I.—ENGLAND

I

Agincourt, or the English Bowmans Glory. To a pleasant new Tune. Quoted in Heywood’s King Edward IV., and, therefore, popular before 1600. This ballad has been severely edited, and I omit several stanzas. It is printed in full in Hazlitt’s edition of Collier’s ‘Shakespeare’s Library,’ vol. i. (Reeves & Turner, 1825).

II

Published in 1589.

III–IV

Both were published in Poemes Lyrick and Pastorall (1605?) and Poemes (1619). As to the first:—l. 6. Caux (‘commonlie called Kidcaux,’ says Holinshed) was the district north-east of the mouth of the Seine.

l. 83. bilbos. Swords, from Bilbao.
92. ding. To belabour with blows.

V–VI

The first is from John of Gaunt’s dying speech (King Richard II., Act ii. sc. 1). King Richard II. was probably written early in 1593. It was published anonymously in 1597. The second is from King John, Act v. sc. 7. 1594 is the date assigned to Shakespeare’s King John, which was first printed in the First Folio (1623). These and the two succeeding numbers follow the text of ‘The Globe Edition’ of Shakespeare’s Works. I am indebted to the publishers of that edition, Messrs. Macmillan & Co., and to the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, Oxford, for kindly extending to readers of this volume the benefits of the scientific labours of Dr. W.G. Clark and Mr. W.A. Wright.

VII

From various parts of King Henry V. The play was written in 1598, and performed for the first time early in 1599. The first complete version was published in the First Folio (1623).

l. 23. rivage. The shore.
27. sternage. (To sternage of=astern of, so as to follow.)
40. puissance. Strength.
87. battle. An army, or division of an army.
90. accomplishing. Equipping.
144. Crispian. ‘The daie following,’ says Holinshed, ‘was the five and twentieth of October in the year 1415, being then fridaie, and the feast of Crispine and Crispinian, a daie faire and fortunate to the English, but most sorrowfull and unluckie to the French.’
174. Whiffler. Herald or usher.
183. ostent. Clear, visible.

VIII

King Henry VIII., Act ii. sc. 3.

IX

Printed by Percy (Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, 1765). ‘From an old black-letter copy.’

CailÌver (l. 21)=Caliver, a kind of light musket.

X

There are broadsides of this ballad in the Roxburghe and Bagford Collections. The version here given is taken from Mr. Henley’s volume, Lyra Heroica (David Nutt, 1891), by permission of editor and publisher. The full title of the Roxburghe broadside is as follows:—‘The Honour of Bristol, shewing how the Angel Gabriel of Bristol fought with three ships, who boarded as many times, wherein we cleared our Decks, and killed five hundred of their Men, and wounded many more, and make them fly into Cales, where we lost but three men, to the Honour of the Angel Gabriel of Bristol. To the tune of Our Noble King in his Progress.’

CalÉs (l. 13), pronounced as a dissyllable, is, of course, Cadiz.

XI—XII

The first is entitled: To the Lord General Cromwell, May 1652: On the Proposals of certain Ministers at the Committee for Propagation of the Gospel, and was written against the intolerant Fifteen Proposals of John Owen and the majority of the Committee. This sonnet first appeared at the end of Philip’s Life of Milton (1694).

Hireling wolves (l. 14)=the paid clergy.

The second is from the chorus of Samson Agonistes (ll. 1268–1286). Samson Agonistes was first published in 1671, in the small octavo volume which contained Paradise Regained.

XIII—XIV

The Horatian Ode was first printed in 1776, in Captain Edward Thompson’s edition of Marvell’s Works.

l. 15. side. Party.
32. Bergamot. A kind of pear.
67, &c. The finding of the human head at Rome, regarded as a happy omen, is mentioned by Pliny (Nat. Hist., xxviii. 4).

The second appeared in Poems (1681).

XV

Produced in 1643. The author was a famous ballad-monger of Charles I.’s time. The original refrain was ‘When the King comes home in peace again’ (Roxburghe Collection of Ballads, iii. 256; Loyal Garland, 1671 and 1686; Ritson, Ancient Songs). The song was written to support the declining cause of the Royal Martyr. It helped to keep up the spirits of the Cavaliers in the days before the Restoration (1660), which event it was used to celebrate. When the Revolution (1688) drove the Stuarts into exile, this song became a weapon in the hands of the Jacobites.

XVI

This was a very popular loyal song in the reign of Charles II. Both words and music are given in Playford’s Musical Companion (1667).

XVII—XVIII

The first is from Dryden’s opera, King Arthur, or the British Worthy (1691). As to the first: ‘A battle is supposed to be given behind the scenes, with drums, trumpets, and military shouts and excursions; after which, the Britons, expressing their joy for the victory, sing this song of triumph.’—Author’s Note.

The second is an extract from Annus Mirabilis (1667).

XIX

This famous song, which Heine once declared expressed the whole character of the English people, made its first appearance in The Masque of Alfred (1740).

XX

This song is at least as old as the reign of Queen Anne. In the British Museum there are many half-sheet copies, with music. The earliest begins, ‘Here’s a health to the Queen,’ &c.

XXI

The first print of our National Anthem is to be found in Harmonica Anglicana, a collation of part songs (circa 1742). This copy consists of two stanzas only. The third made its appearance when Harmonica Anglicana was extended to two volumes, with the new title Thesaurus Musicus. The copy printed in the Gentleman’s Magazine (October 1745) contains the three stanzas given here, and is called, ‘A Song for Two Voices sung at both play-houses.’

XXII

Sung in Garrick’s pantomime, The Harlequin’s Invasion, produced December 31, 1759.

XXIII

Odes (‘Printed for A. Millar in the Strand,’ 1746), and Dodsley’s Museum (iv., 1749).

