212
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. ix. MARCH is, 1902.
much for Mackelvie and some of his more
palpable errors. Dr. Grosart follows .suit ;
but in addition he has attempted some
literary criticism, the result of which is cer-
tainly not favourable to Bruce. In the Scots
Magazine, December, 1897, the four known
versions of the 'Ode to the Cuckoo' were
published namely, those of 1770, 1774, 1781,
and 1837. That of 1837 (Mackelvie's) is sin-
gular in this respect that it professes to be
Bruce's, yet contains words which Grosart
maintained were Logan's e g , " grove,"
" what time," and in the last line a most
unaccountable alteration, for there we have
"attendants" instead of companions, which
appears in all the others. Dr. Grosart never
attempted to account for this version. His
argument on some other points shows how
little he deserves the name " qualified special-
ist." I quote again from the Scots Maga-
zine, November, 1897, to which interested
readers are referred for Dr. Grosart's argu-
ment. The writer says :
" What does this amount to, but that in a MS. that was never seen by Logan there occurs, accord- ing to Dr. Grosart, his [Logan's] defacement
- beauteous,' and Bruce's improvement ' cowslip '
a Logan-Bruce production in a MS., according to Dr. Grosart, 'independent of Logan.' Say 'in- dependent of Bruce' and the difficulty vanishes."
Dr. Grosart's article upon this part of the subject will be found in the United Pres- byterian Magazine, February, 1897. MR. BAYNE'S extract from Grosart's edition of Bruce's 'Poems' merely shows that Grosart depended upon Mackelvie for information regarding Bruce's MSS. As I have already clearly shown, 1768, at the earliest, was the year in which they came into Logan's pos- session. It may even have been as late as 1769, when he was returning from Caithness, that he received them. Of course, when MR.
BAYNE says, "This controversy has made
no progress in thirty years," he may have in view that the admirers of Bruce have been unable to advance their case by any fresh argument since Grosart published his re- markable volume. On the other hand, Logan's case grows stronger and stronger the more Mackelvie is analyzed. From a short corre- spondence I had upon this subject with Dr brrosart I quite agree with MR. BAYNE that he would in any future edition of Bruce's
loems have emphasized his own view of the authorship of the ' Ode to the Cuckoo,' nor should I have expected him to retract one iota of all that he had penned against Logan. > Yet the expunging of these charges of plagiarism from Mackelvie removes two of the strongest buttresses by which the fabric built upon tradition was supported
This foundation of tradition is itself also
seriously undermined, and what has been
reared upon it becomes untrustworthy, when
the manner of transmission of the tradition
is seriously investigated.
A. M. MCDONALD.
" ENDORSEMENT " : " DORSO - VENTRALITY "
(9 th S. ix. 64). Some banks require the
endorsement of the payee of a cheque in
addition to his discharge on the face of it,
especially when the latter takes the form of
a stamped receipt. The instructions on the
dividend warrant referred to may therefore
have been quite in order, seeing that the back
demanded attention as well as the front a
clear case of " dorso-ventrality."
CHAS. GILLMAN.
Salisbury.
I do not think any banker would admit that a cheque can be endorsed by the payee signing a receipt at the foot of it. Where cheques are in the form mentioned at the above reference they must be receipted and endorsed before payment can be obtained. The words "This cheque requires endorse- ment" have no reference to the receipt on the front of the cheque. The same words constantly appear on cheques to which a receipt form is not attached. I remember reading an election petition case in which counsel contended that certain endorsements required by the Ballot Act ought to be made on the front of the ballot paper, but (as might be expected) he failed to carry the court with him. F. W. READ.
UNCOVERING AT THE NATIONAL ANTHEM (9 th S. ix. 109). Fifty odd years ago it was rare to hear in country places ' God save the Queen ' sung ; hardly ever was it called 'The National Anthem.' We were taught that it was " respectful " to stand in a room when 'God save the Queen' was sung, and for boys and men to take off their hats when the hymn was heard out of doors. The cus- tom of uncovering was not much observed, so far as I remember, and at big gatherings out of doors never a hat was removed, except on the platform, and then all were not of one mind. There was not any intention of dis- respect in keeping the hat on, so far as I remember. But 'God save the Queen' was rarely heard out of doors.
THOS. RATCLIFPE.
\Yorksop.
WEEKS'S MUSEUM (9 th S. ix. 8, 97). This museum was established as early, at least, as 1803, for in that edition of the ' Picture of
