Select Scotish ballads.: [pt.1]

NOTES.

HARDYKNUTE.

PART I.

HARDYKNUTE.] This name is of Danish extract, and signifies Canute the strong. Hardy in the original implies strong, not valiant; and though used in the latter sense by the English, yet the Scots still take it in its first acceptation.

The names in Cunningham,

says Sir David Dalrymple,

are all Saxon, as is the name of the country itself.

An∣nals of Scotland, an. 1160, note. The Danish and Saxon are both derived from the old Gothic, and were so similar, that a person of the one nation might understand one of the other speaking in his proper tongue. From the names and whole tenor of

this poem, I am inclined to think the chief scene is laid in Cunninghamshire; where likewise the battle of Largs, supposed to be that so nobly described in the first part, was fought.

Ver. 5. Britons.] This was the common name which the Scots gave the English anciently, as may be observed in their old poets; and particularly Blind Harry, whose testimony indeed can only be relied on, as to the common language and manners of his time; his Life of Wallace being a tissue of the most absurd fa∣bles ever mingled.

V. 9. Hie on a bill, &c.] This necessary caution in those times, when strength was the only protection from violence, is well painted by a contemporary French bard:

Un chasteau scay sur roche espouvantable, En lieu venteux, la rive perilleuse, La vy tyrant seant à haute table, En grand palais, en sal plantureuse, &c. D' Alliac, Eveque de Cambray.

V. 12. Knicht.] These knights were only military officers attending the earls, barons, &c. as appears from the histories of the middle ages. See Selden, Tit. Hon. P. II. c. 5. The name is of Saxon origin, and of remote antiquity, as is proved by the following fragment of a poem on the Spanish expedition of Charles the Great, written at that period:

Sie zeslugen ros unde man Mit ire scarfen spiezen; Thie gote mosen an theme plöte hinnen uliezen: Ther site was under goten kneghten, Sic kunden wole vochten. i. e.

Occiderunt equos et viros Acutis suis hastis; Deos opportuit sanguine fluere: Hic mos erat inter nobiles milites, Poterant optime pugnare. MS. de Bello Car. M. Hisp. apud Keysler diss. de Cultu Solis, Freji, & Othini; Halae, 1728.

The oath which the ancient knights of Scotland gave at their investiture is preserved in a letter of Drummond of Hawthornden to Ben Jonson, and is as follows:

I shall fortifie and defend the true holy Catholique and Christian Religion, presently professed, at all my power.

I shall be loyal and true to my Sovereign Lord the King his Majesty; and do honour and reverence to all orders of che∣valrie, and to the uoble office of arms.

I shall fortifie and defend justice to the uttermost of my power, but feid or favour.

I shall never flie from the King's Majesty my Lord and Master, or his lieutenant, in time of battel or medly with dishonour.

I shall defend my native country from all aliens and strangers at all my power.

I shall maintain and defend the honest adoes and quarrels of all ladies of honour, widows, orphans, and maids of good fame.

I shall do diligence, wherever I hear tell there are any traitors, murtherers, rievers, and masterful theeves and out∣laws, that suppress the poor, to bring them to the law at all my power.

I shall maintain aed defend the noble and gallant state of chevalrie with horses, harneses, and other knichtly apparel to my power.

I shall be diligent to enquire, and seek to have the know∣ledge of all points and articles, touching or concerning my duty, contained in the book of chevalry.

All and sundry the premises I oblige me to keep and fulfill. So help me God by my own hand, and by God himself.

A curious account of the rise and progress of knight∣hood, and its influence on society, may be found in a learned and ingenious work lately published by Dr. Stuart, intitled, A view of Society in Europe, or Enquiries concerning the History of Law, Government, and Manners.

V. 16. Emergard.] In the common copies it is Elenor, and indeed in all the recitals I have heard; but in a late edition published with other Scotish songs at Edinburgh, 1776, it is rightly read as here. Emergard, or Ermengarde, was daughter of the Viscount of Beau∣mont,

and wife of William the Lyon. She died in 1233 As the name was uncommon, and of difficult pronun∣ciation, the rehearsers seem to have altered it to Elenor, which has none of these defects.

The battle of Largs, supposed to be that meant in this poem, was fought on the first of August 1263, so that queen Emergard was dead thirty years before; yet this can amount to no error in chronology, as the verses evidently imply that the lady of Hardyknute had no equal in the kingdom for beauty save the queen in the prime of the youth and beauty of both, which might well be forty years, or more, before the period of action in the poem.

V. 25. Fairly.] This name seems likewise of Saxon origin. There is a small island and a rivulet in Cun∣ningham still called Fairly isle and Fairly Burn.

V. 43. Twenty thousand glittering speirs, &c.] This agrees with Buchanan's account, Acho—viginti millia militum exposuit. lib. 7. Torfaeus asserts this number of the Norwegians was left dead on the field; but upon what authority I know not, as the ancient relations of the battle of Largs support not his testimony. See Johnstone's Translation of Haco's Expedition to Scotland in the year 1263, from the Plateyan and Frisian MSS. printed at Copenhagen 1782.

V. 49. Page] The Pages in the periods of chi∣valry were of honourable account. The young war∣riers

were first denominated pages, then valets, or damei∣seaux, from which degree they reached that of ecuyer, or squire, and from this that of knight. See Du Cange, voc. Valeti, & Domicellus. St. Palaye, Mem. sur l'anc. Cheval. P. I.