XXIV–XXV

The first was written ‘after reading Hume’s History in 1780’ (Benham). The second was written in September 1782. The Royal George (108 guns) was being repaired at Spithead (August 29, 1782), when she capsized and sank instantly. Rear-Admiral Richard Kempenfelt was then under orders to proceed to the relief of Gibraltar.

XXVI–XXVIII

The first is from The Oddities, a Table Entertainment (1789–1790), and its original title was Poor Tom, or the Sailor’s Epitaph. The second was first sung in The Wags, or the Camp of Pleasure (October 18, 1790). The third was first sung in A Tour to Land’s End (1798), and its original title was Yo heave ho! The first collected edition of Charles Dibdin’s songs was issued in five volumes from 1790 to 1799.

XXIX

The air of The British Grenadiers is at least as old as the reign of Elizabeth, and is one of the most characteristic of the English National airs. The words here given are from a copy (with music) about a hundred and fifty years old.

XXX

Chappell dates this song 1758. The matter is not free from doubt, but the reference in the second stanza to ‘Brighton Camp’ is a clue. There were encampments along the south coast (1758–9) when Hawke and Rodney were watching the French fleet in Brest Harbour. The song appears to be English, although it has appeared in several collections of Irish music. I have omitted several stanzas which appear in Chappell’s version (Popular Music of the Olden Time, vol. ii. p. 710).

XXXI

From Lock and Key, ‘a musical entertainment,’ first performed at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (circa 1790).

XXXII

From two of the Prophetic Books entitled Jerusalem and Milton respectively, and both published in 1804.

XXXIII

Poems (1807). Composed August 1802. ‘On August 29th left Calais at 12 in the morning for Dover.... Bathed and sat on the Dover Cliffs, looked upon France. We could see the shores about as plain as if it were an English lake. Mounted the coach at half-past four, arrived in London at six.’—(Dorothy Wordsworth’s Journal.)

XXXIV–XL

Poems (1807). The first and second were composed in September 1802, the third in 1803, and the fourth in 1806. The fifth is from the third stanza of the Thanksgiving Ode (1816). The sixth and seventh were ‘composed or suggested during a Tour in the Summer of 1833,’ and were published in Yarrow Revisited and Other Poems (1835).

XLI

From the Introduction to the first canto of Marmion (1808).

XLII–XLIII

The Snug Little Island, or The March of Invasion was first sung by ‘Jew’ Davis in The British Raft at Sadler’s Wells on Easter Monday, 1797. Tune—‘The Rogue’s March.’ The author’s title for the next number (Last Lays, 1833) is A Soldier’s Life.

XLIV

Poetical Works, vol. iii. (Longmans, 1838). This is number xxxiii. of the ‘Inscriptions.’

XLV–XLVII

The first two were published with Gertrude of Wyoming (1809). The first (written at Altona during the winter of 1800–1) is based on a seventeenth-century song which Campbell used to sing. As to the second (written in 1805), I omit stanzas 5, 6, and 8, an improvement suggested by Mr. Henley. The third appeared in Theodoric and Other Poems (Longmans, 1824).

XLVIII

Songs and Poems (edited by Peter Cunningham, 1847).

XLIX–LI

The first is from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (canto iii. stanza 2, and canto iv. stanzas 8, 9, 10). The third canto was published in 1816, and the fourth in 1818. Byron left England—never to return—on April 24, 1816.

l. 22. The poet’s body was sent home to England, and was buried in the family vault at Hucknall Torkard, near Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire.

32. The answer of the mother of Brasidas, the Spartan General, to the strangers who praised the memory of her son.

The second is from the third canto of Don Juan (1821).

The third is from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (canto iii. stanzas 21–28). The Duchess of Richmond’s famous ball took place on June 15, 1815, the eve of Quatre Bras, at the Duke’s house in the Rue de la Blanchisserie, Brussels.

20. Brunswick’s fated chieftain. The Duke of Brunswick (1771–1815) was killed at Quatre Bras. His father, author of the famous manifesto against the French Republic (July 15, 1792), had fallen at Jena (1806).

54. Evan’s—Donald’s. Sir Evan Cameron (1629–1719) and his grandson Donald Cameron of Lochiel (1695–1748). The former fought at Killiecrankie (1689), and the latter, celebrated by Campbell in Lochiel’s Warning, was wounded at Culloden (1746).

55. Ardennes. The general term is applied to the forest of Soignies, which at this time occupied the whole country between Brussels and Waterloo.

LII

First published (without the author’s permission) in the Newry Telegraph (April 19, 1817), and reprinted in many other journals. Highly praised by Byron (1822)—‘Such an ode as only Campbell could have written’—this poem was attributed to Byron himself, and claimed by many impostors. The question of authorship was settled in 1841 by the discovery of an autograph copy in a letter from Wolfe to a college friend.

LIII–LIV

Works, with a Memoir (7 vols., William Blackwood & Sons, 1839). Most of Mrs. Hemans’ poems were first published in periodicals, such as The Edinburgh Monthly Magazine and The New Monthly Magazine. The latter was, for a time, edited by Thomas Campbell, not very successfully. The ‘Author’s Note’ on the first number is as follows:—‘It is supposed that war was anciently proclaimed in Britain by sending messengers in different directions through the land, each bearing a bended bow; and that peace was in like manner announced by a bow unstrung, and, therefore, straight.’

LV–LVI

The first (reprinted from Knight’s Quarterly Magazine) was included in the 1848 edition of the Lays of Ancient Rome. It is dated 1832.

LVII–LVIII

Alma and other Poems (1855), and Poems (New Edition, 2 vols., Macmillan & Co., 1885). By permission of Mr. A. Chenevix Trench.

LIX

Last Poems (Smith, Elder & Co., 1862). This volume was published after the author’s death. By permission of the publishers.

