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 SCOTTISH 
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 PRINTED BY AND FOR J. NICHOLS. 
 MDCCLXXXI.

 
 TG5 
 
 \ 
 
 JHARDYKNUTE, 
 
 AN HEROIC BALLAD, 
 
 NOW FIRST PUBLISHED COMPLETE; 
 
 ^ WITH THE OTHER MORE APPROVED 
 
 \V^ 
 
 SCOTTISH BALLADS, 
 
 AND SOME NOT HITHERTO MADE PUBLIC, 
 
 5 IN THE TRAGIC STILE. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED 
 
 TWO DISSERTATIONS, 
 
 I. ON THE ORAL TRADITION OF POETRY. 
 II. ON THE TRAGIC BALLAD. 
 
 JAMQJUE SACRWM TENERIS VATEM VENKRETUR AB ANNIS. 
 
 a 2
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 DISSERTATION I. Page he 
 
 DISSERTATION II. xxviii 
 
 I. Hardyknute^ Part I. t 
 
 Part II. 16 
 
 3. Child Maurice, 35 
 
 3. Adam o Gordon. 45 
 
 4. &'r Hugh) or the Jew's Daughter* o 
 
 5. Fkdden Field) or the Flovxrt tftbf Forejt. $ 
 
 6. Edward. 54 
 
 7. &V Patrick Spenci. . 57 
 
 8. I*fc#> BotbwelFs Lament. 59 
 
 9. .EW o/" Murray. 60 
 
 1 0. &> James the Rofe. 6 1 
 
 1 1 . Laird of Woodljoufelie. 6$ 
 
 12. Lord Livingfton. 69 
 
 a 3 13. Bitmorit.
 
 n CONTENTS. 
 
 i j, Binnorie, 
 
 1 4. Death of Menlelth. 7 .5 
 
 15. Lord Airth's Complaint* 
 
 1 6. " 7 w/> / iw wifrf Kr/<r ^ 5." 7 9 
 Fragments* ** 
 
 8 7
 
 DISSERTATIONS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 ORAL TRADITION OF POETRY, 
 AND ON 
 
 THE TRAGIC BALLAD,

 
 t 5* 3 
 
 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 ON THE ORAL TRADITION 
 OF POETRY. 
 
 IT has long been a fubjecl of regret, that the inven- 
 tors of the fine Arts have by oblivion been deprived 
 of the reputation due to their memory. Of the many 
 realms which lay claim to their birth^ Egypt feems to 
 poflefs the preference. Yet, like the Nile, which ani- 
 mates that country, while they have diffufed pleafure 
 and utility over kingdoms, their origin remains hid in 
 the moft profound obfcurity. 
 
 That poetry holds a diflinguifhed fuperiority over all 
 thefe fciences is allowed; yet the firft praclifer of this 
 enchanting art has loft the renown it was defigned to 
 confer. We muft either allow the contefled claim of 
 the Ofiris of the Egyptians, and Apollo of the Greeks, 
 or be content to withhold from any, the fame which 
 indeed feems due to as many inventors as there are dif- 
 tincl nations in the world. For poetry appears not to 
 
 require
 
 x DISSERTATION L 
 
 require the labour of difquifition, or aid of chance, tcJ 
 invent ; but is rather the original language of men in 
 an infant ftate of fociety in all countries. It is the 
 effufion of fancy actuated by the paffions : and that 
 thefe are always ftrongeft when uncontrouled by cuftom, 
 and the manners which in an advanced community are 
 termed polite, is evident. But the peculiar advantages, 
 which a certain fituation of extrinfic objects confer on 
 this art, have already been fo well illuilrated by emi- 
 nent critics *, that it is unneceflary here to remember 
 them. 1 have befides noted a few fuch as immediately 
 concern the compofitions now under view in the fub- 
 fequent DhTertation : and only propofe here to give a 
 brief account of the utility of the Oral Tradition of 
 Poetry, in that barbarous ftate of fociety which necef<* 
 farily precedes the invention of letters; and of the cir- 
 cumitances that confpired to render it eafy and fafe. 
 
 Among the Egyptians, probably the moft ancient 
 authors of the elegant, as well as ufeful fciences, we 
 find that verfes were originally ufed folely to preferve 
 the laws of their princes, and fayings of their wife men 
 from oblivion -f. Thefe were fometimes infcribed in 
 their temples in their hieroglyphic character, but more 
 
 * Particularly Dr. Blackwell in his Enquiry into the Life ancl 
 Writing of Homer; and Dr. Blair in his elegant Differtation on 
 the Poems of Ofiian. 
 
 j- HeroJor. Diodor. Sicul. &c. 
 
 frequently
 
 DISSERTATION I. si 
 
 frequently only committed to the memory of the ex- 
 pounders of their law> or difciples of their fages. 
 Pythagoras, who was initiated in their fecret fcience, 
 conveyed in like manner his dictates to his difciples, as 
 appears from the moral verfes which pafs under his 
 name at this day. And though the authenticity of thele 
 may be queftioned, yet that he followed this mode of 
 bequeathing his knowledge to his followers, is proved 
 from the confent of all antiquity *. Nay, before him,. 
 Thales compofed in like manner his Syllem of Natural 
 Philofophy. And even fo late as the time of Ariilotie^ 
 the laws of the Agathyrfi, a nation in Sarmatia, were 
 all delivered in verfe. Not to mention the known law* 
 of the Twelve Tables, which, from the fragments ilill 
 remaining of them, appear to have coniiited of fliort 
 rythmic fentences. 
 
 From laws and religion, poetry made an eafy progrefe 
 to the celebration of the Gods and Heroes, who were 
 their founders. Verfes in their praife were fung on 
 iblemn occafions by the compofers, or bards themfelves. 
 We meet with many before Homer, who diftinguifhed 
 themfelvcs by fuch productions. Fabricius f has enu- 
 Bierated near feventy whofe names have reached our: 
 times. That immortal author had the advantage of 
 
 * Jamblichus <te vita Pythag. pajjim ; and particularly /<&.!. 
 cap. 15. 5f 25.. 
 
 f In Bibliorhcca Gneca, tom..l.. 
 
 hearing
 
 -\:i DISSERTATION L 
 
 h'earing their poems repeated; and was certainly in- 
 debted to his predecefibrs for many beauties which we 
 admire as original. That he was himfelf an AOIAOr, 
 or Minftrel, and fung his own verfes to the lyre, is 
 Ihown by the admirable author of the Enquiry into his 
 Life and Writings *. Nor were his poems refcued from 
 the uncertain fame of tradition, and committed to wri- 
 ting till fome time after his death -J-. 
 
 Such was the utility of the poetic tradition among 
 the more polimed nations of antiquity : and with thofe 
 they denominated Barbarians we find it no lefs praftifed j . 
 The Periians had their Magi, who preferred, as would 
 feem in this way, the remarkable events of former times, 
 and in war went before the army finging the praifes of 
 their illufcrior.s men, v.hom the extraordinary gratitude 
 and admiration of their countrymen had exalted into 
 Ceities. If they gained the victory, the Song of Triumph 
 recorded the deeds of thofe who had fallen, and by their 
 praiies animated the ambition of thofe who enjoyed the 
 coaqueil to further a-fts" of valour. The latter cuftom 
 
 * Sea. VIII. 
 
 f Julian. Var. Hifh lib. xiii. c. 14. 
 
 + The reader, who would de.lre more intelligence on this head, 
 may confult a curious Differ tatit,* on the Monuments which fupplicd 
 th. D f,n ..{Writing aminv tb: fifi Hifiotians, by the Abbe Anfclin, 
 in LSJ Mcmoires de rAcadcmic dt: I:,!tii]-tions, Sec.
 
 DISSERTATION J. xiii 
 
 was in ufe Ml more anciently among the Jews, as ap- 
 pears from the beautiful fongs of Mofes * and Deborah f 
 preferred in Sacred Writ. 
 
 The Druids of Gaul and Britain afford a noted in- 
 ftance J. Such firm hold did their traditions take of 
 the memory that fome of them are retained in the 
 minds of their countrymen to this very day . The 
 
 * Exod. XV. f Judges V. 
 
 J Et Bardi quidem fortia virorum illuftrium facia heroicis com- 
 pofita verfibus, cum dulcibus lyrae modulis cantitarunt. Anmiati. 
 Marttll. lib. xvi. 
 
 Atque horum (Bardorum feu Druidarum) cantioncs, ant ad 
 fimilitudinem potius earundem fiftae etiamnum aliquae extant die 
 Meifter Gejange, fed recentiores plerseque, nee vel quingentos annos 
 excedentes. BeJJel. in notis ad Eglnbart. TrajedT. 1711, p. 130. 
 Nonnulli eruditi viri obfervarunt veteretn illam Gallorum confue- 
 tudinem (fell, vifci facrum ufum apud druidas) etiam nunc multii 
 Gallix locis retineri, cum anni initio clamitant, Au guy I'an neuf. 
 \, e. Ad vifcum ; annus novus. Hotmtan. ad Ctef. 1. 6. Druydes 
 vero Heduorum, qui tune habitabant in quodam ioco r hodiernis 
 temporibus Mons druidum di<ftus, diftans a noftra civitatc Heduenfi 
 per unum milliare ubi adhuc reftant veftigia loci habitationis 
 rorum, utebantur pro eoium armis anguibus in campo azureo ; ha- 
 1ebant etiam in parte fuperiore ramum vifci quercinei (ung rameaul 
 tit guyg de cbafnej et in parte inferiore unum cumulum parvorum 
 anguium feu ferpentium argenteorum quad tune nafcentium, qui 
 vulgo dicitur, nutee deferpem d 'argent. ChaffeneUK Catalogi GJoriae 
 raundi, 1529, folk verfo z6. 
 
 2 Germans,
 
 xiv DISSERTATION I. 
 
 Germans, as we learn from Tacitus, had no other mode 
 of commemorating the tranfaftions of paft times than 
 by verfe. The brave actions of their anceilors were 
 always fung as an incentive to their imitation before 
 they entered into combat. The like we read of the 
 ancient Goths *, thofe deftroyers of all literature, who 
 yet pofleiTed greater fkill in the fine arts than is com- 
 monly afcribed to them. From them this cuflom patted 
 to their defendants the inhabitants of the Northern 
 regions ; many animated fpecimens of whofe traditio- 
 nal poetry have been preferved to our times f and 
 quoted by their modern hiftorians as uncontroulable 
 vouchers. As the Arabian hiftorians refer for the truth 
 of many events to the Spanifh romanzes, faved in like 
 manner by tradition for many ages ; many of which are 
 of very remote antiquity, and abound with the higher 
 beauties of poetry j. Traditional verfes are to this day 
 a favourite amufement of the Mahometan nations. 
 Though, inftead of recording the illuftrious actions of 
 their real heroes, they chaunt the fabled exploits of 
 
 * Jornand. See Wartm'sHiJl. ofErgltfk Poetry. 
 
 f See the Hiftories of Saxo Grammar. Jo. Magnus, Torfzus, Zee. 
 fajjlm; and Dr. Percy's Five Pieces of Runic Poetry. 
 
 \ Htfl. de las guerrai ci-viles els Crar.ada. A moft beautiful 
 imitation of their manner may be found among the Poems of Voi- 
 tare. The Spaniih word Romance feetns now applied to any filort 
 lyric tale on whatever fubjeft. We find in Gongora, their moft 
 tminer.t poet, Romances S/wrefos) y Burlcfcos, 
 
 Buhalnl
 
 DISSERTATION I. xv 
 
 Buhalul their Orlando*, or the yet more ridiculous 
 ones of their Prophet f. From them it would appear 
 that rime, that great help to the remembrance of tra- 
 ditional poetry, pafled to the Troubadours of Provence ; 
 who from them feem alfo to have received the fpirit and 
 character of their cfFulions. Like them they compofed 
 amorous verfes with delicacy and nature; but when 
 they attemptted the fublimer walk of the Heroic Song, 
 theirimagination was often bewildered, and theywandered 
 into the contiguous regions of the incredible andabfurd j. 
 In proportion as Literature advanced in the world 
 Oral Tradition difappeared. The venerable Britifli 
 Bards were in time fucceeded by the Welfli Beirdh , 
 
 * Huet, Lettrc a Monfieur Segrais, far 1'originc des Romans, 
 p. LXVII. edit. d'Amft. 1715. 
 
 J- Hiftorialc defcription de 1'Afrique, efcrite dc notre temps par 
 Jean Leon, African, premierement en langue Arabefque, puis en 
 Tofcane, et a prefcnt mife en Francois En Anvers, 1556. lib. III. 
 f. 175- 
 
 A curious fpecimen of the Eaftern religious poetry may be feen 
 in Sir John Chardin's Voyage to Perfia, vol. I. 
 
 J Huet, ubi fupra, p. LXX. Ermengarde vicomtefle de Nar- 
 bonne L'accueil favorable qu'elle fit aux Poetes Provenjeaux, a 
 fait croire qu'elle tenoitcour d'amourdans fon Palais, mourut 1194. 
 Almanach Hiftorique de Languedoc, A Touloufe, 1752, p. 277. 
 See Hift. Liter. desTroub. Paris, 1774. Tranflations of Provenzal 
 Sirventes, and an imitation of the Provenzal Heroic Romanze, may 
 be found in a volume lately published by Mr. Dilly 5 intituled, 
 RIMES. Odes, Book II. Odes, 8, 9, 10, n, 12, 13. 16. 
 
 Hiftory of Wales by Caradc of Lhancarvan, tic. 1702. p. 159, 
 
 \vhofe
 
 x.i DISSERTATION I. 
 
 whole principal occupation feems to have been to prc- 
 ferve the genealogy of their patrons, or at times to 
 amufe them with fome fabulous ftory of their predecef- 
 fors fung to the harp or crowd *, an inftrument which 
 Griffith ap Conan, King of Wales, is faid to have 
 brought from Ireland, about the beginning of the 
 twelfth century. 
 
 In like manner, among the Caledonians, as an inge- 
 nious writer f acquaints us, " Every chief in procete 
 " of time had a bard in his family, and the office be- 
 * ' came hereditary. By the fucceffion of thefe bards the 
 *' poems concerning the anceflors of the family were 
 ** handed down from generation to generation ; they 
 81 were repeated to the whole clan on folemn occafions, 
 '* and always alluded to in the new compofitions of the 
 ** bards." The fucceflbrs of Oflian the firft of poets 
 were at length employed chiefly in the mean office of 
 preferving fabulous genealogies, and flattering the pride 
 of their chieftains at the expence of truth, without 
 
 * This is the irftrumeut meant in the following verfes of Yen, 
 Forruuatus, lib. vii. 
 
 Romancfque lyra plaudat tibi, barbarus harpa, 
 Grsccus Achilliaca, Crotta Britanna canat. 
 
 See more of the Harp in War. Antiq. Hibern. cap. 22. And 
 Mr, Evans, Diflert. de Bardis, p. 80. 
 
 f Mr. Macphcrfon, in his Diflertation on the Era of Oflian, 
 f. lift. ed. 1773.
 
 DISSERTATION i. xvii 
 
 even fancy fufficient to render their inventions either 
 pleafing or plaufible. That order of men, I believe, 
 is now altogether extinct ; yet they have left a fpirit 
 of poetry in the country where they flourifhed * ; and 
 Offian's harp {till yields a dying found among the wilds 
 of Morven. 
 
 Having thus given a faint view of the progrefs of 
 the Oral Tradition of Poetry to thefe times, I proceed 
 to flievv what arts the ancient bards employed to make 
 their verfes take fuch hold of the memory of their 
 countrymen, as to be tranfmitted fafe and entire 
 without the aid of writing for many ages. Thefe may 
 be confidered as affecting the paffions and the ear. 
 Their mode of e'xpreffion was limple and genuine. 
 They of conference touched the paffions truly and 
 effectively. And when the paffions are. engaged, we 
 liften with avidity to the tale that fo agreeably affects 
 them ; and remember it again with the moft prompt 
 facility. This may be obferved in children, who will 
 forget no circumftance of an intereliing llory, more 
 efpecially if finking or dreadful to the fancy; when 
 they cannot remember a Ihort maxim which only oc- 
 cupies the judgement. The paffions of men have been 
 and will be the fame through all ages. Poetry is the 
 fovereign of the paffions, and will reign while they 
 
 * Se Martin's, and other Defcnptions of the Wcftcrn Ifles, 
 paHfim. 
 
 b exift.
 
 xviii DISSERTATION I. 
 
 exift. We may laugh at Sir Ifaac Newton, as we hare 
 at Defcartes ; but we mall always admire a Homer, an 
 Oflian, or a Shakipeare. 
 
 As the fubjefts of thefe genuine painters of nature 
 deeply interefted the herri, and by thstmems were 
 fo agreeable and affefting, that every hearer wiflied to 
 remember them ; fo their mode of conftrudting their 
 verfe was fuch, that the remembrance was eafy and 
 expeditious, A few of their many arts to aid the me- 
 mory I fhall here enumerate. 
 
 I. Moft of thefe Oral poems were fet to mulic, as 
 would appear, by the original authors themfelves. 
 That this was the cuftom fo early as the days of 
 Homer, may be feen in the excellent author formerly 
 adduced *. How mould we have been affected by 
 hearing a compofition of Homer or Offian, fung and 
 played by theie immortal matters themfelves ! With the 
 poem the air feems to have paffed from one age to 
 another; but as no mufical compolitions of the Greeks 
 exift, we arc quite in the dark as to the nature of thefe. 
 I fuppofe that Offian's poetry is ftill recited to its ori- 
 ginal cadence and to appropriated tunes. We find, in 
 an excellent modern writer f , that this mode of tinging 
 poetry to the harp was reckoned an accomplifhment fo 
 late as among the Saxon Eccleliaflics. The ancient 
 
 * Enquiry, &c. Sett. 8. 
 
 f Mr. Warton in his Hiftorj- cf Englilh Poetry. 
 
 mufic
 
 DISSERTATION I. xix 
 
 was confeffedly infinitely fuperior to ours in the 
 command of the paffions. Nay, the mufic of the moft 
 barbarous countries has had effects that not all the 
 fublime pathos of Corelli, or animated llrains of 
 Handel, could produce. Have not the Welfh, Irifh, 
 and Scottifh tunes, greater influence over the moft in- 
 formed mind at this day than the beft Italian concerto? 
 What modern refined mufic could have the powers of 
 the Ranee de Vaches * of the Swifs, or the melancholy 
 found of the Indian Banma f ? Is not the war-mufic of 
 the rudeft inhabitants of the wilds of America or Scot- 
 land more terrible to the ear than that of the bell band 
 in the Britifli army ? Or what is ftill more furprizing, 
 will not the fofter paffions be more inflamed by a 
 
 * See Roufleau, Diet, de Mufique, fus cette article. Though the 
 Swifs are a brave nation, yet their dance, which correfponds to the 
 Ranee da facbcs, is like their others, rather exprefliveof an eftemi- 
 riate fpirit. ' Les dances des Suifles confiftent en un continue! 
 * trainement de Jambe, ces pas repondoient mal au courage ferme de 
 ' eette nation. Coquillart en fon Blazon des armes, et des dames.' 
 ' Les Efcoffoys font les repliques, 
 
 * Pragois et Bretons bretonnans, 
 
 < Les Sififles dancent leurs Morefques, 
 
 * A touts leurstabourins fonnans.' 
 
 Monf. L. D. Notes Rabelais, Tom. IV. p. 164. 172$. 
 
 f See Crainger's Profo-poetic Account of -the Culture 
 S fi ar-caiie, Book IV. 
 
 Turkifli
 
 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 Turkifh air than by the moft exquifite effort of" a 
 polite compofcr? As we learn from an elegant au- 
 thor *, whom concurring circumftances rendered the 
 beft judge that could be imagined of that fubjedt. The 
 harmony therefore of the old traditional fongs pofieffing 
 fuch influence over the paiiions, at the fame time that 
 it rendered every expreffion neceffary to the ear, muft 
 have greatly recommended them to the remembrance. 
 
 II. Befides mulical cadence, many arts were ufed in 
 the verification to facilitate the rchearial. Such were : 
 
 i. The frequent returns of the fame fentences and 
 defcriptions exprefled in the very fame words. As for 
 inftance, the delivery of meflages, the description of 
 battles, &c. Of which we meet with infinite examples 
 in Homer, and fome, if I miftake not, in Olfian. 
 Good ones may be found in Hardyknute, Part I. v. 123. 
 &c. compared with Fart II. v. 167, &c. and in Child 
 Maurice, v. 31, with v. 67 ; and innumerable fuch, in 
 the ancient Traditional Poetry of all nations. Thefe 
 ferved as land-marks, in the view of which the memory 
 travelled fecure ever the intervening fpaces. On this 
 head falls likewiie to be mentioned, what we call The 
 Burden, that is, the unvaried repetition of one or more 
 lines fixing the tone of the poem throughout the whole. 
 That this is very ancient among the -barbaric nations, 
 may be gathered from the known Song of Regner 
 
 * Letters of Lady M. W. Montague, XXXIII. 
 
 Lodbrog,
 
 DISSERTATION I. xxi 
 
 Lodbrog, to be found in Olaus Wormius * ; every 
 flanza of which begins with one and the fame line. 
 So many of our ballads, both ancient and modern, 
 have this aid to the memory, that it is unneceflary to 
 condefcend on any in particular. 
 
 2. Alliteration was before the invention of rime 
 greatly ufed, chiefly by the nations of Northern origi- 
 nal to affift the remembrance of their traditional poe- 
 try. Mofl of the Runic methods of verfification con- 
 fifted in this practice. It was the only one among the 
 Saxon poets, from whom it patted to the Englifh and 
 Scottifli f . When rime became common, this which 
 
 was 
 
 : * Regner Lodbrog, King of Denmark, flourilhed in the Ninth 
 Century. 
 
 ( See Hickes, Ling, Vtt. Sept. Thef. c. 23. From the Saxons he 
 obferves, that the author of Pierce Plowman drew this practice, 
 c. ii. This poem was written about 1350. There is a remarkable 
 limilarity in its ftyle and manner with thofe very curious pieces of 
 ancient Scottish poetry, ftiled The Prophecies of Thomas Rymer, 
 Marvellous Merling, Beid, Berlington, Waldhave, Eltraine, Ba- 
 nifter, and Sybilla, printed at Edinburgh in 1615, and reprinted 
 from that edition, 1742, 8vo. It is very furprifing that the re- 
 fpectable editor of Ancient Scotlifh Poems, frem the MS. cf George 
 Bannatyne, 1568. Edin. 1770, feems to regard thefe as no an- 
 cienter than the time of Q^een Mary. His reafons are only 
 founded on the modern appearance of fome particular pafTages. 
 That they have been modernized and corrupted, I will readily 
 b 3 allow;
 
 xxii DISSERTATION I. 
 
 was before thought to conftitute the folc difference 
 betwixt profe and verfe, was ftill regarded as an aceek 
 
 fary 
 
 allow; but that they are on the main nearly as ancient as Rymer's 
 time, who died about the beginning of the I4th Ceniury, I believe 
 the learned mult, confefs from intrinsic evidence, in fuch cafes the 
 fureft of all. Not to mention that Sir David Lindfay, who wrote 
 in the reign of James V. is an undoubted w^tnefs that they muft 
 be more ancient than this eminent Antiquary would infer. For in 
 enumerating the methods he took to divert that prince v/hile under 
 his care in his infancy, after condcfcending on fome vifible cir 
 cumftances, as 
 
 Whan thou waft young I baie th^e in my arm 
 Full tenderly till thou began to gang;' 
 And in thy bed oft happed thee full warm, 
 With lute in hand then fweetly to thee fang. 
 Sometime in dancing fiercefully I llang, 
 And fometimes playing fairfes on the flure, 
 And foniL-t'.incf of mine office taking curt. 
 
 And fometimes like a feind transfigurate. 
 And fometirne like a greefy ghoft of gay, 
 In divers forms of times disfigurate, Sec. 
 
 He adds, 
 
 Tiie Prophefies of Rynisr, Bede, and Mtrlm y 
 And many other pleafaiu hiftory 
 Of the red Erin, and Gyre Cerlin, 
 Cof.ij'oning thcc when that I faw thee fory. 
 
 EeijJ't if. ibe Kirg, prcjixtd to bis Dream, 
 
 They
 
 DISSERTATION I. xxiii 
 
 fary grace, and was carried to a ludicrous length by 
 fome poets of no mean rank in both nations. So 
 
 late 
 
 They begin thus : 
 
 Merling fays in his book, who will read right, 
 
 Althouch his fayings be uncouth, they fhall be true found, 
 
 In the feventh chapter read who fo will, 
 
 Onethoufand and more after Chrift's birth. 
 
 Then the Chalnalider of Cornwall is called, 
 
 And the wolf out of Wales is vanquifhed for aye, 
 
 Then many fcrlies fhall fall, and many folk lhall die. 
 