V. 61. He has tane a horn; &c.] The horn, or bugil, was anciently used by the Scots instead of the trumpet. They were sometimes richly ornamented, as appears from Lindsay's description of that of Sir Robert Coch∣ran.

The horn he wore was adorned with jewels and precious stones, and tipped with fine gold at both ends. Hist. of Scotland, J. III.

V. 88. Westmoreland's ferce heir.] Heir, in the old Scotish acceptation, seems derived from the Latin he∣rus, and signifies not apparent successor, but present lord. As in the following lines of Blind Harry:

Of Southampton he hecht baith heir and lord. B. 7. c. 1.

Of Glocester the huge lord and heir. B. 12. c. 1.

And in this of Dunbar,

Befoir Mahoun the heir of hell.

V. 107—112.] This minute description might lead us to suspect, that a female hand had some part in this composition. But, before our minstrel, Homer has shewn

himself an adept in the lady's dress. To the curious remarks on the variation of the British habit, given us by Mr. Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, and Mr. Granger, in his Biographical History, might be added the follow∣ing notice from a reverend minister of the church of Scotland.

About 1698 the women got a custome of wearing few garments: I myselfe have seen the young brisk ladies walking on the streets with masks on their faces, and with one onlie thin petticoat and their smoak; so thin that one would make a conscience of sweiring they were not naked.

Miscellanies, by Mr. John Bell, minister at Gladsmuir, MS. pen. Edit. title Apparel.

V. 112. Save that of Fairly fair.] Working at the needle, &c. was reckoned an honourable employment by the greatest ladies of those times. Margaret, the queen of Malcolm III. as we learn from her life written by Turgot her confessor, employed the leisure hours of her ladies in this manner. See Lord Hales' Annals of Scotland, an. 1093.

V. 121. Sir Knicht.]

The addition Sir to the names of knights was in use before the age of Ed∣ward I. and is from Sire, which in old French signifies Seignieur or Lord. Though applicable to all knights it served properly to distinguish those of the order who were not barons. Dr. Stuart, View of Society, &c. Notes on sect. 4. chap. ii. p. 269.

V. 123—128. The custom of the ladies tending the wounded knights was common in those romantic ages. Lydgate, whose story is ancient, but whose man∣ners are those of his own times, has an instance in The Story of Thebes, part ii. Speaking of the daughter of Ly∣curgus and Tideus;

To a chamber she led him up aloft. Full well beseine, there in a bed right soft, Richly abouten apparrailed With clothe of gold, all the floure irailed Of the same both in length and brede: And first this lady, of her womanhede, Her women did bid, as goodly as they can, To be attendant unto this wounded man: And when he was unarmed to his shert, She made first wash his woundis smert, And serch hem well with divers instruments, And made fet sundrie ointments, &c.

And in an excellent piece of old English poetry, styled Sir Cauline, published by Dr. Percy in the first volume of his Reliques, when the king is informed that knight is sick, he says,

Fetche me down my daughter deere, She is a leeche fulle fine. v. 29, 30.

V. 145—152.] This stanza is now first printed. It is surprising it's omission was not marked in the frag∣ment formerly published, as without it the circum∣stance of the knight's complaint is altogether foreign and vague. The loss was attempted to be glossed over by many variations of the preceding four lines, but the defect was palpable to the most inattentive peruser.

V. 154. Lord Chattan.] This is a very ancient and honourable Scottish surname. Some genealogists derive them from the Chatti, an ancient German tribe; but others, with more probability, from the Gilchattan of Ireland. St. Chattan was one of the first Scotish confessors, to whom was dedicated the priory of Ard∣chattan in Lorn, founded in 1230, and some others through the kingdom. The chief of the clan Chattan dying in the reign of David I. without male issue, the clan assumed the ancestor of the M'Phersons for su∣perior, by which means the name appears to have been lost in that of M'Pherson. See Buchanan's Brief Enquiry into the Genealogy and Present State of Ancient Scottish Surnames. Glasgow, 1723, 4 to, p. 67.

We however find the Clan Chattan mentioned as late as 1590 in The History of the Feuds and Conflicts of the Clans, published from a MS. of the reign of James VI. Glasgow, 1764; where a Macintosh is called their chief.

V. 159.] Though we learn from Buchanan's Equiry, &c. that the clan Chattan are said to have come into Scotland long before the expulsion of the Picts, yet I do not find this pretty anecdote, which is much in the spirit of Homer, has any foundation in history. The empire of the Picts was demolished by Kenneth about four centuries before the apparent date of the events narrated in this poem.

V. 169. Mak orisons, &c.] This is perfectly in the style of knighthood. Before they entered into com∣bat they solemly invoked the aid of God, their Saviour, or their mistress: religion and gallantry being the prime motives of all their adventures. Les premieres leçons qu'on leur donnoit regardoient principalement l'amour de Dieu et des dames, c'est à dire la religion et la galanterie. St. Palaye, tome i. p. 7. The poets of these times be∣gan, in like manner, the description of a savage con∣flict, or of their lady's graces, with religious invocation. Many examples of which appear in the Histoire des Trou∣badours of L'Abbé Milot, and the Specimens of Welsh Poetry published by Mr. Evans. So blind is the untu∣tored mind to the proper discrimination of it's ideas!