LX–LXVI

The first two appeared in Poems (2 vols., Edward Moxon, 1842). The third is from The Princess: a Medley (Edward Moxon, 1847). The fourth is from the lines entitled, To the Queen, forming the Dedication of the Seventh Edition of Poems (London: 1851). The fifth and sixth first appeared in The Examiner, in 1852; the former on January 31, and the latter on February 7. The seventh is from the Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington, published separately in November 1852 (Edward Moxon), and reprinted with Maud (1855).

LXVII–LXVIII

The first appeared in The Examiner, December 9, 1854, and was reprinted with Maud (1855). Written on December 2nd, in a few minutes, after reading the description in The Times, in which occurred the phrase ‘someone had blundered.’ (Memoir, i. p. 381.) The second is from Maud.

LXIX

The Return of the Guards and Other Poems (Macmillan & Co., 1866). By permission of the publishers. The poem deals with an incident of the war with China (1860):—‘Some Seiks (Sikhs) and a private of the Buffs (or East Kent Regiment) having remained behind with the grog-carts, fell into the hands of the Chinese. On the next morning they were brought before the authorities, and commanded to perform the Ko tou. The Seiks obeyed; but Moyse, the English soldier, declaring that he would not prostrate himself before any Chinaman alive, was immediately knocked upon the head, and his body thrown upon a dunghill.’ Quoted by the author from The Times.

LXX–LXXI

Bells and Pomegranates (vii. 1845). The first was written in Italy. The second was written in pencil on the cover of an Italian book during Browning’s first journey to Italy. He sailed in a merchant vessel from London to Trieste, and was the only passenger (1838). A letter from the poet to Miss Haworth gives an account of the voyage. (Life and Letters, edited by Mrs. Sutherland Orr, 2nd edition, p. 97.)

LXXII

Songs for Music (Routledge, 1856), a reprint of a series of songs from The Illustrated London News (1852–1855).

LXXIII–LXXIV

The first is from Songs in Absence (1852), and was probably composed during the author’s voyage across the Atlantic. The second appears in Poems with Memoir by F.T. Palgrave (Macmillan & Co., 1862). By permission of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.

LXXV

Andromeda and Other Poems (1858). Written in 1854.

LXXVI

Edinburgh Courant, 1852.

l. 3. The Vengeur’s crew. The Vengeur was sunk in Lord Howe’s action against the French fleet on ‘the glorious first of June’ (1794), off the coast of Brittany. For the final account of her sinking see Carlyle (Miscellanies—‘Sinking of the Vengeur’).

LXXVII

Ionica (George Allen, 1891). By permission of Mrs. Cory. The poem was written in 1861, and was privately printed in 1877. The ‘School Fencibles’ are the members of the Volunteer Corps of Eton College, whose grey uniform, with light-blue facings, is the ‘meek attire of blue and grey’ referred to in l. 10.

LXXVIII

Verses 1, 2, 4, and 9 of Hymn No. 143 in Hymns Ancient and Modern. By permission of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

LXXIX

Sonnets and Other Poems (A. & C. Black, 1900). By permission of author and publishers.

LXXX

Points of War (Bell & Daldy, 1855), and Wagers of Battle (Macmillan & Co., 1900). By permission of the author and Messrs. Macmillan.

LXXXI–LXXXII

Both from Visions of England (Macmillan & Co., 1881). By permission of the publishers.

l. 1. Isle of Roses. Within the temple of Athena at Lindus, in the island of Rhodes, Pindar’s seventh Olympian Ode was engraved in golden letters.

40. Changing at the font. Alfred was god-father to Guthrun, the Danish leader, when baptized after his defeat at EthandÚn (872).

LXXXIII

Balder (Smith & Elder, 1854).

LXXXIV

This poem first appeared in The Times (October 31, 1899), was reprinted separately by Messrs. Skeffington & Sons, and is included in the author’s last volume, The Finding of the Book and Other Poems (Hodder & Stoughton, 1900). By permission of the author, the editor of The Times, and the publishers above mentioned.

LXXXV

Legends and Lyrics (1858). Written in 1855.

LXXXVI

Havelock’s March and Other Poems (TrÜbner & Co., 1859). By permission of the author.

LXXXVII

Collected Poems (Macmillan & Co., 1900). By permission of the publishers.

LXXXVIII

Songs and Rhymes (Elliot Stock, 1896). By permission of the author.

LXXXIX

Poems Narrative and Lyrical (Pickering, 1853). By permission of the author.

XC

Poems (Elkin Mathews, 1893). By permission of the author.

XCI

The Bab Ballads, with which are included Songs of a Savoyard (George Routledge & Sons, 1897). By permission of the author. This is one of the songs in the comic opera Utopia, Limited.

XCII–XCIII

Both from A Jubilee Greeting at Spithead (John Lane, 1897). By permission of the author.

XCIV–XCVII

The first three numbers are from Poems and Ballads, 3rd series (Chatto & Windus, 1889). The first is part viii. section ii. of The Armada.

As to the second, Drumossie Muir (l. 16), in Inverness-shire, was the scene of the battle of Culloden (1746).

l. 17. ayont. Beyond.
25. mool. Mould.
laps. Wraps.
40. wotsna. Knows not.
45. weird for dreeing. To ‘dree a weird’ is to abide a fate.
47. thole. To endure.
65. Wansbeck. A Northumberland stream.
69. thae. Those.

The fourth number is from the dedicatory lines in Astrophel and Other Poems (Chatto & Windus, 1894). By permission of author and publishers.

XCVIII

The Graphic (November 11, 1899). By permission of the author and the editor of The Graphic.

XCIX–C

The first appeared in The St. James’s Magazine (now defunct), October, 1877, and was included in the second edition of Proverbs in Porcelain (1878), and in At the Sign of the Lyre (Kegan Paul, 1889). By permission of author and publisher.

