In 1821 _The Ayrshire Legatees_ was followed up by the _Annals of the Parish_, which displayed Galt’s singular and original genius in fuller perfection. That his epic failed, and the _Annals_ marked a literary success, is much to the credit of his contemporaries. Perhaps if Crabbe had not perversely insisted on being a poet we might have had country tales of his as worthy of immortality as the _Annals of the Parish_. The book is commonly said to be Galt’s masterpiece: which it is not. But it is unique and perfect. That _The Entail_ is really Galt’s masterpiece seems to me clear: nevertheless there are weak parts in it, and the less good chapters are lamentably unequal to the best: whereas the _Annals of the Parish_ has no weak chapters, and the balance of excellence is maintained throughout. But there is no story in the _Annals_; and, though it is a long gallery of perfect portraits, it has no characters that can even be compared with Watty and the Leddy o’ Grippy. Where the _Annals_ peculiarly excel is in the rare quality of _charm_: it has no hero, and the central figure is enriched with foibles that do not lean to heroism’s side: but they are quaintly attractive, and no one but Galt has given to literature any one like him. Of pathos Galt is shy in the _Annals_; nowhere is he at all disposed to ‘wallow’ in it: but he draws reverently near, and moves away as reverently. Nor is he boisterously funny: his wit is all his own, and it crops up at every corner, but not noisily: it cuts few capers, and has a pawky discretion. It is singularly void of malice and haughtiness, and has a Shakespearian humanity and blandness that fails to remind one of Thackeray. The _Annals of the Parish_ prove that a great writer can make a whole book intensely amusing and extraordinarily amiable: that perfectly clear sight need not be merciless, nor wit remorselessly cruel. The great and just success of the _Annals of the Parish_ made Galt prolific: and in rapid sequence came _Sir Andrew Wylie_, _The Entail_, _The Steamboat_, _The Provost_, _Ringan Gilhaize_, _The Spaewife_, _Rothelan_, and _The Omen_.