'Gainst reif, plain force, armed wi' awles might.
Full thirty pleughs, harnes'd in all their gear,
Could not his valiant noble heart make fear:
But wi' his sword, he cut the foremost's soam
In two; and drove baith pleughs and pleughmen home.
1620.
_Soam_ means the iron links, which fasten a yoke of oxen to the
plough.]
The same simplicity marked their dress and arms. Patten observes,
that in battle the laird could not be distinguished from the serf: all
wearing the same coat armour, called a jack, and the baron being
only distinguished by his sleeves of mail, and his head-piece. The
borderers, in general, acted as light cavalry; riding horses of a
small size, but astonishingly nimble, and trained to move, by short
bounds, through the morasses with which Scotland abounds. Their
offensive weapons were, a lance of uncommon length; a sword, either
two-handed, or of the modern light size; sometimes a species of
battle-axe, called a Jedburgh-staff; and, latterly, dags, or pistols.
Although so much accustomed to act on horseback, that they held it
even mean to appear otherwise, the marchmen occasionally acted as
infantry; nor were they inferior to the rest of Scotland in forming
that impenetrable phalanx of spears, whereof it is said, by an English
historian, that "sooner shall a bare finger pierce through the skin of
an angry hedge-hog, than any one encounter the brunt of their pikes."
At the battle of Melrose, for example, Buccleuch's army fought upon
foot. But the habits of the borderers fitted them particularly
to distinguish themselves as light cavalry; and hence the name of
_prickers and hobylers_, so frequently applied to them. At the
blaze of their beacon fires, they were wont to assemble ten thousand
horsemen in the course of a single day. Thus rapid in their warlike
preparations, they were alike ready for attack and defence. Each
individual carried his own provisions, consisting of a small bag of
oatmeal, and trusted to plunder, or the chace, for ekeing out his
precarious meal. Beaugé remarks, that nothing surprised the Scottish
cavalry so much as to see their French auxiliaries encumbered with
baggage-waggons, and attended by commissaries. Before joining battle,
it seems to have been the Scottish practice to set fire to the litter
of their camp, while, under cover of the smoke, the _hobylers_, or
border cavalry, executed their manoeuvres.--There is a curious account
of the battle of Mitton, fought in the year 1319, in a valuable MS.
_Chronicle of England_, in the collection of the Marquis of Douglas,
from which this stratagem seems to have decided the engagement.
"In meyn time, while the wer thus lastyd, the kynge went agane into
Skotlonde, that hitte was wonder for to wette, and bysechyd the towne
of Barwick; but the Skottes went over the water of Sold, that was iii
myle from the hoste, and prively they stole awaye be nyghte, and come
into England, and robbed and destroyed all that they myght, and
spared no manner thing til that they come to Yorke. And, whan the
Englischemen, that wer left att home, herd this tiding, all tho that
myght well travell, so well monkys and priestis, and freres, and
chanouns, and seculars, come and met with the Skottes at Mytone of
Swale, the xii day of October. Allas, for sorow for the Englischemen!
housbondmen, that could nothing in wer, ther were quelled and
drenchyd in an arm of the see. And hyr chyftaines, Sir William Milton,
ersch-biishop of Yorke, and the abbot of Selby, with her stedes, fled
and com into Yorke; and that was her owne folye that they had that
mischaunce; for the passyd the water of Swale, and the Skottes set on
fiir three stalkes of hey, and the smoke thereof was so huge, that the
Englischemen might nott se the Scottes; and whan the Englischemen were
gon over the water, tho cam the Skottes, with hir wyng, in maner of
a sheld, and come toward the Englischemen in ordour. And the
Englischemen fled for unnethe they had any use of armes, for the
kyng had hem al almost lost att the sege of Barwick. And the Scotsmen
_hobylers_ went betwene the brigge and the Englischemen; and when the
gret hoste them met, the Englischemen fled between the _hobylers_ and
the gret hoste; and the Englischemen were ther quelled, and he that
myght wend over the water were saved, but many were drowned. Alas! for
there were slayn many men of religion, and seculars, and pristis, and
clerks, and with much sorwe the erschbischope scaped from the Skottes;
and, therefore, the Skottes called that battell the _White Battell_"
For smaller predatory expeditions, the borderers had signals, and
places of rendezvous, peculiar to each tribe. If the party set forward
before all the members had joined, a mark, cut in the turf, or on the
bark of a tree, pointed out to the stragglers the direction which the
main body had pursued[43].
[Footnote 43: In the parish of Linton, in Roxburghshire, there is
a circle of stones, surrounding a smooth plot of turf, called the
_Tryst_, or place of appointment, which tradition avers to have been
the rendezvous of the neighbouring warriors. The name of the leader
was cut in the turf, and the arrangement of the letters announced to
his followers the course which he had taken. See _Statistical Account
of the Parish of Linton_.]
Their warlike convocations were, also, frequently disguised, under
pretence of meetings for the purpose of sport. The game of foot-ball,
in particular which was anciently, and still continues to be, a
favourite border sport, was the means of collecting together large
bodies of moss-troopers, previous to any military exploit. When Sir
Robert Carey was warden of the east marches, the knowledge that there
was a great match of foot-ball at Kelso, to be frequented by the
principal Scottish riders, was sufficient to excite his vigilance
and his apprehension[44]. Previous also to the murder of Sir John
Carmichael (see Notes on the _Raid of the Reidswire_,) it appeared
at the trial of the perpetrators that they had assisted at a grand
foot-ball meeting, where the crime was concerted.
[Footnote 44: See Appendix.]
Upon the religion of the borderers there can very little be said.
