UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Var ^, PRIISI S4ds Vj2 Darlington JVLemorial L/ibrary SO) I in i(0 = 00 :0 •in CO CO 3o/-^ MINSTRELSY SCOTTISH BOEDER VOL. II. THE MINSTRELSY SCOTTISH BORDER SIR WALTER SCOTT, Baet. TflTH HIS INTRODUCTIONS, ADDITIONS, AND THE EDITOR'S NOTES. VOLUME II. ROBERT CADELL, EDINBURGH: HOULSTON & STONEMAN, LONDON. MDCCCXLIX. CONTENTS OF VOLUME SECOND. CONTENTS. page The Battle of Pentland Hills, 199 The Battle of Loudon HiU, 206 The Battle of Bothwell Bridge, .... 226 Appendix, ....... 241 Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. Part II. Romantic Ballads. Scottish Music, an Ode, 249 Introduction to the Tale of Tamlane, 234 The Young Tamlane, .... 337 Erliuton, ...... 351 The Twa Corbies, .... 357 MINSTRELSY SCOTTISH BORDER : CONSISTING OF HISTORICAL AND ROMANTIC BALLADS, COLLECTED IN THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF SCOTLAND J WITH A FEW OF MODERN DATE, FOUNDED UPON LOCAL TRADITION. The songs, to savage virtue dear, That Avon of yore the public ear. Ere polity, sedate and sage, Had quench'd the fires of feudal rage. Wartox, VOL. II. EDINBURGH : rKINTEO BY BALLANTVNE AND CO., PAUL'S WORK. JAMIE TELFER OF THE FAIR DODHEAD. There is another ballad, under the same title as thefolloiving, in which nearly the same incidents are narrated, with little difference, except that the honour of rescuing the cattle is at- tributed to the Liddesdale Elliots, headed by a Chief, thei'e called Martin Elliot of the Preakin Tower, whose son, Si- mon, is said to have fallen in the action. It is very possi- ble, that both the Teviotdale Scotts, and the Elliots, were engaged m the affair, and that each claimed the honour of the victory. The Editor jJfesumes, that the Willie Scott, here mentioned, must have been a natural son of the Laird of Buccleuch. It fell about tlie Martinmas tjde, When our Border steeds get corn and haj, The Captain of Bewcastle hath bound liim to ryde, And he's ower to Tividale to drive a prey. ; . ; ; — 4 MINSTRELSY OF The lirst ae guide that they met wi', ^ It was high up in Hardhaughswire ; The second guide that they met wi', It was laigh down in Borthwick water.^ " What tidings, what tidings, my trusty guide?" " Nae tidings, nae tidings, I hae to thee But gin ye'll gae to the fair Dodhead,^ Mony a cow's cauf I'll let thee see."— And when they cam to the fair Dodhead, Right hastily they clam the peel They loosed the kye out, ane and a', And ranshackled^ the house right week Now Jamie Telfer's heart was sair,^ The tear aye rowing in his ee ; He pled wi' the Captain to hae his gear, Or else revenged he wad be. The Captain turned him round and leugh Said—" Man, there's naething in thy house, ^ Hardhaugbswire is the pass from Liddesdale to the head of Teviotdale. - Borthwick water is a stream, which falls into the Teviot three miles above Hawick. 3 The Dodhead, in Selkirksliire, near Singlee, where there are still the vestiges of an old tower. * Ranshackled—Ransacked. ^ There is stiU a family of Telfers, residing near Langholm, who pretend to derive their descent from the Telfers of the Dodhead. — ! —— • THE SCOTTISH BORDER. O But ae auld sword without a sheath, That hardly now would fell a mouse/' The sun wasna up, but the moon was down, It was the gryming-^ of a new-fa'n snaw, Jamie Telfer has run ten myles a-foot, Between the Dodliead and the Stobs's Pla'.- And when he cam to the fair tower yate, He shouted loud, and cried weel hie, Till out bespak auld Gibby Elliot " " Whae's this that brings the fraye to me ? — " It's I, Jamie Telfer, o' the fair Dodhead, And a harried man I think I be I There's naething- left at the fair Dodhead, But a waefu' wife and bairnies three." " Gae seek your succour at Branksome Ha'.^ For succour ye'se g-et nane frae me Gae seek your succour where ye paid black-mail. For, man, ye ne'er paid money to me." ^ Gryming— Sprlnkllug. ^ Stobs Hall, upon Slitterick. [The seat of Sir William Eliott, Bart ^head of that clan.] Jamie Telfer made Ills first application here, because he seems to have paid the proprietor of the castle hlack-mail, or protection money. ^ The ancient family-seat of the Lairds of Buccleuch, near Hawick. — ! ——^ — b MINSTRELSY OF Jamie lias turned him round about, I wat the tear bhnded his ee " I'll ne'er pay mail to Elliot again, And the fair Dodhead I'll never see ! " My hounds may a' rin masterless, My hawks may fly frae tree to tree, My lord may g-rip my vassal lands, For there again maun I never be ! " He has turn'd him to the Tiviot side, E'en as fast as he could drie, Till he cam to the Coultart Cleugh,^ And there he shouted baith loud and hie. Then up bespak him auld Jock Grieve " Whae's this that brings the fraye to me?" " It's I, Jamie Telfer o' the fair Dodhead, A harried man I trow I be. " There's naething left in the fair Dodhead, But a greeting wife and bairnies three, And sax poor ca's^ stand in the sta', A' routing loud for their minnie."