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 SOUTHERN BRANCH, 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, 
 
 LIBRARY, 
 
 tLOS ANGELES, CALIF.

 
 MINSTRELSY 
 
 OP THE 
 
 SCOTTISH BORDER. 
 
 IN THREE PARTS.
 
 MINSTRELSY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SCOTTISH BORDER: 
 
 CONSISTING OF 
 
 HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC BALLADS, 
 
 COLLECTED 
 
 IN THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF SCOTLAND; WITH A FEW 
 
 OF MODERN DATE, FOUNDED UPON 
 
 LOCAL TRADITION. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 vol.1. ; 
 
 The songs, to savage virtue dear, > ',' ' >\ '> 
 
 That won of yore the public ear, \' t \\ > , > > 
 Ere Polity, sedate and sage, 
 
 Had qnench'd the fires of feudal rage. Warton. ' \", 
 
 FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 EDINBURGH: ",>, O 
 
 BDrinteH Dp 31amc0 TBallantgne anto Go* V,v y'} 
 
 FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, PATERNOSTER>R0W> .;*. 
 
 LONDON ; AND A. CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH. "" 
 
 .... ! 
 
 1810. 
 
 49810

 
 4-2 
 TO 
 
 HIS GRACE, 
 
 HENRY, 
 
 DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH, &.%*&. 
 
 THESE TALES, 
 
 WHICH 
 
 IK ELDER TIMES HAVE CELEBRATED THE PROWESS} 
 
 AND 
 
 CHEERED THE HALLS, 
 
 OF 
 
 HIS GJLLJNT ANCESTORS, 
 
 ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
 BT 
 HIS GRACE'S MUCH OBLIGES 
 AMD . 
 HOST HIMBIE SERVANT, 
 
 WALTER SCOTT.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Introduction, , i 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 HISTORICAL BALLADS. 
 
 Sir Patrick Spens, 3 
 
 Auld Maitland, 15 
 
 Battle of Otterbourne, 57 
 
 The Sang of the Outlaw Murray, 79 
 
 Johnie Armstrong, 105 
 
 Lord Ewrie, 131 , 
 
 The Lochmaben Harper, 136 
 
 Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead, 144- 
 
 The Raid of the Reidswire, 159 
 
 Kinmont Willie, 178
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Dick o' the Cow, 205 
 
 Jock o'the Side, 222 
 
 The Death of Featherstonhaugh, 233 
 
 Hobbie Noble 239 
 
 Raid of Rookhope, 252 
 
 Barthrain's Dirge, 265 
 
 Archie of Ca'field, 270 
 
 Armstrong's Goodnight, 279 
 
 The Fray of Suport, 280 
 
 Lord Maxwell's Goodnight, m _... 290 
 
 The Lads of Wamphray, mmm .... 305
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 X 1 rom the remote period, when the Roman pro- 
 vince was contracted by the ramparts of Severus, 
 until the union of the kingdoms, the borders of 
 Scotland formed the stage, upon which were pre- 
 sented the most memorable conflicts of two gal- 
 lant nations. The inhabitants, at the commence- 
 ment of this aera, formed the first wave of the tor- 
 rent which assaulted, and finally overwhelmed, 
 the barriers of the Roman power in Britain. The 
 subsequent events, in which they were engaged, 
 tended little to diminish their military hardihood, 
 or to reconcile them to a more civilized state of 
 society. We have no occasion to trace the state 
 of the borders during the long and obscure period 
 of Scottish history, which preceded the accession 
 of the Stuart family. To illustrate a few ballads, 
 vol. i. a
 
 11 
 
 the earliest of which is hardly coeval with James V. 
 such an enquiry would be equally difficult and vain. 
 If we may trust the Welch bards, in their account 
 of the wars betwixt the Saxons and Danes of Deira 
 570 and the Cumraig, imagination can hardly form 
 any idea of conflicts more desperate, than were 
 maintained, on the borders, between the ancient 
 British and their Teutonic invaders. Thus, the 
 Gododin describes the waste and devastation of 
 mutual havoc, in colours so glowing, as strongly 
 to recall the words of Tacitus ; " Et ubi solitu- 
 " dinem faciunt , pacem appellant" * 
 
 At a later period, the Saxon families, who fled 
 from the exterminating sword of the Conqueror, 
 with many of the Normans themselves, whom dis- 
 content and intestine feuds had driven into exile, 
 
 In the spirited translation of this poem, by Jones, the fol- 
 lowing verses are highly descriptive of the exhausted state of 
 the victor army. 
 
 At Madoc's tent the clarion sounds, 
 With rapid clangour hurried far: 
 
 Each echoing doll the note resounds 
 But when return the sons of war ! 
 
 Thou, born of stern necessity, 
 
 Dull peace ! the desert yields to thee, 
 And owns thy melancholy sway. 
 13
 
 Ill 1 
 
 began to rise into eminence upon the Scottish bor- 
 ders. They brought with them arts, both of peace 
 and of war, unknown in Scotland ; and, among 
 their descendants, we soon number the most power- 
 ful border chiefs. Such, during the reign of the 
 last Alexander, were Patrick, earl of March, and 1249 
 Lord Soulis, renowned in tradition ; and such were 
 also, the powerful Comyns, who early acquired 
 the principal sway upon the Scottish marches. 
 In the civil wars betwixt Bruce and Baliol, all 1300 
 those powerful chieftains espoused the unsuccess- 
 ful party. They were forfeited and exiled ; and 
 upon their ruins was founded the formidable 
 house of Douglas. The borders, from sea to sea, 
 were now at the devotion of a succession of mighty 
 chiefs, whose exorbitant power threatened to place 
 a new dynasty upon the Scottish throne. It is not 
 my intention to trace the dazzling career of this 
 race of heroes, whose exploits were alike formi- 
 dable to the English, and to their sovereign. 
 
 The sun of Douglas set in blood. The mur- 
 ders of the sixth earl, and his brother, in the cas- 
 tle of Edinburgh, were followed by that of their 
 successor, poignarded at Stirling by the hand of
 
 IV 
 
 his prince. His brother, Earl James, appears 
 neither to have possessed the abilities nor the am- 
 bition of his ancestors. He drew, indeed, against 
 his prince, the formidable sword of Douglas, but 
 with a timid and hesitating hand. Procrastina- 
 tion ruined his cause; and he was deserted, at 
 Abercorn, by the knight of Cadyow, chief of the 
 Hamiltons, and by his most active adherents, af- 
 ter they had ineffectually exhorted him to com- 
 
 1468 mit his fate to the issue of a battle. The border 
 chiefs, who longed for independence, shewed lit 
 
 1455 tie inclination to follow the declining fortunes of 
 Douglas. On the contrary, the most powerful 
 clans engaged and defeated him, at Arkinholme, 
 in Annandale, when, after a short residence in 
 England, he again endeavoured to gain a footing 
 in his native country. # The spoils of Douglas 
 were liberally distributed among his conquerors, 
 and royal grants of his forfeited domains effectual- 
 ly interested them in excluding his return. An 
 
 1457 attempt on the east borders by " the Percy and the 
 " Douglas, both together" was equally unsuccess- 
 
 At the" battle of Arkinholme, the Earl of Angus, a near 
 kinsman of Douglas, commanded the royal forces ; and the
 
 ful. The earl, grown old in exile, longed once 
 more to see his native country, and vowed, that, 
 upon Saint Magdalen's day, he would deposit 1483 
 his offering on the high altar at Lochmaben. 
 Accompanied by the banished earl of Albany, 
 with his usual ill fortune, he entered Scotland. 
 The borderers assembled to oppose him, and he 
 suffered a final defeat at Burnswark, in Dumfries 
 shire. The aged earl was taken in the fight, by a 
 son of Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, one of his own 
 vassals. A grant of lands had been offered for his 
 person : * Carry me to the king !" said Douglas 
 to Kirkpatrick : r thou art well entitled to pro- 
 fit by my misfortune ; for thou wast true to me, 
 
 difference of their complexion occasioned the saying, " that 
 " the Black Douglas had put down the Red." The Maxwells, 
 the Johnstones, and the Scotts, composed his army. Archi- 
 bald, earl of Murray, brother to Douglas, was slain in the ac- 
 tion; and Hugh, earl of Ormond, his second brother, was 
 taken and executed. His captors, Lord Carlisle, and the 
 Baron of Johnstone, were rewarded with a grant of the lands 
 of Pittinaue, upon Clyde. Godscroft, Vol. I. p. 375. Bal- 
 four's MS. in the Advocate's Library, Edinburgh. Abercrom- 
 bie's Achievements, Vol. II. p. 361. folio Ed. The other 
 chiefs were also distinguished by royal favour. By a charter, 
 upon record, dated 25th February, 1548, the king grants to 
 Walter Scott of Kirkurd, ancestor of the house of Buccleuch, 
 the land? of Abingtown, Phareholm, and Glentonan craig, ia
 
 VI 
 
 while I was true to myself." The young inau 
 wept bitterly, and offered to fly with the earl into 
 England. But Douglas, weary of exile, refused 
 his proffered liberty, and only requested, that 
 Kirkpatrick would not deliver him to the king, 
 till he had secured his own reward.* Kirkpa- 
 
 Lanarkshire, u Pro suojideli iervitio nobis impenso et pro quod 
 *' interfuit in conjlictu de Arkinholme in occistone et captione 
 u nostrorum rebcflium quondam Archibaldi et Hugonis de Dou- 
 u glas olim comitum Moruvite et de Ormondet aliorum rebellium 
 u nostrorum in eorum comitiva existen ; ibidem captorum et in- 
 u terfectorum. ,> Similar grants of land were made to Finnart 
 and Arran, the two branches of tho house of Hamilton ; to 
 the chiefs of the Battisons ; but, above all, to the Earl of An- 
 gus, who obtained from royal favour a donation oi the Lord- 
 ship of Douglas, and many other lands, now held by Lord 
 Douglas, as his representative. There appears, however, to 
 be some doubt, whether, in this division, the Earl of Angus 
 received more than his natural right. Our historians, indeed, 
 say, that William I. Earl of Douglas, had three sons; 1. James, 
 the 2d Earl, who died in the field of Otterburn ; 2. Archibald, 
 the Grim, 3d Earl ; and 3. George, in right of his mother, 
 carl of Angus. Whether, however, this Archibald was actu- 
 ally the son of William, seems very doubtful; and Sir David 
 I) airy m pie has strenuously maintained the contrary. Now, if 
 Archibald, the Grim, intruded into the earldom of Douglas, 
 without being a son of that family, it follows that the house of 
 Angus, being kept out of their just rights for more than a cen- 
 tury, were only restored to them after the battle of Arkin- 
 holme. Perhaps, this may help to account for the eager in- 
 terest taken by the earl of Angus against his kinsman. Re- 
 marks on History of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1773. p. 121. 
 * A grant of the king, dated 2d October, 1484, bestowed
 
 Vll 
 
 trick did more: he stipulated for the personal 
 safety of his old master. His generous interces- 
 sion prevailed ; and the last of the Douglasses was 
 permitted to die, in monastic seclusion, in the ab- 
 bey of Lindores. 
 
 After the fall of the house of Douglas, no one 
 chieftain appears to have enjoyed the same exten- 
 sive supremacy over the Scottish borders. The va- 
 rious barons, who had partaken of the spoil, com- 
 bined in resisting a succession of uncontrouled 
 domination. The earl of Angus alone seems to 
 have taken rapid steps in the same course of ambi- 
 tion, which had been pursued by his kinsmen and 
 rivals, the earls of Douglas. Archibald, sixth earl 
 of Angus, called Bell-the-Cat, was, at once, war- 
 den of the east and middle marches, Lord of Lid- 
 disdale, and Jedwood forest, and possessed of the 
 strong castles of Douglas, Hermitage, and Tan- 
 tallon. Highly esteemed by the ancient nobility, 
 a faction which he headed shook the throne of the 
 feeble James III., whose person they restrained, 
 and whose minions they led to an ignominious 
 
 upon Kirkpatrick, for this acceptable service, the lands of 
 Kirkmichael,
 
 via 
 
 death. The king failed not to shew his sense of 
 these insults, though unable effectually to avenge 
 them. This hastened his fate : and the field of 
 Bannockburn, once the scene of a more glorious 
 conflict, beheld the combined chieftains of the 
 border counties arrayed against their sovereign, 
 under the banners of his own son. The king was 
 supported by almost all the barons of the north ; 
 but the tumultuous ranks of the Highlanders were 
 ill able to endure the steady and rapid charge of 
 the men of Annandale and Liddisdale, who bare 
 spears, two ells longer than were used by the rest 
 of their countrymen. The yells, with which they 
 accompanied their onset, caused the heart of 
 James to quail within him. He deserted his host, 
 1488 and fled towards Stirling, but, falling from his 
 horse, he was murdered by the pursuers. 
 
 James IV., a monarch of a vigorous and ener- 
 getic character, was well aware of the danger 
 which his ancestors had experienced, from the 
 preponderance of one overgrown family. He is 
 supposed to have smiled internally, when the bor- 
 der and highland champions bled and died in the 
 savage sports of chivalry, by which his nuptials
 
 IX 
 
 were solemnized. Upon the waxing power of 
 Angus, he kept a wary eye ; and, embracing the 
 occasion of a casual slaughter, he compelled that 
 earl, and his son, to exchange the lordship of Lid- 
 disdale, and the castle of Hermitage, for the castle 
 and lordship of Bothwell. * By this policy, he 
 prevented the house of Angus, mighty as it was, 
 
 * Spens of Kilspindie, a renowned cavalier, had been pre- 
 sent in court, when the Earl of Angus was highly praised for 
 strength and valour, " It may be,'' answered Spens, " if all 
 " be good that is upcome ;" insinuating, that the courage of the 
 earl might not answer the promise of his person. Shortly af- 
 ter, Angus, while hawking near Borthwick, with a single at- 
 tendant, met Kilspindie. ** What reason had ye," said the 
 earl, " for making question of my manhood ? thou art a tall 
 * fellow, and so am I ; and by St Bride of Douglas, one of us 
 " shall pay for it ."' "Since it may be no better," answered Kil- 
 spindie, " I will defend myself against the best earl in Scot- 
 " land." With these words they encountered fiercely, till An- 
 gus, with one blow, severed the thigh of his antagonist, who 
 died upon the spot. The earl then addressed the attendant of 
 Kilspindie: " Go thy way: tell my gossip, the king, that 
 " here was nothing but fair play. I know my gossip will be of- 
 " fended ; but I will get me into Liddisdale, and remain in my 
 " castle of the Hermitage till his anger be abated." Godscrqft, 
 Vol. II. p. 59. The price of the earl's pardon seems to have 
 been the exchange mentioned in the text. Bothwell is now 
 the residence of Lord Douglas. The sword, with which Ar- 
 chibald, Bell-the-cat, slew Spens, was, by his descendant, the 
 famous Earl of Morton, presented to Lord Lindsay of the 
 Byres, when about to engage in single combat with Bothwell, 
 at Carberry-hill. Godscroft, Vol. II. p. 175.
 
 from rising to the height, whence the elder branch 
 of their family had been hurled. 
 
 Nor did James fail in affording his subjects on 
 the marches marks of his royal justice and protec- 
 1510 tion. The clan of Turnbull having been guilty of 
 unbounded excesses, the king came suddenly to 
 Jedburgh, by a night march, and executed the 
 most rigid justice upon the astonished offenders. 
 Their submission was made with singular solemni- 
 ty. Two hundred of the tribe met the king, at 
 the water of Rule, holding in their hands the na- 
 ked swords, with which they had perpetrated their 
 crimes, and having each around his neck the hal- 
 ter which he had well merited. A few were capi- 
 tally punished, many imprisoned, and the rest dis- 
 missed, after they had given hostages for their fu- 
 ture peaceable demeanour. Holinshed's Chronicle. 
 Ledy. 
 
 The hopes of Scotland, excited by the prudent 
 and spirited conduct of James, were doomed to a 
 sudden and fatal reverse. Why should we recapi- 
 tulate the painful tale of the defeat and death of a 
 high-spirited prince ? Prudence, policy, the prodi- 
 gies of superstition, and the advice of his most
 
 XI 
 
 experienced counsellors, were alike unable to sub- 
 due in James the blazing zeal of romantic chival- 
 ry. The monarch, and the flower of his nobles, 
 precipitately rushed to the fatal field of Flodden, 1513 
 whence they were never to return. 
 
 The minority of James V. presents a melan- 
 choly scene. Scotland, through all its extent, felt 
 the truth of the adage, " that the country is hap- 
 " less, whose prince is a child." But the border 
 counties, exposed from their situation to the incur- 
 sions of the English, deprived of many of their 
 most gallant chiefs, and harassed by the intestine 
 struggles of the survivors, were reduced to a wil- 
 derness, inhabited only by the beasts of the field, 
 and by a few more brutal warriors. Lord Home, 
 the chamberlain and favourite of James IV., 
 leagued with the Earl of Angus, who married the 
 widow of his sovereign, held, for a time, the chief 
 sway upon the east border. Albany, the regent of 
 the kingdom, bred in the French court, and more 
 accustomed to wield the pen than the sword, fee- 
 bly endeavoured to controul a lawless nobility, to 
 whom his manners appeared strange, and his per- 
 son despicable. It was in vain that he inveigled 1516
 
 Xll 
 
 the Lord Home to Edinburgh, where he was tried 
 and executed. This example of justice, or seve- 
 rity, only irritated the kinsmen and followers of 
 the deceased baron : for though, in other respects, 
 not more sanguinary than the rest of a barbarous 
 nation, the borderers never dismissed from their 
 memory a deadly feud, till blood for blood had 
 been exacted, to the uttermost drachm.* Of this, 
 the fate of Anthony d'Arcey, Seigneur de la Bastie, 
 affords a melancholy example. This gallant French 
 cavalier was appointed warden of the east marches 
 by Albany, at his first disgraceful retreat to France. 
 Though De la Bastie was an able statesman, and 
 a true son of chivalry, the choice of the regent 
 was nevertheless unhappy. The new warden was 
 a foreigner, placed in the office of Lord Home, as 
 1517 the delegate of the very man, who had brought 
 that baron to the scaffold. A stratagem, contrived 
 
 * The statute 1594, cap. 231, ascribes the disorders on the 
 border in a great measure to the "counselles, directions, receipt, 
 " and partaking, of chieftains principalis of the branches, and 
 " househalders of the saidcs surnames, and clannes, quhilkis 
 u bears quarrel, and seeks revenge for the least hurting or 
 a slauchter of ony ane of their unhappy race, although it were 
 " ordout of justice, or in rescuing and following of trew menv 
 " geares stollen or reft."
 
 Xiii 
 
 by Home of Wedderburn, who burned to avene 
 the death of his chief, drew de la Bastie towards 
 Langton, in the Merse. Here he found himself 
 surrounded by his enemies. In attempting, by the 
 speed of his horse, to gain the castle of Dunbar, 
 the warden plunged into a morass, where he was 
 overtaken, and cruelly butchered. Wedderburn 
 himself cut off his head ; and, in savage triumph, 
 knitted it to his saddle-bow by the long flowing 
 hair, which had been admired by the dames of 
 France. Pitscottie, Edit. 1728, p. ISO. Pinker- 
 ton's History of Scotland, Vol. II. p. 169. *. 
 
 The Earl of Arran, head of the house of Hamil- 
 ton, was appointed to succeed De la Bastie in his 
 perilous office. But the Douglasses, the Homes, 
 and the Kerrs, proved too strong for him upon the 
 border. He was routed by these clans, at Kelso, 1520 
 and afterwards in a sharp skirmish, fought betwixt 
 
 This tragedy, or, perhaps, the preceding execution of Lord 
 Home, must have been the subject of the song, the first two 
 lines of which are preserved in the Complaynt of Scotland ; 
 God sen' the Due hed byddin in France', 
 And de la Bate had never come hame. 
 
 P. 100, Edin. 1801.
 
 XIV 
 
 his faction and that of Angus, in the high -street 
 of the metropolis. * 
 
 The return of the regent was followed by the 
 banishment of Angus, and by a desultory warfare 
 
 * The particulars of this encounter are interesting. The 
 Hamiitons were the most numerous party, drawn chiefly from 
 the western counties. Their leaders met in the palace of 
 Archbishop Beaton, and resolved to apprehend Angus, who 
 was come to the city to attend the convention of estates. 
 Gawin Douglas, bishop of Dunkeld, a near relation of An- 
 gus, in vain endeavuured to mediate betwixt the factions. He 
 appealed to Beaton, and invoked his assistance to prevent 
 bloodshed. " On my conscience," answered the archbishop, 
 " I cannot help what is to happen." As he laid his hand upon 
 his breast, at this solemn declaration, the hauberk, concealed 
 by his rocket, was heard to clatter : Ah ! my lord !" retort- 
 ed Douglas, " your conscience sounds hollow."' He then ex- 
 postulated with the secular leaders, and Sir Patrick Hamilton, 
 brother to Arran, was convinced by bis remonstrances; but 
 Sir James, the natural son of the earl, upbraided his uncle 
 with reluctance to fight. " False bastard !" answered Sir Pa- 
 trick, " I will fight to-day where thou darest not be seen." 
 With these words they rushed tumultously towards the high- 
 street, where Angus, with the prior of Coldinghame, and the 
 redoubted Wedderburn, waited their assault, at the head of 
 400 spearmen, the flower of the east marches, who, having 
 broke down the gate of the Nctherbow, had arrived just in 
 time to the earl's assistance. The advantage of the ground, 
 and the disorder of the Hamiitons, soon gave the day to An- 
 gus. Sir Patrick Hamilton, and the master of Montgomery, 
 were slain. Arran, and Sir James Hamilton, escaped with 
 difficulty ; and with no less difficulty was the military prelate 
 of Glasgow rescued from the ferocious borderers, by the ge- 
 nerous interposition of Gawin Douglas. The skirmish was
 
 XV 
 
 with England, carried on with mutual incursions. 
 Two gallant armies, levied by Albany, were dis- 
 missed without any exploit worthy notice, while 
 Surrey, at the head of ten thousand cavalry, burn- 
 ed Jedburgh, and laid waste all Tiviotdale. This 
 general pays a splendid tribute to the gallantry of 
 the border chiefs. He terms them, " the boldest 
 <c men, and the hottest, that ever I saw any na- 1523 
 "tion."* 
 
 Disgraced and detested, Albany bade adieu to 
 Scotland for ever. The queen-mother, and the 
 Earl of Arran, for some time swayed the kingdom. 
 But their power was despised on the borders, 
 where Angus, though banished, had many friends. 
 Scot of Buccleuch even appropriated to himself 
 domains, belonging to the queen, worth 400 
 merks yearly ; being probably the castle of New- 
 ark, and her jointure lands in Ettrick forest, f 
 
 long remembered in Edinburgh, by the name of " Cleanse the 
 Causeway." Pinkerton's History, Vol. II. p. 181. Pilscot- 
 tie f Edit. -728. p. 120. Life of Gawain Douglas, prefixed to 
 his Virgil. 
 
 * A curious letter from Surrey to the king, is printed in the 
 Appendix, No. I. 
 
 t In a letter to the Duke of Norfolk, October 1524, Queen 
 Margaret says, " Sen that the Lard of Sessford and the Lard
 
 x*i 
 
 This chief, with Kerr of Cessford, was coinmit- 
 ted to ward, from which they escaped, to join 
 1525 the party of the exiled Angus. Leagued with 
 these, and other border chiefs, Angus effected 
 his return to Scotland, where he shortly after ac- 
 quired possession of the supreme power, and of 
 the person of the youthful king. a The ancient 
 " power of the Douglasses," says the accurate his- 
 torian, whom I have so often referred to, " seem- 
 
 * ed to have revived ; and, after a slumber of near 
 
 * a century, again to threaten destruction to the 
 " Scottish monarchy." Pinkerton,V o\. II. p. 277. 
 
 In fact, the time now returned, when no one 
 durst strive with a Douglas, or with his follower. 
 For, although Angus used the outward pageant of 
 conducting the king around the country, for pu- 
 nishing thieves and traitors, "yet," says Pitscottie, 
 
 * none were found greater than were in his own 
 
 * company." The high spirit of the young king was 
 
 * of Baclw vas put in the cast ell of Edinbrouh, the Erl of Len* 
 u ness hath past hyz vay vythout lycyens, and in despyt; and 
 " thynkyth to make the brek that he may, and to solyst other 
 " lordis to tak hyz part; for the said laird of Bavklw vas hyz 
 " man, and dyd the gretyst ewelyz that myght be dwn, and 
 * twk part playnly vytb theffyz as is well known." Cot. MSS. 
 Calig. B. I.
 
 XV11 
 
 galled by the ignominious restraint under which 
 he found himself; and, iu a progress to the bor- 
 der, for repressing the Armstrongs, he probably 
 gave such signs of dissatisfaction, as excited the 
 laird of Buccleuch to attempt his rescue. 
 
 This powerful baron was the chief of a hardy 1526 
 clan, inhabiting Ettrick forest, Eskdale, Ewsdale, 
 the higher part of Tiviotdale, and a portion of 
 Liddesdale. In this warlike district he easily levied 
 a thousand horse, comprehending a large body of 
 Elliots, Armstrongs, and other broken clans, over 
 whom the laird of Buccleugh exercised an exten- 
 sive authority; being termed, by Lord Dacre, 
 " chief maintainer of all misguided men on the 
 * borders of Scotland." Letter to Wolsey, July 
 18, 1528. The Earl of Angus, with his reluc- 
 tant ward, had slept at Melrose ; and the clans of 
 Home and Kerr, under the Lord Home, and the 
 barons of Cessford, and Fairnihirst, had taken 
 their leave of the king, when, in the gray of the 
 morning, Buccleuch and his band of cavalry were 
 discovered, hanging, like a thunder-cloud, upon 
 the neighbouring hill of Haliden.* A herald was 
 
 * Near Darnick. By a corruption from Skirmish field, the 
 VOL. I. b
 
 xvin 
 
 sent to demand his purpose, and to charge hiin to 
 retire. To the first point he answered, that he 
 came to shew his clan to the king, according to 
 the custom of the borders ; to the second, that 
 he knew the king's mind better than Angus. 
 When this haughty answer was reported to the 
 earl, " Sir," said he to the king, u yonder is 
 " Buccleuch, with the thieves of Annandale and 
 " Liddesdale, to bar your grace's passage. I vow 
 " to God they shall either fight or flee. Your 
 " grace shall tarry on this hillock, with my brother 
 " George; and I will either clear your road of yon- 
 " der banditti, or die in the attempt." The earl, 
 with these words, alighted, and hastened to the 
 charge ; while the Earl of Lennox (at whose insti- 
 gation Buccleuch made the attempt,) remained 
 with the king, an inactive spectator. Buccleugh and 
 his followers likewise dismounted, and received the 
 assailants with a dreadful shout, and a shower of 
 lances. The encounter was fierce and obstinate; 
 
 spot is still called the Skinnersfield. Two lines of an old bal- 
 lad on the subject are still preserved : 
 
 There were sick belts and blows, 
 
 " The Mattous burn ran blood."
 
 XIX 
 
 but the Homes and Kerrs, returning at the noise 
 of battle, bore down and dispersed the left. wing 
 of Buceleugh's little army. The hired banditti fled 
 on all sides ; but the chief himself, surrounded by 
 his clan, fought desperately in the retreat. The 
 laird of Cessford, chief of the Roxburgh Kerrs, 
 pursued the chace fiercely ; till, at the bottom of 
 a steep path, Elliot of Stobs, a follower of Buc- 
 cleuch, turned, and sLew him with a stroke of his 
 lance. When Cessford fell, the pursuit ceased. 
 But his death, with those of Buccleuch's friends, 
 who fell in the action, to the number of eighty, 
 occasioned a deadly feud betwixt the names of 
 Scott and Kerr, which cost much blood upon the 
 marches.* See Pitscottie, Lesly, and Godscroft. 
 
 Stratagem at length effected what force had 1528 
 been unable to accomplish ; and the king, eman- 
 cipated from the iron tutelage of Angus, made the 
 
 * Buccleuch contrived to escape forfeiture, a doom pro- 
 nounced against those nobles, who assisted the Earl of Lennox 
 in a subsequent attempt to deliver the king, by force of arms. 
 f The laird of Bukcleugh has a respecte, and is not forfeited; 
 " and will get his pece, and was in Lethquo, both Sondaye, , 
 " Mondaye, end Tewisday last, which is grete displeasure to 
 " the Carres." Letter from Sir C. Dacre to Lord Dacre, 2^ 
 December, 1526.
 
 XX 
 
 first use of his authority, by banishing from the 
 kingdom his late lieutenant, and the whole race of 
 Douglas. This command was not enforced with- 
 out difficulty ; for the power of Angus was strong- 
 ly rooted in the east border, where he possessed 
 the castle of Tantallon, and the hearts of the 
 Homes and Kerrs. The former, whose strength 
 was proverbial,* defied a royal army; and the 
 latter, at the Pass of Pease, baffled the Earl of 
 Argyle's attempts to enter the Merse, as lieutenant 
 of his sovereign. On this occasion, the borderers 
 regarded with wonder and contempt the barbarous 
 array, and rude equipage, of their northern coun- 
 trymen. Godscroft has preserved the beginning 
 of a scoffing rhyme, made upon this occasion : 
 
 The Earl of Argyle is bound to ride 
 
 From the border of Edgebucklin brae ; f 
 
 And all his habergeons him beside, 
 Each man upon a sonk of strae. 
 
 They made their vow that they would slay 
 
 # # # 
 
 Godscroft, v. 2. p. 104. Ed. 1743. 
 
 * " To ding down Tantallon, and make a bridge to the 
 Bass," was an adage expressive of impossibility. The shat- 
 tered ruins of this celebrated fortress still overhang a tremen- 
 dous rock on the coast of East Lothian. 
 
 t Edgebucklin, near Musselburgh.
 
 XXI 
 
 The pertinacious opposition of Angus to his 
 doom irritated to the extreme the fiery temper of 
 James, and he swore, in his wrath, that a Douglas 
 should never serve him ; an oath which he kept 
 in circumstances, under which the spirit of chi- 
 valry, which he worshipped, * should have taught 
 him other feelings. 
 
 While these transactions, by which the fate of 
 Scotland was influenced, were passing upon the 
 eastern border, the Lord Maxwell seems to have 
 
 * I allude to the affecting story of Douglas of Kilspindie, 
 uncle to the Earl of Angus. This gentleman had been placed 
 by Angus about the king's person, who, when a boy, loved him 
 much, on account of his singular activity of body, and was 
 wont to call him his Graysteil, after a champion of chivalry, 
 in the romance of Sir Eger and Sir Grime. He shared, how- 
 ever, the fate of his chief, and, for many years, served in 
 France. Weary, at length, of exile, the aged warrior, recol- 
 lecting the king's personal attachment to him, resolved to 
 throw himself on his clemency. As James returned from 
 hunting in the park at Stirling, he saw a person at a distance, 
 and, turning to his nobles, exclaimed, " Yonder is my Gray- 
 " steil, Archibald of Kilspindie !" As he approached, Douglas 
 threw himself ou his knees, and implored permission to lead 
 an obscure life in his native land. But the name of Douglas 
 was an amulet, which steeled the king's heart against the in- 
 fluence of compassion and juvenile recollection. He passed 
 the suppliant without an answer, and rode briskly up the steep 
 hill, towards the castle. Kilspindie, though loaded with a hau- 
 berk under his cloaths, kept pace with the horse, in vain endea-
 
 XXII 
 
 exercised a most uncontrouled domination in 
 Dumfries-shire. Even the power of the Earl of 
 Angus was exerted in vein, against the banditti of 
 Liddesdale, protected and bucklered by this migh- 
 ty chief. Repeated complaints are made by the 
 English residents, of the devastation occasioned by 
 the depredations of the Elliots, Scotts, and Arm- 
 strongs, connived at, and encouraged, by Max- 
 well, Buccleuch, and Fairnihirst. At a convention 
 of border commissioners, it was agreed, that the 
 king of England, in case the excesses of the Lid- 
 desdale freebooters were not duly redressed, should 
 be at liberty to issue letters of reprisal to his inju- 
 red subjects, granting * power to invade the said 
 " inhabitants of Liddesdale, to their slaughters, 
 burning, heirships, robbing, reifing, despoiling 
 " and destruction, and so to continue the same at 
 
 ouring to catch a glance from the implacable monarch. He 
 tat down at the gate, weaiy and exhausted, and asked for a 
 draught of water. Even this was refused by the royal atten- 
 dants. The king afterwards blamed their discourtesy; but 
 Kilspindie was obliged to return to France, where he died of 
 a broken heart ; the same disease which afterwards brought to 
 the grave his unrelenting sovereign. Even the stern Henry 
 VIII. blamed his nephew's conduct, quoting the generous say- 
 ing, " A king's face should give grace." Godscroft, Vol. II. 
 p. 107.
 
 XXlll 
 
 u his grace's pleasure," till the attempts of the in- 
 habitants were fully atoned for. This impolitic 
 expedient, by which the Scottish prince, unable 
 to execute justice on his turbulent subjects, com- 
 mitted to a rival sovereign the power of unlimit- 
 ed chastisement, was a principal cause of the sa- 
 vage state of the borders. For the inhabitants, 
 finding that the sword of revenge was substituted 
 for that of justice, were loosened from their at- 
 tachment to Scotland, and boldly threatened to 
 carry on their depredations, in spite of the efforts 
 of both kingdoms. 
 
 James V., however, was not backward in using 
 more honourable expedients to quell the banditti 
 on the borders. The imprisonment of their chiefs, 1529 
 and a noted expedition, in which many of the 
 principal thieves were executed (see introduction 
 to the ballad, called Johnie Armstrong^ produced 
 such good effects, that, according to an ancient 
 picturesque history, * thereafter there was great 
 " peace and rest a long time, where through the 
 " king had great profit ; for he had ten thousand 
 " sheep going in the Ettrick forest, in keeping by 
 " Andrew Bell, who made the king so good count
 
 XXIV 
 
 " of theui, as they had gone in the bounds of Fife." 
 Pitscottie, p. 153. 
 
 A breach with England interrupted the tran- 
 15S2 quiHity of the borders. The Earl of Northumber- 
 land, a formidable name to Scotland, ravaged the 
 middle marches, and burned Branxholm, the abode 
 of Buccleuch, the hereditary enemy of the Eng- 
 lish name. Buccleuch, with the barons of Cess- 
 ford and Fairnihirst, retaliated by a raid into Eng- 
 1533 land, where they acquired much spoil. On the 
 east march, Fowbery was destroyed by the Scots, 
 and Dunglass castle by D'Arcey, and the banish- 
 ed Angus. 
 
 A short peace was quickly followed by another 
 war which proved fatal to Scotland, and to her 
 king. In the battle of Haddenrig, the English, 
 and the exiled Douglasses, were defeated by the 
 Lords Huntly and Home ; but this was a transient 
 gleam of success. Kelso was burned, and the bor- 
 154a ders ravaged* by the Duke of Norfolk; and finally, 
 the rout of Solway moss, in which ten thousand 
 men, the flower of the Scottish army, were disper- 
 sed and defeated by a band of five hundred Eng- 
 lish cavalry, or rather by their own dissentions,
 
 XXV 
 
 broke the proud heart of James ; a death, more 
 painful a hundred-fold than was met by his father 
 in the field of Flodden. 
 
 When the strength of the Scottish army had 
 sunk, without wounds, and without renown, the 
 principal chiefs were led captive into England.- 
 Among these was the Lord Maxwell, who was 
 compelled, by the menaces of Henry, to swear al- 
 legiance to the English monarch. There is still 
 in existence the spirited instrument of vindication, 
 by which he renounces his connection with Eng- 
 land, and the honours and estates which had been 
 proffered him, as the price of treason to his infant 
 sovereign. From various bonds of manrent, it ap- 
 pears, that all the western marches were swayed 
 by this powerful chieftain. With Maxwell, and 1543 
 the other captives, returned to Scotland the ba- 
 nished Earl of Angus, and his brother, Sir George 
 Douglas, after a banishment of fifteen years. This 
 powerful family regained at least a part of their 
 influence upon the borders ; and, grateful to the 
 kingdom which had afforded them protection du- 
 ring their exile, became chiefs of the English fac- 
 tion in Scotland, whose object it was to urge a
 
 xxVi 
 
 contract of marriage betwixt the young queen and 
 the heir apparent of England. The impetuosity 
 of Henry, the ancient hatred betwixt the nations, 
 and the wavering temper of the governor, Arran, 
 prevented the success of this measure. The wrath 
 of the disappointed monarch discharged itself in 
 a wide-wasting and furious invasion of the east 
 marches, conducted by the Earl of Hertford. Se- 
 ton, Home, and Buccleuch, hanging on the moun- 
 tains of Lam mermoor, saw, with ineffectual regret, 
 the fertile plains of Merse and Lothian, and the 
 metropolis itself, reduced to a smoking desert. 
 Hertford had scarcely retreated with the main 
 army, when Evers and Latoun laid waste the 
 whole vale of Tiviot, with a ferocity of devasta- 
 tion, hitherto unheard of. * The same * lion 
 
 * In Hayne's State Papers, from p. 43 to p. 64, is an ac- 
 count of these destructive forays. One list of the places burn- 
 ed and destroyed enumerates 
 
 Monasteries and Freehouses - 7 
 
 Castles, towres, and piles - 16 
 
 Market townes - - - 5 
 
 Villages - 243 
 
 Mylnes - 13 
 
 Spytells and hospitals 3 
 
 See also official accounts of these expeditions, in Dalyeltt 
 Fragments
 
 SXVU 
 
 mode of wooing," being pursued during the mi- 
 nority of Edward VI., totally alienated the affec- 
 tions even of those Scots who were most attached 
 to the English interest. The Earl of Angus, in 
 particular, un r ced himself to the governor, and 
 gave the English a sharp defeat at Ancram moor, 
 a particular account of which action is subjoined 1545 
 to the ballad, entituled, " The Eve of St John" 
 Even the fatal defeat at Pin key, which at once re- 
 newed the carnage of Flodden, and the disgrace 
 of Solway, served to prejudice the cause of the 
 victors. The borders saw, with dread and detes- 
 tation, the ruinous fortress of Roxburgh once more 
 receive an English garrison, and the widow of 
 Lord Home driven from his baronial castle, to 
 make room for the " Southern Reivers." Many of 1547 
 the barons made a reluctant submission to Somer- 
 set ; but those of the higher part of the marches 
 remained among their mountains, meditating re- 
 venge. A similar incursion was made on the 
 west borders by Lord Wharton, who, with five 
 thousand men, ravaged and overran Annan dale, 
 Nithsdale, and Galloway, compelling the inhabi- 
 tants to receive the yoke of England. * 
 Patten gives us a list of those east border chiefs who did
 
 XXV1U 
 
 The arrival of French auxiliaries, and of French 
 gold, rendered vain the splendid successes of the 
 English. One by one, the fortresses which they 
 occupied were recovered by force, or by strata- 
 gem ; and the vindictive cruelty of the Scottish 
 borderers made dreadful retaliation for the injuries 
 they had sustained. An idea may be conceived of 
 
 homage to the Duke of Somerset, on the 24th of September, 
 1547; namely, the lairds of Cessforth, Fernyherst, Grenehead, 
 Hunthill, Hundely, Makerstone, Bymerside, Bounjedvvorth, 
 Ormeston, Mellestaines, Warmesay, Synton, Egerston, Mertoo, 
 Mowe, Ilydell, Beamerside. Of gentlemen, he enumerates 
 George Tromboul, Jhon Haliburton, Robert Car, Robert Car of 
 Greyden, Adam Kirton, Andrew Mether, Saunders Purvose of 
 Erleston, Mark Car of J.ittledean, George Car of Faldenside, 
 Alexander Mackdowal, Charles Rutherford, Thomas Car of the 
 Yere, Jhon Car of Meynthorn (Nenthorn), Walter Holiburton, 
 Richard Hangansyde, Andrew Car, James Douglas of Cavers, 
 James Car of Mersington, George Hoppringle, William Or- 
 meston of Emerden, John Grymslowe. Patten, in DalytlVn 
 Fragment!, p. 87. 
 
 On the west border, the following barons and clans submit- 
 ted and gave pledges to Lord Wharton, that they would serve 
 the king of England, with the number of followers annexed to 
 their names. 
 
 Axnerdale. 
 
 
 NlTHSDALE, 
 
 
 Laird of Kirkmighel 
 
 222 
 
 Mr Maxwell and more 
 
 1000 
 
 Rose 
 
 165 
 
 Laird of Closeburn 
 
 403 
 
 Hempsfield 
 
 )6J 
 
 Lag 
 
 202 
 
 Home Lnds 
 
 Ki2 
 
 Crangfield 
 
 97 
 
 Wamfrey 
 
 102 
 
 Mr Ed. Creighton 
 
 10 
 
 Dunwoddy - 4* Laird of Cowhill - 91
 
 XXIX 
 
 this horrible warfare, from the memoirs of Beauge, 
 a French officer, serving in Scotland. 
 
 The castle of Fairnihirst, situated about three 
 miles above Jedburgh, had been taken and garri- 
 soned by the English. The commander and his 
 
 ANNERDALE, 
 
 
 NlTHSDALE. 
 
 
 Laird of Mew by and Gratnej 122 
 
 Maxwells of Brackenside, 
 
 
 Tinnel (Tinwald) 
 
 102 
 
 and vicar of Carlaverick 310 
 
 Patrick Murray 
 
 SOS 
 
 Ankerdile and Gai/way. 
 
 Christie Urwin (Irving) of 
 
 
 Lord Carlisle 
 
 101 
 
 Coveshawe - 
 
 102 
 
 ASKEIIDALE & CE1DSDALE. 
 
 Cuthhert Urwen of Robbgill 34 
 
 Laird of Applegirth 
 
 242 
 
 Urwens of Sennersack 
 
 40 
 
 LlDDESDA LE & DEBATEABLE 
 
 Wat Urwen 
 
 20 
 
 Land. 
 
 
 Jeffrey Urwen 
 
 93 
 
 Armstrongs 
 
 300 
 
 T. Johnson of Crackburn 
 
 64 
 
 Elwoods (Elliots) 
 
 74 
 
 James Johnston of Coites 
 
 162 
 
 JN'ixons - 
 
 32 
 
 Johnstons of Craggy land 
 
 3T 
 
 Galloway. 
 
 
 Johnstons of Driesdell - 
 
 46 
 
 Laird of Dawbaylie 
 
 41 
 
 Johnstons of Malinshaw 
 
 - 65 
 
 Orcherton - - 
 
 HI 
 
 Gawen Johnston 
 
 31 
 
 Carlisle - - 
 
 206 
 
 Will Johnston, the laird's 
 
 
 Loughenwar 
 
 45 
 
 brother 
 
 110 
 
 Tutor of Boinbie 
 
 140 
 
 Robin Johnston of Lochma- 
 
 Abbot of Newabbey 
 
 141 
 
 ben 
 
 67 
 
 Town of Dumfries 
 
 201 
 
 Laird of Gillersbie 
 
 30 
 
 Town of Kircubrie 
 
 36 
 
 Moffits 
 
 24 
 
 TlVIDALE. 
 
 
 Bells of Tostints 
 
 142 
 
 Laird of Druml ire 
 
 364 
 
 Bells of Tindills 
 
 222 
 
 Caruthers - 
 
 71 
 
 Sir John Lawson 
 
 32 
 
 Trumbells ... 
 
 12 
 
 Town of Annan 
 
 33 
 
 Eskdale. 
 
 
 Roomes of Tordephe 
 
 32 
 
 Battisons and Thomsons 
 
 166 
 
 Total, 7008 men under English assurance. 
 
 Nicolson, from Bell's MS. Introduction to History of Cumber- 
 land, p. 65,
 
 XXX 
 
 followers are accused of such excesses of lust and 
 cruelty," as would," says Beaug, " have made to 
 " tremble the most savage moor in Africa." A band 
 of Frenchmen, with the laird of Fairnihurst, and 
 1549 his borderers, assaulted this fortress. The English 
 archers showered their arrows down the steep as- 
 cent leading to the castle, and from the outer wall 
 by which it was surrounded. A vigorous escalade, 
 however, gained the base court, and the sharp fire 
 of the French arquebusiers drove the bowmen 
 into the square keep, or dungeon, of the fortress. 
 Here the English defended themselves, till a breach 
 in the wall was made by mining. Through this 
 hole the commandant creeped forth ; and, surren- 
 dering himself to De la Mothe-rouge, implored 
 protection from the vengeance of the borderers. 
 Buta Scottish marchman, eyeing in the captive the 
 ravisher of his wife, approached him ere the French 
 officer could guess his intention, and, at one blow, 
 carried his head four paces from the trunk. Above 
 a hundred Scots rushed to wash their hands in the 
 blood of their oppressor, bandied about the severed 
 head, and expressed their joy in such shouts, as if 
 they had 6tormed the city of London. The prison-
 
 XXXI 
 
 ers, who fell into their merciless hands, were put 
 to death, after their eyes had been torn out ; the 
 victors contending who should display the great- 
 est address in severing their legs and arms, before 
 inflicting a mortal wound. When their own pri- 
 soners were slain, the Scottish, with an unextin- 
 guishable thirst for blood, purchased those of the 
 French ; parting willingly with their very arms, in 
 exchange for an English captive. " I myself," 
 says Beauge, with military sans-froid, " I myself 
 " sold them a prisoner for a small horse. They 
 " laid him down upon the ground, galloped over 
 
 * him with their lances in rest, and wounded him 
 " as they passed. When slain, they cut his body 
 " in pieces, and bore the mangled gobbets, in 
 " triumph, on the points of their spears. I can- 
 
 * not greatly praise the Scottish for this practice. 
 " But the truth is, that the English tyrannized 
 " over the borders in a most barbarous manner; 
 
 * and I think it was but fair to repay them, ac- 
 " cording to the proverb, in their own coin." 
 Campagnes de Beauge. 
 
 A peace, in 1551, put an end to this war; the 
 most destructive which, for a length of time, had
 
 XXX11 
 
 ravaged Scotland. Some attention was paid by 
 the governor and queen-mother, to the administra- 
 tion of justice on the border ; and the chieftains, 
 who had distinguished themselves during the late 
 troubles, received the honour of knighthood. * 
 1522 At this time, also, the Debateable Land, a tract 
 of country, situated betwixt the Esk and Sarke, 
 claimed by both kingdoms, was divided by royal 
 commissioners, appointed by the two crowns. 
 By their award, this land of contention was sepa- 
 rated by a line, drawn from east to west, betwixt 
 the rivers. The upper half was adjudged to Scot- 
 land, and the more eastern part to England. Yet 
 the Debateable Land continued long after to be 
 the residence of the thieves and banditti, to whom 
 its dubious state had afforded a desirable refuge f. 
 
 * These were the lairds of Buccleuch, Cessford, and Fairni- 
 liirst, Littlcden, Grenehed, and Coldingknows. Buccleuch, 
 whose gallant exploits we have noticed, did not long enjoy his 
 new honours. He was murdered, in the streets of Edinburgh, 
 by his hereditary enemies, the Kerrs, anno 1552. 
 
 f The jest of James VI. is well known, who, when a favour- 
 ite cow had found her way from London, back to her native 
 country of Fife, observed, " that nothing surprised him so 
 " much as her passing uninterrupted through the Debateable 
 Land r
 
 XXX111 
 
 In 1557, a new war broke out, in which ren- 
 counters on the borders were, as usual, numerous, 
 and with varied success. In some of these, the 
 too famous Bothwell is said to have given proofs 
 of his courage, which was at other times very 
 questionable. * About this time the Scottish bor- 
 derers seem to have acquired some ascendancy 
 over their southern neighbours. Strype,Voi III. 
 p. 437. In 1559, peace was again restored. 
 
 The flame of reformation, long stifled in Scot- 
 land, now burst forth, with the violence of a vol- 
 canic eruption. The siege of Leith was commen- 
 ced, by the combined forces of the Congregation 
 and of England. The borderers cared little about 
 speculative points of religion; but they shewed 
 
 * He was lord of Liddesdale, and keeper of the Hermitage 
 castle. But he had iittle effective power over that country, 
 and was twice defeated by the Armstrongs, its lawless inhabi- 
 tants. Border History, p. 584. Yet the unfortunate Mary, 
 in her famous Apology, says, " that in the weiris against Ing- 
 
 land, he gaif proof of his valyentes, courage, and gude 
 
 conduct ;" and praises him especially for subjugating " the 
 u rebellious subjectis inhabiting the cuntreis lying ewe6t the 
 " marches of Ingland." Keith, p. S88. He appears actually 
 to have defeated Sir Henry Percy, in a skirmish, called the 
 Raid of Haltwellswire. 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 XXXIV 
 
 themselves much interested in the treasures which 
 passed through their country, for payment of the 
 English forces at Edinburgh. Much alarm was 
 excited, lest the marchers should intercept these 
 weighty protestant arguments; and it was, pro- 
 bably, by voluntarily imparting a share in them 
 to Lord Home, that he became a sudden convert 
 to the new faith.* 
 
 Upon the arrival of the ill-fated Mary in her 
 native country, she found the borders in a state 
 of great disorder. The exertions of her natural 
 brother (afterwards the famous regent, Murray) 
 were necessary to restore some degree of tranquil- 
 lity. He marched to Jedburgh, executed twenty 
 or thirty of the transgressors, burned many houses, 
 and brought a number of prisoners to Edinburgh. 
 The chieftains of the principal clans were also 
 obliged to grant pledges for their future obe- 
 dience. A noted convention (for the particulars 
 
 * This nobleman had, shortly before, threatened to spoil the 
 English east march ; " but," says the Duke of Norfolk, " we 
 " have provided such sauce for him, that I think he will not 
 " deal in such matter ; but, if he do fire but one hay-goff, he 
 " shall not go to Home again without torch-light, and, perad- 
 " venture, may find a lanthorn at his own house." 
 
 7
 
 XXXV 
 
 of which, see Border Laws, p. 84.) adopted vari- 
 ous regulations, which were attended with great 
 advantage to the marches.* 
 
 The unhappy match, betwixt Henry Darnley 
 and his sovereign, led to new dissentions on the 
 borders. The Homes, Kerrs, and other east 
 marchers, hastened to support the queen, against 
 Murray, Chatelherault, and other nobles, whom 
 her marriage had offended. For the same pur- 
 pose, the Johnstones, Jardines, and clans of An- 
 nandale, entered into bonds of confederacy. But 
 Liddesdale was under the influence of England ; 
 in so much, that Randolph, the English minister, 
 proposed to hire a band of strapping Elliots, to 
 find Home business at home, in looking after his 
 corn and cattle. Keith, p. 265. App. 133. 
 
 This storm was hardly overblown, when Both- 
 well received the commission of lieutenant upon 
 the borders; but, as void of parts as of principle, 
 he could not even recover to the queen's allegiance 
 
 * The commissioners on the English side were, the elder 
 Lord Scroope of Bolton, Sir John Foster, Sir Thomas Gar- 
 grave, and Dr Rookby. On the Scottish side appeared, Sir 
 John Maxwell of Terreagles, and Sir John Bellenden.
 
 XXXVI 
 
 his own domains in Liddesdale. Keith, App. 165. 
 The queen herself advanced to the borders, to re- 
 medy ^his evil, and to hold courts at Jedburgh. 
 Bothwell was already in Liddesdale, where he had 
 been severely wounded, in an attempt to seize 
 John Elliot, of the Parke, a desperate freebooter ; 
 and happy had it been for Mary, had the dagger 
 of the mosstrooper struck more home. Bothwell 
 being transported to his castle of Hermitage, the 
 queen, upon hearing the tidings, hastened thither. 
 A dangerous morass, still called the Queen's Mire,* 
 is pointed out by tradition as the spot where the 
 lovely Mary, and her white palfrey, were in dan- 
 ger of perishing. The distance betwixt Hermi- 
 tage and Jedburgh, by the way of Hawick, is 
 
 * The Queen's Mire is still a pass of danger, exhibiting, in 
 many places, the bones of the horses which have been en- 
 tangled in it. For what reason the queen chose to enter Lid- 
 desdale by the circuitous route of Hawick, does not appear. 
 There are two other passes from Jedburgh to Hermitage cas- 
 tle ; the one by the Note of the Gate, the other over the moun- 
 tain, called Winburgh. Either of these, but especially the 
 latter, is several miles shorter than that by Hawick, and the 
 Queen's Mire. But, by the circuitous way of Hawick, the queen 
 could traverse the districts of more friendly clans, than by go- 
 ing directly into the disorderly province of Liddesdale.
 
 xxxvn 
 
 nearly twenty-four English miles. The queen went 
 and returned the same day. Whether she visited 
 a wounded subject, or a lover in danger, has been 
 warmly disputed in our latter days. 
 
 To the death of Henry Darnley, it is said, some 
 of the border lords were privy. But the subsequent 
 marriage, betwixt the queen and Bothwell, alien- 
 ated from her the affections of the chieftains of 
 the marches, most of whom aided the association 
 of the insurgent barons. A few gentlemen of the 
 Merse, however, joined the army which Mary 
 brought to Carberry-hill. But no one was willing 
 to fight for the detested Bothwell, nor did Both- 
 well himself shew any inclination to put his person 
 in jeopardy. The result to Mary was a rigorous 
 captivity in Lochleven castle ; and the name of 
 Bothwell scarcely again pollutes the page of Scot- 
 tish history. 
 
 The distress of a beautiful and afflicted princess 
 softened the hearts of her subjects ; and, when she 
 escaped from her severe captivity, the most power- 
 ful barons in Scotland crowded around her stand- 
 ard. Among these were many of the west border 
 
 49310
 
 xxxvm 
 
 men, under the lords Maxwell and Henries.* But 
 the defeat at Langsidc was a death-blow to her in* 
 terest in Scotland. 
 
 The death of the regent Murray, in 1569, ex- 
 cited the party of Mary to hope and to exertion. 
 It seems, that the design of Bothwellhaugh, who 
 slew him, was well known upon the borders ; for, 
 the very day on which the slaughter happened, 
 Buccleuch and Fairnihirst, with their clans, broke 
 into England, and spread devastation along the 
 frontiers, with unusual ferocity. It is probable 
 they well knew that the controuling hand of the 
 regent was that day palsied by death. Buchanan 
 exclaims loudly against this breach of truce with 
 Elizabeth, charging Queen Mary's party with ha- 
 ving " houndit furth proude and uncircumspecte 
 " young "men, to hery, burne, and slay, and tak 
 * prisoneris, in her realme, and use all misordour 
 " and crueltie, not only usit in weir, but detestabil 
 " to all barbar and wild Tartaris, in slaying of 
 " prisoneris, and contrair to all humanitie and 
 " justice, keeping" na promeis to miserabil cap- 
 
 * The followers of* these barons arc said to have stolen the 
 horses of their friends, while they were engaged in the battle.
 
 XXXIX 
 
 " tives resavit anis to thair mercy." Admonitioun 
 to the trew lordis, Striveling, 1571. He numbers, 
 among these insurgents, Highlanders as well as 
 borderers, Buccleuch and Fairnihirst, the John- 
 stons and Armstrongs, the Grants, and the clan 
 Chattan. Besides these powerful clans, Mary 
 numbered among her adherents, the Maxwells, 
 and almost all the west border leaders, excepting 
 Drumlanrig, and Jardine of Applegirth. On the 
 eastern border, the faction of the infant king was 
 more powerful ; for, although deserted by Lord 
 Home, the greater part of his clan, under the in- 
 fluence of Wedderburn, remained attached to that 
 party. The laird of Cessford wished them well, 
 and the Earl of Angus naturally followed the steps 
 of his uncle Morton. A sharp and bloody invasion 
 of the middle march, under the commaud of the 
 Earl of Sussex, avenged with interest the raids of 
 Buccleuch and Fairnihirst. The domains of these 
 chiefs were laid waste, their castles burned and 
 destroyed. The narrow vales of Beaumont and 
 Kale, belonging to Buccleuch, were treated with 
 peculiar severity j and the forrays of Hertford 
 were equalled by that of Sussex. In vain did the
 
 xl 
 
 chiefs request assistance from the government to 
 defend their fortresses. Through the predomina- 
 ting interest of Elizabeth in the Scottish councils, 
 this was refused to all but Home, whose castle, 
 nevertheless, again received an English garrison ; 
 while Buccleuch and Fairnihirst complained bit- 
 terly that those, who had instigated their inva- 
 sion, durst not even come so far as Lauder, to 
 hew countenance to their defence against the 
 English. The bickerings, which followed, dis- 
 tracted the whole kingdom. One celebrated ex- 
 ploit may be selected, as an illustration of the 
 border fashion of war. 
 
 The Earl of Lennox, who had succeeded Mur- 
 ray in the regency, held a parliament at Stirling, 
 in 1571. The young king was exhibited to the 
 great council of his nation. He had been tutored 
 to repeat a set speech, composed for the occasion ; 
 but, observing that the roof of the building was a 
 little decayed, he interrupted his recitation, and 
 exclaimed, with childish levity, " that there was a 
 hole in the parliament," words which, in these 
 days, were held to presage the deadly breach
 
 # xii , 
 
 shortly to'be made in that body, by the death of 
 him in whose name it was convoked. 
 
 Amid the most undisturbed security of confi- 
 dence, the lords, who composed this parliament, 
 were roused at day-break, by the shouts of their 
 enemies in the heart of the town. God and the 
 Queen! resounded from every quarter, and, in a few 
 minutes, the regent, with the astonished nobles of 
 his party, were prisoners to a band of two hundred 
 border cavalry, led by Scott of Buccleuch, and to 
 the Lord Claud Hamilton, at the head of three 
 hundred infantry. These enterprising chiefs, by a 
 rapid and well-concerted manoeuvre, had reached 
 Stirling in a night march from Edinburgh, and, 
 without so much as being bayed at by a watch- 
 dog, had seized the principal street of the town. 
 The fortunate obstinacy of Morton saved his party. 
 Stubborn and undaunted, he defended his house 
 till the assailants set it in flames, and then yielded 
 with reluctance to his kinsman, Buccleuch. But 
 the time, which he had gained, effectually served 
 his cause. The borderers had dispersed to plun- 
 der the stables of the nobility; the infantry 
 thronged tumultuously together on the main street,
 
 xlii 
 
 when the Earl of Mar, issuing from the castle, 
 placed one or two small pieces of ordnance in his 
 own half-built house, * which commands the mar- 
 ket place. Hardly had the artillery begun to 
 scour the street, when the assailants, surprised in 
 their turn, fled with precipitation. Their alarm 
 was increased by the townsmen thronging to arms. 
 Those, who had been so lately triumphant, were 
 now, in many instances, asking the protection of 
 their own prisoners. In all probability, not a man 
 would have escaped death, or captivity, l*ut for 
 the characteristic rapacity of Buccleuch's marau- 
 ders, who, having seized and carried off all the 
 horses in the town, left the victors no means of 
 following the chace. The regent was slain by an 
 officer, named Caulder, in order to prevent his 
 being rescued. Spens of Ormeston, to whom he 
 had surrendered, lost his life in a generous attempt 
 to protect him f. Hardly does our history present 
 
 * This building still remains, in the unfinished state which it 
 then presented. 
 
 f Birrel says, that " the regent was shot by an unhappy fel- 
 " low, while sitting on horseback behind the laird of Buc- 
 " cleuch." The following curious account of the whole trans- 
 action, is extracted from a journal of principal events, in the
 
 xliii 
 
 another enterprise, so well planned, so happily 
 commenced, and so strangely disconcerted. To 
 the licence of the marchmen the failure was at- 
 tributed ; but the same cause ensured a safe re- 
 treat. Spottiswoode, Godscroft, Robertson, Melville. 
 
 years 1570, 157t, 1572, and part of 1573, kept by Richard 
 Bannatyne, amanuensis to John Knox. "The fourt of Septem- 
 " ber, they of Edinburgh, horsemen and futmen (and, as was 
 " reported, the most part of Clidisdaill, that pertenit to the 
 " Hamiltons), come to Striveling, the number of iii oriiii c men, 
 " on hors bak, guydit be ane George Bell, their hacbutteris be- 
 " ing all horsed, enterit in Striveling, be fyve houris in the 
 " morning (whair thair was never one to mak watche), crying 
 " this slogane, ' God and the queen ! ane Hamiltoun ! think on 
 " tbe bishop of St Androis, all is owres;' and so a certaine 
 " come to everie grit manis ludgene, and apprehendit the 
 " Lordis Mortoun and Glencarne; but Morrouitis hous they 
 " set on fyre, wha randerit him to the loird of Balcleuch. 
 Wormestoun being appointed to the regentes hous, desyred 
 " him to cum furth, which he had no will to doe, yet, be per- 
 " swasione of Garleys and otheris, with him, tho't it best to 
 
 * come in will, nor to byde the extremitie, becaus they suppo- 
 " sed there was no resistance, and swa the regent come furth, 
 " and was randered to Wormestoun, under promeis to save 
 " his lyfe, Captane Crawfurde, being in the town, gat sum 
 
 * men out of the castell, and uther gentlemen being in tha 
 " town, come as they my't best to the geat, chased them out 
 " of the town. The regent was schot by ane Captain Cader, 
 " wha confessed, that he did it at commande of George Bell, 
 " wha was comandit so to doe be the Lord Huntlie and Claud 
 " Hamilton. Some sayis, that Wormestoun was schot by the 
 " same schot that slew the regent, but alwayis he was slane, 
 " notwithstanding the regent cryed to save him, but it culd not
 
 / xliv 
 
 The wily Earl of Morton, who, after the short 
 intervening regency of Mar, succeeded to the su- 
 preme authority, contrived, by force or artifice, to 
 render the party of the king every where superior. 
 Even on the middle borders, he had the address to 
 engage in his cause the powerful, though savage 
 and licentious, clans of Rutherford and Turnbull, 
 as well as the citizens of Jedburgh. He was thu 
 enabled to counterpoise his powerful opponents, 
 
 u be, the furie was so grit of the persewaris, who, following so 
 
 * fast, the lord of Mortone said to Balcleuch, I sail save you 
 u as ye savit me,' and so he was tane. Garleys, and sindrie 
 " otheris, warslane at the port, in the persute of thame. Thair 
 u war ten or twelve gentlemen slane of the king's folk, and als 
 a mony of theiris, or mea, as was said, and a dosone or xvi 
 
 * tane. Twa especiail servantis of the Lord Argyle's were 
 " slane also. This Cnder, that schot the regent, was once 
 u turned bak off the toune, and was send again (as is said), be 
 the Lord Huntlie, to cause Wormistoun retire ; but, before 
 " he come aganc, he was dispatched, and had gottin deidis 
 
 * woundis. 
 
 " The regent being schot (as said is), was brought to the cas- 
 *' tell, whar he callit for ane phisitione, one for his soulc, ane 
 " uther for his bodie. But all hope of life was past, for he was 
 " schot in his entreal lis; and swa, after sumthingis spokin to 
 " the lordis, which I know not, he departed, in the feare of 
 <; God, and made a blessed end ; whilk the rest of the lordis, 
 a that tho't thame to his hiert, and lytle reguardil him, shall 
 " not mak so blised ane end, unles they mend thair maneirs." 
 
 This curious manuscript has been lately published, under the 
 inspection of John Graham Dalyell, Esq.
 
 xlv 
 
 Buccleuch and Fairnihirst, in their own country; 
 and, after an unsuccessful attempt to surprise Jed- 
 burgh, even these warm adherents of Mary relin- 
 quished her cause in despair. 
 
 While Morton swayed the state, his attachment 
 to Elizabeth, and the humiliation which many of 
 the' border chiefs had undergone, contributed to 
 maintain good order x>n the marches, till James 
 VI. himself assumed the reigns of government. 
 The intervening skirmish of the Reidswire, (see 
 the Ballad under that title) was but a sudden ex- 
 plosion of the rivalry and suppressed hatred of the 
 borderers of both kingdoms. In truth, the stern 
 rule of Morton, and of his delegates, men uncon- 
 nected with the holders by birth, maintained in 
 that country more strict discipline than had ever 
 been there exercised. Perhaps this hastened his 
 fall. 
 
 The unpopularity of Morton, acouired partly by 
 the strict administration of justice, and partly by 
 avarice and severity, forced him from the regency. 
 In 1578, he retired, apparently, from state affairs, 
 to his castle of Dalkeith ; which the populace, em- 
 phatically expressing their awe and dread of his
 
 xlvi 
 
 person, termed the Lioris Den. But Morton could 
 not live in retirement ; and, early in the same year, 
 the aged lion again rushed from his cavern. By 
 a mixture of policy and violence, he possessed 
 himself of the fortress of Stirling, and of the per- 
 son of James. His nephew, Angus, hastened to 
 his assistance. Against him appeared his follower 
 Cessford, with many of the Homes, and the citi- 
 zens of Edinburgh. Alluding to the restraint of 
 the king's person, they bore his effigy on their 
 banners, with a rude rhyme, demanding liberty or 
 death. BirreVs Diary, ad annum, 1578. The 
 Earl of Morton marched against his foes as far as 
 Falkirk, and a desperate action must have ensued, 
 but for the persuasion of Bowes, the English am- 
 bassador. The only blood, then spilt, was in a 
 duel betwixt Tait, a follower of Cessford, and 
 Johnstone, a west border man, attending upon 
 Angus. They fought with lances, and on horse- 
 back, according to the fashion of the borders. 
 The former was unhorsed and slain, the latter des- 
 perately wounded. Godscroft,Vo\. II. p. 26 1. The 
 pruaciice of the late regent appears to have aban- 
 doned him, when he was decoyed into a treaty
 
 xlvii 
 
 upon this occasion. It was not long before Mor- 
 ton, the veteran warrior, and the crafty statesman, 
 was forced to bend his neck to an engine of death, * 
 the use of which he himself had introduced into 
 Scotland. 
 
 Released from the thraldom of Morton, the king, 
 with more than youthful levity, threw his supreme 
 power into the hands of Lennox and Arran. The 
 religion of the first, and the infamous character of 
 the second favourite, excited the hatred of the 
 commons, while their exclusive and engrossing / 
 power awakened the jealousy of the other nobles. 
 James, doomed to be the sport of contending fac- 
 tions, was seized at Stirling by the nobles, confe- 
 derated in what was termed the Raid of Ruthven. 
 But the conspirators soon suffered their prize to 
 escape, and were rewarded for their enterprize by 
 exile or death. 
 
 In 1585, an affray took place at a border meet- 
 ing, in which Lord Russel, the Earl of Bedford's 
 eldest son, chanced to be slain. Queen Elizabeth 
 imputed the guilt of this slaughter to Thomas 
 
 * A rude sort of guillotine, called the maiden. The imple- 
 ment is now in possession of the Society of Scottish Antiquaries.
 
 xlviii 
 
 Ker of Fairnihirst, instigated by Arran. Upon 
 the imperious demand of the English ambassador, 
 both were committed to prison; but the minion, 
 Arran, was soon restored to liberty and favour; 
 while Fairnihirst, the dread of the English border- 
 ers, and the gallant defender of Queen Mary, died 
 in his confinement, of a broken heart. Spottis- 
 uoode, p. 341. 
 
 The tyranny of Arran becoming daily more in- 
 supportable, the exiled lords, joined by Maxwell, 
 Home, Bothwell, and other border chieftains, 
 seized the town of Stirling, which was pillaged 
 by their disorderly followers, invested the castle, 
 which surrendered at discretion, and drove the fa- 
 vourite from the king's council.* 
 
 The king, perceiving the Earl of Bothwell among 
 the armed barons, to whom he surrendered his per- 
 son, addressed him in these prophetic words : 
 " Francis, Francis, what moved thee to come in ' 
 
 * The associated nobles seem to have owed their success 
 chiefly to the border spearmen ; for, though they had a band 
 of mercenaries, who used fire-arms, yet they were such bad 
 masters of their craft, their captain was heard to observe, 
 " that those, who knew his soldiers as well as he did, would 
 * hardly chuse to march before ihem."-~God$crnft, v.ii.p.368.
 
 xlix 
 
 e< arms against thy prince, who never wronged 
 " thee ? I wish thee a more quiet spirit, else I 
 " foresee thy destruction." Spottiswoode, p. 343. 
 
 In fact, the extraordinary enterprizes of this 
 nobleman disturbed the next ten years of James's 
 reign. Francis Stuart, son to a bastard of James V., 
 had been invested with the titles and estates be- 
 longing to his maternal uncle, James Hepburn, 
 Earl of Bothwell, upon the forfeiture of that infa- 
 mous man; and consequently became lord of Lid- 
 desdale, and of the castle of Hermitage. This 
 acquisition of power upon the borders, where he 
 could easily levy followers willing to undertake 
 the most desperate en terprize, joined to the man's 
 native daring and violent spirit, rendered Both- 
 well the most turbulent insurgent, that ever dis- 
 turbed the tranquillity of a kingdom. During the 
 king's absence in Denmark, Bothwell, swayed by 
 the superstition of his age, had tampered with cer- 
 tain soothsayers and witches, by whose pretended 
 art he hoped to foretell, or perhaps to achieve, the 
 death of his monarch. In one of the courts of in- 
 quisition, which James delighted to hold upon the 
 professors of the occult sciences, some of his cou- 
 
 vol. i. d
 
 1 
 
 sin's proceedings were brought to light, for which 
 he was put in ward in the castle of Edinburgh. 
 Burning with revenge, he broke from his confine- 
 ment, and lurked for some time upon the borders, 
 where he hoped for the countenance of his son- 
 in-law, Buccleuch. Undeterred by the absence 
 of that chief, who, in obedience to the royal com- 
 mand, had prudently retired to France, Bothwell 
 attempted the desperate enterprize of seizing the 
 person of the king, while residing in his metropo- 
 lis. At the dead of the night, followed by a band 
 of borderers, he occupied the court of the palace 
 of Holyrood, and began to burst open the doors 
 of the royal apartments. The nobility, distrust- 
 ful of each other, and ignorant of the extent of 
 the conspiracy, only endeavoured to make good 
 the defence of their separate lodgings ; but dark 
 ness and confusion prevented the assailants from 
 profiting by their disunion. Melville, who was 
 present, gives a lively picture of the scene of dis- 
 order, transiently illuminated by the glare of pas- 
 sing torches ; while the report of fire-arms, the 
 clatter of armour, the din of hammers thundering 
 en the gates, mingled wildly with the war-cry of
 
 li 
 
 the borderers, who shouted incessantly, "Justice ! 
 Justice ! A Bothwell ! A Bothweli !" The citi- 
 zens of Edinburgh at length began to assemble 
 for the defence of their sovereign ; and Bothwell 
 was compelled to retreat, which he did without 
 considerable loss. Melville, p. 356. A similar 
 attempt on the person of James, while residing at 
 Faulkland, also misgave; but the credit which 
 Bothwell obtained on the borders, by these bold 
 and desperate enterprizes, was incredible. * All 
 (t Tiviotdale," says Spottiswoode, "ran after him ;" 
 so that he finally obtained his object ; and, at 
 Edinburgh, in 1593, he stood before James, an 
 unexpected apparition, with his naked sword in 
 his hand. " Strike !" said James, with royal dig- 
 nity " Strike, and end thy work ! I will not sur- 
 vive my dishonour." But Bothwell, with unex- 
 pected moderation, only stipulated for remission 
 of his forfeiture, and did not even insist on re- 
 maining at court, whence his party was shortly 
 expelled, by the return of the Lord Home, and 
 his other enemies. Incensed at this reverse, Both- 
 well levied a body of four hundred cavalry, and 
 attacked the king's guard in broad day, upon the
 
 lii 
 
 Borough Moor, near Edinburgh. The ready suc- 
 cour of the citizens saved James from falling once 
 more into the hands of his turbulent subject. * On 
 a subsequent day, Bothwell met the laird of Cess- 
 ford, riding near Edinburgh, with whom he fought 
 a single combat, which lasted for two hours. y 
 But his credit was now fallen : he retreated to 
 England, whence he was driven by Elizabeth, and 
 then wandered to Spain and Italy, where he sub- 
 sisted, in indigence and obscurity, on the bread 
 which he earned by apostatizing to the faith of 
 Rome. So fell this agitator of domestic broils, 
 whose name passed into a proverb, denoting a 
 powerful and turbulent demagogue. J 
 
 * Spottiswoode says, the king awaited this charge with firm- 
 ness ; hut Birred avers, that he fled upon the gallop. The 
 same author, instead of the firm deportment of James, when 
 seized by Bothwell, describes " the king's majestie as flying 
 " down the hack stair, with his breeches in his hand, in great 
 " fear." Birrell, apud Dalyell, p. 30. Such is the difference 
 betwixt the narrative of the courtly archbishop, and that of 
 the presbyterian burgess of Edinburgh. 
 
 f This rencounter took place at Humbie, in East Lothian. 
 Bothwell was attended by a servant, called Gibson, and Cess- 
 ford by one of the Kuthcrfords, who was hurt in the cheek. 
 The combatants parted from pure fatigue ; for the defensive 
 armour of the times was so completely impenetrable, that the 
 wearer seldom sustained much damage by actual wounds. 
 
 % Sir Walter Raleigh, in writing of Essex, then in prison,
 
 liii 
 
 While these scenes were passing in the metro- 
 polis, the borders were furiously agitated by civil 
 discord. The families of Cessford and Fairnihirst 
 disputed their right to the wardenry of the middle 
 marches, and to the provostry of Jedburgh ; and 
 William Kerr of Ancram, a follower of the latter, 
 was murdered by the young chief of Cessford, at 
 the instigation of his mother. Spottiswoode, p. 383. 
 But this was trifling, compared to the civil war, 
 waged on the western frontier, between the John- 
 stons and Maxwells, of which there is a minute 
 account, in the introduction to the ballad, enti- 
 tled, * MaxwelPs Goodnight." Prefixed to that 
 termed " Kinmont Willie" the reader will find an 
 account of the last warden raids performed upon 
 the border. 
 