 This exordium is evidently retouched' by a modern hand. But 
 very many of the pafTages feem to ftaud in their original form, 
 as the following lines, which are all in the Saxon manner, will 
 teftify : 
 
 And derfly dung down without any doome - 
 
 A proud prince in the preis lordly ftiall light, 
 
 With bold Barons in bufhment to battle fhall wend.' - 
 
 There fhall a galyart goat with a golden horn. 
 
 And many fimilar. That prophecy which bears the name of 
 Thomas Rymer is not deftitute of poetic graces. It opens with the 
 following lines : 
 
 Still on my ways as I went 
 
 Out throuch a land befide a lee, 
 
 I met a bairn upon the bent *, 
 
 Methought him feemly for to fee, 
 
 * Modernized way, though again/I tie rime. 
 
 b 4 I afted
 
 xxiy DISSERTATION J. 
 
 late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth we find the fol- 
 lowing lines in a court poet : 
 
 Princes puff'd ; barons bluftered ; lords began lowr, 
 Knights ftorm'd; fquires ftartled,likefteeds in aftowrj 
 Pages and yeomen yelled out in the hall *. 
 
 And William Dunbar, the chief of the old Scottifh 
 poets, begins a copy of verfes to the King thus > 
 
 Sandl Salvator fend filver lorrov; f . 
 
 I afked him wholly his intent; 
 
 Good Sir, if your will be, 
 
 Since that ye bide upon the bent, 
 
 Some uncouth tidings tell you me t 
 
 When fhall all thefe wars be gone ? 
 
 That leil men may live in lee; 
 
 Or v/hen fhall Fafehude go from home, 
 
 And Lawtie blow his horn on hie ? 
 
 I looked from me not a mile, 
 
 And fa\v twa knights upon a lee, c. 
 
 I imagine, however, they are all the comr-ofures of one hand ; 
 V>d, if I may ufe a conjecture, were written immediately afier the 
 yifions of Pierce Plowman, every Englifh poem of note in thofe 
 days being foon fucceeded by an imitation in Scotland. 
 
 * King Ryencc's Challenge, in the Reliques of Ancient Engliih 
 Poetry. y L III. /. 17. 
 
 f Bannafync's Sccttilh Tosms, p. 6?. 
 
 III.
 
 DISSERTATION I. xxv 
 
 III. But the greateft affiftance that could be found to 
 the tradition of poetry was derived from the invention 
 of rime ; which is far more ancient than is commonly 
 believed. One of the moil learned men this age has 
 produced *, has flievvn that it is common in Scripture. 
 All the Pfalms confift of riming verfes, and many other 
 paffages which he names. They were ufed among the 
 Greeks fo early as the time of Gorgias the Sicilian, 
 who taught the Athenians this practice. And though 
 the fpirit of the Greek and Latin languages did not 
 always admit of them in poetry, yet they were ufed as 
 occaiional beauties by their moft celebrated writers. 
 Homer, Heliod, and Virgil, have a few, though ap- 
 parently more from chance than defign. The ancient 
 Saturnine verfes were all rimes, as an old commentator -j- 
 informs us. And it is more than probable they were 
 fo conftrucled merely that the memory might the more 
 eafily preferve them, their licence forbidding their 
 being committed to writing. Thofewho would wifh to 
 know more particularly the univerfality of this mode 
 of verfifying among the other- ancient nations, may 
 confult the Huetiana of the moft learned and refpeft- 
 able Bifhop of Avranches j. The Eaflern poetry ccn- 
 fifts altogether, if I miftake not, of riming lines, as 
 may be obferved in the fpecimens of Hafiz their moil 
 
 * Le Clerc, BibJioth. Univerfelle, torn. IX. 
 f Servius ad Gcorg. II. rer. 386. 
 
 Scft. 78. 
 
 illuflriotw
 
 xxvi DISSERTATION I. 
 
 illmtrkms writer, lately publifhed *. It appears, how- 
 ever, that alliteration fupplied the place of rime with 
 the Northern nations till within a recent period f . 
 Offian's poetry, I fuppofe, is in ftanzas fomething like 
 our ballad meafure ; though it were to be wiihed the 
 tranflator had favoured us with fome information on 
 this head evidenced by large fpecimens of the original. 
 He indeed acquaints us that " Each vcrfe was fo con- 
 " neled with thofe which preceded, or followed it, 
 *' that if one line had been remembered in a ftanza, it 
 ** was almoft impoffible to forget the reft j :" but this 
 ftands greatly in need of explanation. 
 
 The common ballad ftanza is fo fimple, that it has 
 been ufed by moft nations as the firft mode of con- 
 Itrufting rimes. The Spanifli romanzes bear a great 
 refemblance in this, as in other refpefts, to theScottilh 
 'Ballads. In both, every alternate line ends with fimilar 
 vowels, though the confonants are not fo ftri&ly at- 
 tended to. As for inftance, in the former we have 
 lanei) efyada ; mala, palabra ; vega, cueva ; rompan, vol- 
 canos ; for rimes : and in the later, middle , girdle; keep, 
 bleed', Bukigban, tak kim ; &c. The Englifh, even in 
 the ruder pieces of their firft minftrels, feem to have 
 
 * Jones, Comment. Poefeos A(iatiez>-Richardfon's Specimen of 
 Perfian Poetry. 
 
 -J- Ol. Worm. Lit. Run. p. 165 & 176. 
 
 * Diflert. on the Era of Oflian, p. zz8. cd. 1773. 
 
 paid
 
 DISSERTATION I. xxvii 
 
 paid more attention to the correfpondence of their con- 
 fonants, as may be obferved in the curious Collection 
 publiflied by Dr. Percy. 
 
 As the fimplicity of this ftanza rendered it eafy to 
 the compoier, and likewife more natural to exprels the 
 paffions, fo it added to the facility of recollection. It's 
 tone is fedate and flow. The rimes occur feldom, and 
 at equal diftances : though when a more violent paffion. 
 is to be painted, by doubling the rimes, they at once 
 cxprefled the mind better, and diverlified the harmony. 
 Of this the reader will obferve many inftances in this 
 collection, as, Here maun I lie, here maun I die: Like 
 beacon bricht at deid of nicht ; Na river heir, niy dame fa 
 deir: &c. and, to give a very folemn movement to the 
 cadence, they fometimes tripled the rime, an inftance 
 of which may be obferved in the firil ftanza of Child 
 Maurice. 
 
 When all the circumitances here hinted at are confi- 
 dered, we fliall be lefs apt to wonder, that, by the con- 
 currence of mufical air, retentive arts in the compo- 
 pofition, and chiefly of rime, the moft noble produc- 
 tions of former periods have been preferred in the me- 
 mory of a fucceffion of admirers, and have had the 
 good fortune to arrive at our times pure and uncor- 
 rupted. 
 
 D I S-
 
 [ xxv iii ] 
 
 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 ON THE TRAGIC BALLAD. 
 
 THAT fpecies of poetry which we denominate 
 Ballad, is peculiar to a barbarous period. In 
 an advanced ftate of arts, the Comic Ballad aflumes the 
 form of the Song or Sonnet, and the Tragic or Heroic 
 Ballad that of the higher Ode. 
 
 The caufe of our pleafure in feeing a mournful event 
 reprefented, or hearing it defcribed, has been attempted 
 to be explained by many critics *. It feems to arife 
 from the mingled paffions of Admiration of the art of 
 the author, Curiofity to attend the termination, De- 
 light arifing from a refk&ion on our own fecurity, and 
 the Sympathetic Spirit. 
 
 * Ariftotle, Scaliger, Dubos, Trapp in his Praeleflions, Hume, 
 Eflay on Tragedy ; but above all Mr, Burke in his Enquiry into 
 the Sublime and Beautiful. 
 
 In
 
 P I S S E R T A T I O N II. xxix 
 
 In giving this pleafure, perhaps the Tragic Ballad 
 yields to no effort of human genius. When we perufe 
 a polifhed Tragedy or Ode, we admire the art of the 
 author, and are led to praife the invention ; but when 
 we read an unartful defcription of a melancholy event, 
 our paffions are more intenfely moved. The laboured 
 productions of the informed compofer referable a Greek 
 or Roman temple j when we enter it, we admire th 
 art of the builder. The rude eirufions of the Gothic 
 Mufe are like the monuments of their Architecture. 
 We are filled with a religious reverence, and, forgetting 
 our praife of the contriver, adore the prefent deity. 
 
 1 believe no Tragic Ballad of renowned Antiquity 
 has reached our times, if we deny the beautiful and 
 pathetic CARMEN DE ATY in Catullus a title to this 
 clafs; which, as a modern critic of note has obferved*, 
 feems a tranflation from fome Greek Dithyramlic^ > 
 far more ancient than the times of that poet. His 
 tranflation of Sappho's Ode might mew that he took- 
 a delight in the ancient Greek compofitions, from which 
 indeed he feems to have derived in a great meafure his 
 peculiarly delicate vein. 
 
 * Eflay on the writings and genius of Pope, p. 324. -^d id, 
 f The Ditbyrambitt were Heroic Ssngs, written with the higheft 
 glow of poetic fancy in honour of the ancient deities. Ariftotlc 
 informs us, that; the Greek. Tragedy originated from them; as 
 their Comedy did from their Paftoral Love Songs. 
 
 But
 
 MX DISSERTATION It. 
 
 But it xvas with the nations in a date of barbarity, 
 that this effufion of the heart flouriflied as in it's pro- 
 per foil; their focicties, rude and irregular, were full of 
 viciffitudes, and every hour fubjed to the inoft dreadful 
 accidents. The Minftrels, who only knew, and were 
 infpired by the prefent manners, caught the tale of 
 mortality, and recorded it for the inftruftion and en- 
 tertainment of others. It pleafed by moving the paf- 
 fions, and, at the fame time, afforded caution to theii 
 auditors to guard againft fimilar mil-adventures. 
 
 It is amufing to obferve how expreflive the poetry of 
 every country is of its real manners. That of the 
 "Northern nations is ferocious to the higheft degrees 
 Nor need we wonder that thofe, whofe laws obliged 
 them to decide the moll trifling debate with the 
 {word *, delighted in a vein of poetry, which only 
 painted deeds of blood, and objedls horrible to the 
 imagination. The ballad poetry of the Spaniards is 
 tinged with the romantic gallantry of that nation. The 
 hero is all complaifance ; and takes off his helmet in 
 the heat of combat, when he thinks on hrs miftrefs. 
 That of the Englifli is generous and brave. In their 
 mod noble ballad, Percy laments over the death of his 
 
 * Frotho etiam III. Danorum rex, queraaclmodum Saxo, lib. V. 
 refert, de qualibet controvcrfia ferro decerni fanxit ; fpeclofins 
 vinbus quam verbis, confligcndura cxiftimans. Scbcdius fie dih 
 Ger. Syr.g. II. c. 46. 
 
 mortal
 
 DISSERTATION IT. xxxi 
 
 mortal foe. That of the Scots is perhaps, like the face 
 of their country, more various than the re It. We find 
 in it the bravery of the Englifh, the gallantry of the 
 Spanifh, and I am afraid in fome inftances the ferocity 
 of the Northern. 
 
 A late writer* has remarked, that, " the Scottifli 
 *' tunes, whether melancholy or gay; whether amorous, 
 " martial, or paltoral, are in a fryle highly original, 
 ** and moil feelingly expreffive of all the paffions from 
 " the fweeteft to the moft terrible." He proceeds, 
 " Who was it that thew out thofe dreadful wild ex- 
 " preffions of diftra&ion and melancholy in Lady Cul- 
 ** rajs' 's Dream ? an old competition, now r I am afraid 
 " loft, perhaps becaufe it was almoft too terrible for 
 " the ear." 
 
 This compofition is neither loft, nor is it too terri- 
 ble for the ear. On the contrary, a child might hear 
 it repeated in a winter night without the fmalleft emo- 
 tion. A copy f of it now lyes before me, and as fome 
 
 * Mifcelhnies by John Armftrong, M. D. vol. II. p. 254. ' 
 f It is intituled, " A Godly Dream compiled by Elizabeth 
 " MelvH, Lady Culrofs younger, at the requeft df ' a friTd." 
 Edinburgh, 1737, nnio. p. 20. It is either reprinted from fome 
 former edition, or from a MS. It was written, I conje&ure, abouc 
 the end of the Sixteenth Century; but in this ed'.tion I fufpeft feve- 
 ral expreffions are modernized and altered to aorommcdate it to the 
 common capacity. 
 
 curiofity
 
 xxxii DISSERTATION II. 
 
 curiofity may have been raifed by the above remark, I 
 (hall here give an account of it. The dreadful and 
 melancholy of this production are folely of the religious 
 kind, and may have been deeply affecting to the enthu- 
 fiaftic at the period in which it was wrote: It begins 
 thus; 
 
 Upon a day as I did mourn full fore, 
 For fundry things wherewith my foul was grieved, 
 My grief increafed, and grew more and more, 
 I comfort fled, and could not be relieved ; 
 With heavinefs my heart was fore miichieved, 
 I loathed my life, I could not eat nor drink, 
 I might not fpeak, nor look to none that lived, 
 But mufed alone, and diverfe things did think. 
 
 This wretched world did fo moleit my mind, 
 I thought upon this falfe and iron age, 
 And how our hearts are fo to vice inclined, 
 That Satan feems moft fearfully to rage, 
 Nothing on earth my forrow could afwage, 
 1 felt my iin fo ftrongly to increafe ; 
 I grieved the fpirit was wont to be my pledge; 
 Ivly foul was planged into moft deep diftrefs. 
 
 Her
 
 DISSERTATION II. xxxin 
 
 Her Saviour is then fuppofed to appear in a dream, 
 and lead her through many hair-breadth fcapes into 
 Heaven : 
 
 Through dreadful dens, which made my heart aghaft, 
 He bare me up when I began to tire j 
 Sometimes we clamb oer cragie mountains high; 
 And fometimes flayed on ugly braes of fand, 
 They were fo ftay that wonder was to fee; 
 But when I feared, he held me by the hand. 
 Through great deferts we wandered on our way.-*- 
 Forward we paft on narrow bridge of tree, 
 Oer waters great which hideoufly did roar, &c. 
 
 The moft terrible paflage to a fuperftitious ear, is 
 that in which fhe fuppofes herfelf fulpended over the 
 Gulph of Perdition : 
 
 Ere I was ware, one gripped me at laft, 
 And held me high above a flaming fire. 
 The fire was great, the heat did pierce me fore, 
 My faith grew weak, my grip was very fmall. 
 I trembled faft, my fear grew more and more. 
 My hands did fliake that I held him withall, 
 At length they loofed, then I began to fall, &c. 
 
 At
 
 xxxiv DISSERTATION II. 
 
 At length fhe arrives in view of the Heavenly man- 
 fions in a ftanza, which, to alter a little her own ex- 
 preffion, * Glitters with tinfel* 
 
 I looked up unto that cattle fair 
 Glittering with gold ; and fhining filver bright 
 The ftately towers did mount above the air ; 
 They blinded me they caft ib great a light, 
 My heart was glad to fee that joyful fight, 
 My voyage then I thought it not in vain, 
 I him beibught to guide me there aright, 
 With many vows never to tire again. 
 
 And the whole concludes with an exhortation to a 
 pious life. 
 
 But what has the Chriftian religion to do with poetry? 
 In the true poetic terrible, I believe, fome paflages in 
 Hardyknute yield to no attempt of a ftrong and dark 
 fancy. The Ballad ftyled Edward may, I fear, be ra- 
 ther adduced as an evidence that this difpleafes, when 
 it rifes to a degree of the horrible, which that lingular 
 piece certainly partakes of. 
 
 The Pathetic is the other principal walk of the 
 Tragic Mufe : and in this the Scottifh Ballads yield 
 to no compofitions whatever. What can be imagined 
 more moving than the catattrophes of Offian's Dar- 
 thula, the moft pathetic of all poems ? or of Hardyk- 
 4 imte,
 
 DISSERTATION II. xxxv 
 
 nute, Child Maurice, and indeed moft of the pieces 
 now collected ? Were ever the feelings of a fond mother 
 exprefled in language equal in fimplicity and pathos to 
 that of Lady Bothwell ? This leads me to remark, that 
 the dialed! in which the Scottifh Ballads are written 
 gives them a great advantage in point of touching the 
 paffions. Their language is rough and unpolifhed, and 
 ieems to flow immediately from the heart *. We meet 
 with no concettos or far-fetched thoughts in them. 
 They poflefs the pathetic power in the higheft degree, 
 becaufe they do not affect it ; and are finking, becaufe 
 they do not meditate to ftrike. 
 
 Moft of the competitions now offered to the publick, 
 have already received approbation. The mutilated 
 Fragment of Hardyknute formerly in print, was ad- 
 mired and celebrated by the yaq critics. As it is now, 
 I am inclined to think, given in it's original perfection, 
 it is certainly the moft noble production in this ftyle 
 that ever appeared in the world. The manners and 
 characters are ftrongly marked, and well preferved. 
 The incidents deeply interefting ; and the cataftrophe 
 new and affecting. I am indebted for moft of the 
 ftanzas, now recovered, to the memory of a lady in 
 Lanarkfhire. 
 
 Dionyf. Hal.
 
 xxxvi DISSERTATION II. 
 
 A modern lyric poet of the firft clafs* has pro- 
 nounced Child Maurice a Divine Ballad. " Ariftotle's 
 *' beft rules," fays he, " are obferved in it in a man- 
 " ner that fliews the author had never read Ariftotle." 
 Indeed, if any one will perufe Ariftotle's Art of Poetry 
 with Dacier's Elucidations, and afterwards compare 
 their moil approved rules with this limple Ballad, he 
 will find that they are better illuftrated by this rude 
 effort of the Gothic Mufe, than by the moft exquifite 
 Tragedy of ancient or modern times. The CEdipus 
 Tyrannus of Sophocles, the Athalie of Racine, the 
 Merope of Maffei, and even the very excellent Drama, 
 which feems immediately founded on it, not excepted. 
 There being many delicaie ftrokes in this original, which 
 the plot adopted by that author forbad his making 
 proper ufe of. This does honour at once to the un- 
 knov.-n ccmpofer of this Ballad, and to the firft of cri- 
 tics. In the former the reader will admire a genius, 
 that, probably untracked by erudition, could produce 
 a itory correiponding to the intricate though natural 
 rules of the Greek author. To the latter will be 
 readily confirmed the applauie of an ancient f, that, 
 he was the fecretary of Nature, and his pen was ever 
 dipped in good ienie. 
 
 * Mr. Qray. See his Letters publifted by Mr. Mafon. Seft. IV. 
 Let. XXV. 
 
 f Apud Suidam. 
 
 Thcfe,
 
 DISSERTATION II. xxxvii 
 
 Thefe, and the other monuments of ancient Scottifh 
 Poetry, which have already appeared, are in this edi- 
 tion given much more correct ; and a few are now firft 
 publifhed from tradition. The Editor imagined they 
 poflefTed force fmall beauties, elfe they would not have 
 been added to this Selection. Their feeming antiquity 
 was only regarded as it enhanced their real graces. 
 
 MDCCLXXVI *. 
 
 * Thefe DiflVrtations, &c. were written of this date, but flight 
 additions have been made to them from time to t-ime; as the reader 
 will obfcrvc from references to books publifhed fince that period. 
 
 LA.
 
 LA PLUPART DE CES CHARSONJ SONT DE VIEILLES RO- 
 MANCES DOMT LES AIRS NE SONT PAS PIQUANX; MAIS ILS 
 ONT JE NE SAIS QJJ Ol D' ANTIQUE ET DE DOUX QDI TOUCHE 
 A LA LONCUE. ROUSSEAV. 
 
 II A R-
 
 
 
 HARDYKNUTE. 
 
 AN HEROIC BALLAD. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 STATELY ftept he eaft the ha, 
 And ftately ftept he weft; 
 Full feventy yeirs he now had fene, 
 
 With fcerce fevin yeirs of reft. 
 He livit whan Britons breach of faith jg 
 
 Wrocht Scotland meikle wae, 
 And ay his fword tauld to their coft 
 He was their deidly fae. 
 
 Hie on a hill his caftle ftude, 
 
 With halls and touris a hicht, IO 
 
 ,And gudely chambers fair to fee, 
 Whar he lodgit mony a knicht. 
 His dame fa peirles anes, and fair, 
 
 For chafte, and bewtie, fene, 
 
 Na marrow had in a the land, X$ 
 
 Save Emergard the quene. 
 
 B Full
 
 a SCOTTISH 
 
 Full thirtein fons to him {he bare, 
 
 All men of valour flout, 
 In bluidy ficht, with fword in hand, 
 
 Nyne loft their lives hot doubt; 20 
 
 Four yit pemaind; lang mote they live 
 
 To fland by liege and land : 
 Hie was their fame, hie was their micht, 
 
 And hie was their command. 
 
 Greit luve they bare to Fairly fair, *> 
 
 Their fifter faft and deir, 
 Her girdle fliawd her middle jimp, 
 
 And gowden glift her hair. 
 What waefou wae her bewtie bred ! 
 
 Waefou to young and auld, 3 
 
 Waefou I trow to kyth and kin, 
 
 As ftory ever tauld. 
 
 The King of Norfe, in fummer tide, 
 
 Puft up with pouir and micht, 
 Landed in fair Scotland the yle, 35 
 
 Wi mony a hardie knicht. 
 The tidings to our gude Scots king 
 
 Came as he fat at dyne 
 With noble chiefs in braive aray, 
 
 Drinking the bluid red \vyne. 4 
 
 To
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 3 
 
 ' To horfe, to horfe, my royal liege ! 
 
 " Your faes Hand on the ftrand; 
 '* Full twenty thoufand glittering fpeirs 
 
 " The cheifs of Norfe command. 
 ' Bring me my fteid Mage dapple gray. 1 * 45 
 
 Our gude king raife and cryd : 
 A truftier beift in all the land, 
 
 A Scots king nevir feyd. 
 
 " Gae, little page, tell Hardyknute, 
 
 " Wha lives on hill fa hie, 50 
 
 *' To draw his fword, the dreid of faes, 
 
 " And hafte and follow me." 
 The little page flew fwift as dart, 
 
 Flung by his matter's arm ; 
 
 * Cum down, cum down, lord Hardyknute, 5 
 
 * And red your king frae harm.* 
 
 Then reid, reid grew his dark -brown cheiks 
 
 Sae did his dark -brown brow ; 
 His luiks grew kene, as they were wont 
 
 - In danger grit to do. 60 
 He has tane a horn as grene as grafs, 
 
 And gien five founds fa mrill, 
 That tries in grene wode flmke thereat, 
 Sae loud rang ilka hill. 
 
 His
 
 4 SCOTTISH 
 
 His fons in manly fport and glie 4* 
 
 Had paft the fummer's morn ; 
 Yvhan lo ! down in a grafiy dale, 
 
 They heard their father's horn. 
 ' That horn, quoth they, neir founds in peace, 
 
 * We have other fport to bide ;' 70 
 
 And fune they hied them tip the hill, 
 
 And fune were at his fide. 
 
 " Late, late yeftrene, I weind in peace 
 
 * To end my lengthend lyfe; 
 " My age micht well excufe my arm 75 
 
 ' ' Frae manly feats of flryfe : 
 " But now that Norfe does proudly boaft 
 
 " Fair Scotland to enthral, 
 ** It's neir be faid of Hardyknute, 
 
 " He feird to fecht or fall. So 
 
 11 Robin of Rothfay bend thy bo\r, 
 
 " Thy arrows mute fa leil, 
 * ' That mony a comely countenance 
 
 " They've turn'd to deidly pale. 
 ** Braive Thomas take ye but your lance, 85 
 
 ** Ye neid na weapons mair; 
 " Gif ye fecht wi't, as ye did anes, 
 
 " Gainft Weftmoreland's ferce heir. 
 
 "And
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 5 
 
 And Malcolm, licht of fute as flag 
 
 ** That rune in forefb wilde, <jo 
 
 ** Get me my thoufands thrie of men 
 
 " Weil bred to fword and fliield : 
 ** Bring me my horfe and harnifine, 
 
 " My blade of metal clere." 
 If faes but kend the hand it bare, 95 
 
 They fune had fled for feir. 
 
 *' Fareweil my dame fae peirlefs gude," 
 
 And tuke her by the hand, 
 ** Fairer to me in age you feim 
 
 " Than maids for bewtie famd : 100 
 
 " My youngeft fon fali here remain, 
 
 " To guard thefe ftately touirs, 
 *' And mute the filver bolt that keips 
 
 *' Sae faft your painted bowers.*' 
 
 And firfl ilie wet her comly cheiks, 105 
 
 And then her boddice grene ; 
 The filken cords of twirtle twift 
 
 Were plet with filver fliene ; 
 And apron fet with mony a dye 
 
 Of neidle-wark fae rare, no 
 
 Wove by nae hand, as ye may guefs, 
 
 Save that of Fairly fair. 
 
