46' ST. KII.DA. HIGHLAND MUSIC. 



the remodelling of ancient melodies, partly from additional 

 compositions: and among the new airs of this character, 

 the compositions of Oswald, and riot those of James, appear 

 to have led the way to the most material innovation in 

 Scottish music which can be established. The claims of 

 that king appear to rest on a misapprehended passage 

 in Tassoni, which Dr. Burney has shown to prove nothing; 

 as he has also shown that the compositions of the Prince 

 of Venosa, with whom James is compared, are worthless. 

 The remark is evidently the casual observation of a mere 

 literary man on a subject which he did not understand. 

 There is, independently of this, internal evidence against 

 the opinion, in examining the progress of the national 

 melodies ; against which such vague testimony would be 

 unavailing, did it even proceed from a more competent 

 judge, and had it been of a more decided nature. It 

 is obvions that the limited scale of five notes extended far 

 below this period ; and that no airs of that date, composed 

 on a perfect scale, can be produced ; although it was then 

 generally known to musicians. James was a cultivated 

 musician, and had he introduced a change, or had he been 

 the inventor of a " new and plaintive species of melody," 

 it would have left traces of that improvement in music 

 which had then taken place over Europe, and of which 

 assuredly none are to be found in the Scottish composi- 

 tions of that age. 



The preservation of a national melody is always desir- 

 able, were it only for the innumerable relics of poetry, 

 often of exquisite simplicity and beauty, which are thus 

 rescued from oblivion. It is desirable also, on account 

 of the numerous associations of a patriotic nature, and 

 the social or generous feelings, which are thus excited 

 and preserved. If the faults of excessive nationality are 

 perpetuated and encouraged by a national melody, so also 

 are its good effects. Even abstractedly considered, it is 

 valuable in the art of music ; as a store of combinations, 

 and as offering hints, even where it is at variance with 



