wever, for the most part favorable.

The fact that Scott included modern imitations of the ballad in his book
is another indication that his attitude was like that of his
predecessors.[66] Doubtless these helped the _Minstrelsy_ to sell, but a
more modern taste would choose to put them in a place by themselves, not
in a collection of old ballads. An essay on _Imitations of the Ancient
Ballad_ was written, as were the _Remarks on Popular Poetry_, for the
1833 edition. It is chiefly interesting for its autobiographical matter,
though it also contains criticisms of Burns and other writers of ballad
poetry--"a species of literary labour which the author has himself
pursued with some success."[67] Scott's statement that the ballad style
was very popular at the time he began to write, and that he followed the
prevailing fashion, was one of many examples of his modesty, taken in
connection with the remark in another part of the essay to the effect
that this style "had much to recommend it, especially as it presented
considerable facilities to those who wished at as little exertion or
trouble as possible to attain for themselves a certain degree of
literary reputation." To complete the comparison, however, we need an
observation found in one of Scott's reviews, on the spurious ballad
poetry, full of false sentiment, sometimes written in the eighteenth
century. "It is the very last refuge of those who can do nothing better
in the shape of verse; and a man of genius should disdain to invade the
province of these dawdling rhymers."[68]

Scott's criticism of ballad style probably suffered from his interest in
modern imitations of ballads. Perhaps also the real quality of ancient
popular poetry was a little obscured for him by his belief that it was
written by professional or semi-professional poets. If he wrote _Kinmont
Willie_, he succeeded in catching the right tone better than anyone
since him has been able to do, but even in this poem there are turns of
phrase that remind one of the _Lay of the Last Minstrel_ rather than of
the true folk-song.[69] After his first attempts at versifying he
received from William Taylor, of Norwich, who had made an earlier
translation of Buerger's _Lenore_, a letter of hearty praise intermingled
with very sensible remarks about the tendency in some parts of Scott's
_Chase_ toward too great elaboration.[70] Scott's answer was as follows:
"I do not ... think quite so severely of the Darwinian style,