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MOST writers upon the subject of Scottish song and music have hitherto drawn a marked distinction between England and Scotland. They have considered the people on the two sides of the Tweed to be quite distinct-each with a music and a literature as well as opinions of its own. While it has been impossible for any writer to deny that England possessed a literature exclusively of English growth, of which it might well be proud, and of the whole benefit of which Scotland has been the partaker, it has been very generally denied that England possessed any music worthy of the name. On the other hand, honours have been heaped upon Scotland, both for her litera

ture and for her music, which, though by no means undeserved, ought to have been shared with England as the mother and source from which they were derived. It is possible that, in attempting to clear up some of the misconceptions which appear to exist upon this subject, we may run counter to the preconceived notions of many persons. But we shall not rob "the land of cakes" of any thing-not of a single melody out of the many hundreds of beautiful compositions that have given Scottish music a reputation as wide as the civilised world; we shall merely endeavour to show that English and Scottish music and song are of the same root and stock, that the birth-place of both was England, and that their separate growth and individuality have by no means effaced the strong family-likeness. All readers and singers will readily admit that the stores of Scottish song are not only extremely fertile, but that the Scottish mind has a tendency to develop its overflowing tenderness and earnest passionateness in lyrical strains of the simplest beauty, which no literature and no age of the world have surpassed. It is also beyond doubt that the Scottish lyra possesses, in addition to all the excellences which it can derive from the fervid and vigorous English language, a quaintness and a grace, an elegant simplicity, and an affectionate tenderness, which are peculiarly its own. But in acknowledging all this, and much more, it is not necessary to admit the claim of those who assert Scottish music to be a thing apart as well as transcendent, and who would deny England any share in its merits, or in the glory of having either originated it or developed it.

Nearly all the beautiful music and delicious snatches of song, commonly considered to be Scottish, belong to that section of Scotland known as the Lowlands, a country in which the people speak one of the many "Doric" dialects of the

Saxon-English language. On the English side of the Tweed these dialects, differing greatly from each other, are usually called broad Scotch, even by the people of Northumberland and Cumberland, who speak a very similar "Doric," and have a music as well as manners and language as much Scotch as English. If a line be drawn from Greenock on the Clyde northeast by Perth to Inverness, it will be found that by far the greater portion of the songs and melodies which are known as Scotch to Scotchmen and to the world, and of which Scotchmen speak and write with the highest pride and enthusiasm, have been produced to the south and east of it. North and west of that line is a country where, until of late years, and even now, the people speak a totally different language, and sing a music of a totally different character. North-west of that line is the land of the Gael-of the semi-barbarous and imperfect instrument the bagpipe, of pibroch tunes, of rude, wild melodies, very little known, and still less admired, and of a species of song which has rarely been considered worth the trouble of translation.

But on the south-east of the line, and all the way to the English Border, where the Saxon tongue prevails, and where the minds of the people have for ages had access to English literature, the land is vocal with sweet sounds. Every river, stream, and lake-every mountain-slope and summit-every pastoral valley-nay, almost every farmhouse, has been celebrated in a song. The Highlander, who has no right or title to this music or song, is as proud of both as the Lowlander; and not unfrequently claims for his own wild melodies, and for his rude attempts at lyrical poetry in the native language of the Gael, a large portion of the admiration lavished upon compositions of a totally different origin and character. The Lowlanders, while they admit the claim of the Highlanders, take

to themselves the little that is good in Celtic music and song, in order that with it they may swell the triumphs of a land that, not being geographically English, is considered to be Scotch. The English public, believing what it has been told, that England has not, and never had any music, join their loud voices to the chorus of acclamation, and make no attempt to claim any portion of the merit which belongs to the Scotch, not because they are Celts, but because, like the English, they are Saxon and Scandinavian.

It was recently remarked by a musical professor, who formed one of the numerous audience at a lecture on the writings and genius of Chaucer, that the allusions to music and singing in that writer were frequent; and that all, or nearly all, of his characters were represented as being able to sing or play. This fact also seems to have struck other persons. In the valuable and interesting introduction to a collection of national English airs, consisting of ancient song, ballad, and dance tunes, edited by Mr. W. Chappell, F.S.A., and published in 1840, we find the following passage:

"It were useless to quote all the numerous and respectful allusions made to the music of his time by Chaucer, 'the most illustrious ornament of the reign of Edward III., and of his successor Richard II.,' or by his friend and contemporary John Gower; a reference to their works passim will satisfactorily prove how highly the love of song was held in this country at the time. A few, however, of the more interesting ones will probably prove acceptable to the reader. In Chaucer's description of the Squire, he tells us not only that

But

'Singing he was or floyting (fluting) all the day,'

'He coudé songès make, and wel endite,

Juste and eke dance, and wel pourtraie and write.'

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