This romantic ballad is taken from Mr Herd's MSS., with several
corrections from a shorter and more imperfect copy, in the same volume,
and one or two conjectural emendations in the arrangement of the
stanzas. The resemblance of the conclusion to the ballad, beginning,
"There came a ghost to Margaret's door," will strike every reader.--The
tale is uncommonly wild and beautiful, and apparently very ancient.
The custom of the passing bell is still kept up in many villages of
Scotland. The sexton goes through the town, ringing a small bell, and
announcing the death of the departed, and the time of the funeral.--The
three concluding verses have been recovered since the first edition
of this work; and I am informed by the reciter, that it was usual to
separate from the rest, that part of the ballad which follows the death
of the lovers, as belonging to another story. For this, however, there
seems no necessity, as other authorities give the whole as a complete
tale.