NOTES.

HOURS OF IDLENESS.

Page 10, col. 2. "I fancied that Mossop himself was outulone.") Mossop,

a contemporary of Garrick, famous for his performance Page 2, col. 1.

of Zanga. "ON THE DEATH OP A YOUNG LADY,"] The author

Page 11, col. I. clnings the indulgence of the reader more for this piece than, perhaps any other in the collection ; but as it was

* Would twinkle dimly through their sphere.") written at an earlier period than the rest (being composed

" 'Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, at the age of fourteen), and his first essay, le preferred

Hlaving some business, do intreat her eyes submitting it to the indulgence of his friends in its pre- To twinkle in their spheres till they return." Beut state, to making either addition or alteration.

SMAKSPEARE. Page 3, col. 2.

Page 11, col. 1. “On Marston."] The battle of Marston Moor, where the

Woman, thy vows are traced in sand." The last line adherents of Charles I. were defeated.

is almost a literal translation from a Spanish proverb.

Page 12, col. 1. Page 3, col. 2. "With Rupert, 'gainst traitors contending."). Son of

" And hurtling o'er thy lovely head."] This word is the Elector Palatine, and nephew to Charles I. lle

ased by Gray in his poem to the Fatal Sisters:wards commanded the feet in the reign of Charles II.

“ Iron-sleet of arrowy shower

lurtles in the darken'd air." Page 8, col. 1. TO THE DUKK OF DORSET) In looking over my papers

Page 12, col. 2. to select a few additional poems for this second edition, I

* In law an infant, and in years a boy."] In law every found the above lines, which I had totally forgotten,

person is an infant who has not attained the age of coinposed in the summer of 1805, a short tiine previous to

twenty-one. my departure from Harrow. They were addressed to a

Page 13, col. 2. joung schoolfellow of high rank, who had been my fre- " To form the place of assignation."] In the above quent companion in some rambles through the neigh- little piece the author has been accused by some candid bouring country: however, he never saw iho lines, and readers of introducing the name of a lady from whom most probably never will' As, on a re-perusal, I found he was some hundred miles distant at the time this was them not worse than some other pieces in the collection, written; and poor Juliet, who has slept so long in "the I have now published them, for the first time, after a tomb of all the Capulets," has been converted, with a trislight revision,

Aling alteration of her name, into an English damsel Page 8, col. 1.

walking in a garden of their own creationi, during the " Rade thee obey, and gave me to command.") At every

month of Decernber, in a village where the author never

passed a winter. Such has been the candour of some public school the junior boys are completely subservient mgenious critics, He would advise these liberal comio the upper forms till they attain a seat in the higher mentators on taste and arbiters of decorum to read classes. From this state of probation, very properly, no Shakspeare. rank is exempt; but after a certain period, they command in turn those who succeed.

Page 13, col. 2.

* But curse my fate for ever after."] Having heard Page 8, col. 1.

that a very severe and indelicate censure has been passed “Though passive tutors, fearful to dispraise.") Allow on the above poem, I beg leave to reply in a quotation me to disclaim any personal allusions, even the most dis- from an admired work, Carr's Stranger in France: tant. I merely mention generally what is too often the ** As we were contemplating a painting on a large scale, weakness of preceptors.

in which, among other figures, is the uncovered whole

Jength of a warrior, a prudish-looking lady, who seemed Page 9, col. 1.

to have touched the age of desperation, after having at"Oh! could Le Sage's demon's gift."). The Diable tentively surveyed it through her glass, observed to her Roiteux of Le Sage, where Asmodeus, the demon, places party, that there was a great deal of indecorum in that Don Cleofas on an elevated situation, and unroofs the pietare. Madame S. shrewdly whispered in my ear that houses for inspection

the indecorum was in the remark.'” Page 9, col. 2.

Page 13, col. 2. " Who reads false quantities in Seale. "] Seale's pub. “OSCAR OF ALVA.") The catastrophe of this tale lication on Greek Metres displays considerable talent and was suggested by the story of "Jeronyme and Lorenzo," ingenuity, but, as might be expected in so difficult a in the first volume of Schiller's “ Armenian, or the Ghost. work, is not remarkable for accuracy.

