Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, I, 80, 1802; II, 3, 1833.
Scott, by whom this ballad was first published, and to whom alone it
seems to be known, gives us no information how he came by it. He says,
“There is another ballad, under the same title as the following, in
which nearly the same incidents are narrated, with little difference
except that the honor 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 Teviotdale Scotts and the Elliots were
engaged in the affair, and that each claimed the honor of the victory.”
Ed. 1833, II. 3.
Scott has suggested that an article in the list of attempts upon
England, fouled by the commissioners at Berwick in the year 1587, may
relate to the subject of the ballad.