We have already noticed, that they remained attached to the Roman
Catholic faith rather longer than the rest of Scotland. This probably
arose from a total indifference upon the subject; for, we no where
find in their character the respect for the church, which is a marked
feature of that religion. In 1528, Lord Dacre complains heavily to
Cardinal Wolsey, that, having taken a notorious freebooter, called
Dyk Irwen, the brother and friends of the outlaw had, in retaliation,
seized a man of some property, and a relation of Lord Dacre, called
Jeffrey Middleton, as he returned from a pilgrimage to St. Ninian's,
in Galloway; and that, notwithstanding the sanctity of his character,
as a _true pilgrim_, and the Scottish monarch's safe conduct, they
continued to detain him in their fastnesses, until he should redeem
the said arrant thief, Dyk Irwen. The abbeys, which were planted upon
the border, neither seem to have been much respected by the English,
nor by the Scottish barons. They were repeatedly burned by the former,
in the course of the border wars, and by the latter they seem to have
been regarded chiefly as the means of endowing a needy relation, or
the subject of occasional plunder. Thus, Andrew Home of Fastcastle,
about 1488, attempted to procure a perpetual feu of certain
possessions belonging to the abbey of Coldinghame; and being baffled,
by the king bestowing that opulent benefice upon the royal chapel at
Stirling, the Humes and Hepburns started into rebellion; asserting,
that the priory should be conferred upon some younger son of their
families, according to ancient custom. After the fatal battle
of Flodden, one of the Kerrs testified his contempt for clerical
immunities and privileges, by expelling from his house the abbot of
Kelso. These bickerings betwixt the clergy and the barons were usually
excited by disputes about their temporal interest. It was common for
the churchmen to grant lands in feu to the neighbouring gentlemen,
who, becoming their vassals, were bound to assist and protect
them[45]. But, as the possessions and revenues of the benefices became
thus intermixed with those of the laity, any attempts rigidly to
enforce the claims of the church were usually attended by the most
scandalous disputes. A petty warfare was carried on for years, betwixt
James, abbot of Dryburgh, and the family of Halliburton of Mertoun, or
Newmains, who held some lands from that abbey. These possessions were,
under various pretexts, seized and laid waste by both parties; and
some bloodshed took place in the contest, betwixt the lay vassals
and their spiritual superior. The matter was, at length, thought of
sufficient importance to be terminated by a reference to his majesty;
whose decree arbitral, dated at Stirling, the 8th of May, 1535,
proceeds thus: "Whereas we, having been advised and knowing the said
gentlemen, the Halliburtons, to be leal and true honest men, long
servants unto the saide abbeye, for the saide landis, stout men at
armes, and goode borderers against Ingland; and doe therefore decree
and ordaine, that they sail be re-possess'd, and bruik and enjoy the
landis and steedings they had of the said abbeye, paying the use and
wonte: and that they sall be goode servants to the said venerabil
father, like as they and their predecessours were to the said
venerabil father, and his predecessours, and he a good master to
them[46]." It is unnecessary to detain the reader with other instances
of the discord, which prevailed anciently upon the borders, betwixt
the spiritual shepherd and his untractable flock.
[Footnote 45: These vassals resembled, in some degree, the Vidames in
France, and the Vogten, or Vizedomen, of the German abbeys; but the
system was never carried regularly into effect in Britain, and this
circumstance facilitated the dissolution of the religious houses.]
[Footnote 46: This decree was followed by a marriage betwixt the
abbot's daughter, Elizabeth Stewart, and Walter Halliburton, one of
the family of Newmains. But even this alliance did not secure peace
between the venerable father and his vassals. The offspring of the
marriage was an only daughter, named Elizabeth Halliburton. As this
young lady was her father's heir, the Halliburtons resolved that she
should marry one of her cousins, to keep her property in the clan. But
as this did not suit the views of the abbot, he carried off by
force the intended bride, and married her, at Stirling, to Alexander
Erskine, a brother of the laird of Balgony, a relation and follower
of his own. From this marriage sprung the Erskines of Shielfield.
This exploit of the abbot revived the feud betwixt him and
the Halliburtons, which only ended with the dissolution of the
abbey.--_MS. History of Halliburton Family, penes editorem_.]
The reformation was late of finding its way into the border wilds;
for, while the religious and civil dissentions were at the height in
1568, Drury writes to Cecil,--"Our trusty neighbours of Teviotdale are
holden occupied only to attend to the pleasure and calling of their
own heads, to make some diversion in this matter." The influence of
the reformed preachers, among the borders, seems also to have been but
small; for, upon all occasions of dispute with the kirk, James VI. was
wont to call in their assistance. _Calderwood_, p. 129.
We learn from a curious passage in the life of Richard Cameron,
a fanatical preacher during the time of what is called "the
persecution," that some of the borderers retained to a late period
their indifference about religious matters. After having been licensed
at Haughhead, in Teviotdale, he was, according to his biographer, sent
first to preach in Annandale. "He said, 'how can I go there? I know
what sort of people they are.' 'But,' Mr. Welch said, 'go your way,
Ritchie, and set the fire of hell to their tails.' He went; and, the
first day, he preached upon that text, _Home shall I put thee among
the children, &c_. In the application he said, 'Put you among the
children! the offspring of thieves and robbers! we have all heard of
Annandale thieves.' Some of them got a merciful cast that day,
and told afterwards, that it was the first field meeting they ever
attended, and that they went out of mere curiosity, to see a minister
preach in a tent, and people sit on the ground." _Life of Richard
Cameron_[47].
[Footnote 47: This man was chaplain in the family of Sir Walter Scott
of Harden, who attended the meetings of the indulged presbyterians;
but Cameron, considering this conduct as a compromise with the foul
fiend Episcopacy, was dismissed from the family. He was slain in a
skirmish at Airdsmoss, bequeathing his name to the sect of fanatics,
still called Cameronians.]
Cleland, an enthusiastic Cameronian, lieutenant-colonel of the
regiment levied after the Revolution from among that wild and
fanatical sect, claims to the wandering preachers of his tribe
the merit of converting the borderers. He introduces a cavalier,
haranguing the Highlanders, and ironically thus guarding them against
the fanatic divines:
If their doctrine there get rooting,
Then, farewell theift, the best of booting,
And this ye see is very clear,
Dayly experience makes it appear;
For instance, lately on the borders,
Where there was nought but theft and murders,
Rapine, cheating, and resetting,
Slight of hand, fortunes getting,
Their designation, as ye ken,
Was all along the _Tacking Men_.
Now, rebels more prevails with words,
Then drawgoons does with guns and swords,
So that their bare preaching now
Makes the rush-bush keep the cow;
Better than Scots or English kings,
Could do by kilting them with strings.
Yea, those that were the greatest rogues,
Follows them over hills and bogues,
Crying for mercy and for preaching,
For they'll now hear no others teaching."
_Cleland's Poems_, 1697, p. 30.
The poet of the whigs might exaggerate the success of their teachers;
yet, it must be owned, that their doctrine of insubordination, joined
to their vagrant and lawless habits, was calculated strongly to
conciliate their border hearers.
But, though the church, in the border counties, attracted little
veneration, no part of Scotland teemed with superstitious fears and
observances more than they did. "The Dalesmen[48]," says Lesley,
"never count their beads with such earnestness as when they set out
upon a predatory expedition." Penances, the composition betwixt guilt
and conscience, were also frequent upon the borders. Of this we have
a record in many bequests to the church, and in some more lasting
monuments; such as the Tower of Repentance in Dumfries-shire,
and, according to vulgar tradition, the church of Linton[49], in
Roxburghshire. In the appendix to this introduction. No. IV., the
reader will find a curious league, or treaty of peace, betwixt two
hostile clans, by which the heads of each became bound to make the
four pilgrimages of Scotland, for the benefit of the souls of those
of the opposite clan, who had fallen in the feud. These were
superstitions, flowing immediately from the nature of the Catholic
religion: but there was, upon the border, no lack of others of a more
general nature. Such was the universal belief in spells, of which some
traces may yet remain in the wild parts of the country. These were
common in the time of the learned Bishop Nicolson, who derives
them from the time of the Pagan Danes. "This conceit was the more
heightened, by reflecting upon the natural superstition of our
borderers at this day, who were much better acquainted with, and
do more firmly believe, their old legendary stories, of fairies and
witches, than the articles of their creed. And to convince me, yet
farther, that they are not utter strangers to the black art of their
forefathers, I met with a gentleman in the neighbourhood, who shewed
me a book of spells, and magical receipts, taken, two or three days
before, in the pocket of one of our moss-troopers; wherein, among many
other conjuring feats, was prescribed, a certain remedy for an ague,
by applying a few barbarous characters to the body of the party
distempered. These, methought, were very near a-kin to Wormius's _Ram
Runer_, which, he says, differed wholly in figure and shape from the
common _runae_. For, though he tells us, that these _Ram Runer_ were
so called, _Eo quod molestias, dolores, morbosque hisce infligere
inimicis soliti sunt magi_; yet his great friend, Arng. Jonas, more
to our purpose, says, that--_His etiam usi sunt ad benefaciendum,
juvandum, medicandum tam animi quam corporis morbis; atque ad ipsos
cacodaemones pellendos et fugandos_. I shall not trouble you with a
draught of this spell, because I have not yet had an opportunity of
learning whether it may not be an ordinary one, and to be met
with, among others of the same nature, in Paracelsus, or Cornelius
Agrippa."--_Letter from Bishop Nicolson to Mr. Walker; vide Camden's
Britannia, Cumberland_. Even in the editor's younger days, he can
remember the currency of certain spells, for curing sprains, burns,
or dislocations, to which popular credulity ascribed unfailing
efficacy[50]. Charms, however, against spiritual enemies, were yet
more common than those intended to cure corporeal complaints. This
is not surprising, as a fantastic remedy well suited an imaginary
disease.
