« the little gnat or fly. Under the boughs that screen the " valley, or within the pale-inclosed park, 'the nimble deer

trooped in ranks, the harts wandered through the thick " woody fhaws, and the young fawns followed the dap“ pled does. Kids skipped through the briers after the rues ; « and in the pastures and leas, the lambs, full tight and trig, " bleated to their dams. Doris and Thetis walked on the “ salt ocean ; and Nymphs and Naiads, wandering by spring“ wells in the grassy groves, plaited lusty chaplets for their

hair, of blooming branches, or of flowers red and white.

They sung, and danced, &c. - Meantime, dame Nature's “ minstrels raise their amorous notes, the ring-dove coos “ and pitches on the tall copse, the starling whistles her “ varied descant, the sparrow chirps in the clefted wall; the

goldfinch and linnet filled the skies, the cuckow cried, the

quail twittered; while rivers, shaws, and every dale re« founded; and the tender branches trembled on the trees, es at the song of the birds, and the buzzing of the bees, &c.”

This Landscape may be finely contrasted with a description of WINTER, from the Prologue to the seventh book', a part of which I will give in literal prose.

« The fern withered on the miry fallows: the brown “ moors assumed a barren mossy hue: banks, sides of hills, « and bottoms, grew white and bare: the cattle looked

hoary from the dank weather: the wind made the red “ weed waver on the dike : From crags and the foreheads of " the yellow rocks hung great icicles, in length like a spear:

the soil was dusky and gray, bereft of flowers, herbs, and

grass: in every holt and forest, the woods were stripped “ of their array. Boreas blew his bugle horn so loud, that “ the solitary deer withdrew to the dales: the small birds “ flocked to the thick briers, shunning the tempestuous

blast, and changing their loud notes to chirping: the cata

“ racts roared, and every linden-tree whistled and brayed to “ the sounding of the wind. The poor labourers went wet “ and weary, draggled in the fen. The sheep and shepherds “ lurked under the hanging banks, or wild broom.-Warm « from the chimney-side, and refreshed with generous cheer, “ I stole to my bed, and laid down to sleep; when I saw the

moon, shed through the windows her twinkling glances, “ and watery light: I heard the horned bird, the night“ owl, shrieking horribly with crooked bill from her cavern: “ I heard the wild-geese, with screaming cries, fly over the

city through the silent night. I was soon lulled alleep; “ till the cock clapping his wings crowed thrice, and the

day peeped. I waked and saw the moon disappear, and “ heard the jack-daws cackle on the roof of the house. The

cranes, prognosticating tempests, in a firm phalanx,

pierced the air with voices sounding like a trumpet. The " kite, perched on an old tree, fast by my chamber, cried

lamentably, a sign of the dawning day. I rose, and half« opening my window, perceived the morning, livid, wan, '« and hoary; the air overwhelmed with vapour and cloud; “ the ground stiff, gray, and rough; the branches rattling; “ the sides of the hills looking black and hard with the

driving blasts; the dew-drops congealed on the stubble “ and rind of trees; the sharp hail-stones, deadly-cold, hop

ping on the thatch and the neighbouring causeway, &c.”

Bale, whose titles of English books are often obscured by being put into Latin, recites among Gawin Douglass's poetical works, his Narrationes aurea, and Comædiæ aliquot sacræ'. Of his NARRATIONES AUREÆ, our author seems to speak in the EPILOGUE to Virgil, addressed to his patron lord Sinclair

I have also a strange command [comment] compyld,
To expone strange hystoryes and termes wild.

i xiv. 58.

* Ut supr. p. 483.

Perhaps

It was

Perhaps these tales were the fictions of antient mythology.
Whether the COMOEDIÆ were sacred interludes, or Myste-
RIES, for the stage, or only sacred narratives, I cannot de-
termine. Another of his original poems is the PALICE OF
Honour, a moral vision, written in the year 1501, planned
on the design of the TABLET of Cebes, and imitated in the
elegant Latin dialogue De Tranquillitate Animi of his country-
man Florence Wilson, or Florentius Volusenus'.
first printed at London, in 1553". The object of this alle-
gory, is to shew the instability and insufficiency of worldly
pomp; and to prove, that a constant and undeviating habit
of virtue is the only way to true Honour and Happiness, who
reside in a magnificent palace, situated on the summit of a
high and inaccessible mountain. The allegory is illustrated
by a variety of examples of illustrious personages; not only
of those, who by a regular perseverance in honourable deeds
gained admittance into this splendid habitation, but of those,
who were excluded from it, by debasing the dignity of their
eminent stations with a vicious and unmanly behaviour. It
is addressed, as an apologue for the conduct of a king, to
James the fourth; is adorned with many pleasing incidents
and adventures, and abounds with genius and learning.

i Lugd. apud Seb. Gryph. 1543. 4to.

m In quarto. Again, Edinb. 1579. 4to. “When pale Aurora with face lamentable." Douglafs also wrote a small Latin History of Scotland. See also a DIALOGUE concerning a theological subject to be debated

between, duos famatos viros, G. Douglas provost of faint Giles, and master David Cranstoun bachelour of divinity, prefixed to John Major's COMMENTARII in prim. Sentent. Parif. 1519. fol.

SECT.

WTI
W

Dunbar and Douglass I join Sir David Lyndesay,

although perhaps in strictness he should not be placed so early as the close of the fifteenth century. He appears to have been employed in several offices about the person of James the fifth, from the infancy of that monarch, by whom he was much beloved; and at length, on account of his singular skill in heraldry, a science then in high estimation and among the most polite accomplishments, he was knighted and appointed Lion king of arms of the kingdom of Scotland. Notwithstanding these situations, he was an excellent scholar".

Lyndesay's principal performances are The Dreme, and The Monarchie. In the address to James the fifth, prefixed to the Dreme, he thus, with much tenderness and elegance, speaks of the attention he paid to his majesty when a child.

When thou wes young, I bare thee in myne arme
Full tenderlie, till thow begouth to gango;
And in thy bed oft lappit thee full warme
With lute in hand, syne' sweitlie to thee fang.

He adds, that he often entertained the young prince with various dances and gesticulations, and by dressing himself in feigned characters, as in an interlude”. A new proof that theatrical diversions were now conimon in Scotland.

Sumtyme in dansing feirelie I fang,
And sumtyme playand fairsis' on the flure:

And sumtyme lyke ane feind 'transfigurate,
And sumtyme lyke the grieflie gaist of Gy',
In divers formis oftymes disfigurate,
And sumtyme disfagist full plesandlie".

In the PROLOGUE to the DREME, our author discovers strong talents for high description and rich imagery. In a