552 PRÆTERITA-III

and love of past tradition; their work in the world is never innovation, but new creation; without disturbing for an instant the foundations which were laid of old time. One would have imagined-at least, any one but Scott would have imagined-that a Scottish blind fiddler would have been only the exponent of Scottish feeling and Scottish art; it was even with astonishment that I myself read the conclusion of his dialogue with Darsie Latimer:-

“‘Are ye in the wont of drawing up wi’ all the gangrel bodies that ye meet on the high road, or find cowering in a sand-bunker upon the links?’ demanded Willie.

“‘Oh, no! only with honest folks like yourself, Willie,’ was my reply.

“‘Honest folks like me! How do ye ken whether I am honest, or what I am? I may be the deevil himself for what ye ken; for he has power to come disguised like an angel of light; and besides, he is a prime fiddler. He played a sonata to Corelli, ye ken.’”¹

79. This reference to the simplest and purest writer of Italian melody being not for the sake of the story, but because Willie’s own art had been truly founded upon him, so that he had been really an angel of music, as well as light to him. See the beginning of the dialogue in the previous page:-

“’Do you ken the Laird?’ said Willie, interrupting an overture of Corelli, of which he had whistled several bars with great precision.”

I must pause again, to crowd together one or two explanations of the references to music in my own writings hitherto, which I can here sum by asking the reader to compare the use of the voice in war, beginning with the cry of Achilles on the Greek wall,² down to what may be named as the two great instances of modern choral war-song: the singing of the known Church-hymn* at the

* Psalm, I believe, rather; but see my separate notes on St. Louis’ Psalter (now in preparation³).

¹ [Letter xi.]

² [Iliad, xviii. 217 seq.]

³ [No MS. of this has been found among Ruskin’s papers.]

[Version 0.04: March 2008]