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stronger than water。  There was a certain kind of humour in drink;

he said; but he thought it was chiefly obvious to the sober

spectator。  As the sober spectator; he sang of violent delights

which have violent ends。  He may best be left to illustrate student

life for himself。  The ‘waster' of whom he chants is the slang name

borne by the local fast man。





THE WASTER SINGING AT MIDNIGHT。

AFTER LONGFELLOW。



Loud he sang the song Ta Phershon

For his personal diversion;

Sang the chorus U…pi…dee;

Sang about the Barley Bree。



In that hour when all is quiet

Sang he songs of noise and riot;

In a voice so loud and queer

That I wakened up to hear。



Songs that distantly resembled

Those one hears from men assembled

In the old Cross Keys Hotel;

Only sung not half so well。



For the time of this ecstatic

Amateur was most erratic;

And he only hit the key

Once in every melody。



If 〃he wot prigs wot isn't his'n

Ven he's cotched is sent to prison;〃

He who murders sleep might well

Adorn a solitary cell。



But; if no obliging peeler

Will arrest this midnight squealer;

My own peculiar arm of might

Must undertake the job to…night。





The following fragment is but doubtfully autobiographical。  ‘The

swift four…wheeler' seldom devastates the streets where; of old; the

Archbishop's jackmen sliced Presbyterian professors with the

claymore; as James Melville tells us:…





TO NUMBER 27x。



Beloved Peeler! friend and guide

And guard of many a midnight reeler;

None worthier; though the world is wide;

Beloved Peeler。



Thou from before the swift four…wheeler

Didst pluck me; and didst thrust aside

A strongly built provision…dealer



Who menaced me with blows; and cried

‘Come on! come on!'  O Paian; Healer;

Then but for thee I must have died;

Beloved Peeler!





The following presentiment; though he was no ‘waster;' may very well

have been his own。  He was only half Scotch; and not at all

metaphysical:…





THE WASTER'S PRESENTIMENT



I shall be spun。  There is a voice within

Which tells me plainly I am all undone;

For though I toil not; neither do I spin;

I shall be spun。



April approaches。  I have not begun

Schwegler or Mackintosh; nor will begin

Those lucid works till April 21。



So my degree I do not hope to win;

For not by ways like mine degrees are won;

And though; to please my uncle; I go in;

I shall be spun。





Here we must quote; from The Scarlet Gown; one of his most tender

pieces of affectionate praise bestowed on his favourite city:…





A DECEMBER DAY



Blue; blue is the sea to…day;

Warmly the light

Sleeps on St。 Andrews Bay …

Blue; fringed with white。



That's no December sky!

Surely ‘tis June

Holds now her state on high;

Queen of the noon。



Only the tree…tops bare

Crowning the hill;

Clear…cut in perfect air;

Warn us that still



Winter; the aged chief;

Mighty in power;

Exiles the tender leaf;

Exiles the flower。



Is there a heart to…day;

A heart that grieves

For flowers that fade away;

For fallen leaves?



Oh; not in leaves or flowers

Endures the charm

That clothes those naked towers

With love…light warm。



O dear St。 Andrews Bay;

Winter or Spring

Gives not nor takes away

Memories that cling



All round thy girdling reefs;

That walk thy shore;

Memories of joys and griefs

Ours evermore。



‘I have NOT worked for my classes this session;' he writes (1884);

‘and shall not take any places。'  The five or six most distinguished

pupils used; at least in my time; to receive prize…books decorated

with the University's arms。  These prize…men; no doubt; held the

‘places' alluded to by Murray。  If HE was idle; ‘I speak of him but

brotherly;' having never held any ‘place' but that of second to Mr。

Wallace; now Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford; in the Greek

Class (Mr。 Sellar's)。  Why was one so idle; in Latin (Mr。 Shairp);

in Morals (Mr。 Ferrier); in Logic (Mr。 Veitch)? but Logic was

unintelligible。



‘I must confess;' remarks Murray; in a similar spirit of pensive

regret; ‘that I have not had any ambition to distinguish myself

either in Knight's (Moral Philosophy) or in Butler's。' {1}



Murray then speaks with some acrimony about earnest students; whose

motive; he thinks; is a small ambition。  But surely a man may be

fond of metaphysics for the sweet sake of Queen Entelechy; and;

moreover; these students looked forward to days in which real work

would bear fruit。



‘You must grind up the opinions of Plato; Aristotle; and a lot of

other men; concerning things about which they knew nothing; and we

know nothing; taking these opinions at second or third hand; and

never looking into the works of these men; for to a man who wants to

take a place; there is no time for anything of that sort。'



