Scott says, as we have seen, that he brought in the aged harper to
save himself from the imputation of "setting-up a new school of
poetry" instead of humbly imitating an old school. But I think that
the chivalrous wish to do honour to Lady Dalkeith, both as a personal
friend and as the wife of his "chief,"--as he always called the head
of the house of Scott,--had more to do with the introduction of the
aged harper, than the wish to guard himself against the imputation of
attempting a new poetic style. He clearly intended the Duchess of _The
Lay_ to represent the Countess for whom he wrote it, and the aged
harper, with his reverence and gratitude and self-distrust, was only
the disguise in which he felt that he could best pour out his loyalty,
and the romantic devotion with which both Lord and Lady Dalkeith, but
especially the latter, had inspired him. It was certainly this
beautiful framework which assured the immediate success and permanent
charm of the poem; and the immediate success was for that day
something marvellous.
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