OF THE
PAST HALF CENTURY.

WITH

Memoirs of the Poets,

AND

SKETCHES AND SPECIMENS
IN ENGLISH VERSE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED
MODERN GAELIC BARDS.

BY

CHARLES ROGERS, LL.D.
F.S.A. SCOT.


IN SIX VOLUMES;

VOL. I.


EDINBURGH:

ADAM & CHARLES BLACK, NORTH BRIDGE,
BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS TO HER MAJESTY.

M.DCCC.LV.


EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY,
PAUL'S WORK.




TO

WILLIAM STIRLING, ESQ. OF KEIR, M.P.,

AN ENLIGHTENED SENATOR, AN ACCOMPLISHED SCHOLAR, AND AN INGENIOUS POET,

THIS FIRST VOLUME

OF

The Modern Scottish Minstrel

IS,

WITH HIS KIND PERMISSION, MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,

BY

HIS VERY OBEDIENT, FAITHFUL SERVANT,

CHARLES ROGERS.




PREFACE.


Scotland has probably produced a more patriotic and more extended
minstrelsy than any other country in the world. Those Caledonian
harp-strains, styled by Sir Walter Scott "gems of our own mountains,"
have frequently been gathered into caskets of national song, but have
never been stored in any complete cabinet; while no attempt has been
made, at least on an ample scale, to adapt, by means of suitable
metrical translations, the minstrelsy of the Gaël for Lowland melody.
The present work has been undertaken with the view of supplying these
deficiencies, and with the further design of extending the fame of those
cultivators of Scottish song--hitherto partially obscured by untoward
circumstances, or on account of their own diffidence--and of affording a
stimulus towards the future cultivation of national poetry.

The plan of the work is distinct from that of every previous collection
of Scottish song--the more esteemed lyrical compositions of the various
bards being printed along with the memoirs of the respective authors,
while the names of the poets have been arranged in chronological order.
Those have been considered as _modern_ whose lives extend into the past
half-century; and the whole of these have consequently been included in
the work. Several Highland bards who died a short period before the
commencement of the century have, however, been introduced. Of all the
Scottish poets, whether lyrical or otherwise, who survived the period
indicated, biographical sketches will be supplied in the course of the
publication, together with memoirs of the principal modern collectors,
composers and vocalists. The memoirs, so far as is practicable, will be
prepared from original materials, of which the Editor, after a very
extensive correspondence, has obtained a supply more ample and more
interesting than, he flatters himself, has ever been attained by any
collector of northern minstrelsy. The work will extend to six volumes,
each of the subsequent volumes being accompanied by a dissertation on a
distinct department of Scottish poetry and song. Each volume will be
illustrated with two elegant engravings. In the course of the work, many
original compositions will be presented, recovered from the MSS. of the
deceased poets, or contributed by distinguished living bards.

For the department of the "Modern Gaelic Minstrelsy," the Editor has
obtained the assistance of a learned friend, intimately familiar with
the language and poetry of the Highlands. To this esteemed co-adjutor
the reader is indebted for the revisal of the Gaelic department of this
work, as well as for the following prefatory observations on the
subject:--

     "Among the intelligent natives of the Highlands, it is well known
     that the Gaelic language contains a quantity of poetry, which, how
     difficult soever to transfuse into other tongues and idioms, never
     fails to touch the heart, and excite enthusiastic feelings. The
     plan of 'The Modern Scottish Minstrel' restricts us to a period
     less favourable to the inspirations of the Celtic muse than remoter
     times. If it is asked, What could be gained by recurring to a more
     distant period? or what this unlettered people have really to shew
     for their bardic pretensions? we answer, that there is extant a
     large and genuine collection of Highland minstrelsy, ranging over a
     long exciting period, from the days of Harlaw to the expedition of
     Charles Edward. The 'Prosnachadh Catha,' or battle-song, that led
     on the raid of Donald the Islander on the Garioch, is still sung;
     the 'Woes of the Children of the Mist' are yet rehearsed in the
     ears of their children in the most plaintive measures.