The Modern Scottish Minstrel Volume I Part 24

The new collection of minstrelsy, unexceptionable as it was in the words attached to all the airs, commanded a wide circulation, and excited general attention. The original contributions were especially commended, and some of them were forthwith sung by professed vocalists in the princ.i.p.al towns. Much speculation arose respecting the authors.h.i.+p, and various conjectures were supported, each with plausible arguments, by the public journalists. In these circ.u.mstances, Lady Nairn experienced painful alarm, lest, by any inadvertence on the part of her friends, the origin of her songs should be traced. While the publication of the "Minstrel" was proceeding, her correspondents received repeated injunctions to adopt every caution in preserving her _incognita_; she was even desirous that her s.e.x might not be made known. "I beg the publisher will make no mention of a _lady_," she wrote to one of her correspondents, "as you observe, the more mystery the better, and _still_ the balance is in favour of the lords of creation. I cannot help, in some degree, undervaluing beforehand what is said to be a feminine production." "The Scottish Minstrel" was completed in 1824, in six royal octavo volumes, forming one of the best collections of the Scottish melodies. It was in the full belief that "Mrs Bogan" was her real name, that the following compliment was paid to Lady Nairn by Messrs Purdie and R. A. Smith, in the advertis.e.m.e.nt to the last volume of the work:--"In particular, the editors would have felt happy in being permitted to enumerate the many original and beautiful verses that adorn their pages, for which they are indebted to the author of the much-admired song, 'The Land o' the Leal;' but they fear to wound a delicacy which shrinks from all observation."

Subsequent to the appearance of "The Scottish Minstrel," Lady Nairn did not publish any lyrics; and she was eminently successful in preserving her _incognita_. No critic ventured to identify her as the celebrated "B. B.," and it was only whispered among a few that she had composed "The Land o' the Leal." The mention of her name publicly as the author of this beautiful ode, on one occasion, had signally disconcerted her.

While she was resident in Paris, in 1842, she writes to an intimate friend in Edinburgh on this subject:--"A Scottish lady here, Lady----, with whom I never met in Scotland, is so good as, among perfect strangers, to _denounce_ me as the origin of 'The Land o' the Leal!' I cannot trace it, but very much dislike as ever any kind of publicity."

The extreme diffidence and shrinking modesty of the amiable author continued to the close of her life; she never divulged, beyond a small circle of confidential friends, the authors.h.i.+p of a single verse. The songs published in her youth had been given to others; but, as in the case of Lady Anne Barnard, these a.s.signments caused her no uneasiness.

She experienced much gratification in finding her simple minstrelsy supplanting the coa.r.s.e and demoralising rhymes of a former period; and this mental satisfaction she preferred to fame.

The philanthropic efforts of Lady Nairn were not limited to the purification of the national minstrelsy; her benevolence extended towards the support of every inst.i.tution likely to promote the temporal comforts, or advance the spiritual interests of her countrymen. Her contributions to the public charities were ample, and she

"Did good by stealth, and blush'd to find it fame."

In an address delivered at Edinburgh, on the 29th of December 1845, Dr Chalmers, referring to the exertions which had been made for the supply of religious instruction in the district of the West Port of Edinburgh, made the following remarks regarding Lady Nairn, who was then recently deceased:--"Let me speak now as to the countenance we have received. I am now at liberty to mention a very n.o.ble benefaction which I received about a year ago. Inquiry was made at me by a lady, mentioning that she had a sum at her disposal, and that she wished to apply it to charitable purposes; and she wanted me to enumerate a list of charitable objects, in proportion to the estimate I had of their value. Accordingly, I furnished her with a scale of about five or six charitable objects. The highest in the scale were those inst.i.tutions which had for their design the Christianising of the people at home; and I also mentioned to her, in connexion with the Christianising at home, what we were doing at the West Port; and there came to me from her, in the course of a day or two, no less a sum than 300. She is now dead; she is now in her grave, and her works do follow her. When she gave me this n.o.ble benefaction, she laid me under strict injunctions of secrecy, and, accordingly, I did not mention her name to any person; but after she was dead, I begged of her nearest heir that I might be allowed to proclaim it, because I thought that her example, so worthy to be followed, might influence others in imitating her; and I am happy to say that I am now at liberty to state that it was Lady Nairn of Perths.h.i.+re. It enabled us, at the expense of 330, to purchase sites for schools, and a church; and we have got a site in the very heart of the locality, with a very considerable extent of ground for a was.h.i.+ng-green, a was.h.i.+ng-house, and a play-ground for the children, so that we are a good step in advance towards the completion of our parochial economy."

After the death of her son, and till within two years of her own death, Lady Nairn resided chiefly on the Continent, and frequently in Paris.

Her health had for several years been considerably impaired, and latterly she had recourse to a wheeled chair. In the mansion of Gask, on the 27th of October 1845, she gently sunk into her rest, at the advanced age of seventy-nine years.

Some years subsequent to this event, it occurred to the relatives and literary friends of the deceased Baroness that as there could no longer be any reason for retaining her _incognita_, full justice should be done to her memory by the publication of a collected edition of her works.