 My sketch of border history now draws to a 
 close. The accession of James to the English 
 crown converted the extremity into the centre of 
 his kingdom. 
 
 says, " Let the queen hold Bothzcell while she hath him." 
 Murdin, Vol. II. p. 812. It appears, from Creichton's Me- 
 moirs, that Bothwell's grandson, though so nearly related to 
 the royal family, actually rode a private in the Scottish horse 
 guards, in the reign of Charles II. Edinburgh, 1731, p. 42.
 
 liv 
 
 The cast marches of Scotland were, at this mo- 
 mentous period, in a state of comparative civili- 
 zation. The rich soil of Berwickshire soon invi- 
 ted the inhabitants to the arts of agriculture. 
 Even in the days of Lesley, the nobles and barons 
 of the Merse differed in manners from the other 
 borderers, administered justice with regularity, 
 and abstained from plunder and depredation. 
 De moribus Scotorum. p. 7. But, on the middle 
 and western marches, the inhabitants were unre- 
 strained moss-troopers and cattle-drivers, knowing 
 no measure of law, says Camden, but the length 
 of their swords. The sterility of the mountainous 
 country, which they inhabited, offered little en- 
 couragement to industry ; and, for the long series 
 of centuries, which we have hastily reviewed, the 
 hands of rapine were never there folded in inac- 
 tivity, nor the sword of violence returned to the 
 scabbard. Various proclamations were in vain is- 
 sued, for interdicting the use of horses and arms 
 upon the west border of England and Scotland.* 
 
 * " Proclamation shall be made, that all inhabiting within 
 " Tynedale and Riddesdale, in {Northumberland, Bewcastle- 
 " dale, Willgavey, the north part of Gilsland, E&k, and Leven, 
 " in Cumberland ; east and west Tividale, Liddesdale, Esk-
 
 lv 
 
 The evil was found to require the radical cure of 
 extirpation. Buccleuch collected under his ban- 
 ners the most desperate of the border warriors, 
 of whom he formed a legion, for the service of the 
 states of Holland, who had as much reason to re- 
 joice on their arrival upon the continent, as Bri- 
 tain to congratulate herself upon their departure. 
 It may be presumed, that few of this corps ever 
 returned to their native country. The clan of 
 Graeme, a hardy and ferocious set of freebooters, 
 inhabiting chiefly the Debateable Land, by a very 
 summary exertion of authority, was transported to 
 Ireland, and their return prohibited under pain of 
 death. Against other offenders, measures, equally 
 arbitrary, were without hesitation pursued. Num- 
 bers of border riders were executed, without even 
 
 * dale, Ewsdale, and Annerdale, in Scotland (saving noblemen 
 u and gentlemen unsuspected of felony and theft, and not be- 
 " ing of broken clans, and their household servants, dwelling 
 " within those several places, before recited,) shall put away 
 u all armour and weapons, as well offensive as defensive, as 
 '* jacks, spears, lances, swords, daggers, steel-caps, hack-buts, 
 " pistols, plate sleeves, and such like ; and shall not keep any 
 " horse, gelding, or mare, above the value of fifty shillings 
 " sterling, or thirty pounds Scots, upon the like pain of ini- 
 
 * prisonment." Proceedings of the Border Commissioners, 
 1605-~lntroduction to History of Cumberland, p. 12 T.
 
 lvi 
 
 the formality of a trial ; and it is even said, that, 
 in mockery of justice, assizes were held upon them 
 after they had suffered. For these acts of tyranny, 
 see Johnston, p. 374, 414, 39, 93. The memory 
 of Dunbar's legal proceedings at Jedburgh, are 
 preserved in the proverbial phrase, Jeddart Justice, 
 which signifies, trial after execution.* By this ri- 
 gour, though sternly and unconscientiously exer- 
 cised, the border marauders were, in the course of 
 years, either reclaimed or exterminated ; though 
 nearly a century elapsed ere their manners were 
 altogether assimilated to those of their country- 
 men. ^* 
 
 * A similar proverb in England of the same interpretation 
 is Lydford Law, derived from Lydford, a corporation in De- 
 vonshire, where it seems the same irregular administration 
 of justice prevailed. A burlesque copy of verses on this town 
 begins 
 
 I oft have heard of Lydford Law, 
 How in the morn they hang and draw, 
 And sit in judgment after. 
 
 See WestcotVs History of Devonshire. 
 
 f See the acts 18 Cha. II. ch. 3. and SOCha. II. ch. 2. against 
 the border noss-troopers, to which we may add the following 
 curious extracts from Mercurius Politicus, a newspaper, pub- 
 lished during the usurpation. 
 
 " Thursday, November 11, 1662. 
 
 f? Edinburgh. The Scotts and moss-troopers have again re-
 
 lvii 
 
 In thesehasty sketches of border history, I have 
 endeavoured to select such incidents, as may intro- 
 duce to the reader the character of the marchmen, 
 more briefly and better than a formal essay upon 
 their manners. If I have been successful in the 
 
 " vived their old custom, of robbing and murthering the En- 
 " glish, whether soldiers or other, upon all opportunities, with- 
 a in these three weeks. We have had notice of several robbe- 
 " ries and murders, committed by them. Among the rest, a 
 " lieutenant, and one other of Col. Overton's regiment, return* 
 
 * ing from England, were robbed not far from Dunbarr. A 
 " lieutenant, lately master of the customs at Kirkcudbright, was 
 " killed about twenty miles from this place ; and four foot sol- 
 
 * diers of Colonel Overton's were killed, going to their quar- 
 ters, by some mossers, who, after they had given them quar- 
 " ter, tied their hands behind them, and then threw them down 
 " a steep hill, or rock, as it was related by a Scotchman, who 
 " was with them, but escaped." 
 
 Ibidem. 9 October 13, 1663. The Parliament, October 
 
 * 21, past an act, declaring, any person that shall discover any 
 u felon, or felons (commonly called, or known, by the name of 
 " moss-troopers), residing upon the borders of England and 
 " Scotland, shall have a reward of ten pound upon their con* 
 u viction."
 
 lviii 
 
 attempt, he is already acquainted with the mixture 
 of courtage and rapacity by which they were dis- 
 tinguished ; and has reviewed some of the scenes 
 in which they acted a principal part. It is, there- 
 fore, only necessary to notice, more minutely, 
 some of their peculiar customs and modes of life. 
 Their morality was of a singular kind. The ra- 
 pine, by which they subsisted, they accounted law- 
 ful and honourable. Ever liable to lose their 
 whole substance, by an incursion of the English on 
 a sudden breach of truce, they cared little to waste 
 their time in cultivating crops, to be reaped by 
 their foes. Their cattle was, therefore, their chief 
 property ; and these were nightly exposed to the 
 southern borderers, as rapacious and active as 
 themselves. Hence robbery assumed the appear- 
 ance of fair reprisal. The fatal privilege of pur- 
 suing the marauders into their own country, for 
 recovery of stolen goods, led to continual skir- 
 mishes. The warden also, himself frequently the 
 chieftain of a border horde, when redress was not 
 instantly granted by the opposite officer, for depre- 
 dations sustained by his district, was entitled to 
 retaliate upon England by a warden raid. In
 
 lix 
 
 such cases, the moss-troopers, who crowded to his 
 standard, found themselves pursuing their craft 
 under legal authority, and became the favourites 
 and followers of the military magistrate, whose 
 ordinary duty it was to check and suppress them. 
 See the curious history of Geordie Bourne, App, 
 No. II. Equally unable and unwilling to make 
 nice distinctions, they were not to be convinced, 
 that what was to-day fair booty, was to-morrow a 
 subject of theft. National animosity usually gave 
 an additional stimulus to their rapacity; although 
 it must be owned, that their depredations extend- 
 ed also to the more cultivated parts of their own 
 country. * 
 
 Satchells, who lived when the old border ideas 
 of meum and tuum were still in some force, endea- 
 vours to draw a very nice distinction betwixt a 
 
 * The armorial bearings, adopted by many of the border 
 tribes, shew how little they were ashamed of their trade of ra- 
 pine. Like Falstaff", they were " Gentlemen of the night, 
 " minions of the moon," under whose countenance they com- 
 mitted their depredations. Hence, the emblematic moons and 
 stars, so frequently charged in the arms of border families. 
 Their mottoes, also, bear allusion to their profession. " Re- 
 "parabit cornua Phabe," i. e. " We'll have moon-light again," 
 is that of the family of Harden. Ye shall want, ere I want," 
 that of Cranstoun. " Watch well," of Haliburton, &e.
 
 freebooter and a thief; and thus sings he of the 
 Armstrongs : 
 
 On that border was the Armstrongs, able men; 
 Somewhat unruly, and very ill to tame. 
 I would have none think that I call them thieves, 
 For, if I did, it would be arrant lies. 
 
 Near a border frontier, in the time of war, 
 There's ne'er a man but he's a freebooter. 
 
 Because to all men it may appear, 
 
 The freebooter he is a volunteer ; 
 
 In the muster rolls he has no desire to stay ; 
 
 He lives by purchase, he gets no pay. 
 
 It's most clear, a freebooter doth live in hazard's train; 
 
 A freebooter's a cavalier that ventures life for gain : 
 
 But, since King James the Sixth to England went, 
 
 Ther has been no cause of grief; 
 
 And he that hath transgress'd since then, 
 
 Is no Freebooter, but a Thief. 
 
 History of the name of Scott. 
 
 The inhabitants of the inland counties did not 
 understand these subtle distinctions. Sir David 
 Lindsay, in the curious drama, published by Mr 
 Pinkerton, introduces, as one of his dramatis per- 
 sona, Common Thiflt, a borderer, who is supposed 
 to come to Fife to steal the Earl of Rothes' best 
 hackney, and Lord Lindsay's brown jennet. Op- 
 pression, also (another personage there introduced),
 
 lxi 
 
 seems to be connected with the borders ; for, find- 
 ing himself in danger, he exclaims, 
 
 War God that I were sound and haill, 
 
 Now liftit into Liddesdail ; 
 
 The Mers sowld fynd me beiff and caill, 
 
 What rack of breid ? 
 War T thair lyftit with my lyfe, 
 The devill sowld styk me with a knyffe, 
 An' ever I cum agane in Fyfe, 
 
 Till I were deid 
 
 Pinker ton's Scotish Poems, Vol. II, p. 180. 
 
 Again, when Common Thift is brought to condign 
 punishment, he remembers his border friends in 
 his dying speech : 
 
 The widdefow wardanis tuik me geir, 
 And left me nowthir horse nor meir, 
 Nor erdly gud that me belangit ; 
 Now, walloway ! I mon be hangit. 
 
 Adew ! my bruthir Annan thieves, 
 That holpit me in my mischevis : 
 Adew ! Grossars, Niksonis, and Bells, 
 Oft have we fairne owthreuch the fells : 
 Adew ! Robsons, Howis, and Pylis, 
 That in our craft hes mony wilis : 
 Littlis, Trumbells, and Armestranges; 
 Adew ! all theeves, that me belangis; 
 Bdileowes, Erewynis, and Elwandis, 
 Speedy of flicht, and slicht of handis : 
 The Scotts of Eisdale, and the Gramis, 
 I haif na time to tell your namis. 
 
 lb. p. 156.
 
 lxii 
 
 When Common Thift 19 executed (which is per- 
 formed upon the stage), Fahet (Falsehood,), who is 
 also brought forth for punishment, pronounces 
 over him the following eulogy : 
 
 Wacs me for thee, gude Common Thift ! 
 Was never man made more honest chi ft. 
 
 His living for to win : 
 Thair wes not, in all Liddesdail, 
 That ky mair craftelly could steil, 
 
 Whar thou hingis on that pin ! 
 
 lb. p. 194. 
 
 Sir Richard Maitland, incensed at the boldness 
 and impunity of the thieves of Liddesdale in his 
 time, has attacked them with keen iambicks. His 
 satire, which, I suppose, had very little effect at the 
 time, forms No. III. of the Appendix to this Intro- 
 duction. 
 
 The borderers had, in fact, little reason to re- 
 gard the inland Scots as their fellow-subjects, or 
 to respect the power of the crown. They were 
 frequently resigned, by express compact, to the 
 bloody retaliation of the English, without experi- 
 encing any assistance from their prince, and his 
 more immediate subjects. If they beheld him, it 
 was more frequently in the character of an aven-
 
 lxiii 
 
 ging judge, than of a protecting sovereign. They 
 were in truth, during the time of peace, a kind of 
 outcasts, against whom the united powers of Eng- 
 land and Scotland were often employed. Hence, 
 the men of the borders had little attachment to 
 the monarchs, whom they termed, in derision, the 
 kings of Fife and Lothian ; provinces which they 
 were not legally entitled to inhabit, * and which, 
 therefore, they pillaged with as little remorse as if 
 they had belonged to a foreign country. This 
 strange, precarious, and adventurous mode of life, 
 led by the borderers, was not without its plea- 
 sures, and seems, in all probability, hardly so dis- 
 agreeable to us, as the monotony of regulated socie- 
 ty must have been to those, who had been long ac- 
 customed to a state of rapine. Well has it been 
 remarked, by the eloquent Burke, that the shifting 
 tides of fear and hope, the flight and pursuit, the 
 peril and escape, alternate famine and feast, of the 
 savage and the robber, after a time render all 
 course of slow, steady, progressive, unvaried oc- 
 
 * By act 1587, c. 96, borderers are expelled from the inland 
 counties, unless they can find security for their quiet deport- 
 ment.
 
 lxiv 
 
 cupation, and the prospect only of a limited me- 
 diocrity, at the end of long labour, to the last de- 
 gree tame, languid, and insipid. The interesting 
 nature of their exploits may be conceived from the 
 account of Camden. 
 
 u What manner of cattle stealers they are, that 
 " inhabit these valleys in the marches of both king- 
 '* doms, John Lesley, a Scotchman himself, and 
 " bishop of Ross, will inform you. They sally 
 
 * out of their own borders, in the night, in troops, 
 " through unfrequented bye-ways, and many intri- 
 f cate windings. All the day-time, they refresh 
 " themselves and their horses in lurking holes they 
 u had pitched upon before, till they arrive in the 
 " dark at those places they have a design upon. 
 " As soon as they have seized upon the booty, 
 
 * they, in like manner, return home in the night, 
 
 * through blind ways, and fetching many a com- 
 " pass. The more skilfull any captain is to pass 
 " through those wild deserts, crooked turnings, and 
 " deep precipices, in the thickest mists and il.uk- 
 " ness, his reputation is the greater, and he is 
 " looked upon as a man of an excellent head. 
 u And they are so very cunning, that they seldom
 
 lxv 
 
 " have their booty taken from them, unless some- 
 " times, when, by the help of blood-hounds fol- 
 
 * lowing them exactly upon the tract, they may 
 e * chance to fall into the hands of their adversa- 
 " ries. When being taken, they have so much 
 
 * persuasive eloquence, and so many smooth insi- 
 " nuating words at command, that if they do not 
 " move their judges, nay, and even their adver- 
 t( saries (notwithstanding the severity of their na- 
 u tures), to have mercy, yet they incite them to 
 " admiration and compassion." Camden's Britan~ 
 nia. The reader is requested to compare this cu- 
 rious account, given by Lesley, with the ballad, 
 called Hobbie Noble* * 
 
 * The following tradition is also illustrative of Lesly's ac- 
 count. Veitch of Dawyk, a man of great strength and bra- 
 very, who flourished in the 16th century, is said by tradition to 
 have been upon bad terms with a neighbouring proprietor, 
 Tweedie of Drummelzier. By some accident, a flock of 
 Dawyk's sheep had strayed over into Drummelzier's grounds, 
 at the time when J)ickie of the Den, a Liddesdale outlaw, was 
 making his rounds in Tweeddale. Seeing this flock of sheep, 
 he drove them off without ceremony. Next morning, Veitch, 
 perceiving his loss, summoned his servants and retainers, laid a 
 blood-hound upon the traces of the robber, by whom they 
 were guided for many miles, till, on the banks of Liddel, the 
 dog staid upon a very large hay-stack. The pursuers were a 
 good deal surprised at the obstinate pause of the blood-hound, 
 
 vol. I. e - |
 
 lxvi 
 
 The inroads of the marchers, when stimulated 
 only by the desire of plunder, were never marked 
 with cruelty, and seldom even with bloodshed, un- 
 less in the case of opposition. Tbey held, that 
 property was common to all who stood in want of 
 it; but they abhorred and avoided the crime of 
 unnecessary homicide. Lesley, p. G3. This was, 
 perhaps, partly owing to the habits of intimacy 
 betwixt the borderers of both kingdoms, notwith- 
 standing their mutual hostility, and reciprocal de- 
 predations. A natural intercourse took place be- 
 tween the English and Scottish marchers, at bor- 
 der meetings, and during the short intervals of 
 peace. They met frequently at parties of the 
 chace and football; and it required many and 
 strict regulations, on both sides, to prevent them 
 from forming intermarriages, and from cultivating 
 too close a degree of intimacy. Scottish Acts, 1 587, 
 
 till Dawyk pulled down some of the hay, and discovered a 
 large excavation, containing the robbers and their spoil. He 
 instantly flew upon Dickie, and was about to poniard him, 
 when the marauder, with the address noticed by Lesley, pro- 
 tested that he would never have touched a cloot (hoof) of 
 them, had he not taken them for Drummcl/ier's property. 
 This dexterous appeal to Veitch's passions, saved the life of 
 the free-booter. 
 
 6
 
 lxvii 
 
 c. 105; Wharton's Regulations, 6th Edward VI, 
 The custom, also, of paying black-mail, or pro- 
 tection rent, introduced a connection betwixt the 
 countries ; for a Scottish borderer, taking black- 
 mail from an English inhabitant, was not only 
 himself bound to abstain from injuring such per- 
 son, but also to maintain his quarrel, and recover 
 his property, if carried off by others. Hence, an 
 union rose betwixt the parties, founded upon 
 mutual interest, which counteracted, in many in- 
 stances, the effects of national prejudice. The si- 
 milarity of their manners may be inferred from 
 that of their language. In an old mystery, im- 
 printed at London, 1654, a mendicant borderer is 
 introduced, soliciting alms of a citizen and his 
 wife. To a question of the latter he replies, " Sa- 
 " vying your honour, good maistress, I was bom 
 ** in Redesdale, in Northomberlande, and come of 
 " a wight riding sirname, call'd the Robsons : gude 
 " honeste men, and true, savyng a little shiftynge 
 " for theyr livyng ; God help them, silly pure 
 " men." The wife answers, " What doest thou 
 u here, in this countrie ? me thinke thou art a Scot 
 * by thy tongue." Beggar f Trowe me never
 
 lxviii 
 
 * mair then, good deara ; I had rather be hanged 
 
 * in a withie of a cow-taile, for thei are ever fare 
 
 * and fause." Appendix to Johnsons Sad Shep- 
 herd, 1783. p. 188. From the wife's observation, 
 as well as from the dialect of the beggar, we may 
 infer, that there was little difference between the 
 Northumbrian and the border Scottish ; a circum- 
 stance, interesting in itself, and decisive of the 
 occasional friendly intercourse among the march- 
 men. From all these combining circumstances 
 arose the lenity of the borderers in their incur- 
 sions, and the equivocal moderation which they 
 sometimes observed towards each other, in open 
 
 war. * 
 
 \ 
 
 * Tliis practice of the marchmen was observed and repro- 
 bated by Patten. " Anoother maner have they (the English 
 u borderers) amoong them, of wearyng handkerchers roll'd 
 a about their armes, and lettrcs brouder'd (embroidered) upon 
 " their cappes : they said themselves, the use thearof was that 
 " ech of them might knowe his fellowe, and thcarbye the soon- 
 " er assemble, or in nede to ayd one another, and such lyke re- 
 " spectes ; howbeit, thear wear oi the army aiuuung us (sum 
 " suspicious men perchaunce), that thought thei used them for 
 " collusion, and rather bycaus thei might be knowen to the 
 " enemie, as the enemies are knowen to them (for thei have 
 " their inarkes too), aud so in conflict either ech to spare oother, 
 u or gently eche to take oother. Indede, men have been mooved 
 * the rather to thinke so, bycaus sum of their crosses (the Eng- 
 " lish red cross) were so narrowe, and so singly set on, that
 
 lxix 
 
 This humanity and moderation was, on certain 
 occasions, entirely laid aside by the borderers. 
 In the case of deadly feud> either against an Eng- 
 lishman, or against any neighbouring tribe, the 
 whole force of the offended clan was bent to 
 avenge the. death of any of their number. Their 
 
 " a puffe of wynde might blowe them from their breastes, and 
 " that thei wear found right often talking with the Skottisb 
 " prikkers within less than their gad's (spears) length asunder ; 
 
 and when thei perceived thei had been espied, thei have be- 
 
 * gun one to run at anoother, but so apparently perlassent (in 
 " parley), as the lookers on resembled their chasvng lyke the 
 " running at base in an uplondish toun, whear the match is 
 " made for a quart of good ale, or like the play in Robin Cookes 
 
 * scole (a fencing school), whear, bycaus the punies mey lerne, 
 
 * thei strike fewe strokes but by assent and appointment. I 
 " hard sum men say, it did mooch augment their suspicion 
 " that wey, bycaus at the battail they sawe these prikkers so 
 
 * badly demean them, more intending the taking of prisoners, 
 t, than the surety of victorye ; for while oother men fought, 
 " thei fell to their prey; that as thear wear but fewe of them 
 " but brought home his prisoner, so wear thear many that had 
 " six or seven." Patten's Account of Somerset's Expedition, 
 apud DalyelFs Fragments, p. 76. 
 
 It is singular that, about this very period, the same circum- 
 stances are severely animadverted upon by the strenuous Scot- 
 tishman, who wrote the Complaynt of Scotland, as well as by 
 the English author above quoted : " There is nothing that is 
 " occasione of your adhering to the opinion of Ingland contrair 
 
 your natife cuntr6, bot the grit familiarite that Inglis men 
 " and Scottes hes had on baith the boirdours, ilk ane witht 
 " utheris, in merchandeis, in selling and buying hors and nolt, 
 " and scheip, outfang, and infang, ilk ane amang utheris, the
 
 lxx 
 
 vengeance not only vented itself upon the homi- 
 cide and his family, but upon all his kindred, on 
 his whole tribe ; on every one, in fine, whose 
 death or ruin could affect him with regret. Les- 
 ley, p. 63 ; Border Laws, passim ; Scottish Acts, 
 1594, c. 231. The reader will find, in the follow- 
 ing collection, many allusions to this infernal cus- 
 tom, which always overcame the marcher's gene- 
 ral reluctance to shed human blood, and rendered 
 him remorselessly savage. 
 
 u whilk familiarite is express contrar the lauis and consuetudis 
 u bayth of Ingland and Scotland. In auld tymis it was deter- 
 41 mit in the artiklis of the pace, be the twa wardanis of the 
 " boirdours of Ingland and Scotland, that there suld be na fa- 
 u miliaritie betwix Scottis men and Inglis men, nor marriage 
 " to be contrakit betwix them, nor conventions on holydais at 
 " gammis and plays, nor merchandres to be maid amang them, 
 " nor Scottis men till enter on Inglis grond, witht out the king 
 " of Ingland's save conduct, nor Inglis men til enter on Scottis 
 " grond, witht out the King of Scotland's save conduct, how- 
 " beit that ther war sure pace betwix the twa realmes. Bot 
 " thir sevyn yeir bygane, thai statutis and artiklis of the pace 
 ' arc adnullit, for ther hes been as grit fa miliaritie, and con- 
 u ventions, and makyng of merchandreis, on the boirdours, 
 " this lang tyme betwix Inglis men and Scottis men, bayth t in 
 " pace and weir, as Scottismen usis amang theme selfis witht 
 " in the rcalme of Scotland : and sic familiarite has bene the 
 " cause that the kyng of Ingland gat intelligence witht divers 
 " gentlemen of Scotland." 
 
 Complaynt of Scotland, Edin. 1801, p. 164.
 
 lxxi 
 
 For fidelity to their word, Lesley ascribes high 
 praise to the inhabitants of the Scottish frontier. 
 When an instance happened to the contrary, the 
 injured person, at the first border meeting, rode 
 through the field, displaying a glove (the pledge 
 of faith) upon the point of his lance, and pro- 
 claiming the perfidy of the person, who had bro- 
 ken his word. So great was the indignation of the 
 assembly against the perjured criminal, that he 
 was often slain by his own clan, to wipe out the 
 disgrace he had brought on them. In the same 
 spirit of confidence, it was not unusual to behold 
 the victors, after an engagement, dismiss their pri- 
 soners upon parole, who never failed either to 
 transmit the stipulated ransom, or to surrender 
 themselves to bondage, if unable to do so. But 
 the virtues of a barbarous people, being founded 
 not upon moral principle, but upon the dreams of 
 superstition, or the capricious dictates of antient 
 custom, can seldom be uniformly relied on. We 
 must not, therefore, be surprised to find these very 
 men, so true to their word in general, using, upon 
 other occasions, various resources of cunning and
 
 Ixxii 
 
 chicane, against which the border laws wertf in 
 vain directed. 
 
 The immediate rulers of the borders were the 
 chiefs of the different clans, who exercised over 
 their respective septs a dominion, partly patriarchal, 
 and partly feudal. The latter bond of adherence 
 was, however, the more slender ; for, in the acts 
 regulating the borders, we find repeated mention 
 of " Clannes having captaines and chieftaines, 
 " whom on they depend, oft-times against the 
 " willes of their landeslordes." Stat. 1587, c. 95, 
 and the Roll thereto annexed. Of course, these 
 laws looked less to the feudal superior, than to the 
 chieftain of the name, for the restraint of the dis- 
 orderly tribes ; and it is repeatedly enacted, that 
 the head of the clan should be first called upon to 
 deliver those of his sept, who should commit any 
 trespass, and that, on his failure to do so, he should 
 be liable to the injured party in full redress. Ibi- 
 dem, and Stat. 1574, c. 231. By the same sta- 
 tutes, the chieftains and landlords, presiding over 
 border clans, were obliged to find caution, and to 
 grant hostages, that they would subject themselves 
 t the due course of law. Such clans, as had no
 
 Ixxiii 
 
 chieftain of sufficient note to enter bail for their 
 quiet conduct, became broken men, outlawed to 
 both nations. 
 
 From these enactments, the power of the bor- 
 der chieftains may be conceived ; for it had been 
 hard and useless to have punished them for the 
 trespasses of their tribes, unless they possessed 
 over them unlimited authority. The abode of 
 these petty princes by no means corresponded to 
 the extent of their power. We do not find, on 
 the Scottish borders, the splendid and extensive 
 baronial castles, which graced and defended the 
 opposite frontier. The gothic grandeur of Aln- 
 wick, of Raby, and of Naworth, marks the weal- 
 thier and more secure state of the English nobles. 
 The Scottish chieftain, however extensive his do- 
 mains, derived no advantage, save from such parts 
 as he could himself cultivate or occupy. Pa} r ment 
 of rent was hardly known on the borders, till after 
 the union. * All that the landlord could gain, 
 
 * Stowe, in detailing the happy consequences of the union 
 of the crowns, observes, " that the northerne borders became 
 " as safe, and peaceable, as any part of the entire kingdome* 
 " so as in the fourthe yeare of the king's reigne, as well gentle- 
 ft men and others, inhabiting the places aforesayde, finding the
 
 lxxiv 
 
 from those residing upon his estate, was their per- 
 sonal service in battle, their assistance in labouring 
 the land retained in his natural possession, some 
 petty quit-rents, of a nature resembling the feudal 
 casualties, and perhaps a share in the spoil which 
 they acquired by rapine. * This, with his herds 
 of cattle and of sheep, and with the black mail, 
 which he exacted from his neighbours, constituted 
 the revenue of the chieftain ; and, from funds so 
 precarious, he could rarely spare sums to expend 
 in strengthening or decorating his habitation. An- 
 other reason is found in the Scottish mode of war- 
 fare. It was early discovered, that the English 
 
 " auncient wast ground to be very good and fruitefull, began 
 " to contende in lawe about their bounds, challenging then, 
 " that for their hereditarie right, which formerly they disa- 
 " vowed, only to avoyde charge of common defence." 
 
 " As for the humours of the people (i. e. of Tiviotdale), they 
 " were both strong and warlike, as being inured to war, and daily 
 M incursions, and the most part of the heritors of the country 
 " gave out all their lands to their tenants, for military attend* 
 u ance, upon rentals, and reserved only some few manses for 
 " their own sustenance, which were laboured by their tenants, 
 
 besides their service. They paid an entry, a herauld, and a 
 " small rental-duty ; for there were no rents raised here that 
 
 were considerable, till King James went into England ; yea, 
 " all along the border." Account of Roxburghshire, by Sir 
 Wilham Scott of Harden, and Kerr of Sunlaws, apud Mac- 
 
 furlane's MSS.
 
 Ixxv 
 
 surpassed their neighbours in the arts of assaulting 
 or defending fortified places. The policy of the 
 Scottish, therefore, deterred them from erecting 
 upon the borders buildings of such extent and 
 strength, as, being once taken by the foe, would 
 have been capable of receiving a permanent gar- 
 rison. * To themselves, the woods and hills of 
 their country were pointed out by the great Bruce, 
 as their safest bulwarks ; and the maxim of the 
 Douglasses, that " it was better to hear the lark 
 ? sing, than the mouse cheep," was adopted by 
 every border chief. For these combined reasons, 
 the residence of the chieftain was commonly a 
 
 * The royal castles of Roxburgh, Hermitage, Lochmaben, 
 &c, form a class of exceptions to this rule, being extensive and 
 well fortified. Perhaps we ought also to except the baronial 
 castle of Home. Yet, in 1455, the following petty garrisons 
 were thought sufficient for the protection of the border ; two 
 hundred spearmen, and as many archers, upon the east and 
 middle marches ; and one hundred spears, with a like number 
 of bowmen, upon the western marches. But then the same 
 statute provides, " They that are neare hand the bordoure, are 
 " ordained to have gud househaldes, and abulzied men as 
 
 effeiris : and to be reddie at their principal place, and to 
 " pass, with the wardanes, quhen aud quhair they sail be 
 
 * charged." Acts of James II, cap. 55, Of garisounes to be 
 laid upon the borders. Hence Buchanan has justly described, 
 as an attribute of the Scottish nation, 
 
 " Necfossis, nee muris, patriam, sed Marte tueri."
 
 lxXvl 
 
 large square battlemented * tower, called a kecpj 
 or peel; placed on a precipice, or on the banks of 
 a torrent, and, if the ground would permit, sur- 
 rounded by a moat. In short, the situation of a 
 border house, surrounded by woods, and rendered 
 almost inaccessible by torrents, by rocks, or by mo- 
 rasses, sufficiently indicated the pursuits and ap- 
 prehensions of its inhabitants. " Locus horroris et 
 u vasta solitudinis, aptus ad pradam, habilis ad rapt- 
 " nam, habitatoribus suis lapis erat ojfensiones etpttra 
 " scandali, utpote qui stipendiis suis mirtime contenti 
 " totum de alieno parum de suo possidebarit totius 
 "provincial spolium." No wonder, therefore, that 
 James V., on approaching the castle of Lochwood, 
 the antient seat of the Johnstones, is said to have 
 exclaimed, " that he who built it must have been 
 a knave in his heart." An outer wall, with some 
 slight fortifications, served as a protection for the 
 cattle at night. The walls of these fortresses were 
 
 I have observed a difference in architecture betwixt the 
 English and Scottish towers. The latter usually have upon the 
 top a projecting battlement, with interstices, anciently called 
 machicoules, betwixt the parapet and the wall, through which 
 stones or darts might be hurled upon the assailants. This kind 
 of fortification is less common on the south border.
 
 lxxvii 
 
 of an immense thickness, and they could easily 
 be defended against any small force; more espe- 
 cially, as, the rooms being vaulted, each story 
 formed a separate lodgement, capable of being 
 held out for a considerable time. On such occa- 
 sions, the usual mode, adopted by the assailants, 
 was to expel the defenders, by setting fire to wet 
 straw in the lower apartments. But the border 
 chieftains seldom chose to abide in person a siege 
 of this nature ; and I have not observed a single 
 instance of a distinguished baron made prisoner in 
 his own house.* Patten's Expedition, p. 3'5. The 
 common people resided in paltry huts, about the 
 safety of which they were little anxious, as they 
 
 contained nothing of value. On the approach of 
 
 i 
 a superior force, they unthatched them, to prevent 
 
 their being burned, and then abandoned them to 
 
 the foe. Stowe's Chronicle, p. 665. Their only 
 
 treasures were, a fleet and active horse, wjth the 
 
 ornaments which their rapine had procured for the 
 
 * I ought to except the famous Dand Ker, who was made 
 prisoner in his castle of Fairnihirst, after defending it braveJy 
 against Lord Dacres, 24th September, 1523.
 
 lxxviii 
 
 females of their family, of whose gay appearance 
 the borderers were vain. 
 
 Some rude monuments occur upon the borders, 
 the memorial of ancient valour. Such is the cross 
 at Milholm, on the banks of the Liddel, said to 
 have been erected in memory of the chief of the 
 Armstrongs, murdered treacherously by Lord 
 Soulis, while feasting in Hermitage castle. Such 
 also, a rude stone, now broken, and very much 
 defaced, placed upon a mount on the lands of 
 Haugh-head, near the junction of the Kale and 
 Teviot. The inscription records the defence made 
 by Hobbie Hall, a man of great strength and cou- 
 rage, against an attempt by the powerful family of 
 Ker, to possess themselves of his small estate. * 
 
 The rude strains of the inscription little correspond with 
 the gallantry of a 
 
 village Hampden, who, with dauntless breast, 
 The little tyrant of his fields withstood. 
 
 It is in these words: 
 
 Here Hobbie Hall boldly maintained his right, 
 'Gainst reif, plain force, armed wi' awles might. 
 Full thirty pleughs, harnes'd in all their gear, 
 Could not his valiant noble heart make fear :
 
 lxxix 
 
 The same simplicity marked their dress and 
 arms. Patten observes, that in battle the laird 
 could not be distinguished from the serf: all wear- 
 ing the same coat armour, called a jack, and the 
 baron being only distinguished by his sleeves of 
 mail, and his head-piece. The borderers, in ge- 
 neral, acted as light cavalry, riding horses of a 
 small size, but astonishing]}' nimble, and trained 
 to move, by short bounds, through the morasses 
 with which Scotland abounds. Their offensive 
 weapons were, a lance of uncommon length ; a 
 sword, either two-handed, or of the modern light 
 size ; sometimes a species of battle-axe, called a 
 Jedburgh-stafF; and, latterly, dags, or pistols. Al- 
 though so much accustomed to act on horseback, 
 that they held it even mean to appear otherwise, 
 the marchmen occasionally acted as infantry; 
 nor were they inferior to the rest of Scotland in 
 forming that impenetrable phalanx of spears, where- 
 of it is said, by an English historian, that " sooner 
 
 But wi his sword, he cut the foremost's soam 
 In two ; and drove baith pleughs and pleughmen home. 
 1620, v 
 
 Soam means the iron links, which fasten a yoke of oxen to the 
 
 plough.
 
 lxxx 
 
 * shall a bare finger pierce through the skin of an 
 
 * angry hedge-hog, than any one encounter the 
 
 * brunt of their pikes." At the battle of Melrose, 
 for example, Buccleuch's army fought upon foot. 
 But the habits of the borderers fitted them parti- 
 cularly to distinguish themselves as light cavalry; 
 and hence the name of prickers and hobylers, so 
 frequently applied to them. At the blaze of their 
 beacon fires, they were wont to assemble ten thou- 
 sand horsemen in the course of a single day. Thus 
 rapid in their warlike preparations, they were alike 
 ready for attack and defeftce. Each individual 
 carried his own provisions, consisting of a small 
 bag of oatmeal, and trusted to plunder, or the 
 chace, for ekeing out his precarious meal.- Beauge 
 remarks, that nothing surprised the Scottish ca- 
 valry so much as to see their French auxiliaries en- 
 cumbered with baggage-waggons, and attended by 
 commissaries. Before joining battle, it seems to 
 have been the Scottish practice to set fire to the 
 litter of their camp, while, under cover of the 
 smoke, the hobylers, or border cavalry, executed 
 their manoeuvres. There is a curious account of 
 
 the battle of Mitton, fought in the year 1319, in 
 
 2
 
 lxxxi 
 
 a valuable MS. Chronicle of England, in the col- 
 lection of the Marquis of Douglas, from which 
 this stratagem seems to have decided the ensragre- 
 
 O CO 
 
 ment. * In meyn time, while the wer thus lastyd, 
 " the kynge went agane into Skotlonde, that hitte 
 ** was wonder for to wette, and bysechd the towne 
 {< of Barwick ; but the Skottes went over the water 
 " of Sold, that was iii myle from the hoste, and 
 (t prively they stole away be nyghte, and come 
 ** into England, and robbed and destroyed all that 
 
 * they myght, and spared no manner thing til that 
 ** they come to Yorke. And, whan the Englische- 
 " men, that were left at home, herd this tiding, 
 " all tho that myght well travell, so well monkys 
 
 * and priestis, and freres, and chanouns, and secu- 
 " lars, come and met with the Skottes at Mytone 
 ** of Swale, the xii day of October. Alias, for 
 " sorrow fortheEnglischemen ! housbondmen,that 
 " could nothing in wer, ther were quelled and 
 
 * drenchyd in an arm of the see. And hyr chyf- 
 " taines, Sir William Milton, ersch-biishop of 
 
 * Yorke, and the abbot of Selby, with her stedes, 
 
 * fled and com into Yorke ; and that was her 
 " owne folye that they had that mischaunce ; for 
 
 vol. i. f
 
 lxxxii 
 
 ct the passyd the water of Swale, and the Skottea 
 " set on fiir three stalkes of hey, and the smoke 
 " thereof was so huge, that the Englischemen 
 " might nott se the Scottes ; and whan the Eng- 
 ** lischemen were gon over the water, tho cam the 
 " Skottes, with hir wyng, in maner of a sheld, and 
 f come toward the Englischemen in ordour. And 
 " the Englischemen fled for unnethe they had 
 " any use of armes, for the kyng had hem al al- 
 " most lost att the sege of Barwick. And the 
 " Scotsmen hobylers went betwene the brigge and 
 
 * the Englischemen ; and when the gret hoste 
 
 * them met, the Englischemen fled between the 
 " hobylers and the gret hoste ; and the Englische- 
 u men wer ther quelled, and he that myght wend 
 " over the water were saved, but many were drown- 
 " ed. Alas! for there were slayn many men of 
 
 * religion, and seculars, and pristis, and clerks, 
 " and with much sorwe the erschbischope scaped 
 
 * from the Skottes ; and, therefore, the Skottes 
 
 * called that battell the White Battell." 
 
 For smaller predatory expeditions, the borderers 
 had signals, and places of rendezvous, peculiar to 
 each tribe. If the parly set forward before all the
 
 Ixxxiii 
 
 members had joined, a mark, cut in the turf, or on 
 the bark of a tree, pointed out to the stragglers 
 the direction which the main body had pursued.* 
 Their warlike convocations were, also, frequently 
 disguised, under pretence of meetings for the pur- 
 pose of sport. The game of foot-ball, in particu- 
 lar, which was anciently, and still continues to be, 
 a favourite border sport, was the means of collect- 
 ing together large bodies of moss-troopers, pre- 
 vious to any military exploit. When Sir Robert 
 Carey was warden of the east marches, the know- 
 ledge that there was a great match of foot-ball at 
 Kelso, to be frequented by the principal Scottish 
 riders, was sufficient to excite his vigilance and his 
 apprehension, f Previous also to the murder of 
 Sir John Carmichael (see Notes on the Raid of the 
 Heidswire,) it appeared at the trial of the perpetra-* 
 
 * In the parish of Linton, in Roxburghshire, there is a circle 
 of stones, surrounding a smooth plot of turf, called the Tryst, 
 or place of appointment, which tradition avers to have been 
 the rendezvous of the neighbouring warriors. The name of 
 the leader was cut in the turf, and the arrangement of the let- 
 ters announced to his followers the course which he had taken. 
 See Statistical Account of the Parish of Linton. 
 
 f See Appendix.
 
 lxxxiv 
 
 tors, that they had assisted at a grand foot-ball 
 meeting, where the crime was concerted. 
 
 Upon the religion of the borderers there can 
 very little be said. We have already noticed, that 
 they remained attached to the Roman Catholic 
 faith rather longer than the rest of Scotland. This 
 probably arose from a total indifference upon the 
 subject; for, we no where find in their character 
 the respect for the church, which is a marked fea- 
 ture of that religion. In 1528, Lord Dacre com- 
 plains heavily to Cardinal Wolsey, that, having 
 taken a notorious freebooter, called Dyk Irwen, the 
 brother and friends of the outlaw had, in retalia- 
 tion, seized a man of some property, and a rela- 
 tion of Lord Dacre, called Jeffrey Middleton, as 
 he returned from a pilgrimage to St Ninian's, in 
 Galloway ; and that, notwithstanding the sanctity 
 of his character, as a true pilgrim, and the Scottish 
 monarch's safe conduct, they continued to detain 
 him in their fastnesses, until he should redeem the 
 said arrant thief, Dyk Irwen. The abbeys, which 
 were planted upon the border, neither seem to 
 have been much respected by the English, nor by 
 the Scottish barons. They were repeatedly burn-
 
 lxxxv 
 
 ed by the former, in the course of the border wars, 
 and by the latter they seem to have been regarded 
 chiefly as the means of endowing a needy relation, 
 or the subject of occasional plunder. Thus, An- 
 drew Home of Fastcastle, about 1488, attempted 
 to procure a perpetual feu of certain possessions 
 belonging to the abbey of Coldinghame; and be- 
 ing baffled, by the king bestowing that opulent be- 
 nefice upon the royal chapel at Stirling, the Humes 
 and Hepburns started into rebellion ; asserting, 
 that the priory should be conferred upon some 
 younger son of their families, according to ancient 
 custom. After the fatal battle of Flodden, one 
 of the Kens testified his contempt for clerical 
 immunities and privileges, by expelling from his 
 house the abbot of Kelso. These bickerings be- 
 twixt the clergy and the barons were usually ex- 
 cited by disputes about their temporal interest. It 
 was common for the churchmen to grant lands in 
 feu to the neighbouring gentlemen, who, becoming 
 their vassals, were bound to assist and protect 
 them. * But, as the possessions and revenues of 
 
 * These vassals resembled, in some degree, the Vidames in 
 France, and the Vogten, or Vizedomen, of the German ab-
 
 lxxxvi 
 
 the benefices became thus intermixed with those 
 of the laity, any attempts rigidly to enforce the 
 claims of the church were usually attended by the 
 most scandalous disputes. A petty warfare was 
 carried on for years, betwixt James, abbot of Dry- 
 burgh, and the family of Halliburton of Mertoun, 
 or Newmains, who held some lands from that ab- 
 bey. These possessions were, under various pre- 
 texts, seized and laid waste by both parties ; and 
 some bloodshed took place in the contest, betwixt 
 the lay vassals and their spiritual superior. The 
 matter was, at length, thought of sufficient impor- 
 tance to be terminated by a reference to his ma- 
 jesty ; whose decree arbitral, dated at Stirling, the 
 8th of May, 1535, proceeds thus: u Whereas we, 
 
 * having been advised and knowing the said 
 
 * gentlemen, the Halliburtons, to be leal and true 
 " honest men, long servants unto the saide ab- 
 " beye, for the saide landis, stout men at armes, 
 " and goode borderers against Ingland ; and doe 
 
 * therefore decree and ordaine, that they sail be 
 
 beys ; but the system was never carried regularly into effect in 
 Britain, and this circumstance facilitated the dissolution of the 
 religious houses.
 
 lxxxvii 
 
 " repossess'd, and bruik and enjoy the landis and 
 f* steedings they had of the said abbeye, paying 
 " the use and wonte : and that they sail be goode 
 " servants to the said venerabil father, like as they 
 '< and their predecessours were to the said vene- 
 a rabil father, and his predecessours, and he a good 
 " master to them."* It is unnecessary to detain 
 4he reader with other instances of the discord, which 
 prevailed anciently upon the borders, betwixt the 
 spiritual shepherd and his untractable flock. 
 
 The reformation was late of finding its way into 
 the border wilds; for, while the religious aud civil 
 dissentions were at the height in 1568, Drury 
 
 * This decree was followed by a marriage betwixt the ab- 
 bot's daughter, Elizabeth Stewart, and Walter Halliburton, 
 one of the family of Newmains. But even this alliance did not 
 secure peace between the venerable father and his vassals. The 
 offspring of the marriage was an only daughter, named Eliza- 
 beth Halliburton. As this young lady was her father's heir, 
 the Halliburtons resolved that she should marry one of her 
 cousins, to keep her property in the clan. But as this did not 
 suit the views of the abbot, he carried off by force the intend- 
 ed bride, and married her, at Stirling, to Alexander Erskine, 
 a brother of the laird of Balgony, a relation and follower of 
 his own. From this marriage sprung the Erskines of Shielfield. 
 This exploit of the abbot revived the feud betwixt him and the 
 Halliburtons, which only ended with the dissolution of the ab- 
 bey. MS. History of Halliburton Family, penes editorem..
 
 lxxxviii 
 
 writes to Cecil, " Our trusty neighbours of Te- 
 * viotdale are holden occupied only^to attend to 
 " the pleasure and calling of their own heads, to 
 " make some diversion in this matter." The in- 
 fluence of the reformed preachers, among the bor- 
 ders, seems also to have been but small ; for, upon 
 all occasions of dispute with the kirk, James VI. 
 was wont to call in their assistance. Calderwood, 
 p. 129. 
 
 We learn from a curious passage in the life of 
 Richard Cameron, a fanatical preacher during the 
 time of what is called the ! persecution," thatsome 
 of the borderers retained to a late period their 
 indifference about religious matters. After having 
 been licensed at Haughhead, in Teviotdale, he 
 was, according to his biographer, sent first to 
 preach in Annandale. m He said, ' how can I go 
 " there ? I know what sort of people they are.' 
 
 * But,' Mr Welch said, f go your way, Ritchie, 
 
 * and set the fire of hell to their tails." He went; 
 " and, the first day, he preached upon that text, 
 " How shall 1 put thee among the children, &c. In 
 u the application he said, ' Put you among the 
 " children ! the offspring of thieves and robbers i
 
 Ixxxix 
 
 f* we have all heard of Annandale thieves/ Some 
 " of them got a merciful cast that day, and told 
 r* afterwards, that it was the first field meeting they 
 " ever attended, and that they went out of mere 
 " curiosity, to see a minister preach in a tent, 
 f and people sit on the ground." Life of Rich- 
 ard Cameron.* 
 
 Cleland, an enthusiastic Cameronian, lieutenant- 
 colonel of the regiment levied after the revolution 
 from among that wild and fanatical sect, claims to 
 the wandering preachers of his tribe the merit of 
 converting the borderers. He introduces a cava- 
 lier, haranguing the Highlanders, and ironically 
 thus guarding them against the fanatic divines : 
 
 If their doctrine there get rooting, 
 
 Then, farewell theift, the best of booting. 
 
 And this ye see is very clear, 
 
 Dayly experience makes it appear; 
 
 For instance, lately on the borders, 
 
 Where there was nought but theft and murders, 
 
 Rapine, cheating, and resetting, 
 
 Slight of hand, fortunes getting, 
 
 * This man waa chaplain in the family of Sir Walter Scott 
 of Harden, who attended the meetings of the indulged presby- 
 terians; but Cameron, considering this conduct as a compro- 
 mise with the foul fiend Episcopacy, was dismissed from the 
 family. He was slain in a skirmish at Airdsmoss, bequeathing 
 his name to the sect of fanatics, still called Cameronians.
 
 xc 
 
 Their designation, as ye keu, 
 Was all along the Tacking Men. 
 Now, rebels more prevails with words, 
 Then drawgoons does with guns and swords, 
 So that their bare preaching now 
 Makes the rush-bush keep the cow; 
 Better than Scots or English kings, 
 Could do by kilting them with strings. 
 Yea, t hose that were the greatest rogues, 
 Follows them over hills and bogues, 
 Crying for mercy and for preaching, 
 For they'll now hear no others teaching." 
 
 CldaiuTs Poems, 1697, p. 30. 
 
 The poet of the Whigs might exaggerate the 
 success of their teachers; yet it must be owned, 
 that the doctrine of insubordination, joined to 
 their vagrant and lawless habits, was calculated 
 strongly to conciliate their border hearers. 
 
 But, though the church, in the border counties, 
 attracted little veneration, no part of Scotland 
 teemed with superstitious fears and observances 
 more than they did. " The Dalesmen,"* says 
 Lesley, " never count their beads with such ear- 
 
 An epithet bestowed upon the borderers, from the names 
 of their various districts; as Tiviotdale, Liddcsdale, Eskdale, 
 Ewsdale, Annandale, &c Hence, an old Ballad distinguishes 
 the north as the country, 
 
 " Where every river gives name to a dale." 
 
 Ex-ale-tation ofAl&
 
 XC1 
 
 " nestness as when they set out upon a predatory 
 " expedition." Penances, the composition be- 
 twixt guilt and conscience, were also frequent upon 
 the borders. Of this we have a record in many 
 bequests to the church, and in some more last- 
 ing monuments; such as the Tower of Repent- 
 ance, in Dumfries-shire, and, according to vulgar 
 tradition, the church of Linton,* in Roxburgh- 
 shire. In the Appendix to this Introduction, No. 
 IV., the reader will find a curious league, or treaty 
 of peace, betwixt two hostile clans, by which the 
 heads of each became bound to make the four pil- 
 'grimages of Scotland, for the benefit of the souls 
 of those of the opposite clan, who had fallen in 
 the feud. These were superstitions, flowing im- 
 
 * This small church is founded upon a little hill of sand, in 
 which no stone of the size of an egg is said to have been found, 
 although the neighbouring soil is sharp and gravelly. Tradition 
 accounts for this, by informing us, that the foundresses were 
 two sisters, upon whose account much blood had been spilt in 
 that spot ; and that the penance, imposed on the fair causers 
 of the slaughter, was an order from the pope to sift the sand 
 of the hill, upon which their church was. to be erected. This 
 story may, perhaps, have some foundation ; for, in the church- 
 yard was discovered a single grave, containing no fewer than 
 fifty skulls, most of which bore the marks of having been cleft 
 by violence.
 
 XCI1 
 
 mediately from the nature of the Catholic reli- 
 gion : but there was, upon the border, no lack of 
 others of a more general nature. Such was the 
 universal belief in spells, of which some traces 
 may yet remain in the wild parts of the country. 
 These were common in the time of the learned 
 Bishop Nicolson, who derives them from the time 
 of the Pagan Danes. * This conceit was the more 
 
 * heightened, by reflecting upon the natural su- 
 " perstition of our borderers at this day, who were 
 tf much better acquainted with, and do more firm- 
 " ly believe, their old legendary stories, of fairies 
 
 * and witches, than the articles of their creed. 
 " And to convince me, yet farther, that they are 
 " not utter strangers to the black art of their fore- 
 
 * fathers, I met with a gentleman in the neigh- 
 " bourhood, who shewed me a book of spells, and 
 " magical receipts, taken, two or three days be- 
 " fore, in the pocket of one of our moss-troopers-; 
 " wherein, among many other conjuring feats, was 
 ** prescribed a certain remedy for an ague, by ap- 
 '* plying a few barbarous characters to the body 
 " of the party distempered. These, raethought, 
 " were very near a-kin to Wormius's Ram Runer,
 
 XC111 
 
 " which, he says, differed wholly in figure and 
 " shape from the common runa. For, though he 
 " tells us that these Ram Runer were so called, 
 ** Eo quod molestias, dolores, morbosque hisce infligere 
 " inimicis soliti sunt magi; yet his great friend, Arng. 
 " Jonas, more to our purpose, says, that His 
 " etiam usi sunt ad benefaciendum, juvandum, medi- 
 u candum tamanimi quam corporis morbis ; atquead 
 " ipsos cacodamones pellendos et fugandos. I shall 
 u not trouble you with a draught of this spell, be- 
 " cause I have not yet had an opportunity of learn- 
 " ing whether it may not be an ordinary one, and 
 <e to be met with, among others of the same na- 
 " ture, in Paracelsus, or Cornelius Agrippa." 
 Letter from Bishop Nicolson to Mr Walker; vide 
 Camden's Britannia, Cumberland. Even in the edi- 
 tor's younger days, he can remember the currency 
 of certain spells, for curing sprains, burns, or dis- 
 locations, to which popular credulity ascribed un- 
 failing efficacy. * Charms, however, against spiri- 
 
 * Among these may be reckoned the supposed influence of 
 Irish earth, in curing the poison of adders, or other venomous 
 reptiles. This virtue is extended by popular credulity to the na- 
 tives, and even to the animals, of Hibernia. A gentleman, bit- 
 ten by some reptile, so as to occasion a great swelling, sen-
 
 XC1V 
 
 lual enemies, were yet more common than those 
 intended to cure corporeal complaints. This is 
 not surprising, as a fantastic remedy well suited an 
 imaginary disease. 
 
 There were, upon the borders, many consecra- 
 ted wells, for resorting to which the people's cre- 
 dulity is severely censured, by a worthy physician 
 of the seventeenth century ; who himself believed 
 in a shower of living herrings having fallen near 
 Dumfries, f Many run superstitiously to other 
 " wells, and there obtain, as they imagine, health 
 " and advantage ; and there they offer bread and 
 " cheese, or money, by throwing them into the 
 
 * well." In another part of the MS. occurs the 
 following passage. * In the bounds of the lands 
 
 * of Eccles, belonging to a lyneage of the name 
 " of Maitland, there is a loch called the Dowloch, 
 " of old resorted to with much superstition, asme- 
 a dicinal both for men and beasts, 'and that with 
 " such ceremonies, asaresArra^/ysuspected tohave 
 u been begun with witchcraft, and increased after- 
 " ward by magical directions : For, burying of a 
 
 ously assured the editor, that he ascribed his cure to putting 
 the affected finger into the mouth of an Irish mare !
 
 xCv 
 
 ** cloth, or somewhat that did relate to the bodies 
 " of men and women, and a shackle, or teather, 
 " belonging to cow or horse, and these being cast 
 * into the loch, if they did float, it was taken for 
 " a good omen of recovery, and a part of the wa* 
 " ter carried to the patient, though to remote 
 " places, without saluting or speaking to any they 
 u met by the way ; but, if they did sink, the re- 
 " covery of the party was hopeless. This custom 
 " was of late much curbed and restrained ; but 
 (e since the discovery of many medicinal fountains 
 " near to the place, the vulgar, holding that it 
 " may be as medicinal as these are, at this time 
 " begin to re-assume their former practice." Ac- 
 count of Presbytery of Penpont, in Macfarlane's 
 MSS. 
 
 The idea, that the spirits of the deceased return 
 to haunt the place, where on earth they have suf- 
 fered, or have rejoiced, is, as Dr Johnson has ob- 
 served, common to the popular creed of all na- 
 tions. The just and noble sentiment, implanted in 
 our bosoms by the Deity, teaches us, that we shall 
 not slumber for ever, as the beasts that perish. 
 Human vanity, or credulity, chequers, with its
 
 XCV1 
 
 own inferior and base colours, the noble prospect, 
 which is alike held out to us by philosophy and by 
 religion. We feel, according to the ardent ex- 
 pression of the poet, that we shall not wholly 
 die; but from hence we vainly and weakly argue, 
 that the same scenes, the same passions, shall de- 
 light and actuate the disembodied spirit, which af- 
 fected it while in its tenement of clay. Hence 
 the popular belief, that the soul haunts the spot 
 where the murdered body is interred ; that its ap- 
 pearances are directed to bring down vengeance 
 on its murderers ; or that, having left it3 terres- 
 trial form in a distant clime, it glides before its 
 former friends, a pale spectre, to warn them of its 
 decease. Such tales, the foundation of which is 
 an argument from our present feelings to those of 
 the spiritual world, form the broad and universal 
 basis of the popular superstition regarding depart- 
 ed spirits; against which, reason has striven in 
 vain, and universal experience has offered a disre* 
 garded testimony. These legends are peculiarly 
 acceptable to barbarous tribes ; and, on the bor- 
 ders, they were received with most unbounded 
 faith. It is true, that these supernatural adversa-
 
 XCV11 
 
 ries were no longer opposed by the sword and bat- 
 tle-axe, as among the unconverted Scandinavians. 
 Prayers, spells, and exorcisms, particularly in the 
 Greek and Hebrew languages, were the weapons 
 of the borderers, or rather of their priests and cun- 
 ning men, against their aerial enemy. # The be- 
 
 * One of the most noted apparitions is supposed to haunt 
 Spedlin's castle, near Lochmaben, the ancient baronial resi- 
 dence of the Jardines of Applegirth. It is said, that, in exer- 
 cise of his territorial jurisdiction, one of the ancient lairds had 
 imprisoned, in the Massy More, or dungeon of the castle, a 
 person named Porteous. Being called suddenly to Edinburgh, 
 the laird discovered, as he entered the West Port, that he had 
 brought along with him the key of the dungeon. Struck with 
 the utmest horror, he sent back his servant to relieve the pri- 
 soner; but it was too. late. The wretched being was found 
 lying upon the steps descending from the door of the vault' 
 starved to death. In the agonies of hunger, he had gnawed 
 the flesh from one of his arms. That his spectre should haunt 
 the castle, was a natural consequence of such a tragedy. In- 
 deed, its visits became so frequent, that a clergyman of emi- 
 nence was employed to exorcise it. After a contest of twenty- 
 four hours, the man of art prevailed so far as to confine the 
 goblin to the Massy More of the- castle, where its shrieks and 
 cries are still heard. A part, at least, of the spell, depends 
 upon the preservation of the ancient black-lettered bible, em- 
 ployed by the exorcist. It was some years ago thought neces- 
 sary to have this bible re-bound ; but, as soon as it was remo- 
 ved from the castle, the spectre commenced his nocturnal or- 
 gies, with ten-fold noise ; and it is verily believed that he would 
 have burst from his confinement, had not the sacred volume 
 been speedily replaced. 
 
 A Mass John Scott, minister of Peebles, is reported to have 
 
 VOL. I, R
 
 xcvm 
 
 lief in ghosts, which has heen well termed the last 
 lingering phantom of superstition, still maintains 
 its ground upon the borders. 
 
 It is unnecessary to mention the superstitious 
 belief in witchcraft, which gave rise to so much 
 cruelty and persecution during the seventeenth 
 century. There were several executions upon the 
 borders for this imaginary crime, which was usu- 
 ally tried not by the ordinary judges, but by a set 
 
 been the last renowned exorciser, and to have lost his life in a 
 contest with an obstinate spirit. This was owing to the con- 
 ceited rashness of a young clergyman, who commenced the 
 ceremony of laying the ghost before the arrival of Mass John. 
 It is the nature, it seems, of spirits disembodied, as well as 
 embodied, to increase in strength and presumption, in propor- 
 tion to the advantages which they may gain over the opponent. 
 The young clergyman losing courage, the horrors of the scene 
 were increased to such a degree, that, as Mass John approach- 
 ed the house in which it passed, he beheld the slates and tiles 
 flying from the roof, as if dispersed by a whirlwind. At his 
 entry, he perceived all the wax-tapers (the most essential in- 
 struments of conjuration) extinguished, except one, which al- 
 ready burned blue in the socket. The arrival of the experien- 
 ced sage changed the scene : he brought the spirit to reason ; 
 but unfortunately, while addressing a word of advice or cen- 
 sure to his rash brother, he permitted the ghost to obtain the 
 last word ; a circumstance which, in all colloquies of this na- 
 ture, is strictly to be guarded against. This fatal oversight oc- 
 casioned his falling into a lingering disorder of which he never 
 recovered. 
 
 A curious poem, upon the laying of a ghost, forms article 
 No. V. of the Appendix. 
 
 6
 
 XC1X 
 
 of country gentlemen, acting under commission 
 from the privy council. * 
 
 Besides these grand articles of superstitious be- 
 lief, the creed of the borderers admitted the exist- 
 ence of sundry classes of subordinate spirits, to 
 whom were assigned peculiar employments. The 
 chief of these were the Fairies, concerning whom 
 the reader will find a long dissertation, in Volume 
 Second. The Brownie formed a class of beings, 
 distinct in habit and disposition from the freakish 
 and mischievous elves. He was meagre, shaggy, 
 and wild in his appearance. Thus Cleland, in his 
 satire against the Highlanders, compares them to 
 
 u Faunes, or Brownies, if ye will, 
 Or satyres come from Atlas Hill." 
 
 In the day time, he lurked in remote recesses of 
 the old houses which he delighted to haunt ; and, 
 in the night, sedulously employed himself in dis- 
 charging any laborious task which he thought 
 might be acceptable to the family, to whose ser- 
 vice he had devoted himself. His name is pro- 
 
 * I have seen, penes Hugh Scott, Esq. of Harden, the record 
 of the trial of a witch, who was burned at Ducove. She was 
 tried in the manner above mentioned.
 
 bably derived from the Portuni, whom Gervase 
 of Tilbury describes thus : Ecce enim in Jnglia 
 " damones quosdam habent, damones, inquam, nescio 
 " dixerim, an secrete et ignotee generation^ effigies, 
 " quos Galli Neptunos, Angli Portunos nominant. 
 " Istis insitum est quod simplicitatem fortunatorum 
 " colonorum amplectuntur, et cum noctumas propter 
 " domestic as operas agunt vigilias,subito clausisjanuis 
 " ad ignem califiunt, et rariunculas ex siuu projectas, 
 " prunis impositas conccdunt, senili vultu, facie corru- 
 " gala, statura pusilli, dimidium poliicis non ha ben* 
 " tes. Panuiculis concertis induuntur, et si quid ges- 
 " tandum in domofuerit, aut onerosi operis agendum, 
 " ad operandum sejungunt citius humana facilitate 
 " expediunt. Id Hits insitum est, ut obsequi possint et 
 " obesse non possiut." Qtia. Imp. p. 980. In every 
 respect, saving only the feeding upon frogs, which 
 was probably an attribute of the Gallic spirits alone, 
 the above description corresponds with that of the 
 Scottish Brownie. But the latter, although, like 
 Milton's lubbar fiend, he loves to stretch himself 
 by the fire, * does not drudge from the hope of 
 
 * how the drudging goblin swet, 
 To earn the cream-bowl, duly set ;
 
 CI 
 
 iecompence. On the contrary, so delicate is his 
 attachment, that the offer of reward, but particu- 
 larly of food, infallibly occasions his disappear- 
 ance for ever. * We learn from Olaus Magnus, 
 
 When, in one night, ere glimpse of morn, 
 His shadowy flail had thresh'd the corn, 
 That ten day-lab'rers could not end; 
 Then lies him down the lubbar fiend, 
 And, stretch'd out all the chimney's length, 
 Basks at the fire his hairy strength ; 
 And, crop-full, out of doors he flings, 
 E'er the first cock his mattin rings. 
 
 L'AIlegro. 
 
 When the menials in a Scottish family protracted their vigils 
 around the kitchen fire, Brownie, weary of being excluded from 
 the midnight hearth, sometimes appeared at the door, seemed 
 to watch their departure, and thus admonished them " Gang 
 " a' to your beds, sirs, and dinna put out the wee grieshock 
 " (embers.)" 
 
 * It is told of a Brownie, who haunted a border family, now 
 extinct, that the lady having fallen unexpectedly in labour, and 
 the servant, who was ordered to ride to Jedburgh for the sage 
 femme, shewing no great alertness in setting out, the familiar 
 spirit slipt on the great-coat of the lingering domestic, rode to 
 the town on the laird's best horse, and returned with the mid- 
 wife en croupe. Dnring the short space of his absence, the 
 Tweed, which they must necessarily ford, rose to a dangerous 
 height. Brownie, who transported his charge with all the ra- 
 pidity of the ghostly lover of Lenorz, was not to be stopped by 
 this obstacle. He plunged in with the terrified old lady, and 
 landed her in safety where her services were wanted. Having 
 put the horse into the stable (where it was afterwards found in 
 a woeful plight), he proceeded to the room of the servant,
 
 Cll 
 
 that spirits, somewhat similar in their operations 
 to the Brownie, were supposed to haunt the Swe- 
 dish mines. The passage, in the translation of 
 1658, runs thus : " This is collected in briefe, that 
 " in northerne kingdomes there are great armies 
 " of devils, that have their services, which they 
 
 * perform with the inhabitants of these countries : 
 
 * but they are most frequent in rocks and mines, 
 " where they break, cleave, and make them hol- 
 " low : which also thrust in pitchers and buckets, 
 " and carefully fit wheels and screws, whereby they 
 
 whose duty he had discharged; and, finding him just in the 
 act of drawing on his boots, he administered to him a most 
 merciless drubbing with his own horse-whip. Such an impor- 
 tant service excited the gratitude of the laird; who, under- 
 standing that Brownie had been heard to express a wish to 
 have a green coat, ordered a vestment of that colour to be 
 made, and left in his haunts. Brownie took away the green 
 coat, but was never seen more. We may suppose, that tired 
 of his domestic drudgery, he went in his new livery to join the 
 fairies. See Appendix, No. VI. 
 
 The last Brownie, known in Ettrick forest, resided in Bods- 
 beck, a wild and solitary spot, where he exercised his func- 
 tions undisturbed, till the scrupulous devotion of an old lady 
 induced her to hire him away, as it was termed, by placing in 
 his haunt a porringer of milk and a piece of money. After re- 
 ceiving this hint to depart, he was heard the whole night to 
 howl and cry, " Farewell to bonny Bodebeck !" which he was 
 compelled to abandon for ever.
 
 cm 
 
 " are drawn upwards ; and they shew themselves 
 u to the labourers, when they list, like phantasms 
 " and ghosts." It seems no improbable conjecture, 
 that the Brownie is a legitimate descendant of the 
 Lar Familiarh of the ancients. 
 
 A being, totally distinct from those hitherto 
 mentioned, is the Bogle, or Goblin; a freakish 
 spirit, who delights rather to perplex and frighten 
 mankind, than either to serve, or seriously to hurt, 
 them. This is the Esprit Follet of the French ; 
 and Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, though enlisted 
 by Shakespeare among the fairy band of Oberon, 
 properly belongs to this class of phantoms. Shel- 
 lycoaty a spirit, who resides in the waters, and has 
 given his name to many a rock and stone upon 
 the Scottish coast, belongs also to the class of 
 bogles. * When he appeared, he seemed to be 
 
 * One of his pranks is thus narrated : Two men, in a very 
 dark night, approaching the banks of the Ettrick, heard a dole- 
 ful voice from its waves repeatedly exclaim " Lost! Lost !" 
 They followed the sound, which seemed to be the voice of a 
 drowning person, and, to their infinite astonishment, they 
 found that it ascended the river. Still they continued, during 
 a long and tempestuous night, to follow the cry of the malici- 
 ous sprite ; and arriving, before morning's dawn, at the very 
 sources of the river, the voice was now heard descending the
 
 CIV 
 
 decked with marine productions, and, in particu- 
 lar, with shells, whose clattering announced his 
 approach. From this circumstance he derived his 
 name. He may, perhaps, be identified with the 
 goblin of the northern English, which, in the 
 towns and cities, Durham and Newcastle for ex- 
 ample, had the name of Barguest ;* but, in the 
 country villages, was more frequently termed Brag. 
 He usually ended his mischievous frolics with a 
 horse-laugh. 
 
 Shellycoat must not be confounded with Kelpy, 
 a water spirit also, but of a much more powerful 
 and malignant nature. His attributes have been 
 the subject of a poem in Lowland Scottish, by 
 the learned Dr Jamieson of Edinburgh, which 
 adorns the third volume of this collection. Of 
 
 opposite side of the mountain in which they arise. The fatigued 
 and deluded travellers now relinquished the pursuit ; and had 
 no sootier done so, than they heard Shellycoat applauding, in 
 loud bursts of laughter, his successful roguery. The spirit was 
 supposed particularly to haunt the old house of Gorinberry, 
 situated on the river Hermitage, in Liddesdale. 
 
 * This is a sort of spirit peculiar to those towns. He has 
 made his appearance in this very year (1809) in that of York, 
 if the vulgar may be credited. His nnme is derived by Grose, 
 from his appearing near bars or stiles, but seems rather to 
 come from the German Bakr-Geist, 01 Spirit of the Bier.
 
 cv 
 
 Kelpy, therefore, it is unnecessary to say any thing 
 at present. 
 
 Of all these classes of spirits it may be, in ge- 
 neral, observed, that their attachment was suppo- 
 sed to be local, and not personal. They haunted 
 the rock, the stream, the ruined castle, without 
 regard to the persons or families to whom the pro- 
 perty belonged. Hence, they differed entirely from 
 that species of spirits, to whom, in the Highlands, 
 is ascribed the guardianship, or superintendance 
 of a particular clan, or family of distinction ; and 
 who, perhaps yet more than the Brownie, resem- 
 ble the classic household gods. Thus, in a MS. 
 history of Moray, we are informed, that the fa- 
 mily of Gurlinbeg is haunted by a spirit, called 
 Garlin Bodacher ; that of the baron of Kinchar- 
 din, by Lamhdearg, * or Tted-hand, a spectre, one 
 of whose hands is as red as blood ; that of Tul- 
 
 * The following notice of Lamhdearg occurs in another ac- 
 count of Strathspey, apud Macfarlane's MSS. : " There is 
 " much talke of a spirit called Ly-erg, who frequents the Glen- 
 " more. He appears with a red hand, in the habit of a soul- 
 " dier, and challenges men to fight with him ; as lately as 1669, 
 * he fought with three brothers, one after another, who imme- 
 " diately died thereafter,"
 
 CV1 
 
 lochgorni, by May Moulach, a female figure, whose 
 left hand and arm were covered with hair, who is 
 also mentioned in Aubreys Miscellanies, pp. 211, 
 212, as a familiar attendant upon the clan Grant. 
 These superstitions were so ingrafted in the popu- 
 lar creed, that the clerical synods and presbyteries 
 were wont to take cognizance of them.* 
 
 Various other superstitions,regarding magicians, 
 spells, prophecies, &c, will claim our attention in 
 the progress of this work. For the present, there- 
 fore, taking the advice of an old Scottish rhymer, 
 let us 
 
 u Leave bogles, brownies, gyre carlinges, and ghaists." f 
 
 Flyting of Polzcart and Montgomery. 
 
 * There is current, in some parts of Germany, a fanciful su- 
 perstition concerning the Stille Volke, or silent people. These 
 they suppose to be attached to houses of eminence, and to con- 
 iist of a number, corresponding to that of the mortal family, 
 each person of which has thus his representative amongst these 
 domestic spirits. When the lady of the family has a child, the 
 queen of the silent people is delivered in the same moment. 
 They endeavour to give warning when danger approaches the 
 family, assist in warding it off, and are sometimes seen to 
 weep and wring their hands, before inevitable calamity. 
 p f So generally were those tales of diablerie believed, that 
 one William Lithgow, a bon vivant, who appears to have been 
 a native, or occasional inhabitant, of Melrose, is celebrated by 
 the pot companion who composed his elegy, because 
 
 lie wai good company at jeists,
 
 CVll 
 
 The domestic economy of the borderers next 
 engages our attention. That the revenue of the 
 chieftain should be expended in rude hospitality, 
 was the natural result of his situation. His wealth 
 consisted chiefly in herds of cattle, which were 
 consumed by the kinsmen, vassals, and followers, 
 who aided him to acquire and to protect them. * 
 
 And wanton when he came to feists. 
 He scorn'd the converse of great beasts, 
 
 O'er a sheep's head ; 
 
 He laugh'd at stories about ghaists ; 
 
 Blyth Willie's dead ! 
 
 Watson's Scottish Poems, Edin. 1706. 
 * We may form some idea of the stile of life maintained by 
 die border warriors, from the anecdotes, handed down by tra- 
 dition, concerning Walter Scott of Harden, who flourished to- 
 wards the middle of the sixteenth century. This ancient laird 
 was a renowned freebooter, and used to ride with a numerous 
 band of followers. The spoil, which they carried off from 
 England, or from their neighbours, was concealed in a deep 
 and impervious glen, on the brink of which the old tower of 
 Harden was situated. From thence the cattle were brought 
 outj one by one, as they were wanted, to supply the rude and 
 plentiful table of the laird. When the last bullock was killed 
 and devoured, it was the lady's custom to place on the table a 
 dish, which, on being uncovered, was found to contain a pair 
 of clean spurs ; a hint to the riders, that they must shift for 
 their next meal. Upon one occasion, when the village herd 
 was driving out the cattle to pasture, the old laird heard him call 
 loudly to drive out Harden'S cow. " Harden' 's cow /" echoed 
 the affronted chief " Is it come to that pass ? by my faith 
 " they shall sune say Harden's kye" (cows.) Accordingly, he
 
 CVUl 
 
 We learn from Lesley, that the borderers were 
 temperate in the use of intoxicating liquors, and 
 we are therefore left to conjecture how they oc- 
 cupied the time, when winter, or when accident, 
 
 sounded his bugle, mounted his horse, set out with his fol- 
 lowers, and returned next day with " a bow of kye, and a bas- 
 " sen'd (brindled) bulL" On his return with this gallant prey, 
 he passed a very large hay-stack. It occurred to the provident 
 laird, that this would be extremely convenient to fodder his 
 new stock of cattle; but as no means of transporting it occur- 
 red, he was fain to take leave of it with this apostrophe, now 
 proverbial : " By my soul, had ye hut four feet, ye should not 
 ** stand lang there." In short, as Froissart says of a similar 
 class of feudal robbers, nothing came amiss to them, that was 
 not too heavy, or too hot. The same mode of house-keeping 
 characterized most border families on both sides. A MS. 
 quoted in History of Cumberland, p. 466, concerning the 
 Grammes of Netherby, and others of that clan, runs thus : 
 " They were all stark moss-troopers and arrant thieves : both 
 " to England and Scotland outlawed : yet sometimes connived 
 " at, because they gave intelligence forth of Scotland, and 
 " would raise 400 horse at any time, upon a raid of the Eng- 
 " lish into Scotland." A saying is recorded of a mother to 
 her son (which is now become proverbial), " Ride Rou/y (Row- 
 land), hough's i' the pot ;" that is, the last piece of beef was in 
 the pot, and therefore it was high time for him to go and 
 fetch more. To such men might with justice be applied the 
 poet's description of the Cretan warrior; translated by my 
 friend, Dr Lcydcn : 
 
 My sword, my spear, my shaggy shield, 
 
 With these I till, with these I sow ; 
 With these I reap my harvest field, 
 
 The only wealth the Gods bestow.
 
 cix 
 
 confined them to their habitations. The little 
 learning, which existed in the middle ages, glim- 
 mered a dim and dying flame in the religious 
 houses ; and even in the sixteenth century, when 
 its beams became more widely diffused, they were 
 far from penetrating the recesses of the border 
 mountains. The tales of tradition, the song, with 
 the pipe or harp of the minstrel, were probably 
 the sole resources against ennui, during the short 
 intervals of repose from military adventure. 
 
 This brings us to the more immediate subject 
 of the present publication. 
 
 Lesley, who dedicates to the description of bor- 
 der manners a chapter, which we have already 
 often quoted, notices particularly the taste of the 
 marchmen for music and ballad poetry. a Placent 
 " admodum sibi sua musica, et rythmicis suis cantio- 
 
 With these I plant the purple vine, 
 With these I press the luscious wine. 
 
 My sword, my spear, my shaggy shield. 
 
 They make me lord of all below ; 
 For he who dreads the lance to wield, 
 
 Before, my shaggy shield must bow. 
 His lands, his vineyards, must resign, 
 And all that cowards have is mine. 
 
