142 
The paper containing the above was fent 
to his friend Bédingfield, then in London, 
with a requeft, that “he would take a 
different view of the eriginal, and (fhield- 
ing H1S tranflation under the cover of the 
various and frequently different meanings 
of a word in an uncultivated language) 
declare that to be a lament which he 
had pronounced the invitation to fefti- 
vity,” How well Bedingfield was able 
to take fuch a part, the following very 
curious letter will teftify; Pickering re- 
ceived and inferted it in the Newcaftle 
Courant for the 21ft of Ofober, the for- 
mer ‘having appeared in the Courant for 
the 2d of September, 1736. ‘¢ Sir, I am 
a conftant reader of your entertaining 
Paper; and as I have for many years -paft 
made the poetry of Scandinavia the parti- 
cular object of my ftudy and refearches, 
¥ was agreeably furprized to fee a Lapland 
fong, lately inferted by T. S. in the New- 
caftle Courant. But while l acknowledge 
my obligations to T. S. for the pleafure I 
received from the perufal of the original, 
¥ cannot fay his other readers are much 
indebted to him for the accuracy of his 
tranflation. Ft wili not, indeed, appear 
wonderful, that he fhould fail in the at- 
tempt to convey themeaning of a fong 
which he confefles to have heard at Tro- 
wan fo long ago as the year 1761, and 
which has been fince recalled to his me- 
mory by the repetition, probably wnfaith- 
ful, of fome mufical wanderers. ¥ allow 
that he has rendered fome of the particu- 
lar paffages with tolerable fuccefs, but 
muft maintain, that with refpe& to the 
general import and meaning of the com- 
pofition, he is extirely mifiaken. Accord- 
ing to him, it is an addrefs from a lover 
to his miftrefs, telling her, ‘that the 
fnow is diffolved, and the ice melted away; 
that winter retires, and the fun fwells the 
bud, and nna chaunts her warblings ; 
that the rein-deer is free, and the moon 
glides through the fky, and that therefore 
his Luah muft hafte to the grove, and 
with him pafs the feafon in rapture, for it 
is,now youth, and nothing of the kind 
ean be had in the winter of Jife..—But 
what will my readers think of T. S. when 
I affure them, that what appears in his 
tranflation to bea gay and airy love-fong, 
is, in the original, as deep and melan- 
choly an elegy as ever was penned! The 
true fenfe it conveys is, ‘that the fnows 
of Torno /ball diffolve, and the ftream 
break through its fetters of ice; that win- 
ter fhall retire, and the fun wake the 
bloom of the bloffom and the warbling of 
2 
Pickering and Bedingfeld—Lapland Song. 
[March x, 
the grove; that the rein-deer fhall quit his 
car, and the moon burft through the miff; © 
but for him, fince his Luah is zo more, no 
change can take place in his fituation— 
that his fummer is o’er, and the winter 
that now dwells in his heart muft be eter- 
nal."—It is difficult at firft to conceive 
how it is poffible that T. S. and myfelf 
fhould differ fo widely in our conitruétion 
of the fame paflages, but the furprize 
of my readers will abate, when I give 
them fome account of the Scandinavian 
diam Ie \o 
[ Here follows 2 long and, humourous imita- 
tien of grave verbal sriticifm, founded on 
the fuppofed Lapland words of the feng :—it 
concludes with a pretended literal tranfla- 
tion. ] : ; 
‘*O Torno! the fnows on thy fummit we fee, 
Shall diffalve ; and the ftream that fleeps 
frozen below’ 
Again from its fetters of ice fhall be free; __ 
And the fnow-drop, now wither’d, with 
beauty fhall glow. 
The terrors of winter fhall fly far away, 
And the fun o’er the north fhed his in- 
fluence again, E 
And warm into bloom the fweet blofiom of 
May, : 
And wake, through fair Enna, the wild 
warbling ftrain! 
The rein-deer, now harnefs’d, fhall quit with 
delight : 
His car, and o’er Odon in freedom fhalk 
fiy; 
And the mift that now veils the pale ruler of 
night, 
Shall pafs, while unclouded fhe glide 
through the fky. : 
But for me! wretched me! fince my Luah’s 
no more, 
Thro” my feafon of forrow no changes can 
roll; wey 
My fummer of joys and of rapture is oer, 
And winter for ever muft chill my fad foul, 
4 U. Wee 
So much for BepINGFIELD.—’Tis at 
the requeft of feveral gentlemen, acquaint- 
ances of theirs, (after I had informed 
them of the real authors) that I fend you 
the above. Your inferting it in your 
very valuable Magazine, will oblige many 
of your friends here, and be paying fome 
little tribute of refpe€t to fo much inge- 
nuity. 
Newcalile, Your’s, &c. 
Feb... Georcit AMICUS. 
Extrads 
