LANG

lang, andrew (1844- ), british man of letters, was born on the 31st of march 1844, at selkirk, scotland. he was educated at the edinburgh academy, st andrews university and at balliol college, oxford, where he took a first class in the final classical schools in 1868, becoming a fellow and subsequently honorary fellow of merton college. as a journalist, poet, critic and historian, he soon made a reputation as one of the ablest and most versatile writers of the day. his first publication was a volume of metrical experiments, _the ballads and lyrics of old france_ (1872), and this was followed at intervals by other volumes of dainty verse, _xxii._ _ballades in blue china_ (1880, enlarged edition, 1888), _ballads and verses vain_ (1884), selected by mr austin dobson; _rhymes a la mode_ (1884), _grass of parnassus_ (1888), _ban and arriere ban_ (1894), _new collected rhymes_ (1905). he collaborated with s. h. butcher in a prose translation (1879) of the _odyssey_, and with e. myers and walter leaf in a prose version (1883) of the _iliad_, both of them remarkable for accurate scholarship and excellence of style. as a homeric scholar, of conservative views, he took a high rank. his _homer and the epic_ appeared in 1893; a new prose translation of _the homeric hymns_ in 1899, with essays literary and mythological, in which parallels to the greek myths are given from the traditions of savage races; and his _homer and his age_ in 1906. his purely journalistic activity was from the first of a varied description, ranging from sparkling "leaders" for the _daily news_ to miscellaneous articles for the _morning post_, and for many years he was literary editor of _longman's magazine_; no critic was in more request, whether for occasional articles and introductions to new editions or as editor of dainty reprints. to the study of scottish history mr lang brought a scholarly care for detail, a piquant literary style, and a gift for disentangling complicated questions. the _mystery of mary stuart_ (1901, new and revised ed., 1904) was a consideration of the fresh light thrown on mary's history by the lennox mss. in the university library, cambridge, strengthening her case by restating the perfidy of her accusers. he also wrote monographs on _the portraits and jewels of mary stuart_ (1906) and _james vi. and the gowrie mystery_ (1902). the somewhat unfavourable view of john knox presented in his book _john knox and the reformation_ (1905) aroused considerable controversy. he gave new information about the continental career of the young pretender in _pickle the spy_ (1897), an account of alastair ruadh macdonell, whom he identified with pickle, a notorious hanoverian spy. this was followed in 1898 by _the companions of pickle_, and in 1900 by a monograph on _prince charles edward_. in 1900 he began a _history of scotland from the roman occupation_, the fourth volume of which (1907) brought scottish history down to 1746. _the valet's tragedy_ (1903), which takes its title from an essay on the "man with the iron mask," (see iron mask), collects twelve papers on historical mysteries, and _a monk of fife_ (1896) is a fictitious narrative purporting to be written by a young scot in france in 1429-1431. mr lang's versatility was also shown in his valuable works on folk-lore and on primitive religion. the earliest of these works was _custom and myth_ (1884); in _myth, literature and religion_ (2 vols., 1887, french trans., 1896) he explained the irrational elements of mythology as survivals from earlier savagery; in _the making of religion_ (an idealization of savage animism) he maintained the existence of high spiritual ideas among savage races, and instituted comparisons between savage practices and the occult phenomena among civilized races; he dealt with the origins of totemism (q.v.) in _social origins_, printed (1903) together with j. j. atkinson's _primal law_. he was one of the founders of the study of "psychical research," and his other writings on anthropology include _the book of dreams and ghosts_ (1897), _magic and religion_ (1901) and _the secret of the totem_ (1905). he carried the humour and sub-acidity of discrimination which marked his criticism of fellow folk-lorists into the discussion of purely literary subjects in his _books and bookmen_ (1886), _letters to dead authors_ (1886), _letters on literature_ (1889), &c. his _blue fairy tale book_ (1889), beautifully produced and illustrated, was followed annually at christmas by a book of fairy tales and romances drawn from many sources. he edited _the poems and songs of robert burns_ (1896), and was responsible for the _life and letters_ (1897) of j. g. lockhart, and _the life, letters and diaries_ (1890) of sir stafford northcote, first earl of iddesleigh.