Seer." It also bears some resemblance to a scene in the Page 9, col. 2.

third act of " Macbeth." * In barbarous Latin doom'd to wrangle.") The La

Page 18, col. 1. tin of the schools is of the canine species, and not very “Crensa's style but wanting to the dame."] The mointelligible.

ther of lulus, lost on the night when Troy was taken, Page 9, col. 2.

Page 20, col. 1. " The square of the hypothenuse."] The discovery of "Ah! hapless dame! no sire bewails."] Meden, who Pythagoras, that the square of the hypothenuse is equal accompanied Jason to Corinth, was deserted by him for to the squares of the other two sides of a right-angled the daughter of Creon, king of that city. The choras, triangle.

from which this is taken, here addresses Medea; though Page 10, col. 1.

A considerable liberty is taken with the original, hy ex. " | numerous crowd, array'd in white.") On a saint's panding the idea, as also in some other parts of the trans day the students wear surplices in chapel.

lation.

Page 20, col. 1.

Page 25, col. 1. “Who ne'er unlocks with silver key."] The original “Religion's shrine! repentant HENRY'S rride!" is “Kutopay a voi avto Klipit perc;" literally Henry II. founded Newstead soon after the murder of “disclosing the bright key of the mind."

Thomas à Becket.
Page 20, col. 1.

Page 25, col. 1. "Magnus his ample front sublime uprears."). No “No mail-clad serfs, obedient to their lord." This reflection is here intended against the person mentioned word is used by Walter Scott, in his poem, " The Wild under the name of Magnus. He is merely represented Huntsman;" synonymous with vassal.

" as performing an unavoidable function of his office. Indeed, such an attempt could only recoil upon myself; as

Page 25, col. I. that gentleman is now as much distinguished by his

"In grim array the crimson cross demand.") The red eloquence, and the dignified propriety with which he

cross was the badge of the Crusaders.
flis his situation, as he was in his younger days for wit
and conviviality.

Page 25, col. 1.
Page 20, col. 2.

“Soon as the gloaming spreads her waning shade.") As “ Th' ATHESIAN's glowing style, or Tully's fire."] De

"gloaming," the Scottish word for twilight, is far more

poetical, and has been recommended by many eminent mosthenes.

literary men, particularly by Dr. Moore in his Letters to Page 20, col. 2.

Burns, I have ventured to use it on account of its laar" Yet prizing Bentley's, Brunck's, or Porson's note."] mony. The present Greek professor at Trinity College, Cam

Page 25, col. 1. bridge; a man whose powers of mind and writings may, perhaps, justify their preference.

“Or matin orisons to Mary paid."] The priory was

dedicated to the Virgin. Page 20, col. 2.

Page 25, col. 1. " Whether 't is Pitt or Petty rules the hour."] Since this was written, Lord Henry Petty (now Marquis of solution of the monasteries, Henry VIIL. bestowed der.

“ Another HENRY the kind gift recalls. At the disLansdow ne] has lost his place, and subsequently (I had stead Abbey on Sir John Byron. almost said consequently, the honour of representing the University. A fact so glaring requires no comment.

Page 25, col. 2.
Page 22, col. 2.

“An abbey once, a regal fortress now."] Newstead

sustained a considerable siege in the war between Charles “Sweet scene of my youth! seat of Friendship and 1. and his parliament. Truth.") Harrow,

Page 25, col. 2.
Page 23, col. 2.

“ Trembling she snatch'd him from th' unequal “LACHIN Y GAIR."1 Lachin y Gair, or, as it is pro- strife."] Lord Byron and his brother Sir Williama beld nounced in the Erse, Loch na Garr, towers proudly pre high commands in the royal army.

The former was eminent in the Northern Highlands, near Invercauld. One of our modern tourists mentions it as the highest general-in-chief in Ireland, lieutenant of the Tower, and mountain, perhaps, in Great Britain. Be this as it may, happy James 11. ; the latter had a principal share in

governor to James, Duke of York, afterwards the us. it is certainly one of the most sublime and picturesque many actions. amongst our Caledonian Alps." Its appearance is of a dusky hue, but the summit is the seat of eternal snows.

