Volume 4 — ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS (continued 4)
Reading edition
‘T[hat] . . yon . . s[ha],
I had a drink of that wan water
That runs down by my wa.’
21. hall there.
24. An illegible word ending seemingly in hie.
31. this lord and I begins the second line.
33. has good: has caught from the line above.
34. shall altered to she’ll; but she shall is clearly meant.
74, 114, 154, 163, 211. ye.
141. would: wald, perhaps.
515162. valuue, or, valaue, or, valuae.
163. A preposition seems to be wanting. Hall here and in 153 is troublesome. Perhaps the reading should be in 153 that all, in 163 that through all.
232. The paper is folded here, and the line has been so much rubbed as to be illegible.
“An old ballad upon the burning of an old castle of Loudoun by the Kennedys of Auchruglan.” Bruce Campbell.
181. The Bonny Earl of Murray.
P. 447. Add to the citation from Spottiswood: History of the Church of Scotland, 1655, p. 387.
182. The Laird o Logie.
P. 449. A was first published in the second edition of Scott’s Minstrelsy, 1803, I, 243.
B was repeated in the first edition of Scott’s Minstrelsy, I, 220, 1802, ‘The Laird of Ochiltree.’
452. The following is the original, unimproved copy of A. There is a transcript of this, in William Laidlaw’s hand, “Scotch Ballads,” etc., No 23, which is somewhat retouched, but by no means with the freedom exercised by the editor of the Minstrelsy. Some of Laidlaw’s changes were adopted by Scott.
A
‘The Laird of Logie,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 3 a, Abbotsford. Sent Scott September 11, 1802, by William Laidlaw; received by him from Mr Bartram of Biggar.
1
I will sing, if ye will harken,
An ye wad listen unto me;
I’ll tell ye of a merry passage
Of the wanton laird of Young Logie.
2
Young Logie’s laid in Edinborough chapel,
Carmichaell’s keeper of the key;
I heard a may lamenting sair,
All for the laird of Young Logie.
3
‘Lament, lament na, May Margret,
And o your weeping let me be;
For ye maun to the king your sell,
And ask the life of Young Logie.’
4
May Margaret has kilted her green cleeding,
And she’s currld back her yellow hair,
And she’s away to the king hersell,
And adieu to Scotland for ever mair!
5
When she came before the king,
She fell low down on her knee:
‘It’s what’s your will wi me, May Margret,
And what makes all this courtesey?’
‘Naething, naething, my sovreign liege,
But grant me the life of Young Logie.’
6
‘O no, O no, May Margret,
No, in sooth it maun na be;
For the morn, or I taste meat or drink,
Hee hanged shall Young Logie be.’
7
She has stolen the king’s reeding-comb,
But an the queen her wedding-knife,
And she has sent it to Carmichaell,
To cause Young Logie come by life.
8
She sent him a purse of the red gold,
Another of the white money,
And sent him a pistol into each hand,
And bade him shoot when he got fra.
9
When he came to the Tolbooth stair,
There he loot his volley flee,
Which made the king in his chamber start,
Even in the chamber where he lay.
10
‘Gae out, gae out, my merrie men,
And gar Carmichael come speake wi me,
For I’ll lay my life the pledge of that,
That yon’s the volley of Young Logie.’
11
When Carmichael came before the king,
He fell low down on his knee;
The very first word that the king spake,
‘How dois the laird o Young Logie?’
12
Carmichael turnd him round about,
A wait the salt tear blint his eye:
‘There came a tacken frae the king
Has tean the laird awa frae me.’
13
‘Hast thou playd me that, Carmichael?
Hast thou playd me that?’ quo he;
‘The morn the Justice Court’s to stand,
And Logie’s place ye maun supply.’
14
Carmichal’s awa to May Margr[e]t’s bower,
Een as fast as he may dree:
‘It’s if Young Logie be within,
Tell him to come speak to me.’
15
May Margret’s turnd her round about,
A wait a loud laughter gae she:
516‘The egg is cheeped and the bird is flown,
And seek ye the laird of Young Logie.’
16
The one is sheppd at the pier o Leith,
The other at the Queen’s Ferry,
And she has gotten a father to her bairn,
The wanton laird of Young [Logie].
42. yer for her.
64. Yea for Hee. Hie in Laidlaw’s transcript. Taking into account the apparent yer for her in 42, it looks as if hea, her were intended.
84. free?
122. blint may be blent.
453. B. ‘The Winsome Laird of Young Logie,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 137 a, “sung by Lady A. Lindsay,” closely resembles Herd’s version, but in one passage approaches C, and Young Logie displaces Ochiltrie. This copy will be treated as B b.
b.
11. O wanting.
12. To the tale I tell.
18. How the.
14. The winsom laird of Young Logie.
21. Whan the queen did hear the same.
28. Alas for poor Lady Margaret.
32, 82. as wanting.
34. Or never kend.
41. Fye, oh no, said: that maunna be wanting.
42. Fy, O no, thus (partly altered to this).
43. find out some cunning way.
