us Dunshunner." In 1844 he joined the
editorial staff of Blackwood's, to which for many years he contributed
political articles, verse, translations of Goethe, and humorous
sketches. In 1845 he became Professor of Rhetoric and Literature in the
University of Edinburgh, a place which he held until 1864. About 1841 he
became acquainted with Theodore Martin, and in association with him
wrote a series of light papers interspersed with burlesque verses,
which, reprinted from Blackwood's, became popular as the 'Bon Gaultier
Ballads.' Published in London in 1855, they reached their thirteenth
edition in 1877.

"Some papers of a humorous kind, which I had published under
the _nom de plume_ of Bon Gaultier," says Theodore Martin in
his 'Memoir of Aytoun,' "had hit Aytoun's fancy; and when I
proposed to go on with others in a similar vein, he fell
readily into the plan, and agreed to assist in it. In this
way a kind of a Beaumont-and-Fletcher partnership commenced
in a series of humorous papers, which appeared in Tait's and
Fraser's magazines from 1842 to 1844. In these papers, in
which we ran a-tilt, with all the recklessness of youthful
spirits, against such of the tastes or follies of the day as
presented an opening for ridicule or mirth,--at the same time
that we did not altogether lose sight of a purpose higher
than mere amusement,--appeared the verses, with a few
exceptions, which subsequently became popular, and to a
degree we then little contemplated, as the 'Bon Gaultier
Ballads.' Some of the best of these were exclusively
Aytoun's, such as 'The Massacre of the McPherson,' 'The Rhyme
of Sir Launcelot Bogle,' 'The Broken Pitcher,' 'The Red Friar
and Little John,' 'The Lay of Mr. Colt,' and that best of all
imitations of the Scottish ballad, 'The Queen in France.'
Some were wholly mine, and the rest were produced by us
jointly. Fortunately for our purpose, there were then living
not a few poets whose style and manner of thought were
sufficiently marked to make imitation easy, and sufficiently
popular for a parody of their characteristics to be readily
recognized. Macaulay's 'Lays of Rome' and his two other fine
ballads were still in the freshness of their fame. Lockhart's
'Spanish Ballads' were as familiar in the drawing-room as in
the study. Tennyson and Mrs. Browning were open