GLENFINLAS.

THIS ballad was the first poetical composition of Sir Walter Scott, and was originally published in 1801, in the "Tales of Wonder," edited by M. G. Lewis. It was written with the design that it should be supposed a translation from the Gaelic, whereby Scott considered himself "liberated from imitating the antiquated language and rude rhythm of the minstrel ballad." The popularity that Glenfinlas immediately acquired was a chief inducement to the arrangement and publication of the "Border Minstrelsy."

THE GAY GOSS-HAWK.

This ballad undoubtedly owes a portion of its merit to the improving hand of Walter Scott, who arranged it for his "Minstrelsy" from two different copies. Other versions have been published by Motherwell and Buchan. It is believed to be of great antiquity, but there is no record of any actual occurrence, on which it might have been founded.