 B 3 And
 
 6 SCOTTISH 
 
 And he has ridden our muir and raof^, 
 
 Our hills and mcny a glen, 
 Whan he cam to a wounded knicht, i j - 
 
 Making a heavy mane : 
 
 * Here maun I lye, here maun I dye 
 
 4 By treacheries faufe gyles ; 
 
 * Witlefs I was that eir gave faith 
 
 * To wicked woman's linyles.' 1 20 
 
 *' Sir knicht, gin ye were in my bouir, 
 
 " To lean on filken ieat, 
 " My lady's kyndlie care you'd pruve 
 
 " Wha neir kend deidly hate; 
 " Hirfell wald watch ye all the day, 12- 
 
 *' Hir maids at deid of nicht; 
 *' And Fairly fair your heart would cheir, 
 
 " AS ihe Hands in your licht. 
 
 " Arife, young knicht, and mount your field, 
 
 " Ericht lows the fhynand day; 130 
 
 *' Chufe frae my menie wham ye pleifc, 
 " To leid ye on the way." 
 
 "VYi fmylefs luik, and vifage wan 
 The wounded knicht replyd, 
 
 * Kynd chieftain your intent purfue, 15^ 
 
 ' For heir I maun abide. 
 
 To
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 7 
 
 ' To me nae after day nor nicht 
 
 * Can eir be fvveit or fair; 
 
 * But fune benethe fum draping trie, 
 
 * Cauld dethe fall end my care.' 140 
 Still him to win itrave Hardyknute, 
 
 Nor ilrave he lang in vain ; 
 Short pleiding eithly micht prevale, 
 Him to his lure to gain. 
 
 " I will return wi fpeid to bide, 14$ 
 
 " Your plaint and mend your wae: 
 " But private grudge maun neir be quelled, 
 
 ** Before our countries fae. 
 " Mordac, thy eild may beft be fpaird 
 
 " The fields of ftryfe fraemang ; i^O 
 
 " Convey Sir knicht to my abode, 
 
 " And meife his egre pang." 
 
 Syne he has gane far hynd, out owr 
 
 Lord Chattan's land fae wyde ; 
 That lord a worthy wicht was ay, 155 
 
 Whan faes his courage feyd : 
 Of Piclifh race, by mother's fide j 
 
 Whan Pitts ruled Caledon, 
 Lord Chattan claimd the princely maid, 
 
 When he favd Piclilh crown. . 160 
 
 B 4 Now
 
 8 SCOTTISH 
 
 Now with his ferce and ftalwart train 
 
 He recht a rifing hicht, 
 Whar braid encampit on the dale, 
 
 Norfe army lay in ficht j 
 ** Yonder my valiant ions, full ferce j6c 
 
 " Our raging rievers wait, 
 " On the unconquerit Scottifh fwaird 
 
 ** To try with us their fate. 
 
 11 Mak orifons to him that fav'-d 
 
 " Our fauls upon the rude ; 170 
 
 *' Syne braively fliaw your veins are filld 
 
 " Wi Caledonian bluid." 
 Then furth he drew his truftie glaive, 
 
 While thoufands all around, 
 Drawn frae their flieiths glanc'd in the fun, 175 
 
 And loud the bugils found. 
 
 To join his king, adown the hill 
 
 In hafte his march he made, 
 While playand pibroch.s minftrals meit 
 
 Afore him ftately ftrade. 180 
 
 4 Thrife welcum, valiant ftoup of weir, 
 
 * Thy nation's fheild and pride, 
 * Thy king na reafoun has to ieir, 
 
 f Whan thou art by his fide. 
 
 Whan
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS, 9 
 
 Whan bows were bent, and darts were thrawn, iSj 
 
 For thnng fcerce cold they flie, 
 The dans clave arrows as they met, 
 
 Eir faes their dint mote drie. 
 Lang did they rage, and fecht full ferce, 
 
 Wi little ikaith to man; j 89 
 
 But bluidy, bluidy was the feild 
 
 Or that lang day was done ! 
 
 The king of Septs that findle bruik'4 
 
 The war that luik'd like play, 
 Drew his braid fword, and brake his bow, jg$ 
 
 Sen bows feim'd but delay. 
 Quoth noble Rothfay, ' Mine I'll keep, 
 
 * I wate it's bleid a fcore.' 
 ** Hafte up my merrie men,' 1 cryd the king, 
 
 As he rade on before. aoo 
 
 The king of Norfe he focht to find, 
 
 Wi him to menfe the faucht; 
 But on his forehead there did licht 
 
 A lharp unfonfie lhaft : 
 As he his hand pat up to feil 205 
 
 The wound, an arrow kein, 
 O waefu chance ! there pind his hand 
 
 In midft atweene his eyne. 
 
 * Revenge !
 
 ,0 SCOTTISH 
 
 Revenge! revenge!' cryd Rothfay's heir, 
 
 * Your mail -coat iall nocht bide 213 
 
 * The ftrenth and fharpnefs of my dart,' 
 
 Whiik fnared the riever's fide. 
 Anither arrow \veil he marked 
 
 It perc'd his neck in twa ; 
 His hands then quat the filver reins, 21$ 
 
 He law as card did fa. 
 
 ' Sair bleids my liege ! Sair, fair he bleids 1* 
 
 Again with micht he drew, 
 And geilure dreid his Ihirdy bow ; 
 
 Faft the braid arrow flew: 220 
 
 Wae to the knicht he ettled at ; 
 
 Lament now quene Elgreid ; 
 Hire dames to wail your darling's fall, 
 
 His youth, and comely meid. 
 
 * Takaff, tak affhis cofllyjupe,' 225 
 
 (Of gold well was it twynd, 
 Knit like the fowlers net, throuch whilk 
 
 His fteily harnes Ihynd.) 
 ' Beir Norfe that gift frae me, and bid 
 
 * Him venge the bluid it weirs; 230 
 
 * Say if he face my bended bow 
 
 ' He fure na weapon feirs.' 
 
 Proud
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. n 
 
 Proud Norfe with giant body tall, 
 
 Braid moulder, and arms ftrong; 
 Cryd * Whar is Hardyknute fae famd, 235 
 
 * And feird at Britain's throne ? 
 
 * Tho Britons tremble at his name, 
 
 ' I fune fall mak him wail, 
 
 * That eir my fword was made fae fliarp, 
 
 * Sae faft his coat of mail.' 240 
 
 That brag his flout heart cold na bide, 
 
 It lent him youthfu micht : 
 " I'm Hardyknute. This day," he cryed, 
 
 " To Scotland's king I hicht 
 '* To lay thee law as horfe's hiife; 245 
 
 ' My word I mein to keip:" 
 Syne with the firft dint eir he ftrake 
 
 He gar'd his body bleid. 
 
 Norfe ene like grey gofehauk ftaird wilde, 
 
 He fich'd vvi fhame arid fpyte ; 250 
 
 * Difgrac'd is now my far famd arm 
 
 ' That left thee pouir to ftryke.' 
 Syne gied his helm a blow fae fell, 
 
 It made him down to ftoup, 
 Sae law as he to Indies us'd, 255 
 
 In courtly gyfe to lout. 
 
 Full
 
 12 SCOTTISH 
 
 Full fune he ras'd his bent body ; 
 
 His bou he marveld fair, 
 Sen blaws till than on him but dar'd 
 
 As touch of Fairly fair. 260 
 
 Norfe ferlied too as fair as he, 
 
 To fee his ftately luik ; 
 Sae fune as eir he ftrake a fae, 
 
 Sae fune his lyfe he tuke. 
 
 Whar, like a fyre to hether fet, 265 
 
 Bauid Thomas did advance, 
 A ilurdy fae, with luik enrag'd, 
 
 Up towards him did prance. 
 He fpurd his fteid throuch thickeft ranks 
 
 The hardy youth to quell ; 270 
 
 Wha ftude immuvit at his approach 
 
 His furie to repell. 
 
 That fiiort brown (haft, fae meinly trimd, 
 
 * Lukes like poor Scotland's geir ; 
 
 * But dreidfu feims the ruily point!* 275 
 
 And loud he leuch in jeir. 
 *' Aft Britons blude has dim'd it's fhyne 
 
 " It's point cut faort their vaunt." 
 Syne perc'd the boiler's bairded cheik 
 
 Nae time he tuke to taunt. 280 
 
 2 Short
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 13 
 
 Short while he in his fadil fvvang; 
 
 His ftirrip was nae ftay, 
 But feible hang his unbent knie, 
 
 Sair taken he was, fey ! 
 Swyth on the hardend clay he fell, 285 
 
 Richt far was heard the thud ; 
 But Thomas luk'd not as he lay 
 
 All waltering in his blude. 
 
 Wi careles gefture, mind unmuv'd, 
 
 On rade he north the plain zg9 
 
 His feim in peace, or ferceft ftryfe, 
 
 Ay recklels, and the fame. 
 Nor yit his heart dames' dimpeld cheik 
 
 Cold meife faft luve to bruik ; 
 Till vengefu Ann returnd his fcorn, 295 
 
 Then languid grew his luke. 
 
 In thrauis cf dethe, wi wallow'd cheik, 
 
 All panting on the plain, 
 The bleiding corps of warriours lay, 
 
 Neir to arife again : 300 
 
 Neir to return to native land ; 
 
 Na mair wi blythfum founds 
 To boiil the glories of that day, 
 
 And maw their fhynand wounds;
 
 *4 SCOTTISH 
 
 On Norway's coaft the widowd dame , <* 
 
 May vvaih the rocks wi teirs, 
 May lang lake owr the fliiples feas 
 
 Before her mate appeirs. 
 Ceife, Emma, ceife to hope in vain, 
 
 Thy lord lyes in the clay; , To 
 
 The valiant Scots na rievers thole 
 
 To carry lyfe away. 
 
 There on a lee, whar Hands a crofs 
 
 Set up for monument, 
 Thoufands fu ferce, that rummer's day, 315 
 
 Fill'd kene wars black intent. 
 Let Scots while Scots praife Hardyknute 
 
 Let Norfe the name aye dreid ; 
 Ay how he faucht, aft how he fpaird 
 
 Sail lateft ages reid. ,, o 
 
 Loud and chill blew the wefJin wind, 
 
 Sair beat the heavy mouir ? 
 Mirk grew the nicht ere Hardyknute 
 
 Wan neir his ftately touir: 
 His touir that ns'd wi torches bleife 325 
 
 To fhyne fae far at nicht 
 Seim'd now as black as mourning weid 
 
 Na marvel fair he ikh'd. 
 
 4 " There's
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS 15 
 
 ct There*s na licht in my lady's bouir, 
 
 *' There's na licht in my ha; 330 
 
 " Na blynk fhynes round my Fairly fair, 
 
 " Na ward ftands on my wa. 
 '* What bodes it ? Robert, Thomas, fay.** 
 
 Na anfwer fits their dreid. 
 ' Stand back my fons I'll be your gyde." 335 
 
 But by they pafl vvi fpeid. 
 
 " As faft I ha fped owr Scotland's facs-" 
 
 There ceis'd his brag of weir, 
 Sair fhamd to mind ocht but his dame, 
 
 And maiden Fairly fair. 340 
 
 Black feir he felt, but what to feir 
 
 He wift nae yit wi dreid: 
 Sair fliuke his body, fair his limbs 
 
 And a the warriour filed. 
 
 PART
 
 x6 SCOTTISH 
 
 PART II. 
 
 ETURN, return, ye men of bluid, 
 " And bring me back my chylde I" 
 A dolefu voice frae mid the ha 
 
 Reculd, wi echoes wylde. 
 Beftraught wi dule and dreid, na pouir 
 
 Had Hardyknute at a; 
 Full thrife he raught his ported fpeir, 
 And thriie he let it fa. 
 
 " O haly God, for his deir fake, 
 
 " Wha favd us on the rude 10 
 
 He tint his praier, and drew his glaive, 
 
 Yet reid wi Norland bluid. 
 " Brayd on, brayd on, my flalwart fons, 
 
 " Grit caufe we ha to feir ; 
 " But aye the canny ferce contemn 15 
 
 ** The hap they canna veir." 
 
 * Return, return, ye men of bluid, 
 
 * And bring me back my chylde ! * 
 The dolefu voice frae mid the ha 
 
 Reculd, wi echoes wylde. 29 
 
 The ftorm grew rife, throuch a the lift 
 
 The rattling thunder rang, 
 The black rain mour'd, and lichtning glent 
 
 Thek harnifine alang. 
 
 What
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 17 
 
 What feir pofleft their boding br cells 1$ 
 
 Whan, by the gloomy glour, 
 The caftle ditch wi deed bodies 
 
 They faw was filled out o\vr ! 
 Quoth Hardyknute * I wold to Chryrie 
 
 " The Norfe had wan the day, 30 
 
 ** Sae I had keipt at hame but anes, 
 
 " Thilk bluidy feats to ftay." 
 
 Wi fpeid they paft, and fune they recht 
 
 The bafe-courts founding bound, 
 Deip groans fith heard, and throuch the mirk 
 
 Lukd wiftfully around. 
 The moon, frae hind a fable cloud, 
 
 Wi fudden twinkle fliane, 
 Whanj on the cauldrif card, they fand 
 
 The gude Sir Mordac layn. 40 
 
 Befprent wi gore, fra helm to fpur, 
 
 Was the trew-heartit knicht ; 
 Swith frae his fteid fprang Hardyknute 
 
 Muv'd wi the heavy ficht. 
 " O fay thy mailer's {hield in weir, 4$ 
 
 *' His lawman in the ha, 
 ** What hatefu chance cold ha the pouir 
 
 " To lay thyeildfaelaw?"
 
 i-8 SCOTTISH 
 
 To his complaint the bleiding knicht 
 
 Returnd a piteous mane, 
 And recht his hand, whilk Hardyknute 
 
 Claucht ftreitly in his ain : 
 ' Gin eir ye fee lord Harkyknute, 
 
 * Frae Mordac ye maun fay, 
 
 c Lord Draffan's treafoun to confute 55 
 
 He ufd his fleddieft fay.' 
 
 He micht na mair, for cruel dethe 
 
 Forbad him to proceid : 
 " I vow to God, I winna fleip 
 
 " Till I fee Draffan bleid. 6p 
 
 *' My fons your filler was owr fair : 
 
 " But bruik he fall na lang 
 '* His gude betide; my laft forbode 
 
 *' He'll trow belyve na fang. 
 
 ** Bown ye my eydent friends to kyth 65 
 
 " To me your luve fae deir ; 
 * The Norfe' defeat mote weil perfuadc 
 
 '* Nae riever ye neid feir." 
 The fpeirmen, wi a michty (hout, 
 
 Cryd * Save our matter deir ! 73 
 
 1 While he dow beir the fvvay bot care 
 
 * Nae reiver we fall feir* 
 
 4 Return,
 
 T R A G i C BALLAD S. 19 
 
 ' Return, return, ye men of bluid 
 
 ' And bring me back my chylde !' 
 The dolefu voice frae mid the ha 75 
 
 Reculd wi echoes wylde; 
 " I am to wyte my valiant friends :" 
 
 And to the ha they ran, 
 The ftately dore full ftreitly fteiked 
 
 Wi iron boltis thrie they fartd. 8& 
 
 The ftately dore, tMouch ftreitly fteiked 
 
 Wi waddin iron boltis thrie, 
 Richt fune his micht can eithly gar 
 
 Frae affit's hinges flie. 
 " Whar ha ye tane my dochter deir ? 85 
 
 " Mair wold I fee her deid 
 " Than fee her in your bridal bed, 
 
 '* For a your portly meidi 
 
 " What thouch my gude and valiant lord 
 
 " Lye ftrecht on the cauld clay ? 0,3 
 
 " My fons the dethe may ablins fpair 
 
 ** To wreak their fifters wae. 
 * O my leil lord, cold I but ken 
 
 " Where thy dear corfe is layn, 
 *' Fra gurly weit, and warping blafl 95 
 
 ** I'd fhicld it wi my ain ! 
 
 C i " Dreif
 
 io 5 C O T T I S H 
 
 *' Dreir dethe richt fune will end my dule, . , 
 
 ** Ye riever ferce and vile, 
 " But thouch ye flay me, frae my heart . 
 
 ' ** His luve ye '11 neir exile." 100 
 
 Sae did flie crune wi heavy cheir, 
 
 Hyt luiks, and bleirit eyne ; 
 Then teirs firft \vet his manly cheik 
 
 And ihawy baird bedeene. 
 
 * Na riever here, my dame fae deir, 105 
 
 * But your leil lord you fee ; 
 
 * May hieft harm betide his life 
 
 * Wha brocht fie harm to thee ! 
 
 * Gin anes ye may bekive my word, 
 
 * Nor am I ufd to lie, 1 10 
 ' By day-prime he or Hardyknute 
 
 The bluidy dethe fhall'die." 
 
 The ha, whar late the linkis bricht 
 
 Sae gladfum flxind at een, 
 Whar penants gleit a gowden bleife 1 1 5 
 
 Our knichts and ladys fhene, 
 Was now fae mirk, that, throuch tke bound, 
 
 Nocht mote they wein to fee, 
 Alfe throuch the fouthern port the moon 
 
 Let fa a blinkand glie. 1 2 o 
 
 " Are
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 
 
 *' Are ye in fuith my deir luvd lord ?" 
 
 Nae mair fhe doncht to fay, 
 But fwounit on his harneft neck 
 
 Wi joy and tender fay. 
 To fee her in lie balefu fort 125 
 
 Revived his felcouth feirs ; 
 But fune fhe raifd her comely luik, 
 
 And faw his faing teirs. 
 
 *' Ye are nae wont to greit wi wreuch, 
 
 ** Grit caufe ye ha I dreid ; 130 
 
 *' Hae a our fons their lives redemd 
 
 44 Frae furth the dowie feid ?" 
 * Saif are our valiant fons, ye fee, 
 
 * But lack their lifter deir ; 
 
 ' When fhe's awa, bot any doubt, 135 
 
 * We ha grit caufe to feir.' 
 
 " Of a our wrangs, and her depart, 
 
 ' Whan ye the fuith fall heir, 
 " Na marvel that ye ha mair caufe, 
 
 " Than ye yit weit, to feir. * 140 
 
 " O wharefore heir yon feignand knicht 
 
 " Wi Mordac did ye fend ? 
 41 Ye funer wald ha perced his heart 
 
 44 Had ye his ettling kend." 
 
 C 3 * What
 
 2* SCOTTISH 
 
 * What may ye mein my peirles dame ? 
 
 * That knicht did muve my nithe 
 
 * We balefu mane ; I did na dout 
 
 * His curtefie and truthe. 
 
 ' He maun ha tint wi fma renown 
 
 * His life in this fell rjef ; 150 
 ' Richt fair it grieves me that he heir 
 
 * Met fie an ill relief/ 
 
 Quoth me, wi teirs that down her cheifcai 
 
 Ran like a diver (houir, 
 *' May ill befa the tide that brocfyt 15$ 
 
 " That faufe knicht to our touir : 
 " Ken'd ye na Draffan's lordly port, 
 
 *' Thouch cled in knichtly graith ? 
 tl Tho hidden was his hautie luik 
 
 " The vifor black benethe ?" io 
 
 4 Now, as I am a knicht of weir, 
 
 * I thochc his feeming trew j 
 
 e But, that he fae deceived my ruthe, 
 
 * Full fairly he fall rue.* 
 
 '* Sir Mordac to the founding ha i6| 
 
 *' Came wi his cative fere ;" 
 * My fyre has fent this wounded knicht 
 
 f To pruve your kyndlie care. 
 
 
 Your
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 25 
 
 * Your fell maun wateh him a the day, 
 
 ' Your maids at deid of nicht ; 1 70 
 
 * And Fairly fair his heart maun chcir 
 * As fhe ftands in his ficht.' 
 
 ** Nae funer was Sir Mordac gane, 
 " Than up the featour fprang ;" 
 
 * The hive alfe o your dochter deir i 75 
 ' I feil na ither pang. 
 
 * Tho Hardyknute lord Draffan's fuit 
 
 * Refus'd wi mickle pryde ; 
 
 ' By his gude dame and Fairly fair 
 
 * Let him not be denyd.' 180 
 * Nocht muvit wi the cative's fpeech, 
 
 * ' Nor wi his ftern command ; 
 ' I treafoun ! cryd, and Kenneth's blade 
 '* Was glifterand in his hand. 
 
 *' My fon lord Draffan heir you fee, 185 
 
 " Wha means your lifter's fay 
 44 To win by guile, when Hardyknute 
 
 Strives in the irie fry." 
 
 * Turn thee ! thou riever Baron, turn !' 
 
 " Bauld Kenneth cryd aloud ; 190 
 
 ' But, fune as Draffan fpent his glaive, 
 " My fon lay in his bluid." 
 
 C 4 ' I did
 
 24 SCQTTISH 
 
 * I did nocht grein that bluming face 
 1 That dethe fae fune fold pale ; 
 
 * Far lefs that my trew luve, throuch me, 
 
 * Her brother's dethe fold wail. 
 
 * But fyne ye fey our force to prive, 
 ' Our force we fall you fhaw ! ' 
 
 ' Syne the mrill-founding horn bedeen 
 " He tuik frae down the wa. 
 
 " Ere the portculie cold be flung, 
 " His kyth the bale-court fand ; 
 
 " Whan fcantly o their count a teind 
 " Their entrie micht gainfland. 
 
 *' Richt fune the raging rievers ftude 
 " At their faufe matter's fyde, 
 
 " Wha, by the haly maiden, fware 
 
 * ' Na harm fold us betide. 
 
 " What fyne befell ye weil may guefs, 
 " Reft o our eilds delicht." 
 
 * We fall na lang be reft, by morne 
 
 * Sail Fairly glad your ficht. 
 
 * Let us be gane my fons, or now 
 
 * Our meny chide our ftay ; 
 
 ' Fareweil my dame ; your dochter's luve 
 
 * Will fune cheir your eifray.' 
 
 Then
 
 TR4 GIC BALLADS. 2; 
 
 Then pale pale grew her teirfu cheik ; 
 
 " Let ane o my fons thrie 
 " Alane gyde this emprize, your eild 
 
 *' May ill .fie travel drie. 220 
 
 ** O whar were I, were my deir lord, 
 
 " And a my ions, to bleid! 
 " Better to brink the wrang than fae 
 
 *' To wreak the hie mifdede. 
 
 The gallant Rothfay rofe bedeen 22$ 
 
 His richt of age to pleid ; 
 And Thomas fhawd his ftrenthy fpeir ; 
 
 And Malcolm mein'd his fpeid. 
 
 * My fons your ftryfe I gladly fee, 
 
 * But it fall neir be fayne, 230 
 f That Hardyknute fat in his ha, 
 
 * And heird his fon was flayne. 
 
 * My lady deir, ye neid na feir ; 
 
 * The richt is on our fyde:' 
 
 Syne riling with richt frawart hafte 235 
 
 Nae parly wald he byde. 
 The lady fat in heavy u.ude, 
 
 Their tunefu march to heir, 
 While, far ayont her ken, the found 
 
 Na mair mote roun her eir. 240 
 
 Oha
 
 SCOTTISH 
 
 O ha ye fein fum glitterand touir, 
 
 Wi mirrie archers crownd, 
 Wha vaunt to fee their trembling fae 
 
 Keipt frae their countrie's bound ? 
 Sic aufum ftrenth fhawd Hardyknute; 34,- 
 
 Sic feimd his ftately meid ; 
 Sic pryde he to his meny bald, 
 
 Sic feir his faes he gied. 
 
 Wi glie they paft our mountains rude, 
 
 Owr muirs and mofles weit; 2 , Q 
 
 Sune as they faw the rifmg fun, 
 
 On Draftan's touirs it gleit. 
 O Fairly bricht I marvel fair 
 
 That featour eer ye lued, 
 Whafe treafoun wrocht your father's bale, 25 - 
 
 And fhed your brither's blude ! 
 
 The ward ran to his youth fu lord, 
 
 Wha fleipd his bouir intill: 
 ' Nae time for fleuth, your raging faes 
 
 * Fare doun the wefllin hill. 260 
 
 * And, by the libbard's gowden low 
 
 * In his blue banner braid, 
 
 * That Hardyknute his dochtir feiks, 
 4 And Draffans dethe, I rede.' 
 
 "Say
 
 TRAGIC BALL A B S. 27 
 
 ** Say to my bands of matchlefs micht, 565 
 
 Wha camp law in the dale, 
 " To bulk their arrows for the fecht, 
 
 " And ftreitly gird their mail. 
 44 Syne meit me here, and wein to find 
 
 " Nae juft or turney pky; 370 
 
 * Whan Hardyknute braids to the field, 
 
 44 War bruiks na lang delay." 
 
 His halbrik bricht he brac'd bedeen ; 
 
 Fra ilka Ikaith and harm 
 Securit by a warloc auld, 275* 
 
 Wi mony a fairy charm. 
 A feimly knicht cam to the ha : 
 
 * Lord DrafFan I thee braive, 
 
 * Frae Hardyknute my worthy lord, 
 
 * To fecht wi fpeir or glaive. 280 
 
 4i Your hautie lord me braives in vain 
 
 ** Alane his micht to prive, 
 * ' For wha, in fmgle feat of weir, 
 
 *' Wi Hardyknute may ftrive? 
 " But fith he mcins our ftrenth to fey, 85 
 
 ' On cafe he fune will find, 
 *' That thouch his bands leave mine in ire, 
 
 "In force they're far behind. 
 
