ALEXANDER WILSON. 29 



Roused from this depressing state by the solici- 

 tude of friends, he recommenced his travelling with 

 pack and poems, and conjoined to this employ- 

 ment he contrived occasionally to contribute to 

 some of the literary periodicals of the day, amongst 

 which our limits will only permit us to mention the 

 Glasgow Magazine and the Bee. At this time he 

 wrote the well known ballad of Watty and Meg> 

 which came out at the same period as the Tarn o* 

 Shanter by Burns, and with which it was even 

 compared in point of excellence. Flushed with the 

 encomiums passed upon this piece, he contributed 

 to Dr. Anderson, editor of the Bee, a review of Tarn 

 o' Shanter; but which, to Wilson's mortification, was 

 refused insertion in that periodical. In the height 

 of his indignation at this rejection, he sent the paper 

 to Burns himself ; who, with his usual manly bear- 

 ing on such occasions, replied to Wilson. The poets 

 met afterwards at Burns' farm, where, after spend- 

 ing an agreeable evening, they exchanged the poems 

 which occasioned their introduction. 



Through means of some companions, he was in- 

 troduced to a debating society in Edinburgh, held 

 in the Pantheon, where various questions given out 

 for discussion were contested in speeches, and tne 

 merits decided by the votes of the audience, both 

 ladies and gentlemen. Wilson made his addresses in 

 poetry; and he also wrote several pieces for this 

 society, which were amongst the best of his juve- 

 nile performances. The most interesting of his 

 poems contributed on these occasions, was the 



