Page:New spirit of Scots wit.pdf/2



has from time immemorial enjoyed a due share of reputation for learning and good sense, but it has generally been thought deficient in wit. This deficiency has been ascribed to various causes, some contending that our dullness was owing to our high northern latitude, and the rigour of our climate.—According to the poet:

But time, which discovers most truths, has shewn that the Scots are a nation not destitute of wit and fancy, more than any other people in Europe. From the period of the reformation indeed, there seems to have been a kind of Bœotian mist that clonded [sic] the hemisphere of our learning. The incessant quarrels of the clergy with James VI. in which the people took so deep an interest, engendered a severity of manners, and moroseness of character, ill suiting the sprightly sallies of wit and humour. The cruelties and severities exercised by the profligate Charles after his restoration, and his bigoted brother James, on the poor covenanters, converted the people into a nation of gloomy enthusiasts, where wit was criminal, and humour profanity.

But now that the days of religious animosity and intolerance are passed away, and the despicable jargon in which it was carried on forgotten, Scottish wit shines out in its genuine lustre, founded upon good sense and a refined taste.

We have had "the Spirit of English Wit," and "the Spirit of Irish Wit," collected into a focus, while the spirit and substance of Scottish wit has been left to evaporate in the desert air. This defect we have attempted in some measure to remedy by bringing forward the following collection of Ancedotes [sic], Bon Mots, Jests, Puns, and Droll Stories, no inconsiderable portion of which are original, which it is hoped will shew that the Scots are possessed of some wit, both in spirit and substance.