The minute book contains no further information with regard to the cost of the Mausoleum and sculpture, although it appears that all charges against the Committee were duly advertised for and called in. Mr. Grierson, the secretary, appears, from a correspondence with Mr. M'Diarmid in regard to a disputed subscription, to have got his strong iron box robbed of the cash book, visitor's book, and other documents connected with the Mausoleum when on a visit to the coast, and it is therefore impossible to tell from the documents at my command what amount was actually expended. The cost seems to have been well up to £2000, and I fear the verdict of the present day is that a very bad return has been received for the money expended.

JAMES R. WILSON.

NOTE.-In the foregoing, I have laid Mr. Philip Sully's excellent record of the Death Centenary under contribution, which, with characteristic courtesy, he generously placed at my disposal.

J. R. W.

SCOTTISH MUSIC AND SONG.

ROM all that can be ascertained about the music of

FROM

a similar process of development to that which has characterised the development of music in several other countries, especially in countries where there is any similarity in climate and geographical conformation. The earliest forms of Scottish music appear to have been interwoven with the national songs and dances, which might be termed the natural modes of expressing those sensations of joy and pleasure which are too intense for full expression by the plain medium of human speech. As far as we are able to conclude from past history, the early Scottish melodies were distinguished for their simplicity, and usually consisted of one measure only; these simple tunes originated no doubt at a remote period of the national life. At all events, we learn from history that the Scottish Fenni, who were a brotherhood of warriors of whom the poet Ossian is believed to have been the last representative, were skilful musicians. It is further stated that this brotherhood flourished in the second and third centuries of our era, but is probably of much earlier origin. They were rather an exclusive caste, and before a member was admitted to the ranks of this Fennian brotherhood, he had to be examined in the art of poetical composition, so that he might be able to sing his achievements on the field of battle with that artistic skill and fascination his own age could provide.

Even at this early period Scotland was by no means a barbarous country, if we are to believe the testimony of Tacitus, and I think we can accept his testimony with some degree of confidence, when we remember that he acted as chronicler to his father-in-law, Agricola, the general in command of the Roman army during one of its important campaigns in North Briton.

From other sources, too, we learn that at a very early period in Scotland the bard was a kind of national institution, in whom the functions of poet and musician were combined in one person. Every chieftain or head of an important clan had his own special bard, whose vocation it was to sing and rehearse the heroic actions of his ancestors. Another of his duties was to harangue the army in a war-song composed for the occasion, so that the warriors might, as far as possible, become oblivious to the horrors that usually resulted from a deadly encounter. Indeed, one of the chief merits of the bard consisted in the extent to which he could produce this effect in the army to which he was attached. We can readily imagine then that the bard occupied an important social position in times of peace; that he was destined to stand before kings, not before mean men.

As a further proof of this statement, the old Caledonians were so kind and generous to their bards that lands were appropriated to them, and became hereditary in their families. Several districts in the Scottish Highlands still retain the name of the bard's territory. For instance, the Gaelic name "Tullybardin" is derived from two other words-viz., "tulloch," meaning a hill, and "bardin," meaning bards-and thus we have the hill of the bards. The principal musical instrument used by the bards to accompany their songs is generally believed to have been the harp, which we infer from authentic sources differed from the modern harp in having fewer strings, and was much smaller, though much the same in other respects.

Next in order to the bards, and, indeed, closely connected with these, come the minstrels, the principal difference being that the minstrels were strolling singers, who went about the country from house to house reciting heroic ballads and other popular episodes, and on some occasions, too, accompanied the armies to the field of battle. They were also treated with kindness and hospitality wherever they went, and even large sums of money were expended for the maintenance of the minstrels at Court, and in the halls of the nobility.

Sir Walter Scott, in his edition of Thomas of Erceldoune's Sir Tristrem, has shown by references to ancient charters that the Scottish minstrels enjoyed all the privileges and distinctions possessed by the Norman troubadours. Indeed, they were not

far behind the troubadours in the arts of narration and musical sentiment. They possessed advantages, it is true, the troubadours had not, from the fact that they had easy access to the romances and traditional tales of their country, which were retained so vividly in the memories of the people, as well as a close acquaintance with the reputed scenes of chivalry. For these reasons the pre-eminence of the Scottish minstrels over the minstrels of most other European countries is admitted by competent authorities. In case it may be thought that the subject is not stated with sufficient impartiality, let me say that Thomas of Erceldoune, better known as Thomas the Rhymer, Kendal, and Huchen, all poets of Scotland, are not only celebrated by early historians, but old manuscripts contain metrical romances in the Northern dialect, while we do not find one in England previous to the time of Chaucer, and it is no exaggeration to say that, when Chaucer's Canterbury Tales first appeared, they were more widely read and appreciated in Scotland than they were in South Britain.

Notwithstanding the great antiquity which can be assigned to Scottish music in some form or other, the progress of instrumental music appears to have been comparatively slow. The increase in the number and efficiency of the minstrels did not do a great deal in the way of increasing the number or improving the mechanism of musical instruments among the early Scots. With the minstrels, as with the bards, the harp was still the principal musical instrument, though not entirely confined to these two classes of musicians. It was, moreover, the favourite instrument at the Court, and also in the houses of the nobility. Mary Queen of Scots not only played the instrument herself, but encouraged its cultivation among others. For many centuries the harp held undivided sway in Scotland until it was superseded by the bagpipes, which were introduced from France by the French musicians in the train of Queen Mary, who succeeded in popularising this instrument in Scotland, which was already a national one in France, though it is erroneously supposed that the bagpipes were an original product of the former country. No doubt, the natural conformation of Scotland is highly favourable to an instrument such as the bagpipes, and accounts in a great measure for the rapidity with which it became popular so soon after it was introduced.

The early history of the bagpipes, however, shows, that as a musical instrument especially for military purposes, it was largely used on the Continent of Europe, notably among the infantry of the ancient Romans, and we find it portrayed on a Roman coin of the reign of the Emperor Nero. Indeed, it was even used in Ireland long before it sounded the war-note of Lochiel. Although the harp has so far occupied a prominent place in the music of Scotland, it is not to be assumed that it was the only musical instrument possessed by the early Scots. In the history of Scottish music, there are three other stringed instruments, in addition to the harp, which demand special reference from the prominence they once had: these are the Rebec, the Lute, and the Viol, the last of which existed in different forms. The Rebec was a species of rude violin, strung with three stout gut strings, having a loud harsh tone, and was in existence as far back as the ninth century. It was to all intents and purposes the instrument of the people, but it found little favour among the higher classes, and many years before its final extinction it was confined to the street minstrel or the half-taught rustic. The Lute, on the other hand, as far back as James I., and even down to the close of the seventeenth century, was one of the most fashionable instruments in Scotland, and ability to play the instrument was looked upon, generally speaking, as a necessary accomplishment in polite society, just as the ability to play the piano in the English society of to-day is looked upon as a necessary accomplishment. The lute player used a musical notation. specially adapted for this instrument, and known as "tablature." In this system the strings were represented by a number of lines on which were marked the letters a, b, c, etc., and certain marks were placed over the various letters to signify the value of the notes. Contemporary with the lute, as we have before indicated, were the various classes of viol which were popular in Scotland till comparatively recent times. The difference between the viol and what is known among us as the violin, is not easily perceived by the inexperienced eye-the principal difference being the greater perfection and delicacy of the latter compared with the former instrument, which might be said to contain these elements of the violin which it borrowed from the rebec. It is interesting to notice in passing that about the close of the fourteenth century when