The child of a mysterious wandering race, Meg has a double claim to utter such speeches as she addresses to Ellangowan after the eviction of her tribe.

Her death, as Mr.Ruskin says, is "self-devoted, heroic in the highest, and happy." The devotion of Meg Merrilies, the grandeur of her figure, the music of her songs, more than redeem the character of Dirk Hatteraick, even if we hold, with the "Edinburgh" reviewer, that he is "a vulgar bandit of the German school," just as the insipidity and flageolet of the hero are redeemed by the ballad sung in the moment of recognition.
"Are these the Links of Forth, she said, Or are they the crooks of Dee, Or the bonnie woods of Warroch Head, That I so fain would see ?" "Guy Mannering," according to Lockhart, was "pronounced by acclamation fully worthy to share the honours of 'Waverley.'" One star differeth from another in glory, and "Guy Mannering" has neither that vivid picture of clannish manners nor that noble melancholy of a gallant and forlorn endeavour of the Lost Cause, "When all was done that man may do, And all was done in vain," which give dignity to "Waverley." Yet, with Lockhart, we may admire, in "Guy Mannering," "the rapid, ever-heightening interest of the narrative, the unaffected kindliness of feeling, the manly purity of thought, everywhere mingled with a gentle humour and homely sagacity, but, above all, the rich variety and skilful contrast of character and manners, at once fresh in fiction and stamped with the unforgeable seal of truth and nature." ANDREW LANG.
GUY MANNERING OR THE ASTROLOGER.