With careless gesture, mind unmov't, His seem in throng of fiercest strife, When winner ay the same: Not yet his heart dames dimplet cheek 285 Could mease soft leve to bruik, Till vengefu' Ann return'd his scorn, Nor ward stands on my wa'. "What bodes it? Robert, Thomas, say;" Sair sham'd to mind ought but his dame, Black fear he felt, but what to fear He wist nae yet; wi' dread * * * Stanzas not in the first edition are, Nos. 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 34, 35, 36, 37, 41, 42. In the present impression the orthography of Dr. Clerk's copy has been preserved, and 335 his readings carefully followed, except in a few instances, wherein the common edition appeared preferable: viz. He had in ver. 20, but,,—v. 56, of harm,-v. 64, every,—v. 67, lo *** In an elegant publication, entitled down,-v. 83, That omitted,—v. 89, And "Scottish Tragic Ballads, printed by and for omitted,- -v. 143, With argument but rainly J. Nichols, 1781, 8vo.," may be seen a con- strave Lang.-v. 148, say'd.—v. 155, incamtinuation of the ballad of Hardyknute, by pit on the plain.-v. 156, Norse squadrons.— the addition of a "Second Part," which hath v. 158, regand revers.-v. 170, his strides he since been acknowledged to be his own com- bent.-v. 171, minstrals play and Pibrochs position, by the ingenious Editor-To whom fine.-v. 172, statety went.-v. 182, mon.—v. the late Sir D. Dalrymple communicated 196, sharp and futal.—v. 219, which.-v. 241, (subsequent to the account drawn up above stood wyld.—Stanza 39 preceded stanza 38. in p. 203) extracts of a letter from Sir John-v. 305, There.-v. 313, blew wrestling.-v. Bruce, of Kinross, to Lord Binning, which | 336 had originally been, He fear'd a' cou'd be plainly proves the pretended discoverer of the fragment of Hardyknute to have been Sir John Bruce himself. His words are, "To perform my promise, I send you a true copy of the Manuscript I found some weeks ago in a vault at Dumferline. It is written on vellum in a fair Gothic character, but so much defaced by time, as you'll find, that the tenth part is not legible." He then gives the whole fragment as it was first published in 1719, save one or two stanzas, marking several passages as having perished by being illegible in the old MS. Hence it appears that Sir John was the author of Hardyknute, but afterwards used Mrs. Wardlaw to be the midwife of his poetry, and suppressed the story of the vault; as is well observed by the Editor of the Tragic Ballads, and of Maitland's Scot. Poets, vol. I. p. cxxvii. To this gentleman we are indebted for the use of the copy, whence the second edition was afterwards printed, as the same was prepared for the press by John Clerk, M. D., of Edinburgh, an intimate companion of Lord President Forbes. The title of the first edition was, "Hardyknute, a Fragment. Edinburgh, printed for James Watson, &c., 1719," folio, 12 pages. fear'd. The editor was also informed, on the authority of Dr. David Clerk, M. D., of Edinburgh (son of the aforesaid Dr. John Clerk), that between the present stanzas 36 and 37, the two following had been intended, but were on maturer consideration omitted, and do not now appear among the MS. additions: Now darts flew wavering through slaw speede, 'Twas all but shot in vain: Righ strengthy arms forfeebled grew, Sair wreck'd wi' that day's toils: And cur'd war's cruel broils. Yet still wars horns sounded to charge, The hills and dales fraemang. Nor the lang-winding horn, THE END OF BOOK THE FIRST. SERIES THE SECOND. BOOK II. I. A Ballad of Luther, the Pope, a Cardinal, and a Husbandman. In the former Book we brought down this second Series of poems as low as about the middle of the sixteenth century. We now find the Muses deeply engaged in religious controversy. The sudden revolution wrought in the opinions of mankind by the Reformation, is one of the most striking events in the history of the human mind. It could not but engross the attention of every individual in that age, and therefore no other writings would have any chance to be read, but such as related to this grand topic. The alterations made in the established religion by Henry VIII., the sudden changes it underwent in the three succeeding reigns within 30 short a space as eleven or twelve years, and the violent struggles between expiring Popery and growing Protestantism, could not but interest all mankind. Accordingly every pen was engaged in the dispute. The followers of the Old and New Profession (as they were called) had their respective balladmakers; and every day produced some popular sonnet for or against the Reformation. The following ballad, and that entitled "Little John Nobody," may serve for specimens of the writings of each party. Both were written in the reign of Edward VI.; and are not the worst that were composed upon the occasion. Controversial divinity is no friend to poetic flights. Yet this ballad of "Luther and the Pope," is not altogether devoid of spirit; it is of the dramatic kind, and the characters are tolerably well sustained; especially that of Luther, which is made to speak in a manner not unbecoming the spirit and courage of that vigorous reformer. It is printed from the original black-letter copy (in the Pepys collection, vol. I., folio), to which is prefixed a large wooden cut, designed and executed by some eminent master. We are not to wonder that the balladwriters of that age should be inspired with the zeal of controversy, when the very stage teemed with polemic divinity. I have now before me two very ancient quarto black-letter plays: the one published in the time of Henry VIII., entitled "Every Man ;" the other called "Lusty Juventus," printed in the reign of Edward VI. In the former of these, occasion is taken to inculcate great reverence for old mother church and her superstitions:* in the other, the poet (one K. Wever) with great success attacks both. So that the stage in those days literally was, what wise men have always wished it-a supplement to the pulpit:-this was so much the case, that in the play of "Lusty Juventus," chapter and verse are every where quoted as formally as in a sermon; take an instance: "The Lord by his prophet Ezechiel sayeth in As in the xxxiij chapter it doth appere: Take a specimen from his high encomiums on the priesthood: "There is no emperour, kyng, duke, ne baron. As hath the leest preest in the world beynge. * * * God hath to them more power gyven, Goddes body in flesshe, and blode to take. Thou ministers all the sacramentes seven. God gave preest that dignité, And letteth them in his stede amonge us be, See Hawkins's Orig. of Eng. Drama, Vol. I. p. 61. From this play we learn that most of the young people were New Gospellers, or friends to the Reformation, and that the old were tenacious of the doctrines imbibed in their youth for thus the devil is introduced lamenting the downfall of superstition: "The olde people would believe stil in my lawes, But the yonger sort leade them a contrary way, They wyl not beleve, they playnly say, And in another place Hypocrisy urges, "The worlde was never meri Of the plays above mentioned, to the first is subjoined the following, Printer's Colophon, ¶ "Thus endeth this moral playe of Every Man. Imprinted at London in Powles chyrche yarde by me John Skot." In Mr. Garrick's collection is an imperfect copy of the same play, printed by Richarde Pynson. The other is intitled, "An interlude called Lufty Juventus:" and is thus distinguished at the end: "Finis. quod R. Wever. Imprynted at London in Paules churche yeard by Abraham Dele at the signe of the Lambe." Of this, too, Mr. Garrick has an imperfect copy of a different edition. Of these two plays the reader may find |