— " Alack a wae ! " quo' auld Jock Grieve, " Alack ! my heart is sair for thee ^ The Coultart Cleugh is nearly opposite to Carlinrig, on the road between Hawick and Mosspaul. ^ Ca's—Calves ^ Minnie—IMother. —— ——; THE SCOTTISH BORDER. For I was married on the elder sister, And you on the youngest of a' the three." Then he has ta'en out a bonny black, Was right weel fed with corn and hay, And he's set Jamie Telfer on his back, To the Catslockhill to tak the fraye. And whan he cam to the Catslockhill, He shouted loud, and cried weel hie, Till out and spak him William's Wat " O whae's this brings the fraye to me ?" " It's I, Jamie Telfer of the fair Dodhead, A harried man I think I be ! The Captain of Bewcastle has driven my gear For God's sake rise, and succour me ! " " Alas for wae !" quoth William's Wat, " Alack, for thee my heart is sair ! I never cam by the fair Dodhead, That ever I fand thy basket bare." He's set his twa sons on coal-black steeds, Himsell upon a freckled gray, And they are on wi' Jamie Telfer, To Branksome Ha' to tak the fraye. And when they cam to Branksome Ha', They shouted a' baith loud and hie^ ! • — S MINSTRELSY OF Till lip and spak him auld Buccleuch, '* Said—" Whae's this brings the fraye to me ? " It's I, Jamie Telfer o' the fair Dodhead, And a harried man I think I be ! There's nought left in the fair Dodhead, But a greeting wife and bairnies three."— " Alack for wae ! " quoth the gude auld lord, " And ever my heart is wae for thee ! But fye g-ar cry on Willie, my son. And see that he come to me speediHe " Gar warn the water, ^ braid and wide. Gar warn it sune and hastilie ! They that winna ride for Telfer 's kye. Let them never look in the face o' me ! " Warn Wat o' Harden, and his sons," Wi' them will Borthvvick Water ride ; Warn Gaudilands, and Allanhaug-h, And Gilmanscleugh, and Commonside. * The icater, in the mountainous districts of Scotland,* is often used to express the banks of the river, wliich are the only inhabi- table parts of the country. To raise the water, therefore, was to alarm those who hved along its side. - The estates, mentioned in tliis verse, belonged to families of the name of Scott, residing upon the waters of Borthwick and Teviot, near the castle of their Chief. —— —— THE SCOTTISH BORDER. y " Ride by the gate at Priesthaughswire,^ And warn the Currors o' the Lee ; As ye cnm down the Hermitage Slack, Warn doughty Wilhe o' Gorrinberry." The Scotts they rade, the Scotts they ran, Sae starkly and sae steadilie ! And aye the ower-word o' the thrang- Was—" Rise for Branksome readilie I" The gear was driven the Frostylee np," Frae the Frostylee unto the plain. Whan Willie has look'd his men before. And saw the kye right fast drivand. " Whae drives thir kye ?" 'gan Willie say, " To make an outspeckle^ o' me ?" " It's I, the Captain o' Bewcastle, Willie ; I winna layne my name for thee." " O will ye let Telfer's kye gae back ? Or will ye do aught for regard o' rae ? ^ The pursuers seem to have taken the road through the hills of Liddesdale, in order to collect forces, and intercept the forayers at the passage of the Liddel, on their return to Bewcastle. The Rit- terford and Kershope-ford, after-mentioned, are noted fords on the river Liddel. ^ The Frostylee is a brook, which joins the Teviot, near IMoss- paul. " Gufsveckle— Lr>uQ,-hino--?tock. —; " 10 MINSTRELSY OF Or, by tlae faith of my body," quo' Willie Scott, " I'se ware my dame's cauf skin on thee ! " I winna let the kye gae back, Neither for thy love, nor yet thy fear ; But I will drive Jamie Telfer's kye. In spite of every Scott that's here." " !" Set- on them, lads quo' Willie than ; " Fye, lads, set on them cruellie ! For ere they win to the Ritterford, Mony a toom^ saddle there sail be !"— Then til't they gaed, wi' heart and hand. The blows fell thick as bickering- hail And mony a horse ran masterless, And mony a comely cheek was pale.