305

305

THE OUTLAW MURRAY

A.a.‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ Herd’s MSS, II, fol. 76; ‘The Outlaw Murray,’ I, 255.b.‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ Scott’s Minstrelsy, second edition, 1803, I, 1.c.‘The Song of the Outlaw Murray,’ Aytoun’s Ballads of Scotland, 1859, II, 131, “from an old manuscript in the Philiphaugh charter-chest.”d.‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ the copy now extant among the Philiphaugh papers.B.‘An old song called Outlaw Murray,’ Glenriddell MSS, XI, 61, 1791.C.‘Outlaw Murray, an antient historical ballad,’ fragments, “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 31, Abbotsford, in the handwriting of William Laidlaw.First printed in Scott’s Minstrelsy, 1802, I, 1.A a,b,c(disregarding Scott’s interpolations inb), do not differ more than transcripts of one original may be expected to do, remembering that copyists are apt to indulge in trivial verbal improvements.[103]awas sent David Herd, with a letter dated January 12, 1795, by Andrew Plummer, Sheriff-Depute of Selkirk, as received by carrier from a lady, who neglected to impart how she came by the copy. In this instance, contrary to what I believe to be the general rule, the second volume of Herd’s MSS seems to have the original text.[104]awas printed, but not with absolute fidelity, by Maidment, Scotish Ballads and Songs, 1868, II, 66. Forb, “the copy principally resorted to,” says Scott, “is one, apparently of considerable antiquity, which was found among the papers of the late Mrs Cockburn of Edinburgh.” Scott made occasional use of Herd’s MS. and of Glenriddell’s, inserted some stanzas which he had received from Sheriff Plummer, and in the second edition (otherwise slightly altered) two stanzas from the recitation of Mungo Park. Mrs Cockburn’s MS. evidently agreed very nearly with the copy in Herd, so far as the latter goes. I much regret that exertions made to secure the Cockburn MS. did not result successfully.c.“From a note appended to the ballad, explanatory of its circumstances, in which reference is made to Lord Philiphaugh (a judge of Session) as being then alive,” says Aytoun, “the manuscript must have been written between the years 1689 and 1702.”[105]The original manuscript, unfortunately and inexplicably, is no longer in the Philiphaugh archives, and has not come to light after search. The text, if earlier transcribed, shows no internal evidence of superior age, and exhibits several inferior readings,—two that are highly objectionable.[106]d, the copy actually preserved among thePhiliphaugh papers, is evinced by a watermark to be not older than 1848. It shows variations from Aytoun’s printed text which cannot be other than wilful alterations.B, which is both defective, corrupted, and chargeable with flat repetition, andC, a few fragmentary verses, are all that have been retrieved from tradition, although Scott says that the ballad “has been for ages a popular song in Selkirkshire.”A manuscript copy was understood to be in possession of the late Mr George Wilson, S. S. C., Edinburgh, but, as in the case of the original of the Philiphaugh MS. and in that of Mrs Cockburn’s copy, inquiry and search were fruitless.The king of Scotland is informed that there is an Outlaw in Ettrick Forest who makes no account of him; the king vows that he will be king of Ettrick Forest, or the Outlaw shall be king of Scotland. Earl Hamilton advises that an envoy be sent to the Outlaw to ascertain whether he is willing to do homage to the king and hold the forest of him; if the Outlaw should refuse, then they will proceed to extremities with him. The king sends Boyd, Earl of Arran, to announce his terms: the Outlaw is to do homage; otherwise he and his lands will be subjugated, his castle levelled, his wife made a widow, and his men be hanged. The messenger demands of the Outlaw, in the king’s name, of whom he holds his lands; the Outlaw replies that the lands are his own, won by himself from the Southron, and that he recognizes no king in Christendom. The messenger intimates that it will nevertheless be necessary for the Outlaw to do homage to the king of Scotland, under the penalties before mentioned. Many of the king’s nobles shall lie cold first, he replies. Boyd reports to his master that the Outlaw claims to hold the forest by his own right, which he will maintain against all kings in Christendom; the king prepares to enforce his sovereignty with five thousand men.The Outlaw vows that the king shall pay dear for his coming, and sends for succor to three of his kinsmen, all of whom promise help. As the king approaches the forest, Hamilton ventures to give further advice: that the Outlaw should be summoned to come with four of his best men to meet the king and five earls; fire, sword, and forfeiture to follow upon refusal. The Outlaw bethinks himself of his children, and complies. He and his company fall on their knees and implore the king’s mercy; his mercy shall be the gallows, says the king. The Outlaw protests again that he won his lands from the enemy, and as he won them so will he keep them, against all kings in Christendom; but having indulged in this vaunt asks mercy again, and offers to give up the keys of his castle if the king will constitute him and his successors