Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/566

Rh 540 SCOTLAND [LITERATURE. the other by Mr John Croall of Soxithfield and these have already produced several notable contributions to Scottish theology. An association for augumenting the smaller livings was forim-d in 1866, and the church now has a smaller livings scheme, which aims at bringing up to 200 a year all livings that fall below that sum. Such numbered 311 in 1885 ; and the sum distributed among them was 8537, which, however, was 5000 short of the sum neces- sary to accomplish fully the desired object. In the following details of the income of the church we give first the value of her endowments and then some figures showing the growth of her voluntary liberality. Finance. Means from Endowments. (I) From a parliamentary return ob- tained in 1874 the church is seen to derive from teinds, includ- ing the value of manses and glebes, the annual sum of 289,413. Augmentations have been obtained since that date amounting to upwards of 10,000, but the fiars prices have declined during the same period by nearly 25 per cent., so that the total amount so derived has not increased. The unexhausted teiuds amounted in 1880 to 134,413. (2) The exchequer pays to 190 poor parishes and to 42 Highland churches, from church property in the hands of the crown, 17,040. (3) From local sources the church derives 23,501. (4) The endowments raised by the church for 342 new parishes amount to 42,500. The total endowments, not counting church buildings, amount to 383,041. Means from Voluntary Liberality. The following table (I.) gives a view of the financial progress of certain of the schemes of the church since the secession : Year. Foreign Mission. Education. Colonial Scheme. Jewish Mission. Home Mission. 1842 6,748 3630 3,753 4298 1845 3,572 3688 2,481 1867 2,6is 1850 6,047 4019 2,707 2472 3,567 1855 3,712 4466 3,060 2619 3,866 1860 4,873 4487 3,228 2804 4,858 1865 5,822 4952 3,696 3299 5,389 1870 7,754 8245 4,634 4101 7,082 1875 12,315 9035 8,371 5644 11,163 1880 16,270 11,674 4715 15,604 1885 13,346 4,750 5128 9,450 No attempt was made until 1873 to collect statistics of the whole liberality of the church ; and changes introduced from time to time in the mode of stating the various sums make it impossible to give a complete comparative statement since that date. The following table (II.) shows the amount at quinquennial periods down to 1885, the church-door collections and seat- rents probably affording the most accurate indication of the general progress of the body. The building operations of which the values are given include only such building as is the result of voluntary effort. Under the head of "general church objects" are included the collections for missions, for small livings, aged and infirm ministers, zenana missions, &c. These figures do not include income from trust funds or endow- ments ; they state what was given in the year referred to. A number of objects of liberality are not included in the table. Year. Church-door Collections. Seat Rents. Church or Manse Building or Repairs. General Church Objects. Other Objects. Total. 1872 1877 1882 1885 41,561 65,827 76,399 80,887 35,225 53,094 59,859 63,197 31,851 69,800 67,134 59,395 43,618 40,117 51,520 60,110 27,224 54,572 61,253 61,739 255,3.00 373,715 386,0(H 374,576 Adam- nan. The following sums were raised during the thirteen years 1872- 84 : congregational and charitable purposes, 1,462,091 ; support of ordinances and supplement of stipends, 233,406; education (exclusive of sums raised for training colleges), 161,931 ; home mission work, 358,543 ; church building, 737,775 ; endowment of new parishes, 486,693 ; foreign mission work, 376,523 ; total, 3,816,962. Mr James Baird's gift is not included in this state- ment. (A. M*.) SCOTLAND, LITERATURE OF. Literature in Scotland, as distinct from England, dates from the time of COLUMBA (q.v.). Adamnan, abbot of lona, who in 690 wrote in Latin the life of his predecessor, may be regarded as the first author that Scotland produced. In addition to his biography of St Columba, a long extract from a work of his on the " Holy Places " is incorporated by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History. The greater part of Scotland was at that time inhabited by a Celtic population and the period from the 7th to the 13th century has left but few literary remains (see CELTIC LITERATURE, vol. v. p. 313). In the latter part of the '13th century what may be called the ancient literary language of Scotland was used in the dis- trict between the Humber and the Forth and coastwise as far north as Aberdeen. Its earliest writer is Thomas of Ercildoune, or Thomas the Rhymer, who reached the height of his fame in 1280. The fairy tale or romance that bears his name may be regarded as the earliest example of romance poetry in Britain. Nearly contemporary with the Rhymer were two other distinguished Scots, Michael SCOT (q.v.) and John of Duns, or DUNS SCOTUS (q.v.), both of whom, however, wrote in Latin. Three Arthurian Arthur romances taken from Anglo-Norman sources relating to ian r - Sir Gawain, one of the most celebrated knights of the m! Round Table, seem to have been composed about the end of the 13th century. These were Syr Gawayn and the Grene Knycht, the Knightly Tale of Golagros and Gawayne, and the Aimtyrs of Arthur at the Ternewathelyne. Sir Gawain's exploits were so popular in the south of Scotland that he was claimed by the people as one of their own chieftains and called the lord of Galloway. The Atmtyrs of Arthur, or the adventures of King Arthur at the Tern- wadling, a small lake near Carlisle, and the Pystil of Swete Susan, a version of the apocryphal story of Susanna, are supposed to have been the productions of Sir Hew of Eglintoun about that period. The Taill of Ravf Coilzear, in which the adventures of the emperor Charlemagne in the house of a charcoal-burner named Ralph in the neigh- bourhood of Paris are related with much poetic humour, and the fairy tale of Orfeo and Heurodis were written in the early part of the 14th century and were very popular in Scotland in former times. The War of Independence gave a new impetus to Scot- tish nationality and produced a corresponding effect on the literature of the country. The Brus, or metrical account of the deeds of Robert Bruce, was written by John BAR- Barboi BOUR (q.v.), archdeacon of Aberdeen, in the latter part of the 14th century. To him we owe a translation of a mediaeval romance on the Trojan War, nearly 3000 lines in length, and a large collection of metrical lives of saints, which, after being long preserved in manuscript, have re- cently been printed by Dr Horstmann. About this time was compiled the first formal history of Scotland by John of FORDUN (q.v.), which was written in Latin and brought Fordu down to the death of David I. He, however, left materials for the completion of the work, the last date of which is 1385. In 1441 a continuation of it was made by Walter Bower or Bowmaker. The whole work was then styled Bowe the Scotichronicon, and brings the history of Scotland down to 1437. A metrical history was written between 1420 and 1424 by Andrew of Wyntoun, a canon regular of St Wyn- Andrews and prior of St Serf's Inch in Loch Leven. This toun - work, known as the Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland, is pre- faced by an account of the human race from the creation, and, although for the most part its verse is homely and dull, its author occasionally describes stirring incidents with considerable power. The beautiful poem of James I. Jame called The Kingis Quhair, written about this period, was far in advance of the contemporary metrical chronicles. It possesses a melody of verse unknown before and gives the king a conspicuous place in early Scottish literature. He is supposed to have also written A Ballad of Good Counsel and a song On Absence ; but two poems, Christis Kirk of the Grene and Peblis to the Play, believed to have been his composition, have been recently shown by the Rev. W. W. Skeat to be by some other early poet. An allegorical poem called the Buke of the Howlat was written about 1450 by Sir Richard Holland, an adherent of the noble family of Douglas. It is a warning against pride, exemplified by the owl, decked out in the splendour of borrowed feathers, compelled on account of his insolence to resume his original form. The poem displays some inventive and descriptive power, though marred by its alliteration. The exploits of Sir William Wallace found