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SCOTT, WALTER.
The Lady of the Lake.
Edited by W.J. Rolfe.
Houghton. .75
The ancient manners, the habits and customs of the aboriginal
race by whom the Highlands of Scotland were inhabited, had always
appeared to me peculiarly adapted to poetry. The change in their
manners, too, had taken place almost within my own time, or at
least I had learned many particulars concerning the ancient state
of the Highlands from the old men of the last generation. I had
always thought the old Scottish Gael highly adapted for poetical
composition.... I had also read a great deal, seen much, and
heard more, of that romantic country where I was in the habit of
spending some time every Autumn; and the scenery of Loch (p. 214)
Katrine was connected with the recollection of many a dear friend
and merry expedition of former days. This poem, the action of
which lay among scenes so beautiful and so deeply imprinted on my
recollections, was a labor of love, and it was no less so to
recall the manners and incidents introduced. The frequent custom
of James IV, and particularly of James V, to walk through their
kingdom in disguise, afforded me the hint of an incident which
never fails to be interesting if managed with the slightest
address or dexterity.
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