44. To loose and let Young Logie free.
Between 52 and 53:
The king he’s risen and taen her up,
Says, What means a’ this curtesy. (As 53,4.)
When you took me to be your queen,
You promisd me favours twa or three. (As 61,2.)[152]
53,4:
The first ane that I ask of yow
Is to loose and let Young Logie free. (As 63,4.)
61. O wanting: of me.
62. would hae granted.
64, 74. Winna save.
71. queen than she came.
72. And she came down.
83–4:
I wish that I had neer been born,
Or never kend Young Logie’s name. (As in 3.)
91. Fye, oh no, said.
92. Fye, O no, this maun ne.
93. I ‘ll find out some other.
94. To save the life o.
101. she triped.
111. She gae to.
113. And twa.
114. And bade him shoot as he gaed by.
121. And wanting.
123. O peace: our gudely.
131. O wanting.
141. Gae bring to.
142. Gae bring them.
143. Before the: by ten.
144. they each ane.
15. Wanting.
161. Fye, O no, said.
162. Fye, O no, this maun ne.
163. hang at a’.
171. Lady Marg took shiping.
172. Young Logie at.
178. the lass: her lad. Tune of Logan Water.
183. Willie Macintosh.
P. 456. The account in ‘The History of the Feuds’ is taken from Sir Robert Gordon’s History of Sutherland, p. 217.
Jamieson, writing to Scott, in November, 1804, says: “I have heard a scrap of the rude ballad on the burning of Achindoun, ‘Bonny Willie Mackintosh—You’ve tint a feather frae your cap—By the day dawing,’ etc., or something of this kind, from the Revd John Grant of Elgin. The Duchess of Gordon applied to him about it some years ago, but he could never recover it.” (Letters addressed to Sir W. Scott, I, No 117, Abbotsford.)
186. Kinmont Willie.
P. 470 b, at the end of the first paragraph. Strike out 1639. Spottiswood’s account begins at the same page, 413, in the edition of 1655.
188. Archie o Cawfield.
P. 484. B b was first printed in the second edition of the Minstrelsy, 1803, I, 195.
The following is the copy from which Scott derived the stanzas introduced into this later edition of the ballad. It will be observed that ‘luve of Teviotdale’ is the reading of 42, and not a correction of Scott’s, as suggested at 486 b.
‘Archie o Ca’field, Variations,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 90, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of John Leyden.
1
The one unto the other did say,
‘Blythe and merry how can we be,
When the night is billie Archie’s lyke-wake,
The morn the day that he maun die?’
2
‘An ye wad be blythe an ye wad be sad,
What better wad billie Archie be,
Unless I had thirty men to mysell,
And a’ to ride in our companie?
3
‘Ten to had the horses’ heads,
And other ten to walk alee,
And ten to break up the strang prisoun
Where billie Archie he does lie.’
5174
Up bespak him mettled John Hall,
The luve o Teviotdale ay was he;
‘An I had eleven men to mysell,
It’s ay the twalt man I wad be.’
5
Up bespak him coarse Ca’field,
I wat and little gude worth was he;
‘Thirty men is few enow,
And a’ to ride in our cumpanie.’
6
Then a’ the night thae twal men rade,
And ay untill they were a’ wearie,
Till they came to the strang prisoun
Where billie Archie he did lie.
7
‘Sleeps thou, wakes thou, billie?’ he said,
‘Or did ye hear whan I did cry?
The night it is your lyke-wake night,
The morn it is your day to die.’
8
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
‘Work ye within and I without,
And soon a loose man shall you be.’
9
Dickie pu’d the prisoner on o his back,
And down the stair cam merrilie;
‘Now by my sooth,’ quo mettled John Hall,
‘Ye may let a leg o him lean to me.’
10
‘I have my billie upon my back,
I count him lighter than a flee;
Gin I were at my little black mare,
At Ca’field soon I trust to be.’
11
Then a’ the night these twelve men rade,
And aye untill they were a’ wearie,
Untill they came to the wan water,
And it was gawn like ony see.
12
‘There lives a smith on the water-side,
Sae has he done thirty years and three:
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
13
‘O I have a crown in my pocket,
And I’ll give it every groat to thee
. . . . . . .
Gin thou shoe my little black mare for me.’
14
‘The night is mirk, and vera pit-mirk,
And wi candle-light I canna weel see;
The night it is mirk, and vera pit-mirk,
And there’ll never a nail ca right for me.’
15
‘Shame fa you and your trade baith,
Canna beet a gude fallow by your mysterie!
But lees me on thee, my little black mare,
Thou’s worth thy weight o gowd to me.’
16
Then thay lay down to take a sleep,
But ay’ on fit stood noble Dickie,
And he’s looked oer his left shoulder,
And a’ to see what he could see.
17
‘Get up, get up, ye drowsy sleepers!
Ye dinna see what I do see;
For yonder comes the land-lieutenant,
Two hunder men in his cumpanie.
18
‘This night an they lay hands on us,
This night, as I think weel it will be,
This night sall be our lyke-wake night,
The morn like as mony dogs we’ll die.’
