of a kind with which it happily unites. That under this association Burns contemplated' the scenery of the Devon with the eye of a genuine poet, the following lines written at this very period, may bear witness. On a Young Lady, residing on the banks of the small river Devon, in Clackmannanshire, but whose infant years were spent in Ayrshire. How pleasant the banks of the clear-winding Devon, fair; But the bonniest flower on the banks of the Devon Mild be the sun on this sweet blushing flower, In the gay rosy morn as it bathes in the dew! And gentle the fall of the soft vernal shower, That steals on the evening each leaf to renew. O spare the dear blossom, ye orient breezes, With chill hoary wing as ye usher the dawn! And far be thou distant, thou reptile that seizes The verdure and pride of the garden and lawn! Let Bourbon exult in his gay gilded lillies, And England triumphant display her proud rose; A fairer than either adorns the green vallies Where Devon, sweet Devon, meand'ring flows. The different journeys already mentioned did not satisfy the curiosity of Burns. About the beginning of September, he again set out from from Edinburgh on a more extended tour to the Highlands, in company with Mr. Nicol, with whom he had now contracted a particular intimacy, which lasted during the remainder of his life. Mr. Nicol was of Dumfries-shire, of a descent equally humble with our poet. Like him he rose by the strength of his talents, and fell by the strength of his passions. He died in the summer of 1797. Having received the elements of a classical instruction at his parish school, Mr. Nicol made a very rapid and singular proficiency; and by early undertaking the office of an instructor himself, he acquired the means of entering himself at the University of Edinburgh. There he was first a student of theology, then a student of medicine, and was afterwards employed in the assistance and instruction of graduates in medicine, in those parts of their exercises in which the Latin language is employed. In this situation he was the contemporary and rival of the celebrated Dr. Brown, whom he resembled in the particulars of his history, as well as in the leading features of his character. The office of assistant-teacher in the High-school being vacant, it was, as usual, filled up by competition; and in the face of some prejudices, and perhaps of some well-founded objections, Mr. Nicol, by superior learning, carried it from all the other candidates. This office he filled at the period of which we speak It is to be lamented, that an acquaintance with the writers of Greece and Rome does not always supply an original want of taste and correctness in manners and conduct; and where it fails of this effect, it sometimes inflames the native pride of temper, which treats with disdain those delicacies in which it has not learnt to excel. It was thus with the fellow-traveller of Burns. Formed by nature in a model of great strength, neither his person nor his manners had any tincture of taste or elegance; and his coarseness was not compensated by that romantic sensibility, and those towering flights of imagination, which distinguished the conversation of Burns, in the blaze of whose genius all the deficiencies of his manners were absorbed and disappeared. Mr. Nicol and our poet travelled in a postchaise, which they engaged for the journey, and passing through the heart of the Highlands, stretched northwards, about ten miles beyond Inverness. There they bent their course eastward, across the island, and returned by the shore of the German sea to Edinburgh. In the course of this tour, some particulars of which will be found in a letter of our bard, vol. ii. p. 89, they visited a number of remarkable scenes, and the imagination of Burns was constantly excited by the wild and sublime scenery through VOL. I. N through which he passed. Of this several proofs may be found in the poems formerly printed.* Of the history of one of these poems, The Humble Petition of Bruar Water, (vol. iii. p. 353.) and of the bard's visit to Athole-house, some particulars will be found in vol. ii. No. 29; and by the favour of Mr. Walker of Perth, then residing in the family of the Duke of Athole, we are enabled to give the following additional account. "ON reaching Blair, he sent me notice of his arrival, (as I had been previously acquainted with him) and I hastened to meet him at the inn. The Duke, to whom he brought a letter of introduction, was from home; but the Duchess, being informed of his arrival, gave him an invitation to sup and sleep at Atholehouse. He accepted the invitation; but, as the hour of supper was at some distance, begged I would in the interval be his guide through the grounds. It was already growing dark; yet the softened, * See vol iii. Lines on seeing some water-fowl in Loch-Turit, a wild scene among the hills of Ochtertyre, p. 358. Lines written with a Pencil over the Chimneypiece, in the Inn at Kenmore Taymouth, p. 361. Lines written with a pencil standing by the fall of Fyers, near Lochness, p. 363. softened, though faint and uncertain, view of their beauties, which the moon-light afforded us, seemed exactly suited to the state of his feelings at the time. I had often, like others, experienced the pleasures which arise from the sublime or elegant landscape, but I never saw those feelings so intense as in Burns. When we reached a rustic hut on the river Tilt, where it is overhung by a woody precipice, from which there is a noble water-fall, he threw himself on the heathy seat, and gave himself up to a tender, abstracted, and voluptuous enthusiasm of imagination. I cannot help thinking it might have been here that he conceived the idea of the following lines, which he afterwards introduced into his poem on Bruar Water, when only fancying such a combination of objects as were now present to his eye. Or, by the reaper's nightly beam, "It was with much difficulty I prevailed on him to quit this spot, and to be introduced in proper time to supper. "My curiosity was great to see how he would conduct himself in company so different from N 2 |