The lines, of which the one quoted is the first, have already been given in the biography, and there is no need for their repetition here. But it is worthy of note that M‘Vean states, to a certain extent indirectly, that they formed part of the matter in the second edition, and if that is the case they, it must be admitted, fully confirm his statement as to that edition containing passages in which Graham talked of the rebels with a great deal of virulence; and, possibly, they may be taken as specimens of many others of a like nature. Some writers have suggested that Graham may have learned the printing trade while this edition was passing through the press, and it has been suspected that he may have had something to do with the printing of it himself. That is not likely, or M‘Vean, who appears to have had a somewhat intimate acquaintance with the work, would have mentioned it.
No such doubts, however, exist as to the third edition of the History of the Rebellion, which, though rare, may be seen occasionally. It was published in 1774, and bears on the title-page this lengthy statement of its contents:—‘An Impartial History of the Rise, Progress and Extinction of the late Rebellion in Britain, in the years 1745 and 1746, giving an account of every Battle, Skirmish, and Siege, from the time of the Pretender’s coming out of France, until he landed in France again: with Plans of the Battles of Prestonpans, Clifton, Falkirk, and Culloden, with a real Description of his Dangers and Travels through the Highland Isles, after the Break at Culloden. By D. Graham. The Third Edition, with Amendments. Glasgow: Printed by John Robertson. MDCCLXXIV.’ The narrative in this edition occupies 174 pp. It consists of fifteen chapters, containing in all 5562 lines, and is preceded by a preface of two pages, the title-page, and a full-page woodcut of the author, bearing underneath it this couplet:—
‘From brain and pen, O virtue drope,
Vice fly as Charlie, and John Cope.’
At the conclusion of the narrative are—‘A Quaker’s Address to Prince Charles, shewing what was the Cause and Ground of his Misfortunes,’ of 146 lines; a copy of ‘The Rebels’ Orders before the Battle of Culloden’; ‘Miss Flora’s Lament—A Song,’ of ten four-line stanzas; ‘The Author’s Address to all in general,’ of fourteen six-line stanzas; and two pages of contents—making a total of 192 pages. The text of the third edition has been used in the reprinting of the History of the Rebellion for this volume.
The subsequent editions, so far as they have been discovered, need only be mentioned. No trace has been found of the fourth edition, though it must have been published soon after Graham’s death. The fifth edition received this notice from a writer of last century:—‘In 1787, “An impartial history of the rebellion in Britain, in the years 1745 and 1746, by Douglas Graham” (the fifth edition), was printed at Glasgow by J. & M. Robertson. This history is in Hudibrastic metre. This is a sorry performance.’[12] The seventh edition was published in Glasgow by J. & M. Robertson, Saltmarket, in 1803; the eighth by the same firm in 1808; the ninth in Falkirk, by T. Johnston, 1812; while the last, what its number it would be difficult to say, was published in Aberdeen, in 1850, conjointly by Alexander Watson and Alexander Murdoch. The Aberdeen edition does not bear Graham’s name on the title-page, and instead of the author’s preface, it contains a ‘Genealogical and Historical Introduction,’ taken from the introduction to Chambers’s History of the Rebellion. It is remarkable that the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh, should only possess an eighth edition.
Something must now be said about the miscellaneous poetical works of Dougal Graham. The best known of these may be said to be John Hielandman’s Remarks on Glasgow, a humorous sketch of considerable power, valuable also, because of the information it affords regarding the leading features of the City of St. Mungo in the middle of last century. M‘Vean has put it on record that this poem had long been popular, although it was not generally known that it was by Graham that Glasgow had been ‘married to immortal verse.’[13] The date of its first publication is unknown, but it has been generally supposed to have been written in the decade subsequent to Dougal’s settlement in Glasgow in 1746. The earliest copy that has been seen by any writer was in one of the early penny broadsides issued by J. & M. Robertson, of the Saltmarket, Glasgow, who long occupied a prominent position as publishers of popular literature. As a literary production John Hielandman has not attracted so much notice as might have been expected from writers on Scottish literature, but even a casual glance will show that it is a composition of great merit, abounding in graphic touches and humorous situations. It must be admitted, however, that the interest attaching to it has been almost entirely local, and to that circumstance may be attributed the fact that its merits have been frequently overlooked.
Turnimspike has received more attention than any other of Graham’s poems, with the exception, perhaps, of his History of the Rebellion; and it has obtained the unqualified approval of all the literary antiquaries who have had occasion to speak of it. Sir Walter Scott said the Turnimspike alone was sufficient to entitle Graham to immortality.[14] Dr. Charles Mackay has taken advantage of a note upon it, to tell a story which has considerable bearing upon the state of feeling exhibited in the poem itself. ‘Turnimspike, or Turnpike,’ he says, ‘is ludicrously descriptive of the agonies of a real Highlander at the introduction of toll gates, and other paraphernalia of modern civilisation, into the remote mountain fastnesses of his native land. Long after the suppression of the Rebellion, great consternation was excited in Ross-shire, by the fact that a sheriff’s officer had actually served a writ in Tain. “Lord, preserve us!” said an Highlandman to his neighbour, “What’ll come next? The law has reached Tain.”’[15] Burns, in his Strictures on Scottish Song, expressed admiration for Turnimspike, on account of its local humour, but he did not seem to have known the author; though Motherwell, in his edition of the works of the Ayrshire bard, supplies a few notes concerning Graham, to whom he attributes the poem. Stenhouse, in his illustrative notes to Johnson’s Museum, says—‘This truly comic ballad, beginning Hersell be Highland Shentleman, by an anonymous author, does not appear either in the Tea-Table Miscellany, or the Orpheus Caledonius. It is preserved, however, in Herd’s Collection of 1769.... From its excellent broad humour, and the ludicrous specimen of a Highlander’s broken English, it has long been a popular favourite in the lower districts of Scotland. It is adapted to the ancient air of “Clout the Caldron”.’ No writer has yet ventured to fix the date of the publication of this poem. It may, however, be pointed out that the first General Turnpike Act for Scotland was 7 Geo. III., c. 42 (1766–7), and it is not improbable the passing of this Act may have been the occasion of the verses which, it has been seen, obtained a place in Herd’s Collection in 1769. They were, in all likelihood, issued in broadside or chap-book form previous to that date.