676 



SCOTLAND. 



Statistics. 



On the 

 Language, 

 Literature, 

 Arts and 

 Sciences, 

 Antiquities. 



also impaired. By men of real knowledge and classi- 

 cal taste it has very rarely been cultivated ; and to the 

 undirected attempts of less intelligent and polished 

 minds, it has been almost entirely abandoned. From 

 superior talents it has derived no improvement ; and 

 from celebrated names it has derived no support. Is 

 it at all wonderful, then, that its culture should have 

 languished, and its celebrity decayed ? 



The indiscriminate use of Scottish terms and phrases 

 by those who have composed in that dialect, may be 

 considered as no inconsiderable cause of the decrease 

 of its fame, and the depravation of its worth. When 

 our vernacular tongue was the only language com- 

 monly spoken and written in the kingdom, a consider- 

 able diversity of diction would undoubtedly prevail. 

 In it as in other languages, there would be certain epi- 

 thets and expressions, certain colloquial and parenthe- 

 tical phrases, employed by the lower classes, but pro- 

 scribed in the circles of fashion and taste. There 

 would, in short, be something of a polite and vulgar 

 phraseology. But whether or not such a distinction 

 ever existed in Scotland, it is evident that the present 

 days of delicacy and refinement require some judg- 

 ment and discretion in the application of words. Al- 

 most all our modern Scottish poets, however, have 

 paid less attention to this circumstance than it deserv- 

 ed. They appear to have been more anxious to pro- 

 cure a collection of expressive vocables purely Scot- 

 tish, than to cultivate elegance and delicacy of style. 

 In this respect they have made little selection, but 

 have promiscuously employed all the phraseology of 

 the language: the vulgar, the ludicrous, and the inde- 

 licate, have been thrown into their compositions with 

 an unsparing and undistinguishing hand. And this 

 circumstance has probably contributed as much as any 

 other to debase the poetry in general in the estimation 

 of many ; to stamp upon it a mark of coarseness and 

 vulgarity ; to burlesque the most tender sonnets, to of- 

 fend the judicious taste, and disgust the delicate ear. 

 In consequence of the long disuse of the language in 

 fashionable life, it may indeed be difficult to ascertain 

 exactly the more elegant diction ; and perhaps in the 

 present day, it may be regarded as trifling and absurd 

 to speak of the pure and the polite as existing in the 

 Scottish tongue. Some attempt at discrimination, 

 however, may still be made. The more ancient Scot- 

 tish writings may serve, in some degree, as guides and 

 examples. For it is an undeniable fact, that in point 

 of delicacy these are far superior to the compositions 

 of later times. Indeed, after making allowances for 

 the age in which they were written, they are rather 

 remarkable in this respect. 



The Scottish language appears, as was observed, to 

 be possessed of recommendations which render it even 

 in the present day neither unworthy of attention, nor 

 incapable of improvement. It is not the language of 

 an unlearned people. It is an incontestible fact, that 

 at a very early period, classical literature was pretty 

 generally cultivated in the court of Scotland. It is 

 natural to conclude, that this circumstance must have 

 tended considerably to improve the language of the 

 country ; and the conclusion is confirmed by the strik- 

 ing coincidence, which, in many instances, exists be- 

 tween the Scotch and the learned tongues j and there 

 is perhaps no modern language into which the idioms 

 of Greek and Roman writers can be more literally ren- 

 dered, without impairing the sense of the original, than 

 into that of the Scotch. The study of polite literature 

 5 



appears to have been in a more advanced state in Scot- Statistics. 

 land some centuries ago than in many of the other 

 countries of Europe. By those who have the oppor- jP, * e 

 tunities of examining, and possess the power of judg- Literature', 

 ing, it is asserted that the letters anJ memorials of the Arts and 

 Scottish princes are the finest compositions of the age Sciences, 

 in which they were written, and far superior in cor- Antiquities 

 rectness, elegance, and arrangement, to those which 

 were returned to them in answer. Now it is not a mere 

 hypothetical deduction, that the language of the na- 

 tives, in general, must have derived some improvement 

 from the learning of the court. For it is known that 

 Barbour, a Scottish historian, philosopher, and poet, 

 though considerably prior in time to Chaucer, wrote 

 in a style as pure, and a versification as harmonious as 

 the English bard. The verse compositions of James 1. 

 and the publication of James VI. containing precepta 

 for writing Scottish poetry ; and the numerous collec- 

 tions of ancient productions in that dialect, which are 

 still extant, furnish positive proofs that in Scotland, at 

 an early period, attempts in verse were not only gene- 

 ral and successful, but encouraged also by the patron- 

 age and example of the court. 



In consequence of the long and intimate connexion 

 which formerly subsisted betwixt the courts of Prance 

 and Scotland, a considerable analogy between the lan- 

 guages was effected ; and into that of the latter many 

 of the terms and elegancies of the former have been in- 

 troduced ; examples of this are so numerous, that a se- 

 lection would be difficult, and so manifest that it would 

 be unnecessary. 



The copiousness of the Scottish language in many 

 respects is remarkable. But this consists not merely 

 in an abundance of terms to express the same thing, 

 but in the power which these terms possess, of placing 

 the object in various points of light, and of remarking 

 with precision a multitude of the minutest shades of- 

 difference. In consequence of this circumstance, with 

 the power and permission of adopting, at pleasure, from 

 the English, Scottish poets are furnished with a most 

 extensive vocabulary, and enjoy very superior advan- 

 tage for composing with ease, perspicuity, and richness 

 of expression. 



It contains a number of vocables peculiarly expres- 

 sive, and purely its own. Many of these are mono* 

 syllables, and yet they convey an extent and an energy 

 of meaning, which most of the modern languages can 

 but imperfectly collect even by a circumlocution. 



Its power of terminations, especially in diminutives, 

 and the expression of endearment, is far from being 

 inconsiderable, and, in many instances, it appears to 

 be little inferior to that of the Italian. 



It possesses a considerable portion of that rustic sim- 

 plicity, so much admired in the Doric dialect of the 

 Greeks, and not a little also of the smoothness and 

 harmony of the Ionic. Like the former it drops final 

 consonants, substitutes one for another, and converts 

 many of the vowels and dipthongs of English vowels 

 into A and I ; and, like the latter, it delights to throw 

 out the consonants, to produce a concourse of vowels, 

 to soften the sound, and to promote the flow of those 

 harsher terms which less easily combine in versifica- 

 tion. 



The Scottish language, in short, abounds in terms 

 and phrases connected with domestic and social life, 

 with rural scenery, sentiments, and occupations; and 

 hence it is peculiarly fitted for pastoral poetry, the 

 lighter odes, and the description of external nature. It 



