Together let us with him lafting truth,

And joy untainted with his deftin'd bride.
Go! nor regardless, while thefe numbers boast
My fhort-liv'd blifs, forget my focial name;
But think far off, how on the southern coast
I met thy friendship with an equal flame!
Fresh to that foil thou turn'ft, whofe ev'ry vale
Shall prompt the poet, and his fong demand:
To thee the copious fubjects ne'er fhall fail;

Thou need' but take the pencil to thy hand, And paint what all believe, who own thy genial land." Having thus opened his defign, the poet takes notice of the popular belief in Fairies: he reprefents them, according to the vulgar creed, affembling round the milk pails; By night they fip it round the cottage door :' their elf-fhot arrows fly, and the wounded lambs and heifers droop: thefe tales, he fays, enlarge the Poet's province, and give energy to the heart-commanding ftrain. The Legends of the Runic bards are also recommended to the poet: Gray, we have seen, was of the fame opinion. The Songs of the Bards in commemoration of fome departed Chieftain are finely introduced,

When ev'ry fhrieking Maid her bofom beat,

And ftrew'd with choiceft herbs his fcented grave."

The fecond-fight of the Highlanders is well defcribed;
How they, whofe fight fuch dreary dreams engrofs,
With their own vifions oft aftonish'd droop,
When o'er the wat'ry ftrath or quaggy mofs
They see the gliding ghofts embodied troop ;'

or when they fee fome youth,

Who, now perhaps in lufty vigour feen

And rofy health, fhall foon lamented die.'

The IGNIS FATUUS is fuppofed to be directed by fome fiend, to miflead the wandering traveller. The eighth ftanza pathetically describes the diftreffed family of one who has been loft in the fens, or in the fea :

For him in vain his anxious wife shall wait,
Or wander forth to meet him on his way;
For him in vain, at to-fall of the day,

His babes fhall linger at th' unclofing gate!'

The wife's dream, in which the fees her husband's ghoff, is both natural and tender. When the KAELPIE, which in Scotland means a spirit of the waters, is mentioned, the imagination is fo impreffed, that, in fpite of reafon, we almoft give credit to the fiction. The ninth ftanza recommends a voyage to the Hebrides, and particularly to one of the islands termed the Isle of the Pygmies,

Whose bones the Delver with his fpade upthrows,
And culls them, wond'ring, from the hallow'd ground.'

Nor

Nor is the island of IONA, or ICOLMKILL, omitted. In a tomb there, fevera! Kings of Scotland, four of Ireland, and five of Norway, are fuppofed to have been interred. The poet's ufe of this circumstance is beautiful:

Once foes perhaps, together now they reft;
No flaves revere them, and no wars invade;
Yet frequent now, at midnight's folemn hour,
The rifled mounds their yawning cells unfold,
And forth the Monarchs ftalk with fov'reign pow'r,

In pageant robes, and wreath'd with fheeny gold,
And, on their twilight tombs, aerial councils hold.'

From the tenth ftanza, we fhall make no quotation. The whole is a defeription of St. Kilda, in a style of beautiful fimplicity. Having thus far exhibited the fuperftitions of Scotland, Mr. Collins advifes his friend Home to adopt thefe themes, -which in elder time filled the hiftoric page.

Thefe Shakespeare's felf, with ev'ry garland crown'd,
In mufing hour, his wayward fifters found,
And with their terrors drefs'd the magic scene.'
He cites alfo the example of TASSO:

How have I trembled, when at TANCRED's ftroke
Its gufhing blood the gaping cyprefs pour'd;
When each live plant with mortal accents fpoke,
And the wild blast up-heav'd the vanish'd sword.'
Mr. Collins pays a tribute of applaufe to Fairfax:
How have I fat, when pip'd the penfive wind,
To hear his harp by British FAIRFAX ftrung!
Prevailing Poet, whofe undoubting mind

Believ'd the magic wonders which he fung.