sheriffs of the forest. The king, on his part, is equally ready for a compromise. The Outlaw, on surrendering the keys of his castle, shall be made sheriff of Ettrick Forest, and shall never be forfeited as long as he continues loyal, and his men shall have pardon if they amend their lives. After all the strong language on both sides, the Outlaw has only to name his lands (but gives a very imperfect list), and the king (waiving complete particulars) renders him whatever he is pleased to claim, and makes him sheriff of Ettrick Forest while upwards grows the tree.So far all the copies ofAconcur, as to the story, except thatc22, 33, by an absurd corruption, makes the Outlaw to have won his lands, not from the Soudron, the Soudronie, but from Soldan Turk, the Soldanie; in which respectA cis followed byB26,C3, 5. Between 52 and 53,bintroduces this passage:Then spak the kene laird of Buckscleuth,A stalworthye man and sterne was he:‘For a king to gang an outlaw tillIs beneath his state and his dignitie.‘The man that wons yon foreste intill,He lives by reif and felonie;Wherefore, brayd on, my sovereign liege,Wi fire and sword we’ll follow thee,Or, gif your courtrie lords fa back,Our borderers sall the onset gie.’Then out and spak the nobil king,And round him cast a wilie ee:‘Now haud thy tongue, Sir Walter Scott,Nor speik of reif nor felonie,For had everye honeste man his awin kye,A right puir clan thy name wad be.’[107]Brepresents that the king, after appointing a meeting with the Outlaw ‘in number not above two or three,’ comes with a company of three hundred, which violation of the mutual understanding naturally leads the Outlaw to expect treachery. The king, however, not only proceeds in good faith, but, without any stipulations, at once makes the Outlaw laird of the Forest.From the note, otherwise of no value, which accompanies the Philiphaugh MS., it is clear that the ballad was known before 1700; how much earlier it is to be put we can neither ascertain nor safely conjecture, but we may say that there is nothing in the language of the piece as it stands which obliges us to assign it a much higher antiquity.[108]As to James Murray, laird of Traquair, whose lands the king had gifted lang syne,A453, 481, Sheriff Plummer remarks in Herd’s MS.: “Willielmus de Moravia had forfeited the lands of ‘trakware’ ante annum 1464. As of that date I have a charter of these lands, proceeding upon his forfeiture, granted Willielmo Douglas de Cluny.” Thomas Boyd was created Earl of Arran after his marriage with the eldest sister of James III, 1467. The Earl of Hamilton is mentionedA71, 501. Sheriff Plummer observes that there was an earl of that surname till 1503.Scott, in his preface in the Border Minstrelsy, after professing himself unable to ascertain the foundation of the tale, goes on to state the following historical possibilities:“This ballad ... commemorates a transaction supposed to have taken place betwixt a Scottish monarch and an ancestor of the ancient family of Murray of Philiphaugh in Selkirkshire.... It is certain that during the civil wars betwixt Bruce and Baliol the family of Philiphaugh existed and was powerful, for their ancestor, Archibald de Moravia, subscribes the oath of fealty to Edward I,A. D.1296. It is therefore not unlikely that, residing in a wild and frontier country, they may have, at one period or other during these commotions, refused allegiance to the feeble monarch of the day, and thus extorted from him some grant of territory or jurisdiction. It is also certain that, by a charter from James IV, dated November 30, 1509, John Murray of Philiphaugh is vested with the dignity of heritable Sheriff of Ettrick Forest, an office held by his descendants till the final abolition of such jurisdictions by 28th George II, cap. 23. But it seems difficult to believe that the circumstances mentioned in the ballad could occur under the reign of so vigorous a monarch as James IV. It is true that thedramatis personæintroduced seem to refer to the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century; but from this it can only be argued that the author himself lived soon after that period. It may therefore be supposed (unless further evidence can be produced tending to invalidate the conclusion) that the bard, willing to pay his court to the family, has connected his grant of the sheriffship by James IV with some former dispute betwixt the Murrays of Philiphaugh and their sovereign, occurring either while they were engaged upon the side of Baliol, or in the subsequent reigns of David II and Robert II and III, when the English possessed great part of the Scottishfrontier, and the rest was in so lawless a state as hardly to acknowledge any superior.“At the same time, this reasoning is not absolutely conclusive. James IV had particular reasons for desiring that Ettrick Forest, which actually formed part of the jointure-lands of Margaret, his queen, should be kept in a state of tranquillity: Rymer, vol. xiii, p. 66. In order to accomplish this object, it was natural for him, according to the policy of his predecessors, to invest one great family with the power of keeping order among the rest. It is even probable that the Philiphaugh family may have had claims upon part of the lordship of Ettrick Forest, which lay intermