Tradition has confused the heroine of this piece with the wife of
Bothwelhaugh, who slew the Regent Murray. That his motive was not mere
political assassination, but to avenge the ill-treatment and death of his
wife, seems to be disproved by Maidment. The affair, however, is still
obscure. This deserted Lady Anne of the ballad was, in fact, not the
wife of Bothwelhaugh, but the daughter of the Bishop of Orkney; her lover
is said to have been her cousin, Alexander Erskine, son of the Earl of
Mar. Part of the poem (Mr. Child points out) occurs in Broome’s play,
_The Northern Lass_ (1632). Though a popular favourite, the piece is
clearly of literary origin, and has been severely “edited” by a literary
hand. This version is Allan Ramsay’s.