Lowlands. It has before found a place in the "Nithsdale and Galloway" collection: "Thou hast vow'd by thy faith, my Jeanie, By that pretty white hand of thine, And by all the lowing stars in heaven "Foul fa' the hands wad loose sic bands Though the wee wee cot maun be my bield I should lap me up rich in the faulds of love "Thy white arm wad be a pillow to me, Far softer than the down, And Love wad winnow o'er us his kind, kind wings Come here to me, thou lass whom I love, Come here and kneel wi' me, The morning is full of the presence of God, "The wind is sweet amang the new flowers, And a blithe old bodie is he; The Beuk maun be ta'en when he comes hame, Wi' the holie psalmodie, And I will speak of thee when I pray, And thou maun speak of me."-Vol. iv., p. 308. Our readers may think we have been detained too long by so humble a theme as old songs and ballads; yet a wise man has said, "Give me the making of the ballads, and I care not who makes the laws of a nation." Indeed, they will not be lightly regarded by those who consider their influence on the character of a simple, susceptible people, particularly in a rude age, when they constitute the authentic records of national history. Thus the wandering minstrel kindles in his unlettered audience a generous emulation of the deeds of their ancestors, and while he sings the bloody feuds of the Zegris and Abencerrages, the Percy and the Douglas, artfully fans the flame of an expiring hostility. Under these animating influences, the ancient Spaniard and the Border warrior displayed that stern military enthusiasm which distinguished them above every other peasantry in Europe. Nor is this influence altogether extinguished in a polite age, when the narrow attachments of feudal servitude are ripened into a more expanded patriotism; the generous principle is nourished and invigorated in the patriot by the simple strains which recount the honourable toils, the homebred joys, the pastoral adventures, the romantic scenery, which have endeared to him the land of his fathers. There is no moral cause which operates more strongly in infusing a love of country into the mass of the people than the union of a national music with popular poetry. But these productions have an additional value in the eyes of the antiquarian to what is derived from their moral or political influence, as the repertory of the motley traditions and superstitions that have descended for ages through the various races of the North. The researches of modern scholars have discovered a surprising affinity between the ancient Scottish ballad and the Teutonic, Scandinavian, and even Calmuck romance. Some of the most eminent of the old Border legends are almost literal versions of those which inflamed the martial ardour of our Danish ancestors.* A fainter relationship had before been detected between them and Southern and Oriental fable. Thus, in a barbarous age, when the nearest provinces of Europe had but a distant intercourse with each other, the electric spark of fancy seems to have run around the circle of the remotest regions, animating them with the same wild and original creations. Even the lore of the nursery may sometimes ascend to as high an antiquity. The celebrated Whittington and his Cat can display a Teutonic pedigree of more than eight centuries; "Jack, commonly called the Giant Killer, and Thomas Thumb," says an antiquarian writer, "landed in England from the very same keels and war-ships which conveyed Hengist and Horsa, and Ebba the Saxon;" and the nursery-maid who chants the friendly monition to the "Lady-bird," or narrates the "fee-faw-fum" adventure of the carnivorous giant, little thinks she has purloined the stores of Teutonic song and Scandinavian mythology.† The ingenious Blanco White, Such are "The Childe of Elle," "Catharine and Janfarie," "Cospatric," "Willie's Lady," &c. "Lady-bird, lady-bird, fly away home, Your house is on fire, your children will roam." This fragment of a respectable little poem has soothed the slumbers of the German infant for many ages. The giant who so cunningly scented the "blood of an Englishman" is the counterpart of the personage who, under the name of Doblado, has thrown great light on the character and condition of modern Spain, has devoted a chapter to tracing out the genealogies of the games and popular pastimes of his country. Something of the same kind might be attempted in the untrodden walks of nursery literature. Ignorance and youth are satisfied at no great cost of invention. The legend of one generation answers, with little variation, for the next, and, within the precincts of the nursery, obtains that imperishable existence which has been the vain boast of many a loftier lyric. That the mythology of one age should be abandoned to the "Juvenile Cabinet" of another, is indeed curious. Thus the doctrines most venerated by man in the infancy of society become the sport of infants in an age of civilization, furnishing a pleasing example of the progress of the human intellect, and a plausible colouring for the dream of perfectibility. recorded in the collection of Icelandic mythology made by Snorro in the thirteenth century.-Edda, Fable 23. DA PONTE'S OBSERVATIONS.* JULY, 1825. THE larger part of the above work is devoted to strictures upon an article on "Italian Narrative Poetry," which appeared in October, 1824. The author is an eminent Italian teacher at New-York. His poetical abilities have been highly applauded in his own country, and were rewarded with the office of Cæsarean poet at the court of Vienna, where he acquired new laurels as successor to the celebrated Metastasio. His various fortunes in literary and fashionable life while in Europe, and the eccentricities of his enthusiastic character, furnish many interesting incidents for an autobiography, published by him two years since at New-York, and to this we refer those of our readers who are desirous of a more intimate acquaintance with the author. We regret that our remarks, which appeared to us abundantly encomiastic of Italian letters, and which certainly proceeded from our admiration for them, should have given such deep offence to the respectable author of the "Osservazioni," as to compel him, although a "veteran" in literature, to arm himself against us in defence of his "calumniated" country. According to him, "we judge too lightly of the Italians, and quote as axioms the absurd opin "Alcune Osservazioni sull' Articulo Quarto publicato nel North American Review, il Mese d'Ottobre dell' Anno 1824. Da L. Da Ponte. Nuova-Jorca. Stampatori Gray e Bunce." 1825. |