Gloriana (l. 25)=Queen Elizabeth.

The second appeared in The Sphere (February 3, 1900). By permission of the author and the editor of The Sphere.

CI

Poetical Works (vol. ii., Smith, Elder & Co., 1899). By permission of author and publishers.

CII–CIII

Songs of the Maid (A. Constable & Co., 1896). By permission of author and publishers.

CIV

London Voluntaries and Other Poems (David Nutt, 1894), and Poems (David Nutt, 1898). By permission of author and publisher.

CV

A Song of the Sea and Other Poems (Methuen & Co., 1895). By permission of Miss Marie Corelli and the publishers.

CVI

Literature (July 1, 1899). By permission of the author and the editor of Literature.

CVII

The Violet Crown and Songs of England (Edward Arnold, 1891). By permission of author and publishers. This poem is dated ‘Athens, 1890.’

CVIII

Collected Poems (John Lane, 1895). By permission of the publisher.

CIX–CX

Songs of Action (Smith, Elder & Co., 1898). By permission of author and publishers. The Song of the Bow first appeared in The White Company (Smith, Elder & Co., 1891).

CXI

The Daily Chronicle, October 28, 1899. By permission of the author and the editor of The Daily Chronicle.

CXII–CXIV

Admirals All (Elkin Matthews, 1897). By permission of author and publisher. As to the first:—

l. 1. Effingham. Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham (1536–1624), commanded the English fleet sent against the Spanish Armada (1588). Grenville. Sir Richard Grenville, naval commander (1541?-1591). See Mr. Gerald Massey’s poem, supra, p. 113.

Raleigh. Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1616), soldier, sailor, courtier, adventurer, and writer.

Drake. Sir Francis Drake (1540?-1596).

3. Benbow. Vice-admiral John Benbow (1653–1702).

Collingwood. Vice-admiral Cuthbert, Lord Collingwood (1750–1810), second in command at Trafalgar.

Byron. Vice-admiral John Byron (1723–1786), grandfather of the poet.

Blake. Robert Blake (1599–1657), next to Nelson, the greatest English admiral.

8. Nelson. Horatio, Viscount Nelson (1758–1805).

13. Essex. Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex (1567–1601), commanded the land attack on Cadiz (1596) when the city was taken by the English.

30. Duncan. Admiral Adam, Viscount Duncan (1731–1804), who defeated the Dutch in the fight off Camperdown (October 11, 1797).

31. Texel. One of the mouths of the Zuyder Zee.

38. The Sound. The strait between Sweden and Denmark leading into the Baltic Sea. The English fleet entered the Sound on April 1, 1801, and next morning Nelson, acting under orders from Sir Hyde Parker, attacked the Danish batteries.

52. Rodneys. Admiral George Brydges, first Baron Rodney (1719–1792).

The third is an extract from the poem entitled Laudabunt Alii.

CXV

The Seven Seas. (Methuen & Co., 1896.) By permission of author and publishers.

l. 9. Bergen. A town on the west coast of Norway.
10. Disko. An island off the west coast of Greenland.
floe. The surface ice of polar seas.
12. Dogger. A sandbank in the middle of the North Sea.
18. Musk-ox. A long-haired animal of the ox tribe, found in Arctic America.
21. Virgins. A group of small islands in the West Indies.
23. sea-egg. Sea-urchin.
25. Keys. Islands near the coast (Spanish cayo, a sandbank).
37. Kuriles. A group of islands in the North Pacific.
39. Praya. Capital of the Cape Verde Islands.
Kowloon. A town in China, near Hong-Kong.
43. Hoogli. The Ganges.
50. Winds. Scents, smells.

CXVI

The Times (July 17, 1897). Suggested by the celebration of Queen Victoria’s ‘Diamond Jubilee’ (June 22). By permission of the author and the editor of The Times.

CXVII

The Spectator (December 16, 1899). By permission of the author and the editor of The Spectator. The poem is written to an old Gaelic air.

CXVIII

A Gun-Room Ditty Box (Cassell & Co., 1898). By permission of author and publishers. ‘Snotties’ is the naval equivalent of ‘midshipmen.’

II.—WALES

CXIX

Published (with The Progress of Poetry) in 1757.

l. 5. hauberk. Coat of mail.
8. Cambria. Wales; a Latinised form of ‘Cymru.’
13–14. Gloster. Mortimer. English nobles and Lords of the Welsh Marches.
28. Hoel. King of Brittany and nephew of King Arthur.
Llewellyn. A famous Welsh prince of the eleventh century.
29. Cadwallo. King of North Wales in the seventh century.
31. Urien. A Welsh hero of the fifth century.
33. Mordred. Nephew of Arthur.
34. Plinlimmon. A mountain in Cardiganshire.
35. Arvon. ‘The shores of Carnarvonshire opposite the Isle of Anglesea.’—Gray.
56. Edward II. was murdered in Berkeley Castle (September 21, 1327).
57. Isabella, wife of Edward II.
67. Edward, the Black Prince.
71, &c. The reign of Richard II.

83–96. The Wars of the Roses.
87. The Tower of London was said to have been begun by Julius CÆsar.
89. Consort. Margaret of Anjou.
father. Henry V.
90. meek usurper. Henry VI.
93. The silver boar was the badge of Richard III.
115. Queen Elizabeth.
121. Taliessin. A Welsh bard of the sixth century.
126. Spenser’s Faerie Queene.
128. Shakespeare’s plays.
131. Milton.
133. ‘The succession of poets after Milton’s time.’—Gray.

CXX

Poetical Works (1832). Bodryddan is near Rhuddlan, in Flintshire.