19
‘My mare is young, and vera young,
And in o the weel she will drown me;’
‘But ye’ll take mine, and I’ll take thine,
And soon thro the water we sall be.’
20
Then up bespak him coarse Ca’field,
I wate and little gude worth was he;
‘We had better lose ane than lose a’ the lave,
We’ll leave the prisoner, we’ll gae free.’
21
‘Shame fa you and your lands baith,
Wad ye een your lands to your born billie?
But hey! bear up, my little black mare,
And yet thro the water we sall be.’
* * * * * *
22
‘Come thro, come thro now,’ Dickie he said,
‘Come thro, come thro and drink wi me;
There’s no be a Saturday in a’ the year
But changed sall your garments be.
* * * * * *
23
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
While a bit o your iron hads thegether,
Barefit sall she never be.’
121. Var. other side o the water.
12, 13 are written as one stanza.
518
VOL. IV.
190. Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead.
P. 4 a. James Hogg, writing to Scott, June 30, [1802?] says: “I am surprised to find that the songs in your collection differ so widely from my mother’s.... ‘Jamie Telfer’ differs in many particulars.” (Letters, I, No. 44.) Scott’s remarks should have been cited from the edition of 1802, I, 91.
5. Mr Andrew Lang has obligingly called my attention to difficulties which attend the assumption that the Dodhead of the ballad is the place of that name in Selkirkshire. Jamie Telfer, st. 7, runs ten miles between Dodhead and Stobs, and this is far enough if help is to be timely; but he would have to run thirty if his Dodhead were in Selkirkshire. With succor not nearer than that, Telfer would soon have been harried out of existence. The distances are too great both for the English and the Scots. But there is a Dod south of the Teviot, not far from Skelfhill, which is some seven miles only from Stobs. (Dodhead is not entered here on the Ordnance map, “but Dodburn is just under Dodrig, and where there is a Dodburn there is ‘tied’ to be a Dodhead in this country.”) Turning from Stobs to Teviot, Telfer would come in due order to Coltherdscleugh, Branxholm, and Borthwick Water, without the loss of time which he would, on the other supposition, incur in passing and returning. (See a note, by Mr Lang, in Mrs G. R. Tomson’s Ballads of the North Countrie, 1888, p. 435.)
Several other matters are not quite clear. Catslockhill, for instance, seems to be misplaced. Mr Lang, a native of Ettrick valley, knows of no Catslack but that in Yarrow. Of this, Mr T. Craig-Brown (Selkirkshire, I, 21), who accepts Scott’s Dodhead, says, “A long ride, if Catslack is in Yarrow.”
191. Hughie Grame.
P. 8. C. Substitute for Scott’s Minstrelsy, etc., “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 87, Abbotsford. Add: H. ‘Hughie Grame,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 4. I. ‘Hughie Graeme,’ Wilkie’s MS., in “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 36.
P. 10 ff. For C substitute this, the original copy, as procured for Scott by William Laidlaw.
“Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 87, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of William Laidlaw. “From Robert Laidlaw.”
1
Gude Lord Scroop’s to the huntin gane;
He’s ridden oer monie a moss an muir,
An he has grippit Hughie the Græme,
For stealin o the bishop’s mare.
2
An they hae grippit Hughie the Græme,
An brought him up thro Carlisle town;
The lasses an lads they stood by the wa’s,
Cryin, Hughie the Græme, thou’s no gae
down!
3
They ha chosen a jury o men,
The best that were i Coventry,
An fifteen o them out a’ at anse,
‘Hughie the Græme, thou art guiltie.’
4
Than up bespak him gude Lord Hume,
As he sat at the judge’s knee;
‘Twentie white ousen, my gude lord,
If ye’ll grant Hughie the Græme to me.’
5
‘O no, no, no, my gude Lord Hume,
For sooth an so it mauna be;
For war there but twae Græms o the name,
They sould be hangit a’ for me.’
6
’Twas up than spak her gude Lady Hume,
As she sat by the judge’s knee;
‘A peck o white pennies, my gude lord,
If ye’ll grant Hughie the Græme to me.’
7
‘O no, O no, my gude Lady Hume,
For sooth an so it sal na be;
For war there but twae Greames of the name,
They soud be hangit a’ for me.’
8
‘If I be guilty,’ said Hughie the Graeme,
‘Of me my friends sal hae nae lack;’
An he has luppen fifteen feet an three,
An his hands they war tyed ahint his back.
9
He’s lookit oer his left shouther,
To see what he coud see,
An there he saw his auld father commin,
An he was weepin bitterlie.
10
‘O had yer tongue, my father,’ he says,
‘An see that ye dinna weep for me,
For they may ravish me o my life,
But they canna banish me thrae the heavens
hie.
11
‘Fare ye weel, Maggie, my wife;
The last time I came oer the muir,
It was you berievt me o my life,
An wi the bishop playd the w[hore].’
519
H
“Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 4, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of William Laidlaw.
1
Lairds and lords a hounting gane,
Out-over hills and valleys clear,
And there they met Hughie Grame,
Was riding on the bishop’s mare.
