Dreams o' Hame, and other Scotch Poems. By James D.
Law. (Alexander Gardner.)—The author of this volume, who, we gather, lives in America, is possessed of a lively as well as of a patriotic muse, as is indeed proved by his " Proem," which, though a piece of rhyme, is printed as if it were a piece of prose. He is also loyal to the memory of the national poet of Scotland,—almost too loyal, as certain rather boisterous poems of the " nicht-we- Burns " type too clearly prove. He has, however, managed to catch the " canty " philosophy of his master, and to write in his favourite stanza, as thus :- " Dame Fortune's but a spitefu' witch, To dird a fellow in the ditch,
And sync for fear be may get rich Ev'n howkin there, Infect him wi* the poet's itch To keep him bare."
There are more artistic lines in the book than these, but there is nothing savouring more of the Burnsian spirit. " Dreams o' Hame," which gives this volume its title, is divided into two portions, the one geographical and the other historical, and is full of intense Scottish-American patriotism. In the first, a considerable amount of ingenuity is shown by the introduction into rhymed verse of a wonderhil number of Scotch place-names.
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