CXXI–CXXII

Works, with a Memoir (Wm. Blackwood & Sons, 1839). As to the first,—

l. 2. Hirlas. From ‘hir,’ long, and ‘glas,’ blue or azure.
14. Eryri is the Welsh name for the Snowdon Mountains.

As to the second,—

Prince Madog, a natural son of Llywelyn, was the leader of the Welsh Rebellion (1294–1295), occasioned by the levying of taxes by Edward I. to pay for his projected expedition to Gascony.

CXXIII

Poems (Roberts, 1869). Translated from the Welsh.

l. 1. Glyndwr. Owain ap Gruffydd, commonly called Owen Glendower (1359?-1416?), joined the Percies and Mortimers in their rebellion against Henry IV.

CXXIV

From the Ode written at the request of the Llywelyn Memorial Committee (Bangor: Jarvis & Foster, 1895). By permission of the author. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (died 1282) was the last champion of Welsh liberty. l. 29. Lloegrian. Lloegria was one of the ancient names of Britain.
40. Cwmhir. Cwmhir Abbey in Radnorshire.
67. Iorwerth’s happier son. Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (died 1240), commonly called Llywelyn the Great.

CXXV

This translation of the famous Welsh poem, Morfa Rhuddlan (i.e., ‘Red Marsh’) is in the metre of the original. Published (September, 1894) in Wales, a monthly magazine. By permission of the editor of Wales and the author’s representatives. Three stanzas (2, 5, and 6) are omitted. Morfa Rhuddlan, on the banks of the Clwyd in Flintshire, was the scene of many battles between Britons and Saxons. In the battle described in the poem (A.D. 795), the Britons under Caradoc were defeated and their leader slain. Those who escaped the sword were driven into the river. The original poem is said to have been composed by Caradoc’s bard immediately after the battle.

CXXVI–CXXVII

Welsh Lyrics of the Nineteenth Century, First Series (Bangor: Jarvis & Foster, 1896). By permission of author and publishers.

As to the first,—Idris (=Cader Idris), Berwin, and Plynlimmon (l. 8, &c.) are mountains in Wales.

As to the second,—Cymru (l. 1)=Wales.

III.—SCOTLAND

CXXVIII

The Tea-Table Miscellany: a Collection of Choice Songs (Edinburgh, 4 vols., 1724–7).

CXXIX

This ‘matchless wail’ (as Scott called it) was written in 1756. For some time it was thought to be a genuine relic of the past. Burns was one of the first to insist that it was a modern composition. The ‘Forest’ is, of course, Ettrick Forest, that romantic district comprising most of Selkirkshire and the neighbouring parts of Peebles and Edinburgh shires. A few straggling thorns and solitary birches are the sole remaining traces of this ‘fein foreste,’ once the favourite hunting-ground of the Scottish kings.

bandsters. Binders of sheaves.

bogle. ‘Hide and seek.’

buchts. Pen in which ewes are enclosed at milking-time.

daffin’. Making merry.

dool. Sorrow.

dowie. Doleful.

fleechin’. Coaxing.

gabbin’. Talking pertly.

har’st. Harvest.

ilk, ilka. Every.

liltin’. Singing.

loanin’. Lane.

laighlin. Milking pail.

lyart. Hoary-headed.

mair. More.

runkled. Wrinkled.

swankies. Lively young fellows.

wae. Sad.

wede. Weeded.

CXXX

Written on the Marquess of Huntley’s departure for Holland, with the English forces, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby, in 1799.

CXXXI–CXXXIV

The first is number 259 in vol. iii. of Johnson’s Musical Museum (1790), signed ‘Z.’ ‘The first half stanza of this song is old—the rest is mine.’—Author’s note in interleaved copy.

The second was written in 1793, and first published in the Morning Chronicle (May, 1794). The old air, Hey, tuttie, taitie, to which Burns ‘fitted’ this poem, is said to have been Bruce’s marching tune at Bannockburn.

The third appeared in the Edinburgh Courant (May 4, 1795), and in the Dumfries Journal (May 5, 1795), and is number 546 in vol. ii. of Johnson’s Musical Museum (1803).

The fourth was written in 1795 for the Irish air Humours of Glen, and published in the Edinburgh Magazine (May, 1797), and in vol. ii. of Thomson’s Scottish Airs (1799).

CXXXV–CXXXVII

The first is the opening stanza of the sixth canto of The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805).

The second consists of part of stanza 33, and the whole of stanza 34 of the sixth canto of Marmion (1808).

l. 5. vaward. Vanguard.
7. The horn of Roland, nephew of Charlemagne, the sound of which carried a fabulous distance.

The third was written for Albyn’s Anthology (1816). ‘Donuil Dhu’ means ‘Donald the Black.’

CXXXVIII–CXL

The first is from The Monastery (1820).

l. 8. the Queen. Mary, Queen of Scots.
9. hirsels. Flocks.

The second, written in 1825, first appeared in The Doom of Devergoil (1830), Act ii. scene 2.

‘The air of Bonnie Dundee running in my head to-day,’ Scott writes (22nd December), ‘I wrote a few verses to it before dinner, taking the keynote from the story of Clavers leaving the Scottish Convention of Estates in 1688–9. I wonder if they are good!’ (Journal, i. 60).

barkened. Tanned.

carline. Old woman.

couthie. Kind.

douce. Quiet.

duniewassals. Yeomen.

flyting. Scolding.

gang. Go.

ilk. Every.

pow. Pate.

target. A round shield.

The full title of the third number is ‘War Song of the Royal Edinburgh Light Dragoons.’ It was written under the apprehension of a French invasion. The corps of volunteers to which the song is addressed was raised in 1797, and consisted of Edinburgh gentlemen mounted and armed at their own expense.

CXLI

From Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 3 vols. (1802–1803). The first four lines of the fourth stanza appear on the title-page of Marmion.

CXLII

First published in Cromek’s Remains of Nithisdale and Galloway Song (1810), when the author was a working mason.

