ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIRST EDITION. The scene of this Poem lies, at first, in the Castle of Artornish, on the coast of Argyleshire; and, afterwards, in the Islands of Skye and Arran, and upon the coast of Ayrshire. Finally, it is laid near Stirling. The story opens in the spring of the year 1307, when Bruce, who had been driven out of Scotland by the English, and the Barons who adhered to that foreign interest, returned from the Island of Rachrin on the coast of Ireland, again to assert his claims to the Scottish crown. Many of the personages and incidents introduced are of historical celebrity. The authorities used are chiefly those of the venerable Lord Hailes, as well entitled to be called the restorer of Scottish history, as Bruce the restorer of Scottish monarchy; and of Archdeacon Barbour, a correct edition of whose Metrical History of Robert Bruce will soon, I trust, appear, under the care of my learned friend, the Rev. Dr. Jamieson. ABBOTSFORD, 10th December 1814. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. THE "Lord of the Isles" marks, in a more striking manner than Rokeby," the steps by which Scott, to use his own phrase, declined as a poet to figure as a novelist, as the ballad says Queen Eleanor sank at Charing Cross to rise again at Queenhithe. Although not published till after "Rokeby," it was an earlier conception; part of it, indeed, was written before a line of " Rokeby" had been committed to paper, and the progress of the two works was carried on together. A yachting tour of six weeks with the Lighthouse Commissioners supplied Scott with materials for the scenery and stage-room for the "Lord of the Isles." It is not difficult to account for the inferiority of this poem. Scott was fretted with money complications through his unfortunate connexion with the Ballantynes. Money was wanting for the completion of Abbotsford, and creditors had begun to press their claims. Scott's efforts to free himself from these liabilities were prodigious. He worked incessantly. Within a year he wrote the greater part of the "Life of Swift," "Waverley," and "Lord of the Isles," together with several magazine articles, and found time, besides, to superintend the building of his mansion and the tangled affairs of the printing firm in whose fortunes he was involved. At this time, moreover, the original cottage which Scott occupied afforded him no means of retirement, and all his writing was done in the presence of the family, and sometimes even of casual visitors. "Neither conversation nor music," says Lockhart, "seemed to disturb him ;" and indeed, when we consider that among the works thus produced were Waverley" and the "Life of Swift," and that "Guy Mannering" quickly followed as the produce of six weeks' writing at Christmas, we must attribute the defects of the "Lord of the Isles" to other cares than business anxieties, over-work, or want of privacy. Scott had now discovered his power as a novelist, and was conscious of his own decline as a poet. His style had been travestied by incompetent imitators; Byron had distanced him in popularity; and it was natural that he should have little inclination to prolong a competition in which he was obviously being worsted, when a new opening for distinction presented itself with so much promise of prosperity. It is plain, from Scott's letters at the time when he was writing the "Lord of the Isles," that he found it irksome and distasteful work. He speaks of it repeatedly as a tyrant and oppressor; and in the Introduction of 1830, he owns "that it was concluded unwillingly and in haste, under the painful feeling of one who has a task which must be finished, rather than with the ardour of one who endeavours to perform that task well.' This is in allusion to the death of the Duchess of Buccleuch, who, when Countess of Dalkeith, had suggested the story of the Lay," and who had always been one of Scott's warmest friends. It was to her that he had intended to dedicate the new poem, and there can be no doubt that he was deeply afflicted by her sudden death. 66 There was, probably, also something in the subject of the "Lord of the Isles which impeded its success. Scott has himself noticed that he who attempts "a subject of distinguished popularity has not the privilege of awakening the enthusiasm of his audience; on the contrary, it is already awakened, and glows, it may be, more ardently than that of the author himself. In this case, the warmth of the author is inferior to that of the party whom he addresses, who has, therefore, little chance of being, in Baye's phrase, elevated and surprised' by what he has thought of with more enthusiasm than the writer." Elsewhere, in a familiar letter, he describes the poem as "Scottified up to the teeth;" and though there was no one in whom the spirit of nationality glowed more fervently than in Scott, yet there is an occasional sense of artificial enthusiasm in more than one passage. Although the author's reputation was sufficient to secure a sale of 15,000 copies for the poem, which enabled him, as he says, to retreat from the field with the honours of war, it failed to make a favourable impression on the public. Ballantyne was at first reluctant to inform Scott of the disappointment with which the "Lord of the Isles" had been read; but when the truth was disclosed, the reply was" Well, James, we can't afford to give over. Since one line has failed, we must just stick to another." If the reader desires further topographical illustrations of the poem than are suggested in the Notes, he should refer to the "Diary of the Yachting Tour," which is given at length in Lockhart's "Life," and is well worth perusal on its own account. The "Vision of Don Roderick" was a pièce d'occasion, written as a contribution to the fund for the relief of the Portuguese sufferers in Massena's campaign. The "Bridal of Triermain' was composed with the intention that it should be attributed to Scott's old friend, Mr. Erskine, Lord Kinedder, and passages were purposely inserted suggestive of Erskine's feeling manner. On the third edition being published, however, Lord Kinedder felt bound to disclose the deception, which had unexpectedly gone further than had been contemplated, and the real authorship was avowed. "Harold the Dauntless," which was also published anonymously, was generally ascribed to Hogg, from his having written an imitation of Scott for the "Poetic Mirror," closely resembling it. THE LORD OF THE ISLES. CANTO FIRST. AUTUMN departs-but still his mantle's fold Hoarser the wind, and deeper sounds the rill, The deep-toned cushat, and the redbreast shrili ; When the broad sun sinks down on Ettrick's western fell. Autumn departs - from Gala's fields no more Save where, sad laggard of the autumnal train, Some age-struck wanderer gleans few ears of scatter'd grain. To listen to the wood's expiring lay, To note the red leaf shivering on the spray, To mark the last bright tints the mountain stain, On the waste fields to trace the gleaner's way, And moralize on mortal joy and pain? O! if such scenes thou lovest, scorn not the minstrel strain. No! do not scorn, although its hoarser note Through fields time-wasted, on sad inquest bound, |