ged, in alliance
with a friend of his, Mr. Denniston, in collecting materials for a
History of Galloway; they had circulated lists of queries among the
clergy and parish schoolmasters, and had thus, and by their own
personal researches, accumulated "a great variety of the most
excellent materials for that purpose;" but that, from the hour of his
correspondence with Walter Scott, he "renounced every idea of
authorship for {p.003} himself," resolving, "that thenceforth his
chief pursuit should be collecting whatever he thought would be most
interesting to _him_;" and that Mr. Denniston was easily persuaded to
acquiesce in the abandonment of their original design. "Upon receiving
Mr. Scott's letter," says Mr. Train, "I became still more zealous in
the pursuit of ancient lore, and being the first person who had
attempted to collect old stories in that quarter with any view to
publication, I became so noted, that even beggars, in the hope of
reward, came frequently from afar to Newton-Stewart, to recite old
ballads and relate old stories to me." Erelong, Mr. Train visited
Scott both at Edinburgh and at Abbotsford; a true affection continued
ever afterwards to be maintained between them; and this generous ally
was, as the prefaces to the Waverley Novels signify, one of the
earliest confidants of that series of works, and certainly the most
efficient of all the author's friends in furnishing him with materials
for their composition. Nor did he confine himself to literary
services: whatever portable object of antiquarian curiosity met his
eye, this good man secured and treasured up with the same destination;
and if ever a catalogue of the museum at Abbotsford shall appear, no
single contributor, most assuredly, will fill so large a space in it
as Mr. Train.[2]

[Footnote 2: [Joseph Train was born in 1779, at
Gilminscroft, Sorn, Ayrshire, where his father was
grieve and land-steward. The boy was apprenticed at an
early age to a weaver in Ayr, but, notwithstanding the
narrowness of his circumstances, and a very imperfect
education, he even then showed a love of learning and a
passion for antiquarian lore. From 1799 to 1802 he
served in the Ayrshire militia. While the regiment was
stationed at Inverness, he became a subscriber to
Currie's edition of Burns, and his colonel, Sir David