ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.

BORN 1784-DIED 1842.

Dumfries, December 7, 1784. He was the Allan's brother Thomas, and his friend fourth son of John Cunningham, a shrewd, James Hogg, being contributors to the Scots upright, and intelligent man, and Elizabeth | Magazine, he was led to offer some poetical Harley, a lady of elegant personal accomplish- pieces to that periodical, which were at once ments and good family. After receiving an accepted and published. When Cromek visited ordinary education in the English branches at a Dumfries in search of materials for his Reliques school conducted by an enthusiastic Cameron- of Burns young Cunningham was pointed out ian, Allan was apprenticed to his eldest brother to him as one who could aid him in the work, James as a stone-mason; and he still continued and the London engraver advised him to colto enjoy the benefit of his father's instruc- lect the minstrelsy of Nithsdale and Galloway. tions, whom he describes as possessing "a warm Soon after his return home he received from heart, lively fancy, benevolent humour, and Cunningham contributions of old songs which pleasant happy wit." Allan appears also, from greatly delighted him, and he strongly recomthe multifarious knowledge which his earliest mended the young poet to come to London. productions betoken, to have been at this time Allan followed his advice, and was intrusted a careful reader of every book that came with editing the volume which appeared in within his reach. He commenced the writing 1810, entitled Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale of poetry at a very early age, having been and Galloway Song. But the best of these, inspired by the numerous songs and ballads and especially the " Mermaid of Galloway," with which his native district of Nithsdale were the production of Cunningham's own pen, is stored. In 1790 his father became land- a fact which the sagacity of the Ettrick Shepsteward to Mr. Millar of Dalswinton, and as herd and Professor Wilson soon detected and Burns' farm of Ellisland was on the opposite demonstrated, very much to the advantage of side of the river Nith the young lad had oppor- the young poet. Cromek did not survive to tunities of meeting the distinguished poet, learn the imposition which had been practised whose appearance and habits left an indelible upon him. After the appearance of this work impression on his mind. At the age of eigh- Cunningham was employed writing for the teen he made the acquaintance of the Ettrick London press, but this proving a precarious Shepherd, who in his Reminiscences of Former source of income he returned to his original Days gives a most interesting account of their vocation, obtaining an engagement in the first meeting. Hogg afterwards visited the establishment of Sir Francis Chantrey, over Cunninghams at Dalswinton, and was greatly which he soon became the superintendent. He impressed with Allan's genius. In later days retained this congenial position, where he was the Shepherd sung his praise as a skilful Scot- brought in contact with men of genius-artists, tish poet in the "Queen's Wake:"authors, soldiers, and statesmen-up to the date of his death, a period of nearly thirty years. His warm heart, his honest, upright, and independent character, attracted the affectionate esteem and respect of all who enjoyed the acquaintance of "honest Allan," as Sir Walter Scott commonly called him.

"Of the old elm his harp was made,
That bent o'er Cluden's loneliest shade;
No gilded sculpture round her flamed,
For his own hand that harp had franied,
In stolen hours, when, labour done,
He strayed to view the parting sun.

That harp could make the matron stare,
Bristle the peasant's hoary hair,
Make patriot-breasts with ardour glow,
And warrior pant to meet the foe;
And long by Nith the maidens young
Shall chant the strains their minstrel sung.
At ewe-bucht, or at evening fold,
When resting on the daisied wold,
Combing their locks of waving gold,
Oft the fair group, enrapt, shall name
Their lost, their darling Cunninghame;
His was a song beloved in youth,
A tale of weir, a tale of truth."