 Hybrias (op. Atherufum.)
 
 ex 
 
 " nibtts, quas dc majorum suorum gestis, aut ingmio- 
 " sis predandi precandive stratagematis ipsi confin- 
 '' unt" Leslaeus, in capitulo de morbis eorum, qui 
 Scotia limites Angliam versus incolunt. The more 
 rude and wild the state of society, the more gene- 
 ral and violent is the impulse received from poetry 
 and music. The muse, whose effusions are the 
 amusement of a very small part of a polished na- 
 tion, lecords, in the laws of inspiration, the his- 
 tory, the laws, the very religion, of savages. 
 Where the pen and the press are wanting, the 
 flow of numbers impresses upon the memory of 
 posterity, the deeds and sentiments of their fore- 
 fathers. Verse is naturally connected with music ; 
 and, among a rude people, the union is seldom 
 broken. By this natural alliance, the lays, "steep- 
 " ed in the stream of harmony," are more easily 
 retained by the reciter, and produce upon his au- 
 dience a more impressive effect. Hence, there 
 has hardly been found to exist a nation so brutish- 
 )y rude, as not to listen with enthusiasm to the 
 songs of their bards, recounting the exploits of 
 their forefathers, recording their laws and moral 
 precepts, or hymning the praises of their deities.
 
 CXI 
 
 But, where the feelings are frequently stretched 
 to the highest pitch, by the vicissitudes of a life of 
 danger and military adventure, this predisposition 
 of a savage people, to admire their own rude poetry 
 and music, is heightened, and its tone becomes 
 peculiarly determined. It is not the peaceful Hindu 
 at his loom, it is not the timid Esquimaux in his 
 canoe, whom we must expect to glow at the war 
 song of Tyrtaeus. The music and the poetry of 
 each country must keep pace with their usual tone 
 of mind, as well as with the state of society. 
 
 The morality of their compositions is determined 
 by the same circumstances. Those themes are 
 necessarily chosen by the bard, which regard the 
 favourite exploits of the hearers ; and he celebrates 
 only those virtues, which from infancy he has been 
 taught to admire. Hence, as remarked by Lesley, 
 the music and songs of the borders were of a mili- 
 tary nature, and celebrated the valour and success 
 of their predatory expeditions. Razing, like Shake- 
 speare's pirate, the eighth commandment from the 
 decalogue, the minstrels praised their chieftains 
 for the very exploits, against which the laws of 
 the country denounced a capital doom. An out-
 
 CX11 
 
 lawed freebooter was to them a more interesting 
 person, than the King of Scotland exerting his 
 power to punish his depredations ; and, when the 
 characters are contrasted, the latter is always re- 
 presented as a ruthless and sanguinary tyrant. 
 Spenser's description of the bards of Ireland ap- 
 plies, in some degree, to our ancient border poets. 
 " There is, among the Irish, a certain kinde of 
 " people, called bardes, which are to them instead 
 " of poets; whose profession is to set forth the 
 * praises or dispraises of men, in their poems or 
 " rhymes; the which are had in such high regard 
 " or esteem amongst them, that none dare dis- 
 " please them, for fear of running into reproach 
 " through their offence, and to be made infamous 
 " in the mouths of all men ; for their verses are 
 " taken up with a general applause, and usually 
 " sung at all feasts and meetings, by certain other 
 " persons, whose proper function that is, who also 
 " receive, for the same, great rewardes and repu- 
 " tation amongst them." Spenser, having bestow- 
 ed due praise upon the poets, who sung the 
 praises of the good and virtuous, informs us, that 
 the bards, on the contrary, " seldom use to chuse
 
 cxiii 
 
 a unto themselves the doings of good men for the 
 " arguments of their poems ; but whomsoever they 
 4 <( finde to be most licentious of life, most bold and 
 f lawless in his doings, most dangerous and despe- 
 " rate in all parts of disobedience, and rebellious 
 " disposition, him they set up and glorify in their 
 
 rhythmes ; him they praise to the people, and to 
 (t young men make an example to follow." Eu~ 
 doxus " I marvail what kind of speeches they 
 " can find, or what faces they can put on, to praise 
 
 * such bad persons, as live so lawlessly and licen- 
 " tiously upon stealths and spoyles, as most of 
 " them do ; or how they can think, that any good 
 " mind will applaud or approve the same." In an- 
 swer to this question, Irenaus, after remarking the 
 giddy and restless disposition of the ill educated 
 youth of Ireland, which made them prompt to re- 
 ceive evil counsel, adds, that such a person, " if 
 " he shall find any to praise him, and to give him 
 " any encouragement, as those bards and rhyth- 
 " mers do, for little reward, or a share of a stolen 
 " cow, * then waxeth he most insolent, and half- 
 
 * The reward of the Welch bards, and perhaps of those 
 upon the border, was very similar. It was enacted by Howel 
 
 VOL. I. h
 
 CX1V 
 
 " mad, with the love of himself and his own lewd 
 
 * deeds. And as for words to set forth such lewd- 
 " ness, it is not hard for them to give a goodly 
 
 * and painted show thereunto, borrowed even from 
 " the praises which are proper to virtue itself. As 
 " of a most notorious thief, and wicked outlaw, 
 " which had lived all his life-time of spoils and 
 " robberies, one of their bardes, in his praise, will 
 " say, * that he was none of the idle milk-sops 
 " that was brought up by their fire-side, but that 
 " most of his days he spent in arms and valiant en- 
 " terprizes ; that he never did eat his meat, before 
 
 * he had won it with his sword ; that he lay not 
 
 * all night slugging in his cabin under his mantle, 
 
 * but used commonly to keep others waking to de- 
 " fend their lives, and did light his candle at the 
 " flames of their houses to lead him in the dark- 
 
 * ness; that the day was his night, and the night 
 " his day ; that he loved not to be long wooing 
 
 * of wenches to yield to him ; but, where he came, 
 " he took by force the spoil of other men's love, 
 
 Dha, that if the king's bard played before a body of warriors, 
 upon a predatory excursion, he should receive, in recompence, 
 the best cow which the party carried off. Lege* Wallia, I. 1. 
 cap. 19.
 
 cxv 
 
 te and left but lamentations to their lovers ; that 
 " his music was not the harp, nor lays of love, but 
 f the cries of people, and clashing of armour; and 
 " finally, that he died, not bewailed of many, but 
 " made many wail when he died, that dearly bought 
 " his death.' Do not you think, Eudoxus, that 
 " many of these praises might be applied to men 
 " of best deserts ? Yet, are they all yielded to a 
 u most notable traitor, and amongst some of the 
 " Irish not smally accounted of." State of Ireland, 
 The same concurrence of circumstances, so well 
 pointed out by Spenser, as dictating the topics of 
 the Irish bards, tuned the border harps to the praise 
 of an outlawed Armstrong, or Murray. 
 
 For similar reasons, flowing from the state of 
 society, the reader must not expect to find, in the 
 border ballads, refined sentiment, and> far less, 
 elegant expression ; although the style of such 
 compositions has, in modern hands, been found 
 highly susceptible of both. But passages might 
 be pointed out, in which the rude minstrel has 
 melted in natural pathos, or risen into rude energy. 
 Even where these graces are totally wanting, the 
 interest of the stories themselves, and the curious
 
 CXV1 
 
 picture of manners, which they frequently present, 
 authorise them to claim some respect from the 
 public. But it is not the editor's present intention 
 to enter upon a history of border poetry ; a sub- 
 ject of great difficulty, and which the extent of his 
 information does not as yet permit him to engage 
 in. He will, therefore, now lay before the reader 
 the plan of the present publication ; pointing out 
 the authorities from which his materials are de- 
 rived, and slightly noticing the nature of the dif- 
 ferent classes into which he has arranged them.' 
 
 The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border 
 contains Three Classes of Poems : 
 
 I. Historical Ballads. 
 II. Romantic. 
 III. Imitations of these compositions- - 
 
 BY MODERN AUTHORS. 
 
 The Historical Ballad relates events, which we 
 either know actually to have taken place, or 
 which, at least, making due allowance for the 
 exaggerations of poetical tradition, we may readily
 
 CXV11 
 
 conceive to have had some foundation in history. 
 For reasons already mentioned, such ballads were 
 early current upon the border. Barbour informs 
 us, that he thinks it unnecessary to rehearse the 
 account of a victory, gained in Eskdale over the 
 English, because 
 
 Whasa liks, thai may her 
 Young woman, whan thai will play, 
 Syng it among thaim ilk day. 
 
 The Bruce, Book XVI. 
 
 Godscroft also, in the History of the House of 
 Douglas, written in the reign of James VI., al- 
 ludes more than once to the ballads current upon 
 the border, in which the exploits of those heroes 
 were celebrated. Such is the passage, relating to 
 the death of William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale, 
 slain by the Earl of Douglas, his kinsman, his 
 godson, and his chief. * Similar strains of for 
 
 * " The Lord of Lideisdale being at his pastime, hunting in 
 " Ettrick forest, is beset by William, Earl of Douglas, and 
 u such as he had ordained for the purpose, and there asaiied, 
 " wounded, and slain, beside Galsewood, in the year 1353, 
 " upon a jealousy that the earl had conceived of him with his 
 " lady, as the report goeth ; for so sayeth the old song, 
 
 " The Countess of Douglas out of her bower she came, 
 
 " And loudly there that she did call 
 " It is for the Lord of Liddesdale, ' ^ 
 
 " That I let all these tears down fall."
 
 CXVlll 
 
 mentation were poured by the border poets over 
 the tomb of the Hero of Otterbourne ; and over 
 the unfortunate youths, who were dragged to an 
 ignominious death, from the very table at which 
 they partook of the hospitality of their sovereign. 
 The only stanza, preserved of this last ballad, is un- 
 commonly animated 
 
 Edinburgh castle, towne and toure, 
 
 God grant thou sink for sinne ! 
 And that even for the black dinoure, 
 
 Erl Douglas gat therein. 
 
 Who will not regret, with the editor, that com- 
 positions of such interest and antiquity should be 
 now irrecoverable ? But it is the nature of popular 
 poetry, as of popular applause, perpetually to shift 
 with the objects of the time ; and it is the frail 
 chance of recovering some old manuscript, which 
 can alone gratify our curiosity regarding the ear- 
 
 u The song also declareth, how she did write her love-letters 
 " to Liddisdale, to dissuade him from that bunting. It tells 
 " likewise the manner of the taking of his men, and his own 
 " killing at Galsewood ; and how he was carried the first night 
 " to Linden kirk, a mile from Selkirk, and was buried in the 
 " abbey of Melrose." Godscroft, Vol. I. p. 144, Ed. 1743. 
 
 Some fragments of this ballad are still current, and will be 
 found in the ensuing work.
 
 CX1X 
 
 Her efforts of the border muse. Some of her later 
 strains, composed during the sixteenth century, 
 have survived even to the present day ; but the re- 
 collection of them has, of late years, become like 
 that of a " tale which was told." In the sixteenth 
 century, these northern tales appear to have been 
 popular even in London ; for the learned Mr Rit- 
 son has obligingly pointed out to me the follow- 
 ing passages, respecting the noted ballad of Dick 
 o' the Cow (p. 157); " Dick o' the Cow, that mad 
 " demi-lance northern borderer, who plaid his 
 * prizes with the lord Jockey so bravely." Nashe's 
 Have with you to Saffren-Walden, or Gabriell Har- 
 vey's Hunt is up. 1596, 4to. Epistle Dedicatorie, 
 sig. A. 2. 6. And, in a list of books, printed for, 
 and sold by, P. Brocksby (1688), occurs " Dick- 
 a the-Cow, containing north country songs." * 
 Could this collection have been found, it would 
 probably have thrown much light on the present 
 
 * The Selkirkshire ballad of Tamlane seems also to have 
 been well known in England. Among the popular heroes of 
 romance, enumerated in the introduction to the history of 
 Tom Thumbe," (London, 1621, bl. letter), occurs " Tom a 
 ** Lin, the devil's supposed bastard." There is a parody upon 
 the same ballad in the " Pinder of Wakefield? (London, 1621.)
 
 cxx 
 
 publication : but the editor lias been obliged to 
 draw his materials chiefly from oral tradition. 
 
 Something may be still found in the border cot- 
 tages resembling the scene described by Penny- 
 cuik. 
 
 On a winters night, my grannam spinning, 
 
 To mak a web of good Scots linen ; 
 
 Her stool being placed next to the chimley, 
 
 (For she was auld, and saw right dimly,) 
 
 My lucky dad, an honest whig, 
 
 Was telling tales of Bothwell-brigg; 
 
 He could not miss to mind the attempt, 
 
 Tor he was sitting pu'ing hemp ; 
 
 My aunt, whom nane dare say has no grace, 
 
 Was reading on the Pilgrim's Progress; 
 
 The meikle talker, Davie Dallas, 
 
 Was telling blads of William Wallace; 
 
 My mi t tier bade her second son say, 
 
 W 7 hat he'd by heart of Davie Lindsay : 
 
 Our herd, whom all folks hate that knows him, 
 
 Was busy hunting in his bosom ; 
 
 The bairns, and oyes, were all within doors; 
 The youngest of us chewing cinders, 
 And all the auld anes telling wonders. 
 
 Pennycuick't Poems, p. 7. 
 
 i 
 
 The causes of the preservation of these songs 
 have either entirely ceased, or are gradually decay- 
 ing. Whether they were originally the composi- 
 tion of minstrels, professing the joint arts of poetry
 
 CXX1 
 
 and music ; or whether they were the occasional 
 effusions of some self-taught bard, is a question 
 into which I do not here mean to enquire. But 
 it is certain, that, till a very late period, the pipers, 
 of whom there was one attached to each border 
 town of note, and whose office was often heredi- 
 tary, were the great depositaries of oral, and par- 
 ticularly of poetical, tradition. About spring time, 
 and after harvest, it was the custom of these musi- 
 cians to make a progress through a particular dis- 
 trict of the country. The music and the tale re- 
 paid their lodging, and they were usually grati- 
 fied with a donation of seed corn.* This order pf 
 minstrels is alluded to in the comic song of Maggy 
 Lauder, who thus addresses a piper 
 
 u Live ye upo' the border?" 
 
 By means of these men, much traditional poetry 
 was preserved, which must otherwise have perish- 
 ed. Other itinerants, not professed musicians, 
 found their welcome to their night's quarters rea- 
 
 These town pipers, an institution of great antiquity upon 
 the borders, were certainly the last remains of the minstrel 
 race. Robin Ilastie, town-piper of Jedburgh, perhaps the last 
 of the order, died nine or ten years ago : his family was sup-
 
 CXX11 
 
 dily insured by their knowledge in legendary lore. 
 John Graeme, of Sowport, in Cumberland, com- 
 monly called The Long Quaker,* a person of this 
 latter description, was very lately alive; and se- 
 veral of the songs, now published, have been taken 
 down from his recitation. The shepherds also, and 
 aged persons, in the recesses of the border moun- 
 tains, frequently remember and repeat the warlike 
 songs of their fathers. This is more especially the 
 case in what are called the South Highlands, where, 
 in many instances, the same families have occu- 
 pied the same possessions for centuries. 
 
 posed to have held the office for about three centuries. Old 
 age had rendered Robin a wretched performer; but he knew 
 several old songs and tunes, which have probably died along 
 with him. The town-pipers received a livery and salary from 
 the community to which they belouged ; and, in some burghs, 
 they had a small allotment of land, called the Piper's Croft 
 for further particulars regarding them, see Introduction to 
 Complaynt of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1801, p. 142. 
 
 * This person, perhaps the last of cur professed ballad re- 
 citers, died since the publication of the first edition of this 
 work. He was by profession an itinerant cleaner of clocks and 
 watches ; but, a stentorian voice, and tenacious memory, qua- 
 lified him eminently for remembering accurately, and reciting 
 with energy, the border gathering songs and tales of war. His 
 memory was latterly much impaired; yet, the number of ver- 
 ses which he could pour forth, and the animation of his tone 
 and gestures, formed a most cxtraoidinary contrast to his ex- 
 treme feebleness of person, and dotage of mind.
 
 cxxm 
 
 It is chiefly from this latter source that the edi- 
 tor has drawn his materials, most of which were 
 collected many years ago, during his early youth. 
 But he has been enabled, in many instances, to 
 supply and correct the deficiences of his own co- 
 pies, from a collection of border songs, frequently 
 referred to in the work, under the title of Glen- 
 riddelFs MS, This was compiled from various 
 sources, by the late Mr Riddel, of Glenriddel, a 
 sedulous border antiquary, and, since his death, 
 has become the property of Mr Jollie, bookseller, 
 at Carlisle; to whose liberality the editor owe* 
 the use of it, while preparing this work for the 
 press. No liberties have been taken, either with 
 the recited or written copies of these ballads, 
 farther than that, where they disagreed, which 
 is by no means unusual, the editor, in justice to 
 the author, has uniformly preserved what seemed 
 to him the best, or most poetical reading of the 
 passage. Such discrepancies must very frequently 
 occur, wherever poetry is preserved by oral tradi- 
 tion; for the reciter, making it a uniform prin- 
 ciple to proceed at all hazards, is very often, when 
 his memory fails him, apt to substitute large por-
 
 CXX1V 
 
 tions from some other tale, altogether distinct 
 from that which he has commenced Besides, the 
 prejudices of clans and of districts have occasion- 
 ed variations in the mode of telling the same story. 
 Some arrangement was also occasionally necessa- 
 ry, to recover the rhyme, which was often, by the 
 ignorance of the reciters, transposed, or thrown 
 into the middle of the line. Witti these freedoms, 
 which were essentially necessary to remove obvi- 
 ous corruptions, and fit the ballads for the press, 
 the editor presents them to the public, under the 
 complete assurance, that they carry with them the 
 most indisputable marks of their authenticity. 
 
 The same observations apply to the Second Class, 
 here termed Romantic Ballads; intended to 
 comprehend such legends as are current upon the 
 border, relating to fictitious and marvellous adven- 
 tures. Such were the tales, with which the friends 
 of Spenser strove to beguile his indisposition : 
 
 a Some told of ladies, and their paramours ; 
 "Some of brave knights, and their renowned squires; 
 " Some of the fairies, and their strange attires, 
 u And some of giants, hard to be believed." 
 
 These, carrying with them a general, and not
 
 cxxv 
 
 merely a local interest, are much more exten- 
 sively known among the peasantry of Scotland 
 than the border-raid ballads, the fame of which is 
 in general confined to the mountains where they 
 were originally composed. Hence, it has been 
 easy to collect these tales of romance, to a number 
 much greater than the editor has chosen to insert 
 in this publication. * With this class are now in- 
 termingled some lyric pieces, and some ballads, 
 which, though narrating real events, have no di- 
 rect reference to border history or manners. Tc 
 the politeness and liberality of Mr Herd, of Edin- 
 burgh, the editor of the first classical collection of 
 Scottish songs and ballads, (Edinburgh, 1774, 2 
 vols.), the editor is indebted for the use of his 
 MSS., containing songs and ballads, published and 
 unpublished, to the number of ninety and upwards. 
 To this collection frequent references are made, in 
 
 * Mr Jamieson, of Macclesfield, a gentleman of literary and 
 poetical accomplishment, was for some years employed in a 
 compilation of Scottish ballad poetry, which was published in 
 1806. I therefore, as far a the nature of my work permitted, 
 sedulously avoided anticipating any of his materials : and the 
 curious reader will find in his collection some important light 
 on the history of Scottish Song, derived from comparing it 
 with the ballad of the Scandinavians.
 
 CXXV1 
 
 the course of the following pages. Two books of 
 ballads, in MS., have also been communicated to 
 me, by my learned and respected friend, Alexan- 
 der Fraser Tytler, Esq.* I take the liberty of 
 transcribing Mr Ty tier's memorandum respecting 
 the manner in which they came into his hands. 
 
 * My father f got the following songs from an old 
 
 * friend, Mr Thomas Gordon, professor of philo- 
 
 * sophy, King's College, Aberdeen. The follow- 
 
 * ing extract of a letter oftthe professor to me, ex- 
 u plains how he came by them: " An aunt of my 
 " children, Mrs Farquhar, now dead, who w;is 
 " married to the proprietor of a small estate, near 
 " the sources of the Dee, in Braemar, a good old 
 
 * woman, who spent the best part of her life among 
 " flocks and herds, resided in her latter days in 
 " the town of Aberdeen. She was possest of a 
 " most tenacious memory, which retained ail the 
 
 * songs she had heaid from nurses and country- 
 ** women in that sequestered part of the country. 
 " Being maternally fond of my children, when 
 
 * Now a senator of the College of Justice, by the title of 
 Lord Woodhouselee. 
 
 f William Tytler, Esq. the ingenious defender of Queen 
 Mary, and author of a Dissertation upon Scottish Music, which 
 doe* honour to his memory.
 
 cxxvn 
 
 " young, she had them much about her, and de- 
 ** lighted them with her songs, and tales of chival- 
 
 * ry. My youngest daughter, Mrs Brown, at 
 " Falkland, is blest with a memory as good as her 
 " aunt, and has almost the whole of her songs by 
 f 5 heart. In conversation I mentioned them to 
 u your father, at whose request, my grandson, Mr 
 
 * Scott, wrote down a parcel of them, as his aunt 
 " sung them. Being then but a mere novice in 
 " music, he added in the copy, such musical 
 *, notes, as, he supposed, might give your father 
 " some notion of the airs, or rather lilts, to which 
 " they were sung." 
 
 From this curious and valuable collection, the 
 editor has procured very material assistance. At 
 the same time, it contains many beautiful legend- 
 ary poems, of which he could not avail himself, as 
 they seemed to be the exclusive property of the 
 bards of Angus and Aberdeenshire. But the co- 
 pies of such, as were known on the borders, have 
 furnished him with various readings, and with sup- 
 plementary stanzas, which he has frequent oppor- 
 tunities to acknowledge. The MSS. are cited un- 
 der the name of Mrs Brown of Falkland, the inge-
 
 CXXV11L 
 
 nious lady, to whose taste and memory the world 
 is indebted for the preservation of the tales which 
 they contain. The other authorities, which occur 
 during the work, are particularly referred to. Much 
 information has been communicated to the editor, 
 from various quarters, since the work was first pub- 
 lished, of which he has availed himself, to correct 
 and enlarge the present edition. 
 
 In publishing both classes of ancient ballads, the 
 editor has excluded those which are to be found in 
 the common collections of this nature, unless in 
 one or two instances, where he conceived it pos- 
 sible to give some novelty, by historical or critical 
 illustration. 
 
 It would have been easy for the editor to have 
 given these songs an appearance of more indispu- 
 table antiquity, by adopting the rude orthography 
 of the period, to which he is inclined to refer them. 
 But this (unless when MSS. of antiquity can be re- 
 ferred to) seemed too arbitrary an exertion of the 
 privileges of a publisher, and must, besides, have 
 unnecessarily increased the difficulties of many 
 readers. On the other hand, the utmost care has 
 been taken, never to reject a word or phrase, used
 
 CXX1X 
 
 by a reciter, however uncouth or antiquated. 
 Such barbarisms, which stamp upon the tales their 
 age and their nation, should be respected by an 
 editor, as the hardy emblem of his country was 
 venerated by the poet of Scotland : 
 
 The rough bur-thistle spreading wide 
 
 Amang the bearded beer, 
 I turned the weeder-clips aside, 
 
 And spared the symbol dear. 
 
 Burns. 
 
 The meaning of such obsolete words is usually 
 given at the bottom of the page. For explanation 
 of the more common peculiarities of the Scottish 
 dialect, the English reader is referred to the ex- 
 cellent glossary annexed to the last edition of 
 Burns' works. 
 
 The Third Class of Ballads are announced to 
 the public, as Modern Imitations of the An- 
 cient style of composition, in that department of 
 poetry; and they are founded upon such tradi- 
 tions, as we may suppose in the elder times would 
 have employed the harps of the minstrels. This 
 kind of poetry has been supposed capable of unit- 
 ing the vigorous numbers and wild fiction, which 
 occasionally charm us in the ancient ballad, with 
 vol. I. i
 
 cxxx 
 
 a greater quantity of versification, and elegance of 
 sentiment, than we can expect to find in the 
 works of a rude age. But upon my ideas of the 
 nature and difficulty of such imitations, I ought, in 
 prudence, to be silent ; lest I resemble the dwarf, 
 who brought with him a standard to measure his 
 own stature. I may, however, hint at the differ- 
 ence, not always attended to, betwixt the legendary 
 poems and real imitations of the old ballad ; the 
 reader will find specimens of both in the modern 
 part of this collection. The legendary poem, cal- 
 led Glenfinlas, and the ballad, entituled the Eve of 
 St John, were designed as examples of the differ- 
 ence betwixt these two kinds of composition. 
 
 It would have the appearance of personal va- 
 nity, were the editor to detail the assistance and 
 encouragement which he has received, during his 
 undertaking, from some of the first literary cha- 
 racters of our age. The names of Steuart, Macken- 
 zie, Ellis, Currie, and Ritson, with many others, 
 are talismans too powerful to be used, for bespeak- 
 ing the world's favour to a collection of old songs; 
 even although a veteran bard has remarked) "that 
 " both the great poet of Italian rhyme, Petrarch, 
 ** and our Chaucer, and other of the upper house
 
 CXXX1 
 
 " of the muses, have thought their canzons hon- 
 " oured in the title of a ballad." To my ingenious 
 friend, Dr John Leyden, my readers will at once 
 perceive that I lie under extensive obligations, for 
 the poetical pieces, with which he has permitted 
 me to decorate my compilation ; but I am yet far- 
 ther indebted to him for his uniform assistance, 
 in collecting and arranging materials for the work. 
 In the notes and occasional dissertations, it has 
 been my object to throw together, perhaps with- 
 out sufficient attention to method, a variety of re- 
 marks, regarding popular superstitions, and legen- 
 dary history, which, if not now collected, must 
 soon have been totally forgotten. By such ef- 
 forts, feeble as they are, I may contribute some- 
 what to the history of my native country ; the pe- 
 culiar features of whose manners and character are 
 daily melting and dissolving into those of her sis- 
 ter and ally. And, trivial as may appear such an 
 offering, to the manes of a kingdom, once proud 
 and independent, I hang it upon her altar with 
 a mixture of feelings, which I shall not attempt 
 to describe.
 
 CXXX11 
 
 Hail, land of spearmen ! seed of those who scorn'd 
 
 To stoop the proud crest to Imperial Rome ! 
 
 Hail ! dearest half of Albion, sea-wall'd ! 
 
 Hail! state unconquer'd by the fire of war, 
 
 Red war, that twenty ages round thee blazM ! 
 
 To thee, for whom my purest raptures flow, 
 
 Kneeling with filial homage, I devote 
 
 " My life, my strength, my first and latest song." 
 
 /
 
 CXXX111 
 
 APPENDIX. No. I. 
 LETTER 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE EARL OF SURREY, TO HENRY VIII. 
 
 GIVING AN ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE STORM OF JEDBURGH. 
 Cott. MSS. Calig. B. III. fol. 29. 
 
 Pleisith it your grace to be advertised, that up- 
 on Fridaye, at x a clok at nyght, I retourned to this 
 towne, and all the garnysons to their places assigned, 
 the bushopricke men, my Lorde of Westmoreland, and 
 my Lorde Dacre, in likewise, evry man home with their 
 companys, without loss of any men, thanked be God; sav- 
 ing viii or x slayne, and dy vers hurt, at skyrmyshis and 
 saults of the town of Gedwurth, and the forteressis; 
 which towns is soo suerly brent, that no garnysons ner
 
 CXXX1V 
 
 nunc oilier shal bee lodged there, unto the tyme it bee 
 newe buylded ; the brennyng whereof I comytted to twoo 
 sure men, Sir William Bulmer, and Thomas Tempeste. 
 The towne was moch bettir then I went (i, e. ween'd) 
 it had been, for there was twoo tymys moo houses therein 
 then in Berwike, and well buylded, with many honest and 
 faire houses therein, sufficiente to have lodged M horse- 
 men in garnyson, and six good towres therein ; whichc 
 towne and towres be clenely destroyed, brent, and throwen 
 downe. Undoubtedly there was noo journey made into 
 Scotland, in noo manys day leving, with soo fewe a nom- 
 bre, that is recownted to be soo high an enterprice as 
 this, bothe with thies contremen, and Scottishmen, nor of 
 truthe so muche hurt doon. But in th' ende a great mys- 
 fortune ded fal, onely by foly, that such ordre, as was 
 commaunded by me to be kepte, was not observed, the 
 maner whereof hereaftir shall ensue. Bifore myn entre 
 into Scotland, I appointed Sir William Bulmer and Sir 
 William Evers too be marshallis of th' army ; Sir William 
 Bulmer for the vanguard, and Sir William Evers for the 
 reregard. In the vanguard I appointed my Lord of West- 
 moreland, as chief, with all the bushopricke, Sir Wil- 
 liam Bulmer, Sir William Etrers, my Lord Dacre, with 
 all hit company ; and with me remayned all the rest of 
 the garnysons, and the Northumberland men. I was of 
 counsaill with the marshallis at th' ordering of our lodg- 
 ingg, and our campe was soo well envirowned with ordy- 
 nnnce, carts, and dikes, that hard it was to entre or issue,
 
 cxxxv 
 
 but af certain places appointed for that purpos, and as- 
 signed the mooste commodious place of the saide campe 
 for my Lord Dacre company, next the water, and next 
 my Lord of Westmoreland. And at suche tyme as my 
 Lord Dacre came into the falde, I being at the sault of th* 
 abby, vvhiche contynued unto twoo houres within nyght, 
 my seid Lord Dacre wolde in nowise bee contente to ly 
 within the campe, whiche was made right sure, but lodged 
 himself without, wherewith, at my retourne, I was not 
 contente, but then it was to late to remove; the next 
 daye I sente my seid Lorde Dacre to a strong hold, called 
 Fernherst, the lorde whereof was his mortal enemy ; and 
 with hym, Sir Arthur Darcy, Sir Marmaduke Constable, 
 with viii c of their men, one certoute, and dyvers other 
 good peces of ordynance for the feld (the seid Fernherste 
 stode marvelous strongly, within a grete woode); the 
 seid twoo knights with the moost parte of their men, and 
 Strickland, your grace servaunte, with my Kendall men, 
 went into the woode on fote, with th* ordynance, where the 
 said Kendall men were soo handled, that they found har- 
 dy men, that went noo foote back for theym ; the other 
 two knightes were alsoo soo sharply assaylcd, that they 
 were enforced to call for moo of their men ; and yet 
 could not bring the ordynance to the forteresse, unto 
 the tyme my Lord Dacre, with part of his horsemen, 
 lighted on fote ; and marvelously hardly handled him- 
 self, and fynally, with long skirmyshing, and moche diffi- 
 cultie, gat forthe th* ordynance within the howse and
 
 CXXXV1 
 
 threwe down the same. At which skyrmyshe, my seid 
 Lord Dacre, and his brother, Sir Cristofer, Sir Arthure, 
 and Sir Marmaduke, and many other gentilmen, did mar- 
 vellously hardly; and found the best resistence that hath 
 been seen with my comyug to their parties, and above 
 xxxiiScottissleyne, and not passing iiij Englishmen, but 
 above Ix hurt. Aftir that, my seid lord retournyng to 
 the campe, wold in nowise bee lodged in the same, but 
 where he lay the furst nyght. And he being with me 
 at souper, about viij a clok, the horses of his company 
 brak lowse,. and sodenly ran out of his feld, in such 
 nombre, that it caused a marvellous alarome in our feld; 
 and our standing watche being set, the horses-cam rou- 
 nyng along the campe, at whome were shot above one 
 hundred shief of arrowes, and dyvers gonnys, thinking 
 they had been Scots, that wold have saulted the campe; 
 fynally, the horses were soo madde r that they ran like 
 wild dere into the feld; above xv c. at the leest, in dy- 
 vers companys, and, in one place, above 1 felle downe a 
 grete rok, and slewe theymself, and above ij c. ran into 
 the towne being on fire, and by the women taken, and 
 carried awaye right evill brent, and many were taken 
 agayne. But, finally, by that I can esteme by the nom- 
 bre of theym that I sawe goo on foote the next daye, I 
 think thare is lost above viij c. horses, and all with foly 
 for lak of not lying within the camp. I dare not write 
 the wondres that my Lord Dacre, and all his company, 
 doo saye they sawe that nyght, vj. tyms of spirits and
 
 CXXXV11 
 
 fereful sights. And unyversally all their company saye 
 playnly, the devil was that nyght among theym vi tymys ; 
 whiche mysfortune hath blemyshed the best journey that 
 was made in Scotland many yeres. I assure your grace 
 I found the Scottes, at this tyme, the boldest men, and 
 the hotest, that ever I sawe any nation, and all the jour- 
 ney, upon all parts of th' arm ye, kepte us with soo con- 
 tynuall skyrmyshe, that I never sawe the like. If they 
 might assemble xl M as good men as I nowe sawe, xv c 
 or ij M, it wold bee a hard encountre to mete theym. 
 Pitie it is of my Lord Dacres losse of the horses of his 
 company; he brought with hym above iiij M. men, and 
 came and lodged one night in Scotland, in his moost 
 mortal enemy's contre. There is noo herdyer, ner bettir 
 knyght, but often tyme he doth not use the most sure 
 order, which he hath nowe payd derely for. Written 
 at Berwike the xxvij of September. 
 Your most bownden, 
 
 T.SURREY.
 
 CXXXV111 
 
 APPENDIX, No. II. 
 
 HISTORY OF GEORDIE BOURNE. 
 
 In the following passages, extracted from the memoirs of 
 Sir Robert Carey, then deputy of his father, Lord Huns* 
 don, warden of the east marches, afterwards Earl of Mon- 
 mouth, the reader will find a lively illustration of the 
 sketch given of border manners in the preceding Intro- 
 duction. 
 
 " Having thus ended with my brother, I then beganne 
 to thinke of the charge I had taken upon mee, which was 
 the government of the east march, in my father's absence. 
 I wrote to Sir Robert Kerr, * who was my opposite war- 
 den, a brave active young man, and desired him that hee 
 would appoint a day, when hee and myselfe might pri- 
 vately meet in some part of the border, to take some good 
 order for the quieting the borders, till my retourne from 
 
 * Sir Robert Kerr of Ccssford, warden of the middle marches, 
 nd ancestor of the house of Roxburghe.
 
 CXXX1X 
 
 London, which journey I was shortly of necessity to take. 
 He stayed ray man all night, and wrote to mee back, that 
 hee was glad to have the happinesse to be acquainted 
 with mee, and did not doubt but the country would be 
 better governed by our good agreements. I wrote to him 
 on the Monday, and the Thursday after hee appointed 
 the place and hour of meeting. 
 
 " After hee had filled my man with drink e, and putt 
 him to bed, hee, and some halfe a score with him, gott to 
 horse, and came into England to a little village. There 
 hee broke up a house, and tooke out a poore fellow, who 
 (hee pretended) had done him some wrong, and before the 
 doore, cruelly murthered him, and so came quietly home, 
 and went to bed. The next morning hee delivered my 
 man a letter in answer to mine, and retourned him to mee. 
 It pleased me well at the reading of his kinde letter; but 
 when I heard what a brave hee had put upon mee, I 
 quickly resolved what to do, which was, never to have to 
 do with him, till 1 was righted for the greate wrong hee 
 had done mee. Upon this resolution, the day I should 
 have mett with him, I tooke post, and with all the haste 
 I could, rode to London, leaving him to attend my coming 
 to him as was appointed. There hee stayed from one till 
 five, but heard no news of mee. Finding by this that I 
 had neglected him, hee retourned home to his house, and 
 so things rested (with greate dislike the one of the other) 
 till I came back, which was with all the speede I could, 
 my businesse being ended. The first thing I did after my
 
 cxl 
 
 retourne, was to ask justice for the wrong hee had done 
 mee ; but I could gett none. The borderers, seeing our 
 disagreement, they thought the time wished for of them 
 was come. The winter being bcganne, their was roades 
 made out of Scotland into the east march, and goods 
 were taken three or four times a weeke. I had no other 
 meanes left to quiet them, but still sent out of the garri- 
 son horsemen of Berwick, to watch in the fittest places 
 for them, and it was their good hap many times to light 
 upon them, with the stolen goods driving before them. 
 They were no sooner brought before mee, but a jury went 
 upon them, and being found guilty, they were frequent- 
 ly hanged : a course which hath been seldom used, but I 
 had no way to keep the country quiet but so to do ; for, 
 when the Scotch theeves found what a sharp course I 
 tooke with them, that were found with the bloody hand, 
 I had in a short time the country more quiet. All this 
 while wee were but in jest as it were, but now beganne 
 the greate quarrell betweene us. 
 
 " There was a favorite of his, a greate theife, called 
 Geordie Bourne. This gallant, with some of his asso- 
 ciates, would, in a bravery, come and take goods in the 
 east march. I had that night some of the garrison abroad. 
 They met with this Geordie and his fellowes, driving of 
 cattle before them. The garrison set upon them, and 
 with a shott killed Geordie Bourne's unckie, and hee him- 
 selfe, bravely resisting till he was sore hurt in the head, 
 was taken. After he was taken, his pride was such, as
 
 cxli 
 
 hee asked, who it was that durst avow that nightes worker 
 but when he heard it was the garrison, he was then more 
 quiet. But so powerful and so awfull was this Sir Robert 
 Kerr, and his favourites, as there was not a gentleman in 
 all the east march that durst offend them. Presently af- 
 ter hee was taken, I had most of the gentlemen of the 
 march come to mee, and told mee, that now I had the 
 ball at my foote, and might bring Sir Robert Kerr to 
 what conditions I pleased ; for that this man's life was so 
 neere and deare unto him, as I should have all that my 
 heart could desire, for the good and quiet of the country 
 and myselfe, if upon any condition I would give him his 
 life. I heard them and their reasons ; notwithstanding, 
 I called a jury the next morning, and hee was found guilty 
 of March Treason. Then they feared that I would 
 cause him to be executed that afternoone, which made 
 them come flocking to mee, humbly entreating mee, that 
 I would spare his life till the next day, and if Sir Ro- 
 bert Kerr came not himselfe to mee, and made mee not 
 such proffers, as I could not but accept, that then I should 
 do with him what I pleased. And further, they told mee 
 plainly, that if I should execute him, before I had heard 
 from Sir Robert Kerr, they must be forced to quitt their 
 houses, and fly the country ; for his fury would be such, 
 against me and the march I commanded, as hee would 
 use all his power and strength to the utter destruction of 
 the east march. They were so earnest with mee, that I 
 gave them my word hee should not dye that day. There
 
 cxlii 
 
 was post upon post sent to Sir Robert Kerr, and some of 
 them rode to him themselves, to advertise him in what 
 danger Geordie Bourne was; how he was condemned, 
 and should have been executed that afternoooe, but, by 
 their humble suit, I gave them my word, that he should 
 not dye that day ; and therefore besought him, that hee 
 would send to mee, with all the speede hee could, to let 
 mee know, that hee would be the next day with mee to 
 offer mee good conditions for the safety of his life. When 
 all things were quiet, and the watch set at night, after 
 supper, about ten of the clock, I took one of my men's 
 liveryes, and putt it about mee, and tooke two other of 
 iny servants with mee in their liveryes, and we three, as 
 the warden's men, came to the provost marshal l's, where 
 Bourne was, and were lett into his chamber. Wee sate 
 down by him, and told him, that we were desirous to see 
 him, because wee heard hee was stoute and valiant, and 
 true to his friend ; and that wee were sorry our master 
 could not be moved to save his life. He voluntarily of 
 himselfe said, that hee had lived long enough to do so 
 many villainies as hee had done; and withal told us, that 
 hee had layne with about forty men's wives, what in Eng- 
 land, and what in Scotland ; and that he had killed seven 
 Englishmen with his own hands, cruelly murthering them : 
 that hee had spent his whole life in whoreing, drinking, 
 stealing, and taking deep revenge for slight offences. Hee 
 seemed to be very penitent, and much desired a minister 
 for the comfort of his soule. Wee promised him to lett
 
 cxliii 
 
 our master know his desire, who, wee knew, would pre- 
 sently grant it. We took our leaves of him, and pre- 
 sently I tooke order, that Mr Selby, a very worthy honest 
 preacher, should go to him, and not stirre from him till 
 his execution the next morning; for, after I had heard his 
 own confession, I was resolved no conditions should save 
 his life : and so tooke order, that at the gates opening the 
 next morning, hee should be carried to execution, which 
 accordingly was performed. The next morning I had 
 one from Sir Robert Kerr for a parley, who was within 
 two miles staying for mee. I sent him word, " I would 
 *' meet him where hee pleased, but I would first know 
 S upon what termes and conditions." Before his man 
 was retourned, hee had heard, that in the morning, verv 
 early, Geordie Bourne had been executed. Many vowes 
 hee made of cruell revenge, and retourned home full of 
 griefe and disdaine, and from that time forward still plot- 
 ted revenge. Hee knew the gentlemen of the country 
 were altogether sacklesse, and to make open road upon 
 the march would but shew his malice, and lay him open 
 to the punishment due to such offences. But his practice 
 was how to be revenged on mee, or some of mine. 
 
 " It was not long after that my brother and I had 
 intelligence, that there was a great match made at foote- 
 ball, and the chiefe ryders were to be there. The place 
 they were to meet at was Kelsy, and that day, wee heard 
 it, was the day for the meeting. We presently called a 
 counsaile, and after much dispute it was concluded, that
 
 cxliv 
 
 the likeliest place he was to come to, was to kill the 
 scoutes. And it was the more suspected, for that my 
 brother, before my coming to the office, for the cattaile 
 stolne out of the bounds, and as it were from under the 
 walles of Barwicke, being refused justice (upon- his com- 
 plaint,) or at least delaid, sent off the garrison into Lid- 
 disdale, and killed there the chiefe offender, which had 
 done the wrong. 
 
 Upon this conclusion, there was order taken, that 
 both horse and fonte should lye in ambush, in diverse parts 
 of the boundes, to defend the scoutes, and to give a sound 
 blow to Sir Robert and his company. Before the horse 
 and fonte were sett out with directions what to do, it was 
 almost darke night, and the gates ready to be lockt. Wee 
 parted, aBd as I was by myselfe, comeing to my house, 
 God put it into my mind, that it might well be, hee meant 
 destruction to my men, that I had sent out to gather tithes 
 for mee at Norliam, and their rendezvous was every night 
 to lye and sup at an ale-house in Norham. I presently 
 caused my page to take horse, and to ride as fast as his 
 horse could carry him, and to command my servants 
 (which were in all eight) that, presently upon his coming 
 to them, they should all change their lodging, and go 
 streight to the castle, there to lye that night in strawe 
 and hay. Some of them were unwilling thereto, but 
 durst not disobey; so altogether left their ale-house, and 
 retired to the castle. They had pot well settled theme-
 
 cxlv 
 
 1 
 
 selves to sleep, but they heard in the town a great alarm; 
 for Sir Robert and his company came streight to the ale- 
 house, broke open the doors, and made enquiry for my 
 servants. They were answered, that by my command 
 they were all in the castle. After they had searched all 
 the house, and found none, they feared they were betray- 
 ed, and, with all the speede they could, made haste home- 
 wards again. Thus God blessed me from this bloody 
 tragedy. 
 
 " All the whole march expected nightly some hurt to 
 be done ; but God so blessed mee and the government I 
 held, as, for all his fury, hee never drew drop of bloou in 
 all my march, neither durst his theeves trouble it much 
 with stealing, for fear of hanging, if they were taken. 
 Thus wee continued a yeare, and then God sent a meanes 
 to bring things to better quiet by this occasion. 
 
 " There had been commissioners in Barwicke, chosen 
 by the queene and king of Scottes, for the better quieting 
 of our borders. By their industry they found a great 
 number of malefactors guilty, both in England and Scot- 
 land; and they tooke order, that the officers of Scotland 
 should deliver such offenders, as were found guilty in their 
 jurisdictions, to the opposite officers in England, to be de- 
 tained prisoners, till they had made satisfaction for the 
 goods they had taken out of England The like order 
 was taken with the wardens of England, and days prefix- 
 ed for the delivery of them all. And in case any of the 
 
 vol. I. k
 
 cxlvi 
 
 officers, oa either side, should omit their duties, in not de- 
 livering the prisoners at the dayes and places appointed, 
 that then there should a course be taken by the sove- 
 raignes, that what chiefe officer soever should offend 
 herein, he himself should be delivered and detained, till 
 he had made good what the commissioners had agreed 
 upon. 
 
 The English officers did punctually, at the day and 
 place, deliver their prisoners, and so did most of the offi- 
 cers of Scotland ; only the Lord of Bocleuch and Sir 
 Robert Kerr were faultie. They were complained of, and 
 new dayes appointed for the delivery of their prisoners. 
 Bocleuch was the first, that should deliver; and hee fail- 
 ing, entered himselfe prisoner into Barwicke, there to re- 
 maine till those officers under his charge were delivered 
 to free him. He chose for his guardian Sir William Sel- 
 by, master of the ordinance at Barwicke. When Sir Ro- 
 bert Kerr's day of delivery came, he failed too, and 
 my Lord Hume, by the king's command, was to deliver 
 him prisoner into Barwicke upon the like terms, which 
 was performed. Sir Robert Kerr (contrary to all men's 
 expectation) chose mee for his guardian, and home I 
 brought him to my own house, after hee was delivered to 
 mee. I lodged him as well as I could, and tooke order 
 for his diet, and men to attend on him, and sent him word, 
 that (although by his harsh carriage towards mee, ever 
 since I had that charge, he could not expect any favour, 
 yet) hearing so much goodness of him, that hee never
 
 cxlvu 
 
 broke his worde, if hee should give me his hand and cre- 
 dit to be a true prisoner, hee would have no guard sett 
 upon him, but have free liberty for his friends in Scot- 
 land to have ingresse and regresse to him as oft as hee 
 pleased. He tooke this very kindly at my handes, ac- 
 cepted of my offer, and sent me thankes. 
 
 " Some four dayes passed ; all which time his friends 
 came into him, and hee kept his chamber. Then hee 
 sent to mee, and desired mee, I would come and speake 
 with him, which I did ; and after long discourse, charging 
 and re-charging one another with wrong and injuries, at 
 last, before our parting, wee became good friends, with 
 greate protestations, on his side, never to give mee occasion 
 of unkindnesse again. After our reconciliation, hee kept 
 his chamber no longer, but dined and supt with me. I 
 tooke him abroad with mee at the least thrice a weeke, 
 a hunting, and every day wee grew better friends. Bo- 
 cleuch, in a few dayes after, had his pledges delivered, 
 and was set at liberty. But Sir Robert Kerr could not 
 get his, so that I was commanded to carry him to Yorke, 
 and there to deliver him prisoner to the archbishop, 
 which accordingly I did. At our parting, he professed 
 greate love unto mee for the kind usage I had shewn 
 him, and that I would find the effects of it upon his de- 
 livery, which hee hoped would be shortly. 
 
 " Thus wee parted j and, not long after, his pledges 
 
 were gott, and brought to Yorke, and hee sett at liberty. 
 
 After his retourne home, I found him as good as his
 
 cxlviii 
 
 word. We met oft at dayes of truce, and I had as 
 good justice as I could desire; and so we continued 
 very kinde and good friends, all the time that I stayed 
 in that march, which was not long."
 
 cxlix 
 
 APPENDIX, No III. 
 
 MAITLAND'S COMPLAYNT, 
 
 AGANIS 
 
 THE THIEVIS OF LIDDISDAIL. 
 
 FROM FINKERTON S EDITION, COLLATED WITH A MS. OF MAI1- 
 LAND'S POEMS, IN THE LIBRARY OF EDINBURGH COLLEGE. 
 
 Of Liddisdail the commoun theifis 
 Sa peartlie steillis now and reifis. 
 That nane may keip 
 Horse, nolt, nor scheip, 
 Nor yett dar sleip 
 For their mischeifis.
 
 cl 
 
 Thay plainly throw the country rydis, 
 
 I trow the mekil devil thame gydis ! 
 
 Quhair they onsett, 
 
 Ay in thair gaitt, 
 
 Thair is na yet 
 
 Nor dor, thame bydis. 
 
 Thay leif rich nocht, quhair ever thay ga; 
 Their can na thing be hid them fra; 
 For gif men wald 
 Thair housis hald, 
 Than wax thay bald, 
 To burne and slay. 
 
 Thay thrifts have neirhand herreit hail, 
 Ettricke forest and Lawderdail; 
 Now are they gane, 
 In Lawthiane; 
 And spairis nane 
 That thay will waill. 
 
 Thay landis ar with stouth sa socht, 
 
 To extreame povertye ar broucht, 
 
 Thay wicked scrowis 
 
 Has laid the plowis, 
 
 That nane or few is 
 
 That are left oucht. 
 
 12
 
 di 
 
 Bot commoun taking of blak mail, 
 They that had flesche, and breid and ail I, 
 Now are sae wrakit, 
 Made bair and nakit, 
 Fane to be slaikit 
 With watter caill. 
 
 Thay theifs that steillis and tursis hame, 
 Ilk ane of them has ane to-name ; * 
 Will of the Lawis, 
 Hab of the Schawls : 
 To mak bair wawis 
 Thay thinke na schame. 
 
 Thay spuilye puir men of their pakis, 
 Thay leif them nocht on bed nor bakis ; 
 Baith hen and cok. 
 With reil and rok, 
 The Laird is Jok, 
 All with him takis. 
 
 * Owing to the marcbmen being divided into large clans, bearing 
 the same sirname, individuals were usually distinguished by some 
 epithet, derived from their place of residence, personal qualities, or 
 descent. Thus, every distinguished moss-trooper had, what is here 
 called, a to-name, or nom de guerre, in addition to his family name.
 
 clii 
 
 Thay leif not spindell, spoone, nor speit ; 
 Bed, boater, blanket, sark, nor scheit; 
 Jobne of the Parke 
 Ryps kist and ark; 
 For all sic wark 
 He is richt meit. 
 
 He is weil kend, John of the Syde; 
 A greater theif did never ryde. 
 He never tyris 
 For to brek byris; 
 Ouir muir and myris 
 Omr guide ane gyde. 
 
 Thair is ane, callet Clement's Hob, 
 Fra ilk puir wyfe reifis the wob, 
 And all the lave, 
 Quhatever they haife, 
 The devil recave 
 Thairfoir his gob. 
 
 To sic grit stouth quha eir wald trow it, 
 Bot gif some great man it allowit 
 Rycht sair I trew, 
 Thocht it be rew: 
 Thair is sa few 
 That dar avow it.
 
 cliii 
 
 
 
 Of sum great men they have sic gait? 
 That redy are thanie to debait, 
 A nd will up weir 
 Thair stolen geir; 
 That nane dare steir 
 Thame air nor late. 
 
 Quhat causis theifis us ourgang, 
 Bot want of justice us amang? 
 Nane takis cair, 
 Thocht all for fear; 
 Na man will spair 
 Now to do wrang. 
 
 Of stouth thocht now thay come gude speid, 
 That nother of men nor God has dreid ; 
 Yet, or I die, 
 Sum sail thame sie, 
 Hing on a trie 
 Qhhill thay be died 
 
 Quo' Sir R. M. o/Lethington, knichi.
 
 cliv 
 
 APPENDIX, No. IV. 
 
 BOND Op ALLIANCE, 
 
 OR 
 
 FEUD STAUNCHING, 
 
 BETWIXT 
 
 THE CLANS OF SCOTT AND KER. 
 
 The battle of Melrose (see Introduction, p. xvii.) occa- 
 sioned a deadly feud betwixt the name of Scott and Ker. 
 The following indenture was designed to reconcile their 
 quarrel. But the alliance, if it ever took effect, was not 
 of long duration ; for the feud again broke out about 
 
 1553, when Sir Walter Scott was slain by the Kers, in 
 the streets of Edinburgh. 
 
 * Thir indentures, made at Ancrum the 16th of March, 
 
 1 529 years, contains, proports, and bears leil and suith-
 
 civ 
 
 fast witnessing, That it is appointed, agreed, and finally 
 accorded betwixt honourable men ; that is to say, Walter 
 Ker of Cessford, Andrew Ker of Fairnieherst, Mark Ker 
 of Dolphinston, George Kerr, tutor of Cessford, and An- 
 drew Ker of Primesideloch, for themselves, kin, friends, 
 mentenants, assisters, allies, adherents, and partakers, on 
 the one part ; and Walter Scot of Branxholm, knight, 
 Robert Scot of Allauhaugh, Robert Scot, tutor of How- 
 paisly, John Scot of Roberton, and Walter Scot of Stirk" 
 shaws, for themselves, their kin, friends, mentenants, ser- 
 vants, assisters, and adherents, on the other part; in 
 manner, form, and effect, as after follows : For staunch- 
 ing all discord and variance betwixt them, and for furth- 
 bearing of the king's authority, and punishing trespasses, 
 and for amending all slaughters, heritages, and steedings, 
 and all other pleas concerning thereto, either of these par- 
 ties to others, and for unite, friendship, and concord, to be 
 had in time coming, 'twixt them, of our sovereign lord's 
 special command : that is to say, either of the said parties, 
 be the tenor hereof, remits and forgives to others the ran- 
 cour, hatred, and malice of their hearts ; and the said Wal- 
 ter Scot of Branxholm shall gang, or cause gang, at the will 
 of the party, to the four head pilgrimages of Scotland, and 
 shall say a mass for the souls of umquhile Andrew Ker of 
 Cessford, and them that were slain in his company, in the 
 field of Melrose ; and, upon his expence, shall cause a 
 chaplain say a mass daily, when he is disposed, in what 
 place the said Walter Ker and his friends pleases, for the
 
 clvi 
 
 veil of the said souls, for the space of five years next 
 to come. Mark Ker of Dolphinston, Andrew Kerr of 
 Graden, shall gang at the will of the party, to the four 
 head pilgrimages of Scotland, and shall gar say a mass for 
 the souls of umquhile James Scot of Eskirk, and other 
 Scots, their friends, slain in the field of Melrose ; and, 
 upon their expence, shall gar a chaplain say a mass daily, 
 when he is disposed, for the heal of their souls, where the 
 said Walter Scot and his friends pleases, for the space of 
 three years next to come : and the said Walter Scott of 
 Brauxholm shall marry his son and heir upon one of the 
 said Walter Ker his sisters ; he paying, therefor, a com- 
 petent portion to the said Walter Ker and his heir, at the 
 sight of the friends of baith parties. And also, baith the 
 saids parties bind and oblige them, be the faith and truth 
 of their bodies, that they abide at the decreet and deliver- 
 ance of the six men chosen arbiters, anent all other 
 matters, quarrels, actiones, and debates, whilk either of 
 them likes to propone against others betwixt the saids 
 parties : and also the six arbiters are bound and obliged 
 to decreet and deliver, and give forth their deliverance 
 thereuntil, within year and day after the date hereof. 
 And attour, either of the said parties bind and oblige 
 them, be the faith and truth of their bodies, ilk ane to 
 others, that they shall be leil and true to others, and nei- 
 ther of them will another's skaith, but they shall let it 
 at their power, and give to others their best counsel, and 
 il be asked ; and shall take leil and aeftald part ilk ane
 
 clvii 
 
 with others, with their kin, friends, servants, allies, and 
 partakers, in all and sundry their actions, quarrels, and 
 debates, against all that live and die may (the allegiance 
 of our sovereign lord the king allenarly be excepted.) 
 And for the obliging and keeping all thir premises above 
 written, baith the saids parties are bound and obliged, ilk 
 ane to others, be the faith and truth of their bodies, but 
 fraud or guile, under the pain of perjury, men-swearing, 
 defalcation, and breaking of the bond of deadly. And, 
 in witness of the whilk, ilk ane to the procuratory of this 
 indenture remain with the said Walter Scot and his 
 proper seal, with his subscription manual, and with the 
 subscription of the said Andrew Ker of Fairnieherst, 
 Mark Ker of Dolphinston, George Ker, tutor of Cess- 
 ford, and Andrew Ker of Primesideloch, before these 
 witnesses, Mr Andrew Drurie, abbot of Melrose, and 
 George Douglas of Boonjedward, John Riddel of that 
 ilk, and William Stewart. 
 
 Sic Subscribitur, 
 
 Walter Ker of Cessford. 
 
 Andrew Ker of Fairnieherst 
 
 Mark Ker. 
 
 George Ker. 
 
 Andrew Ker of Primesideloch." 
 
 N. B. The four pilgrimages are Scoon, Dundee, Pais- 
 ley, and Melrose.
 
 clviii 
 
 APPENDIX, No. V. 
 ANE INTERLUDE 
 
 OF THE LAYING OF A GA1ST. 
 
 I his burlesque poem is preserved in the Bannatyne MSS. 
 It is in the same strain with the verses concerning the 
 Gyre Carline (Vol. II.) As the mention of Bettokis 
 Bowr occurs in both pieces, and as the scene of both is 
 laid in East Lothian, they are perhaps composed by the 
 same author. The humour of these fragments seems to 
 have been directed against the superstitions of Rome ; but 
 it is now become very obscure. Nevertheless, the verses- 
 are worthy of preservation, for the sake of the ancient 
 language and allusions. 
 
 Listen lordis, I sail you tell, 
 Off' ane very grit marvell, 
 Oft' Lord Fergussis gaist, 
 How raeikle Sir Andro it chest,
 
 clix 
 
 Unto Beittokis bour, 
 
 The silly sawle to succour : 
 
 And he has written unto me, 
 
 Auld storeis for to se, 
 
 Gif it appinis him to nieit, 
 
 How he sail conjure the spreit : 
 
 And I haif red mony ^juars, 
 
 Bath the Donet, and Dominus que pars, 
 
 Ryme maid, and ajs redene, 
 
 Baith Inglis and Latene : 
 
 And ane story haif I to reid, 
 
 Passes Bonitatem in the creid. 
 
 To conjure the littil gaist he mon haif 
 
 Of tod's tails ten thraif, 
 
 And kast the grit holy water 
 
 With pater noster, pitte.r patter; 
 
 And ye man sit in a compas, v 
 
 And cry, Harbert tuthless, 
 
 Drag thou, and ye's draw, 
 
 And sit thair quhil cok craw. 
 
 The compas mon hallowit be 
 
 With aspergis me Domine ; 
 
 The haly writ schawis als 
 
 Thair man be hung about your hals 
 
 Pricket in ane wool poik 
 
 Of neis powder ane grit loik. 
 
 Thir thingis mon ye beir, 
 
 Brynt in ane doggis eir,
 
 clx 
 
 Ane pluck, ane pin dill, and ane palme cors, 
 
 Thrc tuskis of ane awld hors, 
 
 And of ane yallow wob the warp, 
 
 The boddome of ane awld herp, 
 
 The heid of ane cuttit reill, 
 
 The band of an awld quheill, 
 
 The taill of ane yield sow. 
 
 And ane bait of blew wow, 
 
 Ane botene, and ane brechame, 
 
 And ane quhorle made of lame, 
 
 To luke out at the littil boir, 
 
 And cry, Crystis crosse, you befoir : 
 
 And quhen you see the littil gaist, 
 
 Cumand to you in all haist, 
 
 Cry loud, Cryste eleisone, 
 
 And speir quhat law it levis on > 
 
 And gif it sayis on Godis ley, 
 
 Than to the littil gaist ye say, 
 
 With braid benedicite ; 
 
 " Littil gaist, I conjure the, 
 
 With lierie and larie, 
 
 Bayth fra God, and Sanct Marie, 
 
 First with ane fischis mouth, 
 
 And syne with ane sowlis towth, 
 
 With ten pertane tais, 
 
 And nyne knokis of windil strais, 
 
 With thre heid is of curie doddy." 
 
 And bid the gaist turn in a boddy.
 
 clxi 
 
 Then after this conjuratioun, 
 The littill gaist will fall in soun, 
 And thair efter down ly, 
 Cryand mercy petously ; 
 Than with your left heil sane, 
 And it will nevir cum agane, 
 As meikle as a mige amaist. * 
 
 He had a littil we leg, 
 And it wes cant as any cleg, 
 It wes wynd in ane wynden schet, 
 Baythe the handis and the feit : 
 
 Suppose this gaist wes litill 
 
 Yit it stal Godis quhitell ; 
 
 It stal fra peteous Abrahame, 
 
 Ane quhorle and ane quhim quhame ; 
 
 It stal fra ye carle of ye mone 
 
 Ane payr of awld yin so hone; 
 
 It rane to Pencatelane, 
 
 And wirreit ane awld chaplane ; 
 
 This litil gaist did na mair ill 
 
 But clok lyk a corn mill; 
 
 And it wald play and hop, 
 
 About the heid ane stre strop ; 
 
 And it wald sing and it wald dance, 
 
 Oure fute, and Orliance. 
 
 * Apparently some lines are here omitted. 
 VOL.1. 1
 
 clxii 
 
 Qaha conjurit the litill gaist say ye ? 
 Nane bot the littil Spenzie fie, 
 That with hir wit and her ingyne, 
 Gart me gaist leif agane; 
 And sune mareit the gaist the fie, 
 And croun'd him king of Kandelie j 
 And they gat theme betwene 
 Orpheus king, and Elpha quene. * 
 To reid quha will this gentil geist, 
 Ye hard it not at Cockilby's feist, f 
 
 * This seems to allude to the old romance of Orfeo and Heuro- 
 dis, from which the reader will find some extracts, Vol. II. The 
 wife of Orpheus is here called Elpha, probably from ber having 
 been extracted by the elves, or fairies. 
 
 t Alluding to a strange unintelligible poem in the Bannatyne 
 
 MSS.,caJ.ed-Cocfc<%',**. 
 
 jnitldu* o! 

 
 clxiii 
 APPENDIX, No. VI. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL STANZAS 
 
 TO COLLINS'S ODE 
 
 . / .. 
 
 THE SUPERSTITIONS OF THE HIGHLANDS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM ERSKINE, Esq. ' 
 
 ADVOCATE. 
 
 J. he editor embraces this opportunity of presenting the 
 reader with the following stanzas, intended to commemo- 
 rate some striking Scottish superstitions, omitted by Col- 
 lins in his ode upon that subject; and which, if the editor 
 can judge with impartiality of the production of a valued 
 friend, will be found worthy of the sublime original. 
 The reader must observe, that these verses form a conti-
 
 clxiv 
 
 nuation of the address, by Collins, to the author of Dou- 
 glas, exhorting him to celebrate the traditions of Scot- 
 land. They were first published in the Edinburgh Ma- 
 gazine, for April, 1788. 
 
 Thy muse may tell, how, when at evening's close, 
 
 To meet her love beneath the twilight shade, 
 O'er many a broom-clad brae and heathy glade, 
 
 In merry mood the village maiden goes ; 
 There, on a streamlet's margin as she lies, 
 
 Chaunting some carol till her swain appears, 
 With visage deadly pale, in pensive guise, 
 
 Beneath a wither'd fir his form he rears ! * 
 Shrieking and sad, she bends her irie flight, 
 
 When, mid dire heaths, where flits the taper blue, 
 The whilst the moon sheds dim a sickly light, 
 
 The airy funeral meets her blasted view! 
 When, trembling, weak, she gains her cottage low, 
 
 Where magpies scatter notes of presage wide, 
 Some one shall tell, while tears in torrents flow, 
 
 That, just when twilight dimm'd the green hill's side, 
 Far in his lonely shicl her hapless shepherd died. 
 
 * The vraitk, or spectral appearance, of a person shortly to 
 die, is a firm article in the creed of Scottish super-tit ion. .N or is 
 it unknown in our sister kingdom. See the story of the beautiful 
 lady Diana Kicb. Aubrey* Miscellanies, p. 8U.
 
 clxv 
 
 Let these sad strains to lighter sounds give place ! 
 
 Bid thy brisk viol warble measures gay ! 
 For see ! recall'd by thy resistless lay, 
 
 Once more the Brownie shews his honest face. 
 Hail, from thy wanderings long, my much lov'd sprite ! 
 
 Thou friend, thou lover of the lowly, hail ! 
 Tell, in what realms thou sport'st thy merry night, 
 
 Trailst the long mop, or whirl'st the mimic flail. 
 Where dost thou deck the much-disordered hall, 
 
 While the tired damsel in Elysium sleeps, 
 With early voice to drowsy workman call, 
 
 Or lull the dame, while mirth his vigils keeps f 
 'Twas thus in Caledonia's domes, 'tis said, 
 
 Thou ply'dst the kindly task in years of yore : 
 At last, in luckless hour, some erring maid 
 
 Spread in thy nightly cell of viands store .- 
 Ne'er was thy form beheld among their mountains more.* 
 
 Then wake (for well thou canst) that wond'rous lay, 
 
 How, while around the thoughtless matrons sleep, 
 Soft o'er the floor the treach'rous fairies creep, 
 
 And bear the smiling infant far away: 
 How starts the nurse, when, for her lovely child, 
 
 She sees at dawn a gaping idiot stare ! 
 O snatch the innocent from demons vilde, 
 
 And save the parents fond from fell despair ! 
 
 * See Introduction, p. ci.
 
 clxvi 
 
 In a deep cave the trusty menials wait, 
 
 When from their hilly dens, at midnight's hour. 
 Forth rush the fairy elves in mimic state, 
 
 And o'er the moonlight-heath with swiftness scour : 
 In glittering arms the little horsemen shine ; 
 
 Last, on a milk-white steed, with targe of gold, 
 A fay of might appears, whose arms entwine 
 
 The lost, lamented child ! the shepherds bold * 
 The unconscious infant tear from his unhallowed hold. 
 
 For an account of the Fairy superstition, see Introduction to 
 the Tale of Tamlane.
 
 n afsfnsm yizmi arfJ 3?m qaab s nl 
 
 it'W 
 Eta aiaura ot z r .noTt 
 
 uA. 
 
 i 
 
 t A 
 
 Ri 998 (0.afiiJr*isqiS fsi/fl Sift to iatt09 ne io-I *
 
 clxvii 
 
 APPENDIX, No. VII. 
 
 EXCOMMUNICATION OF BORDER ROBBERS. 
 
 BY RICHARD FOX, 
 BISHOP OF DURHAM, IN THE TIME OF HENRY VII. 
 
 This very curious document, which contains some particulars 
 highly illustrative of the state of Border manners, was given 
 to the Editor by his valued friend, Richard Surtees, Esq. 
 of Mainsforth, in the bishoprick of Durham, eminent for 
 his knowledge of Border antiquities. 
 
 RICHD. FOX. Bp. temp. H.J. 
 
 MONITIO CONTRA FAMOSOS LATRONES DE TYNDALL 
 ET RYDSDALL. 
 
 JtiiCAKDUs permissionedivinaDunolm. Episcopus dilectis 
 Nobis Mag ro - Georgio Ogle, A. M. necnon universis 'et 
 singulis ecclesiarum parochialium infra yndalle et Rid- 
 dysdale nostras dioces. constitutarumRectoribusetVicariis 
 necnon Capellarum et Cantanarum, inibi Capellanis Cura- 
 tis et non Curatis Salutem. Quia tam fama quam notorie- 
 tate facti referentibus ad aures nostras delatum est quod 
 vol. i. m
 
 clxx 
 
 propter amorem, favorem, familiaritatem, affmitatem, 
 et sanguinis conjunctionem, necnon, nominis, indemnita- 
 tem hujusmodi furtis, latrociniis, rapinis, et depraedationi- 
 bus aliquando tacite, interdum etenim expresse consenti- 
 entes, fures ipsos, latrones, et depraedatores per eorum 
 terras et districtus cum rebus, pecoribus et catallis, quae 
 furati sunt, liberum habere transitum, scienter tolerant 
 et permittant ; ac nonnunquam eosdem cum rebus, peco- 
 ribus, et catallis raptis, depraedatis, et furti ablatis recep- 
 tarunt, prout adhuc recipiunt indies et receptant, non 
 ignorantes receptatores hujusmodi quoscunq. non minori 
 poena dignos quam raptores, fures, latrones, et praedones : 
 Nam si non esset qui foveret, reciperet, et confortaret, 
 nullus rapinam, latrocitiium, depraedaliones hujusmodi 
 comn.itteret, committereve auderet: Eodemq. delicto 
 singulas villas, villulas, hamelectas dictarum partium de 
 Tyndall et Ryddisdall laborare intelleximus, quod maxi- 
 me abhorrendum est ; nam latrones, fures, raptores, de- 
 praedatores famosos et manifestos sic, ut praefertur, reci- 
 piunt, hospitantur, fovent, et nutriunt, ac inter eos etcum 
 cisdem in partibus praesentibus, ut vicinossuos familiares, 
 habitare permittunt, et ad eadem faciuora reiteranda invi- 
 tant, et confortant publice, palam, et manifeste : Com- 
 pluresq. capellanos, saepe nominatarum partium et terri- 
 toriorum de Tyndalle et Ryddysdalle, publicos et mani- 
 festos concubinarios, irregulares, suspensos, excommuni- 
 catos, et interdictos, necnon literarum penitus ignaros, 
 adeo ut per dccennium celebrantes, hec ipsa quidem ver- 
 
 13 

 
 clxxi 
 
 ba sacramentalia, uti quibusdam eorum opponentes, ex- 
 perti sumus, legere sciant ; nonnullos etiam non ordina- 
 tos, sed sacerdotii effigiem duntaxat praetendentes, non 
 modo in locis sacris et dedicatis, verum etiam in propha- 
 nis et interdictis ac miserabiliter ruinosis ; necnon vesti- 
 mentis ruptis, laceratis, et faedissimis, nee divino, immo 
 nee humano officio aut servitio dignis, quibus, deum con- 
 temnentes, induti Divina celebrare, Sacraq. et Sacramen- 
 talia ministrare intelleximus. Dicti praeterea capellani 
 supradictisfuribus, latronibus, depraedatoribus, receptato- 
 ribus, et raptoribus manifestis et famosis, sacramenta et 
 sacramentalia rainistrant, sine debita restitutione aut ani- 
 mo restituendi, ut ex facti evidentia constat, sicq. eos si- 
 ne cautione de restituendo, ecclesiasticae sepulturae, cum 
 ex sacrorum canonum, et sanctorum patrum institutis haec 
 facere districte prohibeutur, passim committant, in ani- 
 marum suarum grave periculum, aliorumq. Cbristi fide- 
 lium exemplum perniciosum plurimorumq. spoliatorum 
 et privatorum bonis, rebus, pecoribus, et catallis suis hu- 
 jusmpdi, damnum non modicum et gravamen. Nos igi- 
 tur animarum hujus'modi malefactorum saluti providere 
 cupientes, spoliatorumq. et privatorum bujusmodi jactu- 
 ris et dispendiis paternali afFectu compatientes et quan- 
 tum in nobis est, remedium in hac parte apponere, ut te- 
 nemur, volentes, vobis omnibus et singulis Rectoribus, 
 Vicariis, Capellanis, Curatis, et non Curatis praedictis te- 
 nere praesentium, in virtute sanctoe obedientiae firmiter in- 
 jungendo mandamus, quatenus proximis diebus domini-
 
 elxxii 
 
 cis et festivis, inter missarum et aliorum divinorum so- 
 lenmia in ecclesiis et capellis vestris, clum major in eis- 
 dein aderit populi multitudo, omnes et singulos fures, la- 
 trones, raptores, praedones, depraedatores, et eos praeser*- 
 tim quos famosos et manifestos latrones, raptores, et de- 
 praedatores fuisse et esse intelleximus, quorum nomina in 
 praesenti rescripto sunt descripta, peremptorie moneatis, 
 quos nos etiam tenore praesentiuiu primo, secundo, et ter- 
 tio, ac peremptorie monemus, ut ipsi omnes et singuli ab 
 hujusmodi incursionibus, turtis, latrociniis, rapinis,deprre- 
 dationibus de caetero se abstineant et desistant, sub paena 
 majoris excommunicationis sententiae, quam ex sacrorum 
 canonum institutis incurrunt, sicq. eos et eorum quemli- 
 bet incurrere volumus ipso facto. 
 
 Citetis insuper, seu citari faciatis peremptorie omnes 
 et singulos famosos et manifestos fures, latrones, raptores, 
 et depraedatores, quorum nomina sunt in dorsu praesentis 
 schedulae sive rescripti descripta, et eorum quemlibet, 
 quod compareant, sicq. quilibet eorum compareat coram 
 nobis aut nostro in hac parte, commissario in Galilea 
 Ecclesiae nostras Catbedralis Dunelm. locoq. consistoriali 
 ejusdem, sexto die post citationem, eis et eorum cuilibet 
 in hac parte factam, si juridicus fuerit, alioquin proximo 
 die juridico extnnc sequente, quo die nos aut commis- 
 sarium nostrum hujusmodi ibidem ad jura reddend. hora 
 consueta pro tribunali sedere contigerit, certis articulis et 
 interrogator's, meram animarum suarum salutem et cor- 
 rectionem concernentibus, coinmisssario eisdem et eorum
 
 clxxiii 
 
 cuilibet in eorum adventu ex officio nostro mero objici- 
 endis personaliter responsuri et parituri. Moneatis in- 
 super sic, ut praemittitur, peretnptorie omnes et singulos 
 ministros justitiae, caeterosq. viros nobiles et potentes, dic- 
 tas partes et territoria de Tyudall et Ryddysdall, et loca 
 vicina et circumjacentia inhabitantes, necnon omnes et 
 singulos Capellanos, Curatos et non Curatos in eisdem 
 partibus et territoriis de Tyudall et Ryddysdall divina ce- 
 lebrantes, quatenus ipsi justitiae ministri etviri nobiles et 
 potentes omnes et singulos fures et latrones, necnon rap- 
 tores et depraedatores, in et ad partes et territoria de Tyn- 
 dali et Ryddysdall cum rebus, pecoribus et catallis fur- 
 tive oblatis confugientes, necnon omnes et singulos fures, 
 latrones, et depraedatores in eisdem partibus et territoriis 
 de Tyndall et Ryddysdall commorantes et degentes, 
 praesertira famosos, publicos, notorios, et manifestos nul- 
 latenus foveant, nutriant, aut coufortent, hospitentur, aut 
 manuteneant, immo eosdem fures, latrones, et depraeda- 
 tores quoscunq. ab eisdem partibus et territoriis de Tyn- 
 dall et Ryddysdall amoveant, sicq. amoveri faciant et 
 procurent, seu saltern eosdem fures, latrones, depraedato- 
 res, et raptores quoscunq. capiant, sicq. capi facient eos- 
 demq. rectificent et justificent. 
 
 Capellani vero, Curati, et non Curati in eisdem partibus 
 et territoriis divina celebrantes, hujusmodi fures, latrones, 
 et depraedatores, saltern publicos, notorios, et manifestos 
 ad sacramenta paenitentiae, eucharistiae, sepulturae, caete- 
 ti&(. sacramenta aut sacramental ia sine debita restitution*
 
 clxxiv 
 
 spoliatis facta aut sufficient! cautione de restituendo prac- 
 stita, nisi in mortis ariiculo, et tunc ad sacramenta pae- 
 nitentiae et eucharistiae duntaxat, non autem ad sepultu- 
 ram, sub paeua suspensionis ab officio et bencficio, nulla- 
 tenus admittant. 
 
 Dcsiderantur sequentia, et conclusio, cum tranagresaorum 
 nominibus propter hiatum quinq. foliorwn in registro. 
 
 TESTIMONIALS LITERA DN1. EP1SCOP1 SUPER ABSOLUTION! 
 QUORUNDAM LATRONLM, ET INJUNCTIONES. 
 
