“_A Lay to the Last Minstrel_,” inscribed to the memory of Sir Walter Scott, by Edward Churton (London, John Murray, 1874), is not, as one might suppose from the title, either an imitation, or a parody of Scott. It is merely an essay on his poetical genius, with some lines in his praise. ――――:o:―――― MARMION. This was the next poem published by Scott after _The Lay_. It contains several passages which have been singled out for frequent imitation, notably Lady Heron’s Song, _Lochinvar_, and the well-known lines in Canto VI.:―― “O woman! in our hours of ease, Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, And variable as the shade By the light quivering aspen made; When pain and anguish wring the brow, A ministering angel thou!”―― * * * * ―――― AN ENGLISH POET TO A SCOTCH CRITIC, Oh! Scotsman! in thine hour of ease Uncanny, slow, and hard to please,―― And querulous in thy tirade As shrewish wife or sour old maid―― When too much “whusky” stings thy brow, An unco’ sarcy devil thou! _(Slightly!) altered from Scott (to Scot)._ ―――― A GOOD WIFE. “But, on the whole, Chloe is a good wife. If I have a cold she dresses me in linseed poultices, and doses me with all kinds of potions; and even in my suffering I can appreciate the poetic exclamation―― “Oh, woman! in our hours of ease, Impatient, coy, and hard to please: As ineffectual as the shade By a defective gingham made: As difficult wherewith to deal As any sly and cunning eel; But, oh! when hoarseness grasps the thorax, How nimble, thou, with soothing borax!” ―――― A DEDICATION. O woman! in our hours of ease Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, Yet, barring pins, how soft to squeeze! Unequall’d too at making cheese―― And variable as the shade By the light quivering aspen made; And “very able,” too thou jade, In managing a shopping raid―― When pain and anguish wring the brow, Well, one of two things then art thou: That is, thou’rt either a born nurse; Or else a nuisance, if not worse! O Woman! too, in hours of woe, Into hysterics apt to go: When trouble levies its distraint, How prompt art thou thereon to faint! When danger’s for the time supreme, How ready art thou, too, to scream! In fact, what hour of night or day Is there when thou’rt not in the way? From _Finis_, 1877. ――――:o:―――― THE MANSION HOUSE MARMION.