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Saying "Marie Hamilton, where's your babe?
For I am sure I heard it greet."-

"O no, O no, my noble Queen!
Think no such thing to be;
'Twas but a stitch into my side,
And sair it troubles me."-
"Get up, get up, Marie Hamilton:
Get up and follow me;

For I am going to Edinburgh town,
A rich wedding for to see."-

O slowly, slowly raise she up,

And slowly put she on;

And slowly rode she out the way,
Wi' mony a weary groan.

The Queen was clad in scarlet,

Her merry maids all in green;
And every town that they cam to,
They took Marie for the Queen.
"Ride hooly, hooly, gentlemen,
Ride hooly now wi' me!
For never, I am sure, a wearier burd
Rade in your cumpanie."-
But little wist Marie Hamilton,

When she rade on the brown,
That she was ga'en to Edinburgh town,
And a' to be put down.

"Why weep ye so, ye burgess wives,
Why look ye so on me!
O, I am going to Edinburgh town,
A rich wedding for to see."-
When she gaed up the tolbooth stairs,
The corks frae her heels did flee;
And lang or e'er she cam down again,

Wi' the gold rings in her hair:

O where is the little babe,' she says,
That I heard greet sae sair?'”
MOTHERWELL'S Version.]

["There is na babe within my bouer,

And I hope there ne'er will be;
But it's me wi' a sair and sick colic,
And I'm just like to dee.'

"But they looked up, they looked doun,
Atween the bowsters and the wa',
It's there they got a bonny lad-bairn,
But its life it was awa'."

KINLOCA's Version.] ["What need ye hech! and how ! ladies,

What need ye bow! for me?

Ye never saw grace at a graceless face,-
Queen Mary has nane to gie.'

"Gae forward, gae forward,' the Queen she said, Gae forward, that ye may see;

For the very same words that ye hae said
Sall hang ye on the gallows tree."

KINLOCH'S Version.]

3 The Netherbow port was the gate which divided the city of Edinburgh from the suburb, called the Canongate. It had towers and a spire, which formed a fine termination to the view from the Cross. The gate was pulled down in one of those fits of rage for indiscriminate destruction, with which the magistrates of a corporation are sometimes visited.

4 [At Balfour House, in Fifeshire, there is a full-length portrait of Mary Beaton.-C. K. SHARPE.]

She was condemn'd to die.

When she cam to the Netherbow port, 3
She laughed loud laughters three;
But when she cam to the gallows foot,
The tears blinded her ee.

"Yestreen the Queen had four Maries,

The night she'll hae but three;

There was Marie Seaton, and Marie Beaton,4 And Marie Carmichael, and me.5

"O, often have I dress'd my Queen,

And put gold upon her hair;
But now I've gotten for my reward
The gallows to be my share.
"Often have I dress'd my Queen,
And often made her bed;

But now I've gotten for my reward
The gallows tree to tread.

"I charge ye all, ye mariners,

When ye sail ower the faem, Let neither my father nor mother get wit, But that I'm coming hame.

"I charge ye all, ye mariners,

That sail upon the sea,

Let neither my father nor mother get wit This dog's death I'm to die.

"For if my father and mother got wit,
And my bold brethren three,

O mickle wad be the gude red blude
This day wad be spilt for me!
"O little did my mother ken,

That day she cradled me,
The lands I was to travel in,

Or the death I was to die!"

5 The Queen's Maries were four young ladies of the highest families in Scotland, who were sent to France in her train, and returned with her to Scotland. They are mentioned by Knox, in the quotation introductory to this ballad. Keith gives us their names, p. 55. "The young Queen, Mary, embarked at Dunbarton for France, . and with her went. . . . . ., and four young virgins, all of the name of Mary, viz. Livingston, Fleming, Seatoun, and Beatoun." The Queen's Maries are mentioned again by the same author, p. 288 and 294, in the note. Neither Mary Livingston, nor Mary Fleming, are mentioned in the ballad; nor are the Mary Hamilton, and Mary Carmichael, of the ballad, mentioned by Keith. But if this corps continued to consist of young virgins, as when originally raised, it could hardly have sub sisted without occasional recruits; especially if we trust our old bard, and John Knox. The following additional notices of the Queen's Marics occur in MONTEITH'S Translation of Buchanun's Epigrams, etc.

