sions of Malcolm Laing, who
edited Macpherson's poems and adduced parallel passages from "a mass
of poetry, enough to serve any six gentle readers for their lifetime,"
as the reviewer says. The most of these parallels were found in
"Homer, Virgil, and their two translators; Milton, Thomson, Young,
Gray, Mason, Home, and the English Bible." Although he was convinced
by the argument, Scott saw that the editor was in some cases misled by
his own ingenuity.]

[Footnote 94: Later, however (in the essay on Imitations of the
Ancient Ballad, 1830), he said: "In their spirit and diction they
nearly resemble fragments of poetry extant in Gaelic." By this time he
was probably reverting to the earlier opinion which had made the more
vivid impression.]

[Footnote 95: For the _Northern Antiquities_, edited by Robert
Jamieson and published in 1814, Scott wrote an abstract of the
_Eyrbyggja Saga_, using, as one would conclude from his introductory
words, the Latin version made by Thorkelin, who published the saga in
1787. The purpose of the publication required the historical and
antiquarian rather than the literary point of view, and accordingly we
find Scott's notes occupied with historical comment.]

[Footnote 96: In 1804 Weber came to Edinburgh in a deplorable
condition of poverty, and was employed and assisted in literary work
by Scott during the following nine years. In 1813 he was seized with
insanity, and challenged Scott, across the study table, to an
immediate duel with pistols. Scott supported Weber during the
remaining five years of his life in an insane hospital. He was much
liked by the Scott family. Scott rated his learning very highly, and
gave him valuable assistance in various literary projects. Weber's
chief publications were: _Metrical Romances of the Thirteenth,
Fourteenth, and Sixteenth Centuries_, with Introduction, Notes and
Glossary (1810); _Dramatic Works of John Ford_, with Introduction and
Explanatory Notes (1811); _Works of Beaumont and Fletcher_, with
Introduction and Explanatory Notes (1812): to this Scott's notes were
the most valuable contribution; _Illustrations of Northern
Antiquities_ (1814), with Jamieson and Scott.]

[Footnote 97: See his essay on _Imitations of the Ancient Ballad_.]

[Footnote 98: _Illustrations of Anglo-Saxon Poetry, translated by the
Vicar of Batheaston_. Conybeare had died two years before the
pub