CONTENTS.
| Page | |
| Memoir of Beattie, by the Rev. Alexander Dyce | [vii] |
| The Minstrel; or, the Progress of Genius, Book I | [7] |
| The Minstrel; or, the Progress of Genius, Book II | [35] |
| Retirement | [61] |
| Elegy written in the year 1758 | [64] |
| Ode to Hope | [67] |
| Ode on Lord Hay's Birthday | [72] |
| The Battle of the Pigmies and Cranes, from the Pygmæogeranomachiaof Addison | [76] |
| The Hares, a Fable | [88] |
| Epitaph; being part of an Inscription designed for aMonument erected by a Gentleman to the Memory ofhis Lady | [92] |
| The Hermit | [92] |
| PIECES REJECTED BY THE AUTHOR FROM THE LATER EDITIONS OF HIS POEMS. | |
| The Judgment of Paris | [97] |
| Ode to Peace | [120] |
| The Triumph of Melancholy | [126] |
| Elegy | [136] |
| Elegy | [138] |
| The Wolf and Shepherds | [141] |
| On the Report of a Monument to be erected in WestminsterAbbey, to the Memory of a late Author | [145] |
| Song, in Imitation of Shakspeare's 'Blow, Blow, thouwinter wind' | [153] |
| Epitaph on two young Men of the name of Leitch, whowere drowned in crossing the River Southesk, 1757 | [154] |
| Epitaph intended for himself | [155] |
| Verses written by Mr. Blacklock, on a blank leaf of hisPoems, sent to the Author | [156] |
| An Epistle to the Rev. Mr. Thomas Blacklock | [157] |
| To the Rt. Hon. Lady Charlotte Gordon, dressed in aTartan Scotch Bonnet, with Plumes | [166] |
| Anacreon, Ode XXII. | [167] |
| The beginning of the First Book of Lucretius | [167] |
| Horace, Book II. Ode X. | [170] |
| Book III. Ode XIII. | [171] |
| Virgil, Pastoral I. | [178] |
| II. | [179] |
| III. | [184] |
| IV. | [194] |
| V. | [198] |
| VI. | [205] |
| VII. | [210] |
| VIII. | [216] |
| IX. | [223] |
| X. | [229] |
| Epitaph for a Sheriff's Messenger, written and publishedat the particular desire of the Person for whom it isintended | [234] |
| To Mr. Alexander Ross, at Lochlee, Author of 'TheFortunate Shepherdess,' and other Poems in the broadScotch Dialect | [235] |
MEMOIR OF BEATTIE,
BY THE REV. ALEXANDER DYCE.
"Heard you that Hermit's strain from Scotia borne,
'For virtue lost, and ruin'd man I mourn?'
Who may forget thee, Beattie? who supply
The tale half-told of Edwin's minstrelsy?"
The Pursuits of Literature.
The subject of this memoir was born on the 25th of October, 1735, at Laurencekirk, in the county of Kincardine, Scotland. His father, James Beattie, who kept a small shop in the village at the same time that he rented a little farm in the neighbourhood, was a man of considerable talents and acquirements:[A] his mother, too, was distinguished for her abilities. Our author, James, was the youngest of the six children of this respectable pair.
After his father's decease, which happened when he was only seven years old, his mother, by means of the emoluments derived from the shop and the farm, was enabled to bring up her family in comfort. In the management of her affairs she was assisted by her eldest son, David, a youth of eighteen, who generously and affectionately relinquished all other pursuits for that of promoting her welfare and happiness, and who appears to have fostered his brothers and sisters with an almost parental care. James was placed at the parish school of Laurencekirk, which was then in some repute, and of which, about forty years before, Ruddiman, the famous grammarian, had been the master. At this time he had access to few books, except those which the minister of the village (the Rev. Mr. Thomson) kindly lent him, and which he read with avidity. It was then that he first became acquainted with English versification in Ogilby's Virgil. Even then he was known among his schoolfellows by the name of the poet; and sometimes he would rise from bed, during the night, that he might commit to writing any poetical idea that his fancy had happened to suggest.
In 1749 he began his academical career, at the Marischal College, Aberdeen:[B] and as his circumstances were straitened, he became a competitor—and with success—for one of those bursaries or exhibitions, which are annually bestowed on students who are unable to support the entire expenses of a university education. He attended the Greek class taught by Dr. Blackwell. This scholar, whose writings on classical subjects,[C] though now fallen into disrepute, once enjoyed considerable popularity, soon discovered that his pupil was no ordinary young man, and distinguished him by several encouraging marks of approbation. The kindness of the Professor made a deep impression on the mind of Beattie, and he used to declare, in after life, that Blackwell was the first person who gave him reason to believe that he was possessed of any genius. During the four years of his attendance at the Marischal College he also studied philosophy and divinity. The last mentioned branch of knowledge he pursued doubtless with a view to the ministry, the church being then the chief resource of the well educated sons of the poorer classes in Scotland: he, however, soon abandoned all thoughts of the clerical profession.
Having taken the degree of M. A., he was elected, on the 1st of August, 1753, schoolmaster of Fordoun, a small hamlet at the foot of the Grampian hills, about six miles distant from his birthplace: here also he officiated as præcentor, or parish-clerk.