Page 60. Pomp of the Gods at the Marriage of Queen Mary, 29th July, 1565, a Dialogue.

DIANA. "Great father, Maries* five late served me,
Were of my quire the glorious dignitie;
With these dear five the heaven I'd regain,

The happiness of other gods to stain;

At my lot Juno, Venus, were in ire,
And stole away one."➖➖➖➖

P. 61. APOLLO.-" Fear not, Diana, I good tidings bring,
And unto you glad oracles I sing;

*The Queen seems to be included in this number.

THE BONNY HYND.

From Mr. HERD'S MS., where the following Note is prefixed to it-" Copied from the mouth of a milkmaid, 4774, by W. L."

It was originally my intention to have omitted this ballad, on account of the disagreeable nature of the subject. Upon consideration, however, it seemed a fair sample of a certain class of songs and tales, turning upon incidents the most horrible and unnatural, with which the vulgar in Scotland are greatly delighted, and of which they have current amongst them an ample store. Such, indeed, are the subjects of composition in most nations, during the early period of society; when the feelings, rude and callous, can only be affected by the strongest stimuli, and where the mind does not, as in a more refined age, recoil, disgusted, from the means by which interest has been excited. Hence incest, parricide-crimes, in fine, the foulest and most enormous, were the early themes of the Grecian muse. Whether that delicacy, which precludes the modern bard from the choice of such impressive and dreadful themes, be favourable to the higher classes of poetic composition, may perhaps be questioned; but there can be little doubt that the more important cause of virtue and morality is advanced by this exclusion. The knowledge, that enormities are not without precedent, may promote, and even suggest them. Hence, the publication of the Newgate Register has been prohibited by the wisdom of the legislature, having been found to encourage those very crimes of which it recorded the punishment. Hence, too, the wise maxim of the Romans, Facinora ostendi dum puniantur, flagitia autem abscondi debent.

The ballad has a high degree of poetical merit.

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"Now bear a hand, my Maries a',

And busk me brave, and make me fine."
Old Ballad.

["The Lament of the Queen's Marie, connected with its tale, bears so strong a stamp of nature, that we cannot resist quoting it; hoping, at the same time, that Mr. Scott will spare no pains to recover the remainder, if there be any."

STODDART, Edinburgh Review, January, 1803.

(The reviewer had then only three stanzas to quote, and these, in the order they are now given, were stanzas 23, 18, 19.)

It is evident that Burns had known more of this exquisite old ballad than Mr. Scott gave in his first edition of the Minstrelsy. In a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, conveying some information about poor Falconer's fate, and dated 23th January, 1795, he introduces the following:

"Little does the fond mother think, as she hangs delighted over the sweet little leech at her bosom, where the poor fellow may hereafter wander, and what may be his fate. I remember a

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"Old Scotch songs are, you know, a favourite study and pursuit of mine; and now I am on that subject, allow me to give you two stauzas of another old simple ballad, which, I am sure, will please you. The catastrophe of the piece is a poor ruined female, lamenting her fate. She concludes with the pathetic wish

O that my father had ne'er on me smil'd;
O that my mother had ne'er to me sung;
O that my cradle had never been rock'd;
But that I had died when I was young!

O that the grave it were my bed;

My blankets were my winding-sheet;

The clocks and the worms my bed-fellows a';

And, 0, sae sound as I should sleep!'

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For I'm Lord Randal's ae daughter,

He has nae mair nor me."

"Ye lee, ye lee, ye bonny May!

Sae loud's I hear ye lee!
For I'm Lord Randal's ae ae son,
Just now come o'er the sea."-

She's putten her hand down by her gare,
And out she's ta'en a knife;

And she has put it in her heart's bleed,
And ta'en away her life.'

And he has ta'en up his bonny sister,
With the big tear in his een;
And he has buried his bonny sister

Amang the hollins green.

