Poems, Grave and Gay. By Edward Irwin. (Tenant and Co.)
Lays from the Ingle Nook By John Young, author of "Lays front the Poor-house." (Glasgow: Gallie.)—These are two small volumes of soi-disant poetry, the first of which is written by an Irish- man, the second by a Scotehman. Each gentleman appears to possess just so much poetical talent as is necessary for the construction of a verse that will scan without any very violent effort on the part of the reader. The Irishman, true to the traditional light-heartedness of his race, persists in pouring forth a string of small jokes with a constancy worthy of a better cause. The following lines afford at once a fair sample both of his fun and versification :—
" Some simple folks lie down when it's dark, And rise in the morn with the linnet and lark ; While others there are for a lark who go, And don't go to bed at all, you know."
As to Mr. Young, we are not quite sure whether we are, after all, right in pronouncing him to be a Scotchman. Occasionally he writes in the English tongue; and, though the majority of his verses are in the Northern dialect, his Scotch diction is so intensely Scotch as almost to suggest the idea that it is an artificial product. However this may be, we are heartily glad to see that his present volume is dated from a much pleasanter place than its predecessor; and we trust that the next favourable change in his circumstances may not be unaccompanied by a corresponding improvement in his poetical talent.
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