CXLIII

Johnson’s Musical Museum, vol. iii. (1790). A similar song, The Clans are Coming, is included in Ritson’s Scottish Songs (1794).

CXLIV

Collected Works, edited by William Anderson (1851). I have found many versions of this old song, but none to equal Gilfillan’s.

CXLV–CXLVI

Both from Songs of Travel (Chatto & Windus, 1896). By permission of Charles Baxter, Esq., executor of the author.

The second was written at Vailima, Samoa, and is addressed ‘To S.R. Crockett, Esq.’ The author writes from Vailima to Mr. Crockett (May 17, 1893):—‘I shall never set my foot again upon the heather. Here I am until I die, and here will I be buried. The word is out, and the doom written.’—Letters, vol. ii. p. 287 (Methuen & Co., 1899).

l. 3. Whaups. Curlews.
11. Peewees. Lapwings.

CXLVII

Blackwood’s Magazine (January 1900). By permission of the author and the editor of Blackwood’s Magazine.

JACOBITE SONGS

CXLVIII–CLI

The first number is given in Hogg’s Jacobite Relics, Second Series (Wm. Blackwood, 1821).

As to the second,—there are many versions of this old song. Hogg has two versions, both different to that given here. The third number is attributed to Hogg by Chambers and other critics.

The fourth is said to have been written by Lady Keith (nÉe Lady Maria Drummond), daughter of the Earl of Perth, and mother of James Francis Edward, commonly called Marshal Keith (1698–1758), who fought under Frederick the Great in the Seven Years’ War.

birken. Birch.

laverock. Lark.

Moidart. In Inverness.

croo house. Hovel.

bike. Family.

lyart. Hoary.

eild. Old age.

clishmaclaver. Idle discourse.

CLII–CLV

The first is number 127 of vol. ii. of Johnson’s Musical Museum (1788). Unsigned.

The second is number 302 of vol. iv. of Johnson’s Musical Museum (1792). Unsigned.

l. 2. felly. Relentless.
5. maun. Must.
9. mirk. Gloomy.

The third is number 359 of vol. iv. of Johnson’s Musical Museum (1792). Unsigned. This song has not been found in any earlier collection.

The fourth is number 497 of vol. v. of Johnson’s Musical Museum (1796). Unsigned. Based on an old ballad, ‘Unkind Parents’ (Roxburghe Ballads, vol. vii.).

l. 15. gae. Gave.
28. lee-lang. Live-long.

CLVI–CLVII

Lays from Stratheam (1746). These new versions of old songs were first published anonymously.

As to the second, gar mony ferlie (l. 2)=‘cause great excitement.’

CLVIII

Given in Hogg (Second Series), and reprinted in Poetical Remains of William Glen, with Memoir (1874). Written to the old tune, ‘Johnnie Faa.’ l. 12. lilt o’ dool. Song of grief.
22. maist. Almost.
38. fairly. Completely.

CLIX

Songs of the North, vol. i. (Cramer & Co., 1885). By permission of the author, who wrote the words to fit an old and stirring air with which he became acquainted when on a visit to the Hebrides.

CLX

By permission of the author and the editor of The Celtic Monthly, in which publication (May, 1894) these verses first appeared.

IV.—IRELAND

CLXI

Lines 83–97 of The Deserted Village (1769).

CLXII

This, the best and most widely known of the Irish street ballads, dates from the year 1798. Caubeen (l. 15)=hat.

CLXIII–CLXIX

All from the famous series of Irish Melodies, the publication of which began in 1807, and continued at irregular intervals till 1834.

As to the second,—

l. 3. Mononia. Munster.
4. Kincora. Brien’s Palace.
22. Ossory’s plain. The ancient kingdom of Ossory comprised parts of Queen’s County and Kilkenny.

As to the third,—

l. 1. Tara’s halls. The hill of Tara, in Meath, was the meeting-place for the election of the kings of Ireland; but most writers on Irish antiquities are of opinion that there was no royal dwelling there. It would seem, therefore, that ‘Tara’s halls’ never existed but in the imagination of poets.

As to the fifth, Robert Emmet (1778–1803), United Irishman, the leader of ‘Emmet’s Rising’ (1803), was arrested by Major Sirr (the capturer of Lord Edward Fitzgerald), tried September 19, and hanged next day (1803). He was engaged to be married to Sarah Curran, daughter of the great lawyer, and it was to this lady Moore addressed his famous poem. The lady subsequently (November 24, 1805) married Major Sturgeon of the Royal Staff Corps.

CLXX

Minor Poems of Charlotte Elizabeth (1848). Published in the author’s lifetime over the signature ‘Charlotte Elizabeth.’

CLXXI–CLXXII

Mangan’s poems appeared in Dublin magazines and journals—The Dublin University Magazine, The Nation, and The Dublin Penny Journal. There is no complete edition of his works.

As to the second, ‘Dark Rosaleen,’ is, of course, a mystical name for Ireland.

CLXXIII–CLXXIV

Songs, Poems, and Verses (John Murray, 1884). By permission of the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. The second is dated 1845.

CLXXV–CLXXVI

Dublin University Magazine (1834). As to the first, Fiagh MacHugh O’Byrne, one of the most powerful Irish chieftains in the sixteenth century, was killed in a skirmish with the forces of the Lord Deputy (1597). Gall (l. 17)=‘foreigners.’

The second is the first two stanzas of a very close translation, in the original metre, of an Irish song of unknown authorship, dating from the seventeenth century. The refrain has never been satisfactorily translated.

CLXXVII–CLXXVIII

The Poems of Thomas Davis, now first collected (Dublin: James Duffy, 1846). These poems made their first appearance in The Nation.