Hence at each found imagination glows;

Hence his warm lay with fofteft fweetness flows;

Melting it flows, pure, num'rous, ftrong and clear;

And fills th' impaffion'd heart, and wins th' harmonious ear." The laft ftanza gives, if we may fo exprefs it, a bird's-eye view of all Scotland, with its friths and lakes. Mr. Collins, as was natural, grows enamoured of the picture. He longs to travel into Scotland, as BEN JONSON had done before him, on a visit to a poet.

Then will I drefs once more the faded bow'r,
Where Jonfon fat in Drummond's focial fhade.'

The whole poem deferves an attentive perufal *. A fuperficial reading will not difcover its real beauties. It is the fecret charm of fimplicity that pervades the whole. We cannot refrain from once more regretting the mutilated and unfinished

* See our account of another publication of Mr. Collins's Ode in this month's Catalogue.

ftate

tate in which we receive this laft piece of Mr. Collins; and yet that fo much has been faved, we think the public much obliged to Dr. CARLYLE.

ART. XVII. A Tour in 1787, from London to the Western Highlands of Scotland: cluding Excursions to the Lakes of Weftinorland and Cumberland; with minute Defcriptions of the principal Seats, Caitles, Rains, &c. throughout the Tour. 12mo.

Davis, &c. 1728.

THE

3s. 6d.

HE motives for travelling and tour-making are various; and even in those inftances where they are not diffim lar, the obfervations of different men are directed, by their several tastes, to different objects. This being a profeffed ramble for pleature, the rambler was on the fcent for pleafing fcens, either of art or nature; and turned to the right or left, as the intelligence of romantic water-falls, or villas enriched with good collections of paintings, attracted his steps: and the warm admiration he expreffes with regard to most of the objects which he viewed, fhews that he received more fatisfaction in this excurfion than we fear his relation of it is likely to afford to his readers. The mention that he makes of many remarkable places and obje&s, are little more than hafty tranfient notes which beguiled the tedious hours that were neceffarily fpent at inns;' and hence, though they may be ferviceable as an index of the road to other travellers, fuch notes will fearcely be accepted as defcriptions that will fatisfy the curiofity of diftant readers.

Every book ought to be as complete as poffible on the profeffed fubject, and should not betray its own imperfection by referring to others for the information we expect to find in it: as, therefore, the Author promifes us his accounts of the lakes of Westmorland and Cumberland, it is a bad excufe for his curtailing these accounts to plead that they have been defcribed in feparate volumes by Weft and Gilpin; and ftill worfe to tantalize his readers with references to the pages in other works where they are to be found! Even when he is in full poffeffion of that furprising phænomenon called Scale force, of which no defeription has yet been given, he does not avail himself fufficiently of the opportunity of fupplying that circumftantial description, the want of which he remarks: and yet we cannot but think the particular topography of a furprifing phænomenon, as productive of pleafing reflections, as the different dimenfions of ball-rooms carefully exprelfed in feet and inches!

If the rude fublimity difplayed in the wildness of nature is thus fummarily difmilled with hafty expreffions of admiration, uteful inventions in arts claim no further regard than the mere mention of them, as in the following infrance.

REV. Dec. 17:8.

After having dined upon the homely provifions of a small alehoufe at the neighbouring village of Ennerdale, we fet out again for our quarters at Kefwick; and winding round the extreme fkirts of this mountainous country for the fake of a more even and ready road, we met with an ingenious mechanic, whofe name is Atkinfon, who preffed us to fee an improved forge of his conftruction near this road, where he makes, in a very expeditious manner, many forts of tools, particularly hoes for the Virginia planters; which at one heating he expands and plates the metal into the requifite form, under a large hammer, which ftrikes with the aftonishing velocity of one hundred and thirty times in a minute. Our inspection of these works feemed to gratify the pride of the owner, whofe glory was to fhew that the human mind was equally capable of fuch exertions in thefe northern regions, as in the most favourite receffes of the South.'

And is this all? Poor Atkinson then loft the best reward for his officious trouble! That a weighty hammer fhould, by any means whatever, be made to repeat more than two ftrokes in one fecond of time, on a yielding mafs, is not eafy to be conceived; the power, therefore, by which fo furprifing an operation is produced, might furely have been explained to bring the relation within the bounds of credibility, or the machine have been left to the next traveller who might happen to have a more mechanical head.

