#schollar

On the 21st June 1813 the lawyer and poet W E Aytoun was born.

Born in Edinburgh, of a family of literary tastes his father, Roger Aytoun,was writer to the Signet, a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice, the fierce Jacobitism and love of ballads of his mother, Joan Keir Aytoun, had a lasting influence upon Aytoun’s own political and literary preferences., which was to impact upon Aytoun’s own interests, and aid them in turn when he was preparing his Ballads of Scotland collection for publication.

Having tentatively followed his father into law, Aytoun was appointed Professor of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres at Edinburgh University in 1845. It was in this post that he excelled, and details of his lectures have led to him being declared ‘the first modern professor of English literature’. Prior to this appointment, his early works as a poet were the subject of inclusion in the renowned Blackwood’s Magazine, and he would go on to become an important contributor to the magazine in a number of guises. Indeed, his literary criticism exhibited much of the keen sense of parody that was the defining feature of his acclaimed dramatic verse, 'Firmilian’.

Working in a less comic mode, Aytoun produced the Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers, which remains one of his best known works, it wasn’t just Jacobitism in, Edinburgh After Flodden , a 15 verse classic, he brings the news to the Capital of our greatest defeat to the citizens of Edinburgh, in Charles Edward At Versailles, Aytoun puts himself into Bonnie Prince Charlie’s head as he is in his room on the Anniversary of Culloden thinking of the ghosts that haunt him…

“Must those scenes and sounds of terror Haunt me still by day and night?”

I’ve chosen, an extract from the telling of a hero killed at Killiecankie, The Burial-March of Dundee.

On the heights of Killiecrankie Yester-morn our army lay: Slowly rose the mist in columns From the river’s broken way; Hoarsely roared the swollen torrent, And the Pass was wrapped in gloom, When the clansmen rose together From their lair amidst the broom. Then we belted on our tartans, And our bonnets down we drew, And we felt our broadswords’ edges, And we proved them keen and true; And we prayed the prayer of soldiers, And we cried the gathering-cry, And we clasped the hands of kinsmen, And we swore to do or die! Then our leader rose before us On his war-horse black as night – Well the Cameronian rebels Knew that charger in the fight! – And a cry of exultation From the bearded warriors rose; For we loved the house of Claver’se, And we thought of good Montrose. But he raised his hand for silence – ‘Soldiers! I have sworn a vow : Ere the evening star shall glisten On Schehallion’s lofty brow, Either we shall rest in triumph, Or another of the Graemes Shall have died in battle-harness For his Country and King James! Think upon the Royal Martyr – Think of what his race endure – Think of him whom butchers murdered On the field of Magus Muir: – By his sacred blood I charge ye, By the ruined hearth and shrine – By the blighted hopes of Scotland, By your injuries and mine – Strike this day as if the anvil Lay beneath your blows the while, Be they covenanting traitors, Or the brood of false Argyle! Strike! And drive the trembling rebels Backwards o’er the stormy Forth; Let them tell their pale Convention How they fared within the North. Let them tell that Highland honour Is not to be bought nor sold, That we scorn their prince’s anger As we loathe his foreign gold. Strike! And when the fight is over, If ye look in vain for me, Where the dead are lying thickest, Search for him that was Dundee!’

The full poem can be read here...https://allpoetry.com/The-Burial-March-Of-Dundee

sunday 24th february 2019

hi! today i'm reading a very cool biography of isabella the catholic for my spanish modern history subject. her life is really interesting and as you all know the catholic kings shaped our history, so i'm enjoying it a lot.

i also have to read for european modern history culture an article about how the council of trent's strict reforms affected nuns. living in enclosed convents literally caused a lot of them to experiment paranoia. i feel so sorry for them so i'm not liking this assignment that much :(

On this day in 1796 poet, James MacPherson, died.

Seumas MacMhuirich/ Seumas Mac a’ Phearsain, in Gaelic or James Macpherson is mostly well-known for his translation of the epic Ossian poems of his native land but was also an accomplished poet in his own right and a leading political figure of the time. Born into a reasonably wealthy family, Macpherson traveled to Aberdeen in his teens where he studied at King’s College with a short sabbatical in Edinburgh.

Whilst at university he began writing verses and published his first work The Highlander in 1758, though for some reason he tried to withdraw it afterwards. He was, however, always attracted back to his home town of Ruthven in Inverness-shire and returned there to become a teacher after finishing his studies.

Over the years, Macpherson had been able to collect a number of Gaelic poems which he could recite by heart. When he met writer John Home, he was encouraged to put them down in a book called Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland which was published in 1760. This caught the attention of a benefactor who provided Macpherson with the means to research and put down the poetry and tales of the Highlands.

In 1761, Macpherson supposedly found the remnants of an epic poem by Ossian and a later that year published the work under the title Fingal, an Ancient Epic Poem in Six Books. Other works followed and, in 1765, he published the definitive Collected Works of Ossian. The translations did not go uncontested and there were a number of critics and scholars, notably from Ireland, who doubted their authenticity.

