[To THE ED/TOR of THE " SPECTATOR."] SLR, —I am
obliged to you for finding space for my letter on " Carlyle as a Poet." Mr. Elliott's reference to "Drumwhirn Bridge " is interesting. It is not the case, however, that Carlyle never acknowledged the authorship of that poem. In 1881 the Rev. W. H. Wylie in his Thomas Carlyle: the Man and his Books suggested that Carlyle was the author, and his conjecture was generally considered highly probable. In 1910 the correctness of the ascription was placed beyond doubt by the publication, in a book of mine entitled The Poets of Dum- friesshire (J. MacLehose and Sons), of a copy taken down from the lips of Carlyle at Craigenputtock by his friend Archibald Glen, to whom he distinctly acknowledged the authorship. The copy was handed to me by Mr. Glen's daughter, Mrs. Graham, Killarchan, together with some other original verses received by her father from his illustrious friend. I agree with Mr. Elliott that " Drumwhirn Bridge " is in some respects the most remarkable of Carlyle's lyrics. Dr. Richard Garnett admired it; but, writing before the publication of Mrs. Graham's copy, he could not make any positive state- ment regarding the authorship of the piece, and was content to say : " W. H. Wylie may be right in ascribing to him [Carlyle] the lines on Drumwhirn Bridge,' which appeared ie. Leigh Hunt's London Journal for October 22nd, 1834" (see Dr. Garnett's notice of Carlyle in Mr. Alfred H. Miles's John Keats and Contemporary Poets).
It will be observed that I have given the title of the poem as "Drumwhirn Bridge." The unfamiliar Galloway place-name Drumwhirn was misprinted "Drumwhinn " in the London Journal, and of course the error was repeated in Mr. Wylie's book.
Some reference should be made to Carlyle's poetical trans- lations. "Luther's Psalm " and the rendering of Goethe's "Mason-Lodge" in Past and Present have both considerable merit. It is interesting to note that " Luther's Psalm " has a place in The Church Hymnary, the collection of hymns used by most Presbyterian congregations in Scotland.—I am, Sir,
Annan.
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