 Ricardus permissione divina Dunelm. Episcopus uni- 
 versis et singulis Hectoribtis, Vicariis, Capellanis, Curatis, 
 et non Curatis quibuscuuq. curain animarum habentibus, 
 infra territorium, de Tyndall et Ryddisdall nostra? dioces. 
 Salutem, gratiam, et benedictionem. Sciatis Sandy Cli.i- 
 relton, Crysty Milborn, Howy Milborne, Atkyn Milborn, 
 filiiiiii Willielmi Milborn, Laury Robeson, Davy Robeson, 
 Sandy Robeson, Gilly Tod of ye Crake aller of Smebe- 
 mouth, George Tod, Rouly Tod, Tammy Tod, Sandy 
 Tod of ye hhawe, George Mershall, Sandy Hunter, a sen- 
 tentia excommunicationis, quam in eosdem, pro eorum 
 contumacia promulgavimus, per nos absolutos esse, et 
 comniunioni hominum ac sacris ecclesiae restitutes, seq. 
 nostras correction! humiliter submittentes, injunctiones, 
 salutaremve suscepisse paenitentiam, videlicet ut de cacte- 
 ro rapinam, furtum, aut latrociuium publice, manifeste, 
 vel occutte uon committant, nee al iqu is coram committat,
 
 clxxv 
 
 aut talia committenti auxilium, consilium, vel favorem 
 praestent, nee aliquis eorum praestet, seu talia committen- 
 tium consilium quovismodo celent seu celet, celarive pro- 
 curent seu procuret. Item quod post diem Merc, proxime 
 futurum, viz. 26 diem mensis Septembrisjam instant non 
 incedant nee aliquis eor. incedat pedes aut eques indic- 
 tus subicinio Anglice a Jacke aut galea, Anglice a Salet 
 or a Knapescall aut aliis armis defensivis quibusc. nee 
 equitent aut eor. aliquis equitet super equo aut equa cujus 
 valor, communi hominum aestimatione, excedet six soli- 
 dos et octo denarios, nisi contra Scotos vel alios regis 
 inimicos. Injungimus praeterea quod postquam ingressi 
 fuerint vel eor. aliquis ingressus fuerit caemiterium, eccle- 
 siae vel capellae cujuscunque infra territorium de Tynedall 
 etRiddisdall ad divina inibi audiend. vel orationes inibi fa- 
 ciend. seu aliaquaecunq. faciend. abjiciant seu deponant, 
 sicq. eor. quilibet abjiciat et deponat arma invasiva quaec. 
 si quae habeant, si ad longitudinem unius cubiti se exteu- 
 dantetquamdiu fuerint seu aliquis eor. fuerit infra eand. 
 ecc liam S eu capell. aut caemiter. ejusd. cum nullo, sermo- 
 nem aut verbum habeat nisi cum Curato aut Sacerdote 
 illius eccl : vel capellae sub paena excomm. majoris 
 quam in eos et eorum quemlibet casu quo his nostris in- 
 junctionibus aut uni eor. non paruerint cum effectu exnunc 
 prout extunc et extunc prout exnunc promulgamus, in 
 scriptis justitia mediante vobis igitur &c. Dat. in castro 
 nro de Norham sub s. n r0 - 25 die mens. Sept. A. D. 1498,
 
 dxxvi 
 
 APPENDIX, No. VIII. 
 
 DOUBLE OF THE CONTRACT 
 
 BETWIXT THE 
 
 KING AND SEVERAL OF HIS SUBJECTS. 
 
 [The original of this curious brief, by which the borderers re- 
 nounced their vocation of theft and robbery, is in the hands 
 of the Editor, whose ancestor is one of the parties subscri- 
 bing. Similar bonds were doubtless executed by the other 
 clans; among whom copies would be distributed for their 
 subscription. This appears to have referred chiefly to the 
 clan of Scott.] 
 
 We noblemen, barrons, landit gentilmen, and uthers, 
 under subscryveing, deiply considering with ourselves 
 the wrackfull and intolerable calamities sue long sustain- 
 ed be us, our fiends, our servants, and inhabitants, upon 
 proper lands and heretages, at the hands of theives and 
 murtherersj within the Highlands and bordours ; whereby
 
 clxxvii 
 
 our bloods have been cruelly shed, our goods be opin de- 
 predation violetitlie reft and spuilzied, and our most plen- 
 tiful! and profitable roumes, for fear of their incursions 
 and oppressions, left desolat and desert, without teniient 
 or inhabitant, to our inexcuseable reproach and shameful 
 wrack, if wee sail any longer neglect to use sic lawfull 
 and allowable remedies as God, our honor, and the me- 
 morable examples of our worthie predecessors, still ex- 
 tant in the records of ther days, craves at our hands, for 
 the repressing of their insolence : And, considering ther- 
 withall, the royall and princelie disposition of our most 
 gracious soverane lord, utterit everie way for the sup- 
 pressing of this infamous byke of lawless limmers, and 
 quhat earnest and faithful! dutie our ranks and places 
 craves of us, for the furtherance of his majesties most 
 honorable resolution at this tyme, for the extermination 
 of sic a venime, whereby our oursights hithertill has bein 
 na litle hinder to the good success of the great care and 
 paynes tane alwayes be his highness and his secret coun- 
 sell, to work the said effect : Thairfore, and for remeid 
 of our bypast slouth that way, in the fear of God, and 
 with his majesties gracious approbation and allowance, 
 we all and everie ane of us, have solemnly avowit, sworne, 
 and protestit, lyke as, be the tenor heirof we avow, swear, 
 and protest, upon our consciences and honors, that, as we 
 are in hearts trew and faithfull, and obedient subjects, to 
 the king's majestie, our sovereign lord and his authontie, 
 and alwayes answerable to his hienes lawes ; so, in our
 
 clxxviii 
 
 hearts, we abhorre.dampne, and detest all treason, murther, 
 fire-ryseing, reviseing of women, thift, resset of thift, for- 
 iifeieng or assisting with theives, shedding of true mens 
 blood, common and manifest oppression, resset of per- 
 sons exromtnunicat, or at the home, for criminall causes, 
 with the authors and committers thereof whatsumever; 
 in further taken whereof, we bind and obleis us, our aires 
 and successors of our lands and heretages, to our soverane 
 lord and his successors, that, within ten dayes after our 
 subscription to this present, we sail discharge, and be 
 oppin proclamation at the mercat-croces of heid-bur- 
 rowes within the shrifdomes, quherin the theives and 
 limmers dwell, as also, be particular intimation to thein- 
 selfs, give up all bands of freindship, kyndnes, oversight, 
 maintenance, or assureance, if ony we have, with com- 
 mon theives and broken clans or branches, unanswereable 
 to his luenes lawes : and sail, fra then furth, afVauldlie 
 and truelie, joyne and concune together, als weill in ac- 
 tion as in heart, to the pursute, with tire and sword, of 
 all and whatsumever within this realme, of whatsumever 
 clane, qualitie, or surname, who being charged, be opin 
 proclainacione, to compeir to answer to complaints, and 
 to relieve ther masters at his majestie and true mens 
 hands, are or sail for ther disobedience be denunced fu- 
 gitives and outlawes, together with whatsoever ther per- 
 takers, supliers, and recepters, and all sic other, as frae 
 thetyme they be denunced fugitives, sail furnish to them, 
 ther wyfes or families, meat, drink, herbore, or other
 
 clxxix 
 
 confort quhatsumever : As lykevvayes we bind and obleis 
 us, in nianer forsaid, that if any persone, dwelling within 
 our houses, upon our lands, within our tackes, steadings, 
 roumes, portiounes, ballieries, or other office or jurisdic- 
 tion quhatsumever, commits ony of the crymes before 
 expreimit, or any uther punishable be lyfe or member, 
 we, or any of us, under quhom the said persone dwells, 
 being required thereto be his majesties letters, valentynes, 
 or charges, or be his highnes consell or justice, sail nei- 
 ther directlie, nor indirectlie, give any warning or adver- 
 tisement to him, quherby he may eschew his taking; 
 but trewlie and effauldlie sail apprehend, bring and pre- 
 sent him to underly his tryell of the cryme quherof he 
 is dilatit, upon fiftein dayes warneing, without shift or 
 excuse quhatsumever, as we sail ansuer to his majestie 
 upon our honors, and under the paynes contained in the 
 general 1 bond and acts of parliament quhatsumever ; and 
 sail be comptable to our soverane lord and his hienes 
 thesaurer, for their escheats, in cace they be convict; 
 and, in cace the persone or persons sa dilatit, becomes 
 fugitives, wherby we cannot apprehend them to be pre- 
 sentit, we sail expell, put and hold them furth of our 
 bounds, heretages, tacks and steidings, roumes, bailliaries, 
 and jurisdictions quhatsunfever, togither with ther wyfes, 
 bairnes, and families, and sail take fra them their stocke 
 and steiding, and put in other persones to occupy the 
 same ; and if it sail happin the saids malefactors to resort 
 or come again within our bounds, or be sufferit to remain
 
 clxxx 
 
 therein, with our witting, twelff hours togithir, or to re- 
 pair with our knowledge to oppin tnercat unapprehendit, 
 in that cace we grant and confes us to be culpable of 
 quhatsumever crymes or skaithes committit be them at 
 any time before or therefter : And if it shall happen at 
 any tyme heirefter, ony creatures, rebells to our soverane 
 lords authoritie, for criminall causes, to repair within our 
 bounds, or any pairt of the shirriffdome quharein we 
 dwell, we sail be readie to ryse and concurre, with our 
 freinds and forces, to ther pursute, till they be either ap- 
 prehendit and presented to justice, or put out of the shi- 
 riffdome quharein we dwell ; moreover, none of us her- 
 after sail tryst or assure with any declared theeves or fu- 
 gitives, but quhensoever any effray of theeves or reivers 
 happens within our bounds or jurisdictions forsaids, we 
 sail at the affray or forray be ourselves, our servants, kin, 
 freinds, and sae many partakers as we may get, ryse, 
 follow, and pursue the saids theeves and reivers, at the 
 outermost of our power, as we wold doe to the rescue of 
 our owne propper goods in cace they were in the lyke 
 danger, being alwayes warned thereto, be the scout-bail- 
 lie in the countrie, requisitione of partie, or otherwayes 
 quhatsumever : And if it be found, that we ly still at sic- 
 like effrayes, and suffers the stids theeves and rubbers to 
 pass throw our boundis, without pursueing them and 
 making uther thorture or impediment we may, in that cace 
 we accept on us the guiltiness of quhatsumeuer theft or 
 uther cryme that they commit, as perters with them theriii
 
 clxxxi 
 
 and punisheable therefore, conforme to the act of parlia- 
 ment : And if it shall happin any stowth, reiff or op- 
 pression to be committed at any tyme heirefter, upon any 
 his hienes subjects, be any inhabitants within our boundis 
 and jurisdictions forsaids, the same being notified to us 
 be the owners of the goods or any uther follower therof 
 in ther names, and the persone and place showin to us be 
 cjuhom the gudes are stollen, and quhar they are resett 
 within our boundis, we sail, imnaediatlie therefter, be 
 ourselves, or be some speciall freind or servant, ayde and 
 addresse us to the said place, and finding the goods ther, 
 shall sie them rendered to the follower, without gratitude 
 or good deid, and therewith sail apprehend the theif, if 
 he be present on the ground, or can be found within our 
 bounds, then, or at any tyme therefter, and present him 
 to his majestie, or to his justice, to be punished -according 
 to his merit ; or, if we cannot find him, we sail intimate 
 his name to the shrifT, Stewart, or wardaae, to be denun- 
 eed Fugitives be them at the mercat-croce of the next 
 heidburgh, that he* his wyfe, and familie, therefter may 
 be used in manner foresaid : Likewayes, that nane of us 
 heirefter sail, either opinlie or privilie, for any theif- 
 hider, entertainer, or resetter, of theft or theftous goods, 
 assist nor defend them directlie nor indirectly, solist for 
 their impunitie, or bear grudge, rancoure, or quarrell 
 againes any man for their dilatione, apprehension, or 
 pursute in any sort, under the paine of infame and ac- 
 ceptance upon us of the guiltines of the said cryme, in 
 
 3
 
 clxxxii 
 
 cace they be convict : And if it sail happen us, or any 
 of us, at ony tyme heirefter, to meit with ony notorious 
 theif or lymmer, whom we may tak, we sail not faillie to 
 apprehend, keip, and detaine him, in sure capptivitie and 
 firmance, unfred or set to libertie, upon quhatsumever 
 band, promise, restitutione, or assurance, he can giue us; 
 but sail present him to his majestie, his counsellor, jus- 
 tice, to be punished for his offence, under the paine, like- 
 wayes, to be repute culpable of his theftuous deids, and 
 punishable accordinglie : And finallie, that we ourselves 
 and all sic persons quhatsumever, as dwells upon our lands 
 and others forsaids, sail alwayes be answerable to our so- 
 verane lord and his auctoritie, and sail compeir before his 
 hieness and his counsell. quhensoever we shall happin to 
 be charged for that effect, under the paines contained in 
 the acts of caution found for observation of the generall 
 bands : And gif for execution of any of the premisses, 
 we, or any of us, be quarrelled be ony clan, brensche, or 
 surname, to quhom the theeves pertaines, we bind and 
 obleis us and our foresaids, affauldlie and t rut lie, to con- 
 curre and assist with others against the brensch, surname 
 or clann that quarrells, as if it were our proper caus ; and 
 sail esteem the feid, if any follow, equall to us all. In 
 witness quhareof, our soverane lord, in taken of his said 
 approbation, and allowance of the premisses, and evere 
 ane of us, for us and our forsaids, have subscryvit this 
 present, to be insert and registrat in the books of the se- 
 cret counsell, and to have the strength of ane decreit
 
 clxxxiii 
 
 thereof against the contraveiners. Wherunto our sub- 
 scriptions sail serue for aae sufficient warrand for eye- 
 rie ane of us. This band, written be William Wyllie, 
 clerk, Sic subscribitur. James R. Lenox, Huntlie, Mon- 
 tross Cancellarius, Anguss, Herys, Caithness, Traquair, 
 Lochinvar, Johnstoun, Drumlangric, David Scot of Stob- 
 aeill. Apud Jedburgh, 29th March, 1612, Walter Scot 
 of Goldielands, Walter Scot of Tishelaw, Robert Scot, his 
 sone, James Gledstanes of Cocklaw, William EUiot of 
 Falneish, Robert Scot of Satsheills, Walter Scot of Har- 
 den, Sym Scot of Bonniton, and William Scot in Burn- 
 fute in the Water of Aill, with our hands at the pen, led 
 be James Primerose, clerk of consell, at our comand. J. 
 Primerose, Robert Scott in Stirkfield, with hand at the pen 
 led be William Wyly, wryterof this baud. William Scot 
 of Hartwoodmyres, Philip Scot of Dryhop, Robert Scot of 
 Aikwood, William Scot of Howpasl. Jedburgh, 29th of 
 October, 1612, William Scot of Whythaught, James 
 Scot of Gilmerscleugb, and John Dalgleish of Douchar, 
 with our hands at the pen led be William Wylie, clerk. 
 W. Wyllie.
 
 MINSTRELSY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SCOTTISH BORDER. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 tetortcal Lallan*. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 
 
 .aae 
 
 .
 
 SIR PATRICK SPENS. 
 
 One edition of the present ballad is well known ; having 
 appeared in the Reliques of Ancient Poetry, and having 
 been inserted in almost every subsequent collection of 
 Scottish songs. But it seems to have occurred to no 
 editor, that a more complete copy of the song might be 
 procured. That, with which the public is now presented, 
 is taken from two MS. copies, * collated with several ver- 
 ses, recited by the editor's friend, Robert Hamilton, Esq. 
 advocate, being the 16th, and the four which follow. 
 But, even with the assistance of the common copy, the 
 ballad seems still to be a fragment. The cause of &ir Pa- 
 trick Spens' voyage is, however, pointed out distinctly ; 
 and it shews, tint the song has claim to high antiquity, 
 as referring to a very remote period in Scottish history. 
 
 That the public might possess this curious fragment as entire 
 as possible, the editor gave one of these copies, which seems the 
 most perfect, to Mr Robert Jamieson, to be inserted in his Col- 
 lection. It also has been published with many curious illustra- 
 tions in Mr John Finlay's Scottish Historical and Romantic Bal- 
 lads. Glasgow, 1808, 
 
 12
 
 4 
 
 Alexander III. of Scotland died in 1285 : and, for the 
 misfortune of his country, as well as his own, he had been 
 bereaved of all his children before his decease. The 
 crown of Scotland descended upon his grand-daughter, 
 Margaret, termed, by our historians, the Maid of Nor- 
 way. She was the only offspring of a marriage betwixt 
 Eric, king of Norway, and Margaret, daughter of Alex- 
 ander III, The kingdom had been secured to her by the 
 parliament of Scotland, held at Scone, the year preceding 
 her grandfather's death. The regency of Scotland enter- 
 ed into a congress with the ministers of the king of Nor- 
 way, and with those of England, for the establishment of 
 good order in the kingdom of the infant princess. Short- 
 ly afterwards, Edward I. conceived the idea. of matching 
 his eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales, with the young 
 queen of Scotland. The plan was eagerly embraced by 
 the Scottish nobles; for, at that time, there was little of 
 the national animosity, which afterwards blazed betwixt 
 the countries, and they patriotically looked forward to 
 the important advantage, of uniting the island of Bri- 
 tain into one kingdom. But Eric of Norway seems to 
 have been unwilling to deliver up his daughter; and, 
 while the negotiations were thus protracted, the death of 
 the Maid of Norway effectually crushed a scheme, the 
 consequences of which might have been, that the distinc- 
 tion betwixt England and Scotland would, in our day, 
 have been as obscure and uninteresting as that of the 
 realms of the heptarchy. Hailcs' Annals. Fordun, 4c
 
 The unfortunate voyage of Sir Patrick Spens may real- 
 ly have taken place, for the purpose of bringing back the 
 Maid of Norway to her own kingdom; a purpose, which 
 was probably defeated by the jealousy of the Norwegians, 
 and the reluctance of King Eric. I find no traces of the 
 disaster in Scottish history ; but, when we consider the 
 meagre materials, whence Scottish history is drawn, this 
 is no conclusive argument against the truth of the tradi- 
 tion. That a Scottish vessel, sent upon such an embassy, 
 must, as represented in the ballad, have been freighted 
 with the noblest youth in the kingdom, is sufficiently pro- 
 bable ; and, having been delayed in Norway, till the tem- 
 pestuous season was come on, its fate can be no matter 
 of surprise. The ambassadors, finally sent by the Scot- 
 tish nation to receive their queen, were Sir David Wemyss 
 of Wemyss, and Sir Michael Scot of Balwearie j"the same, 
 whose knowledge, surpassing that of his age, procured him 
 the reputation of a wizard. But, perhaps, the expedi- 
 tion of Sir Patrick Spens was previous to their embassy. 
 The introduction of the king into the ballad seems a de- 
 viation from history; unless we suppose, that Alexander 
 was, before his death, desirous to see his grand-child and 
 heir. 
 
 The Scottish monarchs were much addicted to * sit in 
 Dunfermline town," previous to the accession of the 
 Bruce dynasty. It was a favourite abode of Alexander 
 himself, who was killed by a fall from his horse, in the 
 vicinity, and was buried in the abbey of Dunfermline.
 
 There is a beautiful German translation of this ballad, 
 as it appeared in the Reliques, in the Volk-Lieder of Pro- 
 fessor Herder ; an elegant work, in which it is only to be 
 regretted, that the actual popular songs of the Germans 
 form so trifling a proportion. 
 
 The tune of Mr Hamilton's copy of Sir Patrick Spens 
 is different from that, to which the words are commonly 
 sung ; being less plaintive, and having a bold nautical 
 turn in the close.
 
 SIR PATRICK SPENS. 
 
 The king sits in Dunfermline town, 
 
 Drinking the blude-red wine ; 
 " O * whare will I get a skeely skipper, *J* 
 
 " To sail this new ship of mine !" 
 
 O up and spake an eldern knight, 
 
 Sat at the king's right knee, 
 " Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor, 
 
 * That ever sail'd the sea." 
 
 Our king has written a braid letter, 
 
 And seal'd it with his hand, 
 And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens, 
 
 Was walking on the strand. 
 
 * In singing, the interjection O, is added to the second and 
 fourth lines. 
 
 t Skeely skipper-^SkWfal mariner.
 
 I 
 
 " To Noroway, to Noroway, 
 ** To Noroway o'er the farm ; 
 
 " The king's daughter or* Noroway, 
 * Tis thou maun bring her name." 
 
 The first word that Sir Patrick read, 
 Sae loud loud laughed he; 
 
 The neist word that Sir Patrick read, 
 The tear blinded his e'e. 
 
 * O wha is this has done this deed, 
 " And tauld the king o' me, 
 
 * To send us out, at this time of the year, 
 
 * To sail upon the sea ? 
 
 " Be it wind, be it weet, be it hail, be it sleet, 
 
 * Our ship must sail the faem ; 
 
 * The king's daughter of Noroway, 
 " Tis we must fetch her hame." 
 
 They hoysed their sails on Monenday morn, 
 
 Wi' a' the speed they may ; 
 They hae landed in Noroway, 
 
 Upon a Wodensday.
 
 9 
 
 They hadna been a week, a week, 
 
 In Noroway, but twae, 
 When that the lords o' Noroway 
 
 Began aloud to say, 
 
 " Ye Scottishmen spend a' our king's goud, 
 
 " And a' our queenis fee." 
 " Ye lie, ye lie, ye liars loud ! 
 
 " Fu' loud I hear ye lie. 
 
 " For I brought as much white monie, 
 
 " As gane * my men and me, 
 And I brought a half-fou f o' gude red goud, 
 
 Out o'er the sea wi' me. 
 
 u Make ready, make ready, my merrymen a'! 
 
 " Our gude ship sails the morn." 
 " Now, ever alake, my master dear, 
 
 " I fear a deadly storm! 
 
 " I saw the new moon, late yestreen, 
 " Wi' the auld moon in her arm; 
 
 " And, if we gang to sea, master, 
 " I fear we'll come to harm." 
 
 * Gane Suffice. f Half-fou the eighth part of a peck.
 
 10 
 
 They hadna sailed a league, a league, 
 
 A league but barely three, 
 When the lift grew dark, and the wind blew loud, 
 
 And gurly grew the sea. 
 
 The ankers brak, and the topmasts lap, * 
 
 It was sic a deadly storm; 
 And the waves cam o'er the broken ship, 
 
 Till a' her sides were torn. 
 
 " O where will I get a gude sailor, 
 " To take my helm in hand, 
 
 * Till I get up to the tall top-mast, 
 " To see if I can spy land I" 
 
 * O here am I, a sailor gude, 
 * To take the helm in hand, 
 
 * Till you go up to the tall top-mast ; 
 " But I fear you'll ne'er spy land." 
 
 He hadna gane a step, a step, 
 
 A step but barely ane, 
 When a bout flew out of our goodly ship, 
 
 And the salt sea it came in. 
 
 Lap- Sprang.
 
 11 
 
 H Gae, fetch a web o* the silken claith, 
 
 " Another o' the twine, 
 * And wap them into our ship's side, 
 
 " And let na the sea come in." 
 
 They fetched a web o' the silken claith, 
 
 Another of the twine, 
 And they wapped them round that gude ship's side, 
 
 But still the sea came in. 
 
 O iaith, laith, were our gude Scots lords 
 
 To weet their cork-heel'd shoon ! 
 But lang or a' the play was play'd, 
 
 They wat their hats aboon. 
 
 And mony was the feather-bed, 
 
 That flattered * on the faem ; 
 And mony was the gude lord's son, 
 
 That never mair cam hame. 
 
 The laidyes wrang their fingers white, 
 
 The maidens tore their hair, 
 A' for tlie sake of their true loves ; 
 
 For them they'll see na mair. 
 
 * Flattered Fluttered, or rather floated, on the foaie.
 
 H 
 
 O lang, lang, may the ladyes sitj, 
 Wi' their fans into their hand, 
 
 Before they see Sir Patrick Spens 
 Come sailing to tbe strand ! 
 
 And lang, lang, may the maidens sit, 
 Wi' their goud kaims in their hair, 
 
 A' waiting for their ain dear loves ! 
 For them they'll see na niair. 
 
 O forty miles off Aberdeen, 
 
 Tis fifty fathoms deep, 
 And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens, 
 
 Wi' the Scots lords at his feet.
 
 J3 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 SIR PATRICK SPENS. 
 
 To send us out at this time of the year, 
 To sail upon the iea ! P. 8. v. 3. 
 
 By a Scottish act of parliament, it was enacted, that ni 
 ship should he freighted out of the kingdom, with any staple 
 goods, betwixt the feast of St Simon's day and Jude and Can- 
 delmas. James III. Parliament Id, chap, 15. Such was the 
 terror entertained for navigating the north seas in winter. 
 
 When a bout flew out of our goodly ship. P. 10. v. 5. 
 
 I believe a modern seaman would say, a plank had started ; 
 which must have been a frequent incident during the infancy of 
 ship-building. Mr Finlay, however, thinks it rather means 
 that a bolt gave way. The remedy applied seems to be that 
 mentioned in Cook's Voyages, when, upon some occasion, to 
 stop a leak, which could not be got at in the inside, a quilted 
 sail was brought under the vessel, which, being drawn into the 
 leak by the suction, prevented the entry of more water. Chau- 
 cer says, 
 
 " There uis na new guise that it na'as old."
 
 14 
 
 O forty miles off Aberdeen. P. 11. v. 3. 
 This concluding verse differs in the three copies of the bal- 
 lad, which I have collated. The printed edition bears, 
 
 " Have owre, have owre to Aberdonr j" 
 
 And one of the MSS reads, 
 
 " At the back of auld St Johnstone Dykes." 
 
 Bat, in a voyage from Norway, a shipwreck on the north coast 
 seems as probable as either in the Firth of Forth, or Tay ; and 
 the ballad states the disaster to have taken place out of sight 
 f land.
 
 15 
 
 AULD MAITLAND. 
 
 NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED: 
 
 This ballad, notwithstanding its present appearance, has 
 a claim to very high antiquity. It has been preserved by 
 tradition ; and is, perhaps, the most authentic instance of 
 a long and very old poem, exclusively thus preserved. It 
 is only known to a few old people, upon the sequestered 
 banks of the Ettrickj and is published, as written down 
 from the recitation of the mother of Mr James Hogg, * 
 who sings, or rather chaunts it, with great animation. She 
 learned the ballad from a blind man, who died at the ad- 
 vanced age of ninety, and is said to have been possessed 
 of much traditionary knowledge. Although the language 
 of this poem is much modernised, yet many words, which 
 the reciters have retained without understanding them, 
 still preserve traces of its antiquity. Such are the words 
 
 * This old woman is still alive, and at present resides at Craig of 
 Douglas, in Selkirkshire,
 
 16 
 
 Springals (corruptedly pronounced Springwalh), soxaiet, 
 portcullize, and many other appropriate terms of war and 
 chivalry, which could never haye been introduced by a 
 modern ballad maker. The incidents are striking and 
 well-managed : and they are in strict conformity with the 
 manners of the age in which they are placed. The edi- 
 tor has, therefore, been induced to illustrate them, at 
 considerable length, by parallel passages from Froissart, 
 and other historians of the period to which the events 
 refer. 
 
 The date of the ballad cannot be ascertained with any 
 degree of accuracy. Sir Richard Maitland, the hero of 
 the poem, seems to have been in possession of his estate 
 about 1250; so that, as he survived the commencement 
 of the wars betwixt England and Scotland, in 1296, his 
 prowess against the English, in defence of his castle of 
 Lauder, or Thirlestane, must have been exerted during 
 his extreme old age. He seems to have been distinguished 
 for devotion, as well as valour; for, A. D. 1249. Domi- 
 t>us Ricardus de Mautlant gave to the abbey of Dryburgh, 
 
 " Terras suas de Haubentside, in laritorio suo de Thirlc~ 
 " slum, pro salute aninuv sua;, et sponscc sua, antccessorum 
 " suo rum et successorum suortan, in perpeluum."* He 
 
 There exists also an indenture, or bond, entered into by Pa- 
 trick, abbot of Kcl-au, and his convent, referring to an engage- 
 ment betwixt them and Mr Richard Maitland, and sir William, his 
 eldest son, concerning thr lands of Hedderwickc, and the pastur- 
 ages <>r I hiil! -tane and HI \ the. This Patrick was abbot of Kel- 
 so, betwixt 1258 and 1260.
 
 17 
 
 also gave, to the same convent, " Omnes terras^ quas Wal- 
 " terus de Giling tenuit infeodo suo de Thirlestane, et pas- 
 " tura ineommuni de Thirlestane, ad quadraginta oves, 
 " sexaginta vaccas, et ad viginti equos." Cartulary of 
 Dryburgh Abbey, in the Advocates* Library. 
 
 From the following ballad, and from the family tradi- 
 tions referred to in the Maitland MSS., Auld Maitland 
 appears to have had three sons; but we learn, from the 
 latter authority, that only one survived him, who was 
 thence surnamed Burd alane, which signifies either un- 
 equalled, or solitary* A Consolation, addressed to Sir 
 Richard Maitland of Lethington, a poet and scholar who 
 flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century, and 
 who gives name to the Maitland MSS., draws the fol- 
 lowing parallel betwixt his domestic misfortunes and 
 those of the first Sir Richard, his great ancestor : 
 
 Sic destanie and derfe devoring deid 
 
 Oft his own nous in hazard put of auld ; 
 
 Bot your forbeiris, frovard fortounes steid 
 
 And bitter blastes, ay buir with breistis bauld ; 
 
 Luit wanweirdis work and waiter ay they wald, 
 
 Thair hardie hairtis hawtie and heroik, 
 
 For fortounes feid or force wald never fauld ; 
 
 But stormis withstand with stomak stout and stoik. 
 
 Renowned Itichert of your race record, 
 Quhais prais and prowis cannot be exprest ; 
 Pilair lustie lynyage nevir haid ane lord, 
 For he begat the bauldest bairnis and best, 
 Maist manful men, and madinis most modest, 
 That ever wes syn Pyramus tym of Troy, 
 But piteouslie thai peirles perles apest, 
 Bereft him all bot Buird-allane, a boy. 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 18 
 
 jjini-Hfo was aiget, his hous hang be a har, 
 
 Duill and distres almaist to deid him draife; 
 
 Yet Burd-allane, his only son and air, 
 
 As wretched, vyiss, and valient, as the (aire, 
 
 Hi- hous uphail'd, quhilk ye with honor halve. 
 
 So nature that the lyk invyand name, 
 
 In kindlie cair dois kindly courage craif, 
 
 To follow him in fortoune and in fame. 
 
 Richerd he wcs, Iiicherd ye are also, 
 
 And Maitland als, and magnanime as he; 
 
 In als great age. als wrappit are in wo, 
 
 Sewin sons t ye haid mi:,lit contra vai'.l his thrie, 
 
 Bot Burd-allane ye haive behind as he : 
 
 The lord his linage so inlarge in iyne, 
 
 And niony hundreith nepotis grie and grie 
 
 Sen Ricuert wes as hundrcth yeiris are byne. 
 
 An Consolator Ballad to the Richt Honorabill 
 Sir Richert Maitlund of Lclhingtoune. 
 Maitland MSS. in Library of Edinburgh 
 University. 
 
 Sir William Mautlant, or Maitland, the eldest and sole 
 surviving son of Sir Richard, ratified and confirmed, to 
 the monks of Dryburgh, " Omnes terras anas Domimts 
 " Ricardus de Mautlant pater suits fecit dictis monachis 
 
 * i. t. Similar family distress demands the same family conrage. 
 
 + Sewin ion This must include sons-in-law ; for the last Sir 
 Richard, like bis predecessor, had only three sons, namely, I. Wil- 
 liam, the famous secretary of Queen Mary; II. Sir John, who 
 alone survived him, and is the Burd-allane of the consolation; III. 
 Thomas, a youth of great hopes, who died in Italy. But he had 
 four daughters, married to gentlemen of fortune. Pinkerton'y 
 List of Scottish Toets, p. 114. 
 
 J Grie and grie In regular descent ; from gre, French.
 
 19 
 
 " in territorio suo de Thirkstane." Sir William is sup- 
 posed to have died about 1315. Crawford's Peerage. 
 
 Such were the heroes of the ballad. The castle of 
 Thirlestane is situated upon the Leader, near the town of 
 Lauder. Whether the present building, which was erect- 
 ed by Chancellor Maitland, and improved by the Duke of 
 Lauderdale, occupies the site of the ancient castle, I do 
 not know ; but it still merits the epithet of a " darksome 
 house." I find no notice of the siege in history ; but there 
 is nothing improbable in supposing, that the castle, during 
 the stormy period of the Baliol wars, may have held out 
 against the English. The creation of a nephew of Ed- 
 ward I., for the pleasure of slaying him by the hand of 
 voung Maitland, is a poetical licence ; * and may induce 
 us to. place the date of the composition about the reign of 
 David II., or of his successor, when the real exploits of 
 Maitland, and his sons, were in some degree obscured, 
 as well as magnified, by the lapse of time. The invete- 
 rate hatred against the English, founded upon the usurpa- 
 tion of Edward I., glows in every line of the ballad. 
 
 Auld Maitland is placed, by Gawain Douglas, bishop 
 of Dunkeld, among the popular heroes of romance, in 
 his allegorical Palice of Honour : f 
 
 * Such liberties with the genealogy of monarchs were common 
 to romancers. Henry the Minstrel makes Wallace slay more than 
 one of King Edward's nephews; and Johnie Armstrong claims thtf 
 merit of slaying a sister's son of Henry VIH. 
 
 t It is impossible to pass over this curious list of Scottish ro- 
 mances without a note j to do any justice to the subject would re-
 
 20 
 
 I saw Raf Coilvcar with his tlirawin brow, 
 Crabit John the Reif, and auld Cnwkilbeis Sow ; 
 And how the w ran ram out of Ailsay, 
 And Peirs Plowman, that meid his workmen few ; 
 Gret Gowmacmorneand Fyn Mac Cowl, and how 
 They suld be goddis in Ireland, as they say. 
 Thair saw I Maitland upon auld bierd gray, 
 Robin Hude, and Gilbert with the quhite hand, 
 How Hay of Nauchton flew in Mad in land. 
 
 In this curious verse, the most noted romances, or po- 
 pular histories, of the poet's day, seem to be noticed. The 
 preceding stanza describes the sports of the field : and 
 
 quire an essay. Raf Coilyear is said to have been printed by Lek- 
 previk, in 157?; but no copy of the edition is known to exist, and 
 the hero is forgotten, even by popular tradition. 
 
 John the Reif. as well as the former personage, is mentioned by 
 Dunbar, in one of his poems, where he stiles mean persons, 
 
 Kyne of Rauf Colyard, and Johne the Reif. 
 
 They seem to have been robbers ; Lord Ilailes conjectured John 
 the Reif to be the same with Johnie Armstrong; but, surely, not 
 with his usual accuracy ; for the Police of Honour was printed 
 twenty-eight > ears before Johnie's execution. John the Reif is 
 mentioned by Lindesay, in his tragedy of Cardinal Beatouru 
 
 disagysit, like John the Raif, he geid. 
 
 Cowkilbeis Sow is a strange legend in the Bannatyne MSS. See 
 Complaynt of Scotland, p. 181. 
 
 How the wren came out of Ailsay. The wren, I know not why, 
 is often celebrated in Scottish song. The testament of the wren is 
 still sung by the children, beginning, 
 
 The wren she lies in care's nest, 
 Wi* meikle dole and pyne. 
 
 This may be a modification of the ballad in the text
 
 21 
 
 that, which follows, refers to the tricks of ' jugailrie ;' 
 so that the three verses comprehend the whole pastimes 
 of the middle ages, which are aptly represented as the 
 furniture of dame Venus's chamber. The verse, refer- 
 ring to Maitland, is obviously corrupted ; the true read- 
 ing was, probably, " with his auld beird gray." Indeed 
 
 Peirt Plowman is well known. Under the uncouth names of 
 Gow Mac Morn, and of Fyn Mac Cowl, the admirers of Ossian 
 are to recognise Gaul, the son of Morni, and Fingal himself; hen 
 quantum mutatus ab illo ! 
 
 To illustrate the familiar character otRobinHood, would be an 
 insult to my readers. But they may be less acquainted with Gil- 
 bert with the White Hand, one of his brave followers. He is men- 
 tioned in the oldest legend of that outlaw ; Ritson's Robin Hood, 
 p. 52. 
 
 Thryes Robin shot about, 
 
 And al way he slist the wand, 
 And so dyde good Gylbtrte 
 With the White Hand. 
 
 Hay of Nachton I take to be the knight, mentioned by Wintown, 
 whose feats of war and travel may have become the subject of a 
 romance, or ballad. He fought, in Flanders, under Alexander, 
 Earl of Mar, in 1403, and is thus described : 
 
 Lord of the Nachtane, schire William, 
 Ane honest knycht, and of gud fame, 
 A travalit knycht lang before than. 
 
 And again, before an engagement, 
 
 The Lord of Nachtane, schire William 
 The Hay, a knycht than of gud fame, 
 Mad schire Gilbertc the Hay, knycht. 
 
 Cronykil, B. IX. c. 27. 
 
 I apprehend we should read, " How Hay of Nachton slew in 
 " Madin Land." Perhaps IVIadin is a corruption for Maylin, or 
 Milan Land.
 
 the whole verse is full of errors and corruptions; which 
 js the greater pity, as it conveys information, to be found 
 uo where else. 
 
 The descendant of Auld Maitland, Sir Richard of Le- 
 thington, seems to have been frequently complimented 
 on the popular renown of his great ancestor. We have 
 already seen one instance ; and in an elegant copy of 
 verses in the Maitland MSS., in praise of Sir Richard's 
 seat of Lethington, which he had built, or greatly im- 
 proved, this obvious topic of flattery does not escape the 
 poet. From the terms of his panegyric we learn, that the 
 exploits of auld Sir Richard with the gray beard, and of 
 his three sons, were " sung in many far countrie, albeit 
 " in rural rhyme;" from which we may infer, that they 
 were narrated rather in the shape of a popular ballad, 
 than in a romance of price. If this be the case, the song 
 now published, may have undergone little variation since 
 the date of the Maitland MSS. ; for, divesting the poem, 
 in praise of Lethington, of its antique spelling, it would 
 run as smoothly, and appear as modern, as any verse in 
 the following ballad. The lines alluded to, are address- 
 ed to the castle of Lethington : 
 
 And bappie art thou sic a place, 
 That few thy mak are sene : 
 But > it mair happie far that race 
 To quhome thou dois pertene. 
 Quhadois not knaw the Maitland bluicf, 
 The best in all this land ? 
 Tn quhilk sumtyme the honour stuid 
 And worship of Scotland. 
 
 It
 
 
 23 
 
 Of auld Sir Richard, of that name, 
 We have hard sing and say ; 
 Of his triumphant uohill fame, 
 And of his auld baird gray. 
 And of his nobill sonnis three, 
 Quhiik that tyme had no maik ; 
 Quhilk maid Scotland renounit be, 
 And all England to quaik. 
 
 Quhais luifing pray sis, maid trewlie, 
 
 Lfter that simple tyme, 
 
 Ar sung in raonie far countrie, 
 
 Albeit, in rural rhyme. 
 
 And, gif I dar the trueth declair, 
 
 And nane me fleitschour call, 
 
 1 can to him find a compair, 
 
 And till his barnis all. 
 
 It is a curious circumstance, that this interesting tale, 
 so often referred to by ancient authors, should be now 
 recovered in so perfect a state ; and many readers may 
 be pleased to see the following sensible observations, made 
 by a person, born in Ettrick Forest, in the humble situa- 
 tion of a shepherd. " I am surprised to hear, that this 
 *' song is suspected by some to be a modern forgery ; the 
 " contrary will be best proved, by most of the old people, 
 ** hereabouts, having a great part of it by heart. Many, 
 ** indeed, are not aware of the manners of this country : 
 *' till this present age, the poor illiterate people, in these 
 * glens, knew of no other entertainment, in the long win- 
 " ter nights, than repeating, and listening to, the feats of 
 ' their ancestors, recorded in songs, which I believe to be 
 ** handed down, from father to son, for many generations ;
 
 24 
 
 " although, no doubt, had a copy been taken, at the end 
 " of every fifty years, there must have been some difier- 
 " ence, occasioned by the gradual change of language. I 
 " believe it is thus that many very ancient songs have 
 * been gradually modernised, to the common ear; while, 
 " to the connoisseur, they present marks of their genuine 
 " antiquity." Letter to the Editor from Mr James Hogg. 
 To the observations of my ingenious correspondent I have 
 nothing to add, but that, in this, and a thousand other 
 instances, they accurately coincide with my personal 
 knowledge.
 
 25 
 
 AULD MAITLAND. 
 
 There lived a king in southern land, 
 King Edward hight his name ; 
 
 Unwordily he wore the crown, 
 Till fifty years were gane. 
 
 He had a sister's son o's ain, 
 Was large of blood and bane ; 
 
 And afterward, when he came up, 
 Young Edward hight his name. 
 
 One day he came before the king, 
 And kneel'd low on his knee 
 
 " A boon, a boon, my good uncle, 
 " I crave to ask of thee !
 
 26 
 
 * At our lang wars, in fair Scotland, 
 
 * I fain hae wished to be; 
 
 m If fifteen hundred waled * wight men 
 
 * You'll grant to ride wi' me." 
 
 * Thou sail hae thae, thou sail hae inae j 
 " I say it sickerlie ; 
 
 * And I mysell, an auld gray man, 
 
 * Array'd your host sail see." 
 
 King Edward rade, king Edward ran 
 
 I wish him dool and pyne ! 
 Till he had fifteen hundred men 
 
 Assembled on the Tyne. 
 
 And thrice as many at Berwicke + 
 
 Were all for battle bound, 
 Who, marching forth with false Dunbar, 
 
 A ready welcome found. 
 
 They lighted on the banks of Tweed, 
 And blew their coals sae het, 
 
 And fired the Merse and Teviotdale, 
 All in an evening late. 
 
 * Waled Chosen. 
 
 f North-Berwick, according to some reciters.
 
 27 
 
 As they fared up o'er Laramermore, 
 
 They burned baith up and down, 
 Untill they came to a darksome house ; 
 
 Some call it Leader-Town. 
 
 " Wha hauds this house ?* young Edward cry'd, 
 
 " Or wha gies't ower to me i" 
 A gray-hair'd knight set up his head, 
 
 And crackit right crousely : 
 
 " Of Scotland's king I haud my house ; 
 
 * He pays me meat and fee ; 
 " And I will keep my gude auld house, 
 
 f* While my house will keep me." 
 
 They laid their sowies to the wall, 
 
 Wi' mony a heavy peal ; 
 But he threw ower to them agen 
 
 Baith pitch and tar barrel. 
 
 With springalds, stanes, and gads of aim, 
 
 Among them fast he threw; 
 Till mony of the Englishmen 
 
 About the wall he slew.
 
 28 
 
 Full fifteen days that braid host lay, 
 
 Sieging auld Maitland keen, 
 Syne they hae left him, hail and fair, 
 
 Within his strength of stane. 
 
 Then fifteen barks, all gaily good, 
 
 Met them upon a day, 
 Which they did lade with as much spoil 
 
 As they could bear away. 
 
 * England's our ain hy heritage; 
 
 * And what can us withstand, 
 
 " Now we hae conquer'd fair Scotland, 
 
 * With buckler, bow, and brand ?" 
 
 Then they are on to the land o' France, 
 Where auld King Edward lay, 
 
 Burning baith castle, tower, and town* 
 That he met in his way. * 
 
 Untill he came unto that town, 
 Which some call Billop-Grace; 
 
 There were Auld Maitlaud's sons, a' three, 
 Learning at school, alas i
 
 29 
 
 The eldest to the youngest said, 
 
 " O see ye what I see ? 
 * Gin a' be trew yon standard says, * 
 
 " We're fatherlesse a' three. 
 
 " For Scotland's conquer'd, up and down; 
 
 " Landmen we'll never be : 
 " Now, will ye go, my brethren two, 
 
 * And try some jeopardy ?" 
 
 Then they hae saddled twa black horse, 
 
 Twa black horse, and a grey; 
 And they are on to King Edward's host, 
 
 Before the dawn of day. 
 
 When they arriv'd before the host, 
 
 They hover'd on the lay 
 " Wilt thou lend me our king's standard, 
 
 " To bear a little way?" 
 
 " Where was thou bred ? where was thou born ? 
 
 ** Where, or in what country ?" 
 " In north of England I was born :" 
 
 (It needed him to lie.) 
 
 * Edward had quartered the arras of Scotland with his own.
 
 so 
 
 u A knight me gat, a lady bore, 
 " I'm a squire of high renowne; 
 
 " I well may bear't to any king, 
 " That ever yet wore crowne." 
 
 " He ne'er came of an Englishman, 
 
 " Had sic an e'e or bree ; 
 " But thou art the likest Auld Maitland, 
 
 * That ever I did see. 
 
 u But sic a gloom on ae brow-head, 
 
 * Grant I ne'er see agane ! 
 
 * For mony of our men he slew, 
 " And mony put to pain." 
 
 When Maitland heard his father's name, 
 
 An angry man was he! 
 Then, lifting up a gilt dagger, 
 
 Hung low down upon his knee. 
 
 He stabb'd the knight, the standard bore, 
 
 He stabb'd him cruellie; 
 Then caught the standard by the neuk, 
 
 And fast away rode he.
 
 31 
 
 " Now, is't na time, brothers/ he cried, 
 * Now, is't na time to flee ?" 
 
 " Ay, by my sooth !" they baith replied, 
 " We'll bear you company." 
 
 The youngest turn'd him in a path, 
 And drew a burnished brand, 
 
 And fifteen of the foremost slew, 
 Till back the lave did stand. 
 
 He spurr'd the grey into the path, 
 Till baith his sides they bled 
 
 M Grey ! thou maun carry me away, 
 " Or my life lies in wad ?" 
 
 The captain lookit ower the wa', 
 
 About the break o' day ; 
 There he beheld the three Scots lads, 
 
 Pursued along the way. 
 
 " Pull up portcullize ! down draw-brigg ! 
 
 " My nephews are at hand ; 
 " And they sail lodge wi' me to-night, 
 
 " In spite of all England." -
 
 32 
 
 Whene'er they eame within the yate/ 
 They thrust their horse them frae, 
 
 And took three lang spears in their hands, 
 Saying, " Here sail come nae mae !" 
 
 And they shot out, and they shot in, 
 
 Till it was fairly day ; 
 When mony of the Englishmen 
 
 About the draw-brigg lay. 
 
 Then they hae yoked carts and wains, 
 
 To ca' their dead away, 
 And shot auld dykes aboon the lave, 
 
 In gutters where they lay. 
 
 The king, at his pavilion door, 
 
 Was heard aloud to say, 
 " Last night, three o' the lads o' France 
 
 " My standard stole away. 
 
 * Wi' a fause tale, disguis'd, they came, 
 * And wi' a fauser trayne ; 
 
 * And to regain my gaye standard, 
 
 " These men were a' down slayne."
 
 33 
 
 * It ill befits," the youngest said, 
 
 <e A crowned king to lie ; 
 " But, or that I taste meat and drink, 
 
 * Reproved sail he be." 
 
 He went before king Edward strait, 
 
 And kneel'd low on his knee ; 
 u I wad hae leave, my lord," he said, 
 
 " To speak a word wi' thee." 
 
 The king he turn'd him round about, 
 
 And wistna what to say 
 Quo' he, * Man thou's hae leave to speak, 
 
 " Tho' thou should speak a' day." 
 
 ** Ye said, that three young lads o' France 
 
 " Your standard stole away, 
 ** Wi' a fause tale, and fauser trayne, 
 
 " And mony men did slay : 
 
 u But we are nane the lads o* France, 
 
 " Nor e'er pretend to be ; 
 " We are three lads o' fair Scotland, 
 " Auld Maitland's sons are we ; 
 vol. I. c
 
 34 
 
 " Nor is there men, in a' your host, 
 
 " Daur fight us three to three." 
 " Now, by my sooth," young Edward said, 
 
 " Weel fitted ye sail be ! 
 
 " Piercy sail wi' the eldest fight, 
 
 " And Ethert Lunn wi' thee : 
 " William of Lancaster the third, 
 
 " And bring your fourth to me!" 
 
 * Remember, Piercy, aft the Scot * 
 
 " Has cow'rd beneath thy hand : 
 " For every drap of Maitland blood, 
 
 " I'll gie a rig of land." 
 
 He clanked Piercy ower the head, 
 
 A deep wound and a sair, 
 Till the best blood o' his bodie * 
 
 Cam rinning down his hair. 
 
 " Now, I've slayne ane ; slay ye the twa ; 
 
 " And that's gude companye ; 
 " And if the twa suld slay you baith, 
 
 f Ye'se get na help frae me." 
 
 * The two first lines are modern, to supply an imperfect stanza.
 
 35 
 
 But Ethert Lunn, a baked bear, 
 
 Had many battles seen ; 
 He set the youngest wonder sair, 
 
 Till the eldest he grew keen 
 
 " I am nae king, nor nae sic thing : 
 " My word it shanna stand ! 
 
 " For Ethert sail a buffet bide, 
 " Come he beneath my brand." 
 
 He clankit Ethert ower the head, 
 
 A deep wound and a sair, 
 Till the best blood of his bodie 
 
 Cam rinning ower his hair. 
 
 " Now I've slayne twa; slay ye the ane; 
 
 " Is na that gude companye ? 
 ' And tho' the ane suld slay ye baith, 
 
 Ye'se get na help o' me." 
 
 The twa-some they hae slayne the ane; 
 
 They maul'd him cruellie ; 
 Then hung them over the draw-brigg, 
 
 That all the host might see.
 
 36 
 
 They rade their horse, they ran their horse, 
 
 Then hovered on the lee ; 
 u We be three lads o' fair Scotland, 
 
 " That fain wad fighting see." 
 
 This boasting, when young Edward heard 
 An angry man was he ! 
 
 * I'll tak yon lad, I'll bind yon lad, 
 " And bring him bound to thee !" 
 
 * Now, God forbid," king Edward said, 
 
 * That ever thou suld try ! 
 
 " Three worthy leaders we hae lost, 
 " And thou the fourth wad lie. 
 
 " If thou shouldst hang on yon draw-brigg, 
 
 Bly the wad I never be !" 
 But, wi' the poll-axe in his hand, 
 
 Upon the brigg sprang he. 
 
 The first stroke that young Edward gae, 
 He struck wi' might and mayn ; 
 
 He clove the Maitlan's helmet stout, 
 And bit right nigh the brayn.
 
 37 
 
 When Maitland saw his ain blood fa', 
 
 An angry man was he ! 
 He let his weapon frae him fa' ; 
 
 And at his throat did flee. 
 
 And thrice about he did him swing, 
 
 Till on the grund he light, 
 Where he has halden young Edward, 
 
 Tho' he was great in might. 
 
 " Now let him up," King Edward cried, 
 
 " And let him come to me ! 
 " And for the deed that thou hast done, 
 
 ** Thou shalt hae erldomes three !" 
 
 " Its ne'er be said in France, nor e'er 
 
 " In Scotland, when I'm hame, 
 " That Edward once lay under me, 
 
 " And e'er gat up again !" 
 
 He pierced him through and through the heart ; 
 
 He maul'd him cruellie ; 
 Then hung him ower the draw-brigg, 
 
 Beside the other three.
 
 38 
 
 * Now, take frae me that feather-bed I 
 
 " Make me a bed o' strae ! 
 " I wish I hadna lived this day, 
 
 " To mak my heart sae wae. 
 
 " If I were ance at London tower, 
 " Where I was wont to be, 
 
 " I never mair suld gang frae hame, 
 *>' Till born on a bier-tree."
 
 39 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 AULD MAITLAND. 
 
 Young Edward hight his name, P. 25. v. 2. 
 Were it possible to find an authority for calling this person- 
 age Edmund, we should be a step nearer history ; for a bro- 
 ther, though not a nephew of Edward I., so named, died in 
 Gascony during an unsuccessful campaign against the French. 
 Knighton, Lib. III. cap. 8. 
 
 J wish him dool and pyne P. 26. v. 3. 
 Thus, Spenser, in Mother Huberts tale 
 
 Thus is this ape become a shepherd swain, 
 And the false fox his dog, God give them pain! 
 
 Who, marching forth with false Dunbar, 
 A ready -welcome found. P. 26. v. 4. 
 
 These two lines are modern, and inserted to complete the 
 verse. Dunbar, the fortress of Patrick, Earl of March, was
 
 40 
 
 too often opened to the English, by the treachery of that baron, 
 during the reign of Edward I. 
 
 They laid their soviet to the wall., 
 Wi' mony a heavy peal. P. 27. v. 4. 
 
 In this and the following verse, the attack and defence of a 
 fortress, during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, is de- 
 scribed accurately and concisely. The sow was a military en- 
 gine, resembling the Roman tettudo. It was framed of wood, 
 covered with hides, and mounted on wheels, so that, being 
 rolled forwards to the foot of the besieged wall, it served as a 
 shed, or cover, to defend the miners, or those who wrought 
 the battering-ram, from the stones and arrows of the garrison. 
 In the course of the famous defence, made by Black Agnes, 
 Countess of March, of her husband's castle of Dunbar, Mon- 
 tague, Earl of Salisbury, who commanded the besiegers, caused 
 one of these engines to be wheeled up to the wall. The coun- 
 tess, who, with her damsels, kept her station on the battle- 
 ments, and affected to wipe off with her handkerchief the dust 
 raised by the stones hurled from the English machines, await- 
 ed the approach of this new engine of assault. " Beware, Mon- 
 " tague," she exclaimed, while the fragment of a rock was dis- 
 charged from the wall " Beware, Montague ! for farrow shall 
 * thy sow!''* Their cover being dashed to pieces, the assail- 
 ants, with great loss and difficulty, scrambled back to their 
 trenches- " By the regard of suche a ladye," would Froissart 
 have said, " and by her comforting, a man ought to be worth 
 " two men, at need." The sow was called by the French 
 Truie. See Hones' Annals, Vol. II. p. 89. Winton's Crony- 
 kil, Book VIII. William of Malmesbury, Lib. IV. 
 
 The memory of the tow is preserved in Scotland by two trif- 
 ling circumstances. The name given to an oblong hay-stack, 
 
 This sort of bravade seems to have been fashionable in those 
 timet : " Etavec drapeaux, et leurs chaperons, its torchoient les 
 " mure a )' endroit, ou les pierres venoicnt frapper." Notice det 
 Mawcritt de la Bibliotheqve Rationale.
 
 41 
 
 is a hay-sow ; and this may give us a good idea of the form of 
 the machine. Children also play at a game with cherry-stones, 
 placing a small heap on the ground, which they term a sozcie, 
 endeavouring to hit it, by throwing single cherry-stones, as the 
 sow was formerly battered from the walls of the besieged for- 
 tress. My companions, at the High School of Edinburgh, will 
 remember what was meant by herrying a sozcie. It is strange 
 to find traces of military antiquities in the occupation of the 
 husbandman, and the sports of children. 
 
 The pitch and tar-barrels of Maitland were intended to con- 
 sume the formidable machines of the English. Thus, at a fa- 
 bulous siege of York, by Sir William Wallace, the same mode 
 of defence is adopted : 
 
 The Englishmen, that cruel were and kene, 
 Keeped their town, and fended there full fast ; 
 Faggots of fire among the host they cast, 
 Up pitch and tar on feil sowis they lent ; 
 Many were hurt ere they from the walls went ; 
 Stones on Springalds they did cast out so fast. 
 And goads of iron made many grome agast. 
 
 Henry the Minstrel's History of Wallace. B. 8. c. 5. 
 
 A more authentic illustration may be derived from Barbour's 
 Account of the Siege of Berwick, by Edward II., in 1319, when 
 a sow was brought on to the attack by the English, and burned 
 by the combustibles hurled down upon it, through the device 
 of John Crab, a Flemish engineer, in the Scottish service. 
 
 And thai, that at the sege lay, 
 Or it was passyt the fyft day, 
 Had made thaim syndry apparall, 
 To gang eft sonys till assaill. 
 Off gret gests a sow thai maid, 
 That stalwart heildync aboyne it haid j 
 With armyt men inew tharin, 
 And instruments for to myne.
 
 412 
 
 Syndry scaffolds thai maid withal), 
 That war wele heyar than the wall, 
 And ordanyt als that, be the se. 
 The town suld weill assaillyt be. 
 
 Thai within, that saw thaim swa, 
 
 Swa gret apparaill scbap to ma, 
 
 Throw Craby's cunsaill, that wes sley, 
 
 A crane thai haiffgert dress up hey, 
 
 Rynnand on quheills, that thai micht bryng 
 
 It quhar that nede war off helping. 
 
 And p\ k, and ter, als baiff thai tane ; 
 
 And l\nt, and herds, and brymstane; 
 
 And dry trey is that wele wald brin, 
 
 And mrlh i aytbir other in : 
 
 And grct fagalds thairoff thai maid, 
 
 Gyrdyt with irne bands braid. 
 
 The fagalds weill mjcht mesuryt be, 
 
 Till a gret towrys quantite. 
 
 The fagalds bryning in a ball, 
 
 With thair cran tboucht till awaill t 
 
 And gift" the sow come to the wall, 
 
 To lat it brynand on her fall ; 
 
 And with stark chenyeis hald it thar, 
 
 Quhill all war brynt up that thar war. 
 
 Upon sic maner gan thai fycbt, 
 Quhill it wes ner none off the day, 
 That thai without, on gret aray, 
 Pryssyt thair sow towart the wall ; 
 And thai w ithin sone gert call 
 The engynour, that takya was, 
 And gret menanre till hym mail, 
 And .- our that be suld dey, bot be 
 Prowyt on the sow sic suteltc 
 That he to fruschyt ilk dele, 
 And he, that hath persawyt wele 
 That the dede wes wele ner hym till, 
 Bot giff he mycht fulfil thair will 
 Tboucht that be at hys mycht wald do.
 
 43 
 
 Bendyt in gret by then wes sche, 
 
 That till the sow wes ewynset. 
 
 In hy he gert draw the cleket ; 
 
 And smertly swappyt owt a stane, 
 
 Ewyn our the sow the stane is gane, 
 
 And behind it a litill way 
 
 It fell : and then they cryt, " Hey !" 
 
 That war in hyr, " furth to the wall^ 
 
 " For dredles it is ours all f* . 
 
 The gynour than deleuerly 
 Gert bend the gyn in full gret hy ; 
 And the stane smertly swappyt out. 
 It flaw out quethyr, and with a rout, 
 And fell rycht ewyn befor the sow. 
 Thair harts than begouth to grow. 
 Bot yhet than, with thair invents all 
 Thai press} t the sow towart the wall; 
 And has hyr set tharto gentilly. 
 The gynour than gert bend in hy 
 The gyne, and wappyt owt the stane, 
 That ewyn towart the lyft is gane, 
 And with gret wycht syne duschyt doun, 
 ; Rycht be the wall in a random) ; 
 And hyt the sow in sic inaner, 
 That it that wes the maist snwar, 
 And starkast for to stynt a stark, 
 In sundre with that dusche it brak. 
 The men than owt in full grethy, 
 And on the wall is thai gan cry, 
 That thair sow wes fcryt thar. 
 Jhon Crab, that had bys geer all yar 
 In hys fagalds has set the fyr, 
 And our the wall syne gan thai wyr, 
 And brynt the sow till brunds bar. 
 
 The Bruce, Book XVII. 
 
 The springalds, used in defence of the cast!e of Lauder, 
 were balista, or large cross-bows, wrought by machinery, and
 
 44 
 
 capable of throwing stones, beams, and huge darts. They were 
 numbered among the heavy artillery of the age ; " Than the 
 " kynge made all his navy to draw along, by the cost of the 
 " Dow nes, every ship weli garnished with bombardes, cros- 
 ** bowes, archers, springalls, and other artillarie." Froissart. 
 
 Goads, or sharpened bars of iron, were an obvious and for- 
 midable missile weapon. Thus, at the assault of Rochemig- 
 lion, * They within cast out great barres of iron, and pots with 
 ** lyme, wherewith they hurt divers Englishmen, such as ad- 
 " ventured themselves too far." Froissart, Vol. I. cap. 108. 
 
 From what has been noticed, the attack and defence of 
 Lauder castle will be found strictly conformable to the man- 
 ners of the age ; a circumstance of great importance, in judging 
 of the antiquity of the ballad. There is no mention of guns, 
 though these became so common in the latter part of the reign 
 of Edward III., that, at the siege of St Maloes, " the English 
 " had well a four hondred gonnes, who shot day and night into 
 " the fortresse, and agaynst it." Froissart, Vol. I. cap. 336. 
 Barbour informs us, that guns, or " crakis of wer," as he calls 
 them, and crests for helmets, were first seen by the Scottish, in 
 their skirmishes with Edward the Third's host, in Northum- 
 berland, A. D. 1327. 
 
 Which some call Billop-Grace. P. 28. v. 5. 
 If this be a Flemish, or Scottish, corruption for Ville de 
 Grace, in Normandy, that town was never besieged by Edward 
 I., whose wars in France were confined to the province of 
 Gascony. The rapid change of scene, from Scotland to 
 France, excites a suspicion, that some verses may have been 
 lost in thi9 place. The retreat of the English host, however, 
 may remind us of a passage, in Wintown, when, after men- 
 tioning that the Earl of Salisbury raised the siege of Dunbar, 
 to join King Edward in France, he observes, 
 
 " It was to Scotland a gud chance, 
 
 *' That thai made thaim to werray in France ; 
 
 " For had thai halyly thaim (ane 
 
 " For to werray in Scotland allane,
 
 45 
 
 Eftyr the gret mischeffis twa, 
 Duplyn and Hallydownc war tha, 
 Thai suld have skaithit it to gretly. 
 Bot fortowne thoucht scho fald fekilly 
 Will nouclit at anis myscheffis fall ; 
 Thare-fore scho set thare hartis all, 
 To werray Fraunce richit to be, 
 That Scottis live in grettar le. 
 
 Cronykil, B. VII I, cap. 34. 
 
 Now, will ye go, my brethren two, 
 
 And try some jeopardie ? P. 29. v. 2. 
 The romantic custom of achieving, or attempting, some 
 desperate and perilous adventure, without either necessity or 
 cause, was a peculiar, and perhaps the most prominent, fea- 
 ture of chivalry. It was not merely the duty, but the pride 
 and delight, of a true knight, to perform such exploits, as no 
 one but a madman would have undertaken. I think it is in the 
 old French romance of Erec and Eneide, that an adventure, 
 the access to which lay through an avenue of stakes, garnished 
 with the bloody heads of the knights who had attempted and 
 failed to achieve it, is called by the inviting title of La joie 
 de la Cour. To be first in advancing, or last in retreating; to 
 strike upon the gate of a certain fortress of the enemy ; to fight 
 blindfold, or with one arm tied up; to carry off a banner, or 
 to defend one; were often the subjects of a particular vow, 
 among the sons of chivalry. Until some distinguishing exploit 
 of this nature, a young knight was not said to have won his 
 spurs ; and, upon some occasions, he was obliged to bear, as 
 a mark of thraldom, a chain upon his arm, which was removed, 
 with great ceremony, when his merit became conspicuous. 
 These chains are noticed in the romance of Jehan de Saintrc. 
 In the language of German chivalry, they were called Ketten 
 des Gelubdes (fetters of duty.) Lord Herbert of Cherbury in- 
 forms us, that the knight9 of the Bath were obliged to wear 
 certain strings, of silk and gold, upon their left arm, until they 
 had achieved some noble deed of arms. When Edward III.
 
 46 
 
 commenced his French wars, many of the young bachelors of 
 England bound up one of their eyes with a silk ribband, and 
 swore, before the peacock and the ladies, that they would not 
 see with both eyes until they had accomplished certain deeds 
 of arms in France. Froissart, cap. 28. 
 
 A remarkable instance of this chivalrous frenzy occurred du- 
 ring the expedition of Sir Robert Knowles, who, in 1370, 
 marched through France, and laid waste the country, up to the 
 very gates of Paris. " There was a knight, in their companye, 
 " had made a vowe, the day before, that he wolde ryde to the 
 " walles or gates of Parys, and stryke at the barryers with his 
 speare. And, for the fouruyshing of his vowe, he departed 
 " fro his companye, his spear in his fyst, his shelde about his 
 " neck, armed at all pecesse, on a good horsse, his squyer on 
 " another, behind him, with his bassenet. And whan he ap- 
 " proached neare to Parys, he toke and dyde on his helme, and 
 u left his squyer behind hym, and dashed his spurres to his 
 " horsse, and came gallopynge to the barryers, the whiche as 
 " then were opyn ; and tlie lordes, that were there, had wened 
 " he wolde have entred into the towne ; but that was not his 
 " mynde ; for, when he hadde stryken at the barryers, as he 
 " had before avowed, he towrned his reyne, and drue back 
 " agayne, and departed. Then the knightes of France, that 
 " sawe hym depart, sayd to him, Go your waye ; you have 
 " ryghte well acquitted yourself.' I can nat tell you what was 
 " thys knyghtes name, nor of what contre ; but the blazure of 
 " his armes was, goules, two fusses sable, a border sable. 
 " Howbeit, in the subbarbes, he had a sore encontre ; for, as 
 " be passed on the pavement, he founde before hym a bocher, 
 " a bigge man, who had well sene this knighte pass by. And 
 " he helde in his handes a sharpe hevy axe, with a long poynt ; 
 " and as the knyght returned agayne, and toke no hede, this 
 " bocher came on his side, and gave the knyghte such a stroke, 
 " betwene the neck and the shulders, that he reversed for- 
 " warde heedlynge, to the neck of his horsse, and yet be re- 
 " covered agayne. And than the bocher strake hym agayne, 
 " *q that the axe entered into his body, so that, for payne, the 
 
 12
 
 a knyghte fell to the erthe, and his horsse ran away, and came 
 u to the squyer, who abode for his mayster at the stretes ende. 
 " And so, the squyer toke'the horsse, and had gret marveyle 
 " what was become of his mayster; for he had well sene him 
 " ryde to the barryers, and stryke therat with his glayve, and 
 " retourne agayne. Thanne he rode a lytell forthe, thyderwarde, 
 " and anone he saw where his master layn upon the erthe, 
 u bytwene foure men, layenge on him strokes, as they wolde 
 u have stryken on a stethey (anvil) ; and than the squyer was 
 " so affreyed, that he durst go no farther : for he sawe well he 
 " could nat help his mayster. Therefore he retourned as fast 
 *' as he myght : so there the sayd knyghte was slayne. And 
 " the kynghtes, that were at the gate, caused hym to be buried 
 " in holy ground." Froissart, ch. 281. 
 
 A similar instance of a military jeopardy occurs in the same 
 author, ch. 364. It happened before the gates of Troyes. 
 " There was an Englyshe squyre, borne in the bishopryke of 
 "Lincolne, an expert man of armes; lean nat say whyder he 
 " could se or nat ; but he spurred his horse, his speare in his 
 " hande, and his targe about his necke ; his horse came rushyng 
 " downe the waye, and lept clene over the barres of the bary- 
 " ers, and so galoped to the gate, where, as the Duke of Bur- 
 " goy ne a d the other lords of France were, who reputed that 
 " dede for a great enterprise. The squyer thoughte to have re- 
 *i turned, but he could nat ; for his horse was stryken with 
 " speares, and beaten downe, and the squyr slayn ; where- 
 " with the Duke of Burgoyne was right sore displeased," 
 
 Wilt thou lend me our king's standard, 
 To bear a little way ? P. 29. v. 4. 
 In all ages, and in almost all countries, the military stand- 
 ards have been objects of respect to the soldiery, whose duty 
 it is to range beneath them, and, if necessary, to die in their 
 defence. In the ages of chivalry, these ensigns were distin- 
 guished by their shape, and by the various names of banners, 
 pennons, penoncelles, &c, according to the number of men, 
 who ere to fight under them. They were displayed, on the
 
 48 
 
 day of battle, with singular solemnity, and consigned to the 
 change only of such as were thought willing and able to defend 
 them to the uttermost. When the army of Edward, the Black 
 Prince, was drawn up against that of Henry the Bastard, king 
 of Castile, " Than Sir Johan Chandos brought his baner, roll- 
 " ed up togyder, to the prince, and said, * Sir, behold, here is 
 " my baner. I requyre you display it abrode, and give me 
 <; leave this daye, to raise it ; for, Sir, I thanke God and you, 
 u I have land and heritage suffyciente to maynteyne it withal.' 
 " Thin the prince, and King Dampeter (Don Pedro,) toke the 
 " baner betwene their handes, and spred it abrode, the which 
 
 was of sylver, a sharp pyle gaules, and delyvered it to hym, 
 " and said, ' Sir Johan, behold here youre baner ; God sende 
 * you joye aud honour thereof!' Than Sir Johan Chandos bare 
 " his baner to his owne company, and sayde, ' Sirs, beholde 
 " here my baner, and yours ; kepe it as your owne.' And they 
 " toke it, and were right joyful thcrof, and sayd, that by the 
 * pleasure of God, and Saint George, they wold kepe and de- 
 " fend it to the l>est of their powers. And so the baner abode 
 " in the handes of a good Englishe squyer, called William Alery, 
 
 who bare it that day, anrt acquaytted himself right nobly." 
 Froissart, Vol. I. ch. 237- The loss of a banner was not only 
 great dishonour, but an infinite disadvantage. At the battle of 
 Cocherel, in Normandy, the flower of the combatants, on each 
 side, were engaged in the attack and defence of the banner of 
 the captall of Buche, the English leader. It was planted amid 
 a bush of thorns, and guarded by sixty men at arms, who de- 
 fended it gallantly. " There were many rescues, and many a 
 " one hurt and cast to the earth, and many feats of armes 
 " done, and many gret strokes given, with good axes of steel, 
 " that it was wonder to behold." The battle did not cease un- 
 till the cap tail's standard was taken and torn to pieces. 
 
 We learn, from the following passage in Stowe's Chronicle, 
 that the standard of Edward 1. was a golden dragon, " The 
 " king entred Wales with an army, appointing the footmen to 
 " occupie the enemies in fight, whiles his horsemen, in a wing, 
 " set on the rcre battell : himselfe, with a power, kept his
 
 49 
 
 u place, where he pight his golden dragon, unto whiche, as to 
 " a castle, the wounded and wearied might repair." 
 
 " Where was thou bred f where was thou born f 
 
 u Where, or in what countrie ?" 
 u In north of England I. was born : 
 
 (It needed him to fie.) P. 29. v. 5. 
 
 Stratagems, such as that of Maitland, were frequently prac- 
 tised with success, inconsequence of the complete armour worn 
 by the knights of the middle ages.. In 1359, Edward III. en- 
 tered France, to improve the success of the battle of Poictiers. 
 Two French knights, Sir Galahaut of Rybamont, and Sir Roger 
 of Cologne, rode forth, with their followers, to survey the Eng- 
 lish host, and, in short, to seek adventures. It chanced that 
 they met a foraging party of Germans, retained in King Ed- 
 ward's service, under the command of Reynold of Boulant, a 
 knight of that nation. By the counsel of a squire of his retinue, 
 Sir Galahaut joined company with the German knight, under 
 the assumed character of Bartholomew de Bonne, Reynold's 
 countryman and fellow-soldier in the English service. The 
 French knights " were a 70 men of armes, and Sir Renolde 
 " had not past a 30; and, whan Sir Renolde saw theym, he 
 * displayed his baner befor hym, and came softely rydynge to- 
 warde theym, wenyng to hym that they had been Englyshe- 
 " men. Whan he approached, he lyft up hys vyser, saluted Sir 
 " Galahaut, in the name of Sir Bartylmewe de Bonnes. Sir 
 " Galahaut helde hymselfe styll secrete, and answered but 
 " fayntly, and sayd, let us ryde forth ;' and so rode on, and 
 " hys men, on the one syde, and the Almaygnes on the other. 
 " Whan Sir Renolde of Boulant sawe theyr maner, and howe 
 " Sir Galahaut rode sometyme by hym, and spake no word, 
 " than he begane to suspecte. And he had not so ryden, the 
 " space of a quarter of an hour, but he stode styll, under his 
 " baner, among hys men, and sayd, ' Sir, I have dout what 
 " knyght ye be. 1 thynke ye be nat Sir Bartylmewe, for I 
 " knowe hym well : and I see well that yt ys nat you. I well 
 
 vol.i. r>
 
 30 
 
 " ye tell ine your name, or I ryde any farther in your com- 
 " pany.' Therwith Sir Galahaut lyft up hys vyser, and rode 
 u towardes the knyght to have taken hym by the raynge of hys 
 " brydell, and cryed, ' Our Ladye of Rybamont /' than Sir 
 
 Roger of Coloyne sayd, ' Coloyne to the rescue ! ' * Whan 
 " Sir Renolde of Boulaut sawe what case he was in, he was 
 ** nat gretly afrayed, but drewe out his sworde ; and, as Sir 
 u Galahaut wolde hare taken hym by the brydell, Sir Re- 
 " nolde put his sworde clene through hym, and drue agayne 
 " hys sworde out of hym, and toke his horse, with the spurres, 
 " and left Sir Galahaut sore hurt. And, whan Sir Galahautes 
 " men sawe theyr master in that case, they were sore dys- 
 " pleased, and set on Sir Renolde's men ; there were many 
 
 * cast to the yerth, but as sone as Sir Renolde had gyven Sir 
 " Galahaut that stroke, he strak hys horse with the spurres, and 
 " toke the feldes. Than certayne of Galahaut's squyers chasyd 
 u hym, and, whan he sawe that they followed hym so nere, that 
 " he muste other tourne agayne, or els be shamed, lyke a hardy 
 u knyght he tourned, and abode the foremost, and gave hym 
 " such a stroke, that he had no more lyste to folwe him. And 
 ** thus, as he rode on, he served three of theym, that folowed 
 " hym, and wounded theym sore : if a good axe had been in 
 " hys hand, at every stroke he had slayne a man. He dyd so 
 " muche, that he was out of danger of the Frenchmen, and 
 " saved hymselfe withoute any hurte; the whyche hysenemyes 
 ** reputed for a grete prowess, and so dyd all other that harde 
 f thereof; but hys men were nere slayne or taken, but few 
 " that were saved. And Sir Galahaut was caryed from thence 
 u sore hurt to Perone ; of that hurt he was never after perfect- 
 " ly hole; for he was a knyght of suche courage, that, for all 
 " his hurte, he wold not spare hymselfe ; wherefore he lyved 
 " not long after.'' Frohsart, Vol. I. Chap. 207. 
 
 The youngest turrid him in a path, 
 
 And drew a burnished brand, fyc. P. 31. v. 2. 
 
 Thus, Sir Walter Mauny, retreating into the fortress of Ila, 
 
 * The war-cries of their family. 
 12
 
 51 
 
 nyboute, after a successful sally, was pursued by the besiegers, 
 who " ranne after them lyke madde men ; than Sir Gualtier 
 " saide, *. Let me never be beloved wyth my lady, wythout I 
 u have a course wyth one of these followers !" and turning, 
 with his lance in the rest, he overthrew several of his pursuers, 
 before he condescended to continue his retreat. 
 