[Footnote 48: This small church is founded upon a little hill of sand,
in which no stone of the size of an egg is said to have been found,
although the neighbouring soil is sharp and gravelly. Tradition
accounts for this, by informing us, that the foundresses were two
sisters, upon whose account much blood had been spilt in that spot;
and that the penance, imposed on the fair causers of the slaughter,
was an order from the pope to sift the sand of the hill, upon which
their church was to be erected. This story may, perhaps, have some
foundation; for, in the church-yard was discovered a single grave,
containing no fewer than fifty skulls, most of which bore the marks of
having been cleft by violence.]
[Footnote 49: An epithet bestowed upon the borderers, from the names
of their various districts; as Tiviotdale, Liddesdale, Eskdale,
Ewsdale, Annandale, &c. Hence, an old ballad distinguishes the north
as the country,
"Where every river gives name to a dale,"
_Ex-ale-tation of Ale_.]
[Footnote 50: Among these may be reckoned the supposed influence
of Irish earth, in curing the poison of adders, or other venomous
reptiles.--This virtue is extended by popular credulity to the
natives, and even to the animals, of Hibernia. A gentleman, bitten by
some reptile, so as to occasion a great swelling, seriously assured
the editor, that he ascribed his cure to putting the affected finger
into the mouth of an Irish mare!]
There were, upon the borders, many consecrated wells, for resorting
to which the people's credulity is severely censured, by a worthy
physician of the seventeenth century; who himself believed in a
shower of living herrings having fallen near Dumfries. "Many run
superstitiously to other wells, and there obtain, as they imagine,
health and advantage; and there they offer bread and cheese, or money,
by throwing them into the well." In another part of the MS. occurs the
following passage. "In the bounds of the lands of Eccles, belonging to
a lyneage of the name of Maitland, there is a loch called the Dowloch,
of old resorted to with much superstition, as medicinal both for men
and beasts, and that with such ceremonies, as are _shrewdly_ suspected
to have been begun with witchcraft, and increased afterward by magical
directions: For, burying of a cloth, or somewhat that did relate to
the bodies of men and women, and a shackle, or teather, belonging to
cow or horse; and these being cast into the loch, if they did float,
it was taken for a good omen of recovery, and a part of the water
carried to the patient, though to remote places, without saluting
or speaking to any they met by the way; but, if they did sink, the
recovery of the party was hopeless. This custom was of late much
curbed and restrained; but since the discovery of many medicinal
fountains near to the place, the vulgar, holding that it may be as
medicinal as these are, at this time begin to re-assume their former
practice."--_Account of Presbytery of Penpont, in Macfarlane's MSS._
The idea, that the spirits of the deceased return to haunt the place,
where on earth they have suffered or have rejoiced, is, as Dr. Johnson
has observed, common to the popular creed of all nations The just and
noble sentiment, implanted in our bosoms by the Deity, teaches us,
that we shall not slumber for ever, as the beasts that perish.--Human
vanity, or credulity, chequers, with its own inferior and base
colours, the noble prospect, which is alike held out to us by
philosophy and by religion. We feel, according to the ardent
expression of the poet, that we shall not wholly die; but from hence
we vainly and weakly argue, that the same scenes, the same passions,
shall delight and actuate the disembodied spirit, which affected it
while in its tenement of clay. Hence the popular belief, that the
soul haunts the spot where the murdered body is interred; that its
appearances are directed to bring down vengeance on its murderers; or
that, having left its terrestrial form in a distant clime, it glides
before its former friends, a pale spectre, to warn them of its
decease. Such tales, the foundation of which is an argument from our
present feelings to those of the spiritual world, form the broad
and universal basis of the popular superstition regarding departed
spirits; against which reason has striven in vain, and universal
experience has offered a disregarded testimony. These legends are
peculiarly acceptable to barbarous tribes; and, on the borders,
they were received with most unbounded faith. It is true, that these
supernatural adversaries were no longer opposed by the sword and
battle-axe, as among the unconverted Scandinavians. Prayers, spells,
and exorcisms, particularly in the Greek and Hebrew languages, were
the weapons of the borderers, or rather of their priests and cunning
men, against their aërial enemy[51]. The belief in ghosts, which has
been well termed the last lingering phantom of superstition, still
maintains its ground upon the borders.
[Footnote 51: One of the most noted apparitions is supposed to haunt
Spedlin's castle, near Lochmaben, the ancient baronial residence
of the Jardines of Applegirth. It is said, that, in exercise of his
territorial jurisdiction, one of the ancient lairds had imprisoned, in
the _Massy More_, or dungeon of the castle, a person named Porteous.
Being called suddenly to Edinburgh, the laird discovered, as he
entered the West Port, that he had brought along with him the key of
the dungeon. Struck with the utmost horror, he sent back his servant
to relieve the prisoner; but it was too late. The wretched being was
found lying upon the steps descending from the door of the vault,
starved to death. In the agonies of hunger, he had gnawed the flesh
from one of his arms. That his spectre should haunt the castle was a
natural consequence of such a tragedy. Indeed, its visits became so
frequent, that a clergyman of eminence was employed to exorcise it.
After a contest of twenty-four hours, the man of art prevailed so far
as to confine the goblin to the _Massy More_ of the castle, where its
shrieks and cries are still heard. A part, at least, of the spell,
depends upon the preservation of the ancient black-lettered bible,
employed by the exorcist. It was some years ago thought necessary
to have this bible re-bound; but, as soon as it was removed from the
castle, the spectre commenced his nocturnal orgies, with ten-fold
noise; and it is verily believed that he would have burst from his
confinement, had not the sacred volume been speedily replaced.
