Richard Heber, the wealthy and luxurious antiquary and
collector, looked into Constable's first little bookselling shop, and
saw a strange, poor young student prowling among the books. This was
John Leyden, son of a shepherd in Roxburghshire, a lad living in
extreme poverty.
Leyden, in 1800, was making himself a savant. Heber spoke with him,
found that he was rich in ballad-lore, and carried him to Scott. He
was presently introduced into the best society in Edinburgh (which
would not happen in our time), and a casual note of Scott's proves
that he did not leave Leyden in poverty. Early in 1802, Leyden got
the promise of an East Indian appointment, read medicine furiously,
and sailed for the East in the beginning of 1803. It does not appear
that Leyden went ballad-hunting in Ettrick before he rode thither
with Scott in the spring of 1802. He was busy with books, with
editorial work, and in aiding Scott in Edinburgh. It was he who
insisted that a small volume at five shillings was far too narrow for
the materials collected.
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