 Whenever they came within the yate y 
 They thrust their horse themfrae, 4"C -P. 32. v. 1. 
 u The Lord of Hangest (pursued by the Euglish) came so to 
 " the barryrs (of Vandonne) that were open, as his happe was, 
 " and so entred in therat, and than toke his speare, and turned 
 u him to defence, right valiantly." Froissart, Vol. I. Chap. 
 367. . 
 
 They rode their horse, they ran their horse, 
 Then hovered on the lee, c. P. 36. v. 1. 
 The sieges, during the middle ages, frequently afforded op- 
 portunity for single combat, of which the scene was usually the 
 draw-bridge, or barriers, of the town. The former, as the 
 more desperate place of battle, was frequently chosen by 
 knights, who chose to break a lance for honour, and their 
 ladies' love. In 1387, Sir William Douglas, lord of Nithis- 
 dale, upon the draw-bridge of the town of Carlisle, consisting 
 of two beams, hardly two feet in breadth, encountered and 
 slew, first, a single champion of England, and afterwards two, 
 who attacked him together. Forduni Scotichronicon, Lib. XIV. 
 chap. 51. 
 
 He brynt the suburbys of Carlele, 
 And at the bareris he faucht sa wele, 
 That on thare bryg he slw a man, 
 The wychtast that in the town wes than : 
 Qnhare, on a plank of twa feet brade, 
 He stude, and swa gude payment made, 
 That he feld twa stout fechteris, 
 / And but skath went till his feres. 
 
 Wintown's Cronykil, Book IX. Chap. 8.
 
 m 
 
 These combats at the barriers, or palisades, which formed 
 the outer fortification of a town, were so frequent, that the 
 mode of attack and defence was early taught to the future 
 knight, and continued long to be practised in the games of 
 chivalry. The custom, therefore, of defying the inhabitants of 
 a besieged town to this sort of contest, was highly fashionable 
 in the middle ages; and an army could hardly appear before a 
 place, without giving rise to a variety of combats at the bar- 
 riers, which were, in general, conducted without any unfair 
 advantage being taken on either part. 
 
 The following striking example of this romantic custom occurs 
 in Froissart. During the French wars of Edward the Black 
 Prince, and in the year 1S70, a body of English, and of adven- 
 turers retained in his service, approached the city of Noyon, then 
 occupied by a French garrison, and arrayed themselves, with 
 displayed banners, before the town, defying the defenders to 
 battle. " There was a Scottysh knyghte * dyde there a goodly 
 " feate of armes, for he departed fro his companye, hys spcare 
 " in hys hand, and mounted on a good horse, hys page behynde 
 " hyme, and so came before the barryers. Thys knyghte was 
 
 * called Sir Johan Assueton, f a hardy man and a couragyous. 
 " Whan he was before the barryers of Noyon, he lyghted a-fote, 
 " and sayd to hys page, ' Holde, kepe my horse, and departe nat 
 u hens;' and so wente to the barryers. And wythyn the barryers, 
 " there were good knyghtes ; as, Sir John of Roy, Sir Lance- 
 " lot of Loutys, and a x or xii other, who bad grete marveyle 
 
 * what thys sayde knyghte wolde do. Than he sayde to them, 
 " Sirs, I am come hyder to se you. I se well, ye wyll nat 
 
 * By the terms of the peace betwixt England and Scotland, the 
 Scottish were left at liberty to take service either with France or 
 England, at their pleasure. Sir Robert Knolles, therefore, who 
 commanded the expedition, referred to in the text, had under bis 
 command a hundred Scottish spears. 
 
 + Atsueton is a corruption for Swinton. Sir John Swinton, of 
 Swinton, was a Scottish champion, noted for his courage and gi- 
 gantic stature.
 
 53 
 
 " issue out of your barryers ; therefore I will entre,and I can, 
 " and wyll prove my knyghthode agaynst yours ; wyn me and 
 " ye can.' And there wyth he layde on round about hym, and 
 " they at hym. And thus, he alone fought agaynst them, more 
 " than an hour; and dyd hurte two or three of them; so that 
 " they of the towne, on the walles and garrettes, stode still, 
 " and behelde them, and had great pleasure to regarde his val- 
 " yauntness, and dyd him no hurte ; the whiche they myght 
 " have done, if they hadde list to have shotte, or cast stones at 
 " hym. And also the French knyghtcs charged them to let hym 
 " and them alone togyder. So long they foughte, that at last, 
 " his page came near to the barryers, and spake in his lan- 
 u gage, and sayd, ' Sir, come aw aye ; it is time for you to de- 
 " parte, for your cumpanye is departyng hens.' The knyghte 
 " harde hym well, and than gave a two or three strokes about 
 " him, and so, armed as he was, he lepte out of the barryers, 
 " and lepte upon his horse, without any hurte, behyude his 
 " page ; and sayd to the Frenchemen, ' Adue, sirs ! I thank 
 " you ;' and so rode forthe to his owne cumpanye. The whiche 
 u dede was moche praysed of many folkes." Froissart, cap. 
 878.' 
 
 The barriers, so often alluded to, are described, by the same 
 admirable historian, to be grated pallisades, the grates being 
 about half a foot wide. In a skirmish before Honycourt, Sir 
 Henry of Flanders ventured to thrust his sword so far through 
 one of those spaces, that a sturdy abbot, who was within, seized 
 his sword-arm, and drew it through the barriers, up to the 
 shoulder. In this aukward situation he remained for some 
 time, being unwilling to dishonour himself by quitting his wea- 
 pon. He was at length rescued, but lost his sword; which 
 Froissart afterwards saw preserved, as a relique, in the monas- 
 tery of Honycourt. Vol. I. chap. 39. " For instances of single 
 combats, at the barriers, see the same author, passim. 
 
 And if the twa suld shy ye baith, 
 
 Ye'se get na kelp/rae me. P. 34. v. 5. 
 According to the laws of chivalry, laws, which were also for
 
 54 
 
 a long time observed in duels, when two or more persons were 
 engaged on each side, he, who first conquered his immediate 
 antagonist, was at liberty, if he pleased, to come to the as- 
 sistance of his companions. The play of the Little French 
 Lawyer turns entirely upon this circumstance ; and it may 
 be remarked throughout the poems of Boiardo and Ariosto : 
 particularly in the combat of three Christian and thiee Pagan 
 champions, in the 42d canto of Orlando Furioso. But doubt- 
 less a gallant knight was often unwilling, like young Maitland, 
 to avail himself of this advantage. Something of this kind 
 seems to have happened in the celebrated combat, fought in 
 the presence of James II. at Stirling, in 1449, between three 
 French, or Flemish, warriors, and three noble Scottishmen, 
 two of whom were of the house of Douglas. The reader will 
 find a literal translation of Oliver de la Marche's account 
 of this celebrated tourney, in Pinkertons History, Vol. I. 
 p. 428. 
 
 I am nae king, nor nae sic thing I 
 
 My word it shanna stand ! P. 35. v. 2. 
 Maitland's apology for retracting his promise to stand neu- 
 ter, is as curious as his doing so is natural. The unfortunate 
 John of France was wont to say, that, if truth and faith were 
 banished from all the rest of the universe, they should still re- 
 side in the breast and the mouth of kings. 
 
 They maul'd him cruellie. P. 35. v. 5. 
 This has a vulgar sound, but is actually a phrase of romance. 
 Tant frappant et maillent lex deux vassaux Vun sur I'autre, que 
 leurs heaumes, et leurs hauberts, sont tous cassez et rompus, 
 La fleur des Battailes. 
 
 But, wi' the poll-axe in his hand, 
 Upon the brigg sprang he. P. 36. v. 4. 
 The battle-axe, of which there are many kinds, was a knight- 
 ly weapon, much used in the middle ages, as well in single 
 combat as in battle. " And also there was a younge bachelor,
 
 55 
 
 m called Bertrande of Glesguyne, who, duryng the seige, fought 
 u wyth an Englyshman called Sir Nycholas Dagerne : and that 
 " batayle was takene thre courses wyth a speare, thre strokes 
 " wyth an axe, and thre wyth a dagger. And eche of these 
 " knyghtes bare themselves so valyautly, that they departed fro 
 " the felde wythout any damage, and they were well regarded, 
 " bothe of theyme wythyn, and they wythout." This happened 
 at the siege of Rennes, by the Duke of Lancaster, in 1357. 
 Froissart, Vol. I. c. 175. With the same weapon Godfrey of 
 Harcourt long defended himself, when surprised and defeated 
 by the French. " And Sir Godfraye's men kepte no good ar- 
 a ray, npr dyd nat as they had'promysed ; moost part of theyme 
 
 * fledde ; whan Sir Godfraye sawe that, he sayde to hymselfe, 
 
 how he had rather there be slayne than be taken by the 
 " Frenchmen ; there he toke hys axe in hys luindes, and set 
 f fast the one legge before the other, to stonde the more sure- 
 
 * ly ; for hys one legge was a lytell crooked, but he was strong 
 
 in the armes. Ther he fought valyantly and long : none 
 tt durste well abyde hys strokes; than two Frenchmen mount- 
 " ed on theyr horses, and ranne both with their speares at 
 " ones at hym, and so bare him to the yerth : than other, that 
 " were a-fote, came wyth theyr swerdes, and strake hym into 
 
 * the body, under his harneys, so that ther he was slayne." 
 Ibid, chap. 172. The historian throws Sir Godfrey into a 
 striking attitude of desperation. 
 
 When Maitland saw his ain bludefa\ 
 An angry man was he ! P. 37, v. 1. 
 There is a saying, that a Scot tishman fights best after seeing 
 his own blood; Camerarius has contrived to hitch this foolish 
 proverb into a national compliment; for he quotes it as an in- 
 stance of the persevering gallantry of his countrymen. a Si in 
 u pugna proprium effundi sanguinem vidissent, non statimpro- 
 
 * strato animo concedebant, sed irato potius in hostesvelut fu- 
 <x rentes omnibus viribus incurrebantP
 
 56 
 
 That Edward once lay under me, 
 And e'er gat up again. P. 37. v. 4. 
 
 Some reciters repeat it thus : 
 
 " That Englishman lay under me." 
 
 which is the true spirit of Blind Harry, who makes Wallace 
 ay, 
 
 " I like better to see the southeron die, 
 
 " than gold or land, that they can gie to me." 
 
 In slaying Edward, Maitland acts pitilessly, but not contrary 
 to the laws of arms, which did not enjoin a knight to shew 
 mercy to his antagonist, until he yielded him, u rescue or no 
 rescue." Thus, the seigneur de Langueraut came before the 
 walls of an English garrison, in Gascony, and defied any of 
 the defenders to run a course with a spear i his challenge being 
 accepted by Bertrand Courant, the governor of the place, they 
 couched their spears, like good knights, and dashed on their 
 horses. Their spears were broke to pieces, and Languerant 
 was overthrown, and lost his helmet among the horses' feet. 
 His attendants were coming up ; but Bertrand drew his dagger, 
 and said, " Sir, yield ye my prisoner, rescue or no rescue ; 
 " els ye are but dead." The dismounted champion spoke not 
 a word ; on which, Bertrand, entering into fervent ire, dashed 
 his dagger into his skull. Besides, the battle was not always 
 finished by one warrior obtaining this advantage over the other. 
 In the battle of Nejara, the famous Sir John Chandos was 
 overthrown, and held down, by a gigantic Spanish cavalier, 
 named Martino Fernandez. " Then Sir Johan Chandos re- 
 " membred of a knyfe, that he had in his bosome, and drew 
 " it out, and struck this Martyne so in the backe, and in the 
 * sydes, that he wounded him to dethe, as he laye upon hym." 
 The dagger, which the knights employed in these close and 
 desperate struggles, was called the poniard of mercy.
 
 57 
 
 BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNK 
 
 THE SCOTTISH EDITION. 
 
 The following edition of the Battle of Otterbourne, be- 
 ing essentially different from that which is published in 
 the Reliques of Ancient Poetry, Vol. I. and being obvi- 
 ously of Scottish composition, claims a place in the pre- 
 sent collection. The particulars of that noted action are 
 related by Froissart, with the highest encomium upon the 
 valour of the combatants on each side, James, Earl of 
 Douglas, with his brother, the Earl of Murray, in 1387 
 invaded Northumberland, at the head of 3000 men; 
 while the Earls of Fife and Strathern, sons to the king of 
 Scotland, ravaged the western borders of England, with 
 a still more numerous army. Douglas penetrated as far 
 as Newcastle, where the renowned Hotspur lay in garri- 
 son. In a skirmish before the walls, Percy's lance, with 
 the pennon, or guidon, attached to it, was taken by Dou- 
 glas,, as most authors affirm, in a personal encounter be-
 
 58 
 
 twixt the two heroes. The earl shook the pennon aloft, 
 and swore he would carry it as his spoil into Scotland, 
 and plant it upon his castle of Dalkeith. " That," an- 
 swered Percy, " shalt thou never !" Accordingly, hav- 
 ing collected the forces of the marches, to a number equal, 
 or (according to the Scottish historians) much superior, to 
 the army of Douglas, Hotspur made a night attack upon 
 the Scottish camp, at Otterbourne, about thirty-two miles 
 from Newcastle An action took place, fought by moon- 
 light, with uncommon gallantry and desperation. At 
 length, Douglas, armed with an iron mace, which few but 
 he could wield, rushed into the thickest of the English 
 battalions, followed only by his chaplain, and two squires 
 of his body. * Before his followers could come up, their 
 brave leader was stretched on the ground, with three mor- 
 tal wounds: his squires lay dead by his side ; the priest 
 alone, armed with a lance, was protecting his master from 
 farther injury. " I die like my forefathers," said the ex- 
 piring hero, " in a field of .battle, and not on a bed of 
 sickness. Conceal my death, defend my standard, f 
 
 * Their names were Robert Hart and Simon Glendinning. The 
 chaplain was Richard Lundie, afterwards archdcan of Aberdeen 
 Godscroft. Hart, according to Winton, was a knight. That his- 
 torian says, no one knew how Douglas fell. 
 
 + The banner of Douglas, upon this memorable occasion, was 
 born by his natural son, Archibald Douglas, ancestor of the family 
 of Carers, hereditary sheriffs of Teviotdale, amongst whose ar- 
 chives this glorious relique is still preserved. The carl, at his on- 
 set, is said to have charged his son to defend it to the last drop of 
 his blood.
 
 59 
 
 * and avenge my fall ! It is an old prophecy, that a dead 
 " man shall gain a field, * and I hope it will be accom- 
 " plished this night." Godscrofu With these words he 
 expired ; and the fight was renewed with double obsti- 
 nacy around his body. When morning appeared, how- 
 ever, victory began to incline to the Scottish side. Ralph 
 Percy, brother to Hotspur, was made prisoner by the 
 earl Marischal, and shortly after, Harry Percy f him- 
 self was taken by Lord Montgomery. The number of 
 captives, according to Wintoun, nearly equalled that of 
 the victors. Upon this the English retired, and left the 
 Scots masters of the dear-bought honours of the field. 
 But the bishop of Durham approaching, at the head of a 
 body of fresh forces, not only checked the pursuit of the 
 victors, but made prisoners of some of the stragglers, who 
 had urged the chase too far. The battle was not, how- 
 ever, renewed, as the bishop of Durham did not venture 
 to attempt the rescue of Percy. The field was fought 
 15th August, 1388. Fordun, Froissart, Hollinshed, 
 Godscroft. 
 
 The ground on which this memorable engagement took 
 place, is now the property of John Davidson, Esq. of New- 
 castle, and still retains the name of Battle Cross. A 
 cross, erroneously termed Percy s Cross, has been erected 
 upon the spot where the gallant Earl of Douglas is suppo- 
 
 * This prophecy occurs in the ballad as an ominous dream. 
 + Hotspur, for his ransom, built the castle of Penoon, in Ayrshire, 
 belonging to the family of Montgomery, now carls of Eglintoun.
 
 60 
 
 sed to have fallen. These particulars were communicated 
 to the editor, in the most obliging manner, by the pre- 
 sent proprietor of Otterbourn. 
 
 The ballad, published in the Reliques, is avowedly an 
 English production ; and the author, with a natural par- 
 tiality, lean* to the side of his countrymen ; yet, that bal- 
 lad, or some one similar, modified probably by national 
 prejudice, must have been current in Scotland during the 
 reign of James VI. : for Godscroft, in treating of this bat- 
 tle, mentions its having been the subject of popular song, 
 and proceeds thus: " But that which is commonly sung 
 " of the Hunting of Cheviot, seemeth indeed poetical, and 
 u a mere fiction, perhaps to stir up virtue; yet a fiction 
 * whereof there is no mention, either in the Scottish or 
 " English Chronicle. Neither are the songs that are 
 " made of them, both one ; for the Scots song made of Ot- 
 " terbourne, telleth the time, about Lammas; and also 
 " the occasion, to take preys out of England ; also the 
 dividing the armies betwixt the earls of Fife and Dou- 
 ' glas, and their several journies, almost as in the authen- 
 " tic history. It beginneth thus : 
 
 " It fell about the Lammas tide, 
 
 " When yeomen win their hay, 
 " The dochty Douglas 'gan to ride, 
 
 " in England to take a prej." 
 
 Godscboft, ed. Edin, 1743. Vol. i. p. 195. 
 
 I cannot venture to assert, that the stanzas here pub- 
 lished, belong to the ballad alluded to by Godscroft;
 
 61 
 
 but they come much nearer to his description than the 
 copy published in the first edition, which represented 
 Douglas as falling by the poniard of a faithless page. Yet 
 we learn from the same author, that the story of the as- 
 sassination was not without foundation in tradition. 
 " There are that say, that he (Douglas) was not slain by 
 " the enemy, but by one of his own men, a groom of 
 " his chamber, whom he had struck the day before with 
 " a truncheon, in ordering of the battle, because he saw 
 " him make somewhat slowly to. And they name this 
 " man John Bickerton of Luflfhess, who left a part of his 
 " armour behind, unfastened, and when he was in the 
 * greatest conflict, this servant of his came behind his 
 " back, and slew him thereat." Godscroft, ut supra, 
 " But this narration," adds the historian, " is not so pro- 
 " bable." * Indeed it seems to have no foundation, but 
 the common desire of assigning some remote and extraor- 
 dinary cause for the death of a great man. The following 
 ballad is also inaccurate in many other particulars, and is 
 
 * Winton assigns another cause for Douglas being carelessly 
 armed. 
 
 " The erte Jamys was sa besy, 
 
 " For til ordane his company; 
 
 " And on his Fays for to pas, 
 
 " That reckles he of his armyng was; 
 
 " The Erie of Mwrrawys Bassenet, 
 
 " Thai sayd, at thot tyme was ferryhete." 
 
 Book VIII. Chap. 7. 
 
 The circumstance of Douglas' omitting to put on his helmet, 
 occurs in the ballad.
 
 62 
 
 much shorter, and more indistinct, than that printed in 
 the Reliques, although many verses are almost the same. 
 Hotspur, for instance, is called Earl Percy, a title he 
 never enjoyed. Neither was Douglas buried on the field 
 of battle, but in Melrose Abbey, where his tomb is still 
 shown. 
 
 This song was first published from Mr Herd's Collec- 
 tion of Scottish Songs and Ballads, Edin. 1774. 2 vols, 
 octavo; but two recited copies have fortunately been ob- 
 tained, from the recitation of old persons residing at the 
 head of Ettrick Forest, by which the story is brought 
 out, and completed in a manner much more correspon- 
 dent to the true history. 
 
 I cannot dismiss the subject of the Battle of Otter- 
 bourne, without stating (with all the deference due to the 
 father of this species of literature) a doubt, which occurs 
 to me, as to the account given of " Sir John of Augur- 
 " stone," one of the Scottish warriors, in the learned and 
 excellent notes subjoined to the ballad, in the Reliques of 
 Ancient Poetry. This personage is there supposed to have 
 been one of the Haggerstons of Haggerston, a Northum- 
 brian family, who, according to the fate of war, were 
 sometimes subjects of Scotland. I cannot, however, think, 
 that at this period, while the English were in possession 
 both of Berwick and Roxburgh, with the intermediate 
 fortresses of Wark, Cornhill, and Norham, the Scots pos- 
 sessed any part of Northumberland, much less a manor 
 which lay within that strong chain of castles. I should
 
 63 
 
 presume the person alluded to rather to have been one of 
 the Rutherfords, barons of Edgerstane, or Edgerston, a 
 warlike family, which has long flourished on the Scottish 
 borders, and who were, at this very period, retainers of 
 the house of Douglas. The same notes contain an ac- 
 count of the other Scottish warriors of distinction, who 
 were present at the battle. These were, the earls of 
 Monteith, Buchan, and Huntly; the barons of Max- 
 well and Johnston ; Swinton of that ilk, an ancient fa- 
 mily, which about that period produced several distin- 
 guished warriors ; Sir David (or rather, as the learned 
 editor well remarks, Sir Walter) Scott of Buccleuch, 
 Stewart of Garlies, and Murray of Cockpool. 
 
 Regibus et legibus Scoiici constantes, 
 Vos clypeis et gladiis pro patria pugnantes, 
 Vestra est victoria, vestra est et gloria, 
 hi caniu et historia, perpes est memoria !
 
 64 
 
 BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE. 
 
 It fell about the Lammas tide, 
 When the muir-men win their hay, 
 
 The doughty earl of Douglas rode 
 Into England, to catch a prey. 
 
 He chose the Gordons and the Graemes, 
 With them the Lindesays, light and gay ; 
 
 But the Jardines wald not with him ride, 
 And they rue it to this day. 
 
 And he has burn'd the dales of Tyne, 
 
 And part of Bambrough shire: 
 And three good towers on Roxburgh fells, 
 
 He left them all on fire.
 
 65 
 
 And he march'd up to Newcastle, 
 
 And rode it round about; 
 * O wha's the lord of this castle, 
 
 * Or wha's the lady o't r" 
 
 But up spake proud Lord Percy, then, 
 
 And O but he spake hie ! 
 " I am the lord of this castle, 
 
 u My wife's the lady gay." 
 
 " If thour't the lord of this castle, 
 
 " Sae weel it pleases me ! 
 " For, ere I cross the border fells, 
 
 " The tane of us shall die." 
 
 He took a lang spear in his hand, 
 
 Shod with the metal free, 
 And for to meet the Douglas there, 
 
 He rode right furiouslie. 
 
 But O how pale his lady look'd, 
 
 Frae aff the castle wa', 
 When down, before the Scottish spear, 
 
 She saw proud Percy fa\ 
 ol. i. k
 
 66 
 
 " Had we twa been upon the green, 
 
 " And never an eye to see, 
 " I wad hae had you, flesh and fell ; * 
 
 " But your sword sail gae wi' mee." 
 
 u But gae ye up to Otterbourne, 
 ** And wait there dayis three ; 
 u And, if I come not ere three dayis end, 
 
 * A fause knight ca' ye me." 
 
 * The Otterbourae's a bonnie burn ; 
 
 * Tis pleasant there to be ; 
 
 " But there is nought at Otterbourne, 
 " To feed my men and me. 
 
 * The deer rins wild on hill and dale, 
 
 M The birds fly wild from tree to tree ; 
 " But there is neither bread nor kale, 
 
 * To fend f my men and me. 
 
 * Fell. Hide. Douglas insinuates, that Percy was rescued 
 by his soldiers. 
 \ lend* Support.
 
 67 
 
 " Yet I will stay at Otterbourne, 
 " Where you shall welcome be ; 
 
 "And, if ye come not at three day is end, 
 " A fause lord I'll ca' thee/' 
 
 " Thither will I come," proud Percy said, 
 " By the might of Our Ladye !" 
 
 " There will I bide thee," said the Douglas, 
 " My trowth I plight to thee " 
 
 They lighted high on Otterbourne., 
 
 Upon the bent sae brown ; 
 They lighted high on Otterbourne, 
 
 And threw their pallions down. 
 
 And he that had a bonnie boy, 
 
 Sent out his horse to grass ; 
 And he that had not a bonnie boy, 
 
 His ain servant he was. 
 
 But up then spake a little page, 
 
 Before the peep of dawn 
 et O waken ye, waken ye, my good lord, 
 
 ** For Percy's hard at hand." 
 
 12
 
 68 
 
 " Ye lie, ye lie, ye liar loud ! 
 
 " Sae loud I hear ye lie : 
 " For Percy had not men yestreen, 
 
 * To dight my men and me. 
 
 * But I hae dream'd a dreary dream, 
 
 * Beyond the Isle of Sky ; 
 
 " I saw a dead man win a fight, 
 
 * And I think that man was I.* 
 
 He belted on his good braid sword, 
 
 And to the field he ran ; 
 But he forgot the helmet good, 
 
 That should have kept his brain. 
 
 When Percy wi' the Douglas met, 
 
 I wat he was fu* fain ! 
 They swakked their swords, till sair they swat. 
 
 And the blood ran down like rain. 
 
 But Percy with his good broad sword, 
 / That could so sharply wound, 
 
 Has wounded Douglas on the brow, 
 Till he fell to the ground.
 
 69 
 
 Then he call'd on his little foot-page, 
 
 And said " Run speedilie, 
 " And fetch my ain dear sister's son, 
 
 * Sir Hugh Montgomery." 
 
 " My nephew good," the Douglas said, 
 " What recks the death of ane ! 
 
 " Last night I dream'd a dreary dream, 
 " And I ken the day's thy ain. 
 
 " My wound is deep ; I fain would sleep \ 
 " Take thou the vanguard of the three, 
 
 " And hide me by the braken bush, 
 " That grows on yonder lilye lee. 
 
 " O bury me by the braken bush, 
 " Beneath the blooming briar ; * 
 
 ** Let never living mortal ken, 
 
 " That ere a kindly Scot lies here." 
 
 He lifted up that noble lord, 
 
 Wi' the saut tear in his e'e ; 
 He hid him in the braken bush, 
 
 That his merrie men might not see.
 
 70 
 
 The moon was clear, the day drew near, 
 
 The spears in flinders flew, 
 But mony a gallant Englishman, 
 
 Ere day the Scotsmen slew. 
 
 The Gordons good, in English blood, 
 They steep'd their hose and shoon ; 
 
 The Lindsays flew like fire about, 
 Till all the fray was done. 
 
 The Percy and Montgomery met, 
 That either of other were fain ; 
 
 They swapped swords, and they twa swat, 
 And aye the blude ran down between. 
 
 " Yield thee, O yield thee, Percy !" he said, 
 " Or else I vow I'll lay thee low !" 
 
 " Whom to shall I yield," said Earl Percy, 
 " Now that I see it must be so I" 
 
 " Thou shalt not yield to lord nor loun, 
 * Nor yet shalt thou yield to me ; 
 
 " But yield thee to the braken bush, * 
 " That grows upon yon lilye lee !" 
 
 * Broken. Fern.
 
 71 
 
 " I will not yield to a braken bush, 
 
 " Nor yet will I yield to a briar; 
 " But I would yield to Earl Douglas, 
 
 " Or Sir Hugh the Montgomery, if he were here." 
 
 As soon as he knew it was Montgomery, 
 He stuck his sword's point in the gronde ; 
 
 And the Montgomery was a courteous knight, 
 And quickly took him by the honde. 
 
 This deed was done at Otterbourne, 
 About the breaking of the day ; 
 
 Earl Douglas was buried at the braken bush, 
 And the Percy led captive away.
 
 72 
 
 i 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 THE BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE. 
 
 He chose the Gordons and the Gr antes. P. 64. v. 2. 
 
 The illustrious family of Gordon was originally settled upon 
 the lands of Gordon and Huntly, in the shire of Berwick, and 
 are, therefore, of border extraction. The steps, by which they 
 removed from thence to the shires of Aberdeen and Inverness, 
 are worthy notice. In 1300, Adam de Gordon was warden of 
 the marches. Hymer, Vol. II. p. 870. He obtained, from Ro- 
 bert the Bruce, a grant of the forfeited estate of David de 
 Strathbolgie, Earl of Athol ; but no possession followed, the 
 earl having returned to his allegiance. John de Gordon, his 
 great grandson, obtained, from Robert II, a new charter of 
 the lands of Strathbolgie, which had been once more and finally 
 forfeited, by David, Earl of Athol, slain in the battle of 
 Kilblene. This grant is dated 13th July, 1376. John de Gor- 
 don, who was destined to transfer, from the borders of Eng- 
 land to those of the Highlands, a powerful and martial race, 
 was himself a redoubted warrior, and many of his exploits oc- 
 cur in the annals of that turbulent period. In 1371-2, the 
 English borderers invaded and plundered the lands of Gordon, 
 on the Scottish east march. Sir John of Gordon retaliated, by
 
 73 
 
 an incursion on Northumberland, where he collected much 
 spoil. But, as he returned with his booty, he was attacked at 
 unawares, by Sir John Lillburne, a Northumbrian, who, with 
 a superior force, lay near Carham in ambush, to intercept him. 
 Gordon harangued and cheered his followers, charged the En- 
 glish gallantly, and, after having himself been five times in 
 great peril, gained a complete victory ; slaying many southerns, 
 and taking their leader and his brother captive. According to 
 the prior of Lochlevin, he was desperately wounded ; but 
 
 " Thare rays a welle grete renowne, 
 
 " And gretly prysyd wes gud Gordown," 
 
 Shortly after this exploit, Sir John of Gordon encountered 
 and routed Sir Thomas Musgrave ; a renowned English march- 
 man, whom he made prisoner. The lord of Johnstone had, 
 about the same time, gained a great advantage on the west 
 border; and hence, says Wynton, 
 
 He and the Lord of Gordowne 
 Had a soveiane gud renown, 
 Of ony that war of thare degr, 
 For full thai war of gret bounty. 
 
 Upon another occasion, John of Gordon is said to have par- 
 tially succeeded in the surprisal of the town of Berwick, al- 
 though the superiority of the garrison obliged him to relinquish 
 his enterprise. 
 
 The ballad is accurate, in introducing this warrior, with his 
 clan, into the host of Douglas at Otterbourne. Perhaps, as he 
 was in possession of his extensive northern domains, he brought 
 to the field the northern broad-swords, as well as the lances of 
 his eastern borderers. With his gallant leader, he lost his life 
 in the deadly conflict. The English ballad commemorates his 
 valour and prudence ; 
 
 " The Erie of Huntley, cawte and kene," 
 
 But the title is a premature designation. The earldom of Hunt- 
 )yvas first conferred on Alexander Seaton, who married the
 
 74 
 
 granddaughter of the hero of Otterbourne, and assumed his 
 title from Huntly, in the north. Besides his eldest son Adam, 
 who carried on the line of the family, Sir John de Gordon left 
 two sons, known in tradition, by the familiar names of Jock 
 and Tarn. The former was the ancestor of the Gordons of 
 Pitlurg ; the latter of those of Lesmoir, and of Craig-Gordon. 
 This last family is now represented by James Gordon, Esq. of 
 Craig, being the eleventh, in direct descent, from Sir John de 
 Gordon. 
 
 The Grama. 
 
 The clan of Graeme, always numerous and powerful upon 
 the border, were of Scottish origin, and deduce the descent of 
 their chieftain, Graeme of Netherby, from John with the bright 
 sword, a son of Malice Graeme, Earl of Menteith, who flou- 
 rished in the fourteenth century. Latterly, they became En- 
 glishmen, as the phrase went, and settled upon the Debateable 
 Land, whence they were transported to Ireland, by James VL, 
 with the exception of a very few respectable families ; " be- 
 " cause," said his majesty in a proclamation, " they do all 
 " (but especially the Graemes) confess themselves to be no 
 "meet persons to live in these countries; and also to the 
 " intent their lands may be inhabited by others, of good and 
 honest conversation." But, in the reign of Henry IV., the 
 Graemes of the border still adhered to the Scottish allegiance, 
 as appears from the tower of Graeme in Annandale, Graemes 
 Walls in Tweeddale, and other castles within Scotland, to 
 which they have given their name. The reader is, however, at 
 liberty to suppose, that the Graemes of the Lennox and Men- 
 teith, always ready to shed their blood in the cause of their 
 country, on this occasion joined Douglas. 
 
 With them the Lindsays light and gay. P. 64, v. 2. 
 
 The chief of this ancient family, at the date of the battle of 
 Otterbourne, was David Lindissay, lord of Glenesk, afterwards 
 created Earl of Crawford. He was, after the manner of the 
 times, a most accomplished knight. He survived the battle of
 
 75 
 
 Otterbourne, and the succeeding carnage of Homildon. In 
 May, 1390, he went to England, to seek adventures of chival- 
 ry ; and justed, upon London Bridge, against the lord of Wells, 
 an English knight, with so much skill and success, as to excite 
 among the spectators, a suspicion that he was tied to his sad- 
 dle; which he removed, by riding up to the royal chair, vault- 
 ing out of his saddle, and resuming his seat without assistance, 
 although loaded with complete armour. In 1392, Lindsay was 
 nearly slain in a strange manner, A band of Catterans, or 
 wild Highlanders, had broken down from the Grampian Hills, 
 and were engaged in plundering the county of Angus. Walter 
 Ogilvy, the sheriff, with Sir Patrick Gray, marched against 
 them, and were joined by .Sir David Lindsay. Their whole re- 
 tinue did not exceed sixty men, and the Highlanders were above 
 three hundred. Nevertheless, trusting to the superiority of 
 arms and discipline, the knights rushed on the invaders, at 
 Gasclune, in the stormont. The issue was unfortunate. Ogil- 
 vy, his brother, and many of his kindred, were overpowered 
 and slain. Lindsay, armed at all points, made great slaughter 
 among the naked Catterans; but, as he pinned one of them to 
 the earth with his lance, the dying mountaineer writhed up- 
 wards, and, collecting his force, fetched a blow with his broad- 
 sword, which cut through the knight's stirrup-leather and steel- 
 boot, and nearly severed his leg. The Highlander expired, and 
 Lindsay was with difficulty borne out of the field by his follow- 
 ers. Wynton. Lindsay is also noted for a retort, made to 
 the famous Hotspur. At a march-meeting, at Haldane-Stank, 
 he happened to observe, that Percy was sheathed in complete 
 armour. " It is for fear of the English horsemen," said Percy, 
 jn explanation : for he was already meditating the insurrection 
 immortalised by Shakespeare. " Ah ! Sir Harry," answered 
 Lindsay, " I have seen you more sorely bestad by Scottish foot- 
 " men than by English horse." Wyntcrwn. Such was the lea- 
 der of the Lindsays light and gay.'' 
 
 According to Froissart, there were three Lindsays in the bat- 
 tle of Otterbourne, whom he calls Sir William, Sir James and 
 Sir Alexander. To Sir James Lindsay there fell " a strange
 
 76 
 
 chance of war," which I give in the words of the old histo- 
 rian. " I shall shewe you of Sir Mathewe Reedraan (an En- 
 " glish warrior, and governor of Berwick,) who was on horse- 
 " backe, to save himsclfe, for he alone coude nat remedy the 
 " mater. At his departynge, Sir James Lindsay was nere him, 
 " and sawe Sir Mathewe departed. And this Sir James, to 
 " wyn honour, followed in chase Sir Mathewe Reedman, and 
 ' came so nere him, that he myght have stryken hym with 
 u hys speare, if he had lyst. Than he said, Ah ! Sir knyght, 
 " tourne ! it is a shame thus to fly ! I am James of Lindsay. 
 " If ye will nat tourne, I shall strike you on the back with my 
 u speare.* Sir Mathewe spoke no worde, but struke his hors 
 " with his spurres sorer than he did before. In this maner he 
 
 * chased hym more than three myles. And at last Sir Ma- 
 " thewe Reedman's hors foundered, and fell under hym. Than 
 " he stept forthe on the erthe, and drewe oute his swerde, and 
 " tokc coragc to defend himselfe. And the Scotte thoughte to 
 " have stryken hym on the brest, but Sir Mathewe Reedman 
 " swerved fro the stroke, and the speare point entred into the 
 u erthe. Than Sir Mathewe strak asonder the speare wyth 
 " his swerde. And whan Sir James Lindsay sawe howe be had 
 " lost his speare, he cast away the tronchon, and lyghted a-fote, 
 ' and toke a lytell battell-axe, that he carryed at his backe, 
 " and handled it with his one hand, quickly and delyverly, in 
 
 * the whyche feate Scottes be well experte. And than he set 
 " at Sir Mathewe, and he defended himselfe properly. Thus 
 " they journeyed toguyder, one with an axe, and the other with 
 " a swerde, a longc season, and no man to lette them. Fy- 
 " nally, Sir James Lindsay gave the knyght such strokes, and 
 " helde him so short, that he was putte cut of brethe in such 
 
 wyse, that he yelded himselfe, and sayde, ' Sir James Lind- 
 
 * say, I yelde me to you.' ' Well,' quod he; ' and I receyve 
 " you, rescue or no rescue.' ' I am content/ quod Reedman, 
 u so ye dele wyth me like a good companyon.' ' I shall not 
 " fayle that,' quod Lindsay, and so put up his swerd. ' Well,' 
 " said Reedman, ' what will ye nowe that I shall do ? I am 
 u your prisoner; ye have conquered me ; I wolde gladly go
 
 77 
 
 14 agayn to Newcastell, and, within fiftene dayeg, I shall come 
 " to you into Scotland, where as ye shall assigne me.' ' I am 
 " content,' quod Lindsay ; ' ye shall promyse, by your fay the, 
 u to present yourselfe, within these foure wekes, at Edinbo- 
 " rowe ; and wheresoever ye go, to repute yourselfe my pri- 
 " soner.' All this Sir Mathewe sware, and promised to fulfil." 
 The warriors parted upon these liberal terras, and Reedman 
 returned to Newcastle. But Lindsay had scarcely ridden a 
 mile, when he met the bishop of Durham, with 500 horse, 
 whom he rode towards, believing them to be Scottish, until he 
 was too near them to escape. " The bysshoppe stepte to him, 
 and sayde, ' Lindsay, ye are taken ; yelde ye to me.' ' Who 
 " be you ?* quod Lindsay. * I am,' quod he, * the bysshoppe of 
 " Durham.' ' And fro whens come you, sir ?' quod Lindsay. ' I 
 " come fro the battell,' quod the bysshoppe, ' but I strucke 
 " never a stroke there. I go backe to Newcastell for this 
 * night, and ye shal go with me.' ' I may not chuse,' quod 
 " Lindsay, ' sith ye will have it so. I have taken, and I am 
 " taken; suche is the adventures of armes. : ' Lindsay was ac- 
 cordingly conveyed to the bishop's lodgings in Newcastle, and 
 here he was met by his prisoner Sir Matthew Reedman ; who 
 " founde hym in a studye, lying in a windowe, and saydc, 
 ' What ! Sir James Lindsay, what make you here ?' Than Sir 
 " James came forth of the study to him, and sayde, ' By ray 
 fayth, Sir Mathewe, fortune hath brought me hyder ; for, as 
 " soon as I was departed fro you, I mete by chaunce the bis- 
 " shoppe of Durham, to whom I am prisoner, as ye be to me. 
 a I beleve ye shall not nede to come to Edenbrowe to me to 
 " mak your fynaunce. I think, rather, we shall make an ex- 
 " change one for another, if the bisshoppe be also contente'' 
 " Well, sir,' quod Reedman, ' we shall accord ryght well to- 
 " guyder ; ye shall dine this day with me ; the bysshoppe and 
 " our men be gone forth to fyght with your men. I can nat tell 
 " what we shall know at their retourne.' ' I am content to 
 " dyne with you,' quod Lindsay." Froisstj^rt's Chronicle, trans- 
 lated by Bourchier, Lord Berners, Vol. I. chap. 146.
 
 78 
 
 Ogran bonta de" cavalieri antiqui ! 
 Eran rivali, eran difediversi; 
 E si sentian, de gli aspri colpi iniqui, 
 Per tutta la persona anco dolersi ; 
 E pur per selve oscure, e calle iniqui 
 Insieme van senza sospetta aversi. 
 
 L'Orlando. 
 
 But the Jardincs wald not with him ride. P. 64. v. 2. 
 
 The Jardines were a clan of hardy west-border men. Their 
 chief was Jardiue of Applegirth. Their refusal to ride with 
 Douglas was, probably, the result of one of those perpetual 
 feuds, which usually rent to pieces a Scottish array. 
 
 And he that had a bonny boy, 
 Sent out his horse to grass. P. 67. v. 4. 
 
 Froissart describes a Scottish host, of the same period, as 
 consisting of " IIII. M. men of arines, knightis, and squires, 
 " mounted on good horses ; and other X. M. men of warre 
 " armed, after their gyse, right hardy and firse, mounted on 
 " lytic hackneys, the whiche were never tied, nor kept at hard 
 " meat, but lette go to pasture in the fieldis and bushes." 
 Cronykle of Froissart, translated by Lord Berners, Chap. xvii.
 
 79 
 
 THE SANG 
 
 OF 
 
 THE OUTLAW MURRAY, 
 
 This ballad appears to have been composed about the 
 reign of James V. It commemorates a transaction, sup-\ 
 posed to have taken place betwixt a Scottish monarch, 
 and an ancestor of the ancient family of Murray of Phi- 
 liphaugh, in Selkirkshire. The editor is unable to ascer- 
 tain the historical foundation of the tale ; nor is it proba- 
 ble that any light can be thrown upon the subject, with- 
 out an accurate examination of the family charter chest. 
 It is certain, that, during the civil wars betwixt Bruce 
 and Baliol, the family of Philiphaugh existed, and was 
 powerful ; for their ancestor, Archibald de Moravia, sub- 
 scribes the oath of fealty to Edward I. A. D. 1296. It is, 
 therefore, not unlikely, that, residing in a wild and fron-
 
 80 
 
 tier country, they may have, at one period or other, da- 
 ring these commotions, refused allegiance to the feeble 
 monarch of the day, and thus extorted from him some 
 grant of territory or jurisdiction. It is also certain, that, 
 by a charter from James IV., dated November 30, 1509, 
 John Murray of Philiphaugh is vested with the dignity of 
 heritable sheriffof Ettrick Forest, an office held by his de- 
 scendants till the final abolition of such jurisdictions by 
 28th George II, cap. 23. But it seems difficult to be- 
 lieve, that the circumstances, mentioned in the ballad, 
 could occur under the reign of so vigorous a monarch as 
 James IV. It is true, that the Dramatis Persona intro- 
 duced seem to refer to the end of the fifteenth, or begin- 
 ning of the sixteenth century ; but from this jt can only 
 be argued, that the author himself lived soon after that 
 period. It may, therefore, be supposed (unless farther 
 evidence can be produced, tending to invalidate the con- 
 clusion,) that the bard, willing to pay his court to the 
 family, has connected the grant of the sheriffship by 
 James IV., with some further dispute betwixt the Mur- 
 rays of Philiphaugh and their sovereign, occurring, either 
 while they were engaged upon the side of Baliol, or in the 
 subsequent reigns of David II, and Robert II. and III., 
 when the English possessed great part of the Scottish 
 frontier, and the rest was in so lawless a state as hardly to 
 acknowledge any superior. At the same time, this rea- 
 soning is not absolutely conclusive. James IV. had par- 
 ticular reasons for desiring that Ettrick Forest, which ac-
 
 81 
 
 tually formed part of the jointure lands of Margaret, his 
 queen, should be kept in a state of tranquillity. Rymer, 
 Vol. XIII. p. 66. In order to accomplish this object, it 
 was natural for him, according to the policy of his prede- 
 cessors, to invest one great family with the power of keep- 
 ing order among the rest. It is even probable, that the 
 Philiphaugh family may have had claims upon part of 
 the lordship of Ettrick Forest, whichlay intermingled with 
 their own extensive possessions; and, in the course of ar- 
 ranging, not indeed the feudal superiority, but the pro- 
 perty, of these lands, a dispute may have arisen, of suffi- 
 cient importance to be the ground-work of a ballad. 
 It is farther probable, that the Murrays, like other border 
 clans, were in a very lawless state, and held their lands 
 merely by occupancy, without any feudal right. Indeed, 
 the lands of the various proprietors in Ettrick Forest, 
 (being a royal demesne) were held by the possessors, not 
 in property, but as the kindly tenants, or rentallers, of the 
 crown; and it is only about ] 50 years since they obtained 
 charters, striking the feu-duty of each proprietor, at the 
 rate of the quit-rent, which he formerly paid. This state 
 of possession naturally led to a confusion of rights and 
 claims. The kings of Scotland were often reduced to the 
 humiliating necessity of compromising such matters with 
 their rebellious subjects, and James himself even entered 
 into a sort of league with Johnie Faa, the king of the 
 gypsies. Perhaps, therefore, the tradition, handed down 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 .ii this song, may have had more foundation than it would 
 at present be proper positively to assert. 
 
 The merit of this beautiful old tale, it is thought, will 
 be fully acknowledged. It has been, for ages, a popular 
 song in Selkirkshire. The scene is, by the common peo- 
 ple, supposed to have been the castle of Newark, upon 
 Yarrow. This is highly improbable, because Newark was 
 always a royal fortress. Indeed, the late excellent anti- 
 quarian, Mr Plummer, sheriff-depute of Selkirkshire, has 
 assured the editor, that he remembered the insignia of the 
 unicorns, &c. so often mentioned in the ballad, in exist- 
 ence upon the old tower at Hangingshaw, the seat of the 
 Philiphaugh family ; although, upon first perusing a copy 
 of the ballad, he was inclined to subscribe to the popu- 
 lar opinion. The tower of Hangingshaw has been demo- 
 lished for many years. It stood in a romantic and solitary 
 situation, on the classical banks of the Yarrow. When 
 the mountains around Hangingshaw were covered with 
 the wild copse which constituted a Scottish forest, a more 
 secure strong-hold for an outlawed baron can hardly be 
 imagined. 
 
 The tradition of Ettrick Forest bears, that the Outlaw 
 was a man of prodigious strength, possessing a batton or 
 club, with which he laid lee (i. e. waste) the country for 
 many miles round ; and that he was at length slain by 
 Buccleuch, or some of his clan, at a little mount, covered 
 with fir-trees, adjoining to Newark castle, and said to 
 have been a part of the garden. A varying tradition
 
 83 
 
 bears the place of his death to have been near to the house 
 of the Duke of Buccleuch's game-keeper, beneath the 
 castle ; and, that the fatal arrow was shot by Scot of 
 Haining, from the ruins of a cottage on the opposite side 
 of the Yarrow. There was extant, within these twenty 
 years, some verses of a song on his death. The feud be- 
 twixt the Outlaw and the Scottrs may serve to explain the 
 asperity, with which the chieftain of that clan is handled 
 in the ballad. 
 
 In publishing the following ballad, the copy principally 
 resorted to is one, apparently of considerable antiquity, 
 which was found among the papers of the late Mrs Cock- 
 burn, of Edinburgh, a lady whose memory will be long 
 honoured by all who knew her. Another copy, much 
 more imperfect, is to be found in Glenriddel's MSS. The 
 names are in this last miserably mangled, as is always the 
 case when ballads are taken down from the recitation of 
 persons living at a distance from the scenes in which they 
 are laid. Mr Plummer also gave the editor a few addi- 
 tional verses, not contained in either copy, which are 
 thrown into what seemed their proper place. There is 
 yet another copy, in Mr Herd's MSS., which has been 
 occasionally made use of. Two verses are restored in the 
 present edition, from the recitation of Mr Mungo Park, 
 whose toils, during his patient and intrepid travels in 
 Africa, have not eradicated from his recollection the le- 
 gendary lore of his native country. 
 
 The arms of the Philiphaugh family are said by tradi- 

 
 34 
 
 tion to allude to their outlawed state. They are indeed 
 those of a huntsman, and are blazoned thus ; Argent, a 
 hunting horn sable, stringed and garnished gules, on a 
 chief azure, three stars of the first. Crest, a Demi Fo- 
 rester, winding his horn, proper. Motto, Hinc usque su- 
 pcrna vcnabor.
 
 85 
 
 THE SANG 
 
 or 
 
 THE OUTLAW MURRAY 
 
 Ettkicke Foreste is a feir foreste, 
 
 In it grows manie a semelie trie ; 
 There's hart and hynd, and dae and rae, 
 
 And of a' wilde beastes grete plentie. 
 
 There's a feir castelle, bigged wi' lyme and stane ; 
 
 O ! gin it stands not pleasauntlie ! 
 In the forefront o' that castelle feir, 
 
 Twa unicorns are bra' to see ; 
 There's the picture of a knight, and a ladye bright, 
 
 And the grene hollin abune their brie. * 
 
 There an Outlaw keepis five hundred men ; 
 He keepis a royalle cumpanie ! 
 
 * Brow,
 
 86 
 
 His merryemen are a' in ae liverye clad, 
 O' the Linkome grene saye gaye to see ; 
 
 He and his ladye in purple clad, 
 O ! gin they lived not royallie ! 
 
 Word is gane to our nobil king, 
 In Edinburgh, where that he lay, 
 
 That there was an Outlaw in Ettricke Foreste, 
 Counted him nought, nor a' his courtrie gay. 
 
 " I make a vowe," then the gude king said, 
 " Unto the man that deir bought me, 
 
 " I'se either be king of Ettricke Foreste, 
 * Or king of Scotlonde that Outlaw sail be!" 
 
 Then spak the lord, hight Hamilton, 
 
 And to the nobil king said he, 
 * My sovereign prince, sum counsell take, 
 
 " First at your nobilis, syne at me. 
 
 m I redd ye, send yon braw Outlaw till, 
 " And see gif your man cum will he : 
 
 " Desyre him cum and be your man, 
 u And hald of you yon Foreste frie.
 
 87 
 
 " Gif he refuses to do that, 
 
 " We'll conquess baith his landis and he ! 
 " Or else, we'll throw his castell down, 
 
 " And make awidowe o' his gay ladye. w 
 
 The king then call'd a gentleman, 
 
 James Boyd, (the Earl of Arran his brother was he) 
 When James he cam before the king, 
 
 He knelit befor him on his kne. 
 
 " Wellcum, James Boyd !" said our nobil king ; 
 
 " A message ye maun gang for me ; 
 " Ye maun hye to Ettricke Foreste, 
 
 ** To yon Outlaw, where bydeth he : 
 
 " Ask him of whom he haldis his landis, 
 " Or man, wha may his master be, 
 
 * And desyre him cum, and be my man, 
 " And hald of me yon Foreste frie. 
 
 " To Edinburgh to cum and gang, 
 
 " His safe warrant I sail gie ; 
 " And gif he refuses to do that, 
 
 * We'll conquess baith his landis and he.
 
 88 
 
 " Thou may'st vow I'll cast his castell down, 
 " And mak a widowe o' his gay ladye ; 
 
 " I'll hang his merryemen, payr by payr, 
 " In ony frith where I may them see. 1 ' 
 
 James Boyd tuik his leave o* the nobil king, 
 To Ettricke Foreste feir cam he ; 
 
 Down Birkendale Brae when that he cam, 
 He saw the feir Foreste wi* his e'e. 
 
 Baith dae and rae, and hart and hinde, 
 And of a' wilde beastis great plentie ; 
 
 He heard the bows that bauldly ring, 
 And arrows whidderan' hym near bi. 
 
 Of that feir castell he got a sight; 
 
 The like he neir saw wi' his e'e ! 
 On the fore front o' that castell feir, 
 
 Twa unicorns were gaye to see ; 
 The picture of a knight, and ladye bright, 
 
 And the grene hollin abune their brie. 
 
 Thereat he spyed five hundred men, 
 Shuting with bows on Newark Lee ;
 
 89 
 
 They were a' in ae livery clad, 
 
 O' the Lincome grene sae gaye to see. 
 
 His men were a' clad in the grene, 
 
 The knight was armed capapie, 
 With a bended bow, on a milk-white steed ; 
 
 And I wot they ranked right bonilie. 
 
 Therby Boyd kend he was master man, 
 
 And serv'd him in his am degre. 
 ** God mot thee save, brave Outlaw Murray ! 
 
 " Thy ladye, and all thy chyvalrie !" 
 " Marry, thou's wellcum, gentleman, 
 
 e( Some king's messenger thou seemis to be." 
 
 <( The king of Scotlonde sent me here, 
 a And, gude Outlaw, I am sent to thee ; 
 
 " I wad wot of whom ye hald your landis, 
 * Or man, wha may thy master be f 
 
 " Thir landis are mine !" the Outlaw said ; 
 
 " I ken nae king in Christentie ; 
 (< Frae Soudron * I this Foreste wan, 
 
 f< Whan the king nor his knightis were not to sce. n 
 
 * Southern, or English,
 
 .90 
 
 * He desyres you'l cum to Edinburgh, 
 
 * And hauld of him thjs Foreste frie ; 
 
 * And, gif ye refuse to do this, 
 
 * He'l conquess baith thy landis and thee. 
 " He hath vovr'd to cast thy casteli down, 
 
 * And male a widowe o' thy gaye ladye ; 
 
 " He'll hang thy merryemen, payr by payr, 
 
 * In ony frith where he may them finde." 
 " Aye, by my troth !" the Outlaw said, 
 
 " Than wald I thihke me far behinde. 
 
 " E'er the king my feir countrie get, 
 ** This land that's nativest to me ! 
 
 " Mony o' his nobilis sail be cauld, 
 " Their ladyes sail be right wearie." 
 
 Tlien spak his ladye, feir of face, 
 
 She seyd, " Without consent of me, 
 " That an Outlaw suld cum befor a King ; 
 
 * I am right rad * of treason rie. 
 
 " Bid him be gude to his lordis at hame, 
 
 * For Edinburgh my lord sail nevir see.' 
 
 * Afraid.
 
 91 
 
 James Boyd tuik his leave o' the Outlaw kene, 
 
 To Edinburgh boun is he ; 
 When James he cam befor the king, 
 
 He knelit lowlie on his kne. 
 
 " Welcum, James Boyd !" seyd our nobil king ; 
 
 ** What Foreste is Etlricke Foreste frie ?" 
 " Ettricke Foreste is the feirest foreste 
 
 " That evir man saw wi' his e'e. 
 
 " There's the dae, the rae, the hart, the hynde, 
 " And of a' wild beastis grete plentie ; 
 
 " There's a pretty castell of lyme and stane , 
 " O gif it stands not pleasauntlie ! 
 
 rt Ther's in the forefront o' that castell, 
 
 " Twa unicorns, sae bra' to see; 
 " There's the picture of a knight, and aladye bright, 
 
 u Wi' the grene hollin abune their brie. 
 
 ** There the Outlaw keepis five hundred men, 
 
 " He keepis a royalle cumpanie ! 
 ** His merrymen in ae livery clad, 
 
 " O' the Linkome grene sae gaye to see :
 
 92 
 
 He and his ladye in purple clad ; 
 " O ! gin they live not royallie ! 
 
 " He says, yon Foreste is his awin ; 
 
 * He wan it frae the Southronie ; 
 " Sae as he wan it, sae will he keep it, 
 
 " Contrair all kingis in Christentie." 
 
 " Gar warn me Perthshire, and Angus haith ; 
 
 " Fife up and down, and the Louthians three, 
 " And graitli my horse !" said our nobil king, 
 
 * For to Ettricke Foreste hie will I me." 
 
 Then word is gane the Outlaw till, 
 
 In EttrickeForeste, where dwelleth he, 
 
 That the king was cuming to his cuntrie, 
 To conquess baith his landis and he. 
 
 ** I mak a vow," the Outlaw said, 
 
 " I mak a vow, and that trulie, 
 " Were there but three men to tak my pairt, 
 
 u Yon king's cuming full deir suld be !"
 
 93 
 
 Then messengers he called forth, 
 
 And bade them hie them speedilye 
 
 " Ane of ye gae to Halliday, 
 u The laird of the Corehead is he. 
 
 * He certain is my sister's son ; 
 
 " Bid him cum quick and succour me ! 
 ** The king cums on for Ettricke Foreste, 
 
 " And landless men we a' will be." 
 
 u What news ? What news f said Halliday, 
 " Man, frae thy master unto me ?" 
 
 " Not as ye wad ; seeking your aide ; 
 ( " The king's his mortal enemie." 
 
 " Aye, by troth !" said Halliday, 
 " Even for that it repenteth me ; 
 
 " For gif he lose feir Ettricke Foreste, 
 " He'll tak feir Moffatdale frae me. 
 
 " I'll meet him wi' five hundred men, 
 " And surely mair, if mae may be ; 
 
 * And before he gets the Foreste feir, 
 " We a' will die on Newark Lee !"
 
 Dl 
 
 The Outlaw call'd a messenger, 
 
 And bid him hie him speedilye, 
 To Andrew Murray of Cockpool 
 
 " That man's a deir cousin to me ; 
 " Desyre him cum, and mak me ayd, 
 
 " Willi a' the power that he may be." 
 
 
 
 H It stands me hard," Andrew Murray said, 
 " Judge gif it stands na hard wi' me ; 
 
 * To enter against a king wi' crown, 
 * And set my landis in jeopardie ! 
 
 " Yet, if I cum not on the day, 
 " Surely at night he sail me see." 
 
 To Sir James Murray of Traquair, 
 
 A message cam right speedilye 
 " What news ? What news ?" James Murray said, 
 
 " Man, frae thy master unto me ?" 
 
 <.< 
 
 What neids I tell ? for weell ye ken, 
 
 " The king's his mortal enemie ; 
 
 And now he is cuming to Ettricke Foreste, 
 
 " And landless men ye a' will be."
 
 95 
 
 <* And, by my trothe," James Murray said, 
 4( Wi' that Outlaw will [ live and die ; 
 
 u The king has gifted my landis lang syne 
 * It cannot be nae warse wi' me." 
 
 The king was cuming thro' Caddon Ford, * 
 And full five thousand men was he ; 
 
 They saw the derke Foreste them before, 
 They thought it awsome for to see. 
 
 Then spak the lord, hight Hamilton, 
 
 And to the nobil king said he, 
 * My sovereign liege, sum council tak, 
 
 a First at your nobilis, syne at me. 
 
 " Desyre him mete thee at Permanscore, 
 
 * And bring four in his cumpanie ; 
 " Five erles sail gang yoursell befor, 
 
 * Gude cause that you suld honour'd be. 
 
 " And, gif he refuses to do that, 
 
 We'll conquess baith his landis and he ; 
 
 * A ford on the Tweed, at the mouth of the Caddon Burn, 
 near Yair.
 
 96 
 
 " There sail nevir a Murray, after him, 
 " Hald land in Ettricke Foreste frie." 
 
 Then spak the kene laird of Buckscleuth, 
 A stalworthye man, and sterne was he* 
 
 * For a king to gang an Outlaw till, 
 
 " Is beneath his state and his dignitie. 
 
 * The man that wons yon Foreste intill, 
 
 * He lives by reif and felonie ! 
 
 " Wherfore, brayd on, my sovereign liege ! 
 
 * Wi' fire and sword we'll follow thee ; 
 " Or, gif your courtrie lords fa' back, 
 
 * Our borderers sail the onset gie." 
 
 Then out and spak the nobil king, 
 And round him cast a wilie e'e 
 
 " Now had thy tongue, Sir Walter Scott, 
 " Nor speik of reif nor felonie : 
 
 " For, had everye honeste man his awin kye, 
 " A right pure clan thy name wad be !" 
 
 The king then call'd a gentleman, 
 Royal banner-bearer there was he ;
 
 97 
 
 James Hop Pringle of Torsone, by name ; 
 He cam and knelit upon his kne\ 
 
 * Wellcum, James Pringle of Torsonse ! 
 
 * A message ye maun gang for me 5 
 " Ye maun gae to yon outlaw Murray. 
 
 ** Surely where bauldly bideth he. 
 
 ** Bid him mete me at Permanscore, 
 " And bring four in his cumpanie ; 
 
 a Five erles sail cum wi' mysel, 
 " Gude reason I suld honourM be. 
 
 * And, gif he refuses to do that, 
 " Bid him luke for nae good o' me ! 
 
 te There sail nevir a Murray, after him, 
 " Have land in Ettricke Foreste frie/ > 
 
 James cam before the Outlaw kene, 
 And serv'd him in his ain degre 
 
 " Welcum, James Pringle of Torsonse ! 
 lf What message frae the king to me f" 
 
 vol.i. G
 
 <>8 
 
 " He bids ye mete him at Permanscore, 
 " And bring four in your cumpanie ; 
 
 a Five erles sail gang himsell befor, 
 u Nae mair in number will he be. 
 
 * And, gif you refuse to do that, 
 * (I freely here upgive wi' thee) 
 
 " He'll cast yon bonny castle down, 
 
 " And make a widowe o' that gaye ladye. 
 
 * He'll loose yon bluidhound borderers, 
 a Wi' fire and sword to follow thee; 
 
 " There will nevir a Murray, after thysell, 
 " Have land in Ettricke Forest frie." 
 
 u It stands me hard," the Outlaw said ,- 
 
 * Judge gif it stands na hard wi' me ! 
 " Wha reck not losing of mysell, 
 
 * But a' my offspring after me. 
 
 " My merryemen's lives, my widowe's teirs- 
 
 * There lies the pang that pinches me ! 
 " Whem I am straught in bluidie eard, 
 
 * Yon castell will be right dreirie.
 
 99 
 
 " Auld Halliday, young Halliday, 
 " Ye sail be twa to gang wi' me ) 
 
 * Andrew Murray, and Sir James Murray, 
 * We'll be nae mae in cumpanie." 
 
 When that they cam before the king, 
 They fell befor him on their kne 
 
 <( Grant mercie, mercie, nobil king ! 
 " E'en for his sake thai, dyed on trie." 
 
 * Sicken like mercie sail ye have ; 
 
 M . On gallows ye sail hangit be HE 
 " Over God's forbode," quoth the Outlaw then, 
 
 * I hope your grace will bettir be I 
 w Else, ere you come to Edinburgh port, 
 
 <{ I trow thin guarded sail ye be : 
 
 " Thir landis of Ettricke Foreste feir, 
 * I wan them from the enemie ; 
 
 " Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them, 
 " Contrair a' kingis in Christentie." 
 
 All the noblis the king about, 
 Said pitie it were to see him die-
 
 100 
 
 " Yet graunt me mercie, sovereign prince ! 
 " Extend your favour unto me ! 
 
 " I'll give thee the keys of my castell, 
 " Wi' the blessing o' my gaye ladye, 
 
 " Gin thoul't make me sheriffe of this Foreste, 
 " And a' my offspring after me." 
 
 " Wilt thou give me the keys of thy castell, 
 " Wi' the blessing of thy gaye ladye ? 
 
 " I'se make thee sheriff of Ettricke Foreste, 
 " Surely while upward grows the trie ; 
 
 " If you be not traitour to the king, 
 u Forfaulted sail thou nevir be." 
 
 " But, prince, what sail cum o' my men i 
 " When I gae back, traitour they'll ca' me. 
 
 * I had rather lose my life and land, 
 ' E'er my merryemen rebuked me." 
 
 " Will your merryemen amend their lives ? 
 
 * And a' their pardons I grant thee 
 " Now, name thy land is where'er they lie, 
 
 '* And here I render them to thee."
 
 101 
 
 < Fair Philiphaugh is mine by right, 
 " And Lewinshope still mine shall be ; 
 
 u Newark, Foulshiells, and Tinnies baith, 
 " My bow and arrow purchased me. 
 
 " And I have native steads to me, 
 
 " The Newark Lee and Hangingshaw; 
 
 ** I have mony steads in the Foreste shaw, 
 * But them by name I dinna knaw." 
 
 The keys o' the castell he gave the king, 
 Wi' the blessing o' his feir ladye ; 
 
 He was made sheriffe of Ettricke Foreste, 
 Surely while upward grows the trie ; 
 
 And if he w,as na traitour to the king, 
 Forfaulted he suld nevir be. 
 
 Wha ever heard, in ony times, 
 
 Sicken an Outlaw in his degr6, 
 Sic favour get befor a king, 
 
 As did theOuTLAw Murray of the Foreste frie?
 
 102 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SANG OF THE OUTLAW MURRAY. 
 
 Then spake the Lord, hight Hamilton. P. 86. v. 4. 
 This is, in most copies, the earl hight Hamilton, which must 
 be a mistake of the reciters, as the family did not enjoy that 
 tide till 1503. 
 
 James Boyd (the EarlqfArran his brother,) ^c.V. 87, v. 2. 
 
 Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran, was forfeited, with his father 
 and uncle, in i469, for an attempt on the peron of James III. 
 He had a son, James, who was restored, and in favour with 
 James IV. about 1482. If this be the person here meant, we 
 should read, The Earl of Arran his son was he." Glenriddel's 
 copy reads, " a highland laird I'm sure was he." Reciters some- 
 times call the messenger, the laird of Skene. 
 
 Down Berkendale Brae when that he cam. P. 88. v. 2. 
 Birkendalc Brae, now commonly called Birkendailly, is a 
 steep descent on the south side of Minch-moor, which separates 
 Tweed-dale from Ettrick Forest ; and from the top of which 
 you have the first view of the woods of Hangingshaw, the 
 castle of Newark, and the romantic dale of Yarrow.
 
 103 
 
 The laird of the Corehead, $e.?. 93. t. 1. 
 This is a place at the head of Mofiat-water, possessed of old 
 by the family of Halliday. 
 
 To Andrew Murray of Cockpool. P. 94. v. 1. 
 This family were ancestors of the Murrays, earls of Annan- 
 dale ; but the name of the representative, in the time of James 
 IV. was William, not Andrew. Glenriddel's MS. reads, " the 
 fl country-keeper." 
 
 To Sir James Murray of Traquair. T?. 94. v. 3. 
 Before the barony of Traquair became the property of the 
 Stewarts, it belonged to a family of Murrays, afterwards Mur- 
 rays of Black-barony, and ancestors of Lord Elibank. The old 
 castle was situated on the Tweed. The lands of Traquair 
 were forfeited by Willielmus de Moravia, previous to 1464 ; 
 for, in that year, a charter, proceeding upon his forfeiture, 
 was granted by the crown " Willielmo Douglas de Cluny." 
 Sir James was, perhaps, the heir of William Murray. It would 
 farther seem, that the grant in 1464 was not made effectual by 
 Douglas ; for, another charter from the crown, dated the 3d 
 February, 1478, conveys the estate of Traquair to James 
 Stewart, Earl of Buchan, son to the black knight of Lome, 
 and maternal uncle to James III., fiom whom is descended 
 the present Earl of Traquair. The first royal grant not being 
 followed by possession, it is very possible that the Murrays 
 may have continued to occupy Traquair long after the date of 
 that charter. Hence, Sir James might have reason to say, as 
 in the ballad, ' The king has gifted my lands lang syne." 
 
 James Hop Pringle of Torsonse. P. 97. v. 1. 
 The honourable name of Pringle, or Hoppriugle, is of great 
 antiquity in Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire. The old tower of 
 Torsonse is situated upon the banks of the Gala. I believe the 
 Pringles of Torsonse are now represented by Sir John Pringle 
 of StitchelL There are three other ancient and distinguished
 
 104 
 
 families of this name ; those of Whitebank, Clifton, and Tor* 
 woodlee. 
 
 He bids ye mete him at Permanscore.?. 98. v. 1. 
 Permanscore is a hollow on the top of a high ridge of hills, 
 dividing the vales of Tweed and Yarrow, a little to the east- 
 ward of Minch-moor. It is the outermost point of the lands 
 of Broadmeadows. The Glenriddel MS., which, in this instance, 
 is extremely inaccurate as to names, calls the place of rendez- 
 vouse, " The poor mans house? and hints that the Outlaw was 
 surprised by the treachery of the king : 
 
 " Then he was aware of the king's coming, 
 ,c With hundreds three in company, 
 
 " I wot the inuckle deel * * * * 
 " He learned kings to lie! 
 
 * For to fetch me here frae amang my men, 
 " Here like a dog for to die." 
 
 I believe the reader will think with me, that the catastrophe 
 js better, as now printed from Mrs Cockburn's copy. The de- 
 ceit, supposed to be practised on the Outlaw, is unworthy of 
 the military monarch, as he is painted in the ballad ; especially 
 if we admit him to be King James IV. 
 
 Fair Philiphaugh is mine by right. P. 101. v. 1. 
 
 In this and the following verse, the ceremony of feudal inves- 
 titure is supposed to be gone through, by the Outlaw resigning 
 his possessions into the hands of the king, and receiving them 
 back, to be held of him as superior. The lands of Philiphaugh 
 are still possessed by the Outlaw's representative. Hanging- 
 shaw and Lewinshope were sold of late years. Newark, Foul- 
 sliiels, and Tinuics, have long belonged to the family of Buo 
 cleuch.
 
 105 
 
 JOIINIE ARMSTRANG. 
 
 x hebe will be such frequent occasion, in the course of 
 this volume, to mention the clan, or sept, of the Arm- 
 strongs, that the editor finds it necessary to prefix, to 
 this ballad, some general account of that tribe. 
 
 The Armstrongs appear to have been, at an early pe- 
 riod, in possession of great part of Liddesdale, and of the 
 Debateable Land. Their immediate neighbourhood to 
 England, rendered them the most lawless of the Border 
 depredators; and, as much of the country possessed by 
 them was claimed by both kingdoms, the inhabitants, pro- 
 tected from justice by the one nation, in opposition to the 
 other, securely preyed upon both. * The chief was Arm- 
 strong of Mangertoun j but, at a later period, they are 
 
 * In illustration of this position, the reader is referred to a long 
 correspondence betwixt Lord Dacre and the Privy Council of 
 England, in 1550, concerning one Sandy e Armstrang, a partizan 
 of England, and an inhabitant of the Debateable Land, who had 
 threatened to become a Scottishman, if he was not protected by 
 the English warden against the Lord Maxwell. See Introduction 
 to Nicholson and Burn's History of Cumberland and Westmoreland^
 
 106 
 
 declared a broken clan, i. e. one which had no lawful 
 head, to become surety for their good behaviour. The 
 rapacity of this clan, and of their allies, the Elliots, oc- 
 casioned the popular saying, " Elliots and Armstrongs- 
 ride thieves all." But to what Border-family of note, 
 in former days, would not such an adage have been equal- 
 ly applicable ? All along the river Liddel may still be dis- 
 covered the ruins of towers, possessed by this numerous 
 clan. They did not, however, entirely trust to these fast- 
 nesses ; but, when attacked by a superior force, aban- 
 doned entirely their dwellings, and retired into morasses, 
 accessible by paths known to themselves alone. One of 
 their most noted places of refuge was the Tarras Moss, a 
 desolate and horrible marsh, through which a small river 
 takes its course. Upon its banks are found some dry 
 spots, which were occupied by these outlaws, and their 
 families, in cases of emergency. The stream runs fu- 
 riously among huge rocks, which has occasioned a po- 
 pular saying 
 
 Was ne'er ane drown'd in Tarras, nor yet in doubt, 
 
 For e'er the head can win down, the harns (brains) are out. 
 
 The morass itself is so deep, that, according to an old 
 historian, two spears tied together would not reach the 
 bottom. In this retreat, the Armstrongs, anno 1588, 
 baffled the Earl of Angus, when lieutenant on the Border, 
 although he reckoned himself so skilful in winding a thief, 
 that he declared, " he had the same pleasure in it, as
 
 107 
 
 others in hunting a hare." On this occasion he was to- 
 tally unsuccessful, and nearly lost his relation, Douglas 
 of Ively, whom the freebooters made prisoner. Gods- 
 croft, \o\. II. p. 411, 
 
 Upon another occasion the Armstrongs were less for- 
 tunate. They had, in one of their incursions, plundered 
 the town of Haltwhistle, on the borders of Cumberland. 
 Sir Robert Carey, warden of the west marches, demanded 
 satisfaction from the king of Scotland, and received for 
 answer, that the offenders were no subjects of his, and that 
 he might take his own revenge. The English warden, ac- 
 cordingly, entered Liddesdale, and ravaged the lands of 
 the outlaws ; on which occasion, Sim of the Cat-hill (an 
 Armstrong) was killed by one of the Ridleys of Halt- 
 whistle. This incident procured Haltwhistle another visit 
 from the Armstrongs, in which they burnt great part of 
 the town, but not without losing one of their leaders, by 
 a shot from a window. 
 
 " The death of this young man (says Sir Robert Carey) 
 " wrote (wrought) so deep an impression upon them (the 
 " outlaws), as many vowes were made, that before the 
 * end of next winter, they would lay the whole Border 
 " waste. This (the murder) was done about the end of 
 " May (1598.) The chiefe of all these outlaws was old 
 " Sim of Whittram. * He had five or six sonnes, as able 
 
 * Whittram is a place in Liddesdale. It is mistaken by tbe 
 poble editor for Whithern, in Galloway, as is Hartwesel (Halt- 
 whistle, on the borders of Cumberland) for Twisel, a village on 
 the English side of the Tweed, near Wark.
 
 108 
 
 " men as the Borders had. This old man and his sonnes 
 
 had not so few as two hundred at their commands, that 
 " were ever ready to ride with them to all actions, at 
 " their beck. 
 
 " The high parts of the marsh (march) towards Scot- 
 " land were put in a mighty fear, and the chiefe of them, 
 " for themselves and the rest, petitioned to mee, and did 
 assure mee, that unless I did take some course with 
 " them, by the end of that summer, there was none of the 
 
 inhabitants durst, or would, stay in their dwellings the 
 ** next winter, but they would fley the couutrey, and 
 " leave their houses and lands to the fury of the out- 
 " lawes. Upon this complaint, I called the gentlemen of 
 u the countrey together, and acquainted them with the 
 
 misery that the highest parts of the marsh towards 
 ** Scotland were likely to endure, if there were not timely 
 ** prevention to avoid it, and desired them to give mee 
 " their best advice what course were fitt to be taken. 
 
 They all showed themselves willing to give mee their 
 " best counsailles, and most of them were of opinion, that 
 
 I was not well advised to refuse the hundred horse that 
 " my Lord Euers had ; and that now my best way was 
 
 speedily to acquaint the quene and counsaile with the 
 " necessity of having more soldiers, and that there could 
 " not be less than a hundred horse sent downe for the 
 " defence of the countrey, besides the forty I had already 
 " in pay, and that there was nothing but force of soldiers 
 
 could keep them in awe : and to let the counsaile plain-
 
 109 
 
 *' ly understand, that the marsh, of themselves, were not 
 *' able to subsist, whenever the winter and long nights 
 " came in, unlesse present cure and remedy were provided 
 " for them. 1 desired them to advise better of it, and to 
 ** see if they could find out any other means to prevent 
 " their mischievous intentions, without putting the quene 
 " and countrey to any further charge. They all resolved 
 " that there was no second meaues. Then I told them 
 " my intention what I meant to do, which was, that my- 
 " selfe, with my two deputies, and the forty horse that I 
 " was allowed, would, with what speede wee could, make 
 " ourselves ready to go up to the Wastes, and there wee 
 " would entrench ourselves, and lye as near as wee could 
 " to the outlawes ; and, if there were any brave spirits 
 " among them, that would go with us, they should be 
 " very wellcome, and fare and lye as well as myselfe : 
 " and I did not doubte before the summer ended, to do 
 something that should abate the pride of these out- 
 " lawes. Those, that were unwilling to hazard them- 
 " selves, liked not this motion. They said, that, in so 
 " doing, I might keep the countrey quiet the time I lay 
 " there, but, when the winter approached, I could stay 
 " there no longer, and that was the theeves' time to do 
 " all their mischiefe. But there were divers young gen- 
 " tlemen, that offered to go with mee, some with three, 
 " some with four horses, and to stay with mee as long as 
 " I would there continue. I took a list of those that 
 " offered to go with mee, and found, that, with myself,
 
 110 
 
 " uiy officers, the gentlemen, and our servants, wee should 
 " be about two hundred good men and horse ; a compe- 
 " tent number, as I thought, for such a service. 
 