A Mass John Scott, minister of Peebles, is reported to have been the
last renowned exorciser, and to have lost his life in a contest with
an obstinate spirit. This was owing to the conceited rashness of a
young clergyman, who commenced the ceremony of laying the ghost before
the arrival of Mass John. It is the nature, it seems, of spirits
disembodied, as well as embodied, to increase in strength and
presumption, in proportion to the advantages which they may gain over
the opponent. The young clergyman losing courage, the horrors of the
scene were increased to such a degree, that, as Mass John approached
the house in which it passed, he beheld the slates and tiles flying
from the roof, as if dispersed by a whirlwind. At his entry, he
perceived all the wax-tapers (the most essential instruments of
conjuration) extinguished, except one, which already burned blue in
the socket. The arrival of the experienced sage changed the scene: he
brought the spirit to reason; but, unfortunately, while addressing a
word of advice or censure to his rash brother, he permitted the ghost
to obtain the _last word_; a circumstance which, in all colloquies of
this nature, is strictly to be guarded against. This fatal oversight
occasioned his falling into a lingering disorder, of which he never
recovered.
A curious poem, upon the laying of a ghost, forms article No. V. of
the Appendix.]
It is unnecessary to mention the superstitious belief in witchcraft,
which gave rise to so much cruelty and persecution during the
seventeenth century. There were several executions upon the borders
for this imaginary crime, which was usually tried, not by the ordinary
judges, but by a set of country gentlemen, acting under commission
from the privy council[52].
[Footnote 52: I have seen, _penes_ Hugh Scott, Esq. of Harden, the
record of the trial of a witch, who was burned at Ducove. She was
tried in the manner above mentioned.]
Besides these grand articles of superstitious belief, the creed of
the borderers admitted the existence of sundry classes of subordinate
spirits, to whom were assigned peculiar employments. The chief of
these were the Fairies, concerning whom the reader will find a long
dissertation, in Volume Second. The Brownie formed a class of beings,
distinct in habit and disposition from the freakish and mischievous
elves. He was meagre, shaggy, and wild in his appearance. Thus,
Cleland, in his satire against the Highlanders, compares them to
"Faunes, or _Brownies_, if ye will,
Or satyres come from Atlas hill."
In the day time, he lurked in remote recesses of the old houses which
he delighted to haunt; and, in the night, sedulously employed himself
in discharging any laborious task which he thought might be acceptable
to the family, to whose service he had devoted himself. His name is
probably derived from the _Portuni_, whom Gervase of Tilbury describes
thus: "_Ecce enim in Anglia daemones quosdam habent, daemones, inquam,
nescio dixerim, an secretae et ignotae generationis effigies, quos
Galli Neptunos, Angli Portunos nominant. Istis insitum est quod
simplicitatem fortunatonum_ _colonorum amplectuntur, et cum nocturnas
propter domesticas operas agunt vigilias, subito clausis januis ad
ignem califiunt, et ranunculus ex sinu projectas, prunis impositas
concedunt, senili vultu, facie corrugata, statura pusilli, dimidium
pollicis non habentes. Panniculis consertis induuntur, et si quid
gestandum in domo fuerit, aut onerosi opens agendum, ad operandum se
jungunt citius humana facilitate expediunt. Id illis insitum est, ut
obsequi possint et obesse non possint_."--Otia. Imp. p. 980. In every
respect, saving only the feeding upon frogs, which was probably
an attribute of the Gallic spirits alone, the above description
corresponds with that of the Scottish Brownie. But the latter,
although, like Milton's lubbar fiend, he loves to stretch himself
by the fire[53], does not drudge from the hope of recompence. On the
contrary, so delicate is his attachment, that the offer of reward,
but particularly of food, infallibly occasions his disappearance for
ever[54]. We learn from Olaus Magnus, that spirits, somewhat similar
in their operations to the Brownie, were supposed to haunt the Swedish
mines. The passage, in the translation of 1658, runs thus: "This
is collected in briefe, that in northerne kingdomes there are great
armies of devils, that have their services, which they perform with
the inhabitants of these countries: but they are most frequent in
rocks and mines, where they break, cleave, and make them hollow: which
also thrust in pitchers and buckets, and carefully fit wheels and
screws, whereby they are drawn upwards; and they shew themselves to
the labourers, when they list, like phantasms and ghosts." It seems no
improbable conjecture, that the Brownie is a legitimate descendant of
the _Lar Familiaris_ of the ancients.
[Footnote 53:
--how the drudging goblin swet,
To earn the cream-bowl, duly set;
When, in one night, ere glimpse of morn,
His shadowy flail had thresh'd the corn,
That ten day-lab'rers could not end;
Then lies him down the lubbar fiend,
And, stretch'd out all the chimney's length,
Basks at the fire his hairy strength;
And, crop-full, out of doors he flings,
E'er the first cock his matin rings.
_L'Allegro_.
When the menials in a Scottish family protracted their vigils around
the kitchen fire, Brownie, weary of being excluded from the midnight
hearth, sometimes appeared at the door, seemed to watch their
departure, and thus admonished them--"Gang a' to your beds, sirs, and
dinna put out the wee _grieshoch_ (embers)."]
[Footnote 54: It is told of a Brownie, who haunted a border family,
now extinct, that the lady having fallen unexpectedly in labour, and
the servant, who was ordered to ride to Jedburgh for the _sage femme_,
shewing no great alertness in setting out, the familiar spirit slipt
on the great-coat of the lingering domestic, rode to the town on the
laird's best horse, and returned with the mid-wife _en croupe_. Daring
the short space of his absence, the Tweed, which they must necessarily
ford, rose to a dangerous height. Brownie, who transported his charge
with all the rapidity of the ghostly lover of _Lenoré_, was not to be
stopped by this obstacle. He plunged in with the terrified old lady,
and landed her in safety where her services were wanted. Having put
the horse into the stable (where it was afterwards found in a woeful
plight), he proceeded to the room of the servant, whose duty he had
discharged; and, finding him just in the act of drawing on his
boots, he administered to him a most merciless drubbing with his own
horse-whip. Such an important service excited the gratitude of the
laird; who, understanding that Brownie had been heard to express a
wish to have a green coat, ordered a vestment of that colour to be
made, and left in his haunts. Brownie took away the green coat, but
never was seen more. We may suppose, that, tired of his domestic
drudgery, he went in his new livery to join the fairies.--_See
Appendix_, No. VI.
The last Brownie, known in Ettrick forest, resided in Bodsbeck, a wild
and solitary spot, where he exercised his functions undisturbed, till
the scrupulous devotion of an old lady induced her to _hire him away_,
as it was termed, by placing in his haunt a porringer of milk and a
piece of money. After receiving this hint to depart, he was heard the
whole night to howl and cry, "Farewell to bonny Bodsbeck!" which he
was compelled to abandon for ever.]
A being, totally distinct from those hitherto mentioned, is the Bogle,
or Goblin; a freakish spirit, who delights rather to perplex and
frighten mankind; than either to serve, or seriously to hurt, them.