Although faithfully devoted to business, being not unfrequently occupied at the studio twelve hours a day, Cunningham soon became favourably known as a poet and man of letters. In 1813 he gave to the world a volume of lyrics entitled Songs chiefly in the Rural Language of Scotland, followed in 1822 by "Sir Marmaduke Maxwell," a dramatic poem founded on Border story and superstition. Sir Walter Scott, to whom the author had sent the MS. of this work for perusal, considered it

look of anxiety, "But there will be no room for you." 'Room for me!" cried Allan Cunningham; "I would not lie like a toad in a stone, or in a place strong enough for another to covet. Oh! no; let me lie where the green grass and the daisies grow, waving under the winds of the blue heaven." The wish of both was satisfied, for Chantrey reposes under his mausoleum of granite, and Cunningham in the picturesque cemetery of Kensall Green. The artist by his will left the poet a legacy of £2000, but the constitution of the latter was so prematurely exhausted that he lived only a year after his employer. He was seized with an apoplectic attack, and died October 29, 1842, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. He left a widow and five children, one of whom, Peter Cunningham, was well and favourably known by his agreeable contributions to the current iiterature of the day. In 1847 he published an edition of his father's poems and songs, and in 1874 a life of Cunningham appeared from the pen of the Rev. D. Hogg.

a beautiful dramatic poem rather than a play, and therefore better fitted for the closet than the stage. His next publication was two volumes of Traditional Tales, which he had contributed to Blackwood's and the London Magazines from 1819 to 1824. This was followed in 1825 by his valuable work the Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern, with an Introduction and Notes, in four volumes. Paul Jones, a romance in three volumes, appeared in 1826; and a second, also in three volumes, entitled Sir Michael Scott was published in 1828. "The Maid of Elvar," an epic poem in twelve parts written in the Spenserian stanza, followed. In 1833 the most popular of his prose works, Lives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, begun in 1829, was completed in six volumes. In 1834 his well-known edition of Burns, to which he prefixed a life of the poet and enriched with new anecdotes and information, was published, and met with most gratifying success. 1836 he published Lord Roldan, a romance, like its predecessors, somewhat diffuse and improbable. Cunningham, in addition to the works enumerated, was a contributor to the London Athenæum, the author of a series of prose descriptions to accompany Major's Cabinet Gallery of Pictures, a "History of the Fine Arts" for the Popular Encyclopedia, some contributions to Pilkington's Painters, and a memoir of James Thomson for an illustrated edition of The Seasons. His last lite-chaste and elegant in style, graceful in expres

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In

rary work was a Life of Sir David Wilkie.
Cunningham, who knew the painter well,"
says his biographer, "and loved him dearly as
a congenial Scottish spirit, found in this pro-
duction the last of his literary efforts, as he
finished its final corrections only two days before
he died." At the same time he had made con-
siderable progress in an extended edition of
Johnson's Lives of the Poets, and a life of
Chantrey was also expected from his pen; but
before these could be accomplished both poet
and sculptor, after a close union of twenty-
nine years, had ended their labours and
bequeathed their memorial to other hands.
The last days of Chantrey were spent in draw-
ing the tomb in which he wished to be buried
in the churchyard of Norton in Derbyshire,
the place of his nativity; and while showing
the plans to his assistant he observed with a,

Sir Walter Scott said of one of the songs of this tender and perhaps the most pathetic of all the Scottish minstrels, that "it was equal to Burns;" and on another occasion remarked, "It's Hame and it's Hame' and 'A wet Sheet and a flowing Sea' are among the best songs going." An esteemed friend, Mrs. S. C. Hall, writes of Cunningham's ballads and lyrical pieces, that "they are exquisite in feeling,

sion, and natural in conception; they will bear the strictest and most critical inspection of those who consider elaborate finish to be, at least, the second requisite of the writers of song." The Ettrick Shepherd, after recounting his first meeting with Cunningham, says, "I never missed an opportunity of meeting with Allan when it was in my power to do so. I was astonished at the luxuriousness of his fancy. It was boundless, but it was the luxury of a rich garden overrun with rampant weeds. He was likewise then a great mannerist in expression, and no man could mistake his verses for those of any other man. I remember seeing some imitations of Ossian by him, which I thought exceedingly good; and it struck me that that style of composition was peculiarly fitted for his vast and fervent ima gination." His "style of poetry is greatly