were composed by
gifted minstrels, and that they had deteriorated in the process of being
handed down by recitation. He called tradition "a sort of perverted
alchymy which converts gold into lead." "All that is abstractedly
poetical," he said, "all that is above the comprehension of the merest
peasant, is apt to escape in frequent repetition; and the _lacunae_ thus
created are filled up either by lines from other ditties or from the
mother wit of the reciter or singer. The injury, in either case, is
obvious and irreparable."[45] From this point of view Scott considered
that the ballads were only getting their rights when a skilful hand gave
them such a retouching as should enable them to appear in something of
what he called their original vigor.[46]

We may learn what qualities he considered necessary for an editor in
this field, from the latter part of his _Remarks on Popular Poetry_, in
which he discusses previous attempts to collect English and Scottish
ballads. Of Percy he speaks in the highest terms, here and elsewhere. We
have seen that he felt a strong sympathy with Percy's desire to dress up
the ballads and make them as attractive to the public as their intrinsic
charms render them to their friends. He did not of course realize the
extent to which the Bishop reworked his materials, as the publication of
the folio manuscript has since revealed it, and Ritson's captious
remarks on the subject were naturally discounted on the score of their
ill-temper. But it is not to be doubted that Ritson had an appreciable
effect on Scott's attitude, by stirring him up to some comprehension of
the things that might be said in favor even of dull accuracy. Ritson's
collections are cited in their place, with a tribute to the extreme
fidelity of their editor. It is a pity that this accurate scholar could
not have had a sufficient amount of literary taste, to say nothing of
good manners, to inspire others with a fuller trust in his method. Scott
expresses impatience with him for seeming to prefer the less effective
text in many instances, "as if a poem was not more likely to be
deteriorated than improved by passing through the mouths of many
reciters."[47] He admitted, however, that it was not in his own period
necessary to rework the ballads as much as Bishop Percy had done, since
the _Reliques_ had already created an audience for popular poetry. His
purpose evidently was to steer a middle course between such graceful but
sophisti