 " The day and place was appointed for our meeting in 
 * the Wastes, and, by the help of the foot of Liddisdale* 
 " and Risdale, wee had soone built a pretty fort, and 
 " within it we had all cabines made to lye in, and every 
 " one brought beds or matresses to lye on. There wee 
 " stayed, from the middest of June, till almost the end of 
 " August. We were betweene fifty and sixty gentlemen, 
 " besides their servants and my horsemen ; so that wee 
 " werr not so few as two hundred horse. Wee wanted 
 " no provisions for ourselves nor our horses, for the coun- 
 " trey people were well payed for any thing they brought 
 " us ; so that wee had a good market every day, before 
 " our fort, to buy what we lacked. The chiefe outlawes, 
 " at our coming, fled their houses where they dwelt, and 
 " betooke themselves to a large and great forest (with all 
 " their goodes,) which was called the Tarras. It was of 
 * that strength, and so surrounded with bogges and marish 
 " grounds, and thicke bushes and shrubbes, as they feared 
 " not the force nor power of England nor Scotland, so 
 " long as they were there. They sent me word, that I 
 " was like the first pufle of a haggasse, f hottest at the 
 
 * The foot of Liddisdale were the garrison of King James, in 
 the castle of Hermitage, who assisted Carey on this occasion, as 
 the Armstrongs were outlaws to both nations. 
 
 + A baggis, (according to Burns, " the chieftain of the pudding- 
 race/') is an olio, composed of the liver, heart, &c. of a sheep, 
 
 ia
 
 Ill 
 
 * first, and bade me stay there as long as the weather 
 " would give me leave. They would stay in the Tarras 
 ** Wood till I was weary of lying in the Waste : and 
 " when I had had my time, and they no whit the worse, 
 1 they would play their parts, which should keep mee 
 " waking the next winter. Those gentlemen of the coun- 
 " trey that came not with mee, were of the same minde ; 
 *' for they knew (or thought at least), that my force was 
 " not sufficient to withstand the furey of the outlawed. 
 " The time I stayed at the fort I was not idle, but cast, 
 " by all meanes I could, how to take them in the great 
 *' strength they were in. I found a meanes to send a 
 " hundred and fifty horsemen into Scotland (conveighed 
 
 * by a muffled man, * not known to any of the company,) 
 
 * thirty miles within Scotland, and the businesse was car- 
 " ried so, that none in the country tooke any alarm at 
 " this passage. They were quietly brought to the back- 
 
 * side of the Tarras, to Scotland-ward. There they di- 
 " vided themselves into three parts, and tooke up three 
 " passages which the outlawes made themselves secure of, 
 " if from England side they should at any time be put at. 
 
 minced down with oatmeal, onions, and spices, and boiled in the 
 stomach of the animal, by way of bag. When the bag is cut, the 
 contents (if this savoury dish be well made) should spout out with 
 the heated air. This will explain the allusion, 
 
 * A Muffled Man means a person in disguise ; a very necessary 
 precaution for the guide's safety ; for, could the outlaws have 
 learned who played them this trick, beyond all doubt it must have 
 cost him dear.
 
 U2 
 
 " They had their scoutes on the tops of hills, on the Eng- 
 " lish side, to give them warning if at any time any 
 " power of men should come to surprise them. The three 
 " ambushes were safely laid, without being discovered, 
 " and, about four o'clock in the morning, there were 
 " three hundred horse, and a thousand foot, * that came 
 " directly to the place where the scoutes lay. They gave 
 " the alarm ; our men brake down as fast as they could 
 u into the wood. The outlawes thought themselves safe, 
 " assuring themselves at any time to escape ; but they 
 " were so strongly set upon, on the English side, as they 
 " were forced to leave their goodes, and betake themselves 
 " to their passages towards Scotland. There was present- 
 " ly five taken of the principall of them. The rest, seeing 
 * themselves, as they thought, betrayed, retired into the 
 " thicke woodes and bogges, f that our men durst not 
 " follow them for fear of loosing themselves. The prin- 
 44 cipall of the five, that were taken, were two of the 
 " eldest sonnes of Sim of Wkitram. These five they 
 " brought to mee to the fort, and a number of goodes. 
 
 * From this it would appear, that Carey, although his constant 
 attendants in his fort consisted only of 00 horse, had upon this 
 occasion, by the assistance, probably, of the English and Scottish 
 royal garrisons, collected a much greater force. 
 
 + There are now no trees in Liddesdale, except on the banks of 
 the rivers, w here they are protected from the sheep. But the stumps 
 and fallen timber, which are every where found in the morasses, at- 
 test how well the country must have been wooded in former days.
 
 113 
 
 *' both of sheep and kine, which satisfied mos.t part of 
 " the country, that they had stolen them from. 
 
 " The five, that were taken, were of great worth and 
 " value amongst them ; insomuch, that, for their liberty, 
 " I should have what conditions I should demand or de- 
 " sire. First, all English prisoners were set at liberty. 
 " Then had I themselves, and most part of the gentlemen 
 ". of the Scottish side, so strictly bound in bondes to enter 
 " to mee, in fifteen dayes warning, any oflfendour, that 
 " they durst not, for their lives, break any covenant that 
 " I made with them ; and so, upon these conditions, I 
 " set them at liberty, and was never after troubled with 
 " these kind of people. Thus God blessed me in bringing 
 ** this great trouble to so quiet an end ; wee brake up our 
 " fort, and every man retired to his owne house." 
 Carey's Memoirs, p. 151. 
 
 The people of Liddesdale have retained, by tradition, 
 the remembrance of Carey's Raid, as they call it. They 
 tell, that, while he was besieging the outlaws in the Tar- 
 ras, they contrived, by ways known only to themselves, to 
 send a party into England, who plundered the warden's 
 lands. On their return, they sent Carey one of his own 
 cows, telling him, that, fearing he might fall short of 
 provision during his visit to Scotland, they had taken the 
 precaution of sending him some English beef. The anec- 
 dote is too characteristic to be suppressed. 
 
 From this narrative, the power and strength of the 
 Armstrongs, at this late period, appear to have been very 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 114 
 
 considerable. Even upon the death of Queen Elizabeth, 
 this clan, associated with other banditti of the west march- 
 es, to the number of two or three hundred horse, entered 
 England in a hostile manner, and extended their ravages 
 as far as Penrith. James VI., then at Berwick, upon his 
 journey to his new capital, detached a large force, under 
 Sir William Selby, captain of Berwick, to bring these de- 
 predators to order. Their raid, remarkable for being 
 the last of any note occurring in history, was avenged in 
 an exemplary manner. Most of the strong-holds upon 
 the Liddel were razed to the foundation, and several of 
 the principal leaders executed at Carlisle ; after which we 
 find little mention of the Armstrongs in history. The 
 precautions, adopted by the Earl of Dunbar, to preserve 
 peace on the borders, bore peculiarly hard upon a body 
 of men, long accustomed to the most ungoverned licence. 
 They appear, in a great measure, to have fallen victims to 
 the strictness of the new enactments. Redpath, p. 703. 
 Stow, 819. Laing, Vol. I. The lands, possessed by 
 them in former days, have chiefly come into the hands of 
 the Buccleuch family, and of the Elliots; so that, with 
 one or two exceptions, we may say, that, in the country 
 which this warlike clan once occupied, there is hardly left 
 a land-holder of the name. One of the last border reivers 
 was, however, of this family, and lived within the begin- 
 ning of the last century. After having made himself 
 dreaded over the whole country, he at last came to the 
 following end : One , a man of large property, ha- 
 
 11
 
 115 
 
 ving lost twelve cows in one night, raised the country of 
 Tiviotdale, and traced the robbers into Liddesdale, as far 
 as the house of this Armstrong, commonly called Willie 
 of Westbumfiai, from the place of his residence, on the 
 banks of the Hermitage water. Fortunately for the pur- 
 suers, he was then asleep ; so that he was secured, along 
 with nine of his friends, without much resistance. He 
 was brought to trial at Selkirk ; and, although no precise 
 evidence was adduced to convict him of the special fact 
 (the cattle never having been recovered,) yet the jury 
 brought him in guilty on his general character, or, as it is 
 called in our law, on habite and repute. When sentence 
 was pronounced, Willie arose; and, seizing the oakeu 
 chair in which he was placed, broke it into pieces by main 
 strength, and offered to his companions, who were involved 
 in the same doom, that, if they would stand behind him, 
 he would fight his way out of Selkirk with these weapons. 
 But they held his hands, and besought him to let them 
 die like Christians. They were accordingly executed in 
 form of law. This was the last trial at Selkirk. The 
 people of Liddesdale, who (perhaps not erroneously) still 
 consider the sentence as iniquitous, remarked, that , 
 
 the prosecutor, never throve afterwards, but came to beg- 
 gary and ruin, with his whole family. 
 
 Johnie Armstrong, of Gilnockie, the hero of the fol- 
 lowing ballad, is a noted personage, both in history and 
 tradition. He was, it would seem from the ballad, a bro- 
 ther of the laird of Mangertoun, chief of the name, His
 
 110" 
 
 place of residence (now a roofless tower) was at the Hol- 
 lows, a few miles from Langholm, where its ruins still 
 serve to adorn a scene, which, in natural beauty, has few 
 equals in Scotland. At the head of a desperate band of 
 free-booters, this Armstrong is said to have spread the 
 terror of his name almost as far as Newcastle, and to 
 have levied black mail, or protection and forbearance 
 money, for many miles around. James V., of whom it was 
 long remembered by his grateful people, that he made the 
 " rush-bush keep the cow," about 1529, undertook an 
 expedition through the border counties, to suppress the 
 turbulent spirit of the marchmen. But, before setting 
 out upon his journey, he took the precaution of impri- 
 soning the different border chieftains, who were the chief 
 protectors of the marauders. The Earl of Bothwell was 
 forfeited, and confined in Edinburgh castle. The lords of 
 Home and Maxwell, the lairds of Buccleuch, Fairniherst, 
 and Johnston, with many others, were also committed to 
 ward. Cockburn of Henderland, and Adam Scott of 
 Tushielaw, called the King of the Border, were publicly 
 executed. Lesley, p. 430. The king then marched ra- 
 pidly forward, at the head of a flying army of ten thou- 
 sand men, through Ettrick Forest, and Ewsdale. The 
 evil genius of our Johnie Armstrong, or, as others say, the 
 private advice of some courtiers, prompted him to present 
 himself before James, at the head of thirty-six horse, ar- 
 rayed in all the pomp of border chivalry. Pitscottie uses 
 nearly the words of the ballad, in describing the splendour
 
 117 
 
 of his equipment, and his high expectations of favour from 
 the king. " But James, looking upon him sternly, said 
 v to his attendants, * What wants that knave that a king 
 " should have ?' and ordered him and his followers to in- 
 " stant execution." " But John Armstrong," continues 
 this minute historian, " made great offers to the king. 
 " That he should sustain himself, with forty gentlemen, 
 " ever ready at his service, on their own cost, without 
 " wronging any Scottishmen : Secondly, that there was 
 " not a subject in England, duke, earl, or baron, but, 
 *' within a certain day, he should bring him to his ma- 
 " jesty, either quick or dead. * At length he, seeing no 
 " hope of favour, said very proudly, ' It is folly to seek 
 " grace at a graceless face ; but/ said he, ' had I known 
 this, I should have lived upon the borders in despite of 
 
 * The borderers, from their habits of life, were capable of most 
 extraordinary exploits of this nature. In the year lf>ll, Sir Ro- 
 bert Kerr of Cessford, warden of the middle marches of Scotland, 
 was murdered at a border-meeting, by the bastard Heron, Star- 
 head, and Lilburn. The English monarch delivered up Lilburn 
 to justice in Scotland, but Heron and Starhead escaped. The lat- 
 ter chose his residence in the very centre of England, to baffle the 
 vengeance of Ker's clan and followers. 1 wo dependants of the 
 deceased, called Tait, were deputed by Andrew Ker of Cessford 
 to revenge his father's murder They travelled through England 
 in various disguises, till they discovered the place of Starhead's 
 retreat, murdered him in his bed, and brought his head in triumph 
 to Edinburgh, where Ker caused it to be exposed at the cross. 
 The bastard Heron would have shared the same fate, had he not 
 spread abroad a report of his having died of the plague, and cau- 
 sed his funeral obsequies to be performed. Ridpath's History, p. 
 481. See also Metrical Account of the Battle of Ftodden, published 
 hy the Rev. Mr Lambe.
 
 118 
 
 " King Harry and you both ; for I know King Harry 
 " woukl down-weigh my best horse with gold, to know that 
 " I were condemned to die this day." Pilscottie's His- 
 tory, p. 14-5. Johnie, with all his retinue, was accord- 
 ingly hanged upon growing trees, at a place called Car- 
 lenrig chapel, about ten miles above Hawick, on the high 
 road to Langholm. The country people believe, that, to 
 manifest the injustice of the execution, the trees withered 
 away. Armstrong and his followers were buried in a de- 
 serted church-yard, where their graves are still shewn. 
 
 As this border hero was a person of great note in his 
 way, he is frequently alluded to by the writers of the 
 time. Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, in the curious 
 play published by Mr Pinkerton, fromtheBannatyneMS., 
 introduces a pardoner, or knavish dealer in reliques, whflt 
 produces, among his holy rarities 
 
 The cordis, baith grit and lang, 
 Quhilt hangit Johnie Armistrang, 
 
 Of gude hempt, soft and sound. 
 Gude lialy pepill, I stand ford, 
 Wha'evir beis hangit in this cord, 
 
 Neidis nevir to be drowned ! 
 Pinkertoris Scottish Poems, Vol. II. p. 69^ 
 
 In The Complaynt of Scotland, John Armistrangis' dance, 
 mentioned as a popular tune, has probably some reference 
 to our hero. 
 
 The common people of the high parts of Tiviotdale^ 
 Liddesdale, and the country adjacent, hold the memory
 
 119 
 
 of Johnie Armstrong in very high respect. They affirm 
 also, that one of his attendants broke through the king's 
 guard, and carried to Gilnockie Tower the news of the 
 bloody catastrophe. 
 
 This song was first published by Allan Ramsay, in his 
 Evergreen, who says, he copied it from the mouth of a 
 gentleman, called Armstrong, who was in the sixth ge- 
 neration from this John. The reciter assured him, that 
 this was the genuine old ballad, the common one false. 
 By the common one, Ramsay means an English ballad 
 upon the same subject, but differing in various particulars, 
 which is published in Mr Ritson's English Songs, Vol II. 
 It is fortunate for tKe admirers of the old ballad, that it 
 did not fall into Ramsay's hands, when he was equipping 
 with new sets of words the old Scottish tunes in his Tea- 
 Table Miscellqny. Since his time, it has been often re- 
 printed.
 
 120 
 
 JOHNIE ARMSTRANG. 
 
 ouu speikis of lords, sum speikis of lairds, 
 And sick lyke men of hie degrie ; 
 
 Of a gentleman I sing a sang, 
 
 Sum tyme called laird of Gilnockie. 
 
 The king he wrytes a luving letter, 
 With his ain hand sae tenderly, 
 
 And he hath sent it to Johnie Armstrang, 
 To cum and speik with him speedily. 
 
 The Eliots and Armstrangs did convene ; 
 
 They were a gallant cumpanie 
 " We'll ride and meit our lawful king, 
 
 * And bring him safe to Gilnockie. ,,
 
 121 
 
 " Make kinnen * and capon ready then, 
 
 " And venison in great plentie ; 
 " We'll wellcum here our royal king ; 
 
 " I hope he'll dine at Gilnockie!" 
 
 They ran their horse on the Langhome howm, 
 And brak their speirs wi' mickle main; 
 
 The ladies lukit frae their loft windows 
 * God bring our men weel back agen !" 
 
 When Johnie cam before the king, 
 
 Wi' a' his men sae brave to see, 
 The king he movit his bonnet to him ; 
 
 He ween'd he was a king as well as he. 
 
 " May I find grace, my sovereign liege, 
 " Grace for my loyal men and me ? 
 
 " For my name it is Johnie Armstrang, 
 " And subject of your's, my liege," said he. 
 
 " Away, away, thou traitor Strang ! 
 
 " Out o' my sight soon may'st thou be 1 
 " I grantit nevir a traitor's life, 
 
 " And now I'll not begin wi' thee.' 
 
 * Kinnen Rabbits, 
 
 ;)
 
 122 
 
 " Grant me my life, my liege, my king ! 
 
 * And a bonny gift I'll gie to thee 
 
 * Full four and twenty milk-white steids, 
 
 * Were a' foaled in ae year to me. 
 
 u I'll gie thee a' these milk-white steids, 
 " That prance and nicker * at a speir ; 
 
 " And as mickle gude lnglish gilt, f 
 
 u As four o' their braid backs dow % bear." 
 
 " Away, away, thou traitor Strang ! 
 
 * Out o' my sight soon may'st thou be t 
 
 * I grantit never a traitor's life, 
 
 * And now I'll not begin wi' thee !" 
 
 " Grant me my life, my liege, my king ! 
 u And a bonny gift I'll gie to thee 
 
 * Gude four and twenty ganging mills, 
 <\ That gang thro' a' the yeir to me. 
 
 * Nicker Neigh. f Gift Gold. 
 
 X DewAble to. Ganging Going.
 
 123 
 
 f These four and twenty mills complete, 
 * Sail gang for thee thro' a' the yeir ; 
 
 " And as mickle of gude reid wheit, 
 " As a' their happers dow to bear." 
 
 " Away, away, thou traitor Strang! 
 
 Out o' my sight soon may'st thou be ! 
 " I grantit nevir a traitor's life, 
 
 " And now I'll not begin wi' thee." 
 
 . * Grant me my life, my liege, my king ! 
 " And a great gift I'll gie to thee 
 " Bauld four and twenty sister's sons, 
 " Sail for thee fecht, tho' a' should flee !' 
 
 " Away, away, thou traitor Strang ! 
 
 " Out o' my sight soon may'st thou be! 
 ** I grantit nevir a traitor's life, 
 
 " And now I'll not begin wi' thee." 
 
 " Grant me my life, my liege, my king ! 
 
 * And a brave gift I'll gie to thee 
 (t All between heir and Newcastle town 
 
 " Sail pay their yeirly rent to thee,"
 
 124 
 
 <c Away, away, thou traitor Strang ! 
 
 " Out o' my sight soon may'st thou be ! 
 * I grantit nevir a traitor's life, 
 
 * And now I'll not begin wi' thee." 
 
 " Ye lied, * ye lied, now, king," he says, 
 
 * Altho' a king and prince ye be ! 
 " For I've luved naething in my life, 
 
 " I weel dare say it, but honesty 
 
 u Save a fat horse, and a fair Woman, 
 
 a Twa bonny dogs to kill a deir ; 
 ** But England suld have found me meal and mault, 
 
 " Gif I had lived this hundred yeir ! 
 
 " Sche suld have found me meal and mault, 
 
 * And beef and mutton in a' plentie ; 
 H But nevir a Scots wyfe could have said, 
 
 " That e'er I skaithed her a' pure flee. 
 
 " To seik het water beneith cauld ice, 
 
 * Surely it is a greit folie 
 
 " I have asked grace at a graceless face, 
 " But there is nane for my men and me ! 
 
 * Lied Lye. I
 
 125 
 
 et But had I kenn'd ere I cam frae hajne, 
 " How thou unkind wadst been to me! 
 
 " I wad have keepit the border side, 
 * In spite of al thy force and thee. 
 
 " Wist England's king that I was ta'en, 
 ** O gin a bly the man he wad be ! 
 
 " For anes I slew his sister's son, 
 
 " And on his breist bane brak a trie.'* 
 
 John wore a girdle about his middle* 
 Imbroidered ower wi' burning gold, 
 
 Bespangled wi' the same metal ; 
 Maist beautiful was to behold. 
 
 There hang nine targats * at Johnie's hat, 
 And ilk ane worth three hundred pound 
 
 " What wants that knave that a king suld have, 
 * But the sword of honour and the crown ! 
 
 " O whair got thou these targats, Johnie, 
 " That blink f sae brawly abune thy brie ?" 
 
 " I gat them in the field fechting, 
 
 * Where, cruel king, thou durst not be. 
 
 %Targats Tassels. f Blink sae brawlie Glance so bravely.
 
 12ff 
 
 * Had I my horse, and harness gude, 
 " And riding as I wont to be, 
 
 " It suld have been tald this hundred yeir, 
 " The meeting of my king and me ! 
 
 " God be with thee, Kirsty,* my brother! 
 
 " Lang live thou laird of Mangertoun ! 
 " Lang may'st thou live on the border syde, 
 
 * Ere thou see thy brother ride up and down ! 
 
 " And God be with thee, Kirsty, my son, 
 u Where thou sits on thy nurse's knee ! 
 
 " But and thou live this hundred yeir, 
 " Thy father's better thou'lt nevir be* 
 
 * Farewell ! my bonny Gilnock hall, 
 
 * Where on Esk side thou standest stout ! 
 
 * Gif I had lived but seven yeirs mair, 
 " I wad hae gilt thee round about." 
 
 John murdered was at Carlinrigg, 
 
 And all his gallant cumpanie ; 
 But Scotland's heart was ne'er sae wae, 
 
 To see sae mony brave men die 
 
 * Christopher. *
 
 127 
 
 Because they saved their countrey deir, 
 Frae Englishmen ! Nane were sae ban Id 
 
 While Johnie lived on the border syde, 
 Nane of them durst cum neir his hauld.
 
 128 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 TO THE 
 
 BALLAD OF JOHNIE ARMSTRANG. 
 
 The editor believes, his readers will not be displeased to see 
 a Bond of Manrent, granted by this border freebooter to the 
 Scottish warden of the west marches, in return for the gift of 
 a feudal casualty of certain lands particularized. It is extract- 
 ed from St/me's Collection of Old Writings, MS. penes Dr Ro- 
 bert Anderson, of Edinburgh. - 
 
 BOND OF MANRENT. 
 
 Be it kend till all men, be thir present letters, me, Johne 
 Armistrang, for to be bound and oblist, and be the tenor of 
 thir present letters, and faith and trcwth in my body, lelie and 
 trewlie, bindis and oblissis me and myn airis, to ane nobil and 
 tnichtie lord, Robert Lord Maxwell, wardane of the west 
 marches of Scotland, that, forasmikle as my said lord has given 
 and grantit to me, and mine airis perpetuallie, the noneutries 
 of all and hail the landis underwritten, that is to say, the landis 
 of Dalbetht, Shield, Dalblane, Stapil-Gortown, Langholme, 
 and * * * * * * } with their pertindis, byand in the lordship of 
 Eskdale, as his gift, maid to me, therupon beris in the self: 
 and that for all the tyme of the nonentres of the samyn. Their-
 
 129 
 
 for, I, the said Johne Armistrang, bindis and oblissis me and 
 myne airis, in manrent and service to the said Robert Lord 
 Maxwell, and his airis, for everrnair, first and befor all uthirs, 
 myne allegiance to our soverane lord, the king, allanerly ex- 
 cept; and to be trewe, gude, and lele servant to my said lord, 
 and be ready to do him service, baith in pece and weir, with 
 all my kyn, friends, and servants, that I may and dowe to 
 raise, and be and to my said lord's airis for everrnair. And 
 sail take his true and plane part in all maner of actions at myn 
 outer power, and sail nouther wit, hear, nor se my said lordis 
 skaith, lak, nor dishonestie, but we sail stop and lett the 
 samyn, and geif we dowe not lett the sarnyn, we sail warn him 
 thereof in all possible haist ; and geif it happenis me, the said 
 Johne Armistrang, or myne airis, to fail in our said service and 
 manrent, any maner of way, to our said lord (as God forbid 
 we do,) than, and in that caiss, the gift and nonentres maid be 
 him to us, of the said landis of Dalbetht, Schield, Dalblane, 
 Stapil-Gortown, Langholme, and * * * * *, with the perti- 
 nentis, to be of no avale, force, nor effect ; but the said lord 
 and his airis to have free regress and ingress to the nonentres 
 of the samyn, but ony pley or impediment. To the keeping 
 and fulfilling of all and sundry the premisses, in form above 
 writtin, I bind and obliss me and my airis foresaids, to the said 
 lord and his airis for evermare, be the faithis treuthis in our 
 bodies, but fraud or gile. In witness of the whilk thing, to thir 
 letters of manrent subscrievit, with my hand at the pen, my 
 sele is hangin, at Drumfries, the secund day of November, the 
 yeir of God, Jaiv and XXV. yeiris. 
 
 Johne Armistrang, with my hand 
 at the pen. 
 
 The lands, here mentioned, were the possessions of Arm- 
 strong himself, the investitures of which not having been regu- 
 larly renewed, the feudal casualty of non-entry had been in- 
 curred by the vassal. The brother of Johnie Armstrang is said 
 to have founded, or rather repaired, Langholm castle, before 
 VOL. I. I
 
 130 
 
 which, as mentioned in the ballad, verse 5th, they * ran their 
 " horse," and " brak their spears," in the exercise of border 
 chivalry. Account of the Parish of Langholm, apud Macfar- 
 lane's MSS. The lands of Langholm and Staplegorton conti- 
 nued in Armstrong's family ; for there is in the same MS. col- 
 lection a similar bond of manrent, granted by u Cristofer 
 u Armstrang, calit Johne's Pope," on 24th January, 1557, to 
 Lord Johne Lord Maxwell, and to Sir Johne Maxwell of Ter- 
 reglis, knight, his tutor and governor, in return for the gift of 
 " the males of all and haill the landis whilk are conteint in ane 
 " bond made by umquhile Johne Arraistrang, my father, to urn- 
 u qnhile Robert, Lord Maxwell, gudshore to the said Johne, 
 " now Lord Maxwell.'' It would therefore appear, that the 
 bond of manrent, granted by John Armstrong, had been the 
 price of his release from the feudal penalty arising from his 
 having neglected to procure a regular investiture from his supe- 
 rior. As Johnie only touched the pen, it appears that he could 
 not write. 
 
 Christopher Armstrong, above mentioned, is the person al- 
 luded to in the conclusion of the ballad " God be with thee, 
 " Kirsty my son." He was the father, or grandfather, of Wil- 
 liam Armstrong, called Christie's Will, a renowned freebooter, 
 some of whose exploits the reader will find recorded in the 
 third volume of this work. 
 
 I
 
 131 
 
 
 LORD EWRIE. 
 
 Sib Ralph Evre, or Ewrie, or Evers, commemorated in 
 the following lines, was one of the bravest men of a mi- 
 litary race. He was son of the first, and father of the 
 second Lord Ewrie ; and was himself created a lord of 
 parliament during his father's lifetime, in the 35th year 
 of Henry V11I. The ballad is apparently a strain of 
 gratulation upon that event. The poet, or more probably 
 the reciter, has made some confusion in the lineage, by 
 declaring that his hero was " married upon a Willough- 
 " be." His mother, however, was of that family, and 
 he was kin to the Nevil and to the Percy." He was 
 ennobled by Henry, on account of the vigour with which 
 he prosecuted the border warfare. But after " harrying 
 theMers and Tiviotdale, and knocking at Edinburgh gate," 
 Lord Ewrie was slain in the battle of Ancram moor, 
 fought between him and the Earl of Angus, in 154-6. 
 See Note to the Eve of St John, vol. iii.
 
 132 
 
 The song was written down by my obliging friend 
 Richard Surtecs, Esq. of Mainsforth, from the recita- 
 tion of Rose Smith, of Bishop Middleham, a woman 
 aged upwards of ninety-one, whose husband's father and 
 two brothers were killed in the affair of 1715.
 
 133 
 
 LORD EWRIE. 
 
 .Lord Ewrie was as brave a man, 
 As ever stood in his degree ; 
 
 The king has sent him a broad letter, 
 All for his courage and loyalty. * 
 
 Lord Ewrie is of a gentill blode, 
 A knighte's son sooth to say : 
 
 He is kin to the Nevill and to the Percy, 
 And is married upon a Willowbe. 
 
 A noble knight him trained upp, 
 Sir Rafe Bulmer is the man I mean ; 
 
 At Flodden field, as men do say, 
 No better capten there was seen. 
 
 * Patent letters of nobility.
 
 134 
 
 He led the men of Bishopricke, 
 
 When Thomas Ruthal bore the sway : 
 
 Tho' the Scottish Habs * were stout and true, 
 The English bowmen wan that day. 
 
 And since he has kepte Berwick upon Tweed, 
 The town was never better kept, I wot; 
 
 He maintained leal and order along the border, 
 And still was ready to prick the Scot. 
 
 The country then lay in great peace, 
 And grain and grass was sown and won ; 
 
 Then plenty filled the market crosse, 
 When Lord Ewrie kept Berwick town. 
 
 With our queen's brother he hath been, 
 And rod rough shod through Scotland of late; 
 
 They have burned the Mers and Tiviotdale, 
 And knocked full loud at Edinburgh gate. 
 
 Now the king hath sent him a broad letter, 
 
 A lord of parliament to be : 
 It were well if every nobleman 
 
 Stood like Lord Ewrie in his decree. 
 
 * Habt contracted for Halbtrt, or Hobbie, once a com- 
 mon name in Scotland.
 
 155 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 LORD EWRIE. 
 
 Sir Rafe Bulmer is the man I mean. P. 133. v, 3. 
 
 Sir William Bulmer, of Brunspeth castle, who is here said 
 to have commanded the troops raised in the Bishopricke, in the 
 battle of Floddenfield, was descended from an ancient, and, at 
 one period, noble family. The last who was summoned to 
 parliament as a peer of the realm, was Ralph, from 1st till 23d 
 Edward III. Sir William routed the Borderers, who, under 
 the command of Lord Home, made an excursion into Nor- 
 thumberland, previous to the battle of Flodden. He is men* 
 tioned in the Metrical History of the battle, v. 105, &c. In 
 the present ballad, he is erroneously denominated Sir Ralph 
 Bulmer. 
 
 With our queen's brother he hath been. P. 134. v. 4. 
 
 The Earl of Hartford, afterwards Duke of Somerset, and 
 brother of queen Jane Seymour, made a furious incursion into 
 Scotland, in 1545. See Introduction.
 
 136 
 
 THE LOCHMABEN HARPER. 
 
 NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. 
 
 The castle qf Lochmaben was formerly a noble building, si- 
 tuated upon a peninsula, projecting into one qf the four 
 lakes which are in the neighbourhood of tlic royal burgh, 
 and is said to have been the residence of Robert Bruce, 
 while lord of Annandale. Accordingly, it was always 
 held to be a royal fortress, the keeping of which, accord- 
 ing to the custom of the times, was granted to some 
 powerful lord, with an allotment of lands and fishings, 
 for the defence and maintenance of the place. There is 
 extant a grant, dated 16th March, 151 1, to Robert Lau- 
 der of the Bass, of the office of captain and keeper of 
 Lochmaben castle, for seven years, with many perquisites. 
 Among others, the " land, stolen frae the king/' is be- 
 stowed upon the captain, as his proper lands. What 
 shall we say of a country, where the very ground ivas 
 the subject of theft? 
 
 O heard ye na o' the silly blind Harper, 
 How lang he lived in Lochmaben town i 
 
 And how he wad gang to fair England, 
 To steal the Lord Warden's Wanton Brown f
 
 137 
 
 But first he gaed to his gude wyfe, 
 Wi' a' the haste that he could thole 
 
 tc This wark," quo' he, " will ne'er gae weel, 
 " Without a mare that has a foal." 
 
 Quo' she " Thou hast a gude gray mare, 
 " That can baith lance o'er laigh and hie; 
 
 " Sae set thee on the gray mare's back, 
 " And leave the foal at hame wi' me." 
 
 So he is up to England gane, 
 And even as fast as he may drie ; 
 
 And when he cam to Carlisle gate, 
 O whae was there but the Warden, he ? 
 
 " Come into my hall, thou silly blind Harper, 
 " And of thy harping let me hear !" 
 
 " O by my sooth," quo' the silly blind Harper, 
 " I wad rather hae stabling for my mare." 
 
 The Warden look'd ower his left shoulder, 
 And said unto his stable groom 
 
 " Gae take the silly blind Harper's mare, 
 " And tie her beside my Wanton Brown.
 
 13S 
 
 Then ay he harped, and ay he carped, * 
 Till a' the lordlings footed the floor; 
 
 But an' the music was sae sweet, 
 The groom had nae mind o' the stable door. 
 
 And ay he harped, and ay he carped, 
 Till a' the nobles were fast asleep ; 
 
 Then quickly he took affhis shoon, 
 And saftly down the stair did creep. 
 
 Syne to the stable door he hied, 
 
 Wi' tread as light as light could be ; 
 
 And when he opened and gaed in, 
 There he fand thirty steeds and three. 
 
 He took a cowt halter + frae his hose, 
 
 And o' his purpose he didna fail ; 
 He slipt it ower the Wanton's nose, 
 
 And tied it to his gray mare's tail. 
 
 He turned them loose at the castle gate, 
 Ower muir and moss and ilka dale; 
 
 And she ne'er let the Wanton bait, 
 
 But kept him a-galloping hame to her foal. 
 Carped Sung. f Coat Halter Colt's Halter.
 
 ISO 
 
 The mare she was right swift o* foot, 
 
 She didna fail to find the way ; 
 For she was at Lochmaben gate, 
 
 A lang three hours before the day. 
 
 When she cam to the Harper's door, 
 
 There she gave mony a nicker and sneer * 
 
 u Rise up," quo' the wife, " thou lazy lass ; 
 " Let in thy master and his mare." 
 
 Then up she rose, put on her clothes, 
 And keekit through at the lock-hole 
 
 <( O ! by my sooth," then cried the lass, 
 * Our mare has gotten a braw brown foal !" 
 
 * Come, haud thy tongue, thou silly wench ! 
 " The morn's but glancing in your e'e." 
 
 * I'll + wad my hail fee against a groat, 
 
 " He's bigger than e'er our foal will be." 
 
 Now all this while in merry Carlisle, 
 The Harper harped to hie and law ; 
 
 And the J fiend dought they do but listen him to, 
 Until that the day began to daw. 
 
 * Nicker and sneer Neigh and snort. 
 
 f Wad my hail fee Bet my whole wages. 
 
 X Fiend thing dought Nothing could they do.
 
 140 
 
 But on the morn, at fair day-light, 
 When they had ended a' their cheer, 
 
 Behold the Wanton Brown was gane, 
 And eke the poor blind Harper's mare ! 
 
 " Allace ! allace !" quo' the cunning auld Harper, 
 
 " And ever allace that I cam here ! 
 " In Scotland I lost a braw cowt foal, 
 
 " In England they've stown my gude gray mare!" 
 
 w Come ! cease thy allacing, thou silly blind Harper, 
 M And again of thy harping let us hear ; 
 
 * And weel payd sail thy cowt-foal be, 
 And thou sail have a far better mare." 
 
 Then ay he harped, and ay he carped ; 
 
 Sae sweet were the harpings he let them hear ! 
 He was paid for the foal he had never lost, 
 
 And three times ower for the gude Gray Mare.
 
 141 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 THE LOCHMABEN HARPER. 
 
 The only remark which offers itself on the foregoing ballad 
 seems to be, that it is the most modern in which the harp, as 
 a border instrument of music, is found to occur. 
 
 I cannot dismiss the subject of Lochmaben, without noticing 
 an extraordinary and anomalous class of landed proprietors, 
 who dwell in the neighbourhood of that burgh. These are the 
 inhabitants of four small villages, near the ancient castle, call- 
 ed the Four Towns of Lochmaben. They themselves are term- 
 ed the King's Rentallers, or kindly tenants ; under which deno- 
 mination each of them has a right, of an allodial nature, to a 
 small piece of ground. It is said, that these people are the 
 descendants of Robert Bruce's menials, to whom he assigned, 
 in reward of their faithful service, these portions of land, bur- 
 dened only with the payment of certain quit-rents, and gras- 
 sums, or fines, upon the entry of a new tenant. The right of 
 the rentallers is, in essence, a right of property, but, in form, 
 only a right of lease ; of which they appeal for the foundation 
 to the rent-rolls of the lord of the castle and manor. This pos- 
 session, by rental, or by simple entry upon the rent-roll, was 
 anciently a common, and peculiarly sacred, species of proper-
 
 142 
 
 ty, granted by a chief to his faithful followers; the connection 
 of landlord and tenant being esteemed of a nature too formal 
 to be necessary, where there was honour upon one side, and 
 gratitude upon the other. But, in the case of subjects grant- 
 ing a right of this kind, it was held to expire with the life of 
 the granter, unless his heir chose to renew it ; and also upon 
 the death of the rentaller himself, unless especially granted to 
 his heirs, by which term only his first heir was understood. 
 Hence, in modern days, the kindly tenants have entirely dis- 
 appeared from the land. Fortunately for the inhabitants of 
 the Four Towns of Lochmaben, the maxim, that the king can 
 never die, prevents their right of property from reverting to 
 the crown. The Viscount of Stormonth, as royal keeper of the 
 castle, did, indeed, about the beginning of last century, make 
 an attempt to remove the rentallers from their possessions, or 
 at least to procure judgment, finding them obliged to take out 
 feudal investitures, and subject themselves to the casualties 
 thereto annexed. But the rentallers united in their common 
 defence: and, having stated their immemorial possession, to- 
 gether with some favourable clauses in certain old acts of par- 
 liament, enacting, that the king's poor kindly tenants of Loch- 
 maben should not be hurt, they finally prevailed in an action 
 before the Court of Session. From the peculiar state of their 
 right of property, it follows, that there is no occasion for feu- 
 dal investitures, or the formal entry of an heir ; and, of course, 
 when they chuse to convey their lands, it is done by a simple 
 deed of conveyance, without charter or sasine. 
 
 The kindly tenants of Lochmaben live (or at least lived till 
 lately) much sequestered from their neighbours, marry among 
 themselves, and are distinguished from each other by soubri- 
 quets, according to the ancient border custom, repeatedly no- 
 ticed. You meet among their writings, with such names as 
 John Out-bye, Will In-bye, White-fish, Red-fish, &c. They 
 are tenaciously obstinate in defence of their privileges of com- 
 monty, &c. which are numerous. Their lands are, in general, 
 neatly inclosed, and well cultivated, and they form a content-* 
 ed and industrious little community. 
 
 12
 
 143 
 
 Many of these particulars are extracted from the MSS. of 
 Mr Syme, writer to the signet. Those who are desirous of 
 more information, may consult Craig de Feudis, Lib. II. dig. 9. 
 sec. 2*. It is hoped the reader will excuse this digression, 
 though somewhat professional ; especially as there can be little 
 doubt, that this diminutive republic must soon share the fate 
 of mightier states ; for, in consequence of the increase of com- 
 merce, lands possessed under this singular tenure, being now 
 often brought to sale, and purchased by the neighbouring pro- 
 prietors, will, in process of time, be included in their investi- 
 tures, and the right of rentallage be entirely forgotten. 
 
 
 ;
 
 144 
 
 JAMIE TELFER 
 OF THE FAIR DODHEAD. 
 
 There is another ballad, under the same title as the follow- 
 ing, in which nearly the same incidents are narrated, 
 with little difference, except that the honour of rescuing 
 the cattle is attributed to the Liddesdale Elliots, headed 
 by a chief, there called Martin Elliot of the Preakin 
 Tower, whose son, Simon, is said to have fallen in the 
 action. It is very possible, that both the Tiviotdale 
 Scotts, and the Elliots, were engaged in the affair, and 
 that each claimed the honour of the victory. 
 
 The editor presumes, that the Willie Scott, liere mention- 
 ed, must have been a natural son of tlie laird of Buc- 
 cleuch. 
 
 It fell about the Martinmas tyde, 
 
 When our border steeds get corn and hay, 
 
 The captain of Bewcastle hath bound him to ryde, 
 And he's ower to Tividale to drive a prey. 
 
 10
 
 145 
 
 The first ae guide that they met wi', 
 It was high up Hardhaughswire ; 
 
 The second guide that we met wi', 
 It was laigh down in Borthwick water. 
 
 " What tidings, what tidings, my trusty guide r" 
 " Nae tidings, nae tidings, I hae to thee ; 
 
 " But, gin ye'll gae to the fair Dodhead, 
 ** Mony a cow's cauf I'll let thee see." 
 
 And whan they cam to the fair Dodhead, 
 Right hastily they clam the peel ; 
 
 They loosed the kye out, ane and a', 
 And ranshackled * the house right weel. 
 
 Now Jamie Telfer's heart was sair, 
 
 The tear aye rowing in his e'e ; 
 He pled wi' the captain to hae his gear, 
 
 Or else revenged he wad be. 
 
 The captain turned him round and leugh ; 
 
 Said " Man, there's naething in thy house, 
 " But ae auld sword without a sheath, 
 
 <e That hardly now wad fell a mouse !" 
 
 * Ranshackled RansaGked. 
 VOL. I. K
 
 146 
 
 The sun was na up, but the moon was down, 
 It was the gryming * of a new fa'n snaw, 
 
 Jamie Telfer has run ten myles a-foot, 
 
 Between the Dodhead and the Stobs's Ha'. 
 
 And whan he cam to the fair tower yate, 
 He shouted loud, and cried weel hie, 
 
 Till out bespak auld Gibby Elliot 
 
 ** Whae's this that brings the fraye to me r*' 
 
 * Its I, Jamie Telfer o' the fair Dodhead, 
 " And a harried man I think I be ! 
 
 * There's naething left at the fair Dodhead, 
 " But a waefu' wife and bairnies three/' 
 
 ** Gar seek your succour at Branksome Ha', 
 " For succour ye'se get nane frae me ! 
 
 " Gae seek your succour where ye paid black mail, 
 For, man ! ye ne'er paid money to me." 
 
 Jamie has turned him round about, 
 I wat the tear blinded his e'e 
 
 * I'll ne'er pay mail to Elliot again, 
 
 " And the fair Dodhead I'll never see ! 
 
 * Gryming Sprinkling.
 
 147 
 
 " My hounds may a' riti masterless, 
 " My hawks may fly frae tree to tree, 
 
 " My lord may grip my vassal lands, 
 " For there again maun I never be !" 
 
 He has turned him to the Tiviot side, 
 
 E'en as fast as he could drie, 
 Till he cam to the Coultart Cleugh, 
 
 And there he shouted baith loud and hie. 
 
 Then up bespak him auld Jock Grieve 
 " Whae's this that brings the fray to me ?" 
 
 u Its I, Jamie Telfer o' the fair Dodhead, 
 " A harried man I trow I be. 
 
 " There's naething left in the fair Dodhead, 
 " But a greeting wife and bairnies three, 
 
 " And sax poor ca's * stand in the sta', 
 ** A' routing loud for their minnie."+ 
 
 " Alack a wae !" quo' auld Jock Grieve, 
 " Alack ! my heart is sair for thee ! 
 
 ee For I was married on the elder sister, 
 " And you on the youngest of a' the three." 
 
 * Ccfs Calves. f Minnie Mother
 
 
 148 
 
 Then he has ta'en out a bonny black, 
 Was right weel fed wi' corn and hay, 
 
 And he's set Jamie Telfer on his back, 
 To the Catslockhill to tak the fray. 
 
 And whan he came to the Catslockhill, 
 He shouted loud and cried weel hie, 
 
 Till out and spak him William's Wat 
 " O whae's this brings the fraye to me?" 
 
 " Its I, Jamie Telfer of the fair Dodhead, 
 
 * A harried man I think I be ! 
 
 " The captain of Bewcastle has driven my gear; 
 
 * For God's sake rise, and succour me ! 
 
 " Alas for wae !" quo' William's Wat, 
 " Alack, for thee my heart is sair ! 
 
 " I never cam by the fair Dodhead, 
 u That ever I fand thy basket bare." 
 
 He's set his twa sons on coal-black steeds, 
 Himsel' upon a freckled gray, 
 
 And they are on wi' Jamie Telfer, 
 To Branksome Ha' to tak the fray. 
 
 :
 
 149 
 
 And whan they cam to Branksome Ha', 
 They shouted a' baith loud and hie, 
 
 Till up and spak him auld Buccleuch, 
 
 Said" Whae's this brings the fraye to me r" 
 
 " Its I, Jamie Telfer o' the fair Dodhead, 
 u And a harried man I think I be ! 
 
 " There's nought left in the fair Dodhead, 
 " But a greeting wife and bairnies three." 
 
 ** Alack for wae !" quoth the gude auld lord, 
 " And ever my heart is wae for thee ! 
 
 " But fye gar cry on Willie, my son, 
 " And see that he come to me speedilie ! 
 
 " Gar warn the water, braid and wide, 
 
 Gar warn it sune and hastily ! 
 
 l( They that winna ride for Telfer's kye, 
 
 * Let them never look in the face o' me ! 
 
 " Warn Wat o* Harden, and his sons, 
 ** Wi' them will Borthwick water ride ; 
 
 " Warn Gaudilands, and Allanhaugh, 
 " And Gilmanscleugh, and Commonside.
 
 150 
 
 " Ride by the gate at Priesthaughswire, 
 " And warn the Currors o* the Lee ; 
 
 " As ye cum down the Hermitage Slack, 
 " Warn doughty Willie o' Gorrinberry." 
 
 The Scots they rade, the Scots they ran, 
 
 Sae starkly and sae steadilie ! 
 And aye the ower-word, o' the thrang 
 
 Was " Rise for Branksome readilie l" 
 
 The gear was driven the Frosty lee up, 
 
 Frae the Frostylee unto the plain, 
 Whan Willie has looked his men before, 
 
 And saw the kye right fast driving. 
 
 " Whae drives thir kye r" gan Willie say, 
 
 " To mak an outspeckle * o' me f" 
 ** Its I, the captain o' BewcastJe, Willie ; 
 
 ** I winna layne my name for thee." 
 
 * O will ye let Telfer's kye gae back, 
 " Or will ye do aught for regard o' me ? 
 
 " Or, by the faith of my body," quo' Willie Scott, 
 " I'se ware my dame's caufs skin on thee !" 
 
 * Outspeckle Laughing-stock.
 
 151 
 
 " I winna let the kye gae back, 
 
 " Neither for thy love, nor yet thy fear; 
 
 " But I will drive Jamie Teller's kye, 
 " In spite of every Scot that's here." 
 
 " Set on them, lads !" quo' Willie than j 
 
 " Fye, lads, set on them cruellie ! 
 " For ere they win to the Ritterford, 
 
 " Mony a toom * saddle there sail be !" 
 
 Then till't they gaed, wi' heart and hand ; 
 
 The blows fell thick as bickering hail j 
 And mony a horse ran masterless, 
 
 And mony a comely cheek was pale ! 
 
 But Willie was stricken ower the head, 
 
 And thro' the knapscap + the sword has gane ; 
 
 And Harden grat for very rage, 
 
 Whan Willie on the grand lay slane. 
 
 But he's tane aff his gude steel cap, 
 And thrice he's wav'd it in the air 
 
 The Dinlay % snaw was ne'er mair white, 
 Nor the lyart locks of Harden's hair. 
 
 * Toom Empty. f Knapscap Headpiece. 
 
 t The Dinlay is a mountain in Liddesdale.
 
 152 
 
 u Revenge ! revenge !" auld Wat gan cry j 
 
 " Fye, lads, lay on them cruellie ! 
 * We'll ne'er see Tiviotside again, 
 
 " Or Willie's death revenged sail be.'* 
 
 O mony a horse ran masterless, 
 
 The splintered lances flew on hie ; 
 But or they wan to the Kershope ford, 
 
 The Scots had gotten the victory. 
 
 John o' Brigham there was slane, 
 And John o' Barlow, as I hear say ; 
 
 And thirty mae o' the captain's men, 
 Lay bleeding on the grund that day. 
 
 The captain was run thro' the thick of the thigh, 
 And broken was his right leg bane ; 
 
 If he had lived this hundred year, 
 He had never been loved by woman again. 
 
 " Hae back thy kye !" the captain said ; 
 
 * Dear kye, I trow, to some they be ! 
 " For gin I suld live a hundred years, 
 
 " There will ne'er fair lady smile on me."
 
 15: 
 
 Then word is gane to the captain's bride, 
 Even in the bower where that she lay, 
 
 That her lord was prisoner in enemy's land, 
 Since into Tividale he had led the way. 
 
 ** I wad lourd * have had a winding-sheet, 
 " And helped to put it ower his head, 
 
 " Ere he had been disgraced by the border Scot, 
 " Whan Ije ower Liddel his men did lead !" 
 
 There was a wild gallant amang us a', 
 
 His name was Watty wi' the Wudspurs, f 
 
 Cried " On for his house in Stanegirthside, 
 " If ony man will ride with us !" 
 
 When they cam to the Stanegirthside, 
 They dang wi' trees, and burst the door ; 
 
 They loosed out a' the captain's kye, 
 And set them forth our lads before. 
 
 There was an auld wyfe ayont the fire, 
 
 A wee bit o' the captain's kin 
 ** Whae dar loose out the captain's kye, 
 
 * Or answer to him and his men r" 
 
 * Lourd Rather. f Wudspurs Hotspur, or Madspur.
 
 154 
 
 " Its I, Watty Wudspurs, loose the kye ! 
 
 " I winna layne my name frae thee! 
 " And I will loose out the captain's kye, 
 
 w In scorn of a' his men and he." 
 
 When they cam to the fair Dodhead, 
 They were a wellcum sight to see 1 
 
 For instead of his ain ten milk kye, 
 
 Jamie Telfer has gotten thirty and three, 
 
 And he has paid the rescue shot, 
 fiaith wi' goud, and white monie ; 
 
 And at the burial o' Willie Scott, 
 I wat was mony a weeping e'e.
 
 155 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 JAMIE TELFER, OF THE FAIR DODHEAD. 
 
 It was high up in Hardhaughswire. P. 145. v. 1. 
 
 Hardhaughswire is the pass from Liddesdate to the head of 
 Tiviotdale. 
 
 It was laigh down in Borthwick water. P. 145- v. 1. 
 
 Borthwick water is a stream, which falls into the Tivbt, 
 three miles above Hawick. 
 
 But, gin ye' 11 gae to the fair Dodhead. P. 145. v. 2. 
 
 The Dodhead, in Selkirkshire, near Singlee, where there are 
 still the vestiges of an old tower. 
 
 Now Jamie Telfer's heart was sair. P. 145. v. 4. 
 
 There is still a family of Telfers, residing near Langholm, 
 who pretend to derive their descent from the Telfers of the 
 Dodhead. 
 
 Between the Dodhead and the StoWs Ha\ P. 146. v. 1. 
 Stobs Hall, upon Slitterick. Jamie Telfer made his first ap-
 
 156 
 
 plication here, because he seems to have paid the proprietor of 
 that castle black-mail, or protection-money. 
 
 Gar seek your succour at Branksome Ho'. P. 146. v. 4. 
 
 The ancient family-seat of the lairds of Bucclcuch, near 
 Hawick. 
 
 Till he came to the Coultart CleugfuV. 147. v. 2. 
 
 The Coultart Cleugh is nearly opposite to Carlinrig, on the 
 road between Hawick and Mosspaul. 
 
 Gar warn the water, braid and wide. P. 149. v. 4. 
 
 The water, in the mountainous districts of Scotland, is often 
 used to express the banks of the river, which are the only inha- 
 bitable parts of the country. To raise the water, therefore, 
 was to alarm those who lived along its side. 
 
 Warn Wat o' Harden, and his sons, &c. P. 149. v. 5. 
 
 The estates, mentioned in this verse, belonged to families of 
 the name of Scott, residing upon the waters of Borthwick and 
 Tiviot, near the castle of their chief. 
 
 Hide In/ the gate at Priest haughsw ire. P. 150. v. 1. 
 
 The pursuers seem to have taken the road through the hills 
 of Liddesdale, iu order to collect forces, and intercept the fora- 
 yers at the passage of the Liddel, on their return to Bewcastle. 
 The Ritterford and Kershope-ford, after-mentioned, are noted 
 fords on the river Liddel. 
 
 The gear was driven the Frostylee up. P. 150. v. 3. 
 
 The Frostylee is a brook, which joins the Tiviot, near Moss- 
 paal. 
 
 And Harden gratfor very rage. P. 151. v. 4. 
 
 Of this border laird, commonly called Auld Wat of Harden, 
 tradition has preserved many anecdotes. He was married to
 
 157 
 
 Mary Scott, celebrated in song by the title of the Flower of 
 Yarrow. By their marriage-contract, the father-in-law, Philip 
 Scott of Dryhope, was to find Harden in horse meat, and man's 
 meat, at his tower of Dryhope, for a year and a day ; but five 
 barons pledge themselves, that, at the expiry of that period, 
 the son-in-law should remove, without attempting to continue 
 in possession by force ! A notary-public signed for all the par- 
 ties to the deed, none of whom could write their names. The 
 original is still in the charter-room of the present Mr Scott of 
 Harden. By the Flower of Yarrow the laird of Harden had 
 six sons ; five of whom survived him, and founded the fami- 
 lies of Harden (now extinct,) Highchesters (now representing 
 Harden,) Reaburn, Wool, and Synton. The sixth son was 
 slain at a fray, in a hunting-match, by the Scotts of Gilmans- 
 cleugh. His brothers flew to arms ; but the old laird secured 
 them in the dungeon of his tower, hurried to Edinburgh, stated 
 the crime, and obtained a gift of the lands of the offenders from 
 the crown. He returned to Harden with equal speed, released 
 his sons, and shewed them the charter. " To horse, lads !" 
 cried the savage warrior, " and let us take possession ! the 
 " lands of Gilmanscleuch are well worth a dead son." The 
 property, thus obtained, continued in the family till the begin- 
 ning of last century, when it was sold, by John Scott of Har- 
 den, to Anne, Duchess of Buccleuch. 
 
 John o' Brigham there was slain. P. 152. v. S. 
 
 Perhaps one of the ancient family of Brougham, in Cumber- 
 land. The editor has used some freedom with the original in 
 the subsequent verse. The account of the captain's disaster 
 (teste leva vulnerata) is rather too naive for literal publica- 
 tion. 
 
 Cried " On for his house in Stanegirthside. P. 153. v. 3. 
 
 A house belonging to the Foresters, situated on the English 
 side of the Liddel. 
 
 An article in the list of attempts upon England, fouled by
 
 158 
 
 the commissioners at Berwick, in the year 1587, may relate to 
 the subject of the foregoing ballad. 
 
 October, 1582. 
 
 Thomas Musgrave, de- ^ Walter Scott, laird -^ 200 kine and 
 patj of Bewcastle, and< of Buckluth, and his > oxer.,300 gait 
 the tenants, against ^ complices; for * and sheep. 
 
 Introduction to the History of Westmoreland and Cumber- 
 land, p. SI.
 
 159 
 
 THE 
 
 RAID OF THE REIDSWIRE. 
 
 1 his poem is published from a copy in the Bannatyne 
 MS. in the hand-writing of the Hon. Mr Carmichael, ad- 
 vocate. It first appeared in Allan Ramsay's Evergreen, 
 but some liberties have been taken by him in transcribing 
 it ; and, what is altogether unpardonable, the MS., which 
 is itself rather inaccurate, has been interpolated to fa- 
 vour his readings ; of which there remain obvious marks. 
 The skirmish of the Reidswire happened upon the 7th 
 of June, 1575, at one of the meetings, held by the war- 
 dens of the marches, for arrangements necessary upon the 
 border. Sir John Carmichael, ancestor of the present 
 Earl of Hyndford, was the Scottish warden, and Sir John 
 
 Forster held that office on the English middle march 
 
 In the course of the day, which was employed, as usual, 
 in redressing wrongs, a bill, or indictment, at the instance 
 of a Scottish complainer, was fouled (i. e. found a true 
 bill) against one Farnstein, a notorious English freebooter. 
 
 12
 
 J 60 
 
 Forster alleged that he had fled from justice : Carmichaei 
 considering this as a pretext to avoid making compensa- 
 tion for the felony, bade him " play fair !" to which the 
 haughty English warden retorted, by some injurious ex- 
 pressions respecting Carmichael's family, and gave other 
 open signs of resentment. His retinue, chiefly men of 
 Reesdale andTynedale, the most ferocious of the English 
 borderers, glad of any pretext for a quarrel, discharged a 
 flight of arrows among the Scots. A warm conflict en- 
 sued, in which, Carmichaei being beat down and made 
 prisoner, success seemed at first to incline to the English 
 side j till the Tynedale men, throwing themselves too 
 greedily upon the plunder, fell into disorder ; and a body 
 of Jedburgh citizens arriving at that instant, the skirmish 
 terminated in a complete victory on the part of the Scots, 
 who took prisoners, the English warden, James Ogle, 
 Cuthbert Collingwood, Francis Russel, son to the Earl of 
 Bedford, and son-in-law to Forster, some of the Fenwicks, 
 and several other border chiefs. They were sent to the 
 Earl of Morton, then regent, who detained them at Dal- 
 keith for some days, till the heat of their resentment was 
 abated ; which prudent precaution prevented a war be- 
 twixt the two kingdoms. He then dismissed them with 
 great expressions of regard ; and, to satisfy Queen Eliza- 
 beth,* sent up Carmichaei to York, whence he was soon 
 
 * Her ambassador at Edinburgh refused to lie in a bed of state 
 which had been provided for him, till this " oudioutfact" had been 
 enquired into. Murdins State Papers, Vol. II. p. 282.
 
 I6i 
 
 after honourably dismissed. The field of battle, called 
 the Reidswire, is a part of the Carter Mountain, about 
 ten miles from Jedburgh. See, for these particulars, 
 Godsavft, Spottiswoode, and Johnstone's History. 
 
 The editor has adopted the modern spelling of the word 
 Reidswire, to prevent the mistake in pronunciation which 
 might be occasioned by the use of the Scottish qu for w. 
 The MS. reads Reidsquair. Swair, or Swire, signifies 
 the descent of a hill ; and the epithet Red is derived from 
 the colour of the heath, or, perhaps, from the Reid-water, 
 which rises at no great distance. 
 
 tOL. 1.
 
 162 
 
 THB 
 
 RAID OF THE REIDSWIRE. 
 
 The seventh of July, the suith to say, 
 
 At the Reidswire the tryst was set ; 
 Our wardens they affixed the day, 
 
 And, as they promised, so they met. 
 
 Alas ! that day I'll ne'er forgett ! 
 Was sure sae feard, and then sae faine 
 
 They came theare justice for to gett, 
 Will never green * to come again. 
 
 Carmichael was our warden then, 
 He caused the country to conveen ; 
 
 And the Laird's Wat, that worthie man, 
 Brought in that sirname weil beseen : f 
 
 * Green Long. 
 
 f Weil beseen Well appointed. The word occurs in Morte 
 Arthur : " And when Sir Percival saw this, he hied them thither,
 
 163 
 
 The Armestranges, that aye hae been 
 A hardie house, but not a hail, 
 
 The Elliot's honours to maintaine, 
 Brought down the lave * o' Liddesdale. 
 
 Then Tividale came to wi' speid ; 
 
 The sheriffe brought the Douglas down, 
 Wi' Cranstane, Gladstain, good at need, 
 
 Baith Rewle water, and Hawick town. 
 
 Beanjeddart bauldly made him boun, 
 Wi' a' the Trumbills, stronge and stout ; 
 
 The Rutherfoords, with grit renown, 
 Convoyed the town of Jedbrugh out. 
 
 Of other clans I cannot tell, 
 
 Because our warning was not wide. 
 Be this our folks hae taen the fell, 
 
 And planted down palliones-f- there to bide, 
 
 We looked down the other side, 
 And saw come breasting ower the brae, 
 
 Wi' Sir John Forster for their guyde, 
 Full fifteen hundred men and mae. 
 
 " and found the ship covered with silke, more blacker than 
 " anybeare; and therein was a gentlewoman, of great beautie, 
 " and she was richly beseene, that none might be better." 
 * Lave Remainder. f Palliones- Tents.
 
 164 
 
 It grieved him sair, that day, I trow, 
 
 Wi' Sir George Hearoune of Schipsydehouse : 
 Because we were not men enow, 
 
 They counted us not worth a louse. 
 
 Sir George was gentle, rneek, and douse, 
 But he was hail and het as fire ; 
 
 And yet, for all his cracking crouse,* 
 He rewd the raid o' the Reidswire. 
 
 To deal with proud men is but pain ; 
 
 For either must ye fight or flee, 
 Or else no answer make again, 
 
 But play the beast, and let them be. 
 
 It was na wonder he was hie, 
 Had Tindaill, Reedsdaill, at his hand, 
 
 Wi' Cukdaill, Gladsdaill on the lee, 
 And Hebsrime, and Northumberland. 
 
 Yett was our meeting meek enough, 
 Begun wi' merriment and mowe6, 
 
 And at the brae, aboon the heugh, 
 The dark sate down to call the rowes. \ 
 And some for kyne, and some for ewes, 
 
 Called in of Dandrie, Hob, and Jock 
 We saw, come marching ower the knows, - 
 
 Five hundred Fennicks in a flock. 
 
 * Craking crouse Talking big. f Rowes Rolls.
 
 165 
 
 With jack and speir, and bows all bent, 
 
 And warlike weapons at their will : 
 Although we were na well content, 
 
 Yet, be my trouth, we feard no ill. 
 
 Some gaed to drink, and some stude still, 
 And some to cards and dice them sped ; 
 
 Till on ane Farnstein they fyled a bill, 
 And he was fugitive and fled. 
 
 Carmichael bade them speik out plainlie, 
 And cloke no cause for ill nor good ; 
 
 The other, answering him as vainlie, 
 Began to reckon kin and blood : 
 He raise, and raxed * him where he stood, 
 
 And bade him match him with his marrows, 
 Then Tindaill heard them reasun rude, 
 
 And they loot off a flight of arrows. 
 
 Then was there nought but bow and speir, 
 
 And every man pulled out a brand ; x 
 
 " A Schaftan and a Fenwick" thare : 
 
 Gude Symington was slain frae hand. 
 
 The Scotsmen cried on other to stand, 
 Frae time they saw John Robson slain- 
 
 What should they cry ? the king's command 
 Could cause no cowards turn again. 
 
 * Raxed him Stretched himself up.
 
 166 
 
 Up rose the laird to red the cumber, * 
 
 Which would not be for all his boast ; 
 What could we doe with sic a number ? 
 
 Fyve thousand men into a host. 
 
 Then Henry Purdie proved his cost, f 
 And very narrowlie had mischiefed him, 
 
 And there we had our warden lost, 
 Wert not the grit God he relieved him. 
 
 Another throw the breiks him bair, 
 
 Whill flallies to the ground he fell : 
 Than thought I weel we had lost him there, 
 
 Into my stomack it struck a knell ! 
 
 Yet up he raise the treuth to tell ye, 
 And laid about him dints full dour ; 
 
 His horsemen they raid sturdily, 
 And stude about him in the stoure. 
 
 Then raise J the Slogan with ane shout 
 " Fy Tindaill to it ! Jedbrugh's here !" 
 
 I trow he was not half sae stout, 
 But || anis his stomach was asteir. 
 
 * Red the cumber Quell the tumult. 
 
 t Cost Signifies loss or risk. J Raise Rose. 
 
 || Bur, <J-c. Till once his anger was up.
 
 167 
 
 With gun and genzie, * bow and speir, 
 Men might see mony a cracked crown ! 
 
 But up amang the merchant geir, 
 They were as busy as we were down. 
 
 The swallow tail frae tackles flew, 
 
 Five hundreth flain*f* into a flight, 
 But we had pestelets anow, 
 
 And shot among them as we might. 
 
 With help of God the game gaed right, 
 Frae time the foremost of them fell ; 
 
 Then ower the know without goodnight, 
 They ran with raony a shout and yell. 
 
 But after they had turned backs, 
 
 Yet Tindaill men they turned again ; 
 And had not been the merchant packs, 
 
 There had been mae of Scotland slain. 
 
 But, Jesu ! if the folks were fain 
 To put the bussing on their thies ; 
 
 And so they fled, wi' a* their main, 
 Down ower the brae, like clogged bees. 
 
 * Genzie Engine of War. 
 
 f Flain Arrows ; hitherto absurdly printed slain,
 
 168 
 
 Sir Francis Russel ta'en was there, 
 
 And hurt, as we hear men rehearse j 
 Proud Wallinton was wounded sair, 
 
 Albeit he be a Fennick fierce. 
 
 But if ye wald a souldier search, 
 Among them a' were ta'en that night, 
 
 Was nane sae wordie to put in verse, 
 A9 Collingwood, that courteous knight. 
 
 Young Henry Schafton, he is hurt ; 
 
 A souldier shot him wi' a bow : 
 Scotland has cause to mak great sturt, 
 
 For laiming of the laird of Mow. 
 
 The Laird's Wat did weel, indeed ; 
 His friends stood stoutlie by himsel', 
 
 With little Gladstain, gude in need, 
 For Gretein kend na gude be ill. 
 
 The SherifYe wanted not gude will, 
 
 Howbeit he might not fight so fast; 
 Beanjeddart, Hundlie, and Hunthill, 
 
 Three, on they laid weel at the last. 
 
 Except the horsemen of the guard, 
 If I could put men to availe, 
 
 None stoutlier stood out for their laird, 
 Nor did the lads of Liddisdail.
 
 169 
 
 But little harness had we there ; 
 
 But auld Badreule had on a jack, 
 And did right weel, I you declare, 
 
 With all his Trumbills at his back. 
 
 Gude Elderstane was not to lack, 
 Nor Kirktoun, Newton, noble men! 
 
 Thirs * all the specials I of speake, 
 By f others that I could not ken. 
 
 Who did invent that day of play, 
 
 We need not fear to find him soon ; 
 For Sir John Forster, I dare well say, 
 
 Made us this noisome afternoon. 
 
 Not that I speak preceislie out, 
 That he supposed it would be perril ; 
 
 But pride, and breaking out of feuid, 
 Garr'd Tindaill lads begin the quarrel. 
 
 * Thin These are. f By Besides.
 
 170 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 THE RAID OF THE REIDSWIRE. 
 
 Carmichael was our warden then. P. 162. v. 2. 
 Sir John Carmichael was a favourite of the regent Morton, 
 by whom he was appointed warden of the middle marches, in 
 preference to the border chieftains. With the like policy, the 
 regent married Archibald Carmichael, the warden's brother, to 
 the heiress of Edrom, in the Merse, much contrary to the in- 
 clination of the lady and her friends. In like manner, he com- 
 pelled another heiress, Jane Sleigh, of Cumlege, to marry Ar- 
 chibald, brother to Auchinleck of Auchinleck, one of his de- 
 pendants. By such arbitrary practices, Morton meant to 
 strengthen his authority on the borders; instead of which, he 
 hastened his fall, by giving disgust to his kinsman the Earl of 
 Angus, and his other friends, who had been established in the 
 country for ages. Godscrqft, Vol. II. Pages 238. 246. Sir 
 John Carmichael, the warden, was murdered 16th June, 1600, 
 by a party of borderers, at a place called Raesknows, near 
 Lochraaben, whither he was going to hold a court of justice. 
 Two of the ring-leaders in the slaughter, Thomas Armstrong, 
 called Ringan's Tarn, and Adam Scott, called the Pecket, were 
 tried at Edinburgh, at the instance of Carmichael of Edrom. 
 They were condemned to have their right hands struck off,
 
 171 
 
 thereafter to be hanged, and their bodies gibbetted on the 
 Borough Moor ; which sentence was executed 14th Novem- 
 ber, 1601. " This Pecket, (saith Birrel in his Diary,) was 
 " ane of the maist notalrie thieffes that ever raid ;" he calls 
 his name Steill, which appears, from the record, to be a mis- 
 take. Four years afterwards, an Armstrong, called Sandy of 
 Rowanburn, and several others of that tribe, were executed 
 for this and other excesses. Books of Adjournal of these dates. 
 
 And the bird's Wat, that zcorthie man. P. 162, v. 2. 
 
 The chief, who led out the sirname of Scott upon this occa- 
 sion, was (saith Satchells) Walter Scott of Ancrum, a natural 
 son of Walter of Buccleuch. The laird of Buccleuch was then 
 a minor. The ballad seems to have been popular in Satchells' 
 days, for he quotes it literally. He must, however, have been 
 mistaken in this particular ; for the family of Scott of Ancrum, 
 in all our books of genealogy, deduce their descent from the 
 Scotts of Balwearie in Fife, whom they represent. The first 
 of this family, settled in Roxburghshire, is stated in Douglas 7 
 Baronage to have been Patrick Scott, who purchased the lands 
 of Ancrum in the reign of James VI. He therefore could 
 not be the Laird's Wat of the ballad ; indeed, from the list of 
 border families in 1597, Ker appears to have been proprietor 
 of Ancrum at the date of the ballad. It is plainly written in 
 the MS. the Laird's Wat, i. e., the Laird's son Wat; notwith- 
 standing which, it has always hitherto been printed the Laird 
 Wat. IS Douglas be accurate in his genealogy, the person 
 meant must be the young laird of Buccleuch, afterwards dis- 
 tinguished for his surprise of Carlisle Castle. See Kinmont 
 Willie. I am the more confirmed in this opinion, because 
 Kerr of Ancrum was at this time a fugitive, for slaying one of 
 the Rutherfords, and the tower of Ancrum given in keeping to 
 the Turnbulls, his hereditary enemies. His mother, however, 
 a daughter of Home of Wedderburn, contrived to turn out the 
 Turnbulls, and possess herself of the place by surprise. Gods- 
 croft, Vol. II. p. 250.
 
 172 
 
 The Armcstranges, that aye hoe been. P. 163. v. 1, 
 
 This clan are here mentioned as not being hail, or whole, 
 because they were outlawed or broken men. Indeed, many of 
 them had become Englishmen, as the phrase then went. Ac- 
 cordingly, we find, from Paton, that forty of them, under the 
 laird of Mangertoun, joined Somerset upon his expedition into 
 Scotland. Paton in Dalyell's Fragments, p. 1. There was 
 an old. alliance betwixt the Elliots and Armstrongs, here allu- 
 ded to. For the enterprises of the Armstrongs, against their 
 native country, when under English assurance, see Murdin's 
 State Papers, Vol. I. p. 43. From which it appears, that, by 
 command of Sir Ralph Evers, this clan ravaged almost the 
 whole west border of Scotland. 
 
 The sheriffe brought the Douglas down. P. 163. v. 2, 
 
 Douglas of Cavers, hereditary sheriff of Teviotdale, descend- 
 ed from Black Archibald, who carried the standard of his fa- 
 ther, the Earl of Douglas, at the battle of Otterbourne. See 
 the Ballad of that name. 
 
 Wt Cranstone, Gladstone, good at need. P. 163. v. 2. 
 
 Cranstoun of that ilk, ancestor to Lord Cranstoun; and 
 Gladstain of Gladstains. 
 
 Wi a the Trumbills, stronge and stout ; 
 
 The Rutherfoords, with grit renown. P. 163. v. 2. 
 
 These were ancient and powerful border clans, residing 
 chiefly upon the river Jed. lleuce, they naturally convoyed 
 the town of Jedburgh out. Although notorious freebooters, 
 they were specially patronised by Morton, who, by their means, 
 endeavoured to counterpoise the power of Buccleuch and Fer- 
 niherst, during the civil wars attached to the queen's faction. 
 
 The foilowinu; fragment of an old ballad is quoted in a letter 
 from an aged gentleman of this name, residing at New-York, 
 to a friend in Scotland :
 
 173 
 
 " Bauld Rutherfurd, he was fow stout, 
 " Wi' a' his nine sons him round about ; 
 " He led the town o' Jedburgh out, 
 " All bravely fought that day." 
 
 W? Sir John Foster for their guyde.P. 16S. v. 3. 
 
 This gentleman is called, erroneously, in some copies of this 
 ballad, Sir George. He was warden of the mid-marches of 
 England. 
 
 Wi' Sir George Hearoune of Schipsydeh6v.se. P. 164. v. 1. 
 
 Sir George Heron of Chipchase-house, whose character is 
 contrasted with that of the English warden. 
 
 Had Tindaill, Reedsdaill at his hand. P. 164. v. 2. 
 
 These are districts, or dales, on the English border. Hebs- 
 rime seems to be an error in the MS. for Hebburn upon the 
 Till. 
 
 Five Hundred Fennicks in a flock. P. 164. v. 3. 
 
 The Fenwicks ; a powerful and numerous Northumberland 
 clan. 
 
 Then raise the slogan with ane shout. P. 166. v. 3. 
 
 The gathering word, peculiar to a certain name, or set of 
 people, was termed slogan or slughorn, and was always re- 
 peated at an onset, as well as on many other occasions, as ap- 
 pears from the following passage of an old author, whom this 
 custom seems much to have offended for he complains, 
 
 " That whereas alweys, both in al tounes of war, and in al 
 " campes of armies, quietnes and stilnes without nois is princi- 
 " pally in the night, after the watch is set, observed (I need 
 u not reason why.) Yet, our northern prikkers, the borderers, 
 '* notwithstanding, with great enormitie, (as thought me) and 
 " not unlyke (to be playn) unto a masterless hounde houyling 
 " in a hie wey, when he hath lost him he wayted upon, sum 
 " hoopying, sum whistelyng, and most with crying, a Berzoyke! 
 u a Berzoyke ! a Fenzcyke ! a Fenzoyke ! a Buhner ' a Bid-
 
 174 
 
 " tner ! or so otherwise as theyr captein's names wear, never 
 " linnde those troublous and daungerous noyses all the night 
 " long. They sayd they did it to fynd out their captein and 
 " fc-llmves; but if the soldiours of our oother countries and 
 " sheres had used the same mancr, in that case we shoold have 
 " oftvmes had the state of our campe more lyke the outrage of 
 u a dissolute huntyng, than the quiet of a wel ordred army." 
 Patten t Account of Somerset's Expedition, p. 76. ApudDal' 
 yell's Fragments. 
 
 Honest Patten proceeds, with great prolixity, to prove, that 
 this was a custom more honoured in the breach than in the ob- 
 servance ; and, like Fluellen, declares, " that such idle pribble 
 " prabbles were contrary to all the good customs and disciplines 
 u of war." Nevertheless, the custom of crying the slogan or 
 ensenzie, is often alluded to in ail our ancient histories and 
 poems. It was usually the name of the clan, or place of ren- 
 dezvous, or leader. In 1S35, the English, led by Thomas of 
 Rosslyne, and William Moubray, assaulted Aberdeen. The 
 former was mortally wounded in the onset; and, as his follow- 
 ers were pressing forward, shouting Rosslyne ! Rosslyne ! " Cry 
 " Moubray," said the expiring chieftain ; " Rosslyne is gone !" 
 The Highland clans had also their appropriate slogans. The 
 Macdonalds cried Frich. (heather;) the Macphersons, Craig- 
 Ubh ; the Grants Craig-Elachie ; and the Macfarlanes Locft- 
 Sloy. 
 