V. 179. Playand Pibrochs.] Of the pibroch I can∣not give a better account than in the words of an ex∣cellent author.

A pibroch is a species of tune pe∣culiar, I think, to the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It is performed on a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its rythm is so irregu∣lar,

and its notes, especially in the quick movement, so mixed and huddled together, that a stranger finds it almost impossible to reconcile his ear to it, so as to perceive its modulation. Some of these pibrochs, being intended to represent a battle, begin with a grave mo∣tion resembling a march, then gradually quicken into the onset; run off with noisy confusion, and turbu∣lent rapidity, to imitate the conflict and pursuit; then swell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy; and perhaps close with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral procession. Essays by Dr. Beattie, 8vo. ed. p. 422. note.

V. 188. Eir faes their dint mote drie.] This is substi∣tuted in place of a line of consummate nonsense, which has stained all the former editions. Many such are cor∣rected in this impression from comparing different re∣hearsals, and still more from conjecture. When an ig∣norant person is desired to repeat a ballad, and is at a loss for the original expression, he naturally supplies it with whatever absurdity first occurs to him, that will form a rime. These the Editor made not the smallest scruple to correct, as he always imagined that common sense might have its use even in emendatory criticism.

V. 203. But on his forehead, &c.] The circumstances in this description seem borrowed from those of different battles betwixt the Kings of Scotland and Norway. I find in no historian that Alexander was wounded in the battle of Largs; on the contrary, it is even doubted

whether he was present; but in that near Nairn Mal∣colm II. was wounded on the head. Rex, accepto in capite vulnere, vix a suis in propinquum nemus ablatus, ac ibi equo pofitus, mortem evasit. Buchan. lib. VI.

V. 223. Hire dames to wail your darling's fall.] This custom of employing women to mourn for the warriors who fell in battle, may be traced to the most distant antiquity. Lucilius, one of the earliest Roman poets, in a couplet preserved by Nonius, mentions this prac∣tice;

Mercede quae conductae flent alieno in fanere praeficae Multae & capillos scindunt, & clamant magis.

Among the Northern nations it partook of their bar∣barity.

Inter eas autem ceremonias a barbara gente acceptas fuisse et has, ut genas roderunt mulierculae, hoc est unguibus faciem dilaniarent et lessum facerent, id est sanguinem e venis mitterent, doloris testandi ergo; id quod Germani patria voce dicunt, Ein lassu thun oder baben. Elias Schedius de Diis Germ. Syng. II. c. 51.

A similar mode of testifying their grief for the death of their chiefs, still obtains in the Highlands, as we are informed by Mr. Pennant in his amusing Tour in Scotland.

V. 225. Costly Jupe.] This was the Sagum, or mili∣tary vest of the Gauls and Germans. Dr. Stuart has with curious ingenuity derived the science of Blazonry from the ornaments which were in time added to them. Ubi supra, p. 286, 287.

Virgil has a passage remarkably similar to this, in describing the habit of the Gauls, I think in Aeneid VIII.

Aurea caesaries illis, atque aurea vestis Virgatis lucet sagulis.

V. 229. Beir Norse that gift, &c.] This has been generally misunderstood: the meaning is, Bear that gift to the King of Norway, and bid, &c.

V. 239. 245.] These vaunts are much in Homer's manner, and are finely characteristic. The obscure metaphor which conveys them illustrates a beautiful re∣mark of an ancient critic, That allegory has a sublime effect when applied to threatning. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Demet. Phal. de Eloc. c. 99.

V. 265. Whar lyke a fyre to hether set.] This apposite simile alludes to an ancient practice of the Scots, termed Mure burning. The progress of the flame was so quick, that many laws appear in their Acts of Parliament, pro∣hibiting its being used when any corn was standing on ground adjacent to the heath intended to be burnt, though at a considerable distance from the spot where the flame was kindled.

V. 285. Sore taken he was, fey!] Fey here signifies only indeed, in fay, or, in faith: it is commonly used by the old Scotish poets in a sarcastic or ironical sense.

V. 305. On Norway's coast, &c.] These verses are in the finest style of Ballad poetry. They have been well imitated by a modern writer, who seems indebted, for the best strokes of his first production, to a taste for such compositions:

Ye dames of Denmark! even for you I feel, Who, sadly sitting on the sea-beat shore, Long look for Lords that never shall return, Douglas, Act III.

I cannot conclude my observations upon the descrip∣tion here given of the battle, without adding, that though perhaps not the most sublime, it is the most animated and interesting to be found in any poet. It yields not to any in Ossian for lively painting, nor to any in Homer for those little anecdotes and strokes of nature, which are so deservedly admired in that mas∣ter. 'Poetry and Rhetoric,' says the author of an En∣quiry into the origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful,

do not succeed in exact description so well as Painting does; their business is to affect rather by sympathy than imitation; to display rather the effect of things on the mind of the speaker, or of others, than to present a clear idea of the things themselves. This is their most extensive province, and that in which they succeed the best.

Will he forgive me if I offer this rude Scotish Poem as an example sufficiently illustrative of this fine remark?