2
And they have tied him hand and foot,
And they have carried him to Stirling
town;
The lads and lasses there about
Crys, Hughie Grame, you are a lown!
3
‘If I be a lown,’ says he,
‘I am sure my friends has had bad luck;’
We that he jumpted fifteen foot,
With his hands tied behind his back.
4
Out and spoke Laidy Whiteford,
As she sat by the bishop’s knee;
‘Four-and-twenty milk-kie I’ll give to thee,
If Hughie Grame you will let free.’
5
‘Hold your tongue, my laidy Whiteford,
And of your pleading now lay by;
If fifty Grames were in his coat,
Upon my honour he shall die.’
6
Out and spoke Lord Whiteford,
As he sat by the bishop’s knee;
‘Four-and-twenty stots I’ll give thee,
If Hughie Grame you will let free.’
7
‘Hold your tongue, my lord Whiteford,
And of your pleading now lay by;
If twenty Grames were in his coat,
Upon my honour he shall die.’
8
‘You may tell to Meg, my wife,
The first time she comes through the mu[ir],
She was the causer of my death,
For with the bishop [she] plaid the whore.
9
‘You may tell to Meg, my wife,
The first time she comes through the town,
She was the causer of my death,
For with the bishop [she] plaid the lown.’
10
He looked oer his left shoulder,
To see what he could spy or see,
And there he spied his old father,
Was weeping bitterly.
11
‘Hold your tongue, my dear father,
And of your weeping now lay by;
They may rub me of my sweet life,
But not from me the heavence high.
12
‘You may give my brother John
The sword that’s of the mettle clear,
That he may come the morn at four o clock
To see me pay the bishop’s mare.
13
‘You may give my brother James
The sword that’s of the mettle brown;
Tell him to come the morn at four o clock
To see his brother Hugh cut down.’
14
Up and spoke his oldest son,
As he sat by his nurse’s knee;
‘If ere I come to be a man,
Revenged for my father [’s] death I’ll be.’
I
“Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 36, Abbotsford, MS. of Thomas Wilkie, 1813–15, p. 9; “from a young girl, a Miss Nancy Brockie, Bemerside, who learned it from an old woman called Maron Miller, Threepwood.” Another copy, in Wilkie’s hand, No 86 of the same.
1
Ye dukes and lords that hunt and go
Out-over moors and mountains clear,
And they have taen up poor Hughie Græme.
For stealing of the bishope’s mare.
Fall all the day, fall all the daudy,
Fall all the day, fall the daudy O.
2
They hae tied him hand and foot,
They hae led him thro the town;
The lads and lassies they all met,
Cried, Hughie Græme, ye’ve playd the
loon!
3
‘O if that I had playd the loon,
My friends of me they hae bad luck;’
With that he jumped fifteen feet,
Wi his hands tied fast behind his back.
4
Up then spoke my lady Whiteford,
As she sat by the bishope’s knee;
‘Five hundred white pence I’ll give thee,
If you let Hughie Græme go free.’
5205
‘I’ll hae nane of your hundred pense,
And your presents you may lay by;
For if Græme was ten times in his coat,
By my honour, Hugh shall die.’
6
Up then spoke my lord Whiteford,
As he sat by the bishope’s knee;
‘Five score of good stotts I’ll thee give,
If you’ll sett Hughie Græme but free.’
7
‘I’ll have none of your hundred stotts,
And all your presents you may keep to yoursell;
‘For if Græme was ten times in his coat
Hugh shall die, and die he shall.’
8
Then they hae tied him hand and foot,
And they hae led [him] to the gallows high;
The lads and lassies they all met,
Cried, Hughie Græme, thou art to die!
9
Now’s he looked oer his left shoulder,
All for to see what he could spy,
And there he saw his father dear,
Stood weeping there most bitterlie.
10
‘O hold your tongue now, father,’ he said,
‘And of your weeping lai’d now by;
For they can rob me of my life,
But they cannot rob me of the heavens high.
11
‘But you must give to my brother John
The sword that’s bent in the middle clear,
And tell him to come at twelve o clock
And see me pay the bishope’s mare.
12
‘And you may give to my brother James
The sword that’s bent in the middle brown,
And tell him to come at four o clock
And see his brother Hugh cut down.
13
‘And you may tell to Meg, my wife,
The first time she comes thro the town,
She was the occasion of my death
And wi the bishope playd the loon.
14
‘And you may tell to Meg, my wife,
The first time she comes thro the fair,
She was the occasion of my death,
And from the bishope stole the mare.’
A.
A copy in The Northern Garland, Newcastle Garlands, No 1, Bell Ballads, Abbotsford Library, P. 5, has these readings, some of which appear to be editorial:
22. after him for some time.
44. shall soon.
113. my fault.
162. down low.
223. cause and the loss.
H.
83, 93. the casurer, the casure. Perhaps we should read occasion: cf. I 133, 143.
94. plaid the whore; but cf. E 134, I 134.
I.
23. they (all met) ran in flocks: cf. 83.
31. Of that: see No 86, below.
53. in==his coat==ocent (sic).
102. (laid==lay it.)