 Yet
 
 *8 SCOTTISH 
 
 ' Yet cold I wete that he wald yfeld 
 
 " To what bruiks iiae remeid, 2Q< 
 
 ' I for his dochter wald nae hain 
 
 " To ae half o my fteid." 
 Sad Hardyknute apart frae a 
 
 Leand on his birnift fpeir ; 
 And, whan he on his Fairly deimd, 2 g, 
 
 He fpar'd nae lich nor teir. 
 
 '* What meins the felon cative vile ? 
 
 *' Bruiks this reif na remeid ? 
 " I fcorn his gylefu vows ein thouch 
 
 " They recht to a his iteid." ^oo 
 
 Bownd was lord Draffan for the fecht, 
 
 Whan lo ! his Fairly deir 
 Ran frae her hie bouir to the ha 
 Wi a the fpeid of fein 
 
 Ein as the rudie (for of morne 30 r 
 
 Peirs throuch a cloud of dew, 
 Sae did fhe fejm, as round his neck 
 
 Her fnawy arms fhe threw. 
 O why, O why, did Fairly wair 
 
 ' On thee her thouchtles hive? ? IO 
 
 * Whafe cruel heart can ettle aye 
 
 * Her father's dethe to pruvc !'- 
 
 And
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 29 
 
 And firft he kifsd her bluming cheik, 
 
 And fyne her bofom deir ; 
 Than fadly ftrade athwart the ha, 315 
 
 And drapd ae tendir teir. 
 ** My meiny heid my words wi care, 
 
 ** Gin ony weit to flay 
 *' Lord Hardyknute, by hevin I fweir 
 
 ** Wi lyfe he fall nae gae." 320 
 
 * My maidens bring my bridal gowne, 
 
 * I little trewd yeftrene, 
 
 ' To rife frae bonny Draffan's bed, 
 
 * His bluidy dethe to fene.' 
 
 Syne up to the hie baconie 315 
 
 She has gane wi a her train, 
 And fune ihe faw her ftalwart lord 
 
 Attein the bleiling plain. 
 
 Owr Nethan's weily ftreim he fared 
 
 Wi feeming ire and pryde ; 330 
 
 His blafon, glifterand ovvr his helm, 
 
 Bare Allan by his fyde. 
 Richt fune the bugils blew, and lang 
 
 And bludy was the fray; 
 Eir hour of nune, that elric tyde, 335 
 
 Had hundreds tint their day. 
 
 Like
 
 3> SCOTTISH 
 
 Like beacon bricht at deid of hicht, 
 
 The michty chief muvd on ; 
 His bafnet, bleifing to the fun, 
 
 Wi deidly lichtning (hone,; 3^ 
 
 Draffan he focht, wi him at anes 
 
 To end the cruel ftryfe ; 
 But aye his fpeirmen thranging round 
 
 Forfend their leidef's lyfe* 
 
 The winding Clyde wi valiant bluid 34^ 
 
 Ran reiking mony a mile ; 
 Few (hide the faucht, yet dethe alans 
 
 Cold end their irie toil. 
 Wha flie, I vow, fall frae my fpeif 
 
 Receive the dethe they dreid!' 35 
 
 Cryd Draffan, as alang the plain 
 
 He fpurd his bluid-red fteid^ 
 
 Up to him fune a knicht can praneej 
 
 A graith'd in filver mail : 
 Lang have I focht thee throuch the field, 355 
 
 tl This lance will tell my tale.-" 
 Rude was the fray, till Draffan's fldll 
 
 Oercame his youthfu micht ; 
 Perc'd throuch the vifor to the eie 
 
 Was flayne the comly knicht < 
 
 36 
 
 Thtf
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS* *r 
 
 The vifor on the fpeir was deft, 
 And Draffan Malcolm fpied; 
 ' Ye fhould your vaunted fpeid this day, 
 
 And not your ftrenth> ha fey'd/ 
 
 ** Cative, awa ye maun na flic," 36^ 
 
 Stout Rothfay ery'd bedeen, 
 ** Till, frae my glsive, ye wi ye beir 
 
 ** The wound ye fein'd yeftrene." 
 
 Mair o you*- kins bluid ha I fpilt 
 
 Than I docht evir grein ; 370 
 
 ' See Rothfay whar your brither lyet 
 
 * In dethe afore your eyne.' 
 Scant Rothfay ftapt the faing teir j 
 
 " O hatefu curfed deid! 
 
 Sac Draffan feiks our filter's luve, 37 j 
 
 44 Nor feirs far ither meidl" 
 
 Swith on the word ad arrow cam 
 
 Frae ane o Rothfay's band, 
 And (mote on Drafian's lifted targe^ 
 
 Syne Rothfays fplent it fand. 38 
 
 Perc'd throuch the knie to his ferce fleid, 
 
 Wha pranc'd wi egre p<un, 
 The chief was forcd to quit the ftryfe, 
 
 And feik the nether plain. 
 
 Hts
 
 32 SCOTTIS'ri 
 
 His minilrals there wi dolefu care 2^5 
 
 The bludy (haft withdrew; 
 But that he fae was bar'd the fecht 
 
 Sair did the leider rue. 
 
 * Cheir ye my mirrie men,' Draffan cryd, 
 
 Wi meikle pryde and glie ; 390 
 
 * The prife is ours ; nae chieftan bides 
 
 * Wi us to bate the grie.' 
 
 That hautie boafi heard Hardyknute, 
 
 Whar he lein'd on his fpeir, 
 Sair vveiried wi tha nune-tide heat, 395 
 
 And toillum deids of weir. 
 The firft ficht, whan he part the thrang, 
 
 Was Malcolm on the Ivvaird : 
 " Wold hevin that dethe my eild had tane, 
 
 '* And thy youtheid had ipard ! 400 
 
 *' Draffan I ken thy ire, but now 
 
 " Thy micht I mein to fee !" 
 But eir he ftrak the deidly dint 
 
 The lyre was on his knie. 
 ' Lord Hardyknute ftryke gif ye may, 405 
 
 * I neir will ftryve wi thee; 
 
 ' Forfend your dochter fee you flayne 
 4 Frae whar ihe fits on hie ! 
 
 6 * Yeftrene
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 33 
 
 * Yeftrene the prieft in haly band 
 
 * Me joind wi Fairly deir ; 410 
 
 * tor her fake let us part in peace, 
 
 And neir meet mair in weir.' 
 
 '* Oh king of heviri, what feimly fpeech 
 
 ' A. featour's lips c?n fend ! 
 " And art thou he wha baith my fons 415 
 
 *' Brocht to a bluidy end ? 
 
 Hafte, mount thy fteid, or I fall licht 
 
 *' And meit thee on the plain; 
 11 For by my forbere's fanl we neir 
 
 " Sail part till ane be flayne." 400 
 
 * Now mind thy aith,' fyne Draflfan (tout 
 
 To Allan leudly cryd, 
 Wha drew the fhynand blade bot dreid 
 
 And perc'd his matters fyde. 
 
 Law to the bleiding card he fell, 415 
 
 And dethe fune clos'd his eyne. 
 *' DrafFan, till now I did na ken 
 
 " Thy dethe cold muve my tein. 
 " I wold to Chryfte thou valiant youth, 
 
 " Thou wert in life again ; 30 
 
 " May ill befa my ruthles wrauth 
 
 ' That brocht thee to fie pain ! 
 
 D " Fairly,
 
 54 SCOTTISH 
 
 '* Fairly, anes a my joy and pryde,. 
 
 ** Now a my grief and bale, 
 ** Ye maun wi haly maidens byde 4,75 
 
 " Your deidly faut to wail. 
 " To Icolm beir ye Draffan's corfe r 
 
 " And dochter anes fae deir, 
 '* Whar ftie may pay his heidles luvc 
 
 " Wi mony a mournfu teir," 440 
 
 IL CHILU
 
 II. CHILD MAURICE* 
 
 CHILD MAURICE was an erle's fon, 
 His name it waxed wide; 
 It was nae for his great riches, 
 
 Nor yit his meikle pride, 
 
 But for his dame, a lady gay 
 
 Wha livd on Carron fide. 
 
 ' Whar fall I get a bonny boy, 
 ' That will win hofe and Ihoen, 
 
 * That will gae to lord Barnard's ha, 
 
 ' And bid his lady come ? f o 
 
 * And ye maun rin errand Willie, 
 
 * And ye maun rin wi fpeid ; 
 
 ' When ither boys gang on their feet 
 
 * Ye fall ha prancing fteid.' 
 
 ** O no ! oh no ! my matter deir ! I 
 
 " I dar na for my life ; 
 " I'll no gae to the bauld barons, 
 
 ** For to trieft furth his wife." 
 
 My bird Willie, 1 my boy Willie, 
 
 ' My deir Willie, he faid, 20 
 
 * How can ye flrive againft the ftreim ? 
 
 * For I fall be obeyd.' 
 
 D 2 " But
 
 3 u SCOTTISH 
 
 14 But O my mailer deir ! he cryd, 
 
 *' In grenewode ye'reyour lane; 
 '* Gi OUT lie thochts I \vald ye red,. 25 
 
 " For feir ye fold be tane." 
 
 e Halle, hafte, I fay, gae to the ha, 
 
 * Bid her come here wi fpeid ; 
 
 * If ye refufe my hie command, 
 
 * I'll gar your body bleid, 30 
 
 * Gae bid her tak this gpy mantel, 
 
 * Tis a gowd but the hem ; 
 
 < Bid her come to the gude grenewode, 
 
 * Ein- by herfel alane: 
 
 "**^And there it is, a filken farke, 35 
 
 * Her ain hand fewd the fleeve.; 
 
 ' And bid her come to Child Maurice ; 
 ' Speir nae bauld baron's leive.' 
 
 <; Yes I will gae your black errand, 
 
 ** Thouch it be to your coft ; 4 
 
 ** Sen ye will nae be warnd by me r 
 
 " In it ye fall find froft. 
 
 ** The baron he's a man o micht, 
 
 * * He neir cold bide to taunt : 
 
 *' And ye will fee before its nicht, 45 
 
 " Sraa caufe ye ha to vaunt. 
 
 2 " And
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 37 
 
 ** And ien I maun your errand rin, 
 
 * Sae fair againft my will, 
 * I'fe mak a vow, and kcip it trow, 
 
 *' It fall be done for ill." 50 
 
 Whan he cam to the broken brig, 
 
 He bent his bow and fwam ; 
 And whan he came to grafs growing, 
 
 Set down his feet and ran. 
 
 And whan he cam to Barnards yeat, 55 
 
 Wold neither chap nor ca, 
 But fet his bent bow to his breift, 
 
 And lichtly lap the wa. 
 
 He wald na tell the man his errand 
 
 Thoch he ftude at the yeat ; 6e> 
 
 But ftreight into the ha he cam, 
 
 Whar they were fet at meat. 
 
 Hail ! hail ! my gentle fire and dame 1 
 My meilage winna wait, 
 
 Dame ye maun to the greneu'ode gae, 65 
 
 * Afore that it be late. 
 
 ' Ye're bidden tak this gay mantel, 
 4 Tis a gowd bot the hem : 
 
 * Ye maun hafle to the gude grenewotle, 
 ' Ein by yourfell alane. 
 
 D 3 ' And 
 
 12
 
 3 8 SCOTTISH 
 
 * And there it is, a filken fark, 
 
 * Your ain hand fewd the fleive ; 
 
 ' Ye maun gae fpeik to Child Maurice ; 
 
 * Speir na bauld baron's leive.' 
 
 The lady ftamped vvi her foot 4 jf 
 
 And winked wi her eie ; 
 But a that flie cold fay or do, 
 
 Forbidden he vvald nae be. 
 " It's furely to my bower-woman, 
 
 " It neir cold be to me." 80 
 
 4 I brocnt it to lord Barnard's lady, 
 
 * I trow that ye be fhe.' 
 Then up and fpak the wylie nurie, 
 
 (The bairn upon her knie) , 
 
 " If it be come from Child Maurice 85 
 
 ** It's deir welcum to me." 
 
 * Ye lie, ye lie, ye filthy nurfe, 
 
 * Sae loud as I heir ye lie ; 
 
 ' I brocht it to lord Barnard's lady 
 
 * I trow ye be nae fhee.' 90 
 Then up and fpake the bauld baron, 
 
 An angry man was he : 
 He has tane the table wi his foot, 
 
 Sae has he wi his knie, 
 Till cryftal cup and ezar dim 
 
 In Hinders he gard flie. 
 
 "Gae
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. ^ 
 
 " Gae bring a robe of your eliding, 
 
 *' Wi a the hafte ye can, 
 " And I'll gae to the gude grenewode, 
 
 *' And fpeik wi your lemman." JOG 
 
 * O bide at hame now lord Barnard ! 
 
 * I ward ye bide at hame ; 
 
 * Neir wyte a man for violence, 
 ' Wha neir wyte ye wi nane.' 
 
 Child Maurice fat in the grenewode, JQ- 
 
 He whittled and he fang : 
 *' O what meins a the folk coming ? 
 
 " My mother tarries lang." 
 
 The baron to the grenewode cam, 
 
 Wi meikle dule and car-e ; 1 10 
 
 And there he firft fpyd Child Maurice, 
 
 Kaming his yellow hair. 
 
 * Nae wonder, nae wonder, Child Maurice, 
 
 * My lady loes thee weil : 
 
 * The faireft part of my body U 
 
 * Is blacker than thy heil. 
 
 * Yet neir the lefs now, Child Maurice, 
 ' For a thy great bewtie, 
 
 * Ye'fe rew the day ye eirwas born ; 
 
 * That head fall gae wi me.' 120
 
 4> SCOTTISH 
 
 Now he has drawn his trufty brand, 
 
 And flaided ovvr the flrae ; 
 And throuch Child Maurice fair body 
 
 He gar'd the cauld iron gae. 
 
 And he has tane Child Maurice heid, . 13$ 
 
 And fet it on a fpeir ; 
 The meireft man in a his train, 
 
 Has gotten that heid to beir. 
 
 And he has tane Child Maurice up, 
 
 Laid him acrofs his fleid ; 139 
 
 And brocht him to his painted bower 
 
 And laid him en a bed. , 
 
 The lady on the caftl^ wa 
 
 Beheld baith dale and down; 
 And there me faw Child Maurice heid 13$ 
 
 Cum trailing to the toun. 
 
 '* Better I loe that bluidy heid, 
 
 ** Bot and that yellow hair, 
 " Than lord Barnard and a his lands 
 
 " As they lig here and there.'* 140 
 
 And fhe has tane Child Maurice heid, 
 
 And kifled baith cheik and chin ; 
 " I was anes fow of Child Maurice 
 
 44 As the hip is o the ftane. 
 
 " I gat
 
 I 
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 41 
 
 "I gat ye in my father's houfe 145 
 
 .** Wi meikle fin and fliame ; 
 ** I brocht ye up in the grenewode 
 
 *' Ken'd to myiell ai^ie : 
 
 '* Aft have I by thy craddle fitten, 
 
 " And fondly fein thee fleip; 150 
 
 ?' But now I maun gae 'bout thy grave 
 
 " A mother's teirs to weip." 
 
 Again fhe kifs'd his bluidy cheik, 
 
 Again his bluidy chin ; 
 '* O better I loed my Ion Maurice, 15^ 
 
 ." Than a my kyth and kin!" 
 
 ' Awa, awa, ye ill woman, 
 
 * An ill dethe may ye die ! 
 
 * Gin I had ken'd he was your fon 
 
 * He had neir been ilayne by me.' 160 
 
 r 
 * Obraid me not, my lord Barnard ! 
 
 " Obraid me not for fhame! 
 * ' Wi that fam fpeir, O perce my heart, 
 *' Andiave me frae my pain ! 
 
 *' Since naething but Child Maurice head - 165 
 
 ?' Thy jealous rage cold quell 
 ' ' Let that fame hand now tak her lyfe, 
 
 ' ' That neir to thee did ill. 
 
 "To
 
 42 SCOTTISH 
 
 *' To me nae after days nor nicht$ 
 
 " Will eir be faft or kind: !- o 
 
 " I'll fill the air wi heavy fichs, 
 
 " And greit till I be blind." 
 
 * Eneuch of bluid by me's been fpilt, 
 
 * Seek not your dethe frae me ; 
 
 * I'd rather far it had been myfel, j** 
 
 ' Than either him or thee. 
 
 * Wi hopelefs wae I hear your plaint, 
 
 ' Sair, fair, I rue the dcid. 
 ' That eir this curfcd hand of mine 
 
 * Sold gar his body bleid ! ,80 
 
 * Dry up your teirs, my vvinfome dame, 
 
 ' They neir can heal the wound ; 
 
 * Ye fee his h'eid upon the fpeir, 
 
 * His heart's bluid on the ground. 
 
 * I curfe the hand that did the deid, ,- 
 
 4 The heart that thocht the ill, 
 
 * The feet that bare me wi fie Ipeid, 
 
 ' The comlie youth to kill. 
 
 * I'll aye lament for Child Maurice 
 
 ' * As gin he war my ain; r g O 
 
 * I'll neir forget the dreiry day 
 
 * On which the youth was flain.' 
 
 III.
 
 C 43 3 
 
 III. ADAM O GORDON. 
 
 IT fell about the Martinmas, 
 Whan the wind blew fhrill and cauld : 
 Said Adam o Gordon to his men, 
 " We maun draw to a hauld. 
 
 " And what a hauld fall we draw to, 
 
 '* My mirrie men and me ? 
 " We will gae ftrait to Towie houfe 
 
 " And fee that fair laciie." 
 
 The lady on her collie wa 
 
 Beheld baith dale and down, 10 
 
 When flie was ware of a hoil of men 
 
 Riding toward the toun. 
 
 * O fee ye not, my mirry men a, 
 
 * O fee ye not what I lee ? 
 
 ' Methinks I fee a hoft of men, j 5 
 
 * I man-el wha they be.' 
 
 She
 
 44 SCOTTISH 
 
 She wein'd it had been her luvely lord, 
 
 As he came ryding hame ; 
 It was the traitor Adam o Gordon, 
 
 Wha reck'd nae fin or fhame. 20 
 
 She had nae funer bulked herfel, 
 
 And putten on her gown, 
 Than Adam o Gordon and his men 
 
 Were round about the toun. 
 
 The lady ran to hir touir heid 25 
 
 Sae fafl as fhe cold drie, 
 To fee if by her fpeiches fair 
 
 She cold wi him agree. 
 
 But \vhan he faw the lady fafe, 
 
 And the y cites a locked faft, 3* 
 
 He fell into a rage of wrauth, 
 
 And his heart was all aghaft. 
 
 ** Cum doun to me ye lady gay, 
 
 " Cum doun, Cum doun to me : 
 ** This nicht ye fall lye in my arms, 35 
 
 4 ' The morrow my bride fall be." 
 
 * I winna cum doun ye faufe Gordon, 
 
 ' I winna cum doun to thee ; 
 I winna forl'ake my ain deir lord, 
 
 * Thouch he is far frae me.' 4 
 
 " Give
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 45 
 
 44 Give owr your houfe, ye lady fair, 
 
 44 Give owr your houfe to me; 
 44 Or I fall brin yourfel therein, 
 
 44 Bot and your babies thrie.'* 
 
 * I winna give owr, ye faufe Gordon, 45 
 
 4 To nae lie traitor as thee ; 
 4 And if ye brin me and my babes, 
 
 4 My lord fall mak ye drie. 
 
 4 But reach my piflol, Glaud my man, 
 
 4 And charge ye weil my gun, <; 
 
 4 For, bot if I perce that bluidy butcher, 
 
 4 We a fall be undone/ 
 
 She {hide upon the caftle wa 
 
 And let twa bullets fiie ; 
 She mift that bluidy butchers heart, <;$ 
 
 And only razd his knie. 
 
 *' Set fire to the houfe," cryd faufe Gordon, 
 
 A wood wi dule and ire ; 
 44 Faufe lady ye fall rue this deid 
 
 44 As ye brin in the fire." 60 
 
 4 Wae worth, wae worth ye [ock my man, 
 
 4 1 paid ye weil your fee ; 
 4 Why povv ye out the ground-wa ftane 
 
 4 Lets in the reik to me ? 
 
 * And
 
 46 SCOTTISH 
 
 * And ein wae worth ye Jock my man 6 - 
 
 ' I paid ye well your hire ; 
 
 * Why pow ye out the ground wa ftane 
 
 * To me lets in the fire ?' 
 
 *' Yc paid me wei! my hire, lady, 
 
 * ' Ye paid me weil my fee : 70 
 
 " But now I'm Adam o Gordon's man ; 
 
 "And maun or doe or die." 
 
 O than befpak her little fon 
 Frae aff the nource's knie, 
 ' Oh mither deir, gi owr this houfe, 7 - 
 
 * For the reik it fmithers me !' 
 
 ** I wald gie a my gowd, my chyld, 
 
 " Sae wald I a my fee, 
 " For ae blaft o the weftlin wind, 80 
 
 " To blaw the reik frae thee." 
 
 O than befpak her dochter deir, 
 She was baith jimp and fma, 
 
 * O row me in a pair o flieits, 
 
 ' And tow me owr the \va.' 85 
 
 They fowd her in a pair o flieits, 
 
 And towd her our the wa, 
 But on the point o Gordon's fpeir, 
 
 She gat a deidly fa. 
 
 O bonnie
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 47 
 
 O bonnle bonnie was her mouth, 90 
 
 And chirry were her cheiks ; 
 And cleir cleir was her yellow hair, 
 
 Wharon the red bluid dreips ! 
 
 Than wi his fpeir he turnd her ovvr 
 
 O gin her face was wan ! 95 
 
 Quoth he," ye are the firft that eir 
 
 " I wifhd alive again." 
 
 He turnd her our and our again 
 
 O gin her fkin was white ! 
 *' I micht ha fpair'd that bonny face iO 
 
 '* To hae been fum mans delyte. 
 
 *' Bulk and bown, my mirry men a, 
 
 " For ill doom I do guefs : 
 " I canna luik on that bonnie face, 
 
 " As it lyes on the grafs." io 
 
 * Wha luik to freits, my mafter deir, 
 
 * Freits will ay follow them : 
 
 * Let it neir be faid, Adam o Gordon 
 
 * Was daunted by a dame.' 
 
 But whan the lady faw the fire 1 10 
 
 Cum flaming our her heid, 
 She weip'd, and kift her children twain ; 
 
 " My bairns we been but dcid," 
 
 The
 
 48 SCOTTISH 
 
 The Gordon than his bugil blew, 
 
 And fnid, * Awa, awai: u- 
 
 * Sen f owie Houfe is a in a flame, % 
 
 * I hauld it time to ga.' 
 
 O than befpied her ain deir lord, 
 
 As he cam owr the lee; 
 He faw his caftle a in a blaze i *$ 
 
 Sae far as he cold fee. 
 
 Then fair, O fair, his mind mifgare, 
 
 And a his heart was wae; 
 V Put on, put on, my wichty men, 
 
 *' Sae faft as ye can gae. 125 
 
 ** Put on, put on, my wichty men, 
 
 " Sae faft as ye can drie; 
 *' He that is hindmoft o the thrang 
 
 *' Sail neir get gude o me." 
 
 Than fum they rode, and fum they ran, 139 
 
 Fu fail owtowr the bent, 
 But eir the formoft could win up 
 
 JBaith lady and babes were brent. 
 
 He wrang his hands, he rent his hair, 
 
 And weipt in teinfu mude : if i; 
 
 *' Ah traitors, for this cruel deid 
 
 44 Ye fall weip teirs o bluid !" 
 
 Oh,
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 
 
 And after the Gordon he has garie, 
 
 Sge faft as he micht drie : 
 And fune in his foul hartis bluid 
 
 Pe has wrekcn his deir ladie. 
 
 TV. SIH
 
 5 o SCOTTISH 
 
 IV. SIR HUGH; 
 
 OR, THE J E W 's DAUGHTER, 
 
 ATTA H E bonnie boys o merry Lincoln 
 
 JL War playin at the ba j 
 And wi them ftude the fweet Sir Hugh, 
 The flower amang them a. 
 
 He kepped the ba there wi his foot, 
 
 And catchd it wi his knie, 
 Till in at the cruel Jew's window 
 
 Wi fpeid he gard it flie. 
 
 Caft out the ba to me, fair maid, 
 
 Caft out the ba to me :' 10 
 
 " Ye neir fall hae't my bonnie Sir Hugh, 
 
 " Till ye come up to me. 
 
 Cum up fweet Hugh, cum up dear Hugh 
 
 ** Cum up and get the ba ;" 
 I winna cum up, I winna cum up 1 5 
 
 ' Without my playferes a.' 
 
