Scoto-Saxon than in English. Thus they often changed sh into s, saying sall, buss, for shali, bush; often they changed s into a liquid letter, depone, expreme, instead of dépose, express; sometimes they changed to a simple consonant a harsh combination of consonants, as, instead of neglect, self, twelve, they said neglek, se, taal; stolen is stown; doing, saying, are doin', sayin'; for describe, love, have, they said descriv, luv, hae: and instead of the harsh th, which, except the British, it is said no nation in Europe but the Spanish pronounce, they retained the Saxon d, saying fadir, modir, hidder, for father, mother, hither.

In fact it seems to me, and it is a circumstance which has often been remarked, that the Scotish bears to the English a relation extremely similar to what the Doric bore to the other dialects of Greece. Perhaps the principal characteristic of the Doric was the substitution of a for other vowels; as for n (qua for Phun); for (y for y); for a (wearos for weuros). Now ‹ (yã C ω (πρῶτος πρῶτος). one of the greatest distinctions of the Scotish from the English is, as we have observed, the substitution of a for sounds in English similar to those in Greek, not only for different sounds of a, but also for o.. Other analogies might easily be shewn.

Hence I have often flattered myself, that if a few writers of merit would, in some of their compositions, make use of Scotish, that dialect might be to the English what the Doric was to the Attic Greek. Much has been done by Ramsay (e), and still more by Burns, in producing this effect. The Scotish dialect is peculiarly fitted for pastoral subjects, not only by its melody, but also by the circumstance of its being admirably adapted for a description of the external scenery of the country. When men are acquainted only with a few

objects, these few are examined with great attention, and every variation of them is expressed by a new term. Thus, in Lapland, the rein-deer has about a dozen of names; a rein-deer of four years of age having a different name from one of five, and that again being distinguished from one of six or seven. The pastoral Scots had their attention divided by few objects, and hence no language is so copious in the names given to every variety of external scenery. Let us hope, then, that the British Theocritus will, like Shakespeare, Milton, and Spenser, mingle Scotish words with his writings, and that the Sicilian muses will warble in Scotish strains (f).

You'll fay my fancy paints o'er high,
This pleasant piece of imagery;
Perhaps it does. I'm apt to paint
My portraits rather full than faint;
Yet were our letter'd men inclin'd
To hae the Scotish tongue refin'd,
And did our lang-purs'd chieftains chuse
To patronife the Scotish mufe,

Wha ken's but Arthur's Seat might rise,
Anither Pindus, to the skies?

An' fweet St Anton's Well be feen
To match Beotias Hippocrene?

Geddes

Some Scotish critics (principally, I believe, those who have been born in a part of the country where a ruder dialect is spoken, or who, by being educated in a town, have never been acquainted with the simple manners and sterling worth of the Scotish peasantry) fastidiously annex an idea of rudeness and vulgarity to every

thing written in the native dialect of their country. But there is a naiveté, (says Burns) a pastoral simplicity, which is more in unison, in a slight intermixture of Scots words and phraseology, (at least to my taste, and, I will add, to every genuine Caledonian taste) with the simple pathos or rustic sprightliness of our native music, than any English verses whatever." An observation which, though it is applied particularly to songs, may be extended to several other branches of poetry.

"One cannot but wonder (says an admirable writer) ' at the observation which is sometimes made, even by Scotsmen of good taste, that the language of the Gentle Shepherd disgusts from its vulgarity. It is true that, in the present day, the Scotish dialect is heard only in the mouths of the lowest of the populace, in whom it is generally associated with vulgarity of sentiment (g). But if the sentiments of the speakers be not reproachable with unnecessary vulgarity, we cannot with justice associate vulgarism with a dialect which in itself is proper, and in its application is characteris

tic."

The same excellent writer gives us reason to hope that this association which, in the minds of many, exists between the Scotish dialect and coarseness and vulgarity, will be only temporary. "As associated

* See Remarks on the Writings of Ramsay, prefixed to the London edition 1800 of that Poet's works, in two volumes. This anonymous, writer unites a truly claffical, with what Burns calls the genuine Caledonian taste.

ideas arise only when the connection is either in itself necessary, or the relation is so intimate that the two ideas are seldom found disunited, so, of late years, that disunion has taken place in a twofold manner, for th language even of the common people of Scotland is gradually refining and coming nearer the English standard; and it has fortunately happened that the Scotish dialect has lately been employed in compositions of transcendent merit, which have not only exhibited the finest strokes of the pathetic, but have obtained even a high pitch of the sublime. For the truth of this observation, we may appeal to the Cottar's Saturday Night and to the Vision of Burns."

As the Scotish language (he goes on to observe in a note) has to an Englishman the air of an antiquated tongue, it will be relished as such in grave compositions, on the principle assigned by Quintilian: Propriis verbis dignitatem dat antiquitas, namque et sanctiorem, et magis admirabilem reddunt orationem, quibus non quilibet fuerit usurus; eoque ornamento acerrimi judicii Virgilius unice est usus Olli enim et Quianam, et mis et pone pellucent, et aspergunt illam quae etiam in picturis est gratissima, vetustatis inimitabilem arti auctoritatem. Lib. 7. c. 3. (h). That the Scotish language is relished by an English ear, on a kindred principle, is acknowledged by a very excellent critic: "I suspect (says Mr Aikin) that Ramsay gains a great advantage among us, by writing in the Scotish dialect; this not being familiar to us, and scarcely understood, softens the harsher parts, and gives a kind of foreign air that eludes the critics severity.

A remark similar to that just mentioned is made by Dr Currie in his observations on the writings of Burns, in vol. i. p. 331, of the first edition of that Poet's works. "Great efforts have been made (says he) by the inhabitants of Scotland, of a superior rank, to approximate in their speech to the pure English standard; and this has made it difficult to write in the Scotish dialect without exciting in them some feelings of disgust, which in England are scarcely felt. An Englishman, who understands the meaning of the Scotishwords, is not offended; nay, on certain subjects, he is perhaps pleased with the rustic dialect, as he may with the Doric Greek of Theocritus.

"But a Scotsman inhabiting his own country, if a man of education, and more especially if a literary character, has banished such words from his writings, and has attempted to banish them from his speech : And, being accustomed to hear them from the vulgar daily, does not easily admit of their use in poetry, which requires a style elevated and ornamental. Ą dislike of this kind is however accidental not natural."

Then follows an excellent observation, which, the ingenious writer says, has been excited by some remarks of respectable correspondents of the description alluded to."-" Burns (says he) wrote professedly for the peasantry of his native country, and by them their native dialect is universally relished, To a numerous class of the natives of Scotland, of another description, it may also be considered as attractive in another point of view. Estranged from their native soil, and spread øver foreign lands, the idiom of their country unites with the sentiments, and the descriptions on which it