Page 23, col. 2. Near Lachin y Gair I spent some of the early part of

“ To lead the band where godlike FALKLAND (IL) my life, the recollection of which has given birth to these Lucius Cary, Lord Viscount Falkland, the most secon. stanzas.

plished man of his age, was killed at the Battle of Xes. Page 23, col. 2.

bury, charging in the ranks of Lord Byron's regiment of

Cavalry. “ My eap was the bonnet, my cloak was the plaid."'] This word is erroneously pronounced plad: the proper

Page 26, col. 1. pronunciation (according to the Scotch) is shown by the

“Loathing the offering of so dark a death." This is orthography.

an historical fact. A violent tempest occurred immediPage 23, col. 2.

ately subsequent to the death or interment of Cromwell,

which occasioned many disputes between his partisans “111-starr'd, though brave, did no visions foreboding."]

and the cavaliers: both interpreted the circumstance isso I allude here to my maternal ancestors, “the Gordons," divine interposition; but whether as approbation or cormany of whom fought for the unfortunate Prince Charles, demnation, we leave to the casuists of that age to decide. better known by the name of the Pretender. This branch I have made such use of the occurrence as suited the subwas nearly allied by blood, as well as attachment, to the ject of my poem. Stuarts. George, the second Earl of Huntley, married the Princess Annabella Stuart, daughter of James I. of

Page 25, col. 1. Scotland. By ber he left four sons: the third, Sir Wil. “ The legal ruler now resumes the helm.") Charles II. liam Gordon, I have the honour to claim as one of my progenitors.

Page 27, col. I.

“ProBUS, the pride of science, and the boast." Dr. Page 23, col. 2.

Drury. This most able and excellent man retired from "Ah! were you destined to die at Culloden.”] his situation in March, 1805, after having resided thirtyWhether any perished in the battle of Culloden, I am

five years at Harrow; the last twenty as head-rugter: not certain ; but, as many fell in the insurrection, I have

an office he held with equal honour to himseif and a Used the name of the principal action, " pars pro loto."

van tage to the very extensive school over which be pre

sided. Panegyric would here be superfluous: it would Page 23, col. 2.

be useless to enumerate qualifications which were Deter “ You rest with your clan in the caves of Bræmar."] A

doubted. A considerable contest took place letno tract of the Highlands so called. There is also a Castle

three rival candidates for his vacant chair of this I can of Bræmar.

only say, Page 24, col. 1.

Si mea cum vestris valuissent vota, Pelasgi? “A Pylades in every friend?"] It is hardly necessary

Non foret ambiguus tanti certaminis hæres. to add, that Pylades was the companion of Orestes, and a

Page 29, col. 1. partner in one of those friendships which, with those of Achilles and Patroclus, Nists and Euryalus, Damon

“ As speakers each supports an equal name.") TH'S and Pythias, have been handed down to posterity as re

alludes to the public speeches delivered at the schoud markable instances of attachments, which in all proba

where the author was educated. bility never existed beyond the imagination of the poet,

Page 29, col. 2. or the page of an historian, or modern novelist.

"And Love, without his pinion, smiled on Youth Page 25, col. 1.

“L'Amitié est l'Amour sans ailes," is a French proverb "ELEGY ON NIWSTEAD ABBEY."] As one poem on

Page 29, col. 2. subject is already printed, the author had, original- ENTITLED "Tas Coxmox Lot."] Written by James Potention of inserting the following. It is now Montgomery, author of the “Wanderer in Seitzerthe particular request of some friends.

landi, &e.

Page 29, col. 2.

words, as a memorial. Afterwards, on receiving some “ The hero rolls the tide of war."] No particular hero

real or imagined injury, the anthor destroyed the frail is here alluded to. The exploits of Bayard, Nemours, record before he left Harrow. On revisiting the place in Edward the Black Prince, and, in more modern times, 1807, he wrote under it these stanzas. the fame of Marlborough, Frederick the Great, Count Sare, Charles of Sweder, &c., are familiar to every his

Page 48, col. 1. torical reader, but the exact places of their birth are

“ WRITTEN AFTER SWIMMING FROM SESTOS TO ARY. known to a very small proportion of their admirers.