The second is a ‘Lament for the Death of Eoghan Ruadh O’Neill,’ commonly called Owen Roe O’Neill (1590?-1649), patriot and general, who led the Irish against the Scotch and Parliamentary forces in Ireland (1642–1649). The Author’s Note is as follows:—‘Time.—November 10, 1649. Scene.—Ormond’s camp, county Waterford. Speakers.—A veteran of Eoghan O’Neill’s clan, and one of the horsemen, just arrived with an account of his death.’

l. 2. Poison. There is no truth in the assertion that O’Neill was poisoned. He died a natural death.
7. Sacsanach. Saxon, English.
8. Cloc Uachtar. Clough Oughter, in county Cavan, where the O’Reillys had a stronghold.
19. Beinn Burb. Benburb, on the Blackwater, where O’Neill defeated the Scotch army under Monro (June 5, 1646).

CLXXIX

Innisfail and Other Poems (Macmillan & Co., 1877), and Poetical Works, six vols. (Macmillan & Co., 1884). By permission of author and publishers.

‘The Little Black Rose’ (l. 1) and ‘The Silk of the Kine’ (l. 5) were mystical names applied to Ireland by the bards. Athenry (l. 12), in county Galway, was the scene of a battle in which the Irish under Felim O’Conor were defeated by the English forces under Sir William de Burgh (1316).

CLXXX–CLXXXI

The first appeared in The Nation, 1st April 1843, and both are included in Sonnets and Other Poems (A. & C. Black, 1900). By permission of author and publishers.

CLXXXII–CLXXXIII

Bards of the Gael and Gall (T. Fisher Unwin, 1897). By permission of author and publisher. Both are translations from Irish poems of the seventeenth century.

As to the first,—O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and O’Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, hearing that the Government had determined to seize them on a charge of conspiracy, apparently groundless, suddenly left Ireland, sailing from Rathmullan, on Lough Foyle, to France (1607). Their estates were confiscated, and ‘The Plantation of Ulster’ began.

CLXXXIV

From Dublin Verses (Elkin Mathews, 1895)—a collection of poems by members of Trinity College, Dublin. By permission of author and publisher.

CLXXXV

Macmillan’s Magazine (September, 1900). By permission of the author and the editor of Macmillan’s Magazine.

CLXXXVI

The Rising of the Moon and Other Poems (1869). By permission of Messrs. Cameron & Ferguson, the present publishers.

l. 2. ma bouchal. My boy.
11. banshee. The fairy spirit of doom (Irish, ban-sidhe).

CLXXXVII

Poems and Ballads of Young Ireland (Dublin: Gill & Son, 1888). By permission of the author. Clonmacnois, founded by St. Kieran in the sixth century, was for many generations one of the greatest ecclesiastical establishments and centres of learning in Ireland. It was the chosen burial-place of many royal and noble families.

CLXXXVIII

The Wind in the Trees (Grant Richards, 1898). By permission of the author.

CLXXXIX

Poems (Elkin Mathews, 1895). By permission of author and publisher.

l. 2. Inisfail (i.e. ‘The Isle of Destiny’), an ancient name of Ireland.

V.—CANADA

CXC

Poems (Toronto: Dudley & Burns, 1888). By permission of the author. The Nile Expeditionary Force for the relief of General Gordon was conveyed up the river in flat-bottomed boats navigated by Canadian Indians (voyageurs).

CXCI

Lays of Canada (Montreal: John Lovell & Son, 1890). By permission of the author.

CXCII

Laura Second and Other Poems (Toronto, 1887). By permission of the author’s representatives.

CXCII

A Treasury of Canadian Verse (J.M. Dent & Co., 1900). By permission of the author’s representatives.

CXCIV

Toronto Daily Mail (July 23, 1885). By permission of the author. The call for volunteers was occasioned by the ‘Half-Breed Rebellion’ in North-West Canada (1884–5).

CXCV

Published separately (McCorquodale & Co., 1900), and sold for the benefit of the Canadian Patriotic Fund. By permission of the author.

CXCVI

In Divers Tones (Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 1887). By permission of the author.

CXCVII–CXCVIII

Beyond the Hills of Dream (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1899). By permission of author and publishers. The first had previously appeared in The Westminster Gazette (August, 1897), and the second in The Toronto Globe (Christmas Number, 1899).

CXCIX–CC

The first is from Poems Old and New (Toronto: William Briggs, 1900), and the second from The Soul’s Quest and Other Poems (London: Kegan Paul & Co., 1888). By permission of the author.

CCI

Canadian Monthly (August, 1897). By permission of the author.

CCII

Watchers of Twilight (Montreal: T.H. Warren, 1894). By permission of the author. Line 2 is a quotation from William Watson’s Last Words to the Colonies.

CCIII

In Various Moods (Toronto: William Briggs, 1894). By permission of the author.

VI.—INDIA

CCIV

Miscellaneous Verses (Calcutta: Sanders, Cones & Co., 1848).

Gunga (l. 49)=the Ganges.

CCV

Cornhill Magazine (September, 1868), and Verses Written in India (Kegan Paul & Co., 1889). By permission of author and publishers.

The massacre which suggested this poem took place near Mohundi, in Oudh (June, 1857). The lives of all the English prisoners would have been spared had they consented to profess Mahometanism by repeating the usual short formula.

CCVI–CCVIII

Indian Lyrics (Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co., 1884). By permission of the author. The Author’s Note on the second is as follows:—‘Over the well rises a pedestal supporting a statue in white marble—the Angel of Pity. Below is the inscription: Sacred to the perpetual memory of a great company of Christian people, chiefly women and children, who near this spot were cruelly massacred by the followers of the rebel Nana Dhoondoo Punth of Bithoor; and cast, the dying with the dead, into the well below, on the 15th day of July 1857.’

