_Jacobites_. WALTER SCOTT.
[488] See _ante_, i. 450, and ii. 291.
[489] Perhaps he was thinking of Johnson's letter of June 20, 1771
(_ante_, ii. 140), where he says:--'I hope the time will come when we
may try our powers both with cliffs and water.'
[490] 'The wind blew enough to give the boat a kind of dancing
agitation.' _Piozzi Letters_, i. 142. 'The water was calm and the rowers
were vigorous; so that our passage was quick and pleasant.' Johnson's
_Works_, ix. 54.
[491]
'Caught in the wild Aegean seas,
The sailor bends to heaven for ease.'
FRANCIS. Horace, 2, _Odes_, xvi. 1.
[492] See _ante_, iv. Dec. 9, 1784, note.
[493] Such spells are still believed in. A lady of property in Mull, a
friend of mine, had a few years since much difficulty in rescuing from
the superstitious fury of the people, an old woman, who used a _charm_
to injure her neighbour's cattle. It is now in my possession, and
consists of feathers, parings of nails, hair, and such like trash, wrapt
in a lump of clay. WALTER SCOTT.
[494] Sir Walter Scott, writing in Skye in 1814, says:--'Macleod and Mr.
Suter have both heard a tacksman of Macleod's recite the celebrated
Address to the Sun; and another person repeat the description of
Cuchullin's car. But all agree as to the gross infidelity of Macpherson
as a translator and editor.
Pages:
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650