 And me has gane to her father's garden 
 
 Sae faft as fhe cold rin ; 
 And powd an apple red and white 
 
 To wyle the young thing in. 20 
 
 She
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 51 
 
 She wyld him fune throuch ae chamber, 
 
 And wyld him fune throuch twa ; 
 And neift they cam to her ain chamber. 
 
 The faireft o them a. 
 
 She has laid him on a dreffin board ? 25 
 
 Whar me was ufd to dine ; 
 And flack a penknife to his heart, 
 
 And drefs'd him like a fwine. 
 
 She rovv'd him in a cake o lead, 
 
 And bade him lye and fleip ; 3 
 
 Syne threw him in the Jew's draw-well, 
 
 Fu fifty fathom deip. 
 
 Whan bells were rung, and mafs was fung,' 
 
 And ilka lady gaed hame ; 
 Than ilka lady had her young fon, 3$ 
 
 But lady Helen had nane. 
 
 She row'd her mantel her about, 
 
 And fair fair can fhe weip ; 
 She ran wi fpeid to the Jew's caflel, 
 
 When a war fail afleip. 40 
 
 * My bonnie Sir Hugh, your mither calls, 
 
 * I pray thee to her fpeik . 
 " O lady rin to the deip draw-well 
 
 " Gin ye your fon wad feik." 
 
 E z Lady
 
 52 SCOTTISH 
 
 Lady Helen ran to the deip draw-well, 45 
 
 And kneel'd upon her knie ; 
 * My bonnie Sir Hugh gin ye be here, 
 
 * I pray ye fpeik to me !' 
 
 *' The lead is wondrous heavy mither, 
 
 ** The well is wondrous deip ; 50 
 
 * ' . A cene penknife Hicks in my heart, 
 
 " A word I dounae fpeik. 
 
 ** Gae hame, gae hame, my mither deir, 
 
 " Fetch me my winding meet ; 
 " For again, in merry Lincoln toun 55 
 
 " We twa fall never meit." 
 
 V. FLOD-
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. $3 
 
 V. FLODDEN FIELD; 
 
 OR, THE FLOWERS OF THE FOREST. 
 
 I Have heard o lilting at the ewes milking, 
 Lafies a lilting eir the break o day; 
 But now I hear moaning on ilka green loaning, 
 Sen our bra forefters are a wed away. 
 
 At bouchts in the morning nae blyth lads are fcorning. 
 The lafles are lonely, dowie, and wae ; 
 Nae daffin, nae gabbing, but fiching and Tabbing ; 
 Ilk ane lifts her leglen and hies her away. 
 
 At een in the gloming nae fwankies are roaming, 
 'Mang flacks wi the lafles at bogle to play ; 
 For ilk ane fits dreary, lamenting her deary ; 
 The Flowers o the Foreft, wha're a wed away. 
 
 In harft at the fheiring na yonkers are jeiring ; 
 The banders are lyart, runkled, and gray ; 
 At fairs nor at preaching, nae wooing nae fleeching, 
 Sen our bra forefters are a wed away. 
 
 O dule for the order fent our lads to the border ! 
 The Englifh for anes by gyle wan the day. 
 The Flowers o the Foreft, wha ay (hone the foremoft, 
 The prime o the land lye cauld in the clay ! 
 
 E 3 VI. ED-
 
 54 SCOTTISH 
 
 VI. EDWARD. 
 
 WH Y does your brand fae drap wi bhiid, 
 Edward, Edward ? 
 Why does your brand fae drap with bluid, 
 
 And why fae fad gang ye O ! 
 
 O I hae killd my hauk fae gude, g 
 
 Mither, mither: 
 
 I hae killd my hauk fae gude ; 
 
 And I had nae mair but he, O ! 
 
 Your haukis bluid was nevir fae reid, 
 
 Edward, Edward. i 
 
 Your haukis bluid was nevir fae reid, 
 My deir fon I tell thee O ! 
 
 1 hae killd my reid roan fteid, 
 
 Mither, mither : 
 
 O I hae .killd my reid roan fteid 15 
 
 . That erft was fair and frie O ! 
 
 Your fteid was auld, and ye hae mair, 
 
 Edward, Edward: 
 Your fteid was auld, and ye hae mair, 
 
 Sum ither dule ye drie, O ! 20 
 
 O I hae killd my fadir deir, 
 
 Mither, mither : 
 O I hae killd my fadir deir, 
 
 Alas ! and wae is me O ! 
 
 What
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 55 
 
 What penance will ye drie for that, 25 
 
 Ed,ward, Edward ? 
 What penance will ye drie for that, 
 
 My deir fon now tell me O ! 
 I'll fet my feet in yonder boat, 
 
 Mither, mither : 30 
 
 I'll fet my feet in yonder boat ! 
 
 And Fie fare owr the fea, O ! 
 
 What will ye do wi touirs and ha, 
 
 Edward, Edward ? 
 What will ye do wi touirs and ha, 35 
 
 That were fae fair to fee, O ! 
 Fie let them itand till they doun fa, 
 
 Mither, mither : 
 Fie let them ftand till they doun fa, 
 
 For heir I maunae be O ! 40 
 
 What will ye leive to bairns and wife, 
 
 Edward, Edward ? 
 What will ye leive to bairns and wife, 
 
 When ye gang owr the fea O ! 
 The warld's room to beg throuch life, 45 
 
 Mither, mither : 
 
 The warld's room to beg throuch life, 
 For them I neir maun fee, O ! 
 
 E 4 What
 
 56 SCOTTISH 
 
 What will ye leive to your mither deir, 
 
 Edward, Edward? 
 What will ye leive to your mither deir, 
 My deir fon, now tell me O ! 
 The curie of hell frae me fall ye beir, 
 
 Mither, mither : 
 
 The curie of hell frae me fall ye beir, 
 Sic counfeils ye gied me, O ! 
 
 VII. SIR
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 57 
 
 VII. SIR PATRICK SPENCE. 
 
 TH E King fits in Dunfermlin toun, 
 Drinking the bluid-red wine : 
 Whar fall I get a gude failor, 
 " To fail this fhip o mine?" 
 
 Than up and fpak an eldern knicht, g 
 
 Wha fat at his richt knie; 
 * Sir Patrick Spence is the beft failor, 
 
 * That fails upon the fea.' 
 
 The king has written a braid letter, 
 
 And iignd it wi his hand ; IC 
 
 And fent it to Sir Patrick Spence, 
 
 Wha walked on the fand. 
 
 The firft line that Sir Patrick red, 
 
 A lend lauch lauched he ; 
 The neift line that Sir Patrick red, lj{ 
 
 The teir blinded his eie. 
 
 " O wha can he be that has don 
 
 " This deid o ill to me, 
 * ' To fend me at this time o yeir 
 
 44 To fail upo the fca ? 20 
 
 "Mak
 
 58 SCOTTISH 
 
 ** Mak hafte, mak hafte, my mirry men a 
 " Our gude fhip fails the morne." 
 
 * O fay na fae, my matter deir, 
 
 * For I feir deidly ftorm. 
 
 * I faw the new mcon late yeftrene, 4$ 
 
 * Wi the auld moon in her arm ; 
 
 ' And I fear, I fear, my mafter deir, 
 
 * That we will cum to harm.' 
 
 Our Scottifa nobles were richt laith 
 
 To weit their fhyning flioen ; 30 
 
 But hng or a the play was owr, 
 
 They wat their heids aboon. 
 
 O lang lang may their ladies fit 
 
 And luik outowr the fand, 
 Or eir they fee the bonnie (hip 35 
 
 Cum failing to the land ! 
 
 Mair than haf owr to Aberdour 
 
 It's fifty fathom deip 
 Lyes gude Sir Patrick Spence for aye 
 
 Wi the Scots lords at his feit. 40 
 
 MIL LADY
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. & 
 
 VIII. LADY BOTHWELL'S LAMENT. 
 
 BALOW, my babe, lye ftill and fleip, 
 It grieves me fair to fee thee weip; 
 if thou'lt be filent I'll be glad, 
 Thy maining maks my heart full fad j 
 Balow my boy, thy mither's joy ; j* 
 
 Thy father breids me great annoy. 
 Whan he began to feik my luve, 
 And wi his fucred words to muve; 
 His feining faufe, and flattering cheir, 
 To me that time did nocht appeir; to 
 
 But now I fee that cruel he 
 Cares neither for my babe nor me* 
 Lye ftill, my darling, fleip a while^ 
 And whan thou wakeft fweitly fmile ; 
 But fmile nae as thy father did 13 
 
 To cozen maids : nay, God forbid, 
 What yet I feir, that thou fold leir 
 Thy father's heart and face to beir ! 
 
 Be ftill, my fad one : fpare thofe teirs, 
 To weip whan thou haft wit and yeirs ; ao 
 
 Thy griefs are gathering to a fum, 
 God grant thee patience when they cum j 
 Bern to fuftain a mother's fhame, 
 A father's fall, a baftard's name. 
 Balow, &c. 
 
 IX. The
 
 SCOTTISH 
 
 IX. THE EARL OF MURRAY* 
 
 YE Hielands and ye Lawlands 
 O whar hae ye been ? 
 They have flam the Earl of Murray 
 
 And laid him on the green ! 
 ' Now wae be to you Huntly ! ^ 
 
 * O vvharfore did ye fae ? 
 
 ' I bad you bring him wi you ; 
 
 * But forbad you him to flay.' 
 (He was a bra galant, 
 
 And he rid at the ring; to 
 
 The bonnie Earl of Murray 
 
 He micht ha been a king. 
 He was a bra galant, 
 
 And he playd at the ba ; 
 The bonnie Earl of Murray ^ 
 
 Was the flower amang them a, 
 He was a bra galant, 
 
 And he playd at the gluvc j 
 The bonnie Earl of Murray 
 
 He was the queen's luve. 20 
 
 O lang will his lady 
 
 Look owr the caftle downe, 
 Ere fhe fee the Earl of Murray 
 
 Cum founding throuch the toun ! 
 
 X. SIR
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 61 
 
 X. SIR JAMES THE ROSE. 
 
 O Heard ye o Sir James the Rofe, 
 The young heir o Buleighan ? 
 For he has kill'd a gallant fquire, 
 Whafe friends are out to tak him. 
 
 Now he has gane to the houfe o Mar, jj 
 
 Whar nane might feik to find him; 
 To fee his dear he did repair, 
 
 Weining fhe wold befreind him. 
 
 ? Whar are ye gaing Sir James,' fhe faid, 
 
 * O whar awa are ye riding?' io v 
 *' I maun be bound to a foreign land, 
 
 ** And now I'm under hiding." 
 
 " Whar fall I gae, whar fall I rin, 
 
 " Whar fall I rin to lay me ? 
 *' For I ha kill'd a gallant fquire, 15 
 
 " And his friends feik to flay me.'* 
 
 * O gae ye doun to yon laigh houfe, 
 
 * I fall pay there your lawing; 
 f And as I am your leman trew, 
 
 t I'll meet ye at the dawing. iQ 
 
 He,
 
 6* SCOTTISH 
 
 He turnd him richt and round about 
 
 And rowd him in his brechan : 
 And laid him doun to tak a fleip, 
 
 In the lawlands o Buleighan 
 
 He was nae weil gane out o ficht, at 
 
 Nor was he pad Milftrethen, 
 Whan four and twenty belted knichts 
 
 Cam riding owr the Leathen. 
 
 ' O ha ye feen Sir James the Rofe, 
 
 * The young heir o Buleighan ? 30 
 
 * For he has kill'd a gallant fquire, 
 
 ' And we are fent to tak him.' 
 
 " Yea, I ha feen Sir James,' flie faid, 
 
 " He pafl by here on Monday ; 
 * Gin the fteed be fwift than he rides on, 35 
 
 ** He's paft the Hichts of Lxmdie." 
 
 But as wi fpcid they rade awa, 
 
 She leudly cryd behind them ; 
 " Gin ye'll gie me a worthy meid, 
 
 *' I'll tell ye whar to find him." 40 
 
 * O tell fair maid, and, on our band, 
 
 * Ye'fe get his purfe and brechan.' 
 ** He's in the bank aboon the mill, 
 
 " In the lawlands o Buleighan." 
 
 Than
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS; 63 
 
 Than out and fpak Sir John the Graham, 45 
 
 Who had the charge a keiping, 
 f * It's neer be faid, my flalwart feres, 
 
 " We killd him whan a lleiping." 
 
 They feized his braid fword and his targe, 
 
 And clofely him furrounded : <jo 
 
 *' O pardon ! mercy ! gentlemen," 
 He then fou loudly founded. 
 
 < Sic as ye gae fie ye fall hae 
 
 * Nae grace we maw to thee can.' 
 
 *' Donald my man, wait till I fa, $$ 
 
 " And ye fall hae my brechan; 
 *' Ye'll get my purfe thouch fou o gowd 
 
 ** To tak me to Loch Lagan." 
 
 Syne they tuke out his bleiding heart, 
 
 And fet it on a fpeir;' 60 
 
 Then tuke it to the houfe o Mar, 
 
 And fliawd it to his deir. 
 
 ' We cold nae gie Sir James's purfe, 
 
 ' We cold nae gie his brechan, 
 ' But ye fall ha his bleeding heart 6 * 
 
 * Bot and his bleeding tartan.' 
 
 '.' Sir James the Rofe, O for thy fake 
 
 " My heart is now a breaking, 
 '.' Cr.rs'd be the day, I wrocht thy wae 
 
 " Thou brave heir of Buleighan ! 70 
 
 Then
 
 64 SCOTTISH 
 
 Then up fhe raife, and furth flic gaes ; 
 
 And, in that hour o tein, 
 She wanderd to the dovvie glen, 
 
 And nevir mair was fein. 
 
 XI. Tia
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 65 
 XL The LAIRD OF WOODHOUSELIE. 
 
 From TRADITION. 
 
 SHYNING was the painted ha 
 Wi gladfum torches bricht ; 
 Full twenty govvden dames fat there, 
 And ilkane by a knicht : 
 
 Wi mufic cheir, $ 
 
 To pleafe the eir, 
 Whan bewtie pleafd the ficht. 
 
 Wi cunning fldll his gentle meid 
 
 To chant, or warlike fame, 
 Ilk damfel to the minftrels gied 10 
 
 Some favorit chieftan's name : 
 
 " Sing Salton's praife," 
 
 The lady fays-i 
 
 In fuith fhe was to blame. 
 
 4 By my renown ye wrang me fair,* 15 
 
 Quoth hautie Woodhoufelie, 
 * To praife that youth o fma report, 
 
 * And never deim on me : 
 
 * Whan ilka dame 
 
 * Her fere cold name, 20 
 
 * In a this companie.' 
 
 F The
 
 66 SCOTTISH 
 
 The morn fhe to her nourice yeed j 
 
 " O meikle do I feir, 
 " My lord will flay me, fin yeftrene 
 
 " I prais'd my Salton deir ! j$ 
 
 44 I'll hae nae eafe, 
 
 *' Till Kevin it pleafe, 
 
 ' That I lye on my beir." 
 
 * Mair wold I lay him on his beir,' 
 
 The craftie nourice faid ; 30 
 
 * My faw gin ye will heid but anes 
 
 1 That fall nae be delaid.' 
 
 " O nourice fay, 
 
 " And, by my fay, 
 
 " Ye fall be weil appaid." 35 
 
 * Take ye this drap o deidly drug 
 
 ' And put it in his cup, 
 
 * When ye gang to the gladfum ha, 
 
 ' And fit ye doun to fup : 
 
 * Whan he has gied 49 
 
 * To bed bot dreid, 
 
 * He'll never mair rife up.* 
 
 And
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 67 
 
 And me has tane the deidly dnig 
 
 And pat it in his cup, 
 Whan they gaed to the gladfum ha, <j 
 
 And fat them down to fup : 
 
 And wi ill fpeid 
 
 To bed he gied, 
 
 And never mair raife up 
 
 The wbrd came to his father auld 
 
 Neift day by hour of dyne, 
 That Woodhoufelie had died yeflrene, 
 
 And his dame had held the wync. 
 
 Quoth he " I vow 
 
 '* By Mary now, 55 
 
 *' She fall meit fure propine," 
 
 Syne he has flown to our gude king, 
 
 And at his feet him layne j : : < 
 
 * O juftice ! juftice ! royal liege, 
 
 ' My worthy fon is flayne. 60 
 
 ' His lady's feid 
 
 Has wrocht the deid, 
 
 * Let her receive the pained 
 
 F i Sair
 
 63 SCOTTISH 
 
 Sair muvit was our worthy king, 
 
 And an angry man was he ; 6$ 
 
 ' Gar bind her to the deidly ftake, 
 
 1 And birn her on the lie : 
 
 * That after her 
 
 * Na bluidy fere 
 
 ' Her recklefs lord aiay flee.' 70 
 
 " O wae be to ye, nourice, 
 
 " An ill dethe may ye drie ! 
 '* For ye prepar'd the deidly drug 
 
 '* That gard my deiry die : 
 
 '* May a the paine 
 
 *' That I darraine 
 
 " In ill time, licht on thee .' 
 
 *' O bring to me my goun o black, 
 
 * My mantel, and my pall ; 
 *' And gie five merks to the friars gray So 
 
 44 To pray for my poor faul : 
 
 44 And ilka dame, 
 
 " O gentle name, 
 
 " Eewar o my fair fall." 
 
 XII. LORD
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 69 
 XII. LORD LIVINGSTON. 
 
 From TRADITION. 
 
 * /^RAITH my fwifteft fteid,' faid Liringfton, 
 VJ < But nane of ye gae wi me ; 
 
 4 For I maun awa by myfel alane 
 
 * To the foot of the grenewode tree. 
 
 Up fpak his dame wi meikle fpeid. 5 
 
 " My lord I red ye bide ; 
 " I dreimd a dreiry dreim laft nicht : 
 
 " Nae gude fall you betide." 
 
 ' What freit is this, my lady deir, 
 
 * That wald my will gainftand ?' 10 
 *' I dreimd that I gaed to my bouir dore, 
 
 '* And a deid man ttike my hand." 
 
 * Suith dreims are fcant,' faid the proud baron, 
 
 And leuch wi jearing glie ; 
 
 * But for this fweit kifs my winfum dame 15 
 ' Neift time dreim better o me.' 
 
 * For I hecht to meit with lord Rothmar, 
 To chafe the fallow deer ; 
 
 * And Ipeid we weil, by the our o mine, 
 
 * We fall return bot feir.' 
 
 F 3 Frae
 
 7p SCOTTISH 
 
 Frae his fair lady's ficht he ftrave 
 
 His ettling fae to hide ; 
 But frae the grenewcde he came nae back, 
 
 Sin eir that deidly tide. 
 
 For Rothmar met him there bpt fail, * $ 
 
 And bluidy was the ftrife ; 
 Lang eir the nunetide mefs was rung, 
 
 They baith war twin'd o life. 
 
 * Forgie, forgie me, Livingfton ! 
 
 * That I lichtly fet by your dame; | 
 
 * For furely'in a the warld lives not 
 
 * A lady mair free frae blame. 
 
 * Accurfed be my lawles luve 
 
 * That wrocht us baith fie tein !* 
 
 * ' As I forgie my freind anes deir, j$ 
 
 " Sae may I be forgien. 
 
 *' Thouch ye my counfeil fold ha tane 
 
 " The gait of gyle to efchew ; 
 ** Yet may my faul receive fie grace 
 
 " As I now gie to you." 40 
 
 The lady in her mournfu touir 
 
 Sat wi richt heavy cheir, 
 In ilka fough that the laigh wind gied. 
 
 She wcind her deir lord to heir. 
 
 Whan
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 71 
 
 Whan the fun gaed down, and mirk nicht came, 48 
 O teirfti \vere her eyne ! 
 
 * I feir, I teir, it was na for nocht 
 
 ' My dreims were fae dowie yeftrene ! ' 
 
 Lnng was the nicht, but whan the morn cam, 
 .She faid to her menie ilk ane ; 50 
 
 Haile, faddle your fteids, and leik the grenewode, 
 ' For I feir my deir lord is (lain,' 
 
 P.icht fune they fand their lord and Rothmar 
 Deid in ilk ither's arm : 
 
 * I guefs my deir lord that luve of my name 55; 
 * Alane brocht thee to fie harm.' 
 
 * Neir will I forget thy feimly meid, 
 ' Nor yet thy gentle luve ; 
 
 ' For fevin lang yeirs my weids of black 
 > That I luvd thee as well full pruve,' 60 
 
 F 4 XIII. B I N-
 
 <jt . SCOTTISH 
 
 XIII. BINNORIE. 
 
 From TRADITION. 
 
 To prefers the tone, a well as thefenfe of this Ballad, tbt 
 burden Jbiuld be repeated tlror.gb the whole, though it is 
 here omit ted for the fake of concifenefs. 
 
 tvva fitters livd in a bouir; 
 * Binnorie, O Binnorie ! 
 
 Their father was a baron of pouir, 
 
 By the bonnie mildams of Binnorie. 
 The youngeft was meek, and fair as the May, $ 
 
 Whan (he fprings in the eafl wi the gowden day : 
 The eldeft aufterne as the winter cauld, 
 Ferce was her faul, and her feiming was bauld. 
 A gallant fquire cam fweet Ifabel to wooe ; 
 Her fifter had naething to luve I trow ; 10 
 
 But filld was me wi dolour and ire, 
 To fee that to her the comlie fquire 
 Preferd the debonair Ifabel : 
 Their hevin of luve of fpyte was her hell. 
 Till ae ein flie to her fifter can fay 15 
 
 " Sweit fifter cum let us wauk and play.'* 
 They wauked up, and they wauked down, 
 Sweit fang the birdis in the vallie loun ! 
 
 Whan
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 73 
 
 Whan they cam to the roaring lin, 
 
 She drave unweiting Ifabel in. 20 
 
 * O filler! lifter! tak my hand, 
 
 * And ye fall hae my iilver fan ; 
 
 < O lifter ! fitter ! tak my middle 
 
 * And ye fall hae my gowden girdle. ' 
 
 Sumtimes flie fank, fumtunes fhe /warn, z$ 
 
 Till fhe cam to the miller's dam : 
 
 The miller's dochter was out that ein 
 
 And faw her rowing down the ftreim. 
 
 * ' O father deir ! in your mil dam 
 
 ** There is either a lady or a milk white ftvan!" 30 
 
 Twa days were gane whan to her deir 
 
 Her wraith at deid of nicht cold appeir : 
 
 ' My luve, my deir, how can ye fleip, 
 
 * Whan your Ifabel lyes in the deip ? 
 
 ' My deir, how can ye fleip hot pain, 35 ~ 
 
 * Whan me by her cruel fitter is flain ?' 
 Up raife he fune in frichtru mude, 
 
 ' Bulk ye my meiny and feik the flude.' 
 
 They focht her up, and they focht her doun, 
 
 And fpyd at laft her glifterin gown : 4 
 
 They rais'd her wi richt meikle care; 
 
 Pale was her cheik, and grein was her hair! 
 
 * Gae, faddle to me my fwifteft fteid, 
 
 * Her fere, by my fae, for her dethe fall bleid.' 
 
 A page cam rinning out owr the lie, 45 
 
 " O heavie tydings I bring!" quoth he,
 
 74 SCOTTISH 
 
 " My luvely lady is far awa gane, 
 
 '* We weit the fairy hae her tane : 
 
 " Her fiiler gaed wood wi dule and rage; 
 
 *' Nocht cold \ve do her mind to fuage. 
 
 c O Ifcbel! my fifter!" file wold cr>-, 
 
 For thse will I weip, for thee will 1 die !' 
 
 * f Till late yeftrene in an elric hour 
 
 " She lap frae aft the hicheft touir" 
 
 * Now fleip (he in peace 1' quoth the gallant Squire, 
 
 * Her dethe was the mail! that I cold require : 
 ' But I'll main for thee ray liabel deir, 
 
 ' Binnovie, () Einnorief 
 
 * Full raony a dreiry day, hot weir, 
 
 * By the bonnie raildams of Cinnorie.' '' 
 
 XIV. THE
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS, 75 
 
 3PY. THE DEATH OF MENTEITH, 
 From TRADITION. 
 
 SHRILLY fliriek'd the raging wind , 
 And rudelie blew the blaft; 
 Wj awfum blink, throuch the dark ha, 
 The fpeidy lichtning paft. 
 
 f O hear ye nae, frae mid the loch, 
 
 ' Arife a deidly grane ? 
 ? Sae evir does the fpirit warn, 
 
 * Whan we fum dethe maun mane, 
 
 ? I feir, I feir me, ^ude Sir John, 
 
 * Ye are nae fafe wi me : 
 
 ? What wae wald fill my hairt gin ye 
 
 * Sold in my caille drie ! " 
 
 ? * Ye neid nae feir, my leman deir, 
 
 * ' I'm ay fafe whan wi thee ; 
 st And gin I maun nae wi thee live, 
 
 11 1 here wad wifh to die. 
 