V. 321. Loud and chill blew the Westlin wind, &c.] This storm is artfully raised by the magic of Poetry to heighten the terrible, which is soon carried to a degree not surpassed in any production ancient or modern. It will recall to the reader the like artifice employed in the most sublime passage of Tasso's Gierusalemme, end of Canto 7.; and of Homer's Iliad, VIII. ver. 161. of Mr. Pope's Translation.

V. 327. Seimd now as black as moruning weid.] It was anciently the custom on any mournful event to hang the castle gates with black cloth. This is alluded to here, and more particularly mentioned in an excellent modern Ballad, entitled The Birth of St. George, which displays no mean knowledge of the manners of chivalry:

But when he reached his castle gate His gate was hung with black. Reliques, Vol. III. p. 222.

HARDYKNUTE. Part II.

I HAVE given the stanzas now added the title of a Second Part, though I had no authority from the recital. The break formerly made here by accident seemed to call for this pause to the reader.

V. 115. Penants.] These were small banners charged with the arms of the owner, and sometimes borne over the helm of the ancient knight by his squire, and, as would seem, even that of the prince, Earl, or Chief Baron, by his Baneret. See ver. 331. The English word is penon:

And by his banner borne is his penon, Of gold full rich; in which there was ybete The minotaure that he wan in Crete,

Says Chaucer speaking of Theseus in The Knight's Tale.

V. 252. Draffan's touirs.] The ruins of Draffan∣castle are in Lanarkshire.—They stand upon a vast rock hanging over the Nethan (see v. 329.) which a little below runs into the Clyde. From this a house situated very nigh the ruins is called Craignethan. This castle is so ancient, that the country people there say it was built by the Pechts, which is their common way of expressing the Picts.

V. 273. His halbrik.] This term for a coat of mail occurs in Blind Harry. It was properly used for one composed of small rings of steel which yielded to every motion of the warrior, and was the same with the lorica hamata of the Romans, so picturesquely described by Claudian:

Conjuncta per artem Flexilis inductis hamatur lamina membris, Horribilis visu, credas simulacra moveri Ferrea, cognatoque viros spirare metallo. In Rufin. Lib. II.

V. 275. Securit by a warloc auld, &c.] The belief that certain charms might secure the possessor from danger in combat was common in dark ages.

I know a song, by which I soften and enchant the arms of my enemies, and render their weapons of no affect,

says Odin in his Magic. Northern Antiq. Vol. II. p. 217. Among the Longobards they were forbidden by a posi∣tive Law.

Nullus Campio adversus alterum pugna∣turus audeat super se habere herbas nec res ad maleficia pertinentes, nisi tantum corona sua, quae conveniunt. Et si suspicio fuerit quod eas occulte habeat, inquira∣tur per Judicem, et si inventae fuerunt, rejiciantur. Post quam inquisitionem, extendet manum suam ipse in manu Patrini aut Colliberti sui, ante judicem, dicens, se nullam rem talem super se habere, deinde ad certamen prodeat LL. Longob. apud L. Germ. J. Basil. Herold.

A similar notion obtained even in England,

as appears from the oath taken in the Judicial Combat.

A. de B. ye shall swere that ye have no stone of virtue, nor hearb of virtue, nor charme, nor experiment, nor none othir enchauntment by you nor for you, whereby ye trust the better to overcome C. de D. your adversarie, that shall come agens you within these lists in his defence, nor that ye trust in none othir thynge propirly bot in God, and your body, and your brave quarel. So God you help and all halowes, and the holy gospells. Apud Dugdale, Orig. Juridic. & Miscell. Aulica, Lond. 1702. p. 166.

And we find in a most acute and ingenious treatise on the point of honour, written in the middle of the sixteenth century, that this precaution was esteemed necessary so late as that period. Il Duello del Mutio Jus∣tinopolitano, In Vineg. 1566. lib. II. c. 9. De i maleficii ••t incante.

Et non senza ragione i moderni Padrini fanno spogliare i cavallieri, che hanno da entrare in battaglia, et iscuotere, et diligentemente essaminare i loro panni, &c.

Many instances occur in the ac∣counts of the civil wars of France, and of the Nether∣lands: and more particularly in the very curious story of Gowrie's Conspiracy, published by James VI. at Edin∣burgh, 1600, 4to.

His Majesty having before his parting out of that towne, caused to search the sayde Earle of Gowries pockets, in case any letters that might further the discovery of that conspiracie might be founde therein. But nothing was found in them, but a little close parchment bag full of magical

characters, and wordes of enchantment, wherein it seemed that hee had put his confidence, thinking him∣self never safe without them, and therefore ever car∣ried them about with him; being also observed, that while they were upon him, his wound, whereof he died, bled not; but incontinent, after the taking of them away, the blood gushed out in great abundance, to the great admiration of all the beholders.

See likewise Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, by David Moyses, Edin. 1755. where this piece is reprinted ver∣batim. Maister William Rynd, a servant of Lord Gowrie's, deposition in the same volume, p. 297, has singular anecdotes with regard to these characters.

V. 276. Fairy charm.] The word fairy seemes to have been accepted by the ancient English and Scotish poets for supernatural, or enchanted. So Chaucer speaking of Cambuscan's horse,

It was of fairie, as the peple semed. Squires Tale, p. 1.

