WANTED—A SOLDIER'S BOOK OF VERSE.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sia,--111 connection with the appreciation shown by the troops in South Africa for stirring verses (see Spectator, October 18th and 25th), it may be considered not uninteresting to recall by the accompanying extract from Lockhart's Life Of Scott how the men of the 58th (Sir Adam Fergusson's old regiment) appreciated Scott's verses in the Peninsular War :—
" I must not omit a circumstance which had reached Scott from another source, and which he always took special pride in rela- ting, namely, that in the course of the day when the Lady of the Lake' first reached Sir Adam Fergusson, he was posted with his company on a point of ground exposed to the enemy's artillery, somewhere, no doubt, on the lines of Torres Vedras. The men were ordered to lie prostrate on the ground ; while they kept that attitude the Captain, kneeling at their head, read aloud the description of the battle in Canto VI., and the listening soldiers only interrupted him by a joyous huzza whenever the French shot struck the bank close above them."—Chap. 22.
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