Note 116 — 305
Reading edition
That it was not originally intended to insert ‘The Outlaw Murray’ in this collection will be apparent from the position which it occupies. I am convinced that it did not begin its existence as a popular ballad, and I am not convinced that (as Scott asserts) “it has been for ages a popular song in Selkirkshire.” But the “song” gained a place in oral tradition, as we see from B, C, and I prefer to err by including rather than by excluding.