Where, then, are we to look for romance of this sort in the character of the Scottish people? The national peculiarities of the Scots may be, in a large measure, explained by the fact that Norman feudalism never became thoroughly organized among them, as many idioms of their dialect are due to its having been comparatively so little affected by the Norman-French. To this they owe the strong love of personal freedom which has distinguished them from a very early period, appearing in the peculiar mildness of their laws in reference to thralls, and in the recognition of rights possessed by the meanest peasant, at a time when the recognition of such rights was incomprehensible to the feudalism of other nations. It need not be observed, that the love of personal freedom is of the very essence of the romantic spirit. 1 The spirit of romance may also be traced in every great epoch of Scottish history. The love of national freedom, which characterised the long struggle against feudal subjection to a powerful neighbour, was but a manifestation of that romantic tendency which rejects the tyranny of any force foreign to the spirit of the nation. The next great movement-the Reformation of the sixteenth century-was, in many of the peculiar features which that movement assumed in Scotland, an exhibition of the noblest spirit of romance. Perhaps more unequivocally than any other Reformed national Church, that of Scotland proclaimed the great principles of Protestantism. It ignored any real dis 1 Burton's "History of Scotland," vol. ii. pp. 151–154. tinction between clergy and laity, asserting the direct responsibility of each human being to God, who, in the memorable language of its symbols, is declared to be "the alone Lord of the conscience." It therefore recognized the independent worth of each individual in God's universe; and while this is implied in several remarkable facts connected with the organization and service of the Church, it also found the most beneficent practical embodiment in the first national system which attempted to educate each individual into fitness for the responsibilities and the rights accorded to him by the Reformation. In the great struggle of the following century appeared another of the nobler outgoings of romance: the struggle was simply a passionate but indomitable protest against the imposition of Church forms which were not the outgrowth of the national spirit, and by which the national spirit could not be fettered. The great events of Scottish history subsequent to the Union have been mainly ecclesiastical; but in these may be traced the same spirit of romance. This spirit throws light perhaps on the almost fanatical horror of read prayers or even of read sermons in the service of the Church; but certainly it is displayed in the persistent opposition to any system of appointing pastors without the choice of the congregation being consulted; and everyone acquainted with the history of Scotland during the last hundred years, knows what an important part that opposition has played. Perhaps, in conclusion, some will see the most unequivocal proof of a romantic spirit among the Scottish people in the love of adventure which has characterised "the Scot abroad." I believe that I have sketched some profounder and more general manifestations of that spirit; but there cannot be a doubt that the narrow boundaries of their fatherland, and the extremely limited nature of its material resources in former times, have been felt by many Scotsmen to afford but a small range for the play of a romantic spirit, and have consequently driven many, in whom that spirit was strong, into foreign lands. It is also unquestionable that the inheritance of the national spirit, which they have carried with them, has given them a force to clear a way for themselves through the obstacles of nature and the entanglements of society, wherever they have gone, from the time when nearly every European university boasted of its Scotch professor1 till the present day, when Scotsmen or their descendants are found occupying prominent situations in the United States and in all the colonies of Great Britain. 1 See Sir William Hamilton's "Discussions," pp. 119–121. CHAPTER IV. HISTORICAL BALLADS AND SONGS. 66 There are in ancient story Wonders many told, Of heroes in great glory, Of courage strong and bold, Of joyances and hightides, Of weeping and of woe, Of noble warriors striving, Mote ye now wonders know." Niebelungenlied, translated by Carlyle. THE ballads and songs which refer to known historical transactions do not present the same difficulty, which was met in the case of the romantic ballads, of being referred to different groups. The history of Scotland, like that of all progressive countries, may be divided into certain more or less definitely marked periods, each of which has become an epos-a theme for song. We may therefore briefly notice the lyrical poetry of each epos, pointing out the effect which it may be shown to have produced on the national life of Scotland. For this purpose we may distinguish four epochs in the history of Scotland, to one or other of which its historical ballads and songs may be referred, viz. the War of Independence; the Border Feuds; the Reformation; and the Jacobite Struggle. § 1.-The War of Independence. The history of the Scots, as one distinct people, begins properly with this war; and in the enthusiasm which thecommon resistance to Anglo-Norman oppression created, may be recognized the force which welded together the different tribes that peopled Scotland.1 In such an enthusiasm will also be found a fruitful source of national song; and, consequently, the period of this struggle is, perhaps more than all others, worthy of being dignified with the title of an epos, while it has given birth to two poems-Blind Harry's Wallace and Barbour's Bruce-which have some claim to be called epic. But the period does not seem to have created a minor poetry of sufficient value to be traditionally preserved; or the two greater poems have absorbed the popular favour so entirely, that the contemporary ballads and songs have been allowed to sink into oblivion. The latter supposition is indeed the more probable, as there are not a few indications of a lyrical poetry, belonging to the period, which has been lost. This is not the place song, but it may be worth while to collect here the references which have been discovered to those early national lyrics. to sketch the history of Scottish A proof that, even before this time, songs on national themes were not unknown in Scotland, is furnished by the well-known song on the death of Alexander III., preserved by Wyntoun: See 1 Before this time the royal notifications to all classes of the people addressed them as Franks and Angles, Scots and Galwegians. Burton's " History of Scotland," vol. ii. p. 127. |