V. 362.] It was the priviledge of the knights to hide their faces with armour, so that it was impossible to distinguish any one from another, except by his blazon, which seems at first to have been displayed over them, but came at length to be painted on their shields, whence Coats of Arms. A villein was obliged to have his countenance uncovered in battle. This circumstance attended to will save our wonder at Hardyknute's not

knowing Draffan in the First Part, and Draffan's not perceiving Malcolm here till his spear tore off his visor: though Rothiay knows Draffan either from his wearing a blazon on his armour, or from his face being uncovered in order to breathe from the combat.

V. 389. Cheir ye my mirrie men, &c.] It should have been remarked on the first appearance of this word, P. I. v. 199, that mirrie was anciently used in a very different sense from its present. It signified honest, true, faithful, but no where jovial. King James VI. in his Daemonologie MS. pen. Edit.

Surelie the difference vul∣gaire put betwixt thame is verrie mirrie, and in a man∣ner trew. p. 10.

And again in p. 18.

Many honest and mirrie men.

In like manner Merlin's Prophecies are styled 'Mirrie words,' in that of Beid. Proph. of Rymer, &c.

V. 413. Oh King of Hevin!] This is a common ap∣pellation of the Deity with the more ancient Scottish Poets. By Hevins King, is the familiar oath of Blind Harrie's heroes.

V. 419. By my Forbere's saul.] Swearing by the souls of their ancestors was another used mode in those times. The greatest thought this oath most strong and honour∣able; probably because it implied the souls of their forefathers were in heaven, and, as was then believed, might lend them a supernatural aid, if the intention of their oath was just and unblameable.

V. 421. 'Now mind your aith,' &c.] This passage is obscure: the meaning I apprehend is, that Draffan

had, before the combat, exacted an oath of Allan his baneret, that he would slay him, should the necessity of his affairs demand this sacrifice. More willing to lose his own life than possibly to take that of his great anta∣gonist, he commands Allan to fulfil his engagement, which, with all the heroic faith of those times, he does without a pause. The particular expression

The shynand blade

might lead us to imagine, that it was thought impossible to pierce the supposed enchanted armour, but with one particular weapon, likeways perhaps charmed.

V. 437. Icolm.] The Nunnery at Icolm, or Icolm∣kill, was one of the most noted in Scotland. The Nuns were of the order of Augustine, and wore a white gown, and above it a rocket of fine linen. Spotiswood's Account of the Religious Houses in Scotland, p. 509. The ruins of this nunnery are still to be seen, with many tombs of the Princesses; one of which bears the year 1000. Martin's Western Islands, p. 262.

I cannot conclude my remarks on this Poem without wasting one on the story of Mrs. Wardlaw. That this lady may have indeed received a MS. of it as mentioned in Dr. Percy's introductory note, is highly probable. Many valuable MSS. prepared for the press, have had a worse fate. But that she was the author of this capital composition, so fraught with science of ancient manners as the above notes testify, I will no more credit, than that the common people in Lanarkshire,

who can repeat scraps of both the parts, are the authors of the passages they rehearse. That she did not refuse the name of being the original composer is a strange argument: would not the first poet in Europe think it added to his reputation? If conjecture may be allowed where proof must ever be wanting, I suspect, if we assign the end of the fifteenth century as the date of the antique parts of this noble production, we shall not greatly err; though at the same time the language must convince us that many strokes have been bestowed by modern hands.

Since the first publication of this volume, Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hales, whose abilities have been so often, and so successfully, exerted in illustrating the antiquities of his country, to the law and the literature of which he is so great an ornament, has communi∣cated to the Editor some notices with regard to this poem of Hardyknute, which shall here be laid before the reader, almost in his own words.

The following are extracts of a letter written by Sir John Bruce of Kinross, to Lord Binning, about the year 1719.

To perform my promise, I send you a true copy of the manuscript I found, some weeks ago, in a vault at Dumferline. It is written on vellum in a fair Gothic character; but so much defaced by time, as you'll find that the tenth part is not legible.

Sir John transcribes some stanzas, which he calls verses. After l. 112, P. I. he says,

here are four verses defaced,

and then he transcribes l. 113.

At l. 128 he adds, hiatus in MS. and then he tran∣scribes l. 153. At l. 320 he says,

Here are ten verses (stanzas) so spoilt that I can only guess by the many proper names, that they contain the order of battle of the Scots army, as they stood ranged under their different chieftains.

In conclusion Sir John says,

there's a vast deal more of it, but all defaced.

The reader is left to judge whether this story of the manuscript on vellum, &c. has most the appearance of a true narrative, or of a jeu d' esprit addressed to a fami∣liar friend.

Lord Hales has a copy of the original edition of Har∣dyknute, with MS. alterations, in the hand writing of Dr. John Clerk, Physician in Edinburgh. At l. 85, it has 'brade Thomas;' Sir John Bruce has

bred Mal∣colm.

At l. 98, Sir John Bruce's MS. has 'Walter' instead of 'Malcolm.' At l. 103, 'brazen' for 'silver;' and at l. 104, 'iron doors,' for

painted bowers.

In Dr. Clerk's MS. lines, 176—180 run thus;

To join his king adown the hill, In hast his strides he bent; While minstrels playand pibrochs fine, Afore him stately went.

In Dr. Clerk's MS. the stanza On Norway's coast, &c. comes in after the stanza There on a lee with much pro∣priety: that reading is therefore followed in this edi∣tion.

