From _The Border Minstrelsy_. There are Danish, Swedish, Dutch, and
German versions, and the theme enters artistic poetry as early as Marie
de France (_Le Lai del Freisne_). In Scotch the Earl of Wemyss is a
recent importation: the earldom dates from 1633. Of course this process
of attaching a legend or _Märchen_ to a well-known name, or place, is one
of the most common in mythological evolution, and by itself invalidates
the theory which would explain myths by a philological analysis of the
proper names in the tale. These may not be, and probably are not, the
original names.