Among
these were versions of the _Erl Koenig_ of Goethe, and the _Lenore_ and
_The Wild Huntsman_ of Buerger, which appeared in 1796. In 1797 he rendered
into English _Otho of Wittelsbach_ by Steinburg, and in 1799 Goethe's
tragedy, _Goetz von Berlichingen_. These were the trial efforts of his
"'prentice hand," which predicted a coming master.
On the 24th of December, 1797, he married Miss Carpenter, or Charpentier,
a lady of French parentage, and retired to a cottage at Lasswade, where he
began his studies, and cherished his literary aspirations in earnest and
for life.
In 1799 he was so fortunate as to receive the appointment of Sheriff of
Selkirkshire, with a salary of L300 per annum. His duties were not
onerous: he had ample time to scour the country, ostensibly in search of
game, and really in seeking for the songs and traditions of Scotland,
border ballads, and tales, and in storing his fancy with those picturesque
views which he was afterwards to describe so well in verse and prose. In
1802 he was thus enabled to present to the world his first considerable
work, _The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_, containing many new ballads
which he had collected, with very valuable local and historical notes.
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