At l. 337. for 'owr' the MS. has 'oy'. The last line in the MS. was originally, He feared a coud be feared;

but has been changed into that which occurs in later editions.

CHILD MAURICE.

THIS is undoubtedly the true title of this incom∣parable Ballad, though corrupted into Gil Mor∣rice by the nurses and old women, from whose mouths it was originally published. Child seems to have been of equal importance with Damoiseau (See note on P. I. v. 49. of Hardyknute) and applicable to a young noble∣man when about the age of fifteen. It occurs in Shak∣speare's Lear, in the following line, probably borrowed from some old romance or ballad,

Child Roland to the dark tower came. Act III. S. 7.

And in Chaucer's Rime of Sir Topas, Child is evidently used to denote a young and noble knight. Many in∣stances might likewise be brought from Spenser for this signification.

Gil Morrice is only the northern pronunciation of the true name of this ballad: Gil about Aberdeen, &c, still signifies Child, as it does in Galic; witness the name Gilchrist, the child of Christ, &c.

V. 52. He bent his bow.] Archery was enjoined the Scotish warrior at a very early age, as appears from many special laws to that effect, and particularly the following one of James I.

Item, That all men busk them to be Archeres fra they be twelfe yeir of age, and that in ilk ten pundis worthe of lande their be maid bowmarkis, and speciallie neir to Paroche kirkis, quhairin upon haly daies men may cum, and at the leist schutte thrise about, and have usage of archerie: and quha sa usis not the said archerie, the Laird of the lande sall raise of him a wedder; and giff the Laird raises not the said payne, the King's schireffe or his ministers, shall raise it to the King. Parl. I. § 18.

V. 95. ezar.] This word is perhaps the same with mazer, as used by the English poets,

A mighty mazer bowl of wine was set. Spenser, F. Q. II. 12. 49.

A mazer ywrought of the maple ware, Spenser's Calendar, August.

So golden mazer wont suspicion breed Of deadly hemlocks poison'd potion:

says Hall in the prologue to his admirable Satires. Ezar cup will then mean a large bowl of any material.

V. 107, 8. O what means a the folk coming? My mother tarries lang.] This stroke of nature is delicate. It paints the very thought of youth and innocence. In such happy tenuity of phrase, this exquisite composi∣tion is only rivalled by the Merope of Maffei, the most finished Tragedy in the world. Some lines fancifully interpolated by a modern and very inferior hand are here omitted.

V. 122. And slaided owr the strae.] The meaning is, He went bastily over the rank grass.

V. 144. As the hip is o the stean.] This would appear the corruption of some nurse; but taking it as it stands, the simile, though none of the most delicate, has a parallel in the Father of English Poetry:

But he was chaste and no lechoure And sweet as is the bramble floure That bearethe the red hip. Chaucer, Sir Topas.

ADAM O GORDON.

THE genuine subject of this Ballad has long re∣mained in obscurity, though it must have been noted to every peruser of Crawford's Memoirs.

'But to return to Gordon,' (viz. Sir Adam Gordon of Auchindown, brother to the Earl of Huntly)

as these two actions against Forbes, or, to speak more properly, against the rebels, gained him a vast repu∣tation—his next exploit was attended with an equal portion of infamy; and he was as much decryed for this unlucky action (though at the same time he had no immediate hand in the matter) as for his former ones he had been applauded. He had sent one Captain Ker with a party of foot to summon the Castle of Towie in the Queen's name. The owner Alexander Forbes was not then at home, and his lady confiding too much in her sex, not only refused to surrender, but gave Ker very injurious language; upon which, unreasonably transported with fury, he ordered his men to fire the castle, and barbarously burnt the unfortunate gentlewoman with her whole family, amounting to thirty-seven persons. Nor was he ever so much as cashiered for this inhuman action, which made Gordon share both in the scandal and the guilt. An. 1571. p. 240. edit. 1706.

In this narrative is immediately perceived every lead∣ing circumstance in the Ballad. The Captain Car, by which name it was distinguished in Dr. Percy's Manu∣script, is evidently the Ker of Crawford. The House of Rodes I have corrected, according to the truth of story, Towie. Of which name, I find in Gordon of Straloch's map of Aberdeenshire, there were two gentlemen's seats, or castles, in his time, one upon the Don, and another upon the Ythan. The nearest seat to the latter is that of Rothy, which from wrong information may have originally stood in the Ballad, the mistake rising naturally from the vicinity of their situation, and from this have been corrupted to Rodes. The courage of this lady, as represented in the Ballad, was equalled by that of the famous Countess of Salisbury, at the siege of Roxborough; and of Ladies Arundel and Banks, in the last civil wars of England. See particularly the Mercu∣rius Rusticus, &c. Lond. 1647. Sections V. and XI.

V. 129. Freits.] This word signifies ill omens; and sometimes as here Accidents supernaturally unlucky. King James VI. in his Daemonologie, MS. pen. Edit. B. I. cb. III. p. 13.

But I pray you forget not likeways to tell what are the Devill's rudimentis. E. His ru∣dimentis I call first in generall all that quhilk is called vulgairelie the vertu of woode, herbe, and staine; quhilk is used by unlawfull charmis without naturall causis. As lykeways all kynd of prattiques, freitis, or

uther lyk extraordinair actions, quhilk cannot abyde the tre•• twiche of naturall raison.