And syne he's hied him o'er the dale,

66

His father dear to see

'Sing, Oh! and Oh! for my bonny hynd, Beneath yon hollin tree!"—

"What needs you care for your bonny hynd? For it you needna care;

Take you the best, gie me the warst,
Since plenty is to spare."—

"I carena for your hynds, my lord,

I carena for your fee;

But Oh! and Oh! for my bonny hynd,
Beneath the hollin tree!".

"O were ye at your sister's bower,
Your sister fair to see,

You'll think nae mair o' your bonny hynd,
Beneath the hollin tree."-

O GIN MY LOVE WERE YON RED ROSE.

FROM MR. HERD'S MS.

O gin my love were yon red rose,
That grows upon the castle wa',

And I mysell a drap of dew,
Down on that red rose I would fa'.

O my love's bonny, bonny, bonny;
My love's bonny, and fair to see;
Whene'er I look on her weel-far'd face,
She looks and smiles again to me.
O gin my love were a pickle of wheat,
And growing upon yon lily lee,

And I mysell a bonny wee bird,

Awa' wi' that pickle o' wheat I wad flee.
O my love's bonny, etc.

[V. R. "She's soak'd it in her red heart's blood,
And twined herself of life."-MOTHERWELL.]

[For the originals of all these lover's wishes, see the Greek Anthology, passim, or the English translations of Bland and Merivale, 2 vols. 12mo, 1833.—ED.]

O gin my love were a coffer o' gowd,
And I the keeper of the key,
I wad open the kist whene'er I list,
And in that coffer I wad be.

O my love's bonny, etc.

O TELL ME HOW TO WOO THEE.

The following verses are taken down from recitation, and are averred to be of the age of CHARLES I. They have, indeed, much of the romantic expression of passion common to the poets of that period, whose lays still reflected the setting beams of chivalry; but, since their publication in the first edition of this work, the Editor has been assured that they were composed by the late Mr. GRAHAM of Gartmore. 3

If doughty deeds my ladye please,

Right soon I'll mount my steed;
And strong his arm, and fast his seat,
That bears frae me the meed.
I'll wear thy colours in my cap,.

Thy picture in my heart;

And he that bends not to thine eye

Shall rue it to his smart.

Then tell me how to woo thee, love;

O tell me how to woo thee!
For thy dear sake, nae care I'll take,
Tho' ne'er another trow me.

If gay attire delight thine eye,
I'll dight me in array;
I'll tend thy chamber door all night,
And squire thee all the day.
If sweetest sounds can win thy ear,
These sounds I'll strive to catch;
Thy voice I'll steal to woo thysell,
That voice that nane can match.
Then tell me how to woo thee, love;
O tell me how to woo thee!
For thy dear sake, nae care I'll take,
Tho' ne'er another trow me.
But if fond love thy heart can gain,
I never broke a vow;

Nae maiden lays her skaith to me,
I never loved but you.
For you alone I ride the ring,

For you I wear the blue;
For you alone I strive to sing,
O tell me how to woo!

O tell me how to woo thee, love;
O tell me how to woo thee!
For thy dear sake, nae care I'll take,
Tho' ne'er another trow me.

3 [When these verses were included in the first edition of the Minstrelsy, Sir W. Scott told me he believed them to have been the composition of a nobler Grahame-the great Marquis of Montrose.-ED.]

THE SOUTERS OF SELKIRK.

This little lyric piece, with those which immediately follow in the collection, relates to the fatal battle of Flodden, in which the flower in the Scottish nobility fell around their sovereign, James IV.

The ancient and received tradition of the burgh of Selkirk affirms, that the citizens of that town distinguished themselves by their gallantry on that disastrous occasion. Eighty in number, and headed by their town-clerk, they joined their monarch on his entrance into England. James, pleased with the appearance of this gallant troop, knighted their leader, William Brydone, upon the field of battle, from which few of the men of Selkirk were destined to return. They distinguished themselves in the conflict, and were almost all slain. The few survivors, on their return home, found, by the side of Lady-Wood Edge, the corpse of a female, wife to one of their fallen comrades, with a child sucking at her breast. In memory of this latter event, continues the tradition, the present arms of the burgh bear a female, holding a child in her arms, and seated on a sarcophagus, decorated with the Scottish lion; in the background a wood.

