Ballads of Scottish Tradition and Romance | Page 5

which would have come more fittingly in the First Series, had I known of it in time.
In the general arrangement, however, the above classes have been mixed, in order that the reader may browse as he pleases.
I
A comparison of the first two ballads in this volume will show the latitude with which it is possible for an historical incident to be treated by tradition. The Battle of Otterburn was fought in 1388; but our two versions belong to the middle of the sixteenth century. The English _Battle of Otterburn_ is the more faithful to history, and refers (35.2) to 'the cronykle' as authority. _The Hunting of the Cheviot_ was in the repertory of Richard Sheale (see First Series, _Introduction_, xxvii), who ends his version in the regular manner traditional amongst minstrels. Also, we have the broadside _Chevy Chase_, which well illustrates the degradation of a ballad in the hands of the hack-writers; this may be seen in many collections of ballads.
_Mary Hamilton_ has a very curious literary history. If, _pendente lite_, we may assume the facts to be as suggested, pp. 44-46, it illustrates admirably Professor Kittredge's warning, quoted above, that ballads already in circulation may be adapted to the circumstances of a recent occurrence. But the incidents--betrayal, child-murder, and consequent execution--cannot have been uncommon in courts, at least in days of old; and it is quite probable that an early story was adapted, first to the incident of 1563, and again to the Russian story of 1718. Perhaps we may remark in passing that it is a pity that so repugnant a story should be attached to a ballad containing such beautiful stanzas as the last four.
_Captain Car_ is an English ballad almost contemporary with the Scottish incident which it records; and, from the fact of its including a popular burden, we may presume it was adapted to the tune. _Bessy Bell and Mary Gray_, which records a piece of Scottish news of no importance whatever, has become an English nursery rhyme. In _Jamie Douglas_ an historical fact has been interwoven with a beautiful lyric. Indeed, the chances of corruption and contamination are infinite.
II
The long pathetic ballad of _Bewick and Grahame_ is a link between the romantic ballads and the ballads of the Border, _Sir Hugh in the Grime's Downfall_ connecting the Border ballads with the 'historical' ballads. The four splendid 'Armstrong ballads' also are mainly 'historical,' though _Dick o' the Cow_ requires further elucidation. _Kinmont Willie_ is under suspicion of being the work of Sir Walter Scott, who alone of all ballad-editors, perhaps, could have compiled a ballad good enough to deceive posterity. We cannot doubt the excellence of _Kinmont Willie_; but it would be tedious, as well as unprofitable, to collect the hundred details of manner, choice of words, and expression, which discredit the authenticity of the ballad.
_John o' the Side_ has not, I believe, been presented to readers in its present shape before. It is one of the few instances in which the English version of a ballad is better than the Scottish.
III
_The Braes o' Yarrow_ is a good example of the Scottish lyrical ballad, the continued rhyme being very effective. _The Twa Brothers_ has become a game, and _Lizie Lindsay_ a song. _The Outlyer Bold_ is a title I have been forced to give to a version of the ballad best known as _The Bonnie Banks o' Fordie_; this, it is true, might have come more aptly in the First Series. So also _Katharine Jaffray_, which enlarges the lesson taught in _The Cruel Brother_ (First Series, p. 76), and adds one of its own.
_The Heir of Linne_ is another of the na?ve, delightful ballads from the Percy Folio, and in general style may be compared with _The Lord of Learne_ in the Second Series (p. 182).
IV
Little is to be said of _The Gardener_ or _The Whummil Bore_, the former being almost a lyric, and the latter presumably a fragment. _Waly, waly_, is not a ballad at all, and is only included because it has become confused with _Jamie Douglas_.
_The Jolly Juggler_ seems to be a discovery, and I commend it to the notice of those better qualified to deal with it. The curious fifth line added to each verse may be the work of some minstrel--a humorous addition to, or comment upon, the foregoing stanza. Certain Danish ballads exhibit this peculiarity, but I cannot find any Danish counterpart to the ballad in Prior's three volumes.
THE HUNTING OF THE CHEVIOT
+The Text+ here given is that of a MS. in the Bodleian Library (Ashmole 48) of about the latter half of the sixteenth century. It was printed by Hearne, and by Percy in the _Reliques_, and the whole MS. was edited by Thomas Wright for the Roxburghe Club in 1860. In this MS. _The Hunting of the