+The Text+ is that of Scott's _Minstrelsy_, 'chiefly from the recitation
of an old woman.' Scott names the ballad 'Lord Thomas and Fair Annie,'
adding to the confusion already existing with 'Lord Thomas and Fair
Annet.'
+The Story.+--Fair Annie, stolen from the home of her father, the Earl
of Wemyss, by 'a knight out o'er the sea,' has borne seven sons to him.
He now bids her prepare to welcome home his real bride, and she meekly
obeys, suppressing her tears with difficulty. Lord Thomas and his
new-come bride hear, through the wall of their bridal chamber, Annie
bewailing her lot, and wishing her seven sons had never been born. The
bride goes to comfort her, discovers in her a long-lost sister, and
departs, thanking heaven she goes a maiden home.
Of this ballad, Herd printed a fragment in 1769, some stanzas being
incorporated in the present version. Similar tales abound in the
folklore of Scandinavia, Holland, and Germany. But, three hundred years
older than any version of the ballad, is the lay of Marie de France, _Le
Lai de Freisne_; which, nevertheless, is only another offshoot of some
undiscovered common origin.
It is imperative (in 4.4) that Annie should _braid_ her hair, as a sign
of virginity: married women only bound up their hair, or wore it under a
cap.