A learned antiquary, whose judgment and accuracy claim respect, has made some observations upon the probability of this tradition, which the Editor shall take the liberty of quoting, as an introduction to what he has to offer upon the same subject. And if he shall have the misfortune to differ from the learned gentleman, he will at least lay candidly before the public the grounds of his opinion.

"That the souters of Selkirk should, in 1513, amount to fourscore fighting men, is a circumstance utterly incredible. It is scarcely to be supposed that all the shoemakers in Scotland could have produced such an army, at a period when shoes must have been still less worn than they are at present. Dr. Johnson, indeed, was told at Aberdeen, that the people learned the art of making shoes from Cromwell's soldiers.-The numbers,' he adds, 'that go barefoot, are still sufficient to show that shoes may be spared; they are not yet considered as necessaries of life; for tall boys, not otherwise meanly dressed, run without them in the streets; and, in the islands, the sons of gentlemen pass several of their first years with naked feet.'-(Journey to the Western Islands, p. 55.) Away, then, with the fable of the Souters of Selkirk! Mr. Tytler, though he mentions it as the subject of a song, or ballad, 'does not remember ever to have seen the original genuine words,'-as he obligingly acknowledged in a letter to the Editor. Mr. Robertson, however, who gives the Statistical Account of the Parish of Selkirk, seems to know something more of the matter.-'Some,' says he, have very falsely attributed to this event (the battle of Flowden,) that song,

Up wi' the souters of Selkirk,

And down with the Earl of Home.

"There was no Earl of Home,' he adds, 'at that time, nor was this song composed till long after. It arose from a bet betwixt the Philiphaugh and Home families; the souters (or shoemakers) of Selkirk, against the men of Home, at a match of football, in which the souters of Selkirk completely gained, and afterwards perpetuated their victory in that song.' This is decisive; and so much for Scottish tradition." Note to Historical Essay on Scottish Song, prefixed to Scottish Songs, in 2 vols. 1794.

It is proper to remark, that the passage of Mr. Robertson's Statistical Account, above quoted, does not relate to the authenticity of the tradition, but to the origin of the song, which is obviously a separate and distinct question. The entire passage in the Statistical Account (of which a part only is quoted in the essay) runs thus :

"Here, too, the inhabitants of the town of Selkirk, who breathed the manly spirit of real freedom, justly merit particular attention. Of one hundred citizens, who followed the fortunes of James IV. on the plains of Flowden, a few returned, loaded with the spoils taken from the enemy. Some of these trophies still survive the rust of time, and the effects of negligence. The desperate valour of the citizens of Selkirk, which, on that fatal day, was eminently conspicuous to both armies, produced very opposite effects. The implacable resentment of the English reduced their defenceless town to ashes; while their grateful sovereign (James V.) showed his sense of their valour, by a grant of an extensive portion of the forest, the trees for building their houses, and the property as the reward of their heroism."—A note is added by Mr. Robertson." A standard, the appearance of which bespeaks its antiquity, is still carried annually (on the day of riding their common) by the corporation of weavers, by a member of which it was taken from the English in the field of Flowden. It may be added, that the sword of William Brydone, the town-clerk, who led the citizens to the battle, (and who is said to have been knighted for his valour,) is still in the possession of John Brydone, a citizen of Selkirk, his lineal descendant.”—An additional note contains the passage quoted in the Essay on Scottish Song.

If the testimony of Mr. Robertson is to be received as decisive of the question, the learned author of the essay will surely admit, upon re-perusal, that the passage in the Statistical Account contains the most positive and unequivocal declaration of his belief in the tradition.

Neither does the story itself, upon close examination, contain any thing inconsistent with probability. The towns upon the Border, and especially Selkirk and Jedburgh, were inhabited by a race of citizens, who, from the necessity of their situation, and from

[The late Mr. Joseph Ritson.]

