496 Sir George Douglas [Jan. 29, 



their ways and characters generally. Well, from this peculiar 

 vividness of mental realisation, it is, for a bold and poetic imagi- 

 nation, but a single step to conjure up the actual bodily presence of 

 the departed. Hence may have arisen these wild stories ; and hence, 

 no doubt, arose the fancy — a beautiful and touching one — of the dead 

 returning to their homes at a season of festivity, " to dine and dance 

 with the living." 



To sum up; — the more striking characteristics of the Scottish 

 peasant-tales generally would appear to be : First, an ever lively and 

 inventive fancy. Secondly, a powerful imagination. The Scottish 

 peasant story-teller is, like Homer, evc^avrao-tWos — " qui sibi res, voces, 

 actus, secundum verum, optime fingit," as Quintilian renders it. And 

 this powerful imagination is apt to be gloomily affected, and at times 

 distempered, by the natural features and conditions of the country, 

 and by the breedings of the national mind. Thirdly, a love of 

 humanity, coupled with a keen sense of the hardness of its lot, — 

 manifesting itself in a poignant pathos. Of course, in a country of 

 mixed races like Scotland, the general characteristics of the stories 

 differ widely in the different parts of the country. In general terms, 

 it may perhaps be said that the Highland tales display a more 

 inexhaustibly luxuriant fancy, whilst those of the Lowlands have the 

 more clearly defined outline and enjoy a monopoly in depth of human 

 significance. 



To glance now at the effect which has been exercised upon litera- 

 ture by these tales. The Tales of the Scottish Peasantry have enjoyed 

 particular advantages in the fact that the rich mine which they afford 

 has been well and admirably worked by modern Scottish writers. 

 Indeed, from the date of Smollett's death onward, the Scottish prose 

 belles-lettres may be said to have been largely " a growth of the 

 soil." And the Scottish writers who have worked the field of popular 

 tradition have not worked in the spirit of such German authors as, 

 for instance, Musaeus, Tieck, and Fouque, — making the popular tale a 

 mere foundation upon which to rear their own structures of philosophy 

 and fancy, and often transforming it almost, if not quite, beyond 

 recognition. Neither have they worked upon the lines of such a 

 writer as Theophile Gautier, who, though he would sometimes use 

 the popular tale as material to work upon, was guided in his choice 

 of subject by a purely artistic instinct. The Scottish writers are, in 

 the first place, objective ; and, in the second, national. 



Foremost amongst these writers is, of course, Sir Walter Scott. 

 In comparison with his other works, his " Border Minstrelsy " has been 

 neglected ; yet, in all probability, he produced no more highly 

 characteristic book ; whilst, of that great literature of fiction of which 

 he afterwards became the author, the best and most vital parts may, 

 I think, truly be said to have their roots in the hearts of the people. 

 And the further he departs from that source of his inspiration, the 

 less valuable his work becomes. Although not born in the peasant 

 class, Sir Walter knew the Scottish peasantry, in his own way, as 