No 86, the other copy of I, has variations which seem to be mostly, if not wholly, editorial.
13. taken Hughie Græme.
23. lassies ran in flocks.
31. O if. 32. has had.
34. And his.
43. I will give.
44. ye’ll let.
52. And of your.
62. at the.
64. ye’ll let: go free.
71. Above hundred is written five score.
72. And of your presents ye may lay by.
74. By my honour, Hugh shall die, bracketed with the reading in the text.
82. And led him to.
91. Now he’s.
93. he spied.
101. now, father dear: he said wanting.
102. laid.
111. may give my.
121. give my.
133, 143. That she’s.
193. The Death of Parcy Reed.
P. 24 a. B. Telfer sent “the real verses” to Sir Walter Scott. It appears, as might be surmised, that one half of B is of his own making. 1–3==B 4, 5, 7; 4, 5==A 4, 18; 6==B 14; 7==B 15, A 6; 8==A 7, B 16; 9–14==B 18–23; 15==A 15; 16==B 25; 17–20==B 38, 39, 33, 41.
B
Letters addressed to Sir Walter Scott, XIII, No 73, Abbotsford. “Parcy Reed, exactly as it is sung by an old woman of the name of Cathrine Hall, living at Fairloans, in the remotest corner of Oxnam parish:” James Telfer, Browndeanlaws, May 18, 1824.
1
O Parcy Reed has Crozer taen,
And has deliverd him to the law;
But Crozer says he’ll do warse than that,
For he’ll gar the tower of the Troughend fa.
2
And Crozer says he will do warse,
He will do warse, if warse can be;
For he’ll make the bairns a’ fatherless,
And then the land it may lie lea.
3
O Parcy Reed has ridden a raid,
But he had better have staid at hame;
For the three fause Ha’s of Girsenfield
Alang with him he has them taen.
5214
He’s hunted up, and he’s hunted down,
He’s hunted a’ the water of Reed,
Till wearydness has on him taen,
I the Baitinghope he’s faen asleep.
5
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
And the fause, fause Ha’s o Girsenfield,
They’ll never be trowed nor trusted again.
6
They’ve taen frae him his powther-bag,
And they’ve put water i his lang gun;
They’ve put the sword into the sheathe
That out again it’ll never come.
7
‘Awaken ye, awaken ye, Parcy Reed,
For I do fear ye’ve slept owre lang;
For yonder are the five Crozers,
A coming owre by the hinging-stane.’
8
‘If they be five and we be four,
If that ye will stand true to me,
If every man ye will take one,
Ye surely will leave two to me.
9
‘O turn, O turn, O Johny Ha,
O turn now, man, and fight wi me;
If ever ye come to Troughend again,
A good black nag I will gie to thee;
He cost me twenty pounds o gowd
Atween my brother John and me.’
10
‘I winna turn, I canna turn;
I darena turn and fight wi thee;
For they will find out Parcy Reed,
And then they’ll kill baith thee and me.’
11
‘O turn, O turn now, Willie Ha,
O turn, O man, and fight wi me,
And if ever ye come to the Troughend again
A yoke of owsen I will gie thee.’
12
‘I winna turn, I canna turn;
I darena turn and fight wi thee;
For they will find out Parcy Reed,
And they will kill baith thee and me.’
13
‘O turn, O turn, O Thommy Ha,
O turn now, man, and fight wi me;
If ever ye come to the Troughend again,
My daughter Jean I’ll gie to thee.’
14
‘I winna turn, I darena turn;
I winna turn and fight with thee;
For they will find out Parcy Reed,
And then they’ll kill baith thee and me.’
15
‘O woe be to ye, traitors a’!
I wish England ye may never win;
Ye’ve left me in the field to stand,
And in my hand an uncharged gun.
16
‘Ye’ve taen frae me my powther-bag,
And ye’ve put water i my lang gun;
Ye’ve put the sword into the sheath
That out again it’ll never come.
17
‘O fare ye weel, my married wife!
And fare ye weel, my brother John!
That sits into the Troughend ha
With heart as black as any stone.
18
‘O fare ye weel, my married wife!
And fare ye weel now, my sons five!
For had ye been wi me this day
I surely had been man alive.
19
‘O fare ye weel, my married wife!
And fare ye weel now, my sons five!
And fare ye weel, my daughter Jean!
I loved ye best ye were born alive.
20
‘O some do ca me Parcy Reed,
And some do ca me Laird Troughend,
But it’s nae matter what they ca me,
My faes have made me ill to ken.
21
‘The laird o Clennel wears my bow,
The laird o Brandon wears my brand;
Whae ever rides i the Border side
Will mind the laird o the Troughend.’
92. wi me. along with in the margin.
133. ever I.
“There is,” says Telfer in his letter, “a place in Reed water called Deadwood Haughs, where the country-people still point out a stone where the unshriven soul of Parcy used to frequent in the shape of a blue hawk, and it is only a few years since he disappeared.... The ballad of Parcy Reed has a tune of its own.... It is a very mournfull air.”