This is the _Esprit Follet_ of the French; and _Puck_, or _Robin
Goodfellow_, though enlisted by Shakespeare among the fairy band of
_Oberon_, properly belongs to this class of phantoms. _Shellycoat_,
a spirit, who resides in the waters, and has given his name to many a
rock and stone upon the Scottish coast, belongs also to the class
of bogles[55]. When he appeared, he seemed to be decked with marine
productions, and, in particular with shells, whose clattering
announced his approach. From this circumstance he derived his name. He
may, perhaps, be identified with the goblin of the northern English,
which, in the towns and cities, Durham and Newcastle for example
had the name of _Barquest_; but, in the country villages, was more
frequently termed _Brag_. He usually ended his mischievous frolics
with a horse-laugh.
[Footnote 55: One of his pranks is thus narrated: Two men, in a very
dark night, approaching the banks of the Ettrick, heard a doleful
voice from its waves repeatedly exclaim--"Lost! lost!"--They followed
the sound, which seemed to be the voice of a drowning person, and, to
their infinite astonishment, they found that it ascended the river.
Still they continued, during a long and tempestuous night, to follow
the cry of the malicious sprite; and arriving, before morning's dawn,
at the very sources of the river, the voice was now heard descending
the opposite side of the mountain in which they arise. The fatigued
and deluded travellers now relinquished the pursuit; and had no sooner
done so, than they heard Shellycoat applauding, in loud bursts of
laughter, his successful roguery. The spirit was supposed particularly
to haunt the old house of Gorrinberry, situated on the river
Hermitage, in Liddesdale.]
_Shellycoat_ must not be confounded with _Kelpy_, a water spirit also,
but of a much more powerful and malignant nature. His attributes have
been the subject of a poem in Lowland Scottish, by the learned
Dr. Jamieson of Edinburgh, which adorns the third volume of this
collection. Of _Kelpy_, therefore, it is unnecessary to say any thing
at present.
Of all these classes of spirits it may be, in general observed, that
their attachment was supposed to be local, and not personal. They
haunted the rock, the stream, the ruined castle, without regard to
the persons or families to whom the property belonged. Hence, they
differed entirely from that species of spirits, to whom, in the
Highlands, is ascribed the guardianship, or superintendance of a
particular clan, or family of distinction; and who, perhaps yet more
than the Brownie, resemble the classic household gods. Thus, in an
MS. history of Moray, we are informed, that the family of Gurlinbeg
is haunted by a spirit, called _Garlin Bodacher_; that of the baron of
Kinchardin, by _Lamhdearg_[56], or Red-hand, a spectre, one of whose
hands is as red as blood; that of Tullochgorm, by _May Moulach_, a
female figure, whose left hand and arm were covered with hair, who is
also mentioned in _Aubrey's Miscellanies_, pp. 211, 212, as a familiar
attendant upon the elan Grant. These superstitions were so ingrafted
in the popular creed, that the clerical synods and presbyteries were
wont to take cognizance of them[57].
[Footnote 56: The following notice of Lamhdearg occurs in another
account of Strathspey, _apud_ Macfarlane's MSS.:--"There is much talke
of a spirit called _Ly-erg_, who frequents the Glenmore. He appears
with a red hand, in the habit of a souldier, and challenges men to
fight with him; as lately as 1669, he fought with three brothers, one
after another, who immediately died thereafter."]
[Footnote 57: There is current, in some parts of Germany, a fanciful
superstition concerning the _Stille Volke_, or silent people. These
they suppose to be attached to houses of eminence, and to consist of
a number, corresponding to that of the mortal family, each person of
which has thus his representative amongst these domestic spirits. When
the lady of the family has a child, the queen of the silent people
is delivered in the same moment. They endeavour to give warning
when danger approaches the family, assist in warding it off, and
are sometimes seen to weep and wring their hands, before inevitable
calamity.]
Various other superstitions, regarding magicians, spells, prophecies,
&c., will claim our attention in the progress of this work. For the
present, therefore taking the advice of an old Scottish rhymer, let us
"Leave bogles, brownies, gyre carlinges, and ghaists[58]."
[Footnote 58: So generally were these tales of _diablerie_ believed,
that one William Lithgow, a _bon vivant_, who appears to have been
a native, or occasional inhabitant, of Melrose, is celebrated by the
pot-companion who composed his elegy, because
He was good company at jeists.
And wanton when he came to feists,
He scorn'd the converse of great beasts,
O'er a sheep's head;
_He laugh'd at stones about ghaists_;
Blythe Willie's dead!
_Watson's Scotish Poems_, Edin. 1706.]
_Flyting of Polwart and Montgomery_.
The domestic economy of the borderers next engages our attention. That
the revenue of the chieftain should be expended in rude hospitality,
was the natural result of his situation. His wealth consisted chiefly
in herds of cattle, which were consumed by the kinsmen, vassals, and
followers, who aided him to acquire and to protect them[59]. We
learn from Lesley, that the borderers were temperate in the use of
intoxicating liquors, and we are therefore left to conjecture how they
occupied the time, when winter, or when accident, confined them to
their habitations. The little learning, which existed in the middle
ages, glimmered a dim and a dying flame in the religious houses;
and even in the sixteenth century, when its beams became more widely
diffused, they were far from penetrating the recesses of the border
mountains. The tales of tradition, the song, with the pipe or harp of
the minstrel, were probably the sole resources against _ennui_, during
the short intervals of repose from military adventure.
[Footnote 59: We may form some idea of the stile of life maintained
by the border warriors, from the anecdotes, handed down by tradition,
concerning Walter Scott of Harden, who flourished towards the
middle of the sixteenth century. This ancient laird was a renowned
freebooter, and used to ride with a numerous band of followers. The
spoil, which they carried off from England, or from their neighbours,
was concealed in a deep and impervious glen, on the brink of which the
old tower of Harden was situated. From thence the cattle were brought
out, one by one, as they were wanted, to supply the rude and plentiful
table of the laird. When the last bullock was killed and devoured, it
was the lady's custom to place on the table a dish, which, on being
uncovered, was found to contain a pair of clean spurs; a hint to the
riders, that they must shift for their next meal. Upon one occasion,
when the village herd was driving out the cattle to pasture, the old
laird heard him call loudly _to drive out Harden's cow_. "_Harden's
cow!_" echoed the affronted chief--"Is it come to that pass? by my
faith they shall sune say Harden's _kye_ (cows)." Accordingly, he
sounded his bugle, mounted his horse, set out with his followers,
and returned next day with "_a bow of kye, and a bussen'd_ (brindled)
_bull_." On his return with this gallant prey, he passed a very large
hay-stack. It occurred to the provident laird, that this would be
extremely convenient to fodder his new stock of cattle; but as no
means of transporting it occurred, he was fain to take leave of it
with this apostrophe, now proverbial: "By my soul, had ye but four
feet, ye should not stand lang there." In short, as Froissard says of
a similar class of feudal robbers, nothing came amiss to them, that
was not _too heavy, or too hot_. The same mode of house-keeping
characterized most border families on both sides. An MS. quoted in
_History of Cumberland_, p. 466, concerning the Graemes of Netherby,
and others of that clan, runs thus: "They were all stark moss-troopers
and arrant thieves: both to England and Scotland outlawed: yet
sometimes connived at, because they gave intelligence forth of
Scotland, and would raise 400 horse at any time, upon a raid of the
English into Scotland." A saying is recorded of a mother to her son
(which is now become proverbial), "_Ride Rouly_ (Rowland), _hough's
i' the pot_;" that is, the last piece of beef was in the pot, and
therefore it was high time for him to go and fetch more. To such men
might with justice be applied the poet's description of the Cretan
warrior; translated by my friend, Dr. Leyden.