 His man cam rinning to the ha 
 
 Wi wallow cheik belyve : 
 .' Sir John Menteith, your faes are neir, 
 
 * And ye maun flic or Itrive. 
 
 What
 
 76 SCOTTISH 
 
 " What count fyne leids the cruel knicht?" 
 
 * Thrie fpeirmen to your ane : 
 
 * I red ye flie, my malter deir, 
 
 Wi fpeid, or ye'll be flain.' 
 
 *' Taklye this gown, my deir Sir Jehn 15 
 
 " To hide your fhyning mail : 
 *' A boat waits at the hinder port 
 
 " Owr the braid loch to fail." 
 
 , *' O whatten a piteous fliriek was yon 
 
 " That fough'd upo my eir?" 29 
 
 * Xae piteous fhriek I trow, ladie, 
 
 * But the rouch blaft ye heir.' 
 
 They focht the caftle, till the morn, 
 
 Whan they were bown'd to gae, 
 
 9 f hey law the boat turn'd on the loch, 3 ; 
 
 Sir John's corfe on the brae. 
 
 XV. LORD
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 77 
 
 XV. LORD AIRTH's COMPLAINT. 
 
 From a MANUSCRIPT. 
 
 IF thefe fad thoughts could be exprefs'd, 
 Wharwith my mind is now poflefs'd, 
 My paffion micht, difclos'd, have reft, 
 
 My griefs reveal'd micht flic : 
 
 But ftill that minde which dothe forbere 5 
 
 To yield a groan, a fich, or teire, 
 May by it's prudence, much I fear, 
 Encreafe it's miferie. 
 
 My heart which ceafes now to plaine, 
 
 To fpeke it's griefs in mournful ftraine, 10 
 
 And by fad accents eafe my paine, 
 
 Is ftupefied with woe. 
 For lefler cares doe murne and crie, 
 Whyle greater cares are mute and die ; 
 As iflues run a fountain drie, 15 
 
 Which ftop'd wold overflow.
 
 78 SCOTTISH 
 
 My fichs are fled ; no teirs now rin, 
 But fwell to whelm my foul within, 
 How pitieful the cafe I'm in, 
 
 Admire but doe not trie. 
 My crofles I micht juftly pruve, 
 Are common forrows far abuve ; 
 My griefs ay in a circle muve, 
 
 And will doe till I die*
 
 I 
 
 TRAGIC BALLADS. 79 
 
 XVI. 
 From TRADITION. 
 
 WI S H I were where Helen lies ! ; 
 Night and day on me fhe crie* 
 To bear her company. 
 
 would that in her darkibme bed 
 My weary frame to reft were laid 
 
 From love and anguim free I 
 
 1 hear, I hear the welcome found 
 Break flowly from the trembling mound 
 
 That ever calls on me : 
 Oh blefled virgin ! could my power 
 Vye with my wifli, this very hour 
 
 I'd fleep death's fleep with thee! 
 
 A lover's ugh, a lover's tear, 
 Attended on thy timelefs bier : 
 
 What more can fate require? 
 I hear, I hear the welcome found- 
 Yes, I will feek the facred ground, 
 
 And on thy^p-ave expire. 
 
 The worm now taftes that rofy mouth, 
 
 Where glowed, Ihort time, the fmilea of youth; 
 
 And in my heart's dear home, 
 Her fnowey bofom, loves to lye. 
 I hear, I hear the welcome cry ! 
 
 I come, my love ! I come, 
 
 0%
 
 8o SCOTTISH 
 
 life begone ! thy irkfomc fcene 
 Can bring no comfort to my pain : 
 
 Thy fcenes my pain recall ! 
 My joy is grief, my life is dead, 
 Since fhe for whom I lived is fled j 
 
 My love, my hope, my all. 
 
 Take, take me to thy lovely fide, 
 Of my loft youth thou only bride ! 
 
 take me to thy tomb ! 
 
 1 hear, I hear the welcome found ! 
 Yes life can fly at forrow's wound. 
 
 1 come, I come, I come. 
 
 FRAG
 
 FRAGMENTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 AS I was walking by my lane, 
 Atween a water and a vva ; 
 There fune I fpied a wee wee man, 
 He was the leaft that eir I favv. 
 
 His legs were fcant a fhathmonts length, 
 
 And fma and limber was his thie ; 
 Between his fhoulders was ae fpan, 
 
 About his middle war but thrie. 
 
 He has tane up a meikle ftane, 
 
 And flang't as far as I cold lee ; 
 Ein thouch I had bjgn Wallace wicht, 
 
 I dought nae liffll to my knie. 
 
 * O wee wee man but ye be ftrang 1 
 * Tell me whar may thy dwelling be ?' 
 
 " T dwell beneth that bonnie bouir, 
 " O will ye goc vvi me and fee ?" 
 
 G OH
 
 82 F R A G M E N T S, 
 
 On \ve lap and awa we rade, 
 
 Till we cam to a bonny green ; 
 We lichted fyne to bait our fteid, 
 
 And out there cam a ladie flieen. 
 
 Wi four and twentie at her back, 
 A comly cled in glittering green : 
 
 Thouch there the king of Scots had (hide, 
 The warft micht weil ha been his queue. 
 
 On fyne we paft wi wondering cheir, 
 
 Till we cam to a bonny ha ; 
 The roof was o the beaten gowd, 
 
 The flure was o the cryftal a. 
 
 Whan we cam there wi wee wee knichts, 
 War ladies dancing jimp and fma ; 
 
 But in the twinkle of an eie, 
 Baith green and ha war clein awa. 
 
 II. Earl
 
 FRAGMENTS, 
 
 II. 
 
 Earl Douglas then xvham nevir knicht 
 Had valour mair nae courtefie, ' 
 
 Is now fair blam'd by a the land 
 For lichtlying o his gay ladie. 
 
 6 Gae little page, and tell my lord, 
 * Gin he will cum and dyne wi me, 
 
 ' I'll fet him on a feat o gowd, 
 
 ' And ferve him on my bended knie.* 
 
 1 Now wae betide ye black Faftnefs, 
 
 Bot and an ill deid may ye die ! 
 * Ye was the firft and formoft man 
 
 * Wha pairted my true lord and me.' 
 
 G z HI. She
 
 $4 FRAGMENTS, 
 
 III, 
 
 She has called to her her bouir maideas, 
 She has called them ane by ane : 
 
 '* There lyes a deid man in my bouir, 
 " I vvifh that he war gane." 
 
 They ha booted him and fpurred him, 
 
 As he was wont to ryde, 
 A hunting horn ty'd round his waift, 
 
 A fharp fword by his fyde. 
 
 Then up and fpak a bonnie bird, 
 
 That fat upo the trie ; 
 4 What hae ye done wi Earl Richard, 
 
 * Ye was his gay ladie ?* 
 
 " Cum doun, cum doun, my bonnie bird, 
 
 " And licht upo my hand ; 
 " And ye fhall hae a cage o gowd, 
 
 * Whar ye hae but the wand.'* 
 
 c Awa, awa, ye ill woman ! 
 
 ' Nae cage o gowd for me ; 
 * As ye hae done to Earl Richard, 
 
 * Sae wad ye doe to me.' 
 
 IV. bee
 
 FRAGMENTS. 
 
 IV. 
 
 See ye the cattle's lonelie wa, 
 
 That ryfes in yon yle ? 
 There Angus mourns that eir he did 
 
 His fovereign's luve begyle. 
 
 * O will ye gae wi me, fair maid ? 
 
 * O will ye gae wi me ? 
 
 * I'll fet you in a bouir o gowd 
 
 * Nae haly cell ye'fe drie.' 
 
 " O meikle lever wald I gang 
 
 " To bide for aye wi thee, 
 " Than heid the king my father's will, 
 
 ** The haly cell to drie. 
 
 " Sin I maun nevir fee nor fpeke 
 
 " Wi him I luve fae deir, 
 *' Ye are the firil man in the land 
 
 " I wald cheis for my fere." 
 
 G 2 V. Whar
 
 *6 FRAGMENTS, 
 
 V. 
 
 VVhar yoft cleir burn fra down the loch 
 
 Rins faftlie to the lea, 
 There latelie bath'd in hete o mine 
 
 A fquire of valour hie. 
 
 He kend nae that the faufe mermaid 
 
 There us'd to beik and play, 
 Or he had neir gane to the bathe, 
 
 I trow, that dreirie day. 
 
 Nae funer had he deft his claiths, 
 
 Nae funer gan to fwim, 
 Than up fhe rais'd her bonnie face 
 
 Aboon the glittering ftreim. 
 
 ' O comlie youth, gin ye will cum 
 
 * And be my leman deir, 
 
 * Ye fall ha pleafance o ilk fort, 
 
 ' Bot any end or feir. 
 
 ' I'll tak ye to my emraud ha 
 ' Wi perles lichted round ; 
 
 * Whar ye fall live wi luve and me, 
 
 * And neir by bale be found. 
 
 N O T E S.
 
 NOTES. 
 
 HARDYKNUTE. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 HARDYKNUTE.] This name is of Dani/b 
 extract, and lignifies Canute the Strong. Harfy 
 in the original implies ftrong y not valiant ; and though 
 ufed in fhe latter fenfe by the Englifh, yet the Scots 
 ilill take it in its firil acceptation. " The names in 
 " Cunningham," fays Sir David Dalrymple, " are all 
 " Saxon, as is the name of the country itielf." An- 
 aals of Scotland, an. 1160, note. The Daniflj and 
 Saxon are both derived from the old Gothic, and 
 G 4 were
 
 88 NOTES. 
 
 were fo fimilar, that an inhabitant of the one nation 
 might underftand one of the other fpeaking in his 
 proper tongue. From the names and whole tenor of 
 this poem, I am inclined to think the chief fcene is 
 laid in Cunningham ; where likevvife the batik cf 
 Largs, fuppofed to be that fo nobly defcribed in the 
 firft part, was fought. 
 
 Ver. 5. Britons.] This was the common name 
 which the Scots gave the Englifh anciently, as may be 
 obferved in their old poets ; and particularly Blind 
 Harry, whofe teftimony indeed can only be relied on, 
 as to the common language and manners of his time ; 
 his life of Wallace being a tiffue of the moft abfurd fa- 
 bles ever mingled. 
 
 V. 9. Hie on a bill, &C.J This neceffary cautior^ 
 in thofe times, when ftrength was the only protection 
 from violence, is well painted by a contemporary French 
 bard: 
 
 Un chafteau fcay fur roche efpouvantable, 
 
 En lieu venteux, la rive perilleufe, 
 
 La vy tyrant feant a haute table, 
 
 En grand palais, en fal plantureufe, &c. 
 
 D'Alliac, Evcque de Cambray. 
 
 V. 12. Knicbt.'] Thefe knights were only military 
 officers attending the earls, barons, &c. as appears 
 from the hiflories of the middle ages. See Selden, 
 
 Tit.
 
 NOTES. 89 
 
 'Tit. Hon. P. II. c. 5. The name is of Saxon origin, 
 and of remote antiquity, as is proved by the following 
 fragment of a poem on the Spanifh expedition of 
 Charles the Great, written at that period : 
 
 Sie zeflugen ros undc man 
 
 Hit irefcarfin Jpiczen ; 
 
 "Thie gote mofen an theme plate hitmen uliezen : 
 
 Iher Jlte was under goten kneghten, 
 
 Sic kunden <wole vccbten. i. e. 
 
 Occiderunt equos et viros 
 
 Acutis fuis haftis ; 
 
 Deos opportuit fanguine fiuere : 
 
 Hie mos erat inter nobiles milites t 
 
 Poterant optime pugnare. 
 
 MS. de Bella Car. M. Wfp. apud Keyfler dif. de 
 Cultu Solis, Freji, & Otbini ; Halae, 1 728. 
 
 The oath which the ancient knights of Scotland gave 
 at their inveftiture is preferved in a letter of Drummond 
 of Hawthorden to Ben Jonfon, and is as follows : 
 
 / Jball firtifie and defend the true holy Catholique and 
 Cbriftian religion^ prcfenlly prtfejjcd, at all my pffwer. 
 
 IJiiall be loyal and true to my Sovereign Lord the Kin? his 
 Majefty ; and do bonou* and reverence to all orders of chc- 
 valrit, and to the nolle office of arms. 
 
 IJJ:all
 
 90 NOT 
 
 / Jhall fortifc and defend jujlice to tie uttcrmejl of y 
 poiver, l>ut feld or favour. 
 
 I Jjjall never file from the Kin^s Majcjly my Lord and 
 Majter, or his lieutenant , in time of battel or medly, with 
 dijbonnur. 
 
 Ifoalt defend my native country from all aliens andftrangers 
 at a / ~> j y ponver, 
 
 J Jbtfll maintain and defend the honeft aiioes and quarrels of 
 all ladies of honour, ividoius, orphans, and maids of good fame. 
 Ifoall do diligence, wherever 1 hear tell there are any 
 traitors, murthererSy viewer s^ and majltyful the eves and out- 
 laws, thatfupprefi the poor, to bring them to tie law at all 
 my power. 
 
 Ijliall maintain and defend the nolle and gallant ftate of 
 cbcvalrie with horfes, harnefes, and other knichtly apparel to 
 jny pjnver. 
 
 IJJutll be diligent to enquire, and feek to have the kncnv- 
 Izdgc of all points and articles, touching or concerning my duty t 
 contained in the book of cbevalrie . 
 
 All and fundry the premifes I oblige me to keep and fulfill. 
 So h?!p me God l>y my ovjn hand, and l>v God himfl'lf. 
 
 A curicus account of the rife and progrefs of knight- 
 hood, and its influence on fociety, may be found in a 
 learned and ingenious work lately publiflied by Dr. 
 Stewart, intitled, A View of Society in Europe, or Enquiries 
 concerning the Hijlory of Law, Government ^ and Manners. 
 
 V. 16.
 
 NOTES. i)t 
 
 V. 16. EmergareJ.} In the common copies it is 
 Elenor, and indeed in all the recitals I h.ive heard ; but 
 in a late edition published with oi'-.ci .-eomih longs at 
 Edinburgh, 1776, it is rightly ie-i.1 'i: here. JLmtrgar<! t 
 or Ermengarde, was 1 daughter of the Yitcount of Beau- 
 mont, and wife of Malcolm IV. She died in i 233. As 
 the name was uncommon, r.nd of difficult pronun- 
 ciation, the rehearlers feem to have altered it to ./. 
 \vhich has none of thefe ;! 
 
 V. 25. Fairly-'} This name feems likewife of Saxon 
 origin. There is a fmnll -iiland and a rivulet in Cun- 
 ningham ilii! called Pai'ly Ifle and Fairly Bunt. 
 
 V. 43. Twenty lhoiif.i;itl gl'ttcrl g fpcirs, &C.] This 
 agrees with Buchfinan'a Account, jtc&*~-vigtnri miiiia 
 militum expoj'iit. lib. 7. Torfoeus afierts this number of 
 the Norwegians was left dead on the field. 
 
 V. 49. Page.} The Pages in the periods of chi- 
 valry were of honourable account. The young war- 
 riors were firit denominated pages, then va'ets, or damoi- 
 j'favx, from which degree they reached that of w/y/r, or 
 Jquire, and from this that of //;-/>/. See Du Gnt.gf, 
 yoc. t'aletij & Dowia-llus. Si. Palajc, Mem. fur 1'anc. 
 Cheval. P. J. 
 
 V. 6 r . He has tanc a born, &c ] The horn, or luri?, 
 was anciently ufed by the S^ots iniread of the truir pet. 
 They were Ibmetimes richly ornaiijented, as appears 
 from Lindfay's defcripticn of that of Sir Robert Coch-
 
 92 NOTE S. 
 
 ran. " The horn he wore was adorned with jewels 
 *' and precious iloues, and tipped with fine gold at 
 *' both ends." Hifi. of Scotland, J. III. 
 
 V. 83. Weftmorcbnd's Jem heir.'} Heir, in the old 
 Scottiih acceptation, iecms derived from the Latin he- 
 rtts, and fignifies not apparent j'ucctj/cr, but prejent lord. 
 As in the following lines of Blind Har.-y ; 
 
 Of Southampton he hccht baith heir and lord. 
 
 B. 7. c. r. 
 
 Of Glocefler the huge lord and heir. 
 
 B. 12. c. i. 
 And in this of D unbar, 
 
 Befoir Maboun the heir of hell. 
 
 V. 107 1 12.3 This minute defcription might lead 
 us to fuipecl, that a female hand had forrre part in this 
 compofition. But, before our minftrel, Homer has fhewn 
 himielf an adept in the lady's drefs. To the curious 
 remarks on the variation of the Britifh habit, given us by 
 Mr. Wai pole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, and Mr. Granger, 
 in his Biographical Hiftory, might be added the follow- 
 ing notice from a reverend minifter of the church of 
 Scotland. " About 1698 the women got a cuftome of 
 ** wearing few garments : I myfelfe have feen the young 
 " brilk ladies walking on the ftreets with mafks on their 
 " faces, and with one onlie thin petticoat and their 
 ** fmoak ; fo thin that one would make a confcience of 
 
 " fweiring
 
 NOTE S. y5 
 
 ** fweiring they were not naked." MtjttRafttts, ly ?,fr. 
 
 John Bell, minijier at Glddfmuir, MS. pen. edit, title 
 Apparel. 
 
 V. 112. Save that of Fairly falr.~\ Working at the 
 needle, &c. was reckoned an honourable employment 
 by the greateft ladies of thofe times, Margaret, the 
 queen of Malcolm III. as we learn from her life written 
 by Turgot her confeflbr, employed the leifure hours of 
 her ladies in this manner. See Lord Hails's Annals of 
 Scotland^ an. 1093. 
 
 V. 121. Sir Knicbt.] "The addition Sir to tlie 
 * 4 names of knights was in ufe before the age of Ecl- 
 " ward I. and is from Sire t which in old French fignifies 
 * ; Scignicur or Lord. Though applicable to all knights, 
 " it lerved properly to diftinguiih thofe of the order 
 " who were not barons." Dr. Stewart, Flew of Sa- 
 ciciy, &c. Notes on fed. 4. chap. ii. p. 269. 
 
 V. 123 128. The cuftom of the ladies tending 
 the wounded knights was common in thofe romantic 
 ages. LydgatV) whofe ftory is ancient, but whofejnan- 
 ners are thofe of his own times, has an inftance in The 
 Stoiy of Thebes, part ii. Speaking of the daughter of Ly- 
 curgus and Tideus ; 
 
 To a chamber fhe led him up aloft 
 
 Full well befeine, there In a bed right foft, 
 
 Richlv-
 
 94 N O T E Si 
 
 Richly abouten apparrailed 
 With clothe of gold, all the floure irailcd 
 Of the fame both in length and brede : 
 And firft this lady, of her womanhede, 
 Her women did bid, as goodly as they can, 
 To be attendant unto this wounded man : 
 And when he was unarmed to his fhert, 
 She made firil warn his woundis frnert, 
 And ferch hem well with divers inftrumentSj 
 And made fet fundiie ointments, &c. 
 
 And in an excellent piece of old Englifh poetry, flyled 
 Sir Cauline, pubiiflied by Dr. Percy in the firft volume 
 of his Reliques, when the king is informed that knight 
 is lick, he fays, 
 
 Fetche me down my daughter deere, 
 
 She is a leeche fulle fine. v. 29, 30. 
 
 V. 145 152.] This ftanza is now firft printed. 
 It is furprifmg it's omiffion was not marked in the frag- 
 ment formerly publiflied, as without it the circum- 
 ftance of the knight's complaint is altogether foreign 
 and vague. The lofs was attempted to be glofled over 
 by many variations of the preceding four lines, but the 
 defect was palpable to the moft inattentive perufer. 
 
 V. 154-
 
 NOTES. 9S 
 
 V. 154. Lord Cbattan.'] This is a very anciert 
 and honourable Scottifh iurname. Some genealogists 
 derive them from the Ckatti, an ancient German tribe ; 
 but others, with more probability, from the Gikbattan 
 of Ireland. St. Cbattan was one of the firft Scottifli 
 confeflbrs, to whom was dedicated the priory of Ard- 
 cbattan in Lorn, founded in 1230, and fome others 
 through the kingdom. The chief of the clan Cbattan. 
 dying in the reign of David I. without male ifTue, the 
 clan afiumed the anceftor of the M'Pberfons for fu- 
 perior, by which means the name appears to have 
 been loit in that of M'Pkerfon. See Buchanan s Brief 
 Enquiiy into tbe Genealogy and Prejent State of Ancient 
 Scot tt/b Surnames. Glafgow, 1723,4^,^. 67. 
 
 V. 159.] Though we learn from the lait quoted 
 author, that the clan Chattan are faid to have come into 
 Scotland long before the expulfion of the Pitts, yet I 
 do not find this pretty anecdote, which is much in the 
 ipirit of Homer, has any foundation in hiftory. 
 The empire of the Pitts was demolifhed by Kenneth 
 about four centuries before the apparent date of this 
 poem. 
 
 V. 169. Mak ori/ons, &c.] This is perfectly in the 
 liyle of knighthood. Before they entered into com- 
 bat they folemly invoked the aid of God, their Saviour, 
 or their miilrefs : religion and gallantry being the 
 prime motives of all their adventures, JLes premiere s 
 
 Icfons
 
 96 NOTES. 
 
 lemons qiton Icur donnoit regardoient principalemeni ? amour 
 de Dieu ft des dames^ c'eft a dire, la religion et la galantcric. 
 St. Palaye, tome i. p. 7. The poets of thefe times be- 
 gan, in like manner, the defcription of a favage con- 
 flict, or of their lady's graces, with religious invocation. 
 Many examples of which appear in the Hiftoiredcs Trou- 
 ladours of L'Abbe Milot,. and the Specimens of Weljl} 
 Poetry publifhed by Mr. Evans. So blind is the untu- 
 tored mind to the proper discrimination of it's ideas ! 
 
 V. 179. Playarnl Pibrochs.] Of the pibroch I can- 
 not give a better account than in the words of an ex- 
 cellent author. A pibroch is a fpecies of time pe- 
 ' culiar, I think, to the Highlands and Weftern Hies of 
 ' Scotland. It is performed on a bagpipe, and differs 
 
 * totally from all other mufic. Its rythm is fo irregu- 
 4 lar, and its notes, efpecially in the quick movement, 
 
 * fo mixed and huddled together, that a ftranger finds 
 
 * it almoft impoffible to reconcile his ear to it, fo as to 
 
 * perceive its modulation. Some of thefe pilrocbs^ being 
 
 * intended to reprefent a battle, begin with a grave mo- 
 4 tion refembling a march, then gradually quicken into 
 
 * the onfet ; run off with noify confufion, and turbu- 
 
 * lent rapidity,- to imitate the conflict and purfuit ; 
 ' then fwell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy ; 
 
 * and perhaps clofe with the wild and flow wailings of 
 
 * a funeral proceffion.' Ejfiys by Dr. J&attic, 8vo ed. 
 p. 423. nott. 
 
 V. i 88.
 
 NOTES. a; 
 
 V. iSS. Eirfaes their dint mote drie.~\ This is fubfti- 
 tuted in place of a line of confummate nonfenle, which 
 has ftained all the former editions. Many fuch are cor- 
 re&ed in this impreffion from comparing different re- 
 hearfals, and ftill more from conjecture. When an ig- 
 norant perfon is defired to repeat a ballad, and is at a 
 lofs for the original expreifion, he naturally fupplies it 
 with whatever abiiirdity firft occurs to him, that will 
 form a rime. Thefe the Editor made not the fmalleft 
 Icruple to correct, as he always imagined that common 
 fenfe might have its life even in emendatory criticifm. 
 
 V. 203. But on his forehead j &c.] The circumilances 
 in this defcription feem borrowed from thofe of different 
 battles betwixt the Kings of Scotland and Norway. I 
 find in no hiftorian that Alexander was wounded m the 
 battle of Largs; on the contrary, it is even doubted 
 whether he was prefent ; but in that near Nairn Mal- 
 colm II. was wounded on the head. JRex, accepto in 
 capite vulncre^ <uix a Jhis in propinqitum nemus ablatus* ac 
 tin eqao pofitus, mortem evafit. Buchan. lib. VI. 
 
 V. 223. Hire dames to wail your darling's fall. ~\ This 
 cuftom of employing women to. mourn for the warriors 
 who fell in battle, may be traced to the moft diftant 
 antiquity. Lucilius, one of the earliefl Roman poets, 
 in a couplet preferred by Nonius, mentions this prac- 
 tife; 
 
 MerceJt qua condul<g flent alieno in funcre pr<efica: 
 Multa & capillo! fcindunt , fe 1 clamant ma?is. 
 
 H Among
 
 9S NOTES. 
 
 Among the Northern nations it partook of their bar- 
 barity. * Inter eas autcm ceremonias a barbara gente 
 
 * acccptas fuiffe et has, nt genas roderunt muljercuiae, 
 ' hoc eft unguibus faciem dilaniarent et Icffum facerent, 
 
 * id eft fanguioem e venis mitterent, doloris teftandi 
 
 * ergo ; id quod German! patria voce dicunt, Eia laffk 
 4 than oder baixn* Elias Schedius deD'us Germ. Syng. II. 
 c. 51. A iimilar mode of teftifying their grief for the 
 death of their chiefs. Ml obtains in the Highlands, as 
 we are informed by Mr. Pennant in his amufing Tour in 
 Scotland* 
 
 V. 225. Cojlly Jupe.] This was the Sagum, or mili- 
 tary veil of the Gauls and Germans. Dr. Stewart hat 
 with curious ingenuity derived the fcience of Blazonrjr 
 from the ornaments which were in time added to them. 
 VKfapra, p. 2S6, 287. 
 
 V. 229. Btir Norfc that gift, &c.] This has been 
 generally mhunderftood : the meaning is, Sear that gift 
 to the King of Norwey, andhd, &c. 
 
 V. 239. 24$.] Thefe vaunts are much in Homer's 
 manner, and are finely characleriftic. The obfcurc 
 metaphor which conveys them illuftrates a beautiful re- 
 mark of an ancient critic, That allegory has a fufalimc 
 effect when applied to threarning. MtyuteTot X ri 
 
 \t taTi; awuAai;* cloy uf 
 
 Phal. dc Eloc. c. 99. 
 
 V. 265.
 
 NOTES. 99 
 
 V. 265. Wbarlyh a jyre to father Jet .] This appolite 
 fimile alludes to an ancient practice of the Scots, termed 
 Mure burning. The progrefs of the flame was fo quick, 
 that many laws appear in their A6ts of Parliament, pro- 
 hibiting its being ufed when any corn was itanding on 
 adjacent ground, though at a confiderable diftance from 
 the fpot where the flame was kindled. 
 
 V. 28 1;. Sore taken be was, fey .'] Fey here fignifies 
 only indeed, in fay, or, in faith : it is commonly ufed 
 by the old Scottifh poets in a farcaftic or ironical fenfc. 
 V. 305. On Norway's coaft^ &c.] Thefe verfes are in 
 the fineft ftyle of Ballad poetry. They have been well 
 imitated by a modern writer, who feems indebted, for 
 the beft ftrokes of his firft production, to a tafte for 
 fuch compofitions : 
 
 Ye dames of Denmark ! even for you I feel, 
 Who fadly fitting on the fea-beat more, 
 Long look for Lords that never mall return. 
 
 Douglat, Aft III. 
 
 I cannot conclude my obfervations upon the defcrip- 
 tion here given of the battle, without adding, that 
 though perhaps not the moft fublime, it is the moft 
 animated and interefting to be found in any poet. Jt 
 yields not to any in Offian for lively painting, nor to 
 any in Homer for thofe little anecdotes and ftrokes of 
 nature, which are fo defervedly admired in that mafter. 
 * Poetry and Rhetoric,' fays the admirable author of an 
 H A Enquiry
 
 wo NOTES. 
 
 Enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the Sublime and^ 
 Beautiful, * do not iiicceed in exat defcription io well 
 
 * as Painting does; their bufinefc is to effect rather by 
 r fympathy than imitation ; to difplay rather the effect 
 
 * of things on the mind of the fpeaker, or of others, 
 
 * than to prefent a clear idea of the thing* themfelves. 
 ' This is their moft extennve province, and that in 
 
 * which they fucceed the belt.' Will he forgive me if I 
 ofter this rude Scottifh Poem as an example fufficiently 
 illuftrative of this fine remark ? 
 
 V. 321. Loud and chill blew the Wejilin itvW, &C.J 
 This florm is artfully railed by the magic of Poetry to 
 heighten the terrible, which is foon carried to a degree 
 not iurpafled in any production ancient or modern. It 
 will recall to the reader the like artifice employed in 
 the moft fublime paflage of Ta/<Ss Gieufalemme, end of 
 Canto 7.; and of Homer* s Iliad % VIIL ver. 161. of Mr. 
 Pope's Tranflation, 
 
 V. 3 17. Seimd nonu as Hack as mourning uvu&j It wa* 
 anciently the cuftom on any mournful event to hang 
 the caftle gates with black clotlu This is alluded to 
 here, and more particularly mentioned in an excellent 
 modern Ballad, entitled The Birth of St. George, which 
 displays no mean knowledge of the manners of chivalry : 
 
 But when he reached his caftle gate 
 HU gate was hung with black. 
 
 S) Vol. III.- p. 222, 
 H ARr
 
 t lei 3 
 
 HARDYKNCJTE. Part II. 
 
 I HAVE given the ftanzas now added the title of 
 a Second Part, though I had no authority from the 
 recital. The break formerly made here by accident 
 ieemed to call for this paufe to the reader. 
 
 V. 1 1 ^. Penanfs.] Thefe were fmall banners charged 
 with the arms of the owner, and fometimes borne over 
 the helm of the ancient knight by his fquire, and, as 
 would feem, even that of the Prince, Earl, or Chief 
 Baron, by his Baneret. See ver. 331. The Englifh word, 
 is pcnon : 
 
 And by his banner borne is his penon^ 
 
 Of gold full rich ; in which there was ybete 
 
 The minotaure than he wan in Crete, 
 
 Says Chaucer fpeaking of Thefeus in The Knight's fate. 
 
 V. 2 $ 2. Draffan's touirs.] The ruins of DrafFan- 
 caftle are in Lanarkfhire. They ftand upon a vail 
 rock hanging over the Nctban (fee v. 329.) which a 
 little below runs into the Clyde. From this a houfc 
 iituated very nigh the ruins is called Craignetban. This 
 caftle is fo ancient, that the country people there fay it 
 was built by the Pcchts, which is their common way of 
 expreffing the P:tfs. 
 
 H 3 V. a 73 .
 
 102 NOTES. 
 
 V. 273. His ballrik.~\ This term for a coat of mail 
 occurs in Blind Hariy. It was properly ufcd for one 
 compofed of fmall rings of fteel which yielded to every 
 motion of the warrior, and was the fame with the 
 lorica hamata of the Romans, fo picturefquely defcribed 
 by Claudian : 
 
 Conjuncla per artein 
 
 Flexilis induftis hamatur lamina membris, 
 Hor^ibilis vifu, credas fimulacra mover! 
 Ferrea, cognatoque viros fpirare metallo. 
 
 In Ri'fm. Lib. 3. 
 
 V. 27^. Secnrit by a I'.wluc auU, &c.] The belief 
 that certain charms might fecure the pofleflbr from 
 danger in combat was common in dark ages. * J know 
 
 * a fong, by which I foften and enchant the arms of my 
 
 * enemies, and render their weapons of no. effect,' fays 
 Qdin in his Magic. Northern Antiq. Vol. II. f. 217. 
 Among the Longobards they were forbidden by a pol;- 
 tive Law. * Nullus Campio adverfus alterum pugna- 
 4 turns audeat fuper fe haberc bcrlas nrc *es ad malejtcut 
 
 * pertineutes, nifi tantum corona fua, qure conveniunc. 
 
 * Et ft fufpicip fuerjt quod eas occulte habeat, inquira- 
 ' tur per Judicem, et fi inventas fuerunt, rejiciantur. 
 
 * Poft qvum inquilitionem, extendet manum fuam ipfe 
 4 in manu Patrini aut Colliberti fui, ante judicem, 
 ' dicens, fe nullam rem talem fuper fe habere, deinde a^l 
 ' certamcn prodeat.' LL. L'ongob. apud L. Germ J. Bafil. 
 
 A fimilar notion obtained even in England, 
 c ' as
 
 NOTES. 103 
 
 as appears from the oath taken in the Judicial Combat. 
 
 * A. de B, ye fhall fwere that ye have nojtene of virtue, 
 
 * nor brarb of i'lrtae t nor t:barme f nor exfn-immty nor none 
 
 * otbir tnchawntment ly you nor fir yoa, whereby ye trnft 
 
 * ibt better to overcome C, /fe D.ymr aJverfarie, that mail 
 
 * come agens you within thefe lifts in his defence, nor 
 4 that ye truft in none othir thynge propirly hot in 
 
 * God) and your body, and your brare quarel. So God 
 
 * you help and all haiowes, and the holy gofpells.' Apud 
 Dugdale, Orig. Juridk. & MifceU. Aulica, Ltmd. 1 702. 
 p. 1 66. And we find in a moft acnte and ingenious 
 treatife on the point of honour, written rn the middle of 
 the fixteenth century, that this precaution was efteemed 
 neoeflary fo late as that period. // DutJIo del Mutlo Juf- 
 tinopolilanS) In Vineg. 1566. lib. II. 0.9. De i maleficii 
 ft incante. * Et non fenza ragione i moderni Padrini 
 
 * fanno fpogliare i cavallieri, che hanno da entrare in 
 
 * battaglia, et ifcuotere, et diligentemente effaminare 
 
 * i loro panni, Sec.' Many inftances occur in the ac- 
 counts of the civil wars of France, and of the Nether- 
 lands ; and more particularly in the very curious ftory 
 ofGovsric's Confpiraty, publifhed by James VI. at &Aa- 
 burgh, 1600, 4to. ' His Majefty having before his 
 ' parting out of that towne, catifed to fearch the fayde 
 
 * Earle of Cowries pockets, in cafe any letters that 
 
 * might further the difcovery of that confpiracie might 
 
 * be founde therein. But nothing was found in them, 
 
 * but a little clofe parchment bag full of magical 
 
 H 4 charafters,
 
 1*4 NOTES. 
 
 * characters, and wordes of enchantment, wherein it 
 ' fcemed that hee had put his confidence, thinking him- 
 ' lelf never fafe without them, and therefore ever car- 
 
 * ried them about with him ; being alfo obferved, that 
 
 * while they were upon him, his wound, whereof he 
 
 * died, bled not ; but incontinent, after the taking of 
 
 * them away, the blood guflied out in great abundance, 
 4 to the great admiration of all the beholders.' Sec 
 likewile Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, by David 
 Myifes, Edin. 1755. where this piece is reprinted ver- 
 batim. Maifter WilliamRynd, a fervant of Lord Cowrie's, 
 depofition in the fame volume, p. 297, has fingular 
 anecdotes with regard to thefe characlen. 
 
 V, 376. Fairy charm.'} The \\ofdfaiiy feems to have 
 been accepted by the ancient Engliih and Scottifh poets 
 for fupernatural, or enchanted. So Chaucer fpeaking of 
 Cambufean*s horfe, 
 
 It was of fairie, as the peple femed. 
 
 Squire's Tale, p. I. 
 
 V. 362.] It was the priviledge of the knights to hide 
 their faces with armour, fo that it was impoffible to 
 diftinguifh any one from another, except by his blazon, 
 which feems at firft to have been difplayed over them, 
 but came at length to be painted on their fliields, 
 whence Coats of Arms. A villein was obliged to have his 
 countenance uncovered in battle. This circumftance 
 attended to will lave our wonder at Hardyknute's not 
 
 knowing
 
 NOTES. 103 
 
 knowing Draffan in the Firft Part, and Draffan's not 
 perceiving Malcolm here till his fpear tore off his vifor: 
 though Rothfay knows Draffan either from his wearing 
 3 blazon on his armour, -or from his face being uncovered 
 in order to breathe from the combat. 
 
 V. 389. Chcirye my mirrie men, &c.] It fhould have 
 been remarked on the firft appearance of this word, 
 P.I. v. 199, that mirrie was anciently ufed in a very 
 different fenfe from its prefent. It fignified honeft, true t 
 faitlfuly but no where jovial. King James VI. in his 
 Damonolngie MS. pat. Edit. * Surelie the difference vul- 
 
 * gaire put betwixt thame is verrie mirrie^ and in a man- 
 f ner /rav,' p. 10. And again in p. 18. * Many bonejl 
 
 * and mirrie men.' In like manner Merlin's Prophecies arc 
 ftiled * Mirrie words J in that of Beid. Propb. ofRymer, &c. 
 
 V. 413. Ob KjngqfHwin!] This is a common ap- 
 pellation of the Deity with the more ancient Scottifh 
 Poets. Py Hevins King) is the familiar oath of Blind 
 Harriet heroes. 
 
 V. 419. By my Furlere's faul.~\ Swearing by the fouls 
 of their anceftors was another ufed mode in thofe times. 
 The greateft thought this oath moft ftrong and honour- 
 able ; probably becaufe it implied the fouls of their 
 forefathers were in heaven, and, as was then believed, 
 might lend them a fupernatural aid, if the intention, 
 of their oath was juft and unblameable. 
 
 V. 421. * Now mind your oithj &c.] This paflage 
 is pbfcure : the meaning I apprehend is, that Draffan 
 
 had,
 
 to6 NOTE S. 
 
 had, before the combat, exacted an oath of Allan his 
 baneret, that he would flay him, ihould the neceffity of 
 his affairs demand this facrifice. More willing to lole 
 bis own life than poffibly to take that of his great anta- 
 gonift, he commands Allan to fulfill his engagement, 
 which, with all the heroic faith of thofe times, he does 
 without a paufe. The part icular expreilion ' T^fhynand 
 * blade* might lead us to imagine, that it was thought 
 impoffible to pierce the fuppoied enchanted armour, 
 but with one particular weapon, likeways perhaps 
 charmed. 
 
 V. 437. Icolw.'] The Nunnery at Icolm, or Icolm- 
 kill, was one of the moil noted in Scotland. The 
 Nuns were of the order of Auguftint^ and wore a white 
 gown, and above it a rocket of fine linen. Sfotfaood's 
 Account fff the Religious Houfcs in Scotland, p. 509. The 
 ruins of this nunneiy are ftill to be feen, with many 
 tombs of the PrinceHes; one of which bears the year 
 IOOO. Martin's H'ejicrn Ijlands^ p. 262. 
 
 I cannot conclude my remarks on this Poem without 
 wafting one on the ftory of Mrs. Wardlaw. That this 
 lady may have indeed received a MS. of it, as mentioned 
 in Dr. Percy's introductory note, is highly probable. 
 Many valuable MSS. prepared for the preis, have had 
 a worfe fete. But that fhe was the author of this 
 capital compolition, fo fraught with fcience of ancient 
 manners as the above notes teftify, I will no more 
 credit, than that the conamon people In Lanarkfhire, 
 
 who
 
 NOTES. 107 
 
 who can repeat fcraps of both the parts, nre the 
 authors of the paflages they rehearfe. That fhe did not 
 refu'fe the name of being the original compofer is a 
 ftrange argument: would not the firft poet in Europe 
 think it added to his reputation ? Jf conjecture may be 
 allowed where proof muft ever be wanting, I fufpecl, 
 if we affign the end of the fifteenth century as the date 
 of the antique parts of this noble produftion, we fliall 
 not greatly err ; though at the fame time the language 
 muft convince us, that many ftrokes have been bellowed 
 by modern hands. 
 
 CHILD MAURICE. 
 
 THIS is undoubtedly the true title of this incom- 
 parable Ballad, though corrupted into Gil Mor- 
 rice by the nurfes and old women, from whofe mouths 
 it was originally published. Child feeins to have been of 
 equal importance with Damoijeau (See note on P. I. v.4g. 
 of Hardyknute) and applicable to a young nobleman 
 when about the age of fifteen. It occurs in'Shak- 
 fpeare's Lear, in the following line, probably borrowed 
 from fome old romance or ballad. 
 
 Child Roland to the dark tower came. 
 
 Ad III. S. 7. 
 
 And in Chaucer's Rime of Sir Topas, Child is evidently 
 nfed to denote a yoxmg and noble knight.
 
 io NOTE S. 
 
 V. 52. He bent his omu."\ Archery was enjoined the 
 Scottifh warrior at a very early age, as appears from 
 many fpecial laws to that effect, and particularly the 
 following one of James I. * Item, That all men bufk 
 
 * them to be Archeres fra they be twelfe ycir of age^ 
 
 * and that in ilk ten pundis worthe of lande their be 
 ' maid bowmarkis, and fpeciallie neir to Paroche kirkis, 
 
 * quhairin upon haly daies men may cum, and at the 
 * Icift fchutte thrife about, and have ufage of archerie : 
 
 * and quha fa ulis not the faid archerie, the Laird of 
 ' the lande fall raife of him a wedder; and giffthe Laird 
 
 * raifes not the faid payne, the King's fchireffe or his 
 c minifters, mall raife it to the King.' Parl. I. 18. 
 
 V. 107, 8. O what means a the folk coming ? My mother 
 tarries lang.] This ftroke of nature is delicate. It 
 paints the very thought of youth and innocence. In 
 luch happy tenuity of phrafe, this exquifite compofi- 
 tion is only rivalled by the Merope of Maffli, the moll 
 fmiflied Tragedy in the world. Some lines fancifully 
 interpolated by a modern and very inferior hand arc 
 here omitted. 
 
 V. 122. Andjlaldcd o'Mr the Jlrac.] The meaning is, 
 He went haftiJy over the rank grafs. 
 
 V. 144. Ai the hip is o the J} can.'} This would appear 
 the corruption of fome nurfe ; but taking it as it 
 
 {lands,
 
 NOTES. ,09 
 
 ftands, the fimile, though none of the mod delicate^ 
 has a parallel in the Father of Englifh Poetry : 
 But he was chalte and no lechoure 
 And fvveet as is the bramble floure 
 That bearethe the red hip. 
 
 Chaucer, Sir Ttfiaf. 
 
 ADAM O GORDON. 
 
 TH E genuine fubjeft of this Ballad has long re- 
 mained in obfcurity, though it miiil have been 
 noted to every perufer of Crawford's Memdrs. 
 
 * But to return to Gordon,' (viz. Sir Adam Gordon 
 of Auchindown, brother to the Earl of Huntly) ' as 
 4 thefe two a&ions againfl Forbes, or to ipeak more 
 
 * properly, againli the rebels, gained him a vail repu- 
 
 * tation his next exploit was attended with an equal 
 4 portion of infamy; and he was as much decryed for 
 
 * this unlucky action (though- at the fame time he had 
 ' no immediate hand in the matter) as for his former 
 
 * ones he had been applauded. He had fent one Captain 
 
 * Ker with a party of foot to fuiiunon the Cafde of 
 *. Towie in the Queen's name. The owner Alexander 
 
 * Forbes was not then at home, and his lady confiding 
 ' too much in her fex, not only refufed to furrender, 
 
 * but gave Ker very injurious language ; upon which, 
 
 ' unreasonably
 
 110 
 
 N 6 t fc S. 
 
 ' unreasonably tranfported with fury, he ordered his 
 4 men to fire the caftle, and barbaroufly burnt the un~ 
 
 * fortunate gentlewoman with her whole family, amount - 
 
 * ing to thirty-feven perfons. Nor was he ever fo much 
 
 * as partnered for this inhuman action, which made 
 
 * Gordon fliare both in the icandal and the guilt.' An, 
 1571. p. 240. edit. 1706. 
 
 In this narrative is immediately perceived ever)- lead- 
 ing circumftance in the Ballad. The Captain Car, by 
 which name it was diitinguifhed in Dr. Percy's Manu- 
 fcript, is evidently the K'er of Crawford. The Houfe of 
 Rodes I have corrected, according to the truth of ftory, 
 SVavV. Of which name, I find in Gordon of Straloch's 
 map of Aberdeenfhire, there were two gentlemen*! 
 feats, or caftles, in his time, one upon the Don, and 
 another upon the Ttha/i. The neareft feat to the latter 
 is that of Rotly, which from wrong information may 
 have originally flood in the Ballad, the miftake rifing 
 naturally from the vicinity of their fituation, and from 
 this have been corrupted to Rodcs. The courage of this 
 lady, as reprefented in the Ballad, was equalled by that 
 of the famous Countefs of Salifbury, at the fiege of 
 Roxborough; and of Ladies Arundel and Banks, in the 
 laft civil wars of England. See particularly the Mercu- 
 rius Rujlicus, &c. Lond. 1647. Sections V. and XI. 
 
 V. I 2
 
 NOTES. IIIx 
 
 V. 129. F felts."} This word fignifies ill omens; and 
 fometimes as here Accidents Jupematurally unlucky. King 
 James VI. in his Damonologle^ MS. pen. Edit. B. I. 
 ch. IIII. p. 13. * But I pray you forget not likeways 
 ' to tell what are the Devill's rudimentis. E. His ru- 
 
 * diments I call firft in generall all that quhilk is called 
 
 * vulgairelie the vertu of woode, herbe f and ftainc ; 
 
 * quhilk is ufed by unlawfull charmis without naturall 
 
 * caufis. As lykeways all kynd of prattiques, frtitis, or 
 
 * uther fyk cxtraordlnair aftinns^ qitbilk cannot abyde the trcvt 
 ' fwu-he of naturall raifon.' It occurs again in the fame 
 fenfe in p. 14. marg. note; and in p. 41. (peaking of 
 Sorcerers. * And in generall that naime was gevin 
 
 * thaime for ufing of fie chairmis and ////>, as toat 
 4 craft teachis thame.' 
 
 SIR HUGH, OR THE JEW'S DAUGHTER, 
 
 is compofedof tvvo copies, one publiflied by Dr. Percy, 
 the other in a collection of Scottifh Songs, &c. Ed>n. 
 1776. The Mirryland toun of the former, and Miry 
 Linkin of the latter, evidently ihew that the noted ftory 
 f Hugh of Lincoln is here exprefied. 
 
 FLODDEN
 
 t i 3 
 
 FLODDEN FIELD; 
 
 THE ftanzas here given form a complete 
 of this exquifite Dirge. The inimitable beauty 
 of the original induced a variety of verfifiers to min- 
 gle ftanzas of their own compofure. But it is the 
 painful, though moft neceflary duty of an Editor, by 
 the touchftone of truth, to difcriminate fuch drofs frona 
 the gold of antiquity. 
 
 SIR PATRICK SPENCE 
 
 is given from Dr. Percy's Edition, which indeed agrees 
 with the ftall copies, and the common recitals. I 
 have, however, lent it a few corrections, where pal- 
 pable abfurdity feemed to require them. The phrafe 
 in v. 25. of feeing the old moon in the arms of the 
 new is ftill familiar in Scotland. It means that the 
 opaque part of the moon's difk carts a glimmering 
 light, while the illuminated part is waxing; and is to 
 this hour efteemed to prognoilicate a Itorm. 
 
 LADY
 
 NOTES* 
 
 LADY BOTHWELL's LAMENT. 
 
 THESE four ftanzas appeared to the Editor to 
 be all that are genuine of this elegy. Many addi- 
 tional ones are to be found in the common copies^ 
 which are rejected as of meaner execution. In a quarto 
 manufcript in the Editor's pofleifion, containing a col- 1 
 leclion of Poems by different hands from the reign of Queen 
 Elizabeth to the end of the laft century, (p. 132.) there arc 
 two Baloiues as they are there ftiled, the firft The Bab-u'i 
 Allan, the fecbnd Palmer's Balow, this laft is that com- 
 monly called Bothwell's Lament^ and the three firffc . 
 ftanzas in this edition are taken from it, as is . the lait 
 from Allan s Baloiv. They are injudicioufly mingled in 
 Ramfay's Edition, and feveral ftanzas of his own added; 
 a liberty he ufed much too often in printing ancient 
 Scottifli poems * 
 
 . EARL OF MURRAY* 
 
 V. laft. Toun.] This word is often ufed in Scotland 
 to denote only, perhaps, a farm-houie and offiee-houles, 
 or a number of hovels fcattered here and there ; and on 
 which the Englifh would not beftovv the name of a 
 Village* 
 
 I SIR
 
 ii4 NOTES* 
 
 SIR JAMES THE ROSE, 
 
 is given from a modern edition in one fheet lamo. after 
 the old copy. A renovation of this Ballad, compofed o? 
 new and improbable circumftances, decked out with 
 fcrapes of tragedies, may be found in the Annual Re- 
 gifter for 1774, and other collections. Rofe is an an- 
 cient and honourable name in Scotland : Johannes Je 
 Rofe is a \vitnefs to the famous Charter of Robert II. 
 teftifying his marriage with Elizabeth More> as appears 
 in the rare edition of it printed at Paris, 1695, 410* 
 p. 15, 
 
 V< 27. Belted Knlchtsi.~\ The lelt was one of the 
 chief marks which diftinguifhed the ancient knight. 
 To be girt with the belt of knighthood, often implied the 
 whole attending eeremonies which conftituted that 
 order. That of the common knight was of white 
 leather* 
 
 LAIRD OF WOODHOUSELIE. 
 
 THIS Ballad is now firft publifhed. Whether it 
 has any real foundation, the Editor cannot be pofitive, 
 though it is very likely. There is a Ifoodhouftlie nigh 
 Edinburgh, which may poffibly be that here meant. 
 
