MR. INGLIS’ LECTURES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5583, 19 February 1879, Page 3

MR. INGLIS’ LECTURES.

The “ Songs and Music of Scotland” formed the subject of last night’s entertainment, and it was certainly a decided success. Mr. Inglis (he himself pronounces His uame as though it were spelt Ingles) possesses the power of keeping his audience in a good humor. lie commands their whole attention at critical moments, and constantly elicits warm and hearty bursts of applause. The peculiarity in the lecturer which most strikes a stranger’s ear is the very Scotch accent which he retained throughout last night’s address, liven when translating broad Scotticisms, to English ears tho Northern burr was very evident, and an Englishman requires some little time to accustom himself to the peculiarity. His voice is perhaps less mellow than might bo desired, and his delivery when he is unmoved by fun, sentiment, or pathos, a little but wheu stirr ed by passion or enthusiasm his voice gains power and expression, and it is no exaggeration to say that his auditors were quite spell-bound at times. At the conclusion of his reading of “ Auld Robin Gray” and “ Scots' wha hae wi Wallace bled,” not a sound was audible save the lecturer’s voice.

He explained to his hearers that the Scottish music was remarkable for having adopted what was known to scientific musicians as tho Caledonian Scale, the peculiarity of which consisted in the absence of two semitones, which commonly occur in other scales. These tones were often absent from religious and solemn music, and strange to say, did not occur in Chinese music either. Among tho examples of a fairly strict adherence to their national scale ho cited “The Campbells are Coming.” Mr. Inglis explained that he had tho misfortune to be a Lowlander, and felt that ho could not do justice to the “Gaelic,” the tongue which, according to Highland tradition, was spoken by Adam and Eve in tho Garden of Eden. After referring at some length to the characteristic points in the pibroch or bagpipe music, and defining music as the voice of nature, whereas song was in a measure a work of art, he quoted Fletcher's saying,— "Let me make the songs of a nation, and who will may make its laws.” A little national partiality was evident when Mr. Inglis said that the odes of Horace could not be compared with the sougs of Scotland and odes of modern days, and called Burns’ “Scots wha hae wi Wallace bled” the most majestic song of any to be found in the world. The national songs were described as being graphic and truthful rather than graceful and.delicate ; but Mr. Inglis upheld the moral tendency of Scottish poesy. Ho paid a high and patriotic tribute of praise to Queen Victoria, who, bo said, would bo known to posterity as Victoria the Good. His hearers were warned against an Irishman who was in the fighting stage of drunkenness, and against a Scotchman who was in the theological stage. He graphically depicted what is known in Scotland as “ greetin’ fou,” which in English is known as maudling drunk. A tenth of the audience were boldly set down by Mr. Inglis as “ Paisley bodies,” as they are supposed to be a wandering lot. Lady Ann Lindsay is well known os tho authoress of “ Auld Robin Gray,” but there are few who are aware that she preserved the secret of tho authorship for fifty years, and then only admitted it to Sir Walter Scott for the information of her friends. The air was said to bo composed by a Church of England clergyman, and the lecturer described it as worthy of the song. Mr. Inglis recited the lines: “ My father could na work, My inither docht na ipin,"

repeating the words “ could na” in the second line. This may be correct, but it is different to the version wo have heard. His reading of the last lines of this ballad is undoubtedly the correct one. “ Get up and bar the door,” and “ Hame cam our glide man at niclit,” were very successfully recited, aud the whole lecture was excellently given and frequently applauded. The varied talents of the speaker, his enthusiasm, his pathos, and power of expressing, apparently without effort, diverse forms of feeling, are most remarkable, and we can heartily recommend the entertainment.