My sword, my spear, my shaggy shield,
With these I till, with these I sow;
With these I reap my harvest field,
The only wealth the Gods bestow.
With these I plant the purple vine,
With these I press the luscious wine.
My sword, my spear, my shaggy shield,
They make me lord of all below;
For he who dreads the lance to wield,
Before my shaggy shield must bow.
His lands, his vineyards, must resign;
And all that cowards have is mine.
_Hybrias (ap. Athenaeum)_.]
This brings us to the more immediate subject of the present
publication.
Lesley, who dedicates to the description of border manners a chapter,
which we have already often quoted, notices particularly the taste of
the marchmen for music and ballad poetry. "_Placent admodum sibi sua
musica, et rythmicis suis cantionibus, quas de majorum suorum gestis,
aut ingeniosis predandi precandive stratagematis ipsi confingunt_.
"--Leslaeus, _in capitulo de moribus eorum, qui Scotiae limites
Angliam versus incolunt_. The more rude and wild the state of society,
the more general and violent is the impulse received from poetry and
music. The muse, whose effusions are the amusement of a very small
part of a polished nation, records, in the lays of inspiration, the
history the laws, the very religion, of savages.--Where the pen and
the press are wanting, the low of numbers impresses upon the memory
of posterity, the deeds and sentiments of their forefathers. Verse is
naturally connected with music; and, among a rude people, the union
is seldom broken. By this natural alliance, the lays, "steeped in
the stream of harmony," are more easily retained by the reciter, and
produce upon his audience a more impressive effect. Hence, there
has hardly been found to exist a nation so brutishly rude, as not to
listen with enthusiasm to the songs of their bards, recounting
the exploits of their forefathers, recording their laws and moral
precepts, or hymning the praises of their deities. But, where the
feelings are frequently stretched to the highest pitch, by the
vicissitudes of a life of danger and military adventure, this
predisposition of a savage people, to admire their own rude poetry and
music, is heightened, and its tone becomes peculiarly determined. It
is not the peaceful Hindu at his loom, it is not the timid Esquimaux
in his canoe, whom we must expect to glow at the war song of Tyrtaeus.
The music and the poetry of each country must keep pace with their
usual tone of mind, as well as with the state of society.
The morality of their compositions is determined by the same
circumstances. Those themes are necessarily chosen by the bard, which
regard the favourite exploits of the hearers; and he celebrates only
those virtues, which from infancy he has been taught to admire. Hence,
as remarked by Lesley, the music and songs of the borders were of
a military nature, and celebrated the valour and success of their
predatory expeditions. Razing, like Shakespeare's pirate, the eighth
commandment from the decalogue, the minstrels praised their chieftains
for the very exploits, against which the laws of the country denounced
a capital doom.--An outlawed freebooter was to them a more interesting
person, than the King of Scotland exerting his power to punish his
depredations; and, when the characters are contrasted, the latter is
always represented as a ruthless and sanguinary tyrant.--Spenser's
description of the bards of Ireland applies in some degree, to our
ancient border poets. "There is, among the Irish, a certain kinde
of people, called bardes, which are to them instead of poets; whose
profession is to set forth the praises or dispraises of men, in their
poems or rhymes; the which are had in such high regard or esteem
amongst them, that none dare displease them, for fear of running into
reproach through their offence, and to be made infamous in the mouths
of all men; for their verses are taken up with a general applause,
and usually sung at all feasts and meetings, by certain other persons,
whose proper function that is, who also receive, for the same, great
rewardes and reputation amongst them." Spenser, having bestowed due
praise upon the poets, who sung the praises of the good and virtuous,
informs us, that the bards, on the contrary, "seldom use to chuse unto
themselves the doings of good men for the arguments of their poems;
but whomsoever they finde to be most licentious of life, most bold and
lawless in his doings, most dangerous and desperate in all parts of
disobedience, and rebellious disposition, him they set up and glorify
in their rhythmes; him they praise to the people, and to young men
make an example to follow."--_Eudoxus_--"I marvail what kind of
speeches they can find, or what faces they can put on, to praise such
bad persons, as live so lawlessly and licentiously upon stealths and
spoyles, as most of them do; or how they can think, that any good
mind will applaud or approve the same." In answer to this question,
_Irenaeus_, after remarking the giddy and restless disposition of the
ill educated youth of Ireland, which made them prompt to receive evil
counsel, adds, that such a person, "if he shall find any to praise
him, and to give him any encouragement, as those bards and rhythmers
do, for little reward, or a share of a stolen cow[60], then waxeth he
most insolent, and half-mad, with the love of himself and his own lewd
deeds. And as for words to set forth such lewdness, it is not hard for
them to give a goodly and painted show thereunto, borrowed even from
the praises which are proper to virtue itself. As of a most notorious
thief, and wicked outlaw, which had lived all his life-time of spoils
and robberies, one of their bardes, in his praise, will say, 'that he
was none of the idle milk-sops that was brought up by the fire-side,
but that most of his days he spent in arms and valiant enterprizes;
that he never did eat his meat, before he had won it with his sword;
that he lay not all night slugging in his cabin under his mantle, but
used commonly to keep others waking to defend their lives, and did
light his candle at the flames of their houses to lead him in the
darkness; that the day was his night, and the night his day; that he
loved not to be long wooing of wenches to yield to him; but, where
he came, he took by force the spoil of other men's love, and left but
lamentations to their lovers; that his music was not the harp, nor
lays of love, but the cries of people, and clashing of armour; and,
finally, that he died, not bewailed of many, but made many wail when
he died, that dearly bought his death.' Do not you think, Eudoxus,
that many of these praises might be applied to men of best deserts?
Yet, are they all yielded to a most notable traitor, and amongst some
of the Irish not smally accounted of."--_State of Ireland_. The same
concurrence of circumstances, so well pointed out by Spenser, as
dictating the topics of the Irish bards, tuned the border harps to the
praise of an outlawed Armstrong, or Murray.
[Footnote 60: The reward of the Welch bards, and perhaps of those upon
the border, was very similar. It was enacted by Howel Dha, that if
the king's bard played before a body of warriors, upon a predatory
excursion, be should receive, in recompence, the best cow which the
party carried off.--_Leges Walliae_, I. 1. cap. 19.]