 LORD
 
 NOTES; 
 
 LORD LIVINGSTON 
 
 was probably an anceftor of Livingfton Earl of Linlith- 
 go\v, attainted in 1715. This aflecling piece likewife, 
 with the four following, now appears for the firft time. 
 V. 13. Suitb Jreims are /f ant.] This feems a prover- 
 bial expreffion: King James in his Damoxologiti * That 
 * is a I'uith dream (us they fay) fence thay fee it walking.-' 
 MS. p. 100; 
 
 D I N N O R I E. 
 
 V. 32. Her wraith.] ' And what meanis then thefe 
 kyndis of ipreitis when thay appeare in the fhaddow' 
 
 * of a" perfonne newlie dead, or to die, to his friend ? 
 ' E. When thay appeare upon that o'ccafion, thay are 
 
 * called wraitbis in our langage.' II. p. 81. 
 
 DEATH OF MENTEITH, 
 
 WHETHER the Menteitb in this Ballad is the 
 fame with him, who is reported to have betrayed 
 Wallace, is left in obfcurity. 
 
 I * LORD
 
 NOTES. 
 
 LORD AIRTH's COMPLAINT. 
 
 THESE verfcs, though fomewhat uncouth, arc 
 moving, as they feem to flow from the heart. They 
 are now firft publimed from the Editor's quarto 
 Manufcript, p. 16. corrected in fome lines, which ap- 
 peared too innacurate for the publick eye. Two entire 
 ftanzas are rejected from the fame caufe. I know no- 
 thing of the nobleman to whom they are afcribed. 
 
 In the fame Manufcript (p. 17, and 1 16.) are to be 
 found the two following Poems, which I believe have 
 never been in print. They are here added, with a few 
 eorredlions. They were both written by Sir Robert 
 Aytoun, Secretary of State during part of the reigns 
 William and Mary, and Queen Ann- 
 
 SONNET,
 
 NOTES. 117 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 WILT thou, remorfelefs fair, Hill laugh while I 
 
 lament ? 
 
 Shall ftill thy chief contentment be to fee me malcontent ? 
 Shall I, Narcifius like, a flying fhadow chafe ? 
 Or, like Pygmalion, love a {tone crown'd with a winning 
 
 face? 
 
 No, know my blind Love now fhall follow Reafon's eyes ; 
 And as thy fairnefs made me fond, thy temper make me 
 
 wife. 
 
 My loyalty difdains to love a lovelefs dame, 
 The fpirit ftill of Cupid's fire confifts in mutual flame. 
 Hadft thou but given one look, or hadft thou given one 
 
 fmile, 
 
 Orhadftthou lent but onepooriighmyforrows tobeguile, 
 ~My captive Thoughts perchance had been redeem'd from 
 
 Pain, 
 And thefe my mutinous Difcontents made friends with 
 
 Hope again. 
 
 But thou I know at length art carelefs of my good ; 
 And would ft ambit iou fly embrew thy beauty in my blood : 
 A great difgrace to thee, to me a monftrous wrong, 
 Which time may teach thee to repent ere haply it be 
 
 long: 
 
 But to prevent thy fhame, and to abridge my woe, 
 Becaufe thou canft not love thy friend, I'll ceafe to love 
 
 my foe. 
 
 13 SONG.
 
 nS ^ O y E 8. 
 
 S O N Q. 
 
 WHAT means this ftrangenefs now of late ? 
 
 Since Time muft Truth approve ? 
 This dillance may confift with ftate. 
 
 It cannot ftand with love. 
 
 'Tis either cunning or diftruft 
 
 That may fuch ways allow : 
 The hrft is bafe, the laft unjuft j 
 
 Lpt neither blemifli you. 
 
 For if you mean to draw me on, 
 
 There needs not half this art : 
 And if you mean to have me gone, 
 
 You over-aA your part. 
 
 If kindnefs crofs your wifh'd content, 
 
 Difmifs me with a frown ; 
 I'll give you all the love that's fpent, 
 
 The reft mail be my own. 
 
 FRAGMENTS.
 
 NOTE S. 119 
 
 FRAGMENTS. 
 
 THE three firft of thcfe are given from a Collec- 
 tion published at Edinburgh in 1776, but polifhed 
 by the prefent Editor ; the two others from recital. 
 The firft is a pretty picture of the Fairy court according 
 to the popular notion. I cannot give a better comment 
 on it than in the words of a royal author often before 
 quoted. MS. Damionologie, B. III. ch. $. 
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 * The defcviption of the fourth kynde of Spreittie, 
 
 * called the Pharli, What is poffible thairin, and what 
 
 * is but illulions. Whow far this dialoge entreatts of 
 t all thir thingis ; and to what ende.' 
 
 * P. Now I pray you come on to that fourt kynd of 
 
 * fpreittis. E. That fourt kynde of Spreitis, quhilk be 
 
 * the gentiles was called Diana and her wandring court, 
 
 * and amongs us was called the Pbarie (as I tolde you) 
 
 * or our guid neighbouris' (the King has added on the 
 margin * or lillie wightis') ' was ane of the fortis of 
 
 * illufions that was ryfeil in tyme of Papiftrie ; for all- 
 
 * though it was holdiu odious to prophelie be the devill, 
 
 * yet whome thefe kynd of fpreittis caried away, and 
 
 * informed,, thay wcr thought to be foncieft, and o 1 " 
 
 14 * beft
 
 iao NOTES. 
 
 * beft lyfe. To fpeak of the manie vaine tratlis foundit 
 
 * upon that illufion; how thair was ane king and queine 
 
 * of Pbarie, of fie a jolie court and traine as thay had ; 
 
 * how thay had a teind and a dew tie, as it wer, of all 
 
 * guidis: how thay naturallie raid and yeid, eat and 
 
 * drank, and did all other actions lyke naturall men and 
 
 * wemenj I think it is lyker Virgilis, Camp! Elifei, nor 
 
 * any thing that aught to be beleived be Chriftianis.' 
 
 This Manufcript is wrote in a beautiful Italic hand, 
 fo nearly refembling copper-plate engraving, as to have 
 been taken for fuch even after accurate examination. 
 It is bound in gilded vellum, ftamped with the King's 
 cypher beneath the crown ; and is in all probability the 
 priginal copy of this royal monument of fuperftition. 
 Many additions are inferted on the margin, as would 
 feem, of the hand writing of James VI. and force notes 
 for his own private ufe. As for inftance on K. II. ch. i . 
 fpeaking of the Magicians of his time, over againft the 
 words ' Thay are fume of thame riche and worldlie 
 
 * wyfe,' he has noted F. M. * fum of tham fat or cor- 
 
 * pulent in their bodies,' R. G, < and maift pairt of 
 
 * thame altogethir gevin ouer to the pleafours of the 
 *flefche, ? B.N. 
 
 We need not wonder at the feverity with which the 
 imaginary crime of witchcraft was punifhed in his 
 reign, when we remark his fentiment exprelfed on this 
 head, in B. HI. cb. 6. of this fmgular tract. ' P. Then 
 
 ' to
 
 NOTE S. 1st 
 
 * to make ane ende of our conference fence I fee it 
 * draw is leatt, what forme of punifhment think yc 
 
 ? merites thir Magiciens and Witches ? For I fee that 
 
 * ye account thamc to be all alyke giltie. E. (The King) 
 
 * Thay aught to Ic put to dcatbe, according to the law of 
 
 * God, the civill and imperiall law, and the municipal 
 ' law of all Chriftiane nations. P. But what kynde of 
 
 * death I pray you ? R. It is commonlie ufed be fyre, 
 ' but that is ane indifferent thing to be ufed in every 
 
 * cuntrey according to the law or cufhime thairof. P. 
 
 * But aught no fexe^ aagc, nor rank, to be. cximcd ? E. 
 
 * NONE AT ALL.' 
 
 The language of this pedantic Monarch is particular: 
 it is that of a Scottifli fchool-boy beginning to read 
 Englifh. 
 
 V. 
 
 It is furprifing that the exigence of fuch beings as 
 men of the J'ea, and mermaids , iliould ftill be quelHcned 
 even by authors of inquiry. So many examples occur 
 in hiftory natural and political, that it would feera 
 placed beyond all doubt, if human teilimony may 
 be in the leaft relied on. The following being very 
 iingular, and, having efcaped the notice of the late 
 writers on this fubjeft, from their being to be found in 
 an uncommon treatife, it is hoped they will not be un- 
 acceptable. 
 
 5, Pendant
 
 132 NOTE S. 
 
 ' Pendant le fejonr que fit a Derbent Salam enrcye 
 
 * par Vatec, calife de la race des Abaflides vers la mer 
 
 * Cafpienne, pour reconnoitre 1'endroit de la forterefie, 
 
 * que les anciens difent avoir etc bade, pour empechcr 
 
 * les peuples du Nord de faire des courfes, ii arriva iisj 
 
 * fait lingulier. Je le tire de Cafvini, autetir Arabe, qui 
 
 * dcins fon livre intitule, Agaub el Maklnukat, c'eft a dire, 
 
 * des chofes men-eiileufes qui fe font trouvees dans les 
 creatures, le place a Tan de 1'Egire 288, qui repond 
 
 * a 1'annee 894 de notre ere. II rapporte que le Prince 
 de ce pays-la allant un jour a la peche fur la mer Caf- 
 
 * pienne, mena ?vec lui Salam. On prit dans cettc 
 
 * peche un fort grand poiilbn, qu'on ouvrit fur le champ, 
 
 * et dans le ventre duquel on trouva une fille marine en- 
 
 * core vivante. Elie etoit ceinte d'un ca^con fans coy- 
 ' ture fait d'une peau femblable a celle de 1'homme, 
 ' qui lui defcendoit jufqu* aux genoux. Cette fille avoit 
 
 * les mains fur fon vifage, et s*arrachoit les cheveux, 
 
 * Elle pouffoit des grands foupirs, et ne vecut que peu 
 de rnomens apres avoir ete tireedu ventre de ce mon- 
 
 * lire. Cafvini adjoute, que le Tarik Magreb, Hiftoire 
 
 * Arabe d'Afrique, confirme cette narration par d' au- 
 
 * tres faits, qu'il cite au fujet des Sirenes, et des Tri- 
 
 * tons trouves dans le mer. 
 
 * Voici un autre fait, tire d'un proces verbal, drefsc 
 
 * par Pierre Luce Sr. de la Paire, capitan commandant 
 
 * les quartiers du Diamant a la Martinique le 31 Mai, 
 
 *
 
 NOTES. r 23 
 
 * 1671, re$u par Pierre de Beville notaire dcs quarters 
 4 de fa compagnie, en prefence du Fere Julien Simon 
 
 * jefuite, et des trois autres temoins, qui ont figne au 
 
 * pnxxs verbal, contenant les depofitions feparees et 
 
 * unanimes de deux Fran9ois, et quatre negres. Get 
 
 * Afte porte, que le 23 du meme mois du Mai, ces 
 ' Francois et ces Negres etant alLs le matin aux ifles du 
 
 * Diamant avec un bateau pour pecher, et voulant s'en 
 
 * revenir vers le coucher du Soleil, i!s appe^urent prcs 
 
 * du bord d'une petite ifle on ils etoient, un monftre 
 
 * marin ayant la figure humain de la ceinture en haut, 
 ' et cc terminant par le bas en poiflbn. Sa queue etoit 
 
 * large, et fendne comme celle d'une Carrangue, poif- 
 ^ fon fort commun dans cette mer. II avoit la tete de 
 ' la grofleur et de la forme de celle d'un homme ordi- 
 
 * naire, avec des cheveux unis, noirs meles de gris, qui 
 
 * lui pendoit fur les epaule* ; le vhage large et plein, le 
 
 * nez gros et camus, les yeux de forme accoutumee, 
 * les oreilles larges ; une barbe de meme, pendants de 
 
 * fept a huit pouces, et melee de gris comme les che- 
 
 * veuxj I'eilomac convert de poil de la meme couleur; 
 f les bras et les mains femblubles aux notres avec lef- 
 
 * quelles (lofqu'il fortoit de I'eau, ce qu'il fit deux 
 
 * fois, en plongeant et s'approchant toujours du rivage 
 
 * de 1'Jfle) il parohToit s'efluyer le vifage, en les y por- 
 
 * tant a pluneurs reprifes, et renifiant au fortir de I'eau, 
 
 * comme font les chiens barbets. Le corps qui s'ele- 
 
 * voit
 
 x* 4 NOTES. 
 
 * voit au defius de 1'eau jufqu' a la ceinture, etoit de- 
 
 * lie comme celui d'un ^une homme de quinze a feix 
 
 * ans, il avoit la peau mediocrement blanche ; et la 
 ' longueur de tout le corps paroiflbit etre d'environ 
 
 * cinq pieds.' &c. Telliamed, ou Entrcticns d'un Phi- 
 Jofopbe l)id'e:i) &c. par M. de Maille, Amft. 1 748, torn. II. 
 /. 152. 1^4. Many accounts of equal curiofify, and 
 as well vouched, may be found in the fame volume ; 
 but I queftion much if the ftory of the Englifli fliip 
 belonging to Hall (perhaps \ve fliould read Hull) be 
 properly authenticated. 
 
 GLOSSARY.
 
 GLOSSARY. 
 
 A 
 
 Belyve, immediately. 
 
 Ablins, perhaps* 
 
 Beiprent, covered. 
 
 Aboon, above. 
 
 Betide, n. fortune* 
 
 
 Ae, ane, one* 
 
 Bedeen, prefently. 
 
 
 Aff, of. 
 
 Bleiie, blaze. 
 
 
 Aft, oft* 
 
 Bleirir, dim ivith tears. 
 
 
 Aith, cath. 
 
 Blink, glintfc of light. 
 
 
 Ain, own. 
 
 Blinking, f\vinMxj* 
 
 
 Alfe, except* 
 
 Elude, blood. 
 
 
 Anes, once* 
 Auld, old. 
 Aufterne, Jlcrn* 
 
 Blytht'um, fprigbtfy* 
 Bough ts, Joeegfidds* 
 Boiit, loo/I* 
 
 
 Ayonr, beyond* 
 
 Benny, pretty* 
 
 
 
 Botand, UteuMyt* 
 
 
 B 
 
 Bown, make ready* 
 
 
 Ba, //, tennis* 
 
 Bogle, hobgollin. 
 
 
 Baird, beard* 
 
 Bot, without* 
 
 
 Baith, &*>&. 
 
 Bouir, a room arched in tl 
 
 
 Bairn, child* 
 
 Gothic manner* 
 
 
 Bale, wi/fry. 
 
 Bouir vjofnun^chamtfrfnajd 
 
 L 
 
 Balow, &j{/i. 
 
 Bra, bravely dreJTcd* 
 
 
 Band, folemn oa(5. 
 
 Brae, fide afd hill. 
 
 
 Bafe-court,&w court, French, 
 
 Braid, broad* 
 
 
 the lon.ver court of a cajlle* 
 
 Brand, 1(1. a fvjord. 
 
 
 Bafnet, helmet. 
 
 Brawe, brave. 
 
 
 Begyle, beguile. 
 
 Brayd, hajien* 
 
 
 Beitraught, difirafted. 
 
 Bruik, enjoy. 
 
 
 Hanfters, bluftereri.- 
 
 Brin, burn* 
 
 
 Bik, i*ft. 
 
 Bii* 
 
 ;v
 
 GLOSSARY.- 
 
 Brig, bridge. 
 
 Ettle, aim. 
 
 Bulk, prepare. 
 
 Ezar? This word occur i ifi 
 
 c 
 
 Spctifcrt 
 
 Cauld, cold. 
 
 F;ie, f>e. 
 
 Cauidrif, cbitt, damp. 
 
 Fay, faith, Jinccrityi 
 
 Canny, prudent. 
 
 Fere, icmpaniem 
 
 Cheis, cbufe. 
 
 Ferly, wonder. 
 
 Cl aught, grafpcd. 
 
 Feid, enmity. 
 
 Cliding, waidrobei 
 
 Fey, in Jor>tb. 
 
 
 Flinders, Jplinfcrs. 
 
 D 
 
 Fleeching, flattering. 
 
 Daffin, waggety. 
 
 Forbere, forefather, anccjlor. 
 
 Dar'd, lighted, bit. 
 
 Forbode, denial. 
 
 Darrain, fuj/'cr, encounter. 
 
 Frae, fro, from. 
 
 Deft, taken vffbaftily. 
 
 Frawai t, frtnuard. 
 
 Dint, blow, firoke. 
 
 
 Dawning, dawn of day. 
 
 G 
 
 Dough t, could. 
 
 Ga, gae, gang, go. 
 
 Doughty, valiant, Jlron%4 
 Dowie, dreadfuil, taetancoafyt 
 
 Gabbing, prattle. 
 Gait, way, pat hi 
 
 Drie, J'ufft'', endure. 
 
 Gar, cau/e. 
 
 Dule, grief. 
 
 Gie, give. 
 
 
 Gin, gif, if.. 
 
 E 
 
 Glaive, fixord. 
 
 Eard, earth. 
 
 Gltit, glittered. 
 
 Eild, eld, old age 
 
 Glie, mirth. In H. P. it 
 
 Eine, eyes. 
 
 1 20. it Jams to Jignify a 
 
 Eithly, eajtfy. 
 Eydent, ay-ding, ajjifting. 
 Elric, dij'mal. 
 
 faint light. 
 Glent, glanced, 
 Glift, gliftercd. 
 
 Eldern, ancient, venerable. 
 Egre, eager, ~keen,jba>p. 
 
 Gloming, dujk. 
 Glowr, glare, dij'mal light. 
 
 Effray, affright. 
 
 Gvcin, dejire. 
 
 Emraud, Emerald. 
 
 Greit, ivccf.
 
 GLOSSARY. 
 
 Graith, drefs, v. and n. 
 
 Goufty, Daftly. 
 
 Grie, prize, <vilory, 
 
 Gude, good, 
 
 Gurly, hitter , cold; applied 
 
 to weather. 
 Gyle, guik* 
 Gyfe, manner, fajlnon. 
 
 H 
 
 Hard, bam*eft t 
 
 Hauld, bold, abode. 
 
 Hain, fpare, Javt. 
 
 Hap, cover. 
 
 Hecht, promifed. 
 
 Hip, the berry of the wild 
 
 rofi. 
 
 Hyt, frantic. 
 Hynd, hence. 
 
 Lap, leaped. 
 
 Law, Ana. 
 
 Lave, the reft. 
 
 Lcil, true, faithful. 
 
 Leir, learn. 
 
 Leglen, a milking pail. 
 
 Lsuian, lover, wiftrefe. 
 
 Leuy;h, laughtdt 
 
 Lawing, red. 
 
 Lever, rather. 
 
 Leech, pbvjfciartt 
 
 Lift; thg firmament. 
 
 Lig, /! :t jcxtteredly. 
 
 Lilting, .-,,. p making with 
 mujk, &.c, 
 
 Lin, a ^r// ofwfter* 
 
 Link's, lamps, or other Arti- 
 ficial lights. 
 
 Loaning, c^mtnongrten near 
 
 I 
 
 Loch, lakf. 
 
 Jimp, delicate, Jltnder. 
 
 Low, v. and n. flame. 
 
 ilk, ilka ; each. 
 
 Lown, Jbeltcred^ calm. 
 
 Irie, terrille. 
 
 Lout, to Iwiv. 
 
 
 Luc, love. 
 
 K 
 
 Kaming, combing. 
 
 Lure, cunning device, fnart. 
 Lyart, hoary, 
 
 Kin, kindred. 
 
 
 Kyth, v. to Jbow or mat 
 
 It M 
 
 appear. 
 
 Maklefs, matchlffe. 
 
 Kyth, n. acquaintance^ 
 friends, companion}* 
 
 Maun, mufl. 
 Mair, more {. rather. 
 
 
 Mahoun, Mahomet, and Ij 
 
 L 
 
 abufe the. dtvil. 
 
 Laigh, low. 
 
 Mane, moan, lament* 
 
 Lane, alone. 
 
 Meikle, much* 
 
 
 Meiny,
 
 123 
 
 GLOSSARY. 
 
 Mciny, train, army. 
 Me me, to mea/ure, to try. 
 Mede, reward. 
 Mcid, fort, appearance. 
 Meife, fof'rn, mollify* 
 Mirk, 'dark. 
 Mony, many. 
 Mote, might. 
 
 N 
 
 Prive, prove, prove. 
 Propine, reward. 
 
 Qu, is vfed in old Scottiflj 
 ff tiling for W. ds Quhatj 
 What, &c. 
 Quat, quitted. 
 Quell, fubdue. 
 
 Na, nae, no, none. 
 
 R 
 
 Neift, next. 
 
 Raught, i-echt, reached* 
 
 Norfe,0/?f/2 theKing of Nor- 
 
 Recule, recoil. 
 
 way, fo France is often nfcd 
 
 Rede, warn. 
 
 ly Sbakfpeare for the king 
 
 Reiking, fmoking. 
 
 of that country. 
 
 Rief, robbery. 
 
 
 Riever^ robber. 
 
 o 
 
 Reid, red. 
 
 On cafe, perhaps. 
 
 R.o\in.foundfoftly t whifptr* 
 
 Ony, any. 
 
 Rue, repent. 
 
 Or, f. ere, before, {. clft; 
 
 Ruth, pity. 
 
 Ovvr, Over. 
 
 Rude, crojs. 
 
 Outowr, Over above. 
 
 Runkled, wrinkled) 
 
 Orifon, Fr. prayer. 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 P 
 
 Sark, jlnrt. 
 
 Pal!, robe offtdte. 
 Payne, penalty. 
 
 Saw, a ivi/e faying. 
 Sawman, counfdlor. 
 
 Perle^ pearl. 
 Pleafance, pleafure. 
 
 Subbing, fobbing. 
 Scant, fcarcei 
 
 Pou, pull. 
 
 Scorning (Fled. v. ^^jcftlng 
 
 Pratique, experiment. 
 
 ironically. 
 
 Prcafs, topnfs, to pafi voith 
 
 Sey, e/ay, try. 
 
 difficulty. 
 
 Seen, to fee. 
 
 frime of day, da-jun. 
 
 Seim, appearance. 
 
 
 Selcouth,
 
 GLOSSARY. 
 
 Selcouth, wtcommtn at a pro- 
 
 Tide, time, feafo*. 
 
 digy. 
 
 Tint. loft. 
 
 Share, to cleave* pierce* 
 
 Trieft, make an ajjlgnatiott* 
 
 Shathmont ? 
 
 Twin'd, parted, feparatetl. 
 
 Sic, fuch. 
 
 
 Sindle, /gMou* 
 
 V U 
 
 Skaith, hurt. 
 
 Veir, avoid, or perhaps alter, 
 
 Slaid, to move fpeedify* 
 
 Unrnufir, without wonder^ 
 
 Slee, v. Jlay. 
 
 to mufe often meant to 
 
 Sen, feeing. 
 
 wonder in Sbakfptare. 
 
 Sin, fith, fence. 
 
 Unfonfie, unlucky. 
 
 Soncie, lucky. 
 
 
 Stalwart, Jlcut, valiant* 
 
 W 
 
 Steik, tojhut. 
 
 Waddin,y??v;g-, firm. 
 
 Sleuth, Jlotb* 
 
 Wad, wald, wold; would* 
 
 Strecht, ftretched. 
 
 Warloc, wizard. 
 
 Swankies, merry fellows. 
 
 Wallow, withered* and fig. 
 
 Swaird, turf, graffy ground. 
 
 pale. 
 
 Swith, quickly. 
 
 Ward, fentincl. 
 
 Steid, ejiale. 
 
 Wate, vjarrand. 
 
 Splenr, armour for the thighs 
 
 Wax, to fpreadj to lecemt 
 
 and legs. 
 Speir, ajk. 
 
 famous. 
 Wee, little. 
 
 Stoup, pillar. 
 
 Weit, <uxt m rain* 
 
 Sucred, fugarcd* 
 
 Were, hope. 
 
 Syre, lord. 
 
 Weftlin, -Mejlern. 
 
 
 Wae worth ye, uw lefato 
 
 T 
 Tane, taken. 
 
 you. 
 War, aware. 
 
 Targe, Jhitld* 
 
 Whilk, which. 
 
 Tein, farrow. 
 
 Wighty, flrong. 
 
 Teind, tyth, tenth part* 
 Thilk, thir, tbefe* 
 Thole, fuffer, permit* 
 Thud, Judden no'fe* 
 
 Wicht,/rm Wiga Sax. a 
 hero, or great man. 
 Winfum, agreeable^ winning. 
 Whyle, until. 
 
 
 K Weir,
 
 ,30 GLOSSARY. 
 
 Weir, war. Wreuch, grief, r*ifery* 
 
 Weily, full of whirlpools-, 
 
 a well /* fiill uftdfor a Y 
 
 whirlpool in the noeft of Yeftreen, the evening a? 
 
 Scotland. yeJlerJay. 
 
 Wraith, afpirit or gbofti Yer, gatt. 
 
 Wyte, blame. Yied, went. 
 
 Wreak, revenge. Youchheid, fiatt fjotttk. 
 
 Wreken, avcngd. 
 
 T B E END.
 
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