A collection of ancient and modern Scottish ballads, etc

260
SIR JAMES THE ROSS.
^rVVVVX-V^-v^WV^
[In the following ballad the rivalry of two young chieftains
to obtain the hand of Lord Buchan's daughter, is attended
with fatal consequences to all the pai'ties. The
characters are drawn with a masterly hand, and the incidents
narrated in a clear and distinct manner. The poem
was written by Michael Bruce, a young^ man of promis-
ing genius. He was bom at Kinneswoed, in Kinross-
ihire, in 1746 ;
being intended for the church, he prose-
cuted the studies essential for that calling with success,
but a delicate frame of body was ill calculated to support
the intense application that " poverty^s insuperable bar"
made it necessary for him to undergo, and he fell a victir*
to a consumption in his twenty-first year. His poems were
published in 1770, by his intimate friend the Rev. John
Logan, and evince a luxuriance of fancy, and liveliness
of imagination, that, by study and culture, might have
rendered him an ornament to his country, had his life
been prolonged to the usual period of human existence.]
Of all the Scotish northern chiefs^,
Of high and mighty name.
The bravest was Sir James the Ross,,
A knight of meikle fame.