196. The Fire of Frendraught.
P. 39. Miscellanea Curiosa, MS., vol. vi, Abbotsford Library, A. 3, has for its last piece “The Burning of the Tower of Frendraught, an Historical Ballad,” in forty-eight stanzas. It begins:
522O passd ye by the Bog of Gicht?
Heard ye the cry of grief and care?
Or in the bowers of Rothymay
Saw ye the lady tear her hair?
“A Satyre against Frendraught, in which ware burned the Vicount of Melgum, Laird of Rothiemay, and sundrie other gentlemen, in anno 1630,” 218 lines, MS. in a seventeenth-century hand, is No 1 in a volume with the title Scottish Tracts, Abbotsford Library, B. 7. Mr. Macmath suggests that this may be the “flyte” which Sharpe and Sir W. Scott thought of printing.
200. The Gypsy Laddie.
IV, 61 b. ‘Johnnie Faa’ in [Wm Chambers’s] Exploits . . . of the most remarkable Scottish Gypsies or Tinklers, 3d ed., 1823, p. 17, is B a. The ballad is not in the second edition, 1821, reprinted in 1886. (W. Macmath.)
201. Bessy Bell and Mary Gray.
P. 75 b., first line. Say: c. Scott’s Minstrelsy, 1830, XI, 39, 1833, etc.
203. The Baron of Brackley.
P. 83, note †.
I prefer to say, two or more events. The citations already given in this work may possibly cover four distinct tragedies, and William Anderson, in his Genealogy and Surnames, 1865, p. 104, tells us (but without stating his authority) there was “a line of nine barons, all of whom, in the unruly times in which they lived, died violent deaths.” The ballad may have commenced originally: “Inverawe (==Inner-Aw) cam doun Deeside.” (W. Macmath.)
208. Lord Derwentwater.
P. 117 b. The omen of nose-bleed occurs in the Breton ballad ‘Ervoan Camus,’ Luzel, Soniou, I, 216.
211. Bewick and Graham.
P. 144 a. Scott’s improved copy first appeared in the third edition of the Minstrelsy, 1806, II, 277.
214. The Braes o Yarrow.
Q
P. 164 ff. ‘The Dowie Dens of Yarrow,’ Kidson’s Traditional Tunes, etc., 1891, p. 21. From Mrs Calvert, of Gilnockie, Eskdale; obtained by her on the braes of Yarrow from her grandmother, Tibbie Stuel. (Compare, especially, J-L.)
1
There lived a lady in the West,
I neer could find her marrow;
She was courted by nine gentlemen,
And a ploughboy-lad in Yarrow.
2
These nine sat drinking at the wine,
Sat drinking wine in Yarrow;
They made a vow among themselves
To fight for her in Yarrow.
3
She washed his face, she kaimed his hair,
As oft she ‘d done before, O,
She made him like a knight sae bright,
To fight for her in Yarrow.
4
As he walked up yon high, high hill,
And down by the holmes of Yarrow,
There he saw nine armëd men,
Come to fight with him in Yarrow.
5
‘There ‘s nine of you, there ‘s one of me,
It’s an unequal marrow;
But I’ll fight you all one by one,
On the dowie dens of Yarrow.’
6
Three he slew, and three they flew,
And three he wounded sorely,
Till her brother John he came in beyond,
And pierced his heart most foully.
7
‘Go home, go home, thou false young man,
And tell thy sister Sarah
That her true-love John lies dead and gone
On the dowie dens of Yarrow.’
8
‘O father dear, I dreamed a dream,
I’m afraid it will bring sorrow;
I dreamed I was pulling the heather-bell
In the dowie dens of Yarrow.’
9
‘O daughter dear, I read your dream,
I doubt it will prove sorrow;
For your true-love John lies dead and gone
On the dowie dens of Yarrow.’
10
As she walked up yon high, high hill,
And down by the holmes of Yarrow,
There she saw her true-love John,
Lying pale and dead on Yarrow.
52311
Her hair it being three quarters long—
The colour it was yellow—
She wrapped it round his middle sma,
And carried him hame to Yarrow.
12
‘O father dear, you’ve seven sons,
You may wed them a’ tomorrow,
But a fairer flower I never saw
Than the lad I loved in Yarrow.’
13
The fair maid being great with child,
It filled her heart with sorrow;
She died within her lover’s arms,
Between that day and morrow.
61,2. Three misprinted there.
81, 91, 121. Oh.
R
Macmath MS. p. 91. Inserted in a copy of The Scottish Ballads . . . by Robert Chambers, 1829, p. 145, latterly belonging to Rev. Dr James C. Burns, Free Church, Kirkliston.
1
There were three lords drinking at the wine
In the Leader Haughs of Yarrow:
‘Shall we go play at cards and dice,
As we have done before, O?
Or shall we go play at the single sword,
In the Leader Haughs of Yarrow?’
* * * * * *
2
Three he wounded, and five he slew,
As he had [done] before, O,
But an English lord lap from a bush,
And he proved all the sorrow;
He had a spear three quarters long,
And he thrust his body thorogh.
* * * * * *
3
‘I dreamed . . . .