It occurs again in the same sense in p. 14. marg. note; and in p. 41. speaking of Sorcerers.

And in generall that naime was gevin thaime for using of sic chairmis and freitis, as that craft teachis thame.

THE CHILD OF ELLE.

THIS ballad is admitted into this collection, as being supposed, from many minute marks, to be a Scotish ballad in an English dress. Whan for when, kirk for church, &c. are some of these marks.

Though it is published by Dr. Percy, and of conse∣quence in every body's hands; yet it was necessary to give it here, else this digest of such Scotish tragic bal∣lads as deserve preservation could not have been called complete.

VI.

John Faw was king of the gypsies in Scotland in the reign of James IV. who, about the year 1495, issued a proclamation, ordaining all sheriffs, &c. to assist John Faw in seizing and securing fugitive gypsies; and that they should lend him their prisons, stocks, fetters, &c. for that purpose: charging the lieges, that none of them molest, vex, unquiet, or trouble the said Faw

and his company in doing their lawful business within the realm; and in their passing, remaining, or going forth of the same, under penalty: and charging skip∣pers, masters of ships, and mariners, within the realm, at all ports and havens, to receive said John and his company, upon their expences, for furthering them furth of the realm to parts beyond sea. See Mr. Mac∣laurin's Remarkable Cases, &c. p. 774.

V. 8. Glamour.] The glamour was believed to be a kind of magical mist raised by sorcerers, which deluded their spectators with visions of things which had no real existence, altered the appearance of these which really did exist, &c. The Eastern nations have a similar superstition, as we may learn from Mr. Galland's Mille et un nuit, and other translations of works of Oriental fiction.

SIR HUGH, OR THE JEW's DAUGHTER, is composed of two copies, one published by Dr. Percy, the other in a collection of Scotish Songs, &c. Edin. 1776. The Mirryland toun of the former, and Mirry Linkin of the latter, evidently shew that the noted story of Hugh of Lincoln is here expressed.

FLODDEN FIELD.

THE stanzas here given form a complete copy of this exquisite Dirge. The inimitable beauty of the original induced a variety of versifiers to mingle stanzas of their own composure. But it is the painful, though most necessary duty of an Editor, by the touch∣stone of truth, to discriminate such dross from the gold of antiquity.

SIR PATRICK SPENCE is given from Dr. Percy's Edition, which indeed agrees with the stall copies, and the common recitals. I have, however, lent it a few corrections, where palpable ab∣surdity seemed to require them. The phrase in v. 25. of seeing the old moon in the arms of the new is still fa∣miliar in Scotland. It means that the opaque part of the moon's disk casts a glimmering light, while the illumi∣nated part is waxing; and is to this hour esteemed to prognosticate a storm.

LADY BOTHWELL's LAMENT.

THESE four stanzas appeared to the Editor to be all that are genuine in this elegy. Many additional ones are to be found in the common copies, which are rejected as of meaner execution. In a quarto manu∣script in the Editor's possession, containing a collection of Poems by different hands from the reign of Queen Elizabeth to the middle of the last century, when it was apparently written (pp. 132.) there are two Balowes as they are there styled, the first The Balow, Allan, the se∣cond Palmer's Balow; this last is that commonly called Lady Bothwell's Lament, and the three first stanzas in this edition are taken from it, as is the last from Allan's Balow. They are injudiciously mingled in Ram∣say's Edition, and several stanzas of his own added; a liberty he used much too often in printing ancient Scotish poems.

EARL OF MURRAY.

V. last. Toun.] This word is often used in Scotland to denote only, perhaps, a farm-house and office-houses, or a number of hovels scattered here and there; and on which the English would not bestow the name of a village.

A very eminent Scotish antiquary informs me, that in Saxon ton signifies an habitation: and that castle downe in the last stanza of this ballad ought to be read Castle Downe, the seat of Lord Murray in his own right.

SIR JAMES THE ROSE is given from a modern edition in one sheet 12mo. after the old copy. A renovation of this Ballad, composed of new and improbable circumstances, decked out with scraps of tragedies, may be found in the Annual Re∣gister for 1774, and other collections. Rose is an an∣cient and honourable name in Scotland: Johannes de Rose is a witness to the famous Charter of Robert II. testifying his marriage with Elizabeth More, as appears in the rare edition of it printed at Paris, 1695, 4to. p. 15.

V. 27. Belted Knichts.] The belt was one of the chief marks which distinguished the ancient knight. To be girt with the belt of knighthood often implied the whole attending ceremonies which constituted that order. That of the common knight was of white leather.

LAIRD OF WOODHOUSELIE.

THIS Ballad is now first published. Whether it has any real foundation, the Editor cannot be positive, though it is very likely. There is a Woodhouselie nigh Edinburgh, which may possibly be that here meant.

LORD LIVINGSTON

〈◊〉〈◊〉 probably an ancestor of Livingston Earl of Linlith∣••••••••, attainted in 1715. This affecting piece likewise, with the four following, now appears for the first time.

V. 13. Saith dreims are scant] This seems a prover∣biai expression: King James in his Daemonologie,

That is a suith dream (as they say) sence thay see it walking. MS. p. 100.

