"ral offices under the see of Durham an hundred years ago. "Mr Gill was possessed of most of his manuscripts." The extract, which, in fact, suggested the introduction of the tale into the present poem, runs thus:

"Rem miram hujusmodi quæ nostris temporibus evenit, teste "viro nobili ac fide dignissimo, enarrare haud pigebit. Radulphus Bulmer, cum e castris quæ tunc temporis prope Norham posita erant, oblectationis causa exiisset, ac in ulteriore Tueda ripâ prædam cum canibus leporariis insequeretur, forte cum "Scoto quodam nobili, sibi antehac ut videbatur familiariter

cognito, congressus est; ac ut fas erat inter inimicos, flag“rante bello, brevissimâ interrogationis morâ interpositâ, al"terutros invicem incitato cursu infestis animis petiere. Nos“ter, primo occursu, equo præ acerrimo hostis impetu labante, "in terram eversus pectore et capite læso, sanguinem, mortuo "similis, evomebat. Quem ut se ægre habentem comiter allo"cutus est alter, pollicitusque modo auxilium non abnegaret, "monitisque obtemperans ab omni rerum sacrarum cogitatione "abstineret, nec Deo, Deiparæ Virgini, Sanctove ullo, preces "aut vota efferret vel inter sese conciperet, se brevi eum sanum validumque restiturum esse. Præ angore oblata conditio

66

66

accepta est; ac veterator ille nescio quid obscæni murmuris "insusurrans, prehensa manu, dicto citius in pedes sanum ut "antea sublevavit. Noster autem, maxima præ rei inauditâ "novitate formidine perculsus, MI JESU! exclamat, vel quid "simile; ac subite respiciens nec hostem nec ullum alium conIspicit, equum solum gravissimo nuper casu afflictum, per

"6 summam pacem in rivo fluvii pascentem. Ad castra itaque “mirabundus revertens, fidei dubius, rem primo occultavit, "dein confecto bello, Confessori suo totam asseruit. Delusoria procul dubio res tota, ac mala veteratoris illius aperitur fraus, qua hominem Christianum ad vetitum tale auxilium pelliceret. "Nomen atcunque illius (nobilis alias ac clari) reticendum duco, сит haud dubium sit quin Diabolus, Deo permittente, formam quam libuerit, immo angeli lucis, sacro oculo Dei teste, posse "assumere." The MS. chronicle, from which Mr Cradocke took this curious extract, cannot now be found in the chapter library of Durham, or, at least, has hitherto escaped the researches of my friendly correspondent.

Lindesay is made to allude to this adventure of Ralph Bulmer, as a well-known story, in the 4th Canto, Stanza XXII. p. 210.

The northern champions of old were accustomed peculiarly to search for, and delight in, encounters with such military spectres. See a whole chapter on the subject in BARTHOLINUS De Causis contemptæ Mortis a Danis, p. 253.

NOTES TO CANTO IV.

Note I.

Close to the hut, no more his own,

Close to the aid he sought in vain,

The morn may find the stiffen'd swain.-P. 181.

I cannot help here mentioning, that, on the night in which these lines were written, suggested, as they were, by a sudden fall of snow, beginning after sun-set, an unfortunate man perished exactly in the manner here described, and his body was next morning found close to his own house. The accident happened within five miles of the farm of Ashestiel.

Note II.

Scarce had lamented Forbes paid, &c.-P. 184. Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, Baronet; unequalled, perhaps, in the degree of individual affection entertained for him

by his friends, as well as in the general respect and esteem of Scotland at large. His "Life of Beattie," whom he befriended and patronised in life, as well as celebrated after his decease, was not long published, before the benevolent and affectionate biographer was called to follow the subject of his narrative. This melancholy event very shortly succeeded the marriage of the friend, to whom this introduction is addressed, with one of Sir William's daughters.

Note III.

Friar Rush.-St. I. p. 193.

This personage is a strolling demon, or esprit follet, who, once upon a time, got admittance into a monastery as a scullion, and played the monks many pranks. He was also a sort of Robin Goodfellow, and Jack o' Lanthorn. It is in allusion to this mischievous demon that Milton's clown speaks,

She was pinched, and pulled, she said,
And he by friar's lanthorn led.

"The History of Friar Rush" is of extreme rarity, and, for some time, even the existence of such a book was doubted, although it is expressly alluded to by Reginald Scot, in his

Discovery of Witchcraft." I have perused a copy in the valuable library of my friend Mr Heber; and I observe, from Mr Beloe's "Anecdotes of Literature," that there is one in the excellent collection of the Marquis of Stafford.

Note IV.

Sir David Lindesay of the Mount,

MOTHE

BIBLI

ANA

Lord Lion King-at-arms.—St. VII. p. 201.

The late elaborate edition of Sir David Lindesay's Works, by Mr George Chalmers, has probably introduced him to many of my readers. It is perhaps to be regretted, that the learned editor had not bestowed more pains in elucidating his author, even although he should have omitted, or at least reserved, his disquisitions on the origin of the language used by the poet :*

* I beg leave to quote a single instance from a very interesting passage. Sir David, recounting his attention to King James V. in his infancy, is made, by the learned editor's punctuation, to say,—

"The first sillabis, that thou did mute

"Was pa, da, lyn, upon the lute;
"Then played I twenty springis perqueir,
"Quhilk was great plesour for to hear."

Vol. I. p. 7. 257.

Mr Chalmers does not inform us, by note or glossary, what is meant by the King "muting pa, da, lyn, upon the lute;" but any old woman in Scotland will bear witness, that pa, da, lyn, are the first efforts of a child to say, Whare's David Lindesay? and that the subsequent words begin another sentence,

-Upon the lute

"Then played I twenty springis perquier," &c.

In another place, "justing lumis," i. e. looms, or implements of tilting, is facetiously interpreted “ playful limbs." Many such minute errors could be pointed out; but these are only mentioned incidentally, and not as diminishing the real merit of the edition.