As to the third,—

l. 7. peepuls. The peepul (or pepul) tree.
8. poinsianas. The poinciana regia, a flowering shrub introduced from Madagascar.

CCIX–CCXI

All three appeared first in The Times of India, and are included in Soldierin’ (Bombay: Indian Textile Journal Co., 1899). By permission of author and publishers.

As to the second,—l. 28. sangared. Sangars are temporary stone shelters for riflemen.

As to the third,—During the operations in Tirah (1897) the pass of Saransar (or Saran Sur) was the retreat of the hillmen known as the Lakka Khels. On November 9, a reconnaissance in force was made up the pass. The firing from the heights was deadly and continuous, and, in the evening, when our troops were retreating down the pass, a small party of the 48th (Northamptonshire Regiment) under Second Lieutenant Macintyre and Colour-Sergeant Luck, were cut off and surrounded by the enemy. It was found impossible to save them, and the following morning their dead bodies were found together.

l. 9. Talavera. The 48th are known as ‘The Talavera Boys,’ having distinguished themselves at the battle of Talavera, in the Peninsular War (July 27 and 28, 1809).

CCXII

Departmental Ditties (Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co., 1886. London: George Newnes, Ltd., 1899). By permission of the author and Messrs. George Newnes, Limited. ‘The Galley-Slave’ is understood to be a mystical name for the Indian Civil Servant.

VII.—SOUTH AFRICA

CCXIII

Ephemerides (London: 1828).

CCXIV

By permission of the author and the editor of Literature, in which publication (December 9, 1899) the poem first appeared.

CCXV

Published in G.W. Steevens’ posthumous volume, Things Seen: with Memoir by W.E. Henley (Blackwood, 1900). By permission of the author. The quatrain is inscribed ‘G.W.S., December 10, 1869—January 15, 1900.’ The lines were written of G.W. Steevens, journalist and war correspondent, who died at Ladysmith during the siege.

CCXVI

England Revisited (Cape Town: J.C. Juta & Co., 1900). By permission of the author.

CCXVII

Cape Argus (May 6, 1901). By permission of the author and the editor of the Cape Argus.

CCXVIII

Natal: The Land and its Story (Pietermaritzburg: Davis & Sons, Fifth Edition, 1897). By permission of the author.

l. 1. Congella. Hostilities having begun in Natal (1842), Captain Smith led the English forces out of Durban for a night attack on Pretorius’ position at Congella. It was a moonlight night, and the advance was observed. Our men were shot down as they marched along the shore without cover. The survivors retreated to Durban, and the Boers immediately invested the town. A despatch-rider having made his way through the Boer lines, reinforcements were sent by sea, and the siege was raised (June 25, 1842). Natal was annexed the following year, and the Boer was thus headed off from the sea.

VIII.—AUSTRALIA

CCXIX

From Dampier’s Dream: an Australian Foreshadowing (Melbourne: George Robertson & Co., 1892). By permission of the author’s representatives. William Dampier (1652–1715), pirate, circumnavigator, and captain in the navy, made several voyages to the South Seas.

CCXX

Poems (Melbourne: A.H. Massina & Co., 1884). By permission of the publishers.

CCXXI

From Australia Federata (The Times, January 1, 1901). This poem appeared the same day in the leading journals of all the States of the Commonwealth of Australia. By permission of Sir Horace Tozer, K.C.M.G., Agent-General for Queensland.

CCXXII

First published in a Tasmanian newspaper. By permission of the author.

CCXXIII

In the Days when the World was Wide (Sydney: Angus & Robertson. London: The Australian Book Co., 1895). By permission of Messrs. Angus & Robertson.

Jackeroo (l. 24).

CCXXIV

Literature (November 11, 1899). By permission of the author and the editor of Literature.

CCXXV

Maoriland and other Verses (Sydney: The Bulletin Newspaper Co., 1899). By permission of the publishers.

l. 2. tussock. ‘Tussock’ is a coarse grass.

CCXXVI

Fair Girls and Grey Horses (Sydney: The Bulletin Newspaper Co., 1899). By permission of the publishers. This poem first appeared in the Sydney Bulletin.

l. 9. Macquarie. The river Macquarie rises in the Blue Mountains, eighty miles west of Sydney. After following a north-westerly course of 280 miles its waters are lost in the Macquarie marshes.

CCXXVII

First appeared in The Brisbane Courier (August 8, 1899).

CCXXVIII–CCXXIX

The first appeared in Songs of the South (Ward, Lock & Co., 1891), and the second is an extract from The Commonwealth: an Ode (Melbourne Age, January 1901). By permission of the author.

As to the first,—Matthew Flinders (1774–1814), discoverer and captain in the navy, was one of the first surveyors of the east coast of Australia. He spent many years in exploring the country adjacent to the coast.

IX.—NEW ZEALAND

CCXXX

Musings in Maoriland (Sydney: Arthur T. Keirle & Co., 1890). By permission of the publishers.

CCXXXI

First published in the Dunedin Saturday Advertiser (June 22, 1878), and included in Far South Fancies (Griffith, Farran & Co., 1889). By permission of the author.

l. 15. Parakeets’. The parakeet resembles a parrot in appearance, and is one of the native birds of New Zealand.

16. Tui’s. The tui is a mocking-bird, and has two tufts of white feathers on its neck, the rest of its plumage being jet black. It is commonly called the ‘Parson Bird,’ from its supposed resemblance to a clergyman in a white tie.

CCXXXII–CCXXXIII

The first is from Songs of the Singing Shepherd (Wanganui, New Zealand: A.D. Willis, 1885), and the second from The Pilgrim of Eternity (Wanganui: Wanganui Herald Co., 1892). By permission of the author.

As to the second,—Cooee (l. 1). The signal-call of the aborigines of New Zealand (‘cooee’ or ‘cooey’) can be heard at a great distance.

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