This scheme was partially executed in an elegant folio, ent.i.tled "Lays from Strathearn: by Carolina, Baroness Nairn. Arranged with Symphonies and Accompaniments for the Pianoforte, by Finlay Dun." It bears the imprint of London, and has no date. In this work, of which a new edition will speedily be published by Messrs Paterson, music-sellers, Edinburgh, are contained seventy songs, but the larger proportion of the author's lyrics still remain in MS. From her representatives we have received permission to select her best lyrics for the present work, and to insert several pieces. .h.i.therto unpublished. Of the lays which we have selected, several are new versions to old airs; the majority, though unknown as the compositions of Lady Nairn, are already familiar in the drawing-room and the cottage. For winning simplicity, graceful expression, and exquisite pathos, her compositions are especially remarkable; but when her muse prompts to humour, the laugh is sprightly and overpowering.

In society, Lady Nairn was reserved and una.s.suming. Her countenance, naturally beautiful, wore, in her mature years, a somewhat pensive cast; and the characteristic by which she was known consisted in her enthusiastic love of music. It may be added, that she was fond of the fine arts, and was skilled in the use of the pencil.

[44] Robertson of Struan, cousin-german of Lady Nairn's mother, and a conspicuous Jacobite chief, composed many fugitive verses for the amus.e.m.e.nt of his friends; and a collection of them, said to have been surrept.i.tiously obtained from a servant, was published, without a date, under the following t.i.tle:--"Poems on various Subjects and Occasions, by the Honourable Alexander Robertson of Struan, Esq.--mostly taken from his own original Ma.n.u.scripts." Edinburgh, 8vo.

[45] Writing to one of her correspondents, in November 1840, Lady Nairn thus remarks--"I sometimes say to myself, 'This is no me,' so greatly have my feelings and trains of thought changed since 'auld lang syne;'

and, though I am made to know a.s.suredly that all is well, I scarcely dare to allow my mind to settle on the past."

[46] A daughter of Baron Hume was one of the ladies who induced Lady Nairn to become a contributor to "The Scottish Minstrel." Many of the songs were sent to the Editor through the medium of Miss Hume. She thus expresses herself in a letter to a friend:--"My father's admiration of 'The Land o' the Leal' was such, that he said no woman but Miss Ferrier was capable of writing it. And when I used to shew him song after song in MS., when I was receiving the anonymous verses for the music, and ask his criticism, he said--'Your unknown poetess has only _one_, or rather _two_, letters out of taste, viz., choosing "B. B." for her signature.'"

THE PLEUGHMAN.[47]

There 's high and low, there 's rich and poor, There 's trades and crafts enew, man; But, east and west, his trade 's the best, That kens to guide the pleugh, man.

Then, come, weel speed my pleughman lad, And hey my merry pleughman; Of a' the trades that I do ken, Commend me to the pleughman.

His dreams are sweet upon his bed, His cares are light and few, man; His mother's blessing 's on his head, That tents her weel, the pleughman.

Then, come, weel speed, &c.

The lark, sae sweet, that starts to meet The morning fresh and new, man; Blythe though she be, as blythe is he That sings as sweet, the pleughman.

Then, come, weel speed, &c.

All fresh and gay, at dawn of day Their labours they renew, man; Heaven bless the seed, and bless the soil, And Heaven bless the pleughman.

Then, come, weel speed, &c.

[47] This seems to have been the author's first composition in Scottish verse. See the Memoir.

CALLER HERRIN'.[48]

Wha 'll buy caller herrin'?

They 're bonnie fish and halesome farin'; Wha 'll buy caller herrin', New drawn frae the Forth?

When ye were sleepin' on your pillows, Dream'd ye ought o' our puir fellows, Darkling as they faced the billows, A' to fill the woven willows.

Buy my caller herrin', New drawn frae the Forth.

Wha 'll buy my caller herrin'?

They 're no brought here without brave daring; Buy my caller herrin', Haul'd thro' wind and rain.

Wha 'll buy caller herrin'? &c.

Wha 'll buy my caller herrin'?

Oh, ye may ca' them vulgar farin'!

Wives and mithers, maist despairin', Ca' them lives o' men.

Wha 'll buy caller herrin'? &c.

When the creel o' herrin' pa.s.ses, Ladies, clad in silks and laces, Gather in their braw pelisses, Cast their heads, and screw their faces.

Wha 'll buy caller herrin'? &c.

Caller herrin 's no got lightlie; Ye can trip the spring fu' tightlie; Spite o' tauntin', flauntin', flingin', Gow has set you a' a-singin'.

Wha 'll buy caller herrin'? &c.

Neebour wives, now tent my tellin', When the bonny fish ye 're sellin', At ae word be in yer dealin'-- Truth will stand when a' thing 's failin'.

Wha 'll buy caller herrin'? &c.

[48] This song has acquired an extensive popularity, for which it is much indebted, in addition to its intrinsic merits, to the musical powers of the late John Wilson, the eminent vocalist, whose premature death is a source of regret to all lovers of Scottish melody. Mr Wilson sung this song in every princ.i.p.al town of the United Kingdom, and always with effect.

THE LAND O' THE LEAL.[49]

I 'm wearin' awa', John, Like snaw wreaths in thaw, John; I 'm wearin' awa'

To the land o' the leal.

There 's nae sorrow there, John; There 's neither cauld nor care, John; The day 's aye fair I' the land o' the leal.

Our bonnie bairn 's there, John; She was baith gude and fair, John; And, oh! we grudged her sair To the land o' the leal.

But sorrows sel' wears past, John, And joy 's a-comin' fast, John-- The joy that 's aye to last In the land o' the leal.

Sae dear 's that joy was bought, John, Sae free the battle fought, John, That sinfu' man e'er brought To the land o' the leal.

Oh, dry your glist'ning e'e, John!

My saul langs to be free, John; And angels beckon me To the land o' the leal.