DOS."] On the 3rd of May, 1810, while the Salsette

(Captain Bathurst) was lying in the Dardanelles, LieuPage 31, col. 1.

tenant Ekenhead, of that frigate, and the writer of these "AN IMITATION OF MACPHERSOs's Ossia»,"] It may rhymes, swam from the European shore to the Asiaticbe necessary to observe, that the story, though consider- by the by, from Abydos to Se:tos would have been more ably varied in the catastrophe, is taken from " Nisus and correct. The whole distance, from the place whence we Furyalus," of which episode a translation is already started to our landing on the other side, including the given in the present volume.

length we were carried by the current, was computed

by those on board the frigate at upwards of four English Page 32, co1. 1.

miles, though the actual breadth is barely one. The "Tears of the storm.") I fear Laing's late edition rapidity of the current is such that no boat can row has completely overthrown every hope that Macpherson's directly across, and it may, in some measure, be estiOssian miglit prove the translation of a series of poems mated from the circumstance of the whole distance being complete in themselves; but, while the imposture is dis. accomplished by one of the parties in an hour and five, covered, the merit of the work remains undisputed, and by the other in an hour and ten minutes. The though not without faults--particularly, in some parts, water was extremely cold, from the melting of the moun. turgid and bon bastic diction. The present humble imi- tain snows. About three weeks before, in April, we had tation will be pardoned by the admirers of the original as made an attempt; but, having ridden all the way from an attempt, however inferior, which evinces an attach- the Troad the same morning, and the water being of an ment to their favourite author.

icy chiliness, we found it necessary to postpone the comPage 32, col. 2.

pletion till the frigate anchored below the castles, when

we swam the straits, as just stated, entering a consider. “ Seat of my youth! thy distant spire."] Iarrow.

able way above the European, and landing below the Page 35, col. 1.

Asiatic, fort. Chevalier says that a young Jew swam “The cumbrous pomp of Saxon pride."] Sassenach,

the same distance for his mistress; and Oliver mentions or Saxon, a Gaelic word, signifying either Low land or

its having been done by a Neapolitan; but our consul, Engli-h.

Tarragona, remembered neither of these circumstances, Page 35, col. 2,

and tricd to dissuade us from the attempt. A number

of the Salsette's crew were known to have accomplished " To flee away and be at rest.") “And I said, Oh ! that I bad wings like a dove; for then would I fly away

a greater distance; and the only thing that surprised me and be at rest." - Psalm lv. 6. This verse also constitutis

was that, as doubts had been entertained of the truth of a part of the most beautiful anthem in our language.

Leander's story, no traveller had ever endeavoured to

ascertain its practicability. Page 35, col. 2.

Page 48, col. 1. " And climb'd thy steep summit, oh Morven of snow!"} Morven, a lofty mountain in Aberdeenshire. "Gormal Ζώη μου, σας αγαπω." Romaic expression of of saow" is an expression frequently to be found in tenderness: If I translate it, I shall affront the gentleOssian.

men, as it may seem that I supposed they could not ;

and 'if I do not, I may affront the ladies. For fear of Page 35, col. 2.

any misconstruction on the part of the latter, I shall do “Or the mist of the tempest that gather'd below."]

so, begging paruon of the learned. It means, "My life, This will not appear extraordinary to those who have been accustomed to the mountains. It is by no means

I love you!” which sounds very prettily in ali lan

guages, and is as much in fashion in Greece at this day ur.common, on attaining the top of Ben-c-vis, Ben-y- as, Juvenal tells us, the two first words were amongst bourd, &c., to perceive, between the summit and the the Roman ladies, whose erotic expressions were all valley, clouds pouring down rain, and occasionally ac- Hellenised. companied by lightning, while the spectator literally Inoks down upon the storm, perfectly secure from its

Page 48, col. 2. etfects.

“By all the token-flowers that tell."] In the East Page 35, col. 2.

(where ladies are not taught to write, lest they should "I breasted the billows of Dee's rushing tide."] The

seribile assignations) flowers, cinders, pebbles, &c. con

vey the sentiments of the parties by that universal deputy Pre is a beautiful river, which rises near Mar Lodge, and of Mercury--an old woman. falls into the sea at New Aberdeen,

A cinder says, " I burn for

thee;" a bunch of flowers tied with hair, "Take me and Page 36, col. 1.

fly;" but a pebble declares- what nothing else can. "I think of the rocks that o'ershadow Colbleen."]

