SIR AGIL THORN. M. G. LEWIS, better known as "Monk" Lewis, from his romance of that name, is the author of this ballad. In his own day, at the commencement of the present century, Lewis enjoyed considerable reputation; and Sir Walter Scott acknowledges that his own achievments in romantic poetry were suggested by Lewis's success and popularity in it. We should add, that Scott speaks in the highest terms of Lewis's excellence in rhyme, though by general readers he is almost entirely thrown aside. There is no proof of any recorded event in history having given rise to this ballad. |