I wis it prove nae sorrow!
I dreamed I was puing the apples green
In the dowie howms o Yarrow.’
4
‘O sister, sister, I’ll read your dream,
And I’ll read it in sorrow;
Ye may gae bring hame your ain true-love,
For he’s sleepin sound in Yarrow.’
5
She sought him east, she sought him west,
She sought him all the forest thorogh;
She found him asleep at the middle yett,
In the dowie howms o Yarrow.
6
Her hair it was three quarters lang,
And the colour of it was yellow;
She’s bound it round his middle waist,
And borne him hame from Yarrow.
12,6. Leader Haughs. “Obviously nonsense, but so my minstreless sung it.”
31. The rest torn away.
33. apples substituted for heather struck out.
217. The Broom of Cowdenknows.
P. 192. Mrs Greenwood, of London, had heard (presumably at Longnewton, near Jedburgh) “the old Cowdenknows, where, instead of the Laird of the Oakland hills, it is the Laird of the Hawthorn-wide.” Letters addressed to Sir W. Scott, I, No 189, May 27, [1806.]
221. Katharine Jaffray.
P. 216 a. Scott’s ‘Katherine Janfarie’ was printed in the second edition of the Minstrelsy, 1803, I, 238.
222. Bonny Baby Livingston.
P. 231 f. “I can get a copy of a ballad the repeating verse of which is:
The Highlands are no for me,
The Highlands are no for me;
But gin ye wad my favour win
Than carry me to Dundee.
His name is sometimes called Glendinnin, and his residence the same: however, I think it is a Highland ballad, from other circumstances.” W. Laidlaw to Sir W. Scott, September 11, 1802: Letters, I, No 73. Compare D.
225. Rob Roy.
P. 243. The Harris MS. has one stanza, fol. 27 b, from Mrs Isdale, Dron, ‘Robin Oigg’s Elopement.’
An they hae brocht her to a bed,
An they hae laid her doun,
An they’ve taen aff her petticoat,
An stript her o her goun.
524
226. Lizie Lindsay.
P. 255. Communicated by Mr Walker, of Aberdeen, as procured October 5, 1891, from George Nutchell, Ground Officer at Edzell Castle, who derived it from his step-grandmother Mrs Lamond (Nelly Low), fifty-eight years ago, she being at the time eighty years old.
1
‘Will ye gang to the Highlands, Lizzie Lindsay?
Will ye gang to the Highlands wi me?
Will ye gang to the Highlands, Lizzie Lindsay,
My bride an my darling to be?’
2
She turned her round on her heel,
And a very loud laugh gaed she:
‘I’d like to ken whaur I’m ganging,
An wha I am gaun to gang wi.’
3
‘My name is Donald Macdonald,
I’ll never think shame nor deny;
My father he is an old shepherd,
My mither she is an old dey.
4
‘Will ye gang to the Highlands, bonnie Lizzie?
Will ye gang to the Highlands wi me?
For ye shall get a bed o green rashes,
A pillow an a covering o grey.’
5
Upraise then the bonny young lady,
An drew till her stockings an sheen,
An packd up her claise in fine bundles,
An away wi young Donald she’s gaen.
6
When they cam near the end o their journey,
To the house o his father’s milk-dey,
He said, Stay still there, Lizzie Lindsay,
Till I tell my mither o thee.
7
‘Now mak us a supper, dear mither,
The best o yer curds an green whey,
An mak up a bed o green rashes,
A pillow an covering o grey.
8
‘Rise up, rise up, Lizzie Lindsay,
Ye have lain oer lang i the day;
Ye should hae been helping my mither
To milk her ewes an her kye.’
9
Out then spak the bonnie young lady,
As the saut tears drapt frae her ee,
‘I wish I had bidden at hame;
I can neither milk ewes or kye.’
10
‘Rise up, rise up, Lizzie Lindsay,
There is mair ferlies to spy;
For yonder’s the castle o Kingussie,
An it stands high an dry.’
11
‘Ye are welcome here, Lizzie Lindsay,
The flower o all your kin,
For ye shall be lady o Kingussie,
An ye shall get Donald my son.’
243. James Harris.
P. 360 a. B. There is another, and perhaps slightly earlier, copy of The Rambler’s Garland, British Museum, 11621, c. 2 (64), with a few trifling differences, for better or worse.
251. Lang Johnny More.
P. 396. ‘Bennachie,’ by Alex. Inkson McConnochie, Aberdeen, 1890, has a copy of this ballad, p. 66, longer by a few verses and with some verbal differences. But as this copy has been edited, though “without violence having been done,” the variations, in themselves quite immaterial, do not demand registration.
To be Corrected in the Print.
I,
135 b, P 132. Read There’s.
188 b, line 15. Read 207.
200 b, line 6. Read Vidyádharí.
401 b, fourth paragraph, line 3 f. Read No 68, III, 117.
II,
10 a, eighth line from below. Read B for C.
26 b 131. Read moon.
84 b, last line of third paragraph. Read G 21.
266, B 53. Read you.
428 b, e. Read 34 for 31.