Page 48, col. 2. Colbleen is a mountain near the verge of the Highlands, not far froin the ruins of Dee Castle.

“Though I fly to Istambol."] Constantinople. Page 36, col. 2.

Page 48, col. 2. "As void of wit and moral.''] These stanzas were

«Δεύτε παίδες των Ελλήνων.] The song Δεύτε written soon after the appearance of a severe critique in a northern review on a new publiction of the Britisli

Taldes, &c. was written by Riga, who perished in the Anacrcon.

attempt to revolutionise Greece. This translation is as

literal as the author could make it in verse. It is of the Page 37, col. 1.

same measure as that of the original. "I really will not fight them."] A bard [Moore] (hor. resco referens) delied his reviewer (Jefirey) to mortal

Pago 49, col. 1. comat. If this example becomes prevalent, our periodi- "And the seven-hill'd city seeking:") Constantinople, cil censors must be dipped in the river Styx : for what

« Επτάλοφος.” else cat sccure them from the numerous host of their

Page 49, col. 1. euraged assailants?

«Ωραιότατη Χάηδή, &c." The song from which this is taken is a great favourite with the young girls of

Athens of all classes. Their manner of singing it is by
OCCASIONAL PIECES.

verses in rotation, the whole number present joining in
the chorus. I have heard it frequently at our“
in the winter of 1810-11. The air is plaintive and pretty.

Xpor,"
Page 38, col. 1.

Page 55, col. 2. « Adieu, thou Hilll where early joy."] Ilarrow.

“ VERSES FOUND IN A SUMMER-HOUSE AT HALES

Owen.”] In Warwickshire. Page 41, col. 1. «OY REVISITING HARROW."] Some years ago, when

Page 55, col. 2. at Harrow, a friend of the author engraved on a parti. " His hours in whistling spent, 'for want of thought.'"] cular spot the names of both, with a few additional | See Cymon and Iphigenia.

Page 59, col. 2.

Mr. Fitzgerald, facetiously termed by Cobbett the “The rapture of the strife."] “Certaminis gaudia."

“Small- Beer Poet," inflicts his annual tribute of verse The expression of Attila in his harangue to his army

on the Literary Fund: not content with writing, he previous to the battle of Chalons, given in Cassiodorus. spouts in person, after the company have inbibed a res. Page 60, col. 2.

sonable quantity of bad port, to enable them to sustain

the operation “Thou Timour! in his captive's cage."] The cage of Bajazet, by order of Tamerlane.

Page 92, col. 1.

“ Our task complete, like Hamet's shall be free.") Cid Page 60, col. 2.

Hamet Benengeli promises repose to his pen, in the last "Or, like the thief of fire from heaven."] Prometheus. chapter of Don Quixote. Oh that our voluminous gen. Page 60, col. 2.

try would follow the example of Cid Hamet Benengeli! “ The very Fiend's arch mock."]

Page 92, col. 1. --" The very fiend's arch mock

"Fail'd to preserve the spurious farce from shame.") To lip a wanton and suppose her chaste."

This ingenious youth is mentioned more particularly, SHAKSPEARE.

with his production, in another place. Page 68, col. 2

Page 92, col. 1. "Turning rivers into blood."] See Rev. chap. viii. ver. “No matter, George continues still to write."] In the ?, &c. * The first angel sounded, and there followed

Edinburgh Review. hail and fire mingled with blood," &c. Ver. 8, “ And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great moun

Page 92, col. 2. tain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the " By Jeffrey's heart, or Lambe's Baotian head.") third part of the sea became blood," &c. Ver. 10, " And Messrs. Jeffrey and Lambe are the alpha and omega, the the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from first and last, of the Edinburgh Review; the others are heaven, burning as it were a lamp: and it fell upon the mentioned hercafter. third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. Ver. 11, “And the nanie of the star is called

Page 92, col. 2. Wormwood : and the third part of the waters became

“ While these are censors, 't would be sin to spare.") wormwood; and many men died of the waters because IMIT, “Stulta est Clementia, cum tot ubique they were made bitter."

-occurras perituræ parcere chartæ." Page 68, col. 2.

Jud. Sat. I. * Whose realm refused thee ev'n a tomb."] Murat's

Page 92, col. 2. remains are said to have been torn from the grave and burut.

