THE FEELING FOR NATURE IN

SCOTTISH POETRY.

CHAPTER XII.

THE PERIOD FROM THE UNION OF THE CROWNS TO ALLAN RAMSAY.

(1603-1725.)

TRANSITION PERIOD: SIR ROBERT AYTOUN (1570-1638) -WILLIAM DRUMMOND (1585-1649).

WITH the passing away of the men mentioned in the foregoing chapter, Scottish poetry sank into a species of theological bondage, which destroyed its freedom, spirit, and power during the latter half of the sixteenth century. The union of the Crowns in 1603 helped still further to enervate, or even quench, its native spirit.

VOL. II.

A

The language of Scotland had begun to lose its vernacular character before the commencement of this century; and the English translation of the Bible, being made the matter of general popular reading, still further contributed to a change in the language, and its assimilation with the English of the south. The departure of the Court from Edinburgh, the comparative poverty of Scotland, and the attendance of many of its principal Lairds and Lords on the King and Court in London, deepened English influence on the language and literature of the northern part of the kingdom. A Scottish writer, to find a general audience, must abandon the vernacular and compose in English. Hence we find a distinct decadence, and even abandonment, of the native language by Scottish writers. Unfortunately, this was not replaced by a pure English style, for the Scot could not get wholly rid of his native idioms; and there thus arose an imitation of English, rather than English itself, in the literature of the north. This, at least, is true of those Scottish writers who printed and published their works, but not true of all who were cultivating the native muse— for, no doubt, the ballad makers and reciters