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"bus propicietur Deus dat. et concess. per guerrarum assultus pestem combustionem et alias pro "majore parte vastantur et distruuntur unde mer"cantiarum usus inter ipsos burgenses cessavit in "eorum magnam lesionem ac reipublice et libertatis "Burgi nostri antedict. destruccionem et prejudi"cium ac ingens nobis dampnum penes nostras "Custumas et firmas burgales ab eodem nobis debit. "si subitum in eisdem remedium minime habitum "fuerit-NOS igitur pietate et justicia moti ac pro "policia et edificiis infra regnum nostrum habend.

Neither is it necessary to suppose, literally, that the men of Selkirk were all souters. This appellation was obviously bestowed on them, because it was the trade most generally practised in the town, and" de novo infeodamus," etc. The charter proceeds, therefore passed into a general epithet. Even the existence of such a craft, however, is accounted improbable by the learned essayist, who seems hardly to allow, that the Scottish nation was, at that period, acquainted with the art "of accommodating their feet with shoes." And here he attacks us with our own weapons, and wields the tradition of Aberdeen against that of Selkirk. We shall not stop to enquire, in what respect Cromwell's regiment of missionary cobblers deserves, in point of probability, to take precedence of the souters of Selkirk. But, allowing that all the shoemakers in England, with Praise-the-Lord Barebones at their head, had generously combined to instruct the men of Aberdeen in the arts of psalmody and cobbling, it by no means bears upon the present question. If instruction was at all necessary, it must have been in teaching the natives how to make shoes, properly so called, in opposition to brogues: For there were cordiners in Aberdeen long before Cromwell's visit, and several fell in the battle of the Bridge of Dee, as appears from Spalding's History of the Troubles in Scotland, vol. ii. p. 140. Now, the "single-soled shoon," made by the souters of Selkirk, were a sort of brogues, with a single thin sole; the purchaser himself performing the farther operation of sewing on another of thick leather. The rude and imperfect state of this manufacture sufficiently evinces the antiquity of the craft. Thus, the profession of the citizens of Selkirk, instead of invalidating, confirms the tradi-occupy the saidis landis with thare awne gudis or to tional account of their valour.

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in common form, to erect anew the town of Selkirk into a royal burgh, with all the privileges annexed to such corporations. This mark of royal favour was confirmed by a second charter, executed by the same monarch, after he had attained the age of majority, and dated April 8, 1538. This deed of confirmation first narrates the charter, which has been already quoted, and then proceeds to mention other grants, which had been conferred upon the burgh, during the minority of James V., and which are thus expressed: "We for the gude trew and thankful service done and to be done to ws be owre lovittis the baillies burgesses and communite of our burgh of Selkirk and for certain otheris reasonable causis and considerationis moving ws be the tennor hereof grantis and gevis license to thame and thair successors to ryfe out breke and teil yeirlie ane thousand' acres of their common landis of our said burgh in what part thairof thea pleas for polecy strengthing and bigging of the samyn for the wele of ws and of lieges repair and thairto and defence againis owre auld innemyis of Ingland and other wayis and will and grantis that thai sall nocht be callit accusit nor incur ony danger or skaith thairthrow in thair personis landis nor gudes in ony wise in time coming NOCHTWITHSTANDING ony owre actis or statutis maid or to be maid in the contrar in ony panys contenit tharein anent the quhilkis we dispens with thame be thir owre letters with power to them to

set theme to tenentis as thai sall think maist expedient for the wele of our said burgh with frei ische and entri and with all and sindry utheris commoditeis freedomes asiamentis and richtuis pertenentis whatsumever pertenyng or that rychtuisly may pertene thairto perpetually in tyme cuming frelie quietlie wele and in peace but ony revocatioun or agane calling whatsumever Gevin under owre signet and subscrivit with owre hand at Striveling the twenty day of Junii The yere of God ane thousand five hundreth and thretty six yeris and of our regne the twenty thre year." Here follows another grant:

possessed of a spacious domain, to which a thousand acres in tillage might bear a due proportion. This circumstance ascertains the antiquity and power of the burgh; for, had this large tract of land been granted during the minority of James V., the donation, to be effectual, must have been included in the charters of confirmation.

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