For she is come of hye lineàge,

And was of a ladye borne,

And ill it beseems thee a false churl's sonne
To carrye her hence to scorne."

"Nowe loud thou lyest, Sir John the knight,
Nowe thou doest lye of mee;

A knight mee gott, and a ladye me bore,
Soe never did none by thee.

But light nowe downe, my ladye faire,
Light downe, and hold my steed,
While I and this discourteous knighte
Doe trye this arduous deede.

But light now downe, my deare ladyè,
Light downe, and hold my horse;
While I and this discourteous knight
Doe trye our valour's force."

Fair Emmeline sighed, fair Emmeline wept,
And aye her heart was woe,

While twixt her love and the carlish knight
Past many a baleful blowe.

The Child of Elle hee fought soe well,

As his weapon he waved amaine,

That soone he had slaine the carlish knight,
And layd him upon the plaine.

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And nowe the baron, and all his men

Full fast approached nye:

Ah! what may ladye Emmeline doe?
Twere nowe no boote to flye.

Her lover he put his horne to his mouth,
And blew both loud and shrill,
And soone he saw his owne merry men
Come ryding over the hill.

"Nowe hold thy hand, thou bold baròn,

I pray thee hold thy hand,

Nor ruthless rend two gentle hearts,
Fast knit in true love's band.

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Thy daughter I have dearly loved
Full long and many a day;
But with such love as holy kirke
Hath freelye sayd wee may.

O give consent, shee may be mine,
And blesse a faithfull paire:
My lands and livings are not small,
My house and lineage faire:

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My mother she was an earl's daughtèr,

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And a noble knyght my sire

The baron he frowned, and turn'd away
With mickle dole and ire.

Fair Emmeline sighed, faire Emmeline wept,
And did all tremblinge stand:

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At lengthe she sprang upon her knee,
And held his lifted hand.

"Pardon, my lorde and father deare,
This faire yong knyght and mee:
Trust me, but for the carlish knyght,
I never had fled from thee.

Oft have you

called your Emmeline

Your darling and your joye;

O, let not then your harsh resolves

Your Emmeline destroye."

The baron he stroakt his dark-brown cheeke,

And turned his heade asyde

To whipe awaye the starting teare,

He proudly strave to hyde.

In deepe revolving thought he stoode,
And mused a little space;

Then raised faire Emmeline from the grounde,

With many a fond embrace.

"Here, take her, Child of Elle," he sayd,

And gave her lillye white hand;

"Here, take my deare and only child,

And with her half my land:

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Thy father once mine honour wrongde

In dayes of youthful pride;

Do thou the injurye repayre

In fondnesse for thy bride.

And as thou love her, and hold her deare,
Heaven prosper thee and thine :
And nowe my blessing wend wi' thee,
My lovelye Emmeline."

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+++ From the word "kirke" in ver. 159, this hath been thought to be a Scottish Ballad, but it must be acknowledged that the line referred to is among the additions supplied by the editor: besides, in the Northern counties of England, "kirk" is used in the common dialect for "church," as well as beyond the Tweed.

XII.

EDOM O' GORDON,

A SCOTTISH BALLAD,

was printed at Glasgow, by Robert and Andrew Foulis, MDCCLV. 8vo., 12 pages. We are indebted for its publication (with many other valuable things in these volumes) to Sir David Dalrymple, Bart., who gave it as it was preserved in the memory of a lady, that is now dead.

The reader will here find it improved, and enlarged with several fine stanzas, recovered from a fragment of the same ballad, in the editor's folio MS. It is remarkable that the latter is intitled "Captain Adam Carre," and is in the English idiom. But whether the author was English or Scotch, the difference originally was not great. The English Ballads are generally of the North of England, the Scottish are of the South of Scotland, and of consequence the country of Ballad-singers was sometimes subject to one crown, and sometimes to the other, and most frequently to neither. Most of the finest old Scotch songs have the scene laid within 20 miles of England, which is indeed all poetic ground, green hills, remains of woods, clear brooks. The pastoral scenes remain: Of the rude chivalry of former ages happily nothing remains but the ruins of the castles, where

the more daring and successful robbers resided. The House, or Castle of the Rodes, stood about a measured mile south from Duns, in Berwickshire: some of the ruins of it may be seen to this day. The Gordons were anciently seated in the same county: the two villages of East and West Gordon lie about 10 miles from the castle of the Rodes. The fact, however, on which the Ballad is founded, happened in the North of Scotland, (See below, p. 93,) yet it is but too faithful a specimen of the violences practised in the feudal times in every part of this Island, and indeed all over Europe.

From the different titles of this Ballad, it should seem that the old strolling bards or minstrels (who gained a livelihood by reciting these poems) made no scruple of changing the names of the personages they introduced, to humour their hearers. For instance, if a Gordon's conduct was blameworthy in the opinion of that age, the obsequious minstrel would, when among Gordons, change the name to Car, whose clan or sept lay further West, and vice versa.-The foregoing observation, which I owed to Sir David Dalrymple, will appear the more perfectly well founded, if, as I have since been informed (from Crawford's Memoirs,) the principal Commander of the expedition was a Gordon, and the immediate Agent a Car, or Ker; for then the Reciter might, upon good grounds, impute the barbarity here deplored, either to a Gordon, or a Car, as best suited his purpose. In the third volume the reader will find a similar instance. See the song of "Gil Morrice," wherein the principal character introduced had different names given him, perhaps from the same cause.

It may be proper to mention, that in the folio MS. instead of the "Castle of the Rodes," it is the "Castle of Brittonsborrow," and also "Diactours" or "Draitours-borrow," (for it is very obscurely written,) and "Capt. Adam Carre" is called the "Lord of Westerton-town." Uniformity required that the additional stanzas supplied from that copy should be clothed in the Scottish orthography and idiom: this has therefore been attempted, though perhaps imperfectly.

It fell about the Martinmas,

Quhen the wind blew shril and cauld,
Said Edom o' Gordon to his men,

"We maun draw till a hauld.

* This Ballad is well known in that neighbourhood, where it is intitled "Adam o' Gordon." It may be observed, that the famous freebooter, whom Edward I. fought with, hand to hand, near Farnham, was named Adam Gordon,

And quhat a hauld sall we draw till,
My mirry men and me?

We wul gae to the house o' the Rodes,
To see that fair ladìe."

The lady stude on hir castle wa',

Beheld baith dale and down:

There she was ware of a host of men
Cum ryding towards the toun.

"O see ze nat, my mirry men a'?

O see ze nat quhat I see?

Methinks I see a host of men:
I marveil quha they be."

She weend it had been hir luvely lord,
As he cam ryding hame;
It was the traitor Edom o' Gordon,
Quha reckt nae sin nor shame.

She had nae sooner buskit hirsel,
And putten on hir goun,
But Edom o' Gordon and his men
Were round about the toun.

They had nae sooner supper sett,
Nae sooner said the grace,
But Edom o' Gordon and his men,
Were light about the place.

The lady ran up to hir towir head,
Sa fast as she could hie,

To see if by hir fair speechès
She could wi' him agree.

But quhan he see this lady saif,
And hir yates all locked fast,
He fell into a rage of wrath,

And his look was all aghast.

"Cum doun to me, ze lady gay,

Cum doun, cum doun to me :

This night sall ye lig within mine armes,
To-morrow my bride sall be."

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