Even the great Samuel Johnson later commented that Macpherson had merely found fragments of poetry and then had woven them into an epic using his own imagination. Macpherson did say that there were originals of the poems he had found but never produced these during his lifetime and controversy over the provenance of the Ossian epic poems continued well into the 19th century. In 1764, Macpherson traveled to America where he served as secretary to George Johnstone, the colonial governor at the time. He returned to our shores just two years later and wrote a number of historical books before being elected to parliament in 1780. As MP for Camelford he turned away from writing and there is little information about his life during this period.

In his later years, MacPherson retired to Inverness-shire where he purchased an estate. Now a relatively wealthy man he was known for buying properties in the region and may well have purchased his right to be buried in Westminster Abbey.

Macpherson died at the age of 59 and was indeed interred at the Abbey. Sometime after he passed away, a noted historian, Malcolm Laing, concluded that MacPherson’s Ossian collection was a modern creation and not from found ancient texts which had been translated. Whether this is true or not, many consider the Ossian poems to be great works and they have been translated into many languages over the years.

There is a lot more on McPherson and his works here on Poemhunter, another site I use on a regular basis when researching posts. https://www.poemhunter.com/james-macpherson/biography/

If you know anything about the Ossian poems, you will know they are lengthy pieces of prose written over 6 books, so here is a shorter poem by the Gaelic Poet.

The Six Bards.

Night is dull and dark, The clouds rest on the hills; No star with twinkling beam, No moon looks from the skies. I hear the blast in the wood, But distant and dull I hear it. The stream of the valley murmurs, Low is its murmur too. From the tree at the grave of the dead, The lonely screech-owl groans. I see a dim form on the plain, ‘Tis a ghost! it fades, it flies; Some dead shall pass this way. From the lowly hut of the hill The distant dog is howling; The stag lies by the mountain-well, The hind is at his side; She hears the wind in his horns, She starts, but lies again. The roe is in the cleft of the rock: The heath-cock’s head beneath his wing. No beast, no bird is abroad, But the owl, and the howling fox; She on the leafless tree, He on the cloudy hill. Dark, panting, trembling, sad, The traveller has lost his way; Through shrubs, through thorns he goes, Beside the gurgling rills; He fears the rock and the pool, He fears the ghost of the night. The old tree groans to the blast; The falling branch resounds. The wind drives the clung thorn Along the sighing grass; He shakes amid the night. Dark, dusty, howling, is night, Cloudy, windy, and full of ghosts; The dead are abroad; my friends Receive me from the night.

thursday, 21 march 2019

it’s been ages since i last uploaded something, but it turns out finding time to even organize myself and write three or five sentences here is more difficult than i had thought. these are pics from my university’s library (i didn’t edit them), it’s very sunny outside and it definitely feels like spring has finally come.

i’m reading a book for a spanish modern history project about the revolt of the comuneros. the revolt was a castilian uprising against the way charles v started to reign ‘spain’: he gave all the important jobs away to flemish nobles. also, it was a time of political instability (since pretty much the death of queen isabella the catholic).

hi! i created this studyblr two years ago although i never really used it. this is my very first post here!

who am i?

i’m paula and i’m a 20 year-old girl from spain (so english is not my first language) 

i’m studying history, i’m already in my third year and i’d love to be a phd someday!

what I like?

when i was in high school i loved every humanities-related subject

i speak english (i got the c1 years ago and i never really practice it, so it’s a bit rusty!), spanish (ofc) and a little bit of french since i studied it in high school.

my biggest interests are fantasy videogames (dragon age, neverwinter nights...) and tv shows (like game of thrones), also historical ones (europa universalis iv and vikings) and anime (it was my biggest interest when i was a teen but now i don’t really know what to watch). also i love reading history books and style youtubers!

i won’t do anything bullet journal-related at least for now because i find it very time consuming and i prefer using OneNote. however i will post rewritten notes, a few tips and history-related posts and i’m willing to help with anyone with their spanish

(also i’m in love with modern and medieval history mostly)

why I started my studyblr?

i want to commute a little bit more with my studies because i want to be an investigator someday and i need to have really good grades. i study a lot but mostly on exam period, which is enough to do the job but i end up really stressed because i have to learn a whole semester in two weeks . now i want to study at least a little and get a bit of my projects done every day (so i’ll probably start 30 days of productivity challenge)!

who inspired me?

i was mainly inspired by @studyign​ youtube videos, but also by @historicalemily​, @historicallys​, @emmastudies​, @lycheestudy​, @mac-studies​, @that-history-student, @studydiaryofamedstudent​ and @tbhstudying​

thank you for reading this and feel free to message me!!

today was a bit hectic. i woke up late because on monday my classes are in the evening (7.30pm!) and i spent 2 hours finishing an assignment in my boyfriend's laptop. my laptop got some piece missing and i had to take it to the computer technician. i'm not that good at talking with people and i was kind of ashamed for losing that piece without even noticing so it was kind of awkward. after that i went to the drugstore and to the fruit shop to buy some delicious bananas 🍌 (it's kinda weird because i never wanted to eat them and my boyfriend kinda insisted a few months ago and now i like them a lot)

after that i went to class and well i was back home very late so today i didn't take any pictures and i decided it wasn't the best day to start the productivity challenge.