with the same cherished and enduring aff_The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volumes 1-6. The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century

_Rans des Vaches_ so overpowering a sympathy. And the pastoral is

perhaps even more replete with the poetical elements than the "stern and

wild." It is amid such scenes as the Doon, the Tweed, the Teviot, the

Ettrick, the Gala, and the Nith adorn, that the jaded senses are prone

to seek recreation, and the spirit, tired with work or worn with cares,

flees rejoicingly from the world to the repose of its first breathing

and time-sweetened, boyish delights. Thus we find young Bennoch, amid

the clatter of the great city, turning to the quiet of his native valley

to sing the charms of the Nith, where he

"Had paidlet i' the burn,

And pu'd the gowans fine."

It was in the _Dumfries Courier_ that his first poetic essay found its

way to print. That journal was then edited by the veteran M'Diarmid,

himself an honour to the literature of Scotland, and no mean judge of

its poetry. A cheer from such a quarter was worth the winning, and our

aspirant fairly won it, by the five stanzas of which the following is

the last:--

"The flowers may fade upon your banks,

The breckan on the brae,

But, oh! the love I ha'e for thee

Shall never pass away.

Though age may wrinkle this smooth brow,

And youth be like a dream,

Still, still my voice to heaven shall rise

For blessings on your stream!"

But banks and braes, and straths and streams, and woods and waves,

though very dear to memory, merely come up to the painted beauties of

descriptive verse. They must be warmed through

"The dearest theme

That ever waked the poet's dream,"

and love must fill the vision, before the soul can soar above the

delicious but inanimate charms of earth, into the glowing region of

human feeling and passion.

"In peace, Love tunes the shepherd's reed;

In war, he mounts the warrior's steed;

In halls, in gay attire is seen;

In hamlets, dances on the green.

Love rules the court, the camp, the grove,

And man below, and saints above:

For love is heaven, and heaven is love!"

Nor was this essential inspiration wanting in the breast of the young

bard. The climate of Caledonia is cold, but that the hearts of her sons

are susceptible of tropic warmth is shewn by a large proportion of her

lyric treasures. Heroism, pathos, satire, and a peculiar quaint humour,

present little more than an equal division, and the attributes of the

wholly embodied Scottish muse attest the truth of the remark on the

characteristic heat and fire which pervade her population, and excite

them to daring in war and ardour in gentler pursuits. Thus Bennoch sung

his Mary, Jessie, Bessie, Isabel, and other belles, but above all his

Margaret:--

"The moon is shining, Margaret,

Serenely bright above,

And, like my dearest Margaret,

Her every look is love!

The trees are waving, Margaret,

And balmy is the air,

Where flowers are breathing, Margaret,

Come, let us wander there.

* * * * *

Yes! there 's a hand, dear Margaret,

A heart it gives to thee;

When heaven is false, my Margaret,

Then I may faithless be."

In the volume whence the preceding quotations are taken (second edition,

1843), the principal poem is "The Storm," in which occur many passages

of singular vigour, and slighter touches of genuine poetry. Thus--

"The sea, by day so smooth and bright,

Is far more lovely seen by night,

When o'er old Ocean's wrinkled brow,

The night has hung her silver bow,

And stars in myriads ope their eyes

To guide the footsteps of the wise,

And in the deep reflected lie,

Till Ocean seems a second sky;

And ships, like wing'd aerial cars,

Are voyaging among the stars."

This is--

"Ere winter comes with icy chain,

And clanks his fetters o'er the ground."

The impersonation of Winter himself is very striking--

"Loud, loud were the shouts of his boisterous mirth,

As he scatter'd dismay o'er the smiling earth;

The clouds were rent as the storm was driven;

He howl'd and laugh'd in the face of heaven."

The temperament and inclination cherished by the love of song, naturally

seek the companionship of similar tastes and congenial enjoyments. Thus,

in the midst of the turmoil and distractions of orders and sales,

invoices and shipments, Mr Bennoch has always found leisure to pay his

court to literature, and cultivate the society of those whose talents

adorn it. Conjoined with this, a skilful appreciation of works of art

has led him to intimate relations with many of the leading artists of

our time. The interesting Biography of Haydon affords a glimpse at the

character of some of these relations. Wherever disappointed and however

distressed, poor Haydon "claimed kindred here, and had his claim

allowed." To his mercantile friend in Wood Street he never applied in

vain. To a very considerable extent his troubles were solaced, his

difficulties surmounted, his dark despair changed to golden hope, and

the threat of the gaol brightened into another free effort of genius to

redeem itself from the thralls of law and grinding oppression. Had his

generous friend not been absent from England at the fatal time, it is

very probable that the dreadful catastrophe would have been averted; but

he only landed from the continent to receive the shocking intelligence

that all was over. Friendship could but shed the unavailing tear, but it

did not forget or neglect the dear family interests for which (in some

measure) the despairing sacrifice was made. It is to be hoped that such

an unhappy event has been somewhat compensated by the social intercourse

with talent ever hospitably cherished, not only in his pleasant home in

Blackheath Park, but amid the precious hours that could be snatched from

most active engagements in Wood Street. At either, authors and artists

are constantly met; and the brief snatches alluded to are often so

heartily occupied as to rival, if not surpass, the slower motions of the

more prolonged entertainments. Both may boast of "the feast of reason

and the flow of soul," and a crowning increase to these enjoyments is

derived from the circumstance, that Mr Bennoch's connexions with the

Continent, and more especially with the United States, contribute very

frequently to engraft upon these "re-unions" a variety of eminent

foreigners and intellectual citizens of America. It is a trite saying,

that few men can be good or useful abroad who are not happy at home. Mr

Bennoch has been fortunate in wedded life. She who is the theme of many

of his sweetest and most touching verses, is a woman whom a poet may

love and a wise man consult; in whom the sociable gentleman finds an

ever cheerful companion, and the husband a loving and devoted friend.

Among the latest of Mr Bennoch's movements in literary affairs, may be

mentioned his services on behalf of the late estimable Mary Russell

Mitford. Through his intervention the public was gratified by the issue

of "Atherton," and other tales, and also by a collected edition of her

dramatic works, which she dedicated to him as an earnest of her

affectionate regard.

Mr Bennoch is a member of the Society of Arts, the Royal Society of

Antiquaries, the Royal Society of Literature, and the Scottish Literary

Institute.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The present Memoir has been prepared at our request by the veteran

William Jerdan, late of the _Literary Gazette_.

TRUTH AND HONOUR.

If wealth thou art wooing, or title, or fame,

There is that in the doing brings honour or shame;

There is something in running life's perilous race,

Will stamp thee as worthy, or brand thee as base.

Oh, then, be a man--and, whatever betide,