482 b, third paragraph, last line. Read V, 101.
507 a, Josefs Gedicht. Eighth line, read Den . . . in queme. First line of answer, read De; third, deme; seventh, konde.
III,
41 b, third paragraph, second line. Read MS. for Mr.
264 a, 174. Read hee.
b, 232. Read soe.
276 a, line 7. Read queen’s own son.
281 a, 52. Read new.
288 a, line 4 of the first paragraph. Read William Lord Douglas.
b, line 16. Read wail.
306 a, note *, fourth line. Read Minstrelsy, II, 325, ed. 1802.
348 b, [A 121]. Read sais. 152. Read mirrie.
376 b, G 21. Read great.
525379 a, 173, A a, first line. Read Sharpe’s.
383 a, line 32. Read pavlovsk.
384 a, 51. Read was never.
397, P 11. Read father is.
435 a, E 52. Read loon.
448 a, A, heading. Read 1750.
459 a, 71. Read Buss. 102. Read o the Dun.
463 a, first line of citation from Maitland. Read spuilzie.
473 b, 244. Read never.
475 b, citation from Maitland, line 5. Read ane guyd.
477 b, third paragraph, line 2. Read moss-trooper.
485 b, first paragraph, line 9 from the end. Read would.
489 b, B 91. Read, There (==There are) six.
499 a, 9, line 8 f. Read Vuk, II, 376, No 64.
504 a, third line from the bottom. Read O for J.
504 b, third line. Read Rae.
505 a, 134. Read And aye. 181. Read o the.
510 b. The note to p. 215 belongs under No 76.
IV,
6 a, 81. Read whan. (101. Gar seek in the early editions, Gae in ed. 1833.)
7 b, 411. Read thy kye.
8 a, 463. Read dare.
18 a, 103. Read Then. 124. Read [to].
b, 192. Read Whan.
21 b, 173. Read grey.
23 a, A a, fourth line. Read former [B].
28 a. Title of 194 B, Laird o Waristoun, in the MS. copy; Laird of Wariestoun, in the printed.
34 b, B. Lord Maxwell’s Goodnight is the title in Scott’s Minstrelsy. It is Lord Maxwell’s Farewell in the Table of Contents of Glenriddell.
36 a, preface, last line but two, and b, line 3. Read Lord Maxwell for Lord John.
38 a, 112. Read, perhaps, fathers’: cf. their, in line 3.
45 b, B 71. Read he’s.
47 b, 181. Read Lady.
54 a, No 199, B. Insert the title: ‘Bonny House of Airly.’
66 a, B 51. Read Gar . . . manteel.
68 a, D, third line. Read Corse for Cragievar.
69 a, 63. Read Stincher. 83. Read kill.
75 a, ninth line of preface. Read in his Poems.
76 a, fifth line. Read Beauchie.
81 b, seventeenth and twenty-fourth lines. Read Abergeldy.
82 b, note, first line. Read Brachally in Dee Water Side.
90 a, E. Insert ‘Laird of Blackwood,’ as the title of the printed copy.
91 a, tenth line of the second paragraph. Read after the birth of his son for after that event. note *. Read IV, 277 f, II, 449 f.
92 a, second line. Read A, C.
93 b, A 21. Read cam.
94 a, B 14. Read wont.
95 b, B 123. Read I’me. C 64. Read country. 81,2. Read well.
96 a, D 33. Read fire-boams.
105 a, sixth line of Appendix. Read Broadside.
110 b, No 207, D, third line. Read p. 135.
123 b, I b. Strike out (Lord?) K. Read p. 370.
124 b, fifth paragraph, last line but four. Read Pitbagnet’s.
129 a, 233. Read feght. b, 283. Read burd. C b. Read in Wilkie’s hand, dropping what follows.
138 b, C b 121,2. Read Wanting, for A man spoke loud.
139 a, I b 34, 41. Read Pitbagnet’s.
152 b, 103. Read showd.
153 b, 92. Read was.
155 a, second line after title. After library, insert P. 6.
157 a, 22. Read nourice.
168 a, 72. Read doon.
201 b, 263. Read kye.
202 a, K 22. Read It is.
207 a, 202. Read them a’ out.
212 a, 43. Read sallads.
221 b, 132. Read grey.
224 b, 221. Read hes he.
226 a, 63. Read Lammington.
248 a, 22. Read ladie.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
Page Changed from Changed to
49 Motherwelll’s MS. Motherwell’s MS.
77 21. wi birk and brume. Note: The ‘i’ in “birk” appears to have a ring instead of a dot.
90 O. ‘Lord Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. v, the last three stanzas. N. ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xvii, IX, one stanza. “N. ‘Lord Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. v, the last three stanzas. O. ‘Jamie Douglas,’ Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xvii, IX, one stanza.
Except as noted, all spelling errors were left uncorrected.
All punctuation was left uncorrected, except as follows.
A beginning or ending quote mark was added for obviously unbalanced pairs of quotes.
Full stops and commas were made consistent for the verse & line references, for example, “121,” was corrected to “121.”
Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together at the end of the last chapter.