For similar reasons, flowing from the state of society, the reader
must not expect to find, in the border ballads, refined sentiment,
and, far less, elegant expression; although the stile of such
compositions has, in modern hands, been found highly susceptible of
both. But passages might be pointed out, in which the rude minstrel
has melted in natural pathos, or risen into rude energy. Even
where these graces are totally wanting, the interest of the stories
themselves, and the curious picture of manners, which they frequently
present, authorise them to claim some respect from the public. But
it is not the editor's present intention to enter upon a history of
border poetry; a subject of great difficulty, and which the extent
of his information does not as yet permit him to engage in. He
will, therefore, now lay before the reader the plan of the present
publication; pointing out the authorities from which his materials are
derived and slightly noticing the nature of the different classes into
which he has arranged them.
The MINSTRELSY of the SCOTTISH BORDER contains Three Classes of Poems:
I. HISTORICAL BALLADS. II. ROMANTIC. III. IMITATIONS OF THESE
COMPOSITIONS BY MODERN AUTHORS.
The Historical Ballad relates events, which we either know actually
to have taken place, or which, at least, making due allowance for the
exaggerations of poetical tradition, we may readily conceive to have
had some foundation in history. For reasons already mentioned, such
ballads were early current upon the border. Barbour informs us, that
he thinks it unnecessary to rehearse the account of a victory, gained
in Eskdale over the English, because
--Whasa liks, thai may her
Young women, when thai will play,
Syng it among thaim ilk day.--
_The Bruce_, Book XVI.
Godscroft also, in his History of the House of Douglas, written in the
reign of James VI., alludes more than once to the ballads current upon
the border, in which the exploits of those heroes were celebrated.
Such is the passage, relating to the death of William Douglas, Lord of
Liddesdale, slain by the Earl of Douglas, his kinsman, his godson,
and his chief[61]. Similar strains of lamentation were poured by the
border poets over the tomb of the Hero of Otterbourne; and over the
unfortunate youths, who were dragged to an ignominious death, from
the very table at which they partook of the hospitality of their
sovereign. The only stanza, preserved of this last ballad, is
uncommonly animated--
Edinburgh castle, towne and toure,
God grant thou sink for sinne!
And that even for the black dinoure,
Erl Douglas gat therein.
Who will not regret, with the editor, that compositions of such
interest and antiquity should be now irrecoverable? But it is the
nature of popular poetry, as of popular applause, perpetually to shift
with the objects of the time; and it is the frail chance of recovering
some old manuscript, which can alone gratify our curiosity regarding
the earlier efforts of the border muse. Some of her later strains,
composed during the sixteenth century, have survived even to the
present day; but the recollection of them has, of late years, become
like that of "a tale which was told." In the sixteenth century, these
northern tales appear to have been popular even in London; for the
learned Mr. Ritson has obligingly pointed out to me the following
passages, respecting the noted ballad of _Dick o' the Cow_ (p. 157);
"Dick o' the Cow, that mad demi-lance northern borderer, who plaid his
prizes with the lord Jockey so bravely."--Nashe's _Have with you to
Saffren-Walden, or Gabriell Harvey's Hunt is up_.--1596, 4to. _Epistle
Dedicatorie_, _sig._ A. 2. 6. And in a list of books, printed for, and
sold by, P. Brocksby (1688), occurs "Dick-a-the-Cow, containing north
country songs[62]." Could this collection have been found, it would
probably have thrown much light on the present publication: but
the editor has been obliged to draw his materials chiefly from oral
tradition.
[Footnote 61: "The Lord of Liddisdale being at his pastime, hunting in
Ettrick forest, is beset by William, Earl of Douglas, and such as he
had ordained for the purpose, and there asailed, wounded, and slain,
beside Galsewood, in the year 1353, upon a jealousy that the earl had
conceived of him with his lady, as the report goeth; for so sayeth the
old song,
"The countess of Douglas out of her bower she came,
And loudly there that she did call--
It is for the Lord of Liddisdale,
That I let all these tears down fall."
"The song also declareth, how she did write her love-letters to
Liddisdale, to dissuade him from that hunting. It tells likewise the
manner of the taking of his men, and his own killing at Galsewood;
and how he was carried the first night to Linden kirk, a mile from
Selkirk, and was buried in the abbey of Melrose."--_Godscroft_, Vol.
I. p. 144, Ed. 1743.
Some fragments of this ballad are still current, and will be found in
the ensuing work.]
[Footnote 62: The Selkirkshire ballad of _Tamlane_ seems also to
have been well known in England. Among the popular heroes of romance,
enumerated in the introduction to the history of "_Tom Thumbe_,"
(London, 1621, bl. letter), occurs "Tom a Lin, the devil's supposed
bastard." There is a parody upon the same ballad in the "_Pinder of
Wakefield_" (London, 1621).]
Something may be still found in the border cottages resembling the
scene described by Pennycuik.
On a winter's night, my grannam spinning,
To mak a web of good Scots linnen;
Her stool being placed next to the chimley,
(For she was auld, and saw right dimly,)
My lucky dad, an honest whig,
Was telling tales of Bothwell-brigg;
He could not miss to mind the attempt,
For he was sitting pu'ing hemp;
My aunt, whom' nane dare say has no grace,
Was reading on the Pilgrim's Progress;
The meikle tasker, Davie Dallas,
Was telling blads of William Wallace;
My mither bade her second son say,
What he'd by heart of Davie Lindsay;
Our herd, whom all folks hate that knows him,
Was busy hunting in his bosom;
* * * * *
The bairns, and oyes, were all within doors;}
The youngest of us chewing cinders,}
And all the auld anes telling wonders.}
_Pennycuik's Poems_, p. 7.
The causes of the preservation of these songs have either entirely
ceased, or are gradually decaying Whether they were originally the
composition of minstrels, professing the joint arts of poetry
and music; or whether they were the occasional effusions of some
self-taught bard; is a question into which I do not here mean to
enquire. But it is certain, that, till a very late period, the pipers,
of whom there was one attached to each border town of note, and whose
office was often hereditary, were the great depositaries of oral,
and particularly of poetical, tradition. About spring time, and after
harvest, it was the custom of these musicians to make a progress
through a particular district of the country. The music and the tale
repaid their lodging, and they were usually gratified with a donation
of seed corn[63]. This order of minstrels is alluded to in the comic
song of _Maggy Lauder_, who thus addresses a piper--
"Live ye upo' the border?"
By means of these men, much traditional poetry was preserved,
which must otherwise have perished. Other itinerants, not professed
musicians, found their welcome to their night's quarters readily
insured by their knowledge in legendary lore. John Graeme, of Sowport,
in Cumberland, commonly called _The Long Quaker_[64], a person of this
latter description, was very lately alive; and several of the songs,
now published, have been taken down from his recitation. The shepherds
also, and aged persons, in the recesses of the border mountains,
frequently remember and repeat the warlike songs of their fathers.
This is more especially the case in what are called the South
Highlands, where, in many instances, the same families have occupied
the same possessions for centuries.
[Footnote 63: These town pipers, an institution of great antiquity
upon the borders, were certainly the last remains of the minstrel
race. Robin Hastie, town-piper of Jedburgh, perhaps the last of the
order, died nine or ten years ago: his family was supposed to have
held the office for about three centuries. Old age had rendered Robin
a wretched performer; but he knew several old songs and tunes, which
have probably died along with him. The town-pipers received a livery
and salary from the community to which they belonged; and, in some
burghs, they had a small allotment of land, called the Piper's Croft.