As a fair fpecimen of the loofe information he allows his readers, we fhall give all that he fays relative to Furness Abbey, which is more than he affords on fome objects of equal notoriety *.

The next morning, which was glorious as the preceding, we went the ride recommended by Mr. Weft, to fee the magnificent ruins of Furnels Abbey, which are worth much attention, and cannot fail giving infinite fatisfaction to every beholder. The fequeftered vale in which this monaftic edifice once reared its facred pile, is truly eligible, and beit adapted to a life of contemplation.

Here we gazed fome time with respect and reverence on the havock which time had made upon this furprising ftructure. And how erroneous foever thofe notions of religion may be efteemed, that thus called mankind, from the focial duties of the world, to put on this rigid and morofe garb of piety; yet fecretly we must admire that fervent zeal which caufed thele wonderful exertions of human art to raise up buildings whofe beauty and magnificence might well accord with the ideas of that fupreme Being to whom they were dedicated. Full of fuch ardent reflections on the various prejudices of the world, and the undurable works of man, we returned the fame rough and unpleafant road, the motto "fic tranfit gloria mundi" continuing uppermoft the greatest part of the way; during which nothing curious or entertaining attracts the notice of the traveller, except an abundance of fmall unwieldy carriages paffing and re

*For the history of Furnefs Abbey, fee Rev. vol. lii. 'taken from Welt's Antiquities.

P. 222.

paffing

paffing with the produce of the neighbouring iron mines to the thipping at Barrow, about three miles beyond the Abbey.'

It is well for the lovers of antiquity that other travellers of correct difcrimination can be more circumftantial refpecting fuch objects as deferve a little amplification. To the writer's remark on the piety that raifed fuch noble piles, may be added, that many of our cathedrals, and other ecclefiaftical buildings, are now in a mouldering ftate, and that we should uphold them as long as we can; for thefe days differ fo effentially from those which produced them, that when they yield to the corroding power of time, we can have little expectation of feeing them fuitably replaced.

Edinburgh and Glasgow, indeed, arrefted this Author's attention more particularly; and he gives us the following account of the new town:

After a fhort vifit upon Leven Ifle, and pouring forth a few lamentations at the havock its poffeffor had lately made on Mary's roof, we departed to our inn at Kinrofs-green, and next morning fet out for Edinburgh. Nothing remarkable occurred till we approached Queen's-ferry, where the Firth of Forth fpreads its fealike grandeur to our view. On the left, Edinburgh, fcreened under the black fhield of Arthur's-hill, was a principal object; its towers and hilly ftreets, above which the lofty caftle rifing majeftically, gave a full idea of city fplendour and antiquity. Approaching now the banks of the river, we found the veffel and tide in readiness to convey ourselves, horfes, and carriage, to the oppofite fhore, where we foon arrived, the river being here not more than two miles broad. About half way on this paffage, ftands at a small distance a rocky island, with the remains of an old caftle. Being landed at this fmall town, which takes its name from Margaret, Queen of King Malcolm Canmore, who used to ferry over at this place; where the refided much, and laid the foundation of a monaftery; we now continued on the great road, which gave us charming profpects, intermixed with ports and gentlemen's feats. At the end of about nine miles we afcended a large hill, and immediately entered the New Town on our left, amidst an abundance of unfinished buildings, formed into admirable ftreets, which brought us to the more complete part, St. Andrew's Square, where the fashionable Hotel of Dunn prefented itfelf in golden capitals.

This and the following day we amufed ourfelyes with infpecting the various beauties of the New Town, which greatly exceeded expectation; the streets and fquares are fpacious, and beautifully paved, the houses all of fine tone, and covered with flate. The principal ftreet is George's, which measures about 115 feet wide, and in length 2430, and is handsomely terminated to the weft by Charlotte Square (yet unfinished), and to the caft by St. Andrew's, where are three very confpicuous houfes, Sir Thomas Dundas's, Lord Dalhoufie's, and Sir James Colquhun's. On the oppofite fide of Charlotte Square will be the fame elegant buildings to answer thefe, which will then exhibit a perfpective, most complete and Nn 2 charming.