ST. KILDA. HIGHLAND MUSIC. 35 



melodies of that people possess the Scottish character. 

 The airs recently collected in Java are precisely similar, 

 and prove, that among the Javanese also, the same system 

 of intervals is in use. We are not sufficiently acquainted 

 with the musical history of those nations to know from 

 what source that scale was derived. The nature of the 

 musical scale, in any case, has indeed been a source of 

 much difficulty ; nor has it yet been determined by musi- 

 cians whether its foundation is to be sought in art or 

 in nature. It is probably in a great measure artificial. 



In Scotland, the bagpipe must be considered as the 

 national instrument. The scale of this consists of the 

 complete octave with an additional note ; the fourth, and 

 particularly the seventh, being so imperfect that they are 

 never used as fundamental parts of the melody. When 

 introduced, they are treated as passing notes. By this 

 instrument the characters of these melodies seem to have 

 been regulated, as they appear to have been composed on 

 it. In examining all the most ancient and most simple, 

 they will be found limited to its powers and rigidly con- 

 fined to its scale. The introduction of the violin into that 

 country is modern ; as indeed the instrument itself is 

 of comparatively recent invention, although it is now 

 impossible to know at what period it was introduced. 

 Soon after its introduction, doubtless, innumerable airs 

 were composed on it ; although, even in these, the same 

 imperfect scale has been used, and the airs therefore 

 preserve their original characters : in more recent times 

 these have become exceedingly multiplied, modulating 

 into a greater number of keys, ranging through a much 

 wider extent of intervals, and adopting successions of 

 notes incapable of being executed on the bagpipe. It is 

 in attempting these, that the dissonance and false intona- 

 tion of that instrument is particularly felt ; although, even 

 within the limits of its own powers, it is still sufficiently 

 false. The endeavour to execute them leads also to a 

 perversion of the original melody ; and the effects hence 



