not surprising, that in endeavouring to avoid the latter, so young and inexperienced a rhymer as myself should sometimes have deviated also from the former."[71] This was Scott’s earliest stage as a man of letters, and he evidently learned more about ballads later.  But there appears in much of his criticism on the subject a limitation which may be assigned partly to his time, and partly, no doubt, to the fact that he was a poet and could not forget all the sophistications of his art.

The true nature of ballad poetry could hardly be understood until scholars had investigated the structure of primitive society in a way that Scott’s contemporaries were not at all prepared to do.  Even Scott, with all his intelligent interest in bygone institutions and modes of expression, could hardly have foreseen the anthropological researches which the problem of literary origins has since demanded.  We do not find, then, that Scott’s work on ballads was marked by any special originality in point of view or method. The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border was a notable book because it did better what other men had tried to do, and especially because of the charm and effectiveness of its historical comment.  It was more trustworthy than Percy’s collection and more graceful than Ritson’s; it was richer than other books of the kind in what people cared to have when they wanted ballads, and yet was not, for its time, over-sophisticated.  Scott’s conclusions cannot now be accepted without question, but the illustrations with which he sets them forth and the wide reading and sincere love of folk-poetry which evidently lie behind them produce a pleasant effect of ripe and reasonable judgment.  The admirable qualities of the book were at once recognized by competent critics, and it will always be studied with enthusiasm by scholars as well as by the uncritical lover of ballads.

Studies in the Romances

Scott’s theory as to the connection between ballads and romances—­His early fondness for romances—­His acquaintance with Romance languages—­His work on the Sir Tristrem—­Value of his edition—­Special quality of Scott’s interest in the Middle Ages—­General theories expressed in the body of his work on romances—­His type of scholarship.

Ballads and romances are so closely related that Scott’s early and lasting interest in the one form naturally grew out of his interest in the other.  He held the theory that “the romantic ballads of later times are for the most part abridgments of the ancient metrical romances, narrated in a smoother stanza and more modern language."[72] It is not surprising, then, that a considerable body of his critical work has to do with the subject of mediaeval romance.