Why not?  The philosophers ought to be read in their own language;

as they are now read。  The remarks on the most fairy of

philosophersPlato; on the greatest of all minds; that of

Aristotle; are boyish。  Again ‘I speak but brotherly;' remembering

an old St。 Leonard's essay in which Virgil was called ‘the furtive

Mantuan;' and another; devoted to ridicule of Euripides。  But Plato

and Aristotle we never blasphemed。



Murray adds that he thinks; next year; of taking the highest Greek

Class; and English Literature。  In the latter; under Mr。 Baynes; he

took the first place; which he mentions casually to Mrs。 Murray

about a year after date:…





‘A sweet life and an idle

He lives from year to year;

Unknowing bit or bridle;

There are no Proctors here。'





In Greek; despite his enthusiastic admiration of the professor; Mr。

Campbell; he did not much enjoy himself:…





‘Thrice happy are those

Who ne'er heard of Greek Prose …

Or Greek Poetry either; as far as that goes;

For Liddell and Scott

Shall cumber them not;

Nor Sargent nor Sidgwick shall break their repose。



But I; late at night;

By the very bad light

Of very bad gas; must painfully write

Some stuff that a Greek

With his delicate cheek

Would smile at as ‘barbarous'faith; he well might。



* * * * *



So away with Greek Prose;

The source of my woes!

(This metre's too tough; I must draw to a close。)

May Sargent be drowned

In the ocean profound;

And Sidgwick be food for the carrion crows!'





Greek prose is a stubborn thing; and the biographer remembers being

told that his was ‘the best; with the worst mistakes'; also

frequently by Mr。 Sellar; that it was ‘bald。'  But Greek prose is

splendid practice; and no less good practice is Greek and Latin

verse。  These exercises; so much sneered at; are the Dwellers on the

Threshold of the life of letters。  They are haunting forms of fear;

but they have to be wrestled with; like the Angel (to change the

figure); till they bless you; and make words become; in your hands;

like the clay of the modeller。  Could we write Greek like Mr。 Jebb;

we would never write anything else。



Murray had naturally; it seems; certainly not by dint of wrestling

with Greek prose; the mastery of language。  His light verse is

wonderfully handled; quaint; fluent; right。  Modest as he was; he

was ambitious; as we said; but not ambitious of any gain; merely

eager; in his own way; to excel。  His ideal is plainly stated in the

following verses:…





'Greek text'



Ever to be the best。  To lead

In whatsoever things are true;

Not stand among the halting crew;

The faint of heart; the feeble…kneed;

Who tarry for a certain sign

To make them follow with the rest …

Oh; let not their reproach be thine!

But ever be the best。



For want of this aspiring soul;

Great deeds on earth remain undone;

But; sharpened by the sight of one;

Many shall press toward the goal。

Thou running foremost of the throng;

The fire of striving in thy breast;

Shalt win; although the race be long;

And ever be the best。



And wilt thou question of the prize?

‘Tis not of silver or of gold;

Nor in applauses manifold;

But hidden in the heart it lies:

To know that but for thee not one

Had run the race or sought the quest;

To know that thou hast ever done

And ever been the best。





Murray was never a great athlete:  his ambition did not lead him to

desire a place in the Scottish Fifteen at Football。  Probably he was

more likely to be found matched against ‘The Man from Inversnaid。'





IMITATED FROM WORDSWORTH



He brought a team from Inversnaid

To play our Third Fifteen;

A man whom none of us had played

And very few had seen。



He weighed not less than eighteen stone;

And to a practised eye

He seemed as little fit to run

As he was fit to fly。



He looked so clumsy and so slow;

And made so little fuss;

But he got in behindand oh;

The difference to us!





He was never a golfer; one of his best

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