+The Text+ is that of Scott's _Minstrelsy_ (1802). It was 'taken down
from the recitation of a lady' (his mother's sister, Miss Christian
Rutherford), and collated with a copy in the Tytler-Brown MS. The ballad
is also called _Gil Brenton_, _Lord Dingwall_, _Bangwell_, _Bengwill_,
or _Brangwill_, _Bothwell_, etc.
+The Story+ is a great favourite, not only in Scandinavian ballads, but
also in all northern literature. The magical agency of bed, blankets,
sheets, and sword, is elsewhere extended to a chair, a stepping-stone by
the bedside (see the _Boy and the Mantle_, First Series, p. 119), or the
Billie Blin (see _Young Bekie_, First Series, pp. 6, 7, and _Willie's
Lady_, p. 19). The Norwegian tale of Aase and the Prince is known to
English readers in Dasent's _Annie the Goosegirl_. The Prince is
possessed of a stepping-stone by his bedside, which answers his question
night and morning, and enables him to detect the supposititious bride.
See also Jamieson's translation of _Ingefred and Gudrunè_, in
_Illustrations of Northern Antiquities_, p. 340.