Street congregation thought otherwise, and renewed their call, and were successful so that he was inducted as their minister in June, 1797. Jamieson's
clerical duties were thus multiplied by a new and more extensive field of labour; but he did not remit those literary exertions which had thus far been
crowned with success. In 1799 he published his "Remarks on Rowland Hill's Journal." In 1802 appeared his work, in two volumes octavo, entitled the "Use of Sacred History;" and in 1806, the "Important Trial in the Court of Conscience." His next work, and by far his most important, was the "Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language." The Herculean attempt which he proposed to himself in this work, and which he has so successfully accomplished, was the following:—
1. To illustrate the words in their different significations, by examples from ancient and modern writers.
2. To show their affinity to those of other languages, and especially the northern.
3. To explain many terms which, though now obsolete in England, were formerly common to both countries.
4. To elucidate national rites, customs, and institutions, in their analogy to those of other nations.
The history of this national production of Jamieson is worthy of particular notice. When he first engaged in a task to which his early studies and pursuits had been so congenial, he had meant to produce nothing more than a work of small dimensions a mere vocabulary or glossary of the Scottish tongue; and in the notes which he had prepared for the occasion, the names of his authorities were merely mentioned, without further reference. It was then suggested to him that the Dictionary would be more acceptable to the public, as well as more satisfactory as a standard, if he quoted those passages at full by which his definitions were confirmed. He acted upon this advice, being fully persuaded of its correctness, and the consequence was, that his drudgery was again to be undergone, and that, too, with many heavy additions, so that he went over the whole ground not only a second, but, in many cases, a third time. It was not wonderful if, under such a process, the result was two goodly quarto volumes, instead of a slim duodecimo. The new light, also, which broke upon him in the course of his studies, was sufficient to inspire him with tenfold ardour in the task. At the outset he had supposed, in common with the prevalent opinion, that the Scottish language was, in fact, no language at all, but a mere dialect of the Anglo Saxon; and that, as such, its fountain was at no greater distance than England, and of no higher antiquity than the days of Hengist and Horsa. His interviews, however, with a learned Icelander, suggested another and more important theory; this was, that the primitive words of the Scottish dialect were not Saxon, nor even Celtic, but Gothic. Were the Lowlanders of Scotland, then, the descendants not merely of Anglo-Saxon captives and refugees, but of a still more illustrious race—even of those who conquered Rome herself, and opened the way to the regeneration of Europe? Such, he concluded, must be the case; and 'the only difficulty that remained was to prove it. This he endeavoured to accomplish, by demonstrating that the Picts were not a Celtic but a Gothic race; and that from them, and not the Welsh or the Saxon, we derive these peculiarities of the Scottish tongue. This theory, which he supported with a great amount of learning and probability, is published in his Dissertation on the Origin of the