 The swallow iaillfrae tacklessflew. P. 167. v. 2. 
 
 The Scots, on this occasion, seem to have had chiefly fire- 
 arms ; the English retaining still their partiality for their an- 
 cient weapon, the long-bow. It also appears, by a letter from 
 the Duke of Norfolk to Cecil, that the English borderers were 
 unskilful in fire-arms, or, as he says, " our countrymen be not 
 " so commyng with shots as I woolde wishe." See Murdirts 
 State Papers, Vol. I. p. 319. 
 
 And had not been the merchant packs. P. 167. v. 3. 
 The ballad-maker here ascribes the victory to the real cause ;
 
 175 
 
 for, the English borderers, dispersing to plunder the merchan- 
 dise, gave the opposite party time to recover from their sur- 
 prise. It seems to have been usual for travelling merchants to 
 attend border-meetings, although one would have thought the 
 kind of company, usually assembled there, might have deterred 
 them. 
 
 Sir Francis liussel ta'en was there, P. 168. v. 1. 
 
 This gentleman was son to the Earl of Bedford. He was af- 
 terwards killed in a fray of a similar nature, at a border-meet- 
 ing, between the same Sir John Forster (father-in-law to Rus- 
 sell,) and Thomas Kerr of Fairnihurst, A, D. 1585. 
 
 Proud Wallinton was -wounded sair. P. 168. v. 1. 
 Fenwick of Wellington, a powerful Northumbrian chief. 
 
 As Collingwood, that courteous knight. P. 168. v. 1. 
 
 Sir Cuthbert Collingwood. Besides these gentlemen, James 
 Ogle, and many other Northumbrians of nole, were made pri- 
 soners. Sir George Heron, of Chipchase and Ford, was slain, 
 to the great regret of both parties, being a man highly esteem- 
 ed by the Scots, as well as the English. When the prisoners 
 were brought to Morton, at Dalkeith, and, among other pre- 
 sents, received from him some Scottish falcons, one of his train 
 observed, that the English were nobly treated, since they got 
 live hawks for dead herons. Godscrqft. 
 
 Young Henry Schafton. P. 168. v. 2. 
 
 The name of this gentleman does not appear in the MS. in 
 the Advocates' Library, but is restored from a copy in single 
 sheet, printed early in the last century. 
 
 For laiming of the laird of Mow. P. 168. v. 2. 
 
 An ancient family on the borders. The lands of Mowe are 
 situated upon the river Bowmont, in Roxburghshire. The fa- 
 mily is now represented by William Molle, Esq. of Mains, who 
 has restored the ancient spelling of the name. The laird of
 
 176 
 
 Mowe, here mentioned, was the only gentleman of note killed 
 in the skirmish on the Scottish side. 
 
 For Gretein kend na gude be i7/. P. 168. v. 2 . 
 Graden, a family of Kerrs. 
 
 Beanjeddarty Hundlic, and HunthilLP. 168. v. 3. 
 
 Douglas of Beanjeddart, an ancient branch of the house of 
 Cavers, possessing property near the junction of the Jed and 
 Teviot. 
 
 Hundlic Rutherford of Hundlie, or Hundalee, situated on 
 the Jed, above Jedburgh. 
 
 Hunthill. The old tower of Hunthill was situated about a 
 mile above Jedburgh. It was the patrimony of an ancient fa- 
 mily of Rutherfords. I suppose the person, here meant, to be 
 the same who is renowned in tradition by the name of the 
 Cock of Hunthill. His sons were executed for march-treason, 
 or border-theft, along with the lairds of Corbet, Greenhead, 
 and Overton, A. D. 1588. Johnston's History, p. 129. 
 
 But auld Badreule had on ajack.~-P. 169. v. 1. 
 
 Sir Andrew Turnbull of Bedrule, upon Rule Water. This 
 old laird was so notorious a thief, that the principal gentlemen 
 of the clans of Hume and Kerr refused to sign a bond of alli- 
 ance, to which he, with the Tiirnbulls and Rutherfords, was a 
 party; alleging, that their proposed allies had stolen Hume of 
 Wedderbum's cattle. The authority of Morton, however, com- 
 pelled them to digest the affront . The debate (and a curious 
 one it is) may be seen at length in Godscrqft, Vol. I. p. 221. 
 The Rutherfords became more lawless after having been de- 
 prived of the countenance of the court, for slaying the nephew 
 of Forman, archbishop of St Andrews, who hail attempted to 
 carry off the heiress of Rutherford. This lady was afterwards 
 married to James Stuart of Traquair, son to James, Earl of 
 Buchan, according to a papal bull, dated 9th November, 1504. 
 By this lady a great estate in Tiviotdale fell to the family of 
 Traquair, which was sold by James, Earl of Traquair, lord-
 
 177 
 
 high-treasurer of Scotland, in consequence of the pecuniary dif- 
 ficulties to which he was reduced, by his loyal exertions in fa- 
 vour of Charles I. 
 
 Gude Ederstane was not to lack. P. 169. v. 1. 
 
 An ancient' family of Rutherfords ; I believe, indeed, the 
 most ancient now extant. The family is represented by Major 
 Rutherford of Edgerstane. His seat is about three miles dis- 
 tant from the field of battle. 
 
 Nor Kirktoun, Newtoun, noble men ! P. 169. v. I. 
 
 The parish of Kirktoun belonged, I believe, about this time, 
 to a branch of the Cavers family ; but Kirkton of Stewartfield 
 is mentioned in the list of border clans in 1597. 
 
 Newtown. This is probably Grinyslaw of Little Newton, 
 mentioned in the said roll of border clans. 
 
 vol. v\> aj
 
 27$- 
 
 KINMONT WILLIE. 
 
 In the following rude strains, our forefathers commemo- 
 rated one of the last, and most gallant achievements, per- 
 formed upon the border. The reader will find, in the 
 subjoined extract from Spottiswoode, a minute historical 
 account of the exploit; which is less different from that 
 contained in the ballad than might perhaps have been 
 expected. 
 
 Anno, 1596." The next year began with a trouble in 
 " the borders, which was like to have destroyed the peace 
 " betwixt the two realms, and arose upon this occasion. 
 " The Lord Scroop being the warden of the west marches 
 " of England, and the laird of Bacleuch having the 
 " charge of Liddesdale, they seut their deputies to keep 
 a day of truce, for redress of some ordinary matters 
 " The place of meeting was at the Day holme of Kershop, 
 " where a small brook divideth England from Scotland, 
 " and Liddesdale from Bawcastle. There met, as deputy 
 " for the laird of Bacleuch, Robert Scott of Hayninge j 
 
 12
 
 1 79 
 
 and for the Lord Scroop, a gentleman within the west 
 ** wardenry, called Mr Saikeld. These two, after truce 
 " taken and proclaimed, as the custom was, by sound of 
 " trumpet, met friendly, and, upon mutual redress of such 
 " wrongs as were then complained of, parted in good 
 " terms, each of them taking his way homewards. Mean- 
 
 * while it happened, one William Armstrong, commonly 
 " called Will of Kinmonth, to be in company with the 
 " Scottish deputy, against whom the English had a quar- 
 ' rel, for many wrongs he had committed, as he was in- 
 " deed a notorious thief. This man, having taken his leave 
 f of the Scots deputy, and riding down the river of Liddel 
 " on the Scottish side, towards his own house, was pur- 
 ** sued by the English, who espied him from the other side 
 
 * of the river, and, after a chace of three or four miles, 
 - taken prisoner, and brought back to the English depu- 
 " ty, who carried him away to the castle of Carlisle. 
 
 f* The laird of Bacleuch complaining of the breach of 
 " truce (which was always taken from the time of meet- 
 *' ing, unto the next day at sun-rising,) wrote to Mr Sal- 
 ** keld, and craved redress. He excused himself by the 
 *' absence of the Lord Scroop. Whereupon Bacleuch sent 
 " to the Lord Scroop, and desired the prisoner might be 
 *' set at liberty, without any bond or condition, seeing he 
 u was unlawfully taken. Scroop answered, that he could 
 " do nothing in the matter, it having so happened, with- 
 " out a direction from the queen and council of Eng- 
 ** land, considering the man was such a malefactor.**-
 
 180 
 
 ? Bacleuch, loth to inform the king of what was done, 
 " lest it might have hred some misliking betwixt the 
 " princes, dealt with Mr Bowes, the resident ambassador 
 " of England, for the prisoner's liberty ; who wrote very 
 " seriously to the Lord Scroop in that business, advising 
 " him to set the man free, and not to bring the matter to 
 " a further hearing. But no answer was returned : the 
 " matter thereupon was imparted to the king, and the 
 u queen of England solicited by letters to give direction 
 " for his liberty; yet nothing was obtained; which Ba- 
 " cleuch perceiving, and apprehending both the king, and 
 " himself as the king's officer, to be touched in honour, 
 " he resolved to work the prisoner's relief, by the best 
 '.' means he could. 
 
 " And, upon intelligence that the castle of Carlisle, 
 " wherein the prisoner was kept, was surprisable, he em- 
 <s ployed some trusty persons to take a view of the pos- 
 " tern gate, and measure the height of the wall, which 
 " he meant to scale by ladders, and, if those failed, to 
 . " break through the wall with some iron instruments, 
 " and force the gates. This done, so closely as he could, 
 . " he drew together some two hundred horse, assigning the 
 " place of meeting at the tower of Morton, some ten 
 " miles from Carlisle, an hour before sun-set. With this 
 " company, passing the water of Esk, about the falling, 
 " two hours before day, he crossed Eden beneath Carlisle 
 '* bridge (the water, through the rain that had fallen, be- 
 " ing thick,) and came to the Sacery, a plain under the
 
 181 
 
 w castle. There making a little halt, at the side of a 
 
 * small bourn, which they call Cadage, he caused eighty 
 ** of the company to light from their horses, and take the 
 ** ladders, and other instruments which he had prepared, 
 ** with them. He himself, accompanying them to the 
 " foot of the wall, caused the ladders to be set to it, 
 ** which proving too short, he gave order to use the other 
 
 * instruments for opening the wall nigh the postern; and 
 
 * finding the business likely to succeed, retired to the rest 
 " whom he had left on horseback, for assuring those that 
 
 * entered upon the castle against any eruption from the 
 " town. With some little labor a breach was made forsin- 
 " gle men to enter, and they who first went in, broke open 
 " the postern for the rest. The watchmen, and some few 
 
 * the noise awaked, made a little restraint, but they were 
 " quickly repressed, and taken captive. After which, they 
 ** passed to the chamber wherein the prisoner was kept ; 
 n and, having brought him forth, sounded a trumpet, 
 ** which was a signal to them without that the enterprize 
 " was performed. My Lord Scroope and Mr Salkeld 
 *' were both within the house, and to them the prisoner 
 " cried, a good night !' The captives taken in the first 
 " encounter were brought to Bacleuch, who presently 
 " returned them to their master, and would not suffer any 
 spoil, or booty, as they term it, to be carried away ; 
 * he had straitly forbidden to break open any door, but 
 
 * that where the prisoner was kept, though he might have 
 w made prey of all the goods within the castle, and taken
 
 183 
 
 u the warden himself captive; for he would have it seen, 
 " that he did intend nothing but the reparation of his ma- 
 jesty's honor. By this time, the prisoner was brought 
 " forth, the town had taken the alarm, the drums were 
 " beating, the bells ringing, and a beacon put on the top 
 of the castle, to give warning to the country. Where- 
 " upon Bacleuch commanded those that entered the cas- 
 " tie, and the prisoner, to horse ; and marching again by 
 " the Sacery, made to the river at the Stony-bank, on the 
 " other side, whereof certain were assembled to stop his 
 9. passage; but he causing to sound the trumpet, took 
 " the river, day being then broken, and they choosing to 
 " give him way, he retired in order through the Grahams 
 " of Esk (men at that time of great power, and his un- 
 friends,) and came back into Scottish ground two hours 
 *' after sun-rising, and so homewards. 
 
 This fell out the 1 3th of April, 1 596. The queen of 
 " England, having notice sent her of what was done, 
 " stormed not a little. One of her chief castles surprised; 
 " a prisoner taken forth of the hands of the warden, and 
 " carried away, so far within England, she esteemed a 
 great affront. The lieger, Mr Bowes, in a frequent 
 " convention kept at Edinburgh, the 22d of May, did, as 
 <* he was charged, in a long oration, aggravate the hei- 
 " nousness of the fact, concluding that peace could not 
 
 * longer continue betwixt the two realms, unless Ba- 
 
 cleuch were delivered in England, to be punished at the 
 " queen's pleasure. Bacleuch compearing, and charged
 
 loo 
 
 *' with the fact, made answer' That he went not into 
 *' England with intention to assault any of the queen's 
 " houses, or to do wrong to any of her subjects, but only 
 u to relieve a subject of Scotland unlawfully taken, and 
 " more unlawfully detained ; that, in the time of a gene- 
 " ral assurance, in a day of truce, he wa * taken prisoner 
 " against all order, neither did he attempt his relief till 
 " redress was refused j and that he had carried the busi- 
 " ness in such a moderate manner, as no hostility was 
 ** committed, nor the least wrong offered to any within 
 " the castle ; yet was he content, according to the an- 
 " cient treaties observed betwixt the two realms, when as 
 " mutual injuries were alleged,, to be tried by the com- 
 " missioners that it should please their majesties to ap- 
 " point, and submit himself to that which they should 
 " decern.' The convention, esteeming the answer rea- 
 " sonable, did acquaint the ambassador therewith, and of- 
 " fered to send commissioners to the borders, with all di- 
 " ligence, to treat with such as the queen should be plea- 
 " sed to appoint for her part. 
 
 " But she, not satisfied with the answer, refused to ap- 
 
 * point any commissioners ; whereupon the council of 
 "England did renew the complaint in July thereafter; 
 " and the business being of new agitated, it was resolved 
 
 * of as before, and that the same should be remitted to 
 u the trial of commissioners : the king protesting, * that 
 *? he might, with great reason, crave the delivery of Lord 
 
 * Scroope, for the injury committed by his deputy, it be-
 
 JM- 
 
 " ing less favourable to take a prisoner, than relieve him 
 *' that is unlawfully taken ; yet, for the continuing of 
 " peace, he would forbear to do it, and omit nothing, on 
 " his part, that could be desired, either in equity, or by 
 "the laws of friendship.' The borders, in the mean 
 ** time, making daily incursions one upon another, filled 
 " all their parts with trouble, the English being continu- 
 " ally put to the worse ; neither were they made quiet, 
 ** till, for satisfying the queen, the laird of Bacleuch was 
 " first committed in St Andrews, and afterwards entered 
 *'' in England, where he remained not long." * Spottis- 
 ivood's History of the Church of Scotland, p. 4 14-, 416, 
 Ed. 1677. 
 
 Scott of Satchells, in the extraordinary poetical per- 
 formance, which he has been pleased to entitle A His- 
 tory of the name of Scott (published 1688,) dwells, with 
 great pleasure, upon this gallant atchievement, at which, 
 it would seem, his father had been present. He also 
 mentions, that the laird of Buccleuch employed the servi- 
 ces of the younger sons and brothers only of his clan, lest 
 the name should have been weakened by the landed men 
 incurring forfeiture. But he adds, that three gentlemen 
 of estate insisted upon attending their chief, notwithstand- 
 
 * The bishop is, in this last particular, rather inaccurate. Buc- 
 cleuch was indeed delivered into England, but this was done in 
 consequence of the judgment of commissioners of both nations, 
 w lio met at Berwick this same year. And hisdelivery took place, 
 less on account of the raid of Carlisle, than of a second exploit 
 of the same nature} to be noticed hereafter.
 
 185 
 
 Sng this prohibition. These were, the lairds of Harden 
 and Commonside, and Sir Gilbert Elliot of the Stobbs, a 
 relation of the laird of Buccleuch, and ancestor to the pre- 
 sent Sir William Elliot, Bart. In many things Satchells 
 agrees with the ballads current in his time, from which, 
 in all probability, he derived most of his information as 
 to past events, and from which he sometimes pirates 
 whole verses, as noticed in the annotations upon the Raid 
 of the Reidswire. In the present instance, he mentions 
 the prisoner's large spurs, (alluding to the fetters,) and 
 some other little incidents noticed in the ballad, which 
 was, therefore, probably well known in his days. 
 
 All contemporary historians unite in extolling the deed 
 itself as the most daring and well-conducted atchievement 
 of that age. '* Audaxf acinus cum modica manu, in urbe 
 " moenibus et multitudine oppidanorum mvnita, et callidx 
 " audaciec, vix ullo obsisti modo poluit." Johnstoni His- 
 toria, Ed. Amstal. p. 215. Birrel, in his gossipping way, 
 says, the exploit was performed " with shouting and cry- 
 " ing, and sound of trumpet, puttand the said toun and 
 * countrie in sic ane fray, that the like of sic ane wassal- 
 " adge wes nevir done since the memory of man, no not in 
 " Wallace dayis." Birrel* s Diary, April 6, 1596. This 
 good old citizen of Edinburgh also mentions another inci- 
 dent, which I think proper to insert here, both as relating 
 to the personages mentioned in the following ballad, and 
 as tending to shew the light in which the men of the bor- 
 der were regarded, even at this late period, by their fel-
 
 180 
 
 low subjects. The author is talking of the king's re- 
 turn to Edinburgh, after the disgrace which he had sus- 
 tained there, during the riot excited by the seditious mi- 
 nisters, on December J 7, 1596. Proclamation had been 
 made, that the Earl of Mar should keep the West Port, 
 Lord Seton the Nether-Bow, and Buccleuch, with sundry 
 others, the High Gate. " Upon the morn, at this time, 
 
 * and befoir this day, thair wes ane grate rumour and 
 *' word among the tounesmen, that the kinges M. sould 
 " send in Will Kinmond, the common ihieffe, and so many 
 " southland men as sould spulye the toun or' Edinburgh. 
 " Upon the whilk, the haill merchants tuik thair haill 
 " gear out of their buiths or chops, and transportit the 
 " same to the strongest hous that wes in the toune, and 
 " remained in the said hous, thair, with thameseltis, thair 
 " servants, and luiking for nothing bot that thai sould 
 
 have been all spulyeit. Sic lyke the hail craftsmen and 
 " comons convenit themseltis, thair best guides, as it wer 
 " ten or twelve householdes in ane, whilk wes the strong- 
 " est hous, and might be best kepit from spuilyeing or 
 " burning, with hagbut, pistolet, and other sic armour, 
 " as might best defend thameseltis. Judge, gentill reider, 
 " giff this wes playing." The fear of the borderers be-, 
 ing thus before the eyes of the contumacious citizens of 
 Edinburgh, James obtained a quiet hearing for one of 
 his favourite orisones, or harangues, and was finally 
 enabled to prescribe terms to. his fanatic metropolis. 
 Good discipline was, however, maintained by the chiefs
 
 187 
 
 upon this occasion; although the fears of the inhabitants 
 were but too well grounded, considering what had hap- 
 pened in Stirling ten years before, when the Earl of An- 
 gus, attended by Home, Buccleuch, and other border 
 chieftains, marched thither to remove the Earl of Arran 
 from the king's councils : the town was miserably pillaged 
 by the borderers, particularly by a party of Armstrongs, 
 under this very Kinmont Willie, who not only made prey 
 of horses and cattle, but even of the very iron grating of 
 the windows. Johnstoni Historia, p. 102. Ed. AmstoeL- 
 Mouse's Memoirs, p, 100. 
 
 The renown of Kinmont Willie is not surprising, since, 
 in 1587, the apprehending that freebooter, and Robert 
 Maxwell, natural brother to the Lord Maxwell, was the 
 main, but unaccomplished, object of a royal expedition 
 to Dumfries. " Rex .... Roberlum Maxvallium .... 
 u et Gulielmum Armstrangum Kinmonthum latrociniis in- 
 " testinis externisque famosum, conquiri jubet. Missi c 
 " ministerio regio, qui per aspera loca vilabundos ptrse- 
 " quuntur, magnoque incommodo afficiunt. At Mi latebris 
 " aut silvis se eripiunt." Johnstoni Historia, p. 138. 
 About this time, it is possible that Kinmont Willie may 
 have held some connection with the Maxwells, though af- 
 terwards a retainer to Buccleuch, the enemy of that tribe. 
 At least, the editor finds, that, in a bond of manrent, 
 granted by Simon Elliot of Whytheuch, in Liddesdale, to 
 Lord Maxwell, styled therein Earl of Morton, dated Fe- 
 bruary 28, 1599, William Armstrang, called Will of Kin-
 
 . 
 
 188 
 
 mond, appears as a witness. Syme's MSS. According 
 to Satchells, this freebooter wasdescended of Jphnie Arm- 
 strong of Giluockie (See Ballad, p, 105, of this volume,) 
 Est in juvencis, est et in equis, patrum virtus. In fact, 
 his rapacity made his very name proverbial. Mas James 
 Melvine, in urging reasons against subscribing the act of 
 supremacy, in 1581, asks ironically, " Who shall take 
 " order with vice and wickedness ? The court and bi- 
 " shops ? As well as Martine Elliot, and Will of Kin- 
 " mont, with stealing upon the borders !" Caldenvood, 
 p. 168. 
 
 This affair of Kinmont Willie was not the only occasion 
 upon which the undaunted keeper of Liddesdale gave of- 
 fence to the haughty Elizabeth. For, even before this 
 business was settled, certain of the English borderers ha- 
 ving invaded Liddesdale, and wasted the country, the 
 laird of Buccleuch retaliated the injury by a raid into 
 England, in Which he not only brought off much spoil, 
 but apprehended thirty-six of the Tynedale thieves, all of 
 whom he put to death. Spottis-xoode, p. 450. How 
 highly the Queen of England's resentment blazed on this 
 occasion, may be judged from the preface to her letter to 
 Bowes, then her ambassador in Scotland. " I wonder 
 " how base-minded that king thinks me, that, with pa- 
 " tience, I can digest this dishonourable ****#***. 
 " Let him know, therefore, that I will have satisfaction, 
 or else ******* *." These broken words of ire are 
 toserted betwixt the subscription and the address of the
 
 189 
 
 letter. Rymer, Vol. XVI. p. 318. Indeed, so deadly 
 was the resentment of the English, on account of the af- 
 fronts put upon them by this formidable chieftain, that 
 there seems at one time to have been a plan formed 
 .(not, as was alleged, without Elizabeth's privity,) to as- 
 sassinate Buccleuch. Rymer, Vol. XVI. p. 107. The 
 matter was at length arranged by the commissioners of 
 both nations in Berwick, by whom it was agreed that de- 
 linquents should be delivered up on both sides, and that 
 the chiefs themselves should enter into ward in the oppo- 
 site countries till these were given up, and pledges grant- 
 ed for the future maintenance of the quiet of the borders. 
 Buccleuch, and Sir Robert Kerr of Cessford (ancestor of 
 the Duke of Roxburgh,) appear to have struggled hard 
 against complying with this regulation; so much so, that 
 it required all James's authority to bring to order these 
 two powerful chiefs. Rymer, Vol. XVI. p. 322. Spot- 
 tisivoode, p. 448. Carey's Metiwirs, p. 131. . et sequen. 
 When at length they appeared, for the purpose of deliver- 
 ing themselves up to be warded at Berwick, an incident 
 took place, which nearly occasioned a revival of the deadly 
 feud which formerly subsisted between the Scots and the 
 Kers. Buccleuch had chosen, for his guardian, during 
 his residence in England, Sir William Selby, master of the 
 ordnance at Berwick, and accordingly gave himself into 
 his hands. Sir Robert Ker was about to do the same, 
 when a pistol was discharged by one of his retinue, and 
 the cry of treason was raised. Had not the Earl of Home
 
 190 
 
 been present, with a party of Merse men, to preserve or- 
 der, a dreadful tumult would probably have ensued. As 
 it wa9, the English commissioners returned in dismay to 
 Berwick, much disposed to wreak their displeasure on 
 Buccleuch ; and he, on his side, mortally offended with 
 Cessford, by whose means, as he conceived, he had been 
 placed in circumstances of so much danger. Sir Robert 
 Ker, however, appeased all parties, by delivering himself 
 op to ward in England ; on which occasion, he magnani- 
 mously chose for his guardian Sir Robert Carey, deputy- 
 warden of the east marches, notwithstanding various 
 causes of animosity which existed betwixt them. The 
 hospitality of Carey equalled the generous confidence of 
 Cessford, and a firm friendship was the consequence. * 
 
 Such traits of generosity illuminate the dark period of which 
 we treat. Carey's conduct, on this occasion, almost atones for the 
 cold and unfeeling policy with which he watched the closing mo- 
 ments of his benefactress, Elizabeth, impatient till remorse and 
 sorrow should extort her last sigh, that he might lay the founda- 
 tion of his future favour with her successor, by carrying him the 
 first tidings of her death Caret/' t Memoirs, p 17'2, etsequen. It 
 would appear that Sir Robert Ker was soon afterwards commit- 
 ted to the custody of the archbishop of York; for there is extant 
 a letter from that prelate to the lord-treasurer, desiring instruc- 
 tions about the mode of keeping this noble hostage. " 1 under- 
 " stand," saith he, " that the gentleman is wise and valiant, but 
 ** somewhat haughty here, and resolute. 1 would pray your lord- 
 " ship, that may have directions whether he may not go with 
 " his keeper in my company, to sermons ; and whether he may not 
 rt sometimes dine with the council, as the last hostages did ; and, 
 " thirdly, whether he may sometimes be brought to sitting to the 
 M common-hall, where he may see how careful her majesty is
 
 191 
 
 / r 
 
 Buccleuch appears to have remained in England from 
 October, 1597, till February, 1598. Johnstoni Historia, 
 p. 231. Spottiswoode, ut supra. According to ancient 
 family tradition, Buccleuch was presented to Elizabeth; 
 who, with her usual rough and peremptory address, de- 
 manded of him, " how he dared to undertake an enter- 
 
 prize so desperate and presumptuous." " What is it," 
 answered the undaunted chieftain, " What is it that a 
 " man dares not do !" Elizabeth, struck with the reply, 
 turned to a lord in waiting; With ten thousand such 
 
 men," said she, " our brother of Scotland might shake 
 
 the firmest throne of Europe." Luckily, perhaps, for 
 the murtheress of Queen Mary, James's talents did not 
 lie that way. 
 
 The articles, settled by the commissioners at Berwick, 
 were highly favourable to the peace of the border. They 
 may be seen at large in the Border Laws, p. 103. By 
 
 " that the poorest subject in her kingdom may have their right, 
 " and that her people seek remedy by law, and not by avenging 
 " themselves. Perhaps it may do him good as long as he liveth." 
 Strype's Annals, ad annum, 1597. It would appear, from this 
 letter, that the treatment of the hostages was liberal ; though one 
 can hardly suppress a smile at the zeal of the good bishop for the 
 conversion of the Scottish chieftain to a more Christian mode of 
 thinking than was common among the borderers of that day. The 
 date is February 25, 1597, which is somewhat difficult to recon- 
 cile with those given by the Scottish historians. Another letter 
 follows, stating, that Sir Robert, having been used to open air, 
 prayed for more liberty for his health's sake, " offering his word, 
 " which it is said he doth chiefly regard, that he would be true 
 u prisoner."-- Strype, Ibid,
 
 \9'2 
 
 article sixth, all wardens and keepers are discharged from 
 seeking reparation of injuries, in the ancient hostile mode 
 of riding, or causing to ride, in warlike manner against 
 the opposite march ; and that under the highest penalty, 
 unless authorized by a warrant under the hand of their 
 sovereign. The mention of the word keeper, alludes ob 
 viously to the above-mentioned reprisals, made by Buc- 
 cleuch, in the capacity of keeper of Liddesdale. 
 
 This ballad is preserved, by tradition, on the west bor- 
 ders, but much mangled by reciters : so that some con 
 jectural emendations have been absolutely necessary to 
 render it intelligible. In particular, the Eden has been 
 substituted for the Eske, p. 193, the latter name being io~ 
 consistent with geography.
 
 193 
 
 KINMONT WILLIE. 
 
 O have ye na heard o' the fause Sakelde ? 
 
 O have ye na heard o' the keen Lord Scroop ? 
 How they hae ta'en bauld Kinmont Willie, 
 
 On Hairibee to hang him up ? 
 
 Had Willie had but twenty men, 
 
 But twenty men as stout as he, 
 Fause Sakelde had never the Kinmont ta'en, 
 
 Wi' eight score in his cumpanie. 
 
 They band his legs beneath the steed, 
 They tied his hands behind his back ; 
 
 They guarded him, fivesome on each side, 
 And they brought him ower the Liddel-rack. 
 
 vol. i. J*
 
 194 
 
 They led him thro' the Liddel-rack, 
 
 And also thro' the Carlisle sands 
 They brought him to Carlisle castell, 
 
 To be at my Lord Scroop's commands. 
 
 u My hands are tied, but my tongue is free 
 " And whae will dare this deed avow ? 
 
 * Or answer by the border law ? 
 
 " Or answer to the bauld Buccleuch !" 
 
 " Now haud thy tongue, thou rank reiver ! 
 " There's never a Scot shall set ye free : 
 
 * Before ye cross my castle yate, 
 
 fl I trow ye shall take farewell o' me." 
 
 " Fear na ye that, my lord," quo' Willie : 
 a By the faith o' my body, Lord Scroop," he said, 
 
 " I never yet lodged in a hostelrie,* 
 
 " But I paid my lawing t before I gaed." 
 
 Now word is gane to the bauld Keeper, 
 In Branksome Ha', where that he lay, 
 
 That Lord Scroop has ta'en the Kinmont Willie, 
 Between the hours of night and day. 
 
 * HoslelrieIan. f Lawing- Reckoning.
 
 195 
 
 He has ta'en the table wi' his hand, 
 He garr'd the red wine spring on hie 
 
 " Now Christ's curse on my head/' he said, 
 ** But avenged of Lord Scroop I'll be ! 
 
 " O is my basnet * a widow's curch ?f 
 
 " Or my lance a wand of the willow tree ? 
 
 " Or my arm a ladye's lilye hand, 
 
 " That an English lord should lightly % me 
 
 
 " And have they ta'en him, Kinmont Willie, 
 
 ** Against the truce of border tide ? 
 " And forgotten that the bauld Buccleuch 
 
 * Is Keeper here on the Scottish side ? 
 
 " And have they e'en ta'en him, Kinmont Willie, 
 
 * Withouten either dread or fear ? 
 
 " And forgotten that the bauld Buccleuch 
 " Can back a steed, or shake a spear ? 
 
 " O were there war between the lands, 
 
 " As well T wot that there is none, 
 " I would slight Carlisle castell high, 
 
 " Tho' it were builded of marble stone. 
 
 * Basnet Helmet, f Curch Coif, t LightlySet light by.
 
 196 
 
 " I would set that castell in a low, * 
 
 " And sloken it with English blood ! 
 M There's nevir a man in Cumberland, 
 
 * Should ken where Carlisle castell stood. 
 
 ** But since nae war's between the lands, 
 " And there is peace, and peace should be ; 
 
 " I'll neither harm English lad or lass, 
 " And yet the Kinmont freed shall be P 
 
 He has call'd him forty marchmen bauld, 
 
 I trow they were of his ain name, 
 Except Sir Gilbert Elliot call'd, 
 
 The laird of Stobs, I mean the same. 
 
 He has call'd him forty marchmen bauld, 
 Were kinsmen to the bauld Buccleuch ; 
 
 With spur on heel, and splent on spauld, + 
 And gleuves of green, and feathers blue. 
 
 There were five and five before them a', 
 Wi' hunting horns and bugles bright ; 
 
 And five and five came wi' Buccleuch, 
 Like warden's men, arrayed for fight : 
 
 * Low Flame. + Splent on spauld' Armour on shoulder.
 
 And five and five, like a mason gang, 
 That carried the ladders lang and hie ; 
 
 And five and five, like broken men ; 
 
 And so they reached the Woodhouselee. 
 
 And as we cross'd the Bateable Land, 
 When to the English side we held, 
 
 The first o' men that we met wi', 
 Whae sould it be but fause Sakelde r" 
 
 a Where be ye gaun, ye hunters keen ?" 
 Quo' fause Sakelde ; " come tell to me !" 
 
 " We go to hunt an English stag, 
 
 " Has trespassed on the Scots countrie." 
 
 " Where be ye gaun, ye marshal men ?" 
 Quo' fause Sakelde ; " come tell me true !" 
 
 " We go to catch a rank reiver, 
 
 " Has broken faith wi' the bauld Buccleuch." 
 
 f( Where are ye gaun, ye mason lads, 
 u Wi' a* your ladders, lang and hie ?" 
 
 " We gang to herry a corbie's nest, 
 
 " That wons not far frae Woodhouselee."
 
 198 
 
 " Where be ye gaun, ye broken men ?" 
 Quo' fause Sakelde ; * come tell to me S" 
 
 Now Dickie of Dryhope led that band, 
 And the never a word o' lear had he. 
 
 * Why trespass ye on the English side ? 
 
 " Row-footed outlaws, stand !" quo' he ; 
 The never a word had Dic,kie to say, 
 
 Sae he thrust the lance through his fause bodie. 
 
 Then on we held for Carlisle toun, 
 
 And at Staneshaw-bank the Eden we cross'd ; 
 The water was great and meikle of spait, 
 
 But the nevir a horse nor man we lost. 
 
 And when we reached the Staneshaw-bank, 
 The wind was rising loud and hie ; 
 
 And there the laird garr'd leave our steeds, 
 For fear that they should stamp and nie. 
 
 And when we left the Staneshaw-bank, 
 The wind began full loud to blavv ; 
 
 But 'twas wind and weet, and fire and sleet, 
 When we came beneath the castle wa'.
 
 1 99 
 
 We crept on knees, and held our breath, 
 Till we placed the ladders against the wa' ; 
 
 And sae ready was Buccleuch hiinsell 
 To mount the first, before us a'. 
 
 He has la'en the watchman by the throat, 
 He flung him down upon the lead 
 
 ** Had there not been peace between our land, 
 a Upon the other side thou hadst gacd ! 
 
 te Now sound out, trumpets !" quo' Buccleugh ; 
 u Let's waken Lord Scroop, right merrilie !" 
 Then loud the warden's trumpet blew 
 " O whae dare meddle w? me ?" * 
 
 Then speedilie to work we gaed, 
 And raised the slogan ane and a', 
 
 And cut a hole thro' a sheet of lead, 
 And so we wan to the castle ha'. 
 
 They thought King James and a' his men 
 Had won the house wi' bow and spear; 
 
 It was but twenty Scots and ten, 
 
 That put a thousand in sic a stear ! f 
 
 * The name of a border tune. f Stear Stir.
 
 200 
 
 Wi' coulters, and wi' fore-hammers, 
 We garr'd the hars bang merrilie, 
 
 Untill we cam to the inner prison, 
 Where Willie o' Kinmont he did lie. 
 
 And when we cam to the lower prison, 
 Where Willie o' Kinmont he did lie 
 
 " O sleep ye, wake ye, Kinmont Willie, 
 " Upon the morn that thou's to die i" 
 
 "OI sleep saft, * and I wake aft ; 
 
 u Its lang since sleeping was fleyed f frae me ! 
 " Gie my service back to my wife and bairns, 
 
 * And a' gude fellows that spier for me." 
 
 Then Red Rowan has hente him up, 
 
 The starkest man in Teviotdale 
 " Abide, abide now, Red Rowan, 
 
 " Till of my Lord Scroope I take farewell. 
 
 " Farewell, farewell, my gude Lord Scroope ! 
 
 w My gude Lord Scroope, farewell !" he cried 
 1 I'll pay you for my lodging maill, % 
 " When first we meet on the border side." 
 
 * Soft Light. f Fleyed Frightened. t Maill Rent.
 
 201 
 
 Then shoulder high, with shout and cry, 
 We bore him down the ladder lang ; 
 
 At every stride Red Rowan made, 
 
 I wot the Kinmont's aims played clang ! 
 
 ** O mony a time," quo' Kinmont Willie, 
 
 * I have ridden horse baith wild and wood ; 
 " But a rougher beast than Red Rowan, 
 
 " I ween my legs have ne'er bestrode. 
 
 u And mony a time," quo Kinmont Willie, 
 " I've pricked a horse out oure the furs; * 
 u But since the day I backed a steed, 
 
 * I never wore sic cumbrous spurs !" 
 
 We scarce had won the Staneshaw-bank, 
 When a' the Carlisle bells were rung, 
 
 And a thousand men, in horse and foot, 
 Cam wi' the keen Lord Scroope along. 
 
 Buccleuch has turned to Eden water, 
 Even where it flowed frae bank to brim, 
 
 And he has plunged in wi' a' his band, 
 And safely swam them thro' the stream. 
 
 * Furs Furrows. v
 
 202 
 
 He turned him on the other side, 
 
 And at Lord Scroope his glove flung he- 
 
 " If ye like na my visit in merry England, 
 * In fair Scotland come visit me!" 
 
 All sore astonished stood Lord Scroope 
 He stood as still as rock of stane ; 
 
 He scarcely dared to trew his eyes, 
 When thro' the water they had gane. 
 
 * He is either himsell a devil frae hell, 
 " Or else his mother a witch maun be ; 
 
 n I wad na have ridden that wan water, 
 " For a' the gowd in Christentie."
 
 203 
 
 ' 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 KINMONT WILLIE. 
 
 On Hairibee to hang him vp f P. 193. v. 1. 
 Hairibee is the place of execution at Carlisle. 
 
 And they brought him ower the Liddel-rack P. 193. v. S. 
 The Liddel-rack is a ford on the Liddel. 
 
 And so they reached the Woodhousclee. P. 197". v. 1. 
 "Woodhouselee ; a house on the border, belonging to Buc- 
 cleuch. 
 
 The Salkeldes, or Sakeldes, were a powerful family in Cum- 
 berland, possessing, among other manors, that of Corby, be- 
 fore it came into the possession of the Howards, in the begin- 
 ning of the seventeenth century. A strange stratagem was 
 practised by an Outlaw, called Jock Grame of the Peartree, 
 upon Mr Salkelde, Sheriffe of Cumberland ; who is probably the 
 person alluded to in the ballad, as the fact is stated to hare 
 happened late in Elizabeth's time. The brother of this free-
 
 204 
 
 booter was lying in Carlisle jail for execution, when Jock of 
 the Peartree came riding past the gate of Corby castle. A 
 child of the sheriff was playing before the door, to whom the 
 outlaw gave an apple, saving, " Master, will you ride r" Th 
 boy willingly consenting, Grame took him up before him, car- 
 ried him into Scotland, and would never part with him, till he 
 had his brother safe from the gallows. There is no historical 
 ground for supposing, either that Salkclde, or any one else, Most 
 his life in the raid of Carlisle. 
 
 In the list of border clans, 1597, Will of Kinmonth, with 
 Kyrstie Armestrange, and John Skynbank, are mentioned as 
 leaders of a band of Armstrongs, called Sandies Barnes, inha- 
 biting the Debateable Land. The ballad itself has never be- 
 fore been published.
 
 205 
 
 DICK O' THE COW. 
 
 1 his ballad, and the two which immediately follow it 
 in the collection, were published, 1784, in the Hawick 
 Museum, a provincial miscellany, to which they were 
 communicated by John Elliot, Esq. of Reidheugh, a 
 gentleman well skilled in the antiquities of the western 
 border, and to whose friendly assistance the editor is in- 
 debted for many valuable communications. 
 
 These ballads are connected with each other, and ap- 
 pear to have been composed by the same author. The ac- 
 tors seem to have flourished, while Thomas Lord Scroope, 
 of Bolton, was warden of the west marches of England, 
 and governor of Carlisle castle ; which offices he acquired 
 upon the death of his father, about 1590, and retained 
 till the union of the crowns. 
 
 Dick of the Cow, from the privileged insolence which 
 he assumes, seems to have been Lord Scroope's jester. In 
 the preliminary dissertation, the reader will find the bor- 
 der custom of assuming no?nmes de guerre particularly no-
 
 206 
 
 ticed. It is exemplified in the following ballad, where 
 one Armstrong is called the Laird's Jock (i. e. the laird's 
 son Jock), another Fair Johnie, a third Billie Willie 
 (brother Willie), &c. The Laird's Jock, son to the laird 
 of Mangerton, appears, as one of the men of name in Lid- 
 desdale, in the list of border clans, 1597. 
 
 Dick of the Cow is erroneously supposed to have been 
 the same with one Ricardus Coldall, de Plumpton, a 
 knight and celebrated warrior, who died in 1462, as ap- 
 pears from his epitaph in the church of Penrith. Nicol- 
 son's History of Westmoreland and Cumberland, Vol. II. 
 p. 408. 
 
 This ballad is very popular in Liddesdale; and the re- 
 citer always adds, at the conclusion, that poor Dickie's 
 cautious removal to Burgh under Stanemore, did not save 
 him from the clutches of the Armstrongs ; for that, ha- 
 ving fallen into their power several years after this ex- 
 ploit, he was put to an inhuman death. The ballad was 
 well known in England, so early as 1596. An allusion 
 to it likewise occurs in Parrot's Luquei Ridiculosi, or 
 Springes for Woodcocks ; London 1613. 
 
 Owenus wondreth since he came to Wales, 
 What the description of this isle should be, 
 
 Tbat nere had seen but mountains, hills, and dales, 
 Yet would he boast, and stand on pedigree, 
 
 l'rom Rice ap Richard, sprung from Dick a Cow, 
 Be cod, was right gud gentleman, look ye now! 
 
 Epigr. TG.
 
 207 
 
 DICK O' THE COW. 
 
 JN ow Liddesdale h* layen lang in, 
 There is na riding there at a'; 
 
 The horses are a' grown sae lither fat, 
 They downa stur out o' the sta.' 
 
 Fair Johnie Armstrang to Willie did say 
 " Billy, a riding we will gae ; 
 
 " England and us have been lang at feid ; 
 * Ablins we'll light on some bootie." 
 
 Then they are come on to Hutton Ha* ; 
 
 They rade that proper place about;] 
 But the laird he was the wiser man, 
 
 For he had left nae gear without. 
 10
 
 208 
 
 For he had left nae gear to steal, 
 
 Except sax sheep upon a lee : 
 Quo' Johnie " I'd rather in England die, 
 
 * Ere thir sax sheep gae to Liddesdale wi' me." 
 
 u But how ca' they the man we last met, 
 
 * Billie, as we cam owre the know V 
 u That same he is an innocent fule, 
 
 " And men they call him Dick o' the Cow." 
 
 " That fule has three as good kye o' his ain, 
 
 * As there are in a' Cumberland, billie," quo' he : 
 " Betide me life, betide me death, 
 
 " These kye shall go to Liddesdale wi' me." 
 
 Then they have come on to the pure fule's house, 
 And they hae broken his wa's sae wide ; 
 
 They have loosed out Dick o' the Cow's three kye, 
 And ta'en three co'erlets frae his wife's bed. 
 
 Then on the morn when the day was light, 
 The shouts and cries rase loud and hie : 
 
 " O haud thy tongue, my wife," he says, 
 " And o' thy crying let me be!
 
 209 
 
 " O had thy tongue, my wife," he says, 
 " And o' thy crying let me be ; 
 
 u And ay where thou hast lost ae cow, 
 " In gude suith I shall bring thee three." 
 
 Now Dickie's gane to the gude Lord Scroope, 
 And I wat a dreirie fule was he ; 
 Now hand thy tongue, my fule," he says, 
 " For I may not stand to jest wi' thee." 
 
 
 
 " Shame fa' your jesting, my lord !" quo' Dickie, 
 
 u For nae sic jesting grees wi' me ; 
 u Liddesdale's been in my house last night, 
 
 " And they hae awa my three kye frae me. 
 
 " But I may nae langer in Cumberland dwell, . 
 
 " To be your puir fule and your leal, 
 " Unless you gi' me leave, my lord, 
 
 " To gae to Liddesdale and steal." 
 
 ** I gie thee leave, my fule !" he says ; 
 
 '* Thou speak est against my honour and me, 
 " Unless thou gie me thy trowth and thy hand, 
 
 " Thou'lt steal frae nane but whae sta' frae thee." 
 
 VOL. 3. O
 
 210 
 
 " There is ray trowth, and my right hand ! 
 
 * My head shall hang on Hairibee ; 
 * I'll ne'er cross Carlisle sands again,, 
 
 " If I steal frae a man but whae sta' frae me." 
 
 Dickie's ta'en leave o' lord and master ; 
 
 I wat a merry fule was he ! 
 He's bought a bridle and a pair o' new spurs, 
 
 And pack'd them up in his breek thie. 
 
 Then Dickie's come on to Pudding-burn house, 
 
 E'en as fast as he might drie ; 
 Then Dickie's come on to Pudding-burn, 
 
 Where there were thirty Armstrangs and three. 
 
 " O what's this come o' me now ?" quo' Dickie ; 
 
 " What mickle wae is this ?" quo' he ; 
 " For there is but ae innocent fule, 
 
 " And there are thirty Armstrangs and three !" 
 
 Yet he has come up to the fair ha' board, 
 
 Sae weil he's become his courtesie ! 
 t Weil may ye be, my gude Laird's Jock ! 
 
 " But the deil bless a' your cumpanie.
 
 211 
 
 ** I'm come to plain o' your man, fai r Johnie Armstrong, 
 " And syne o' his billie Willie," quo he ; 
 
 " How they've been in my house last night, 
 * And they hae ta'en my three kye frae me." 
 
 " Ha!"quo fair Johnie Armstrong/' we will himhang." 
 " Na," quo Willie, * we'll him slae." 
 
 Then up and spak another young Armstrong, 
 " We'll gie him his baits,* and let him gae." 
 
 But up and spak the gude Laird's Jock, 
 
 The best falla in a' the cumpanie : 
 " Sit down thy ways a little while, Dickie, 
 
 " And a piece o' thy ain cow's hough I'll gie ye." 
 
 But Dickie's heart it grew sae grit, 
 That the ne'er a bit o't he dought to eat 
 
 Then he was aware of an auld peat-house, 
 Where a' the night he thought for to sleep. 
 
 Then Dickie was aware of an auld peat-house, 
 Where a' the night he thought for to lye 
 
 And a' the prayers the pure fule prayed 
 Were, " I wish I had amends for my gude three kye !" 
 
 * Gie him his baits Dismiss him with a beating.
 
 212 
 
 It was then the use of Pudding-burn house, 
 And the house of Mangerton, all hail, 
 
 Them that cam na at the first ca', 
 
 Gat nae mairmeat till the neistmeal. 
 
 The lads, that hungry and weary were, 
 Abune the door-head they threw the key ; 
 
 Dickie he took gude notice o' that, 
 
 Says " There will be a bootie for me." 
 
 Then Dickie has in to the stable gane, 
 
 Where there stood thirty horses and three; 
 
 He has tied them a* wi' St Mary's knot, 
 A' these horses but barely three. 
 
 lie has tied them a wi' St Mary's knot, 
 
 A' these horses but barely three ; 
 He's loupen on ane, ta'en another in hand, 
 
 And away as fast as he can hie. 
 
 But on the morn, when the day grew light, 
 The shouts and cries raise loud and hie 
 
 " Ah ! whaehasdone this?" quo' the gude Laird's Jock, 
 rt Tell me the truth and the verity!"
 
 213 
 
 u Whae has done this deed?" quo' the gude Laird's Jock ; 
 
 " See that to me ye dinna lie !" 
 " Dickie has been in the stable last night, 
 
 tf And has ta'en my brother's horse and mine frae me, * 
 
 " Ye wad ne'er be tald," quo* the gude Laird's Jock ; 
 
 " Have ye not found my tales fu' leil ? 
 " Ye ne'er wad out o' England bide, 
 
 " Till crooked, and blind, and a' would steal." 
 
 " But lend me thy bay," fair Johnie can say ; 
 
 " There's nae horse loose in the stable save he ; 
 <e And I'll either fetch Dick o' the Cow again, 
 
 " Or the day is come that he shall die." 
 
 " To lend thee my bay !" the Laird's Jock can say, 
 " He's baith worth gowd and gude monie ; 
 
 " Dick o' the Cow has awa twa horse ; 
 u I wish na thou may make him three." 
 
 He has ta'en the laird's jack on his back, 
 A twa-handed sword to hang by his thie ; 
 
 He has ta'en a steil cap on his head, 
 And gallopped on to follow Dickie. 
 12
 
 14 
 
 Dickie was na a mile frae aff the town, 
 
 I wat a mile but barely three, 
 When he was o'erta'en by fair Johnie Armstrang, 
 
 Hand for hand, on Cannobie lee. 
 
 f Abide, abide, thou traitour thief! 
 
 " The day is come that thou maun die." 
 Then Dickie look't owre his left shoulder, 
 
 Said " Johnie, hast thou nae mae in cumpanie ? 
 
 " There is a preacher in our chapell, 
 " And a' the live lang day teaches he : 
 
 H When day is gane and night is come, 
 " There's ne'er ae word I mark but three. 
 
 " The first artd second is Faith and Conscience; 
 
 " The third Ne'er let a traitour free : 
 " But, Johnie, what faith and conscience was thine, 
 
 * When thou took awa my three kye frae me ? 
 
 " And when thou had ta'en awa ray three ky, 
 
 " Thou thought in thy heart thou wast not weil sped, 
 
 " Till thou sent thy billie Willie ower the know, 
 " To tak thrie coverlets off my wife's bed !"
 
 215 
 
 Then Johnie let a speir fa' laigh by his thie, 
 Thought weil to hae slain the innocent, I trow; 
 
 But the powers above were mair than he, 
 For he ran but the pure fule's jerkin through. 
 
 Together they ran, or ever they blan ; 
 
 This was Dickie the fule and he ! 
 Dickie could na win at him wi' the blade o' the sword, 
 
 But fell'd him wi' the plummet under the e'e. 
 
 Tims Dickie has fell'd fair Johnie Armstrang, 
 
 The prettiest man in the south country 
 * Gramercy !" then can Dickie say, 
 
 * I had but twa horse, thou hast made me thrie !" 
 
 He's ta'en the steil jack afF Johnie's back, 
 
 The twa-handed sword that hang low by his thie ; 
 He's ta'en the steil cap aff his head 
 
 * Johnie, I'll tell my master I met wi' thee." 
 
 When Johnie wakened out o' his dream, 
 
 I wat a dreirie man was he : 
 " And is thou gane ? Now, Dickie, than 
 
 " The shame and dule is left wi' me.
 
 216 
 
 And is thou gane ? Now, Dickie, than 
 " The deil gae in thy cumpanie ! 
 
 u For if I should live these hundred years, 
 " I ne'er shall fight wi' a fule after thee." 
 
 Then Dickie's come hame to the gude Lord Scroope, 
 
 E'en as fast as he might hie ; 
 " Now, Dickie, I'll neither eat nor drink, 
 
 Till hl& hanged thou shalt be." 
 
 " The shame speed the liars, my lord !" quo' Dickie ; 
 
 " This was na the promise ye made to me ! 
 " For I'd ne'er gane to Liddesdale to steal, 
 
 " Had I not got my leave frae thee." 
 
 " But what garr'd thee steal the Laird's Jock's horse? 
 
 u And, limmer, what garr'd ye steal him ?" quo' he; 
 " For lang thou mightst in Cumberland dwelt, 
 
 n Ere the Laird's Jock had stown frae thee" 
 
 u Indeed I wat ye lied, my lord ! 
 
 " And e'en sae loud as I hear ye lie ! 
 " I wan the horse frae fair Johnie Armstrong, 
 
 " Hand to hand, on Cannobie lee.
 
 217 
 
 " There is the jack was on his back ; 
 
 * This twa-handed sword hang laigh by his thie, 
 " And there's the steil cap was on his head ; 
 
 " I brought a' these tokens to let thee see." 
 
 '* If that be true thou to me tells, 
 
 " (And I think thou dares na tell a lie,) 
 
 " I'll gie thee fifteen punds for the horse, 
 " Weil tald on thy cloak lap shall be. 
 
 " I'll gie thee ane o' my best milk ky, 
 
 " To maintain thy wife and children thrie j 
 
 " And that may be as gude, I think, 
 " As ony twa o' thine wad be." 
 
 " The shame speed the liars, my lord !" quo' Dickie ; 
 
 * Trow ye aye to make a fule o' me ? 
 
 * I'll either hae twenty punds for the gude horse, 
 ** Or he's gae to Mortan fair wi' me." 
 
 He's gien him twenty punds for the gude horse, 
 
 A' in goud and gude monie ; 
 He's gien him ane o' his best milk ky, 
 
 To maintain his wife and children thrie.
 
 218 
 
 Then Dickie's come down thro' Carlisle toun, 
 
 t 
 E'en as fast as he could drie ; 
 
 The first o' men that he met wi', 
 
 Was ray lord's brother, bailiff Glozenburrie. 
 
 u Weil be ye met, my gude Ralph Scroope !" 
 
 * Welcome, my brother's fule ! ' quo' he : 
 
 " Where didst thou get fair Johnie Armstrang's horse ?" 
 
 * Where did I get him ? but steal him," quo' he. 
 
 * But wilt thou sell me the bonny horse ? 
 
 " And, billie, wilt thou sell him to me V quo* he : 
 " Aye ; if thou'lt tell me the monie on my cloak lap : 
 " For there's never ae penny I'll trust thee." 
 
 " I'll gie thee ten punds for the gude horse, 
 u Weil tald on thy cloak lap they shall be ; 
 
 " And I'll gie thee ane o' the best milk ky, 
 " To maintain thy wife and children thrie.'' 
 
 " The shame speid the liars, my lord !" quo' Dickie ; 
 " Trow ye ay to mak a fule o' me ! 
 
 * I'll either hae twenty punds for the gude horse, 
 " Or he's gae to Mortan fair wi' me." 
 
 7
 
 219 
 
 He's gien him twenty punds for the gude horse, 
 
 Baith in goud and gude monie ; 
 He's gien him ane o' his best milk ky, 
 
 To maintain his wife and children thrie. 
 
 Then Dickie lap a loup fu' hie, 
 
 And I wat a loud laugh laughed he 
 
 " I wish the neck o' the third horse were broken, 
 " If ony of the twa were better than he !" 
 
 Then Dickie's come harae to his wife again ; 
 
 Judge ye how the poor fule had sped ! 
 He has gien her twa score English punds, 
 
 For the thrie auld coverlets ta'en aff her bed. 
 
 " And tak thee these twa as gude ky, 
 " I trow, as a' thy thrie might be ; 
 
 " And yet here is a white-footed nagie, 
 " I trow he'll carrv baith thee and me. 
 
 " But I may nae langer in Cumberland bide ; 
 
 " The Armstrangs they would hang me hie." 
 So Dickie's ta'en leave at lord and master, 
 
 And at Burgh under Stanmuir there dwells he.
 
 220 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 DICK O' THE COW. 
 
 Then Dickie's came on to Pudding-burn house. P. 210. v. 3. 
 This was a house of strength, held by the Armstrongs. The 
 ruins at present form a sheep-fold, on the farm of Reidsmoss, 
 belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch. 
 
 He has tied them a' w'C St Mary's knot. P. 212. v. 4. 
 
 Hamstringing a horse is termed, in the border dialect, tying 
 him with St Mary's Knot- Dickie used this cruel expedient 
 to prevent a pursuit. It appears from the narration, that the 
 horses, left unhurt, belonged to fair Johnie Armstrang, his 
 brother Willie, and the Laird's Jock, of which Dickie car- 
 ried off two, and left that of the Laird's Jock, probably out of 
 gratitude for the protection he had afforded him on his arrival. 
 Hand for hand, on Cannobie lee. 214. v. 1. 
 
 A rising-ground on Cannobie, on the borders of Liddesdale. 
 
 Ere the Laird's Jock had stownfrae thee. P. 216. v. 4. 
 The commendation of the Laird's Jock's honesty seems but 
 indifferently founded; for, in July 1586, a bill was fouled
 
 221 
 
 against him, Dick of Dryup, and others, by the deputy of 
 Bewcastle, at a warden-meeting, for 400 head of cattle taken 
 in open forray from the Drysike in Bewcastle : and in Sep- 
 tember 1587, another complaint appears at the instance of 
 one Andrew Rutledge of the Nook, against the Laird's Jock, 
 and his accomplices, for 50 kine and oxen, besides furniture, 
 to the amount of 100 merks sterling. See Bell's MSS., as 
 quoted in the History of Cumberland and Westmoreland. In 
 Sir Richard Maitland's poem against the thieves of Liddesdale, 
 he thus commemorates the Laird's Jock: 
 
 They spuilye puir men of thair pakis, 
 They leif them nocht on bed nor bakis; 
 Baith hen and cok, 
 With reil and rok, 
 The Lairdis Jock 
 All with him takis. 
 
 Those, who plundered Dick, had been bred up under an ex- 
 pert teacher.
 
 2122 
 
 JOCK O' THE SIDE. 
 
 The subject of this ballad, being a common event in 
 those troublesome and disorderly times, became a favour- 
 ite theme of the ballad-makers. There are, in this col- 
 lection, no fewer than three poems on the rescue of pri- 
 soners, the incidents in which nearly resemble each other; 
 though the poetical description is so different, that the 
 editor did not think himself at liberty to reject any one of 
 them, as borrowed from the others. As, however, there 
 are several verses, which, in recitation, are common'to all 
 these three songs, the editor, to prevent unnecessary and 
 disagreeable repetition, has used the freedom of appropri- 
 ating them to that, in which they seem to have the best 
 poetic effect. 
 
 The reality of this story rests solely upon the founda- 
 tion of tradition. Jock o' the Side seems to have been ne- 
 phew to the laird of Mangertoun, cousin to the Laird's 
 Jock, one of his deliverers, and probably brother to
 
 223 
 
 Chrystie of the Syde, mentioned in the list of border clans, 
 1597. Like the Laird's Jock, he also is commemorated 
 by Sir Richard Maitland. See the Introduction. 
 
 He is weil kend, Johne of the Syde, 
 A greater thcif did never ryde ; 
 He never tyris, 
 For to brek byris, 
 Oar muir and myris 
 Ouir gude ane guide* 
 
 Jock o' the Side appears to have assisted the Earl of 
 Westmoreland in his escape after his unfortunate insur- 
 rection with the Earl of Northumberland, in the twelfth 
 year of Elizabeth. " The two rebellious rebels went into 
 Liddesdale in Scotland, yesternight, where Martin Ell- 
 wood (Elliot) and others, that have given pledges to the 
 regent of Scotland, did raise their forces against them ; 
 being conducted by black Orraeston, an out-law of Scot- 
 land, that was a principal murtherer of the king of Scots, 
 where the fight was offered, and both parties alighted 
 from their horses ; and, in the end, Elwood said to Or- 
 meston, he would be sorry to enter deadly feud with him 
 by bloodshed ; but he would charge him and the rest be- 
 fore the regent, for keeping of the rebels ; and if he did 
 not put them out of the country, the next day, he would 
 doe his worst against them ; whereupon, the two earls 
 were driven to leave Liddesdale, and to fly to one of the 
 Armstrongs, a Scot upon the batable [debateable land] 
 on the borders between Liddesdale and England. The 
 same day the Liddesdale men stole the horses of the
 
 24 
 
 Countess of Northumberland, and of her two women, and 
 ten others of their company ; so as, the earls being gone, 
 the Lady of Northumberland was left there on foot, at 
 John of the Side's house, a cottage not to be compared 
 to many a dog-kennel in England. At their departing 
 from her, they went not above fifty horse, and the Earl 
 of Westmoreland, to be the more unknown, changed his 
 coat of plate and sword with John of the Side, and de- 
 parted like a Scottish borderer." Advertisements from 
 Hexham, 22d December, 1569, in the Cabala, p. 160. 
 
 The land-serjeant, mentioned in this ballad, and also in 
 that of Hobbie Noble, was an officer under the warden, to 
 whom was committed the apprehending of delinquents, 
 and the care of the public peace.
 
 225 
 
 * 
 
 JOCK O* THE SIDE. 
 
 I 
 
 Now Liddesdale has ridden a raid, 
 
 But I wat they had better hae staid at hame ; 
 
 For Michael o' Winfield he is dead, 
 And Jock o* the Side is prisoner ta'en. 
 
 For Mangerton house Lady Downie has gane, 
 
 Her coats she has kilted up to her knee ; 
 And down the water wi' speed she rins, 
 
 While tears in spaits * fa' fast frae her e'e. 
 
 Then up and spoke our gude auld lord 
 
 " What news, what news, sister Downie, to me ?'' 
 
 " Bad news, bad news, my Lord Mangerton ; 
 
 " Michael is killed, and they hae ta'en my son Johnie." 
 
 * Spaits Torrents. 
 VOL. I. P
 
 22t> 
 
 <* Ne'er fear, sister Downie," quo' Mangerton ; 
 
 I have yokes of ousen, eighty and three ; 
 
 " My barns, my byres, and my faulds a* weil fill'd*. 
 
 * 1*11 part wi' them a' ere Johnie shall die. 
 
 * Three men 111 send to set him free, 
 " A' harneist wi' the best o' steil ; 
 
 ,f The English louns may hear, and drie 
 " The weight o' their braid-swords to feel. 
 
 * The Laird's Jock ane, the Laird's Wat twa, 
 " O Hobbie Noble, thou ane maun be ! 
 
 u Thy coat is blue, thou hast been true, 
 " Since England banish'd thee to me." 
 
 Now Hobbie was an English man, 
 In Bewcastle dale was bred and born : 
 
 But his misdeeds they were sae great, 
 They banish'd him ne'er to return. 
 
 Lord Mangerton them orders gave, 
 
 " Your horses the wrang way maun be shod ; 
 
 * Like gentlemen ye mauna seim, 
 
 " But look like corn-caugers* ga'en the road. 
 # Caugtrt Carriers. >
 
 327 
 
 " Your armour gude ye mauna shaw, 
 
 * Nor yet appear like men o' weir; 
 " As country lads be a' array'd, 
 
 " Wi' branks and brecham f on each mare." 
 
 Sae now their horses are the wrang way shod, 
 And Hobbie has mounted his grey sae fine ; 
 
 Jock his lively bay, Wat's on his white horse behind, 
 And on they rode for the water of Tyne. 
 
 At the Cholerford they all light down, 
 
 And there, wi' the help of the light o' the moon, 
 
 A tree they cut, wi' fifteen nogs on each side, 
 To climb up the wa' of Newcastle toun. 
 
 But when they cam to Newcastle toun, 
 
 And were alighted at the wa', 
 They fand their tree three ells ower laigh, 
 
 They fand their stick baith short and sma\ 
 
 Then up and spak the Laird's ain Jock ; 
 
 * There's naething for't ; the gates we maun force." 
 But when they cam the gate untill, 
 
 A proud porter withstood baith men and horse. 
 
 t Branks and brecham 'Halter cart-collar.
 
 228 
 
 His nrck in twa the Armstrangs wrang ; 
 
 Wi' fute or hand he ne'er play'd pa ! 
 His life and his keys at anes they hae ta'en, 
 
 And cast the body ahind the wa\ 
 
 
 
 Now sune they reach Newcastle jail, 
 And to the prisoner thus they call ; 
 Sleeps thou, wakes thou, Jock o' the Side, 
 
 * Or art thou weary of thy thrall I* 
 
 Jock answers thus, wi' dulefu' tone ; 
 
 Aft, aft, l wake I seldom sleep : 
 " But whae's this kens my name sae weil, 
 
 " And thus to mese * my waes tioes seik ?* 
 
 Then out and spak the gude Laird's Jock, 
 
 * Now fear ye na, my billie," quo' he ; 
 
 " For here are the Laird's Jock, the Laird's Wat, 
 " And Hobbie Noble, come to set thee free." 
 
 * Now haud thy tongue, my gude Laird's Jock, 
 
 * For ever, alas ! this canna be ; 
 
 " For if a' Liddesdale were here the night, 
 " The morn's the day that I maun die. 
 
 * Afiese Soothe.
 
 229 
 
 f Full fifteen stane o' Spanish iron, 
 " They hae laid a' right sair on me ; 
 
 " Wi' locks and keys I am fast bound 
 * Into this dungeon dark and dreirie." 
 
 " Fear ye na' that," quo' the Laird's Jock ; J 
 " A faint heart ne'er wan a fair ladie ; v 
 
 " Work thou within, we'll work without, 
 " And I'll be sworn we'll set thee free." 
 
 The first strong door that they cam at, 
 
 They loosed it without a key ; 
 The next chain'd door that they cam at, 
 
 They garr'd it a' to flinders flee. 
 
 The prisoner now upon his back, 
 
 The Laird's Jock has gotten up fu' hie ; 
 
 And down the stair, him, irons and a*, 
 Wi' nae sma' speid and joy, brings he. 
 
 u Now, Jock, my man," quo' Hobbie Noble, 
 <e Some o' his weight ye may lay on me." 
 
 n I wat weil no !" quo' the Laird's ain Jock, 
 ft I count him lighter than a flee."
 
 230 
 
 Sae out at the gates they a' are gane, 
 The prisoner's set on horseback hie ; 
 
 And now wi' speid they've ta'en the gate, 
 While ilk ane jokes fu' wantonlie t 
 
 " O Jock ! sae winsomely's ye ride, 
 " Wi' baith your feet upon ae side ; 
 
 " Sae weel ye're harneist, and sae trig, 
 " In troth ye sit like ony bride I" 
 
 The night, tho' wat, they did na mind, 
 
 But hied them on fu' merrilie, 
 Until they cam to Cholerford brae, # 
 
 Where the water ran like mountains "hie. 
 
 But when they cam to Cholerford, 
 There they met \vith an auld man ; 
 
 Says " Honest man, will the water ride ? 
 Tell us in haste, if that ye can." 
 
 " I Wat weel no," quo' the gude auld man ; 
 
 " I hae lived here threty years and thrie, 
 " And I ne'er yet saw the Tyne sae big, 
 
 u Nor running anes sae like a sea." 
 
 * Cholerford braeA ford upon the Tyne, above Hexham.
 
 2Si 
 
 Then out and spoke the Laird's saft Wat, 
 The greatest coward in the cumpanie ; 
 
 * Now halt, now halt ! we need na try't; 
 " The day is come we a' maun die !" 
 
 * Puir faint-hearted thief !" cried the Laird's ain Jock, 
 
 " There'l nae man die but him that's fie ; * 
 " I'll guide ye a' right safely thro' ; 
 " Lift ye the pris'ner on ahint me." 
 
 Wi' that the water they hae ta'en, 
 
 By ane's and twa's they a' swam thro' ; 
 
 f Here are we a' safe," quo' the Laird's Jock, 
 " And, puir faint Wat, what think ye now ?" 
 
 They scarce the other brae had won, 
 
 When twenty men they saw pursue ; 
 Frae Newcastle toun they had been sent, 
 
 A' English lads baith stout and true. 
 
 But when the land-serjeant the water saw, 
 
 " Tt winna ride, my lads," says he ; 
 Then cried aloud " The prisoner take, 
 
 " But leave the fetters, I pray, to me/' 
 
 * JFw Predestined.
 
 232 
 
 " I wat weil no," quo* the Laird's Jock ; 
 
 " I'll keep them a* ; shoon to my mare they'll be, 
 * My gude bay mare for I am sure, 
 
 She has bought them a' right dear frae thee* 
 
 Sae now they are on to Liddesdale, 
 E'en as fast as they could them hie ; 
 
 The prisoner is brought to's ain fire side, 
 And there o's aims they mak him free. 
 
 * Now, Jock, my billie," quo' a' the three, 
 
 " The day is com'd thou was to die ; 
 " But thou's as weil at thy ain ingle side, 
 
 P JNow sitting, I think, 'twixt thee and me.'"
 
 233 
 
 THE 
 
 DEATH OF FEATHERSTONHAUGH. 
 
 1 his old Northumbrian ballad was originally printed in 
 the notes to Marmion, but is here inserted in its proper 
 place. It was taken down from the recitation of a woman 
 eighty years of age, mother of one of the miners in Al- 
 ston-Moor, by the agent of the lead mines there, who 
 communicated it to my friend and correspondent, R. 
 Surtees, Esq. of Mainsforth. She had not, she said, 
 heard it for many years ; but, when she was a girl, it 
 used to be sung at merry-makings, " till the roof rung 
 " again." To preserve this curious, though rude rhyme, 
 it is here inserted. The ludicrous turn given to the 
 slaughter, marks that wild and disorderly state of society, 
 in which a murder was not merely a casual circumstance, 
 but, in some cases, an exceedingly good jest. The struc- 
 ture of the ballad resembles the " Fray of Suport/' having 
 fhe same irrejjular stanza and wild chorus.
 
 234 
 
 THE 
 
 DEATH OF FEATHERSTONHAUGH. 
 
 Hoot awa', lads, hoot awa/ 
 
 Ha' ye heard how the Ridleys, and Thirlwalls, and a', 
 Ha' set set upon Albany * Featherstonhaugh, 
 And taken his life at the Deadmanshaugh : 
 
 There was Willimoteswick, 
 
 And Hardriding Dick, 
 And Hughie of Hawdon, and Will of the Wa\ 
 
 I canno tell a', I canno' tell a', 
 ^And raony a mair that the deil may knaw. 
 
 The auld man went down, but Nicol, his son, 
 Ran away afore the fight was begun ; 
 
 And he run, and he run, 
 
 And afore they were done, 
 There was many a Feathers ton gat sic a stun, 
 As never was seen since the world begun. 
 * Pronounced Awbony.
 
 235 
 
 I canna tell a', I carina tell a' ; 
 
 Some gat a skelp, * and some gat a claw ; 
 
 But they gar'd the Featherstons haud their jaw, f 
 
 Nicol, and Alick, and a'. 
 Some gat a hurt, and some gat nane ; 
 Some had harness, and some gat sta'en. J 
 
 Ane gat a twist o* the craig ; 
 Ane gat a bunch ^[ o' the wame ; # * 
 Symy Haw gat lamed of a leg, 
 And syne ran wallowing hame. ff 
 
 Hoot, hoot, the auld man's slain outright I 
 
 Lay him now wi' his face down : lie's a sorrowful sight. 
 
 Janet, thou donot,JJ 
 
 I'll lay my best bonnet, 
 Thou gets a new gude-man afore it be night. 
 
 * Skelp Signifies slap, or rather is the same word, which was original- 
 ly spelled schlap. 
 
 t Haud their jaw Hold their jaw ; a vulgar expression still in use. 
 
 X Gat sta'en Got stolen, or were plundered ; a very likely termination 
 f the fray. 
 
 Craig Neck. fl" Bunch Punch. ** Wame Belly. 
 
 ff Wallowing Bellowing. 
 
 Xt Donot Silly slut. The Border Bard calls her so, because she was 
 weeping for her husband ; a loss which he seems to think might be soon 
 repairad.
 
 236 
 
 Hoo away, lads, hoa away, 
 Wi's a be hangid if we stay. 
 
 Tak' up the dead man, and lay him anent the bigging ; 
 Here's the Bailey o' Haltwhistle, * 
 Wi' his great bull's pizzle, 
 
 That supp'd up the broo', and syne in the piggin. f 
 
 * Bailey o' Haltwhistle The Bailiff of Haltwhistle seems to have ar- 
 rived when the fray was over. This supporter of social order is treated 
 with characteristic irreverence by the moss-trooping poet. 
 
 t An iron-pot with two ears.
 
 237 
 
 1 
 
 NOTE 
 
 ON 
 
 THE DEATH OF FEATHERSTONHAUGH. 
 
 In explanation of this ancient ditty, Mr Surtees has furnish- 
 ed me with the following local memorandum : Willimoteswick 
 now more commonly called Ridley Hall, is situated at the con- 
 fluence of the Allon and Tyne, and was the chief seat of the 
 ancient family of Ridley. Hardriding Dick is not an epithet 
 referring to horsemanship, but means Richard Ridley of Hard- 
 riding, the seat of another family of that name, which, in the 
 time of Charles I., was sold on account of expences incurred 
 by the loyalty of the proprietor, the immediate ancestor of Sir 
 Matthew Ridley. Will of the Wa' seems to be William Rid- 
 ley of Walltown, so called from its situation on the great Ro- 
 man wall. Thirlwall castle, whence the clan of Thirlwalls de- 
 rived their name, is situated on the small river of Tippell, near 
 the western boundary of Northumberland. It is near the wall 
 and takes its name from the rampart having been thirled, i. e. 
 pierced, or breached, in its vicinity. Featherston Castle lies 
 south of the Tyne, towards Alston-Moor. Albany Feather-
 
 238 
 
 stonhaugh, the chief of that ancient family, made a figure in 
 the reign of Edward VI. A feud did certainly exist between 
 the Ilidlcys and Featherstones, productive of such consequences 
 as the ballad narrates. 24 Oct. 22rfo Henrici 8vi Inquisitio 
 capt. apud Hautu-histle, sup. visum carpus Alexandri Feather- 
 ston, Gen. apud Grensilhaugh, felonice inlerfecti, 28 Oct. per 
 Nicolaum Ridley de Unthanke, Gen. Hugon Ridle, Nicolaum 
 Ridle, et alios ejusdem nominis. Nor were the Featherstones 
 without their revenge ; for S6to Henrici 8vi, we have Utla- 
 gatio Nicolai Featherston, ac Thome Nj/xson, <$. pro homicidio 
 Willmi. Ridle de Morale.
 
 239 
 
 HOBBIE NOBLE. 
 
 - 
 
 W 
 
 e have seen the hero of this ballad apt a distinguished 
 
 part in the deliverance of Jock o' the Side, and are now 
 to learn the ungrateful return which the Armstrongs 
 made him for his faithful services. * Halbert, or Hobbie 
 Noble, appears to have been one of those numerous Eng- 
 lish outlaws, who, being forced to fly their own country, 
 had established themselves on the Scottish borders. As 
 
 * The original editor of the Reliques of Ancient Poetry has no- 
 ticed the perfidy of this clan in another instance ; the delivery of 
 the banished Karl of Northumberland into the hands of the Scot- 
 tish regent, by Hector of Harelaw, an Armstrong, with whom he 
 had taken refuge. Reliques of Ancient Poetry, Vol. I. p. 283. 
 This Hector of Harelaw seems to have been an Englishman, or 
 under English assurance ; for he is one of those, against whom bills 
 were exhibited, by the Scottish commissioners, to the lord-bishop 
 of Carlisle. Introduction to the History of Westmoreland and Cum- 
 berland, p. 81, In the list of borderers, 1597, Hector of Harelaw, 
 with the Griefs and Cuts of Harelaw, also figures as an inhabi- 
 tant of the Debateable Land. It would appear, from a spirited
 
 240 
 
 Hobbie continued his depredations upon the English, they 
 bribed some of his hosts, the Armstrongs, to decoy him 
 into England, under pretence of a predatory expedition. 
 He was there delivered, by his treacherous companions, 
 into the hands of the officers of justice, by whom he was 
 conducted to Carlisle, and executed next morning. The 
 laird of Mangerton, with whom Hobbie was in high fa- 
 vour, is said to have taken a severe revenge upon the trai- 
 tors who betrayed him. The priucipal contriver of the 
 scheme, called here Sim o' the May nes, fled into England 
 from the resentment of his chief; but experienced there 
 the common fate of a traitor, being himself executed at 
 Carlisle, about two months after Hobbie's death. Such is, 
 at least, the tradition of Liddesdale. Sim o' the Maynes 
 appears among the Armstrongs of Whitauch, in Liddes- 
 dale, in the list of clans so often alluded to. 
 
 invective in the Maitland MS. against the regent, and those who 
 delivered' up the unfortunate earl to Elizabeth, that Hector had 
 been guilty of this treachery, to redeem the pledge which had j 
 been exacted from him for his peaceable demeanour. The poet 
 says, that the perfidy of Morton and Locblevin was worse than 
 even that of 
 
 the traitour Eckie of Harelaw, 
 
 That says he sould him to redeem his pledge ; 
 
 Your deed is war, as all the world does know 
 
 You nothing can but covatice alledge. 
 