For further particulars regarding them, see _Introduction to Complaynt
of Scotland_, Edinburgh, 1801, p. 142.]
[Footnote 64: This person, perhaps the last of our professed ballad
reciters, died since the publication of the first edition of this
work. He was by profession an itinerant cleaner of clocks and watches;
but, a stentorian voice, and tenacious memory, qualified him eminently
for remembering accurately, and reciting with energy, the border
gathering songs and tales of war. His memory was latterly much
impaired; yet, the number of verses which he could pour forth, and
the animation of his tone and gestures, formed a most extraordinary
contrast to his extreme feebleness of person, and dotage of mind.]
It is chiefly from this latter source that the editor has drawn his
materials, most of which were collected, many years ago, during his
early youth. But he has been enabled, in many instances, to supply
and correct the deficiencies of his own copies, from a collection of
border songs, frequently referred to in the work, under the title of
_Glenriddell's MS_. This was compiled, from various sources, by the
late Mr. Riddell, of Glenriddel, a sedulous border antiquary, and,
since his death, has become the property of Mr. Jollie, bookseller
at Carlisle; to whose liberality the editor owes the use of it, while
preparing this work for the press. No liberties have been taken,
either with the recited or written copies of these ballads, farther
than that, where they disagreed, which is by no means unusual, the
editor, in justice to the author, has uniformly preserved what seemed
to him the best, or most poetical, reading of the passage. Such
discrepancies must very frequently occur, wherever poetry is preserved
by oral tradition; for the reciter, making it a uniform principle to
proceed at all hazards, is very often, when his memory fails him, apt
to substitute large portions from some other tale, altogether distinct
from that which he has commenced. Besides, the prejudices of clans
and of districts have occasioned variations in the mode of telling
the same story. Some arrangement was also occasionally necessary, to
recover the rhyme, which was often, by the ignorance of the reciters,
transposed, or thrown into the middle of the line. With these
freedoms, which were essentially necessary to remove obvious
corruptions, and fit the ballads for the press, the editor presents
them to the public, under the complete assurance, that they carry with
them the most indisputable marks of their authenticity.
The same observations apply to the Second Class, here termed ROMANTIC
BALLADS; intended to comprehend such legends as are current upon the
border, relating to fictitious and marvellous adventures Such were
the tales, with which the friends of Spenser strove to beguile his
indisposition:
"Some told of ladies, and their paramours;
Some of brave knights, and their renowned squires;
Some of the fairies, and their strange attires,
And some of giants, hard to be believed."
These, carrying with them a general, and not merely a local, interest,
are much more extensively known among the peasantry of Scotland than
the border-raid ballads, the fame of which is in general confined to
the mountains where they were originally composed. Hence, it has been
easy to collect these tales of romance, to a number much greater than
the editor has chosen to insert in this publication[65]. With this
class are now intermingled some lyric pieces, and some ballads, which,
though narrating real events, have no direct reference to border
history or manners. To the politeness and liberality of Mr. Herd, of
Edinburgh, the editor of the first classical collection of Scottish
songs and ballads (Edinburgh, 1774, 2 vols.), the editor is indebted
for the use of his MSS., containing songs and ballads, published and
unpublished, to the number of ninety and upwards. To this collection
frequent references are made, in the course of the following pages.
Two books of ballads, in MS., have also been communicated to me, by my
learned and respected friend, Alexander Fraser Tytler, Esq[66]. I take
the liberty of transcribing Mr. Tytler's memorandum respecting the
manner in which they came into his hands. "My father[67] got the
following songs from an old friend, Mr. Thomas Gordon, professor
of philosophy, King's College, Aberdeen. The following extract of a
letter of the professor to me, explains how he came by them:--"An
aunt of my children, Mrs Farquhar, now dead, who was married to the
proprietor of a small estate, near the sources of the Dee, in Braemar,
a good old woman, who spent the best part of her life among flocks
and herds, resided in her latter days in the town of Aberdeen. She was
possest of a most tenacious memory, which retained all the songs she
had heard from nurses and country-women in that sequestered part of
the country. Being maternally fond of my children, when young, she had
them much about her, and delighted them with her songs, and tales of
chivalry. My youngest daughter, Mrs Brown, at Falkland, is blest with
a memory as good as her aunt, and has almost the whole of her songs
by heart. In conversation I mentioned them to your father, at whose
request, my grandson, Mr Scott, wrote down a parcel of them, as his
aunt sung them. Being then but a mere novice in music, he added, in
the copy, such musical notes, as, he supposed, might give your father
some notion of the airs, or rather lilts, to which they were sung."
[Footnote 65: Mr. Jamieson of Macclesfield, a gentleman of literary
and poetical accomplishment, has for some years been employed in a
compilation of Scottish ballad poetry, which is now in the press, and
will probably be soon given to the public. I have, therefore, as far
as the nature of my work permitted, sedulously avoided anticipating
any of his materials; as I am very certain he himself will do our
common cause the most ample justice.]
[Footnote 66: Now a senator of the College of Justice, by the title of
Lord Woodhouselee.]
[Footnote 67: William Tytler, Esq. the ingenious defender of Queen
Mary, and author of a _Dissertation upon Scotish Music_, which does
honour to his memory.]
From this curious and valuable collection, the editor has procured
very material assistance. At the same time, it contains many beautiful
legendary poems, of which he could not avail himself, as they seemed
to be the exclusive property of the bards of Angus and Aberdeenshire.
But the copies of such, as were known on the borders, have furnished
him with various readings, and with supplementary stanzas, which he
has frequent opportunities to acknowledge. The MSS. are cited under
the name of Mrs. Brown of Falkland, the ingenious lady, to whose taste
and memory the world is indebted for the preservation of the tales
which they contain. The other authorities, which occur during
the work, are particularly referred to. Much information has been
communicated to the editor, from various quarters, since the work
was first published of which he has availed himself, to correct and
enlarge the present edition.
In publishing both classes of ancient ballads, the editor has excluded
those which are to be found in the common collections of this nature,
unless in one or two instances, where he conceived it possible to give
some novelty, by historical or critical illustration.
It would have been easy for the editor to have given these songs
an appearance of more indisputable antiquity, by adopting the rude
orthography of the period, to which he is inclined to refer them. But
this (unless when MSS. of antiquity can be referred to) seemed too
arbitrary an exertion of the privileges of a publisher, and must,
besides, have unnecessarily increased the difficulties of many
readers. On the other hand, the utmost care has been taken, never
to reject a word or phrase, used by a reciter, however uncouth or
antiquated. Such barbarisms, which stamp upon the tales their age and
their nation, should be respected by an editor, as the hardy emblem of
his country was venerated by the Poet of Scotland:
The rough bur-thistle spreading wide
Amang the bearded bear,
I turn'd the weeder-clips aside,
And spared the symbol dear.