_When they came to the Shaw burn._--P. 27. v. 1. A small stream, that
joins the Ettrick, near Selkirk, on the south side of the river.
_When they came to the Lingly burn._--P. 27. v. 2. A brook, which falls
into the Ettrick, from the north, a little above the Shaw burn.
_They spy'd an aged father._--P. 27. v. 2. The traditional commentary
upon the ballad states this man's name to have been Brydone, ancestor to
several families in the parish of Ettrick, particularly those occupying
the farms of Midgehope and Redford Green. It is a strange anachronism,
to make this aged father state himself at the battle of _Solway flow,_
which was fought a hundred years before Philiphaugh; and a still
stranger, to mention that of Dunbar, which did not take place till five
years after Montrose's defeat.
A tradition, annexed to a copy of this ballad, transmitted to me by Mr
James Hogg, bears, that the earl of Traquair, on the day of the battle,
was advancing with a large sum of money, for the payment of Montrose's
forces, attended by a blacksmith, one of his retainers. As they crossed
Minch-moor, they were alarmed by firing, which the earl conceived to
be Montrose exercising his forces, but which his attendant, from the
constancy and irregularity of the noise, affirmed to be the tumult of an
engagement. As they came below Broadmeadows, upon Yarrow, they met their
fugitive friends, hotly pursued by the parliamentary troopers. The earl,
of course, turned, and fled also: but his horse, jaded with the weight
of dollars which he carried, refused to take the hill; so that the earl
was fain to exchange with his attendant, leaving him with the breathless
horse, and bag of silver, to shift for himself; which he is supposed
to have done very effectually. Some of the dragoons, attracted by the
appearance of the horse and trappings, gave chase to the smith, who
fled up the Yarrow; but finding himself as he said, encumbered with the
treasure, and unwilling that it should be taken, he flung it into a
well, or pond, near the Tinnies, above Hangingshaw. Many wells were
afterwards searched in vain; but it is the general belief, that the
smith, if he ever hid the money, knew too well how to anticipate the
scrutiny. There is, however, a pond, which some peasants began to drain,
not long ago, in hopes of finding the golden prize, but were prevented,
as they pretended, by supernatural interference.