 Pinkertori's Maitland Poems, Vol. II. p. 290. 
 
 Eckie is the contraction of Hector among the vulgar. 
 These little memoranda may serve still farther to illustrate the 
 Ireautiful ballads, upon that subject, published in the Reliaues. 
 
 6
 
 24 1 
 
 Kershope-burn, w here Robbie met his treacherous com- 
 panions, falls into the Liddel, from the English side, at a 
 place called Turnersholm, where, according to tradition, 
 tourneys and games of chivalry were often solemnized. 
 The Mains was anciently a border-keep, near Castletoun, 
 on the north side of the Liddel, but is now totally demo- 
 lished. 
 
 Askerton is an old castle, now ruinous, situated in the 
 wilds of Cumberland, about seventeen miles north-east of 
 Carlisle, amidst that mountainous and desolate tract of 
 country, bordering upon Liddesdale, emphatically termed 
 the Waste of Bevvcastle. Conscouthart Green, and Ro- 
 dric-haugh, and the Foulbogshiel, are the names of places 
 in the same wilds, through which the Scottish plunderers 
 generally made their raids upon England ; as appears from 
 the following passage in a letter from William, Lord Dacre, 
 to Cardinal Wolsey, 18th July, 1528; Appendix to Pin- 
 kerton's Scotland, v. 12, No. XIX. " Like it also your 
 ' grace, seeing the disordour within Scotlaund, and that 
 4t all the mysguyded men, borderers of the same, inhabit- 
 *' ing within Eskdale, Ewsdale, Walgbopedale, Liddes- 
 " dale, and a part of Tividale, foranempt Bewcastelldale, 
 " and a part of the middle marches of this the king's 
 bordours, entres not this west and middle marches, to 
 " do any attemptate to the king our said so vendue's sub- 
 " jects : but thaye come thorow Bewcastelldale, and re- 
 " tornes, for the most part, the same waye agayue." 
 
 Willeva and Speir Edom are small districts in Bew- 
 
 vol. I."' Q
 
 242 
 
 castledale, through which also the Hartlie-burn takes its 
 course. 
 
 Of the castle of Mangertoun, so often mentioned in 
 these ballads, there are very few vestiges. It was situa^ 
 ted on the banks of the Liddel, below Castletoun. In 
 the wall of a neighbouring mill, which has been entirely 
 built from the ruins of the tower, there is a remarkable 
 stone, bearing the arms of the lairds of Mangertoun, and 
 a long broad-sword, with the figures 1583; probably the 
 date of building, or repairing, the castle. On each side of 
 the shield are the letters S. A. and E. , standing proba- 
 bly for Simon Armstrong, and Elizabeth Elliot. Such 
 is the only memorial of the laird of Mangertoun, except 
 those rude ballads, which the editor now offers to the 
 public.
 
 243 
 
 HOBBIE NOBLE. 
 
 Jcoul fa* the breast first treason bred in ! 
 
 That Liddesdale may safely say : 
 For in it there was baith meat and drink,, 
 
 And corn unto our geldings gay. 
 
 And we were a' stout-hearted men, 
 As England she might often say ; 
 
 But now we may turn our backs and flee, 
 Since brave Noble is sold away. 
 
 Now Hobbie was an English man, 
 And born into Bewcastle dale ; 
 
 But his misdeeds they were sae great, 
 They banish'd him to Liddesdale,
 
 244 
 
 At Kershope foot the tryst was set, 
 
 Kershope of the lilye lee ; 
 And there was traitor Sim o' the Mains, 
 
 And with him a private companie. 
 
 Then Hobbie has graithed his body fair, 
 
 Baith wi' the iron and wi* the steil ; 
 And he has ta'en out his fringed grey, 
 
 And there, brave Hobbie, he rade him weel. 
 
 Then Hobbie is down the water gane, 
 
 E'en as fast as he could hie ; 
 Tho' a' should hae bursten and broken their hearts, 
 
 Frae that riding tryst he wad na be. 
 
 m \y>el be ye met ? my feres * five ! 
 
 " And now, what is your will wi' me ?" 
 Then they cried a', wi ae consent, 
 
 " Thou'rt welcome here, brave Noble, to me. 
 
 * Wilt thou with us into England ride, 
 " And thy safe warrand we will be ? 
 
 * If we get a horse, worth a hundred pound, 
 
 " Upon bis back thou sune shalt be.' ' 
 
 * F(fr~Companions.
 
 245 
 
 * I dare not by day into England ride ; 
 
 " The iand-serjeant has me at feid: 
 " And I know not what evil may betide, 
 
 " For Peter of Whitfield, his brother, is dead* 
 
 " And Anton Shiel he loves not me, 
 " For I gat twa drifts o' his sheep ; 
 
 " The great Earl of Whitfield * loves me not, 
 * For nae geer fiae me he e'er could keep. 
 
 M But will ye stay till the day gae down, 
 " Untill the night come o'er the grand, 
 
 " And I'll be a guide worth ony twa, 
 " That may in Liddesdale be found ? 
 
 * Tho' the night be black as pick and tar, 
 " I'll guide ye o'er yon hill sae hie ; 
 
 " And bring ye a' in safety back, 
 " If ye'll be true, and follow me." 
 
 He has guided them o'er moss and muir, 
 O'er hill and hope, and mony a down ; 
 
 Until they came to the Foulbogshiel, 
 
 And there, brave Noble, he lighted down. 
 
 * Earl of Whitfield The editor does not know who is here 
 meant.
 
 246 
 
 Bui word is gane to the land-serjeant, 
 In Askerton where that he lay 
 
 " The deer, that ye hae hunted sae lang, 
 " Is seen into the Waste this day." 
 
 * Then Hobbie Noble is that deer ! 
 
 u I wat he carries the style fu' hie ; 
 " Aft has he driven our bluidhounds back, 
 " And set ourselves at little lee. 
 
 u Gar warn the bows of Hartlie-burn ; 
 
 * See they sharp their arrows on the wa': 
 " Warn Willevji and Speir Edom, 
 
 " And see the morn they meet me a'. 
 
 * Gar meet me on the Rodric-haugh, 
 
 * And see it be by break o' day ; 
 
 " And we will on to Conscouthart-yreen, 
 " For there, I think, we'll get our prey." 
 
 Then Hobbie Noble has dreimit a dreim, 
 In the Foulbogshiel, where that he lay; 
 
 He dreimit his horse was aneath him shot, 
 And lie himself got hard away.
 
 247 
 
 The cocks could craw, the day could daw, 
 And I wot sae even fell down the rain ; 
 
 Had Hobbie na wakened at that time, 
 In the Foulbogshiel he had been ta'en or slain. 
 
 " Awake, awake, my feres five ! 
 
 " I true here makes a fu' ill day ; 
 u Yet the worst cloak o' this company, 
 
 " I hope, shall cross the Waste this day." 
 
 Now Hobbie thought the gates were clear ; 
 
 But, ever alas ! it was na sae : 
 They were beset by cruel men and keen, 
 
 That away brave Hobbie might na gae. 
 
 " Yet follow me, my feres five, 
 ** And see ye keip of me guid ray ; 
 
 " And the worst cloak o' this company 
 
 " Even yet may cross the Waste this day." 
 
 But the land-serjeant's men came Hobbie before, 
 The traitor Sim came Hobbie behin', 
 
 So had Noble been wight as Wallace was, 
 Away, alas ! he might na win.*
 
 248 
 
 Then Hobbie had but a laddie's sword ', 
 But he did mair than a laddie's deed ; 
 
 For that sword had cleared Conseouthart greeri, 
 Had it not broke o'er Jerswigham's head. 
 
 Then they hae ta'en brave Hobbie Noble, 
 Wi's ain bowstring they band him sae ; 
 
 But his gentle heart was ne'er sae sair, 
 
 As when his ain five bound him on the brae. 
 
 They hae ta'en him on for west Carlisle ; 
 
 They asked him, if he kend the way ? 
 Tho' much he thought, yet littie he said ; 
 
 He knew the gate as weel as they. 
 
 They hae tae ta'en him up the Hicker-gate ;* 
 The wives they cast their windows wide ; 
 
 And every wife to another can say, 
 
 " That's the man loosed Jock o' the Side !" 
 
 * Fy on ye, women ! why ca' ye me man ? 
 
 " For it's nae man that I'm used like ; 
 " I am but like a forfoughen + hound, 
 
 * Has been fighting in a dirty syke.** J 
 
 A street in Carlisle. f Forfoughen - Quite fatigued. 
 t Syke Ditch.
 
 209 
 
 They bae had him up thro' Carlisle town, 
 And set him by the chimney fire ; 
 
 They gave brave Noble a loaf to eat, 
 And that was little his desire. 
 
 They gave him a wheaten loaf to eat, 
 
 And after that a can of beer ; 
 And they a' cried, with one consent, 
 
 " Eat, brave Noble, and make gude cheir ! 
 
 * Confess my lord's horse, Hobbie," they said, 
 " And to-morrow in Carlisle thou's na die." 
 
 w How can I confess them," Hobbie says, 
 " When I never saw them with my e'e ?" 
 
 Then Hobbie has sworn a fu' great aith, 
 Bi the day that he was gotten and born, 
 
 He never had ony thing o' my lord's, 
 That either eat him grass or corn. 
 
 u Now fare thee weel, sweet Mangerton ! 
 ** For I think again I'll ne'er thee see : 
 " I wad hae betrayed nae lad alive, 
 
 " For a' the gowd o' Christentie. 
 
 i
 
 250 
 
 " And fare thee weel, sweet Liddesdale ! 
 
 " Baith the hie land and the law ; 
 " Keep ye weel t'rae the traitor Mains ! 
 
 " For goud and gear he'll sell ye a'. 
 
 " Yet wad I rather be ca'd Hobbie Noble, 
 " In Carlisle, where he suffers for his fau't, 
 
 " Than I'd be ca'd the traitor Mains, 
 
 " That eats and drinks o* the meal and maut."
 
 251 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 HOBBIE NOBLE. 
 
 Aft has he driven our bluidhounds back. P. 246. v. 2. 
 u The russet bloodhound, wont near Annand's stream, 
 f To trace the sly thief with avenging foot, 
 " Close as an evil conscience still at hand." 
 
 Our ancient statutes inform us, that the blood-hound, or 
 sluith-hound (so called from its quality of tracing the slot, or 
 track, of men and animals), was early used in the pursuit and 
 detection of marauders. Nulla* perturbed aut impediat ranem 
 traasantem, aut homines trassantes cum ipso, ad sequendum la- 
 trones. Regiam Majestatem, Lib. 4tus, Cap. 32. And, so 
 late as 1616, there was an order from the king's commissioners 
 of the northern counties, that a certain number of slough-hounds 
 should be maintained in every district of Cumberland, border- 
 ing upon Scotland. They were of great value, being some- 
 times sold for a hundred crowns. Exposition of Bleaus Atlas, 
 voce Nithsdale, The breed of this sagacious animal, which 
 could trace the human footstep with the most unerring accu- 
 racy, is now nearly extinct.
 
 252 
 
 ROOKHOPE RYDE. 
 
 This is a bishoprick border song, composed in 1569; 
 taken down from the chanting of George Collingwood 
 the elder, late of Boltsburn, in the neighbourhood of Ry- 
 hope, who was interred at Stanhope, the 16th December, 
 1785. 
 
 Rookhope is the name of a valley about five miles in 
 length; at the termination of which, Rookhope-bura 
 empties itself into the river Wear : the dale lies in the 
 north part of the parish of Stanhope, in Weardale. Rook- 
 hope-head is the top of the vale. The ballad derives some 
 additional interest, from the date of the event being so 
 precisely ascertained to be the 6th December, 1572, when 
 the Tynedale rubbers, taking advantage of the public 
 confusion occasioned by the rebellion of Westmoreland 
 and Northumberland, and which particularly affected the 
 bishoprick of Durham, determined to make this foray into 
 Weardale. The late eminent antiquary, Joseph Ritson, 
 
 15
 
 253 
 
 took down this ballad from the mouth of the reciter, and 
 printed it as part of an intended collection of border 
 ballads; which was never published. His nephew, Mr 
 Frank, was so good as to favour me with the copy from 
 which it is here given. To the illustrations of Mr Ritson, 
 I have been enabled to add those of my friend, Mr Sur- 
 tees. 
 
 .. 
 
 L
 
 254 
 
 ROOKHOPE RYDE. 
 
 Rookhope stands in a pleasant place, 
 
 If the false thieves wad let it be, 
 But away they steal our goods apace, 
 
 And ever an ill death may they dee ! 
 
 And so is the man of Thirlwall and Willie-haver, 
 And all their companies thereabout, 
 
 That is minded to do mischief, 
 
 And at their stealing stands not out. 
 
 But yet we will not slander them all, 
 For there is of them good enough ; 
 
 It is a sore consumed tree 
 
 That on it bears not one fresh bough. 
 11
 
 Z55 
 
 Lord god ! is not this a pitiful case, 
 
 That men dare not drive their goods to the fell, 
 But limmer thieves drives them away, 
 
 That fears neither heaven nor hell. 
 
 Lord, send us peace into the realm, 
 That every man may live on his own ! 
 
 I trust to God, if it be his will, 
 That Weardale men may never be overthrown. 
 
 For great troubles they've had in hand, 
 
 With borderers pricking hither and thither, 
 
 But the greatest fray that e'er they had, 
 
 Was with the men of Thirlvvall and Willie-haver. 
 
 They gather'd together so royally, 
 
 The stoutest men and the best in gear j 
 
 And he that rade not on a horse, 
 I wat he rade on a weil-fed mear. 
 
 So in the morning, before they came out, 
 So weel I wot they broke their fast ; 
 
 In the forenoon they came unto a bye fell, 
 Where some of them did eat their last. * 
 
 * This would be about eleven o'clock, the usual dinner-hour 
 in that period.
 
 *56 
 
 When they had eaten aye and done, 
 
 They say'd, some captains here needs must be 
 
 Then they choosed forth Harry Corbyl, 
 And * Symon Fell/ and Martin Ridley. 
 
 Then o'er the moss, where as they came, 
 
 With many a brank and whew, 
 One of them could to another say, 
 
 tf I think this day we are men enew/* 
 
 For Weardale-men have a journey ta'en, 
 They are so far out o'er yon fell, 
 
 That some of them's with the two earls, 
 And others fast in Bernard castell. 
 
 There we shall get gear enough, 
 
 For there is nane but women at hanie ; 
 
 The sorrowful fend that they can make, 
 Is loudly cries * as they were slain. 
 
 Then in at Rook hope-head they came, 
 
 Aud there they thought tul a' had their prey, 
 
 But they were spy'd coming over the Dry-rig, 
 Soon upon Saint Nicholas' day.j 
 
 This is still the phraseology of Westmoreland : a poorly 
 man, a softly day, aud the like, \ The 6th of December.
 
 257' 
 
 Then in at Rookhope-head they came, 
 
 They ran the forest but a mile ; 
 They gather'd together in four hours 
 
 Six hundred sheep within a while. 
 
 And horses I trow they gat, 
 
 But either ane or twa, 
 And they gat them all but ane 
 
 That belanged to great Rowley. 
 
 That Rowley was the first man that did them spy, 
 With that he raised a mighty cry; 
 
 The cry it came down Rook hope-burn, 
 And spread through Weardale hasteyly. 
 
 Then word came to the bailiPs house 
 At the East-gate, where he did dwell; 
 
 He was walk'd out to the Smale-burns, 
 Which stands above the Hanging-well. * 
 
 His wife was wae when she heard tell, 
 
 So well she wist her husband wanted gear ; 
 
 * A place in the neighbourhood of East-gate, known at pre- 
 sent, as well as the Dry-rig, or Smale-burns ; being the pro- 
 perty of Mr Robert Richardson, by inheritance, since before 
 1583. Ritson. 
 
 VOL.1. R
 
 258 
 
 She gar'd saddle him his horse in haste, 
 And neither forget sword, jack,* por spear. 
 
 The bailif got wit before his gear came, 
 That such news was in the land, 
 
 He was sore troubled in his heart, 
 That on no earth that he could stand. 
 
 His brother was hurt three days before, 
 With limmer thieves that did him prick ; 
 
 Nineteen bloody wounds lay him upon, 
 What ferly was't that he lay sick ? 
 
 But yet the bailif shrinked nought, 
 But fast after them he did hye, 
 
 And so did all his neighbours near, 
 That went to bear him company. 
 
 But when the bailif was gathered, 
 
 And all his company, 
 They were number'd to never a man 
 
 But forty under fifty. 
 
 A jacket, or short coat, plaited or insticbed with small 
 pieces of iron, and usually worn by the peasantry of the bor- 
 der in their journeys from place to place, as well as in their 
 occasional skirmishes with the moss-troopers, who were roost 
 probably equipped with the same sort of harness. Ritson.
 
 259 
 
 The thieves was numbered a hundred men, 
 
 I wat they were not of the worst : 
 That could be choosed out of Thirlwall and Willie-haver 
 
 I trow they were the very first. * 
 
 But all that was in Rookhope-head, 
 
 And all that was i' Nuketon-cleugh, 
 Where Weardale-men o'ertook the thieves, 
 
 And there they gave them fighting eneugh. 
 
 So sore they made them fain to flee, 
 
 As many was a' out of hand, 
 And, for tul have been at home again, 
 
 They would have been in iron bands. 
 
 And for the space of long seven years 
 
 As sore they mighten a' had their lives, 
 But there was never one of them 
 
 That ever thought to have seen their wives. 
 
 About the time the fray began, 
 
 I trow it lasted but an hour, 
 Till many a man lay weaponless, 
 
 And was sore wounded in that stour. 
 
 * The reciter, from his advanced age, could not recollect the 
 original line thus imperfectly supplied, Ritsok.
 
 20# 
 
 Also before that hour was done, 
 
 Four of the thieves were slain, 
 Besides all those that wounded were, 
 
 And eleven prisoners there was ta'en. 
 
 George Carrick, and his brother Edie, 
 Them two, L wot, they were both slain ; 
 
 Harry Corbyl, and Lennie Carrick, 
 Bore them company in their pain. 
 
 One of our Weardale-men was slain, 
 Rowland Emerson his name hight ; 
 
 I trust to God his soul is well, 
 Because he fought unto the right. 
 
 But thus they say'd, We'll not depart 
 
 While we have one : Speed back again ! 
 
 And when they came amongst the dead men, 
 Ther they found George Carrick slain. 
 
 And when they found George Carrick slain, 
 I wot it went well near their heart ; 
 
 Lord let them never make a better end, 
 That comes to play them sicken a part.
 
 261 
 
 I trust to God, no more they shall, 
 Except it be one for a great chance ; 
 
 For God will punish all those 
 With a great heavy pestilence. 
 
 Thir limmer thieves, they have good hearts, 
 They never think to be o'erthrown ; 
 
 Three banners against Weardale-men they bare, 
 As if the world had been all their own. 
 
 Thir Weardale-men, they have good hearts, 
 
 They are. as stiff as any tree ; 
 For, if they'd every one been slain, 
 
 Never a foot back man would flee. 
 
 And such a storm amongst them fell, 
 As I think you never heard the like ; 
 
 For he that bears his head so high, 
 He oft-times falls into the dyke. 
 
 And now I do entreat you all, 
 
 As many as are present here, 
 To pray for the singer of this song, 
 
 For he sings to make blithe your cheer.
 
 <162 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 ROOKHOPE RYDE. 
 
 And so is the man of Thirwall and Willie-hater. P. 254. v. 2. 
 
 Thirlwall, or Thirlitwall, is said by Fordun, the Scotish histo- 
 rian, to be a name given to the Picts or Roman wall, from its 
 having been thirled, or perforated, in ancient times, by the 
 Scots and Picts. Wyntown also, who most probably copied 
 Fordun, calls it Thrilwall. Thrilwall-castle, though in a very 
 ruinous condition, is still standing by the site of this famous 
 wall, upon the river Tippal. It gave name to the ancient fa- 
 mily, De Thirlwall. Willie-haver, or Willeva, is a small dis- 
 trict or township in the parish of Lanercost, near Bewcastle- 
 dale, in Cumberland, mentioned in the preceding ballad of 
 Hobbie Noble : 
 
 " Gar warn the bows of Hartlic-bum, 
 See they sharp their arrows on the wa' ; 
 
 Warn Willeva, and Spear Edoni, 
 And see the morn they meet me a'." 
 
 That some of them's with the two earls. P. S56. S. 
 The two earls were Thomas Percy, Earl of Northumber-
 
 263 
 
 land, and Charles Nevil, Earl of Westmoreland, who, on the 
 15th of November, 1569, at the head of their tenantry and 
 others, took arms for the purpose of liberating Mary, queen of 
 Scots, and restoring the old religion. They besieged Barnard- 
 castle, which was, for eleven days, stoutly defended by Sir 
 George Bowes, who, afterward, being appointed the queen's 
 marshal, hanged the poor constables and peasantry by dozens 
 in a day, to the amount of 800. The Earl of Northumberland, 
 betrayed by the Scots, with whom he had taken re:uge, was be- 
 headed at York, on the 22d of August, 1572 ; and the Earl of 
 Westmoreland deprived of the ancient and noble patrimony of 
 the Nevils, and reduced to beggary, escaped over sea, into Flan- 
 ders, and died in misery and disgrace, being the last of his fa- 
 mily. See two ballads on this subject, in Percy's Collection, 
 (I. 271, 281), and consider whether they be genuine. Ritson. 
 
 At the East-gate, where he did dwell. P. 257. 4. 
 
 Now a straggling village so called ; originally, it would seem, 
 the gate-house, or ranger "s lodge, at the east entrance of Stan- 
 hope-park. At some distance from this place is West-gate, 
 so called for a similar reason.- Ritson. 
 
 " The mention of the bailif's house at the East-gate, is 
 (were such a proof wanting) strongly indicative of the authen- 
 ticity of the ballad. The family of Emerson of East-gath, a 
 fief, if I may so call it, held under the bishop, long exercised 
 the office of bailiff of Wolsingham, the chief town and borough 
 of Weardale, and of Forster, &c. under successive prelates ; 
 and the present bishop's gamekeeper and ranger within Wear- 
 dale, may be said to claim his office by maternal descent, 
 being Emerson Muschamp (another ancient name) and though 
 somewhat shorn of his beams, the lineal heir of the old bai- 
 liffs of Weardale. 
 
 Rob. Emerson Parcarius de Stanhopp 13 Aug. 7 Rob. Ne- 
 vill Epi. 
 
 Cuthb. Emerson de Eastgat sub Forestar. Parci de Stan- 
 hopp. 1 Wolsey
 
 264 
 
 Lease of the East-gate to Mr George Emerson for SO years, 
 10L p. ann. 4. Ed. C. Bp. Tunstall. 
 
 Rob. Emerson de Eastgat. sede vacante p. deprir. Tunstall 
 parcar. Dne Regine. 
 
 Ceo. et Ric. Emerson Ballivi de Wolsingham p. palens. 12 
 Sept. 1616, sicut Geo. Rolli vel Rolland9 Emerson olim te- 
 nuere." iSurtees.
 
 Z65 
 
 ' 
 
 BARTHRAM'S DIRGE. 
 
 1 he following beautiful fragment was taken down by 
 Mr Surtees, from the recitation of Anne Douglas, an old 
 woman, who weeded in his garden. It is imperfect, and 
 the words within brackets were inserted by my corre- 
 spondent, to supply such stanzas as the chauntress's me 
 mory left defective. The hero of the ditty, if the re- 
 citer be correct, was shot to death by nine brothers, 
 whose sister he had seduced, but was afterwards buried 
 at her request, near their usual place of meeting ; which 
 may account for his being laid not in holy ground, but 
 beside the burn. The name of Barthram, or Bertram, 
 would argue a Northumbrian origin, and there is, or was, 
 a Headless Cross, among many so named, near Elsdon in 
 Northumberland. But the mention of the Nine-Stane
 
 266 
 
 Burn, and Nine-Stane Rig, seem to refer to those places 
 in the vicinity of Hermitage Castle, * which is counte- 
 nanced by the mentioning our Lady's Chapel. Perhaps 
 the hero may have been an Englishman, and the lady a 
 native of Scotland ; which renders the catastrophe even 
 more probable. The style of the ballad is rather Scot- 
 tish than Northumbrian. They certainly did bury in 
 former days near the Nine-Stane Burn ; for the editor 
 remembers finding a small monumental cross, with initials, 
 lying among the heather. It was so small, that, with the 
 assistance of another gentleman, he easily placed it up- 
 right. 
 
 See the Ballad of Lord Soulis, in Vol. III.
 
 267 
 
 BARTHRAM'S DIRGE. 
 
 They shot him dead on the Nine-Stone Rig* 
 
 Beside the Headless Cross, 
 And they left him lying in his blood, 
 
 Upon the moor and moss. 
 
 They made a bier of the broken bough, 
 The sauch and the aspin gray, 
 
 And they bore him to the Lady Chapel, 
 And waked him there all day.
 
 268 
 
 A lady came to that lonely bower, 
 And threw her robes aside, 
 
 She tore her ling [long] yellow hair, 
 And knelt at Barthraui's side. 
 
 She bath'd him in the Lady- Well 
 
 His wounds so deep and sair, 
 And she plaited a garland for his breast, 
 
 And a garland lor his hair. 
 
 They rowed him in a lily-sheet, 
 
 And bare him to his earth, 
 [And the Grey Friars sung the dead man's mass, 
 
 As they pass'd the Chapel Garth.] 
 
 They buried him at [the mirk] midnight, 
 
 [When the dew fell cold and still, 
 When the as pin gray forgot to play, 
 
 And the mist clung to the hill.] 
 
 They dug his grave but a bare foot deep, 
 
 By the edge of the Ninestone Burn, 
 And they covered him [o'er with the heather-flower] 
 
 The moss and the (Lady) fern.
 
 9,69 
 
 A Gray Friar staid upon the grave, 
 
 And sang till the morning tide, 
 And a friar shall sing for Bartram's soul, 
 
 While Headless Cross shall bide. * 
 
 * Mr Surtees observes, on this passage, that, in the return 
 made by the commissioners, on the dissolution of Newmiii9ter 
 Abbey, there is an item of a Chauntery, for one priest to sing 
 daily, ad crucem lapideam. ' Probably, many of these crosses 
 had the like expiatory solemnities for persons slain there.
 
 270 
 
 ARCHIE OF CA'FIELD. 
 
 It may perhaps be thought, that, from the near resem- 
 blance which this ballad bears to Kinfhont Willie, and 
 Jock o' the Side, the editor might have dispensed with 
 inserting it in this collection. But, although the inci- 
 dents in these three ballads are almost the same, yet 
 there is considerable variety in the language ; and each 
 contains minute particulars, highly characteristic of bor- 
 der manners, which it is the object of this publicationjo 
 illustrate. Ca'field, or Calfield, .is a place in Wauchop- 
 dale, belonging of old to the Armstrongs. In the ac- 
 count betwixt the English and Scottish marches, Jock 
 and Geordie of Ca'field, there called Calf hill, are repeated- 
 ly marked as delinquents. History of Westmoreland and 
 Cumberland, Vol. I. Introduction, p. 33. " Mettled 
 " John Hall, from the laigh Tivioldale," is perhaps John 
 Hall of Newbigging, mentioned in the list of border clans, 
 as one of the chief men of name residing on the middle
 
 271 
 
 marches in 1597. The editor has been enabled to add 
 several stanzas to this ballad, since publication of the 
 first edition. They were obtained from recitation; and, 
 as they contrast the brutal indifference of the elder bro- 
 ther with the zeal and spirit of his associates, they add 
 considerably to the dramatic effect of the whole.
 
 272 
 
 ARCHIE OF CA'FIELD. 
 
 As I was a walking mine alane, 
 It was by the dawning of the day, 
 
 I heard twa brithers make their mane, 
 And I listened weel to what they did say. 
 
 The youngest to the eldest said, 
 
 " Blythe and merrie how can we be ? 
 
 " There were three brithren of us born, 
 * And ane of us is condemned to die." 
 
 An' ye wad be merrie, an' ye wad be sad, 
 
 * What the better wad billie Archie be ? 
 " Unless I had thirty men to mysell, 
 
 * And a' to ride in my cumpanie. 
 
 14
 
 273 
 
 " Ten to hald the horses heads, 
 " And other ten the watch to he, 
 
 " And ten to break up the strong prison, 
 * Where billy Archie * he does lie." 
 
 Then up and spak him mettled John Hall, 
 (The luve of Teviotdale aye was he) 
 
 " An I had eleven men to mysell, 
 f Its aye the twalt man I wad be." 
 
 Then up bespak him coarse Ca'field, 
 (I wot and little gude worth was he) 
 
 te Thirty men is few anew, 
 
 " And a' to ride in our cumpanie." 
 
 There was horsing, horsing in haste, 
 And there was marching on the lee ; 
 
 Until they cam to Murraywhate, 
 
 And they lighted there right speetlilie. 
 
 u A smith ! a smith !" Dickie he cries, 
 " A smith, a smith, right speedilie, 
 
 " To turn back the caukers of our horses' shoon ! 
 te For its unkensome f we wad be." 
 
 * Bill>/ Brother. f Unkensome Unknown. 
 
 VOL. I. S
 
 274 
 
 " There lives asmith on the water side, 
 " Will shoe my little black mare tor me ; 
 
 " And I've a crown in my pdcket, 
 " And every groat of it I wad gie," 
 
 " The night is mirk, and it's very mirk, 
 " And by candle light I canna weel see ; 
 
 " The night is mirk, and it's very pit mirk, 
 " And there will never a nail ca' right tor me." 
 
 " Shame fa' you and youi trade baith, 
 
 ** Canna beet* agude fellow by your mystery !f 
 u But leeze me on thee, my little black mare, 
 
 * Thou's worth thy weight in gold to me." 
 
 There was horsing, horsing in haste, 
 And there was marching upon the lee ; 
 
 Until they cam t<> Dumfries port, 
 
 And they lighted there right speedilie. 
 
 w There's five of us will hold the horse, 
 
 * And other five will watchmen be : 
 " But wha's the man, amang ye a', 
 
 " Will gae to the Tol booth door wi' me ?" 
 
 * Bce< Abet, aid. f Mystery Trade. See Shakespeare. 
 
 12
 
 275 
 
 O up then spak him mettled John Hall, 
 (Frae the laigh Tiviotdale was he) 
 
 ** If it should cost my life this very night, 
 " I'll gae to the Tolbooth door wi' thee." 
 
 ** Be of sude cheir, now, Archie, lad ! 
 
 ** Be of gude cheir, now, dear billie ! 
 " Work thou within, and we without, 
 
 " And the morn thou'se dine at Ca'field wi' me." 
 
 O Jockie Hall stepped to the door, 
 And he bended low back his knee ; 
 
 And he made the bolts, the door hang on, 
 Loup frae the wa' right wantonlie. 
 
 He took the prisoner on his back, 
 And down the Tbl booth stair cam he ; 
 
 The black mare stood ready at the door, 
 I wot a foot ne'er stirred she. 
 
 They laid the links out ower her neck, 
 And that was her gold twist to be ; * 
 
 And they cam down thro' Dumfries toun, 
 
 And wow but they cam speedilie. 
 
 * The Gold Twist means the small gilded chains drawn 
 across the chest of a war-horse, as a part of his caparaison.
 
 276 
 
 The live lang night these twelve men rade, 
 And aye till they were right wearie, 
 
 Until they cam to the Murraywhate, 
 And they lighted there right speedilie. 
 
 * A smith ! a smith I" then Dickie he cries, 
 
 " A smith, a smith, right speedilie, 
 " To file the irons frae my dear brither ! 
 
 * For forward, forward we wad be." 
 
 They had na filed a shackle of iron, 
 A shackle of iron but barely thrie, 
 When out and spak young Simon brave, 
 
 * O dinna ye see what I do see ? 
 
 " Lo ! yonder comes Lieutenant Gordon, 
 " Wi' a hundred men in his cumpanie ; 
 
 " This night will be our lyke-wake night, 
 " The morn the day we a' maun die." 
 
 O there was mounting, mounting in haste, 
 And there was marching upon the lee ; 
 
 Until they cam to Annan water, 
 And it was flowing like the sea.
 
 277 
 
 " My mare is young and very skeigh, * 
 " And in o' the weil f she will drown me ; 
 
 " But ye'll take mine, and I'll take thine, 
 ** And sune through the water we sail be." 
 
 Then up and spak him, coarse Ca'field, 
 (I wot and little gude worth was he) 
 
 " We had better lose ane than lose a' the lave ; 
 " We'll lose the prisoner, we'll gae free." 
 
 " Shame fa' you and your lands baith ! 
 
 * Wad ye e'en J your lands to your born billy ? 
 " But hey ! bear up, my bonnie black mare, 
 
 " And yet thro' the water we sail be." 
 
 Now they did swim that wan water, 
 
 And wow but they swam bonilie ! 
 Until they cam to the other side, 
 
 And they wrang their cloathes right drunkily. 
 
 " Come thro', come thro', Lieutenant Gordon ! 
 
 u Come thro' and drink some wine wi' me ! 
 * For there is an ale-house here hard by, 
 
 ** And it shall not cost thee ae penny." 
 
 * Skeigh Shy. t Weil Eddy. 
 
 X E'en Even, put into comparison.
 
 27S 
 
 * Throw me my irons," quo* Lieutenant Gordon ; 
 f I wot they cost me dear aneugh." 
 
 a The shame a ma," quo' mettled John Ha', 
 ? They'll be gude shackles to my pleugh." 
 
 * Come thro', come thro', Lieutenant Gordon ! 
 " Come thro' and drink some wine wi' me I 
 
 " Yestreen 1 was your prisoner, 
 " But now this morning am I free."
 
 279 
 
 ARMSTRONG'S GOODNIGHT. 
 
 The following verses are said to have been composed by one 
 of the Armstrongs, executed for the murder of Sir John 
 Carmichael of Edrom, warden of the middle marches. 
 (See p. 170 J The tune is popular in Scotland ; but 
 whether these are the original words, will admit of a 
 doubt. 
 
 This night is my departing night, 
 For here nae langer must I stay ; 
 
 There's neither friend nor foe o'mine, 
 But wishes me away. 
 
 What I have done thro' lack of wit, 
 
 I never, never, can recall ; 
 I hope ye're a' my friends as yet ; 
 
 Goodnight and joy be with you all !
 
 280 
 
 THE FRAY OF SUPORT. 
 
 AN ANCIENT BORDER GATHERING SONG. 
 
 FROM TRADITION. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Of all the border ditties, which have fallen into the edi- 
 tor's hands, this is by far the most uncouth and savage. 
 It is usually chaunted in a sort of wild recitative, except 
 the burden, which swells into a long and varied howl, not 
 unlike to a view hollo'. The words, and the very great 
 irregularity of tjie stanza (if it deserves the name), suffi- 
 ciently point out its intention and origin. An English 
 woman, residing in Suport, near the foot of the Kershope, 
 having been plundered in the night by a band of the Scot- 
 tish moss-troopers, is supposed to convoke her servants 
 and friends for the pursuit, or Hot Trod ; upbraiding 
 them, at the same time, in homely phrase, for their negli- 
 gence and security. The Hot Trod was followed by the 
 persons who had lost goods, with blood-hounds and horns,
 
 281 
 
 to raise the country to help. They also used to carry a 
 burning wisp of straw at a spear head, and to raise a cry, 
 similar to the Indian war-whoop. It appears, from articles 
 made by the wardens of the English marches, September 
 12th, in 6th of Edward VI. that all, on this cry being 
 raised, were obliged to follow the fray, or chace, under 
 pain of death. With these explanations, the geueral pur- 
 port of the ballad may be easily discovered, though 
 particular passages have become inexplicable, probably 
 through corruptions introduced by reciters. The present 
 copy is corrected from four copies, which differed widely 
 from each other.
 
 282 
 
 
 
 
 THE FRAY OF SUPORT 
 
 Sleep'ry Sim of the Lamb-hill, 
 
 And snoring Jock or Suport-mill, 
 
 Ye are baith right het and fou'; 
 
 But my wae wakens na you. 
 
 Last night I saw a sorry sight 
 
 Nought left me, o' four-and-twenty gude ousen and ky, 
 
 My weel-ridden gelding, and a white quey, 
 
 But a toora byre and a wide, 
 
 And the twelve nogs * on ilka side. 
 
 Fy lads ! shout a' a' a' a' a', 
 
 My gear's a' gane. 
 
 Weel may ye ken, 
 
 Last night I was right scarce o* men : 
 * Nogt Stakes*
 
 283 
 
 But Toppet Hob o' the Mains had guesten'd in my 
 
 house by chance ; 
 I set him to wear the fore-door wi' the speir, while I 
 
 kept the back door wi' the lance ; 
 But they hae run him thro' the thick o' the thie, and 
 
 broke his knee-pan, 
 And the mergh * o' his shin bane has run down on his 
 
 spur leather whang : 
 He's lame while he lives, and where'er he may gang. 
 
 Fy lads ! shout a' a' a' a' a', 
 
 My gear's a' gane. 
 
 But Peenye, my gude son, is out at the Hagbut-head, 
 
 His e'en glittering for anger like a fiery gleed ; 
 
 Crying " Mak sure the nooks 
 
 tf Of Maky's-muir crooks ; 
 
 * For the wily Scot takes by nooks, hooks, and crooks. 
 
 " Gin we meet a' together in a head the morn, 
 
 fj We'll be merry men." 
 
 Fy lads ! shout a' a' a' a' a', 
 
 My gear's a' gane. 
 
 There's doughty Cuddy in the Heugh-head, 
 Thou was aye gude at a' need : 
 
 * Mergh Marrow.
 
 284 
 
 With thy brock-skin bag at thy belt, 
 Ay ready to mak a puir man help. 
 Thou maun awa' out to the cauf-craigs, 
 (Where anes ye lost your ain twa naigs) 
 And there toora thy brock-skin bag. 
 Fy lads ! shout a' a' a' a' a', 
 My gear's a ta'en. 
 
 Doughty Dan o' the Houlet Hirst, 
 
 Thou was aye gude at a birst : 
 
 Gude wi' a bow, and better wi' a speir, 
 
 The bauldest march-man that e'er followed gear 9 
 
 Come thou here. 
 
 Fy lads ! shout a' a' a' a', 
 
 My gear's a' gane. 
 
 Rise, ye carle coopers, frae making o' kirns and tubs, 
 
 In the Nicol forest woods. 
 
 Your craft has na left the value of an oak rod, 
 
 But if you had had ony fear o' God, 
 
 Last night ye had na slept sae sound, 
 
 And let my gear be a' ta'en. 
 
 Fy lads ! shout a' a' a' a' a', 
 
 My gear's a' ta'en.
 
 285 
 
 Ah ! lads, we'll fang them a' in a net ! 
 
 For I hae a' the fords o' Liddel set ; 
 
 The Dunkin, and the Door-loup, 
 
 The Willie-ford, and the Water-Slack, 
 
 The Black-rack and the Trout-dub of Liddel ; 
 
 There stands John Forster wi' five men at his back, 
 
 Wi' buft coat and cap of steil : 
 
 Boo ! ca' at them e'en, Jock ; 
 
 That ford's sicker, I wat weil. 
 
 Fy lads ! shout a' a' a' a' a', 
 
 My gear's a' ta'en. 
 
 Moo ! hoo ! gar raise the Reid Souter, and Ringan's Wat, 
 
 Wi' a broad elshin and a wicker ; 
 
 I wat weil they'll mak a ford sicker. 
 
 Sae whether they be Elliots or Armstrangs, 
 
 Or rough riding Scots, or rude Johnstones, 
 
 Or whether they be frae the Tarras or Ewsdale, 
 
 They maun turn and fight, or try the deeps o' Liddel. 
 
 Fy lads ! shout a' a' a' a' a', 
 
 My gear's a' ta'en. 
 
 " Ah ! but they will play ye another jigg, 
 For they will out at the big rig,
 
 286 
 
 And thro' at Fargy Grame's gap." 
 
 * But I hae another wile for that : 
 
 For I hae little Will, and stalwart Wat, 
 
 And lang Aicky, in the Souter moor, 
 
 Wi' his sleuth dog sits in his watch right sure ; 
 
 Shou'd the dog gie a bark, 
 
 He'll be out in his sark, 
 
 And die or won. 
 
 Fy lads ! shout a' a' a' a' a', 
 
 My gear's a' ta'en. 
 
 Ha ! boys I see a party appearing wha's yon ! 
 Methinks it's the captain of Bewcastle, and t Jephtha' 
 
 John, 
 Coming down by the foul steps of Catlowdie's loan : 
 They'll make a sicker, come which way they will. 
 
 Ha lads ! shout a' a' a' a' a', 
 
 My gear's a ta'en. 
 
 Captain Musgrave, and a' his band, 
 Are coming down by the Siller-strand, 
 And the muckle toun-bell o' Carlisle is rung : 
 My gear was a weel won, 
 
 And before it's carried o'er the border, mony a man's 
 gae down. 
 
 Fy lads ! shout a' a' a' a' a', 
 
 My gear's a' gane.
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 THE FRAY OF SUPORT. 
 
 And there toom thy brock-skin bag. P. 284. v. 1. 
 Hie badger-skin pouch was used tor carrying ammunition. 
 
 In the Nicol forest woods. P. 284. v. 3. 
 A wood in Cumberland, in which Suport is situated. 
 
 For I hae a' the fords o' Liddelset P. 285. v. 1, 
 
 Watching fords was a ready mode of intercepting the ma- 
 rauders ; the names of the most noted fords upon the Liddel 
 are recited in this verse. 
 
 And thro' at Fargy Grame's gap. P 286. v. 1. 
 
 Fergus Grame of Sowport, as one of the chief men of that 
 clan, became security to Lord Scroope for the good behaviour 
 of his friends and dependants. 8th January, 1662. Introduc- 
 tion to History of Westmoreland and Cumberland, p. 111. 
 
 Wi' his sleuth dog sits in his watch ri^ht sure. P. 286. v. 1. 
 
 The centinels, who, by the march laws, were planted upon 
 the border each night, had usually sleuth-dogs, or blood-hounds.
 
 288 
 
 along with them. See'Nicolson's Border Laws, and Lord Whar- 
 ton's Regulations, in the 6th of Edward VI. 
 
 Of the blood-hound we have said something in the notes on 
 Hobbte Nobble ; but we may, in addition, refer to the follow- 
 ing poetical description of the qualities and uses of that singu- 
 lar animal : 
 
 Upon the banks 
 
 Of Tweed, slow winding thro' the vale, the seat 
 
 Of war and rapine once, ere Britons knew 
 
 The sweets of peace, or Anna's dread commands 
 
 To lasting leagues the haughty rivals awed, 
 
 There dwelt a pilfering race; well train'd and skill'd 
 
 In all the mysteries of theft, the spoil 
 
 Their only substance, feuds and war their sport. 
 
 Not more expert in every frnudful art 
 
 The arch felon was of old, who by the tail 
 
 Drew bark his lowing prize : in vain his wiles, 
 
 In vain the shelter of the covering rock, 
 
 In vain the sooty cloud, and ruddy flames, 
 
 That issued from his mouth ; for soon he paid 
 
 JHis forfeit life: a debt how justly due 
 
 To wronged Alcides, and avenging Heaven ! 
 
 Veil'd in the shades of night, they ford the stream ; 
 Then, prowling far and near, wbate'er they seize 
 Becomes their prey ; nor flocks nor herds are safe, 
 Nor stalls protect the steer, nor strong barr'd doors 
 Secure the favourite horse. Soon as the morn 
 Reveals his wrongs, with ghastly visage wan 
 The plunder'd owner stands, and from his lips 
 A thousand thronging curses burst their way. 
 Hi- calls his -unit allies, and in a line 
 Hi- faithful hounds he leads ; then, with a voice 
 Thai utters loud his rage, attentive cheers. 
 Soon the sagacious brute, his curling tail 
 Flourish'd in air, low bending, plies around 
 His busy nose, the steaming vapour .snuffs 
 Inquisitive, nor leaves one turf untried ; 
 
 3
 
 S89 
 
 Till, conscious of the recent stains, his heart 
 Beats quick, his snuffling nose, his active tail, 
 Attest his joy ; then, with deep-opening mouth 
 That makes the welkin tremble, he proclaims 
 The audacious felon ! foot by foot be marks 
 His winding-way, while all the listening crowd 
 Applaud his reasonings. O'er the watery ford, 
 Dry sandy heaths, and stony barren hills, 
 O'er beaten tracks, with men and beast distain'd, 
 Unerring he pursues ; till, at the cot 
 Arrived, and seizing by his guilty throat 
 The caitiff vile, redeems the captive prey : 
 So exquisitely delicate his sense ! 
 
 Somervixle's Chase. 
 
 Methinks it's the Captain of Bewcastle, fyc. 
 
 Coming down by the foul steps of Catlowdie' s loan.V. 286. v. 2. 
 
 According to the late Glenriddell's notes on this ballad, the 
 office of captain of -Bewcastle was held by the chief of the 
 Nixons. 
 
 Catlowdie is a small village in Cumberland, near, the junc- 
 tion of the Esk and Liddel. 
 
 Captain Musgrate and d his band. P. 286. v. 3. 
 
 This was probably the famous Captain Jack Musgrave, who 
 had charge of the watch along the Cryssop, or Kershope, as 
 appears from the order of the watches appointed by Lord Whar- 
 ton, when depnty-warden-general, in 6th Edward VI. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 290 
 
 LORD MAXWELL'S GOODNIGHT. 
 
 NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. 
 
 J his beautiful ballad is published from a copy in Glen- 
 riddel's MSS., with some slight variations from tradition. 
 It alludes to one of the most remarkable feuds upon the 
 west marches. 
 
 A. D. 1585, John, Lord Maxwell, or, as he styled 
 himself, Earl of Morton, having quarrelled with the Earl 
 of Arran, reigning favourite of James VI., and fallen, of 
 course, under the displeasure of the court, was denoun- 
 ced rebel. A commission was also given to the laird of 
 Johnstone, then warden of the west-marches, to pursue 
 and apprehend the ancient rival and enemy of his house. 
 Two bands of mercenaries, commanded by Captains Cran- 
 stoun and Lammie, who were sent from Edinburgh to sup- 
 port Johnstone, were attacked and cut to pieces at Craw- 
 fordmuir, by Robert Maxwell, nataral brother to the 
 
 14
 
 291 
 
 V 
 
 chieftain;* who, following up his advantage, burned 
 Johnstone's castle of Lochwood, observing, with savage 
 glee, that he would give Lady Johnstone light enough by 
 which to " set her hood." In a subsequent conflict, John- 
 stone himself was defeated, and made prisoner, and is said 
 to have died of grief at the disgrace which he sustained. 
 See Spottisivoode and Johnstone's Histories, and Moyse's 
 Memoirs, ad annum 1585. 
 
 By one of the revolutions, common in those days, Max- 
 well was soon after restored to the king's favour, in his 
 turn, and obtained the wardenry of the west marches. 
 A bond of alliance was subscribed by him, and by Sir 
 James Johnstone, and for some time the two clans lived 
 in harmony. In the year 1593, however, the hereditary 
 feud was revived, on the following occasion : A band of 
 marauders, of the clan Johnstone, drove a prey of cattle 
 from the lands belonging to the lairds of Crichton, San- 
 quhar, and Drumlanrig; and defeated, with slaughter, 
 the pursuers, who attempted to rescue their property. 
 [See the folloiving Ballad and Introduction.'] The inju- 
 red parties, being apprehensive that Maxwell would not 
 cordially embrace their cause, on account of his late re- 
 
 * It is devoutly to be wished, that this Lammie(who was killed 
 in the skirmish) ma)' have been the same miscreant, who, in the 
 clay of Queen Mary's distress, " hes ensigne being of quhyt taffitae, 
 " had painted one it ye creuell murther of King Henry, and layed 
 " down before her majestie, atquhat time she presented herself as 
 '* prisoner to ye lordis. "Birrel's Diary, June 15. 15G7. It would 
 be some satisfaction to know, that the grey hairs of this worthy 
 personage did not go down to the grave in peace.
 
 29 
 
 conciliation with the Johnstones, endeavoured to over- 
 come hi* reluctance, by offering to enter into bonds of 
 manrent, and so to become his followers and liegemen ; 
 he, on the other hand, granting to them a bond of main- 
 tenance, or protection, by which he bound himself, in 
 usual form, to maintain their quarrel against all mortals, 
 saving his loyalty. Thus, the most powerful and respecU 
 able families in Dumfries-shire became, for a time, the 
 vassals of Lord Maxwell. This secret alliance was dis- 
 covered to Sir James Johnstone by the laird of Cummer- 
 trees, one of his own clan, though a retainer to Max- 
 well. Cummertrees even contrived to possess himself of 
 the bonds of manrent, which he delivered to his chief. 
 The petty warfare betwixt the rival barons was instantly 
 renewed. Buccleuch, a near relation of Johnstone, came 
 to his assistance with his clan, " the most renowned free- 
 " hooters (says a historian,) the fiercest and bravest war- 
 " riors, among the border tribes." * With Buccleuch 
 also came the Elliots, Armstrongs, and Graemes. Thus 
 reinforced, Johnstone surprised and cut to pieces a party 
 of the Maxwells, stationed at Lochmaben. On the other 
 hand, Lord Maxwell, armed with the royal authority, 
 and numbering among his followers all the barons of 
 Nithesdale, displayed his banner as the king's lieutenant, 
 and invaded Annandale at the head of 2000 men. In 
 
 Inter accolas latrociniis famotot Scotot Buccleuchi clicntesfor- 
 tisiimot tribulium et fereciuimos. Johnstoni Historia, Ed. Am- 
 $tl. p. m.
 
 293 
 
 those days, however, the royal auspices seem to have car- 
 ried as little good fortune as effective strength with them. 
 A desperate conflict, still renowned in tradition, took 
 place at the Dryffe sands, not far from Lockerby, in which 
 Johnstone, although inferior in numbers, partly by his 
 own conduct, partly by the valour of his allies, gained a 
 decisive victory. Lord Maxwell, a tall man, and heavily 
 armed, was struck from his horse in the flight, and cruel- 
 ly slain, after the hand, which he stretched out for quar- 
 ter, had been severed from his body. Many of his fol- 
 lowers were slain in the battle, and many cruelly wound- 
 ed; especially by slashes in the face, which wound was 
 thence termed a " Lockerby lick." The barons of Lag, 
 Closeburn, and Drumlanrig, escaped by the fleetness of 
 their horses; a circumstance alluded to in the following 
 ballad. 
 
 This fatal battle was followed by a long feud, attended 
 with all the circumstances of horror, proper to a barba- 
 rous age. Johnstone, in his diffuse manner, describes it 
 "thus : " Ab eo die ultro citroque in Annandia et Nithia 
 " magnis utriusque regionis jacturis certatum. Cades, in- 
 " cendia, rapinct, et nefanda facinora ; liberi in maternis 
 " gremiis trucidati; mariti in conspectu conjugum sua- 
 " rum, incensce villa lamentabiles ubique querimonia et hor- 
 " ribiles armorum fremitus" Johnstoni Historia, Ed. 
 Amstccl. p. 182. 
 
 John, Lord Maxwell, with whose Goodnight the reader 
 is here presented, was son to him who fell at the battle of
 
 804 
 
 Dryffe Sands, and is said to have early vowed the deepest 
 revenge for his father's death. Such, indeed, was the 
 fiery and untarueable spirit of the man, that neither the 
 threats nor entreaties of the king himself could make him 
 lay aside his vindictive purpose; although Johnstone, the 
 objectof his resentment, had not only reconciled himself to 
 the court, but even obtained the wardenry of the middle* 
 marches, in room of Sir John Carmichael, murdered by 
 the Armstrongs. Lord Maxwell was therefore prohibited 
 to approach the border counties; and having, in con- 
 tempt of that mandate, excited new disturbances, he was 
 confined in the castle of Edinburgh. From this fortress, 
 however, he contrived to make his escape ; and, having 
 repaired to Dumfries-shire, he sought an amicable inter- 
 view with Johnstone, under pretence of a wish to accom- 
 modate their differences. Sir Robert Maxwell, of Or- 
 chardstane (mentioned in the Ballad, verse 1.,) who was 
 married to a sister of Sir James Johnstone, persuaded his 
 brother-in-law to accede to Maxwell's proposal. The 
 two chieftains met, each with a single attendant, at a 
 place called Achmanhill, 6th April, 1608. A quarrel 
 arising betwixt the two geutlemeu who attended them 
 (Charles Maxwell, brother to the laird of Kirkhouse, and 
 Johnstone of Lockerby,) and a pistol being discharged, 
 Sir James turned his horse to separate the combatants; 
 at which instant Lord Maxwell shot him through the back 
 with a brace of bullets, of which wound he died on the 
 spot, after having for some time gallantly defended him-
 
 295 
 
 self against Maxwell, who endeavoured to strike him with 
 his sword. " A fact," saith Spottiswoode, " detested by 
 " all honest men, and the gentleman's misfortune severely 
 " lamented, for he was a man full of wisdom and cou- 
 " rage." Spottiswoode, Edition 1677, pages 467, 504. 
 Johnstoni HistoriaEd. Amstal. pp. 254, 283, 449. 
 
 Lord Maxwell, the murderer, made his escape to France ; 
 but, having ventured to return to Scotland, he was appre- 
 hended lurking in the wilds of Caithness, and brought to 
 trial at Edinburgh. The royal authority was now much 
 strengthened by the union of the crowns, and James em- 
 ployed it in staunching the feuds of the nobility, with a 
 firmness which was no attribute of his general character. 
 But, in the best actions of that monarch, there seems to 
 have been an unfortunate tincture of that meanness, so 
 visible on the present occasion. Lord Maxwell was in- 
 dicted for the murder of Johnstone; but this was com- 
 bined with a charge of fire-raising, which, according to 
 the ancient Scottish law, if perpetrated by a landed man, 
 constituted a species of treason, and inferred forfeiture. 
 Thus, the noble purpose of public justice was sullied, by 
 being united with that of enriching some needy favourite. 
 John, Lord Maxwell, was condemned, and beheaded, 
 2 1st May, 1613. Sir Gideon Murray, treasurer- depute, 
 had a great share of his forfeiture ; but the attainder was 
 afterwards reversed, and the honours and estate were con- 
 ferred upon the brother of the deceased. Laing's His-
 
 296 
 
 tory of Scotland, Vol. L p. 62. Johnstoni Historic, 
 p. 493. 
 
 The lady, mentioned in the ballad, was sister to the 
 Marquis of Hamilton, and, according to Johnstone the 
 historian, had little reason to regret being separated from 
 her husband, whose harsh treatment finally occasioned 
 her death. But Johnstone appears not to be altogether 
 untinctured with the prejudices of his clan, and is pro- 
 bably, in this instance, guilty of exaggeration ; as the ac- 
 tive share, taken by the Marquis of Hamilton in favour of 
 Maxwell, is a circumstance inconsistent with such a re- 
 port. 
 
 Thus was finally ended, by a salutary example of seve- 
 rity, the " foul debate" betwixt the Maxwells and John- 
 stones, in the course of which each family lost two chief- 
 tains ; one dying of a broken heart, one in the field of 
 battle, one by assassination, and one by the sword of the 
 executioner.' 
 
 It seems reasonable to believe, that the following ballad 
 must have been written before the death of Lord Max- 
 well, in 1613 ; otherwise there would have been some al- 
 lusion to that event It must therefore have been com- 
 posed betwixt 1608 and that period.
 
 297 
 
 LORD MAXWELL'S GOODNIGHT. 
 
 "Adieu, madame, my mother dear, 
 
 But and my sisters three ! 
 Adieu, fair Robert of Orchardstane ! 
 
 My heart is wae for thee. 
 Adieu, the lily and the rose, 
 
 The primrose fair to see : 
 Adieu, my ladie, and only joy ! 
 
 For I may not stay with thee. 
 
 * Though I hae slain the Lord Johnstone, 
 
 What care I for their feid ? 
 My noble mind their wrath disdains : 
 
 He was my father's deid. 
 Both night and day I laboured oft 
 
 Of him avenged to be ; 
 But now I've got what lang I sought, 
 
 And I may not stay with thee.
 
 258 
 
 " Adieu ! Druiulanrig, false wert aye, 
 
 And Closeburn in a band ! 
 Tiie laird of Lag, frae my father that fled, 
 
 When tin Johnston struck ail" his hand. 
 They were three brethren in a band 
 
 Joy may they never see ! 
 Their treacherous art, and cowardly heart, 
 
 Has twin'd my love and me. 
 
 " Adieu ! Dumfries, my proper place, 
 
 But and Carlaverock fair ! 
 Adieu ! my castle of the Thrieve, 
 
 Wi' a' my buildings there : 
 Adieu ! Lochmaben's gates sae fair, 
 
 The Langholm-hoim where birks there be ; 
 Adieu ! my ladye, and only joy, 
 
 For, trust me, 1 may not slay wi' thee. 
 
 " Adieu ! fair Eskdale up and down, 
 
 Where my puir friends do dwell; 
 The bangisters * will dmg them down, 
 
 And will them sair compeil. 
 But I'll avenge their feid mysell, 
 
 When 1 come o'er the sea; 
 Adieu ! my ladye, and only joy, 
 
 For 1 uiny not stay wi' thee." 
 
 Bangutert The prevailing party.
 
 299 
 
 ** Lord of the land !" that ladye said, 
 
 " O wad ye go wi' me, 
 Unlo my brother's stately tower, 
 
 Where safest ye may be ! 
 There Hamiltons and Douglas baith, 
 
 Shall rise to succour thee." 
 " Thanks for thy kindness, fair my dame, 
 
 But I may not stay wi' thee." 
 
 Then he tuik affa gay gold ring, 
 
 Thereat hang signets three ; 
 " Hae, take thee that, mine ain dear thing, 
 
 And still hae mind o'me: 
 But, if thou take another lord, 
 
 Ere I come ower the sea 
 His life is but a three day's lease, 
 
 Tho' I may not stay wi' thee." 
 
 The wind was fair, the ship was clear, 
 
 That good lord went away ; 
 And most part of his friends were there, 
 
 To give him a fair convey. 
 They drank the wine, they did na spair, 
 
 Even in that gude lord's sight 
 Sae now he's o'er the floods sae gray, 
 
 And Lord Maxwell has ta'en his Goodnight.
 
 500 
 
 NOTES 
 
 ON 
 
 LORD MAXWELL'S GOODNIGHT. 
 
 Adieu ! Drumlanrig, SfC. P. 298. v. 1. 
 
 The reader will perceive, from the Introduction, what con- 
 nection the bond, subscribed by Douglas of Drumlanng, Kirk- 
 pat rick of Closebum, and Grierson of Lagg, had with the 
 death of Lord Maxwell's father. For the satisfaction of those, 
 who may be curious as to the form of these bonds, 1 have 
 transcribed a letter of manreut, * from a MS. collection of up- 
 wards of twenty deeds of that nature, copied from the origi- 
 nals by the late John Syme, Esq. writer to the siguet; for the 
 use of which, with many other favours of a similar nature, I 
 am indebted to Dr Robert Anderson <>t Edinburgh. The bond 
 is granted bv Thomas Kirkpatnck of Closcburn, to Robert, 
 Ixml Maxwell, father of him who was slain at the battle of 
 the Dryffe Sands. 
 
 The proper spelling; is manred. Thai, in the romance of Fir 
 rice and Blanche/lour 
 
 He wil falle to tbi fot, 
 " And bicom tui man gif be root; 
 " His manred thou schalt afooge, 
 " And the trewtheof his honde.'"
 
 301 
 
 BOND OF MANRENT. 
 
 rt Be it kend till all men be thir present lettres, me Thomas 
 a Kirkpatrick of Closburn, to be bundin and oblist, and be the 
 tenor heirof, bindis and oblissis me be the faith and treuth 
 u of my body, in manrent and service to ane nobil and mychty 
 " lord, Robert Lord Maxwell, induring all the dayis of my 
 " lyfe ; and byndis and oblissis me, as said is, to be leill and 
 " trew man and servant to the said Robert Lord Maxwell, my 
 " master, and sail nowthir heir nor se his skaith, but sail lat 
 " the samyn at ray uter power, an warn him therof. And I 
 sail conceill it that the said lord schawis to me, and sail gif 
 " him agane the best leill and trew counsale that I can, quhen 
 " he ony askis at me; and that I sail ryde with my kin, freyndis, 
 " servandis, and allies, that wil do for me, or to gang with the 
 " said lord ; and do to. him aefauld, trew, and thankful service, 
 " and take aefauld playne part with the said lord, my maister, 
 " in all and sindry his actionis, causis, quarrellis, leful and ho- 
 " nest, movit, or to be raovit be him, or aganis him, baith in 
 '* peace and weir, contrair or aganis all thae that leiffes or de 
 " may (my allegeant to owr soveran ladye the quenis grace, her 
 " tutor and governor, allanerly except.) And thir my lettres of 
 " manrent, for all the dayis of my life foresaid to indure, all 
 " dissimulations, fraud, or gyle, secludit and away put. In wit- 
 " ness," &c. The deed is signed at Edinburgh, 3d February, 
 1542. 
 
 In the collectiou, from which this extract is made, there are 
 bonds of a similar nature granted to Lord Maxwell, by Douglas 
 of Drumlanrig, ancestor to the Duke of Queensberry ; by 
 Crichton Lord Sanquhar, ancestor of the earls of Dumfries, 
 and many of his kindred ; by Stuart of Castlerailk ; by Stuart 
 of Garlies, ancestor of the earls of Galloway ; by Murray of 
 Cockpool, ancestor of the Murrays, lords Annandale ; by Gri- 
 erson of Lagg, Gordon of Lochmaben, and many other of the 
 most ancient and respectable barons in the south-west of Scot- 
 land, binding themselves, in the most submissive terms, to be- 
 come the liegemen and the vassals of the house of Maxwell ;
 
 302 
 
 a circumstance which must highly excite our idea of the power 
 of that family. Nay, even the rival chieftain, Johnstone of 
 Johnstone, seems at one time to have come under a similar ob- 
 ligation to Maxwell, by a bond, dated 1 1th February 1528, in 
 which reference is made to the counter-obligation of the pa- 
 tron, in these words : M Fornsmeikle as the said lord has oblist 
 u him to supple, maintene, and defend me, in the pcciabill 
 " brouking and joysing of all my landis, rentis, &c. and to take 
 u my sefald, leill and trew part, in all my good actionis, causis, 
 u and quarks, leiful and honest, aganes all deedlie, his alled- 
 
 * geance to our soveraigne lord the king allanerly excepted, as 
 " at raair length is contained in his Iettre3 of maintenance ruaid 
 
 * to me therupon ; therefore, &c" he proceeds to bind himself 
 as liegeman to the Maxwell. 
 
 I cannot dismiss the subject without observing, that, in the 
 dangerous times of Queen Mary, when most of these bonds 
 are dated, many barons, for the sake of maintaining unanimity 
 and good order, may have chosen to enroll themselves among 
 the clients of Lord Maxwell, then warden of the border, from 
 which, at a less turbulent period, personal considerations would 
 have deterred them. 
 
 Adieu ! my castle of the Thricve.P. 298. v. 2. 
 
 This fortress is situated in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, 
 upon an island several acres in extent, formed by the river 
 Dee. The walls are very thick and strong, and bear the marks 
 of great antiquity. It was a royal castle; but the keeping of 
 it, agreeable to the feudal practice, was granted by charter, or 
 sometimes by a more temporary and precarious right, to differ- 
 ent powerful families, together with lands for their good ser- 
 vice in maintaining and defending the place. This office of 
 heritable keeper remained with the Nithesdale family (chief of 
 the Maxwells) till their forfeiture, 1715. The garrison seems 
 to have been victualled upon feudal principles; for each parish 
 in the stewartry was hardened with the yearly payment of a 
 lardner mart cow, i. e. a cow fit for being killed and salted at 
 Martinmas, for winter provisions. The right of levying these
 
 303 
 
 cattle was retained by the Nithesdale family, when they sold 
 the castle and estate, in 1704, and they did not cease to exer- 
 cise it till their attainder. FountainhaWs Decisions, Vol. I. 
 p. 688. 
 
 This same castle of the Thrieve was, A. D. 1451-2, the scene 
 of an outrageous and cruel insult upon the royal authority. The 
 fortress was then held by William VIII. Earl of Douglas, 
 who, in fact, possessed a more unlimited authority over the 
 southern districts of Scotland, than the reigning monarch. The 
 earl had, on some pretence, seized and imprisoned a baron, 
 called Maclellan, tutor of Bombie, whom he threatened to 
 bring to trial, by his power of hereditary jurisdiction. The 
 uncle of this gentleman, Sir Patrick Gray of Foulis, who com- 
 manded the body-guard of James II., obtained from that prince 
 a warrant, requiring from Earl Douglas the body of the pri- 
 soner. When Gray appeared, the earl instantly suspected his 
 errand. " You have not dined," said he, without suffering 
 him to open his commission : " it is ill talking between a full 
 " man and a fasting." While Gray was at meat, the unfortu- 
 nate prisoner was, by Douglas's command, led forth to the 
 court-yard and beheaded. When the repast was finished, the 
 king's letter was presented and opened. " Sir Patrick," says 
 Douglas, leading Gray to the court, " right glad had I been 
 " to honour the king's messenger ; but you have come too late. 
 " Yonder lies your sister's son, without the head : you are wel- 
 " come to his dead body." Gray, having mounted his horse, 
 turned to the earl, and expressed his wrath in a deadly oath, 
 that he would requite the injury with Douglas's heart's blood. 
 " To horse !" cried the haughty baron, and the messengerof 
 his prince was pursued till within a few miles of Edinburgh. 
 Gray, however, had an opportunity of keeping his vow ; for, 
 being upon guard in the king's anti-chamber at Stirling, when 
 James, incensed at the insolence of the earl, struck him with 
 his dagger, Sir Patrick rushed in, and dispatched him with a 
 pole-axe. The castle of Thrieve was tbe last of the fortresses 
 which held out for the house of Douglas, after their grand re-
 
 304 
 
 U-liion in 155S. James II. writes an account of the exile of 
 this potent family, to Charles VII. of France, 8th July, 1555 ; 
 and adds, that all their castles had been yielded to him, " Ex- 
 " cepto duntasat castr'o de Trefe, per nostros fideles impratew 
 u tiarum obsesso ; quod domino concedente in brevi obtinere 
 spcramus? Pinkerton's History, Appendix,Vo\. I. p. 486. 
 See Pit scot tie's History, Godscroft, tec. 
 
 And most part of his friends were there.. P. 299. v. 3. 
 The ancestor of the present Mr Maxwell of Broomholm is 
 particularly mentioned in Olenriddel's MS. as having attended 
 his chieftain in his distress, and as having received a grant of 
 lands, in reward of this manifestation of attachment. 
 
 Sae now he's o'er the floods sae gray. P. 299. . 3. 
 This seems to have been a favourite epithet in old romances. 
 Thus in Hornchilde, and Maiden liimuild, 
 
 Thai say ltd ower the/lode so gray, 
 In Inglond arrived were thay, 
 Ther him levest ware.
 
 305 
 
 THE LADS OF WAMPHRAY. 
 
 i he reader will find, prefixed to the foregoing ballad, an 
 account of the noted feud betwixt the families of Maxwell 
 and Johnstone. The following song celebrates the skir- 
 mish, in 1593, betwixt the Johnstones and Crichtons, 
 which led to the revival of the ancient quarrel betwixt 
 Johnstone and Maxwell, and finally to the battle of Dryffe 
 Sands, in which the latter lost his life. Wamphray is the 
 name of a parish in Annandale. Lethenhall was the abode 
 of Johnstone of Wamphray, and continued to be so till of 
 late years. William Johnstone of Wamphray, called the 
 Galliard, was a noted freebooter. A place, near the head 
 of Tiviotdale, retains the name of the Galliard' 's Faulds, 
 (folds) being a valley where he used to secrete and divide 
 his spoil, with his Liddesdale and Eskdale associates. His 
 nom de guerre seems to have been derived from the dance 
 called The Galliard. The word is still used in Scotland, 
 
 VOL. I. V
 
 306 
 
 to express an active, gay, dissipated character, f Willie 
 of the Kirkhill, nephew to the Galliard, and his avenger, 
 was also a noted border robber. Previous to the battle 
 of DryflTe Sands, so often mentioned, tradition reports, 
 that Maxwell had offered a ten-pound-land to any of his 
 party, who should bring him the head or hand of the laird 
 of Johnstone. This being reported to his antagonist, he 
 answered, he had not a ten-pound land to offer, but would 
 give a five-merk-land to the man who should that day cut 
 off the head or hand of Lord Maxwell. Willie of the 
 Kirkhill, mounted upon a young gray horse, rushed upon 
 the enemy, and earned the reward, by striking down their 
 unfortunate chieftain, and cutting off his right hand. 
 
 Leverhay, Stefenbiggin, Girth-head, &c. are all situa- 
 ted in the parish of Wamphray. The Biddes-burn, where 
 the skirmish took plac betwixt the Johnstones and their 
 pursuers, is a rivulet which takes its course among the 
 mountains on the confines of Nithesdale and Annandale. 
 The Wellpathis a pass by which the Johnstones were re- 
 treating to their fastnesses in Annandale. Ricklaw-holm 
 is a place upon the Evan water, which falls into the An- 
 
 + Cleveland applies the phrase in a very different manner, ia 
 treating of the assembly of Divines at Westminster, 1641 : 
 
 And Selden is a Galliard by himself, 
 
 And wel might be ; there's more divines in bim, 
 
 Than in all this their Jewish Sanhedrim. 
 
 Skelton, in bis railing poem against James IV., terms him Sir 
 Skyr Galyard. 
 
 3
 
 307 
 
 an, below Moffat. Wamphray-gate was in these days 
 an ale-house. With these local explanations, it is hoped 
 the following ballad will be easily understood. 
 
 From a pedigree in the appeal case of Sir James John- 
 stone of Westeraw, claiming the honours and titles of An- 
 nandale, it appears that the Johnstones of Wamphray were 
 descended from James, sixth son of the sixth baron of 
 Jehnstone. The male line became extinct in 1657.
 
 308 
 
 THE LADS OF WAMPHRAY. 
 
 Twixt Girth-head and the Langwood end, 
 Lived the Galliard, and the Galliard's men; 
 But and the lads of Leverhay, 
 That drove the Crichton's gear away. 
 
 It is the lads of Lcthcnha', 
 The greatest rogues amang them a' : 
 But and the lads of Steienbiggin, 
 They broke the house in at the rigging. 
 
 The lads of Fingland, and Helbeck-hill, 
 They were never for good, but aye for ill ; 
 Twixt the Slay wood-bush and Langside-hill, 
 They stealed the broked cow and the branded bull.
 
 309 
 
 It is the lads of the Girth-head, 
 
 The deil's in them for pride and greed ; 
 
 For the Galhard, and the gay Galliard's men, 
 
 They ne'er saw a horse but they made it their ain. 
 
 The Galliard to Nithsdale is gane, 
 
 To steal Sim Crichton's winsome dun ; 
 
 The Galliard is unto the stable gane, 
 
 But instead of the dun, the blind he has ta'ertt 
 
 * Now Simmy, Simmy of the Side, 
 " Come out and see a Johnstone ride ! 
 " Here's the bonniest horse in a' Nithside, 
 ** And a gentle Johnstone aboon his hide." 
 
 Simmy Crichton's mounted then, 
 And Crichtons has raised mony a ane ; 
 The Galliard trowed his horse had been wight, 
 But the Crichtons beat him out o' sight. 
 
 As soon as the Galliard the Crichton saw, 
 Behind the saugh-bush he did draw ; 
 And there the Crichtons the Galliard hae ta'en, 
 And nane wi' him but Willie alane.
 
 310 
 
 " O Simray, Simmy, now let me gang, 
 " And I'll never mair do a Crichton wrang ! 
 " O Simmy, Simmy, now Jet me be, 
 " And a peck o' gowd I'll give to thee ! 
 
 " O Simmy, Simray, now let me gang, 
 * And my wife shall heap it with her hand." 
 But the Crichtons wad na let the Galliard be, 
 But they hanged him hie upon a tree. 
 
 O think then Willie he was right wae, 
 When he saw his uncle guided sae ; 
 " But if ever I live Wamphray to see, 
 " My uncle's death avenged shall be !" 
 
 Back to Wamphray he is gane, 
 And riders has raised mony a ane ; 
 Saying " My lads, if ye'll be true, 
 * Ye shall a' be clad in the noble blue." 
 
 Back to Nithsdale they have gane, 
 And awa' the Crichtons' nowt hae ta'en ; 
 But when they cam to the Wellpath-head, 
 The Crichtons bade them 'light and lead.
 
 311 
 
 And when they cam to the Biddes burn, 
 The Grichtons bade them stand and turn ; 
 And when they cam to the Biddes strand, 
 The Crichtons they were hard at hand. 
 
 But when they cam to the Biddes law, 
 The Johnstones bade them stand and draw ; 
 " We've done nae ill, we'll thole nae wrang, 
 
 * But back to Wamphray we will gang." 
 
 And out spoke Willy of the Kirkhill, 
 
 * Of fighting, lads, ye'se hae your fill." ' 
 And from his horse Willie he lap, 
 
 And a burnished brand in his hand he gat. 
 
 Out through the Crichtons Willie he ran, 
 And dang them down baith horse and man ; 
 O but the Johnstones were wondrous rude, 
 When the Biddes burn ran three days blood. 
 
 " Now, Sirs, we have done a noble deed ; ' 
 " We have revenged the Galliard's bleid : 
 " For every finger of the Galliard's hand, 
 " I vow this day I've killed a man." 

 
 sit 
 
 As they cam in at Evan-head, 
 
 At Ricklaw-holm they spread abreadf 
 
 * Drive on, my lads ! it will be late ; 
 
 " We'll hae a pint at Wamphray gate. 
 
 * For where'er I gang, or e'er I ride, 
 
 " The lads of Wamphray are on my side ; 
 t And of a' the lads that I do ken, 
 
 * A Wamphray lad's the king of men. 
 
 THE END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 Edinburgh : 
 Printed by James Ballantyne & Co.
 
 
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