iod, to which he is inclined to refer them. But
this (unless when MSS. of antiquity can be referred to) seemed too
arbitrary an exertion of the privileges of a publisher, and must,
besides, have unnecessarily increased the difficulties of many
readers. On the other hand, the utmost care has been taken, never
to reject a word or phrase, used by a reciter, however uncouth or
antiquated. Such barbarisms, which stamp upon the tales their age and
their nation, should be respected by an editor, as the hardy emblem of
his country was venerated by the Poet of Scotland:

The rough bur-thistle spreading wide
Amang the bearded bear,
I turn'd the weeder-clips aside,
And spared the symbol dear.

BURNS.

The meaning of such obsolete words is usually given at the bottom
of the page. For explanation of the more common peculiarities of the
Scottish dialect, the English reader is referred to the excellent
glossary annexed to the last edition of Burns' works.

The Third Class of Ballads are announced to the public, as MODERN
IMITATIONS of the Ancient Style of composition, in that department of
poetry; and they are founded upon such traditions as we may suppose in
the elder times would have employed the harps of the minstrels. This
kind of poetry has been supposed capable of uniting the vigorous
numbers and wild fiction, which occasionally charm us in the ancient
ballad, with a greater equality of versification, and elegance of
sentiment, than we can expect to find in the works of a rude age. But,
upon my ideas of the nature and difficulty of such imitations, I ought
in prudence to be silent; lest I resemble the dwarf, who brought with
him a standard to measure his own stature. I may, however, hint at the
difference, not always attended to, betwixt legendary poems and real
imitations of the old ballad; the reader will find specimens of both
in the modern part of this collection. The legendary poem, called
_Glenfinlas_, and the ballad, entituled the _Eve of St. John_, were
designed as examples of the difference betwixt these two kinds of
composition.

It would have the appearance of personal vanity, were the editor to
detail the assistance and encouragement which he has received, during
his undertaking, from some of the first literary characters of our
age. The names of Stuart, Mackenzie, Ellis, Currie, and Ritson, with
many others, are talismans too powerful to be used, for bespeaking the
world's favour to a collection of o