“Then should you ask me, why I venture o'er."]

IMIT. “Cur tamen hoc libeat potius decurrere campo Page 69, col. 1.

Per quem magnus equos Auruncæ flexit alumnus: FROM THE FRENCH.] “Al wept, but particularly

Si vacat, et placidi rationem admittitis edam Savary, and a Polish officer who had been exalted from

Jur. Sat. I. the ranks by Buonaparte. He clung to his master's knees; wrote a letter to Lord Keithi, entreating permis

Page 93, col. 1. sion to accompany him, even in the most menial capa

“ From soaring Southey down to grovelling Stott.") city, which could not be admitted."

Stott, better known in the Morning Post" by the name

of Hafiz. This personage is at present the most profound Page 69, col. 2.

explorer of the bathios. I remember, when the reigning “Blessing him they served so well.") " At Waterloo family left Portugal, a special Ode of Master Stoui's, beonu man was seen, whose left arm was shattered by a ginning thus :-(Stolt loquitur quoad Hibernia)cannon ball, to wrench it off with the other, and throwing it up in the air, exclaimed to his comrades, Vive

“Princely offspring of Braganza, l'Empereur, jusqu'à la mort!' There were many other

Erin greets thee with a stanza," &c. instances of the like: this you may, however, depend on

Also a Sonnet to Rats, well worthy of the subject, and a as true."- Private Letter froin Brussels.

most thundering Ode, commencing as follows:Page 70, col. 1.

“Oh! for a Lay! loud as the surge “Of three bright colours, each divine."] The tricolour.

That lashes Lapland's sounding shore."
Page 75, col. 2.

Lord have mercy on us! the "Lay of the Last Minstrel" “Like to the Pontic monarch of old days."] Mithri- was nothing to this. dates of Pontus.

Page 93, col. 1.
Page 78, col. 1.

“Thus Lays of Minstrels-may they be the last!"7“The worthy rival of the wondrous Three !"] Fox- See the “ Lay of the Last Minstrel," passim. Never was PittBurke.

any plan so incongruous and absurd as the groundwork Page 79, col. 2.

of this production. The entrance of Thunder and Light“Leman! these names are worthy of thy shore.") ning, prologuising to Bayes' tragedy, unfortunately takes Geneva, Ferney, Copet, Lausanne.

away the merit of originality from the dialogue between

Messieurs the Spirits of Flood and Fell in the Erst canto. Page 79, col. 2.

Then we have the amiable William of Deloraine," “ROMANCE MUY DOLORO30 DEL SITIO Y TOMA DE stark moss-trooper," videlicet, a happy compound of ALIAMA.") The effect of the original ballad- which poacher, sheep-sterler, and highwayman. The propriety existed both in Spanish and Arabic-was such, that it

of his magical lady's injunction not to read can only te was forbidden to be sung by the Moors, on pain of death, equalled by his candid acknowledgment of his independ. within Granada.

ence of the trammels of spelling, although, to use bis Page 83, col. 1.

own elegant phrase, "'t was his neck-verse at Harribee." “For the man, 'poor and shrewd.'"] Vide your letter.

i. e. the gallows.- The biography of Gilpin Horner, and the marvellous pedestrian page, who travelled twice fast as his master's horse, without the aid of sevenleagued boots, are chefs-d'aurre in the improvement of taste. For incident we have the invisible, but by to means sparing, box on the ear bestowed on the page, and

the entrance of a knight and charger into the castle, usENGLISH BARDS AND SCOTCH der the very natural disguise of a wain of hay. Marmion,

the hero of the latter romance, is exactly what William REVIEWERS.

of Deloraine would have been, had be been able to read

and write. The poem was manufactured for Messrs. Page 92, col. 1.

Constable, Murray, and Miller, worshipful booksellers “ His creaking couplets in a tavern hall."]

in consideration of the receipt of a sum of money: ard

truly, considering the inspiration, it is a very creditable Imit. “Semper ego auditor tantum ? nunquamne, production. If Mr. Scott will write for hire, let him do reponam,

his best for his paymasters, but not disgrace his genius Vexatus toties rauci Thescide Codri?”_ which is undoubtedly great, by a repetition of black.

Juv. Sat. I. letter ballad imitations.