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of rest and repose. This, no doubt, in conjunction with the 
stirring events of which, by its position, it has been the scene— 
and Mr. Ruskin adds, the peculiar beauty of the sound of the 
Scottish streamlets, unmatched, he says, for the mystery and 
sweetness of their murmurs, and whispers, and low fall—is the 
reason why, in this limited Border district, there has been produced 
such a rich crop of poetic fancies, as are to be found in these 
famous ballads. They are beautiful in themselves; but how much 
more may we prize them, when we remember that to them and to 
the district which produced them, we owe the inspiration that 
kindled the genius of Scott; that there is hardly a scene, an 
incident, or a character in all his poems and romances of which the 
first suggestion may not be traced to some old verse in the Border 
Minstrelsy, or some locality in the district. We know how, to his 
latest days, he remembered the spot, where first, as a child, he read 
Percy’s Reliques of Ancient Poetry*—the first collection of Ballads 
given to the world—how he scraped together, he says, a few 
shillings and bought a copy of the beloved volumes—“nor do I 
believe,” he adds, ‘“‘I ever read a book half so frequently or with 
half the enthusiasm.” And we know, too, how in later days, in 
every incident of life, the old lines sprang unbidden to his memory 
_ to describe his feelings and emotions, and the joy with which, in 
the closing scene of all, he returned to his loved district, wishing 
that he might, like his own Minstrel in his latest hours, 
Still feel the breeze down Etterick break. 
And here too, no less, amid these hills and dales, was fed and 
grew strong the spirit of Burns; here was reared the hardy 
peasantry from whom he sprang, and to the homeliest incidents 
of whose lives—their Saturday nights—their merrymakings and 
their sorrows—he has given an immortality such as genius alone 
can give, which will be green as long as the world endures. To 
Scott and Burns we might easily add many another name. Here 
Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, and Allan Ramsay, and Leyden, and 
Cunningham, gathered the inspiration for the songs that have 
* Dr. Percy was at one time Dean of Carlisle. 