BINNORIE.

V. 32. Her wraith.]

And what meanis then these kyndis of spreitis when they appeare in the shaddow of a personne newlie dead, or to die, to his friend? E. When thay appeare upon that occasion, they are called wraithis in our langage. Ib. p. 81.

The following larger extract relating to the Fairies, another creation of superstition, is given by way of specimen of this singular MS. Book III. Ch. 5.

ARGUMENT.

The description of the fourth kynde of Spreitis, called the Pharie. What is possible chairin, and what is but illusions. Whow far this dialogue entreates of all thir thingis: and to what ende.

P. Now I pray you come on to that fourt kynd of spreittis. E. That fourt kynde of Spreitis, quhilk be the gentiles was called Diana and her wandring court, and amongs us was called the Pharie (as I tolde you) or our guid neighbouris

(the King has added on the margin 'or sillie wightis')

was ane of the sortis of allusions that was ryfest in tyme of Papistrie; for all∣though it was holdin odious to prophesie be the devill, yet whome these kynd of spreittis caried away, and informed, thay wer thought to be sonciest, and of best lyfe. To speak of the manie vaine tratlis foundit upon that illusion; how thair was ane king and queine of Pharie, of sic a jolie court and traine as thay had; how thay had a teind and a dewtie, as it wer, of all guidis: how thay naturallie raid and yeld, eat and drank, and did all other actions lyke naturall men and wemen; I think it is lyker Virgilis Campi Elisei, nor any thing that aught to be beleived be Chris∣tianis.

This Manuscript is written in a beautiful Italic hand, so nearly resembling copper-plate engraving, as to have been taken for such even after accurate examination. It is bound in gilded vellum, stamped with the King's eypher beneath the crown; and is in all probability the

original copy of this royal monument of superstition. Many additions are inserted on the margin, as would seem, of the hand-writing of James VI. and some notes for his own private use. As for instance on B. II. ch. 1. speaking of the Magicians of his time, over against the words

Thay are sume of thame riche and worldlie wyse,

he has noted F. M.

sum of tham fat or cor∣pulent in their bodies,

R. G.

and maist pairt of thame altogethir gevin ouer to the pleasours of the flesche,

B. N.

We need not wonder at the severity with which the imaginary crime of withcraft was punished in his reign, when we remark his sentiment expressed on this head, in B. III. ch. 6. of this singular tract.

P. Then to make ane ende of our conference sence I see it drawis leatt, what forme of punishment think ye merites thir Magiciens and Witches? For I see that ye account thame to be all alyke giltie. E. (The King) Thay aught to be put to deathe, according to the law of God, the civill and imperiall law, and the municipal law of all Christiane nations. P. But what kynde of death I pray you? E. It is commonly used be fyre, but that is ane indifferent thing to be used in every countrey according to the law or custume thairof. P. But aught no sexe, aage, nor rank, to be eximed? E. NONE AT ALL.

The language of this pedantic Monarch is particular; it is that of a Scotish school-boy beginning to read English.

In the printed copies the style is much altered and improved. It was printed at Edinburgh, and re∣printed at London in the same year, 1603, 4to.

LORD AIRTH's COMPLAINT.

THESE verses, though somewhat uncouth, are moving, as they seem to flow from the heart. They are now first published from the Editor's quarto Manu∣script, p. 16. corrected in some lines, which appeared too inaccurate for the publick eye. Two entire stanzas are rejected from the same cause. I know nothing of the nobleman to whom they are ascribed.

In the same Manuscript (p. 17. and 116) are to be found the two following Poems, which I believe have never been in print. They are here added, with a few corrections. They were both written by Sir Robert Aytoun, who bore some office under government in the reign of James VI. if I mistake not. His Latin poems are in the Delitiae Poetarum Scotorum.

SONNET.

WILT thou, remorseless fair, still laugh while I lament? Shall still thy chief contentment be to see me malcontent? Shall I, Narcissus like, a flying shadow chase? Or, like Pygmalion, love a stone crown'd with a winning face? No, know my blind Love now shall follow Reason's eyes; And as thy fairness made me fond, thy temper make me wise. My loyalty disdains to love a loveless dame, The spirit still of Cupid's fire consists in mutual flame. Hadst thou but given one look, or hadst thou given one smile, Or hadst thou lent but one poor sigh my sorrows to beguile, My captive Thoughts perchance had been redeem'd from Pain, And these my mutinous Discontents made friends with Hope again. But thou I know at length art careless of my good; And wouldst ambitiously embrew thy beauty in my blood: A great disgrace to thee, to me a monstrous wrong, Which time may teach thee to repent ere haply it be long: But to prevent thy shame, and to abridge my woe, Because thou canst not love thy friend, I'll cease to love my foe.

SONG.

WHAT means this strangeness now of late, Since Time must Truth approve? This distance may consist with state, It cannot stand with love.

'Tis either cunning or distrust That may such ways allow: The first is base, the last unjust; Let neither blemish you.

For if you mean to draw me on, There needs not half this art: And if you mean to have me gone, You over-act your part.

If kindness cross your wish'd content, Dismiss me with a frown; I'll give you all the love that's spent, The rest shall be my own.

FRAGMENTS.

The two first of these are given from a Collection, Edinburgh, 1776, but polished by the present Editor; the two others from recital.