News at Eleven: [John] Leyden became one of Scott's most

trusted assistants, and went about his task with the doggedness that typified him. He undertook a 50-mile round trip when he learned that an old man near Haddington knew a few stanzas of one of the ballads in which he was interested (and returned to Scott's house whistling the tune in order to keep it in his memory, despite a furious storm raging); he wrote essays on the use of the supernatural and toured the Highlands researching the authenticity of the "Ossian" poems. But by far the most significant contribution to the Minstrelsy was his own poetry. Leyden effectively came up with the idea of writing "modern imitations" of ballads. [Walter] Scott followed suit, and his career as a creative writer began.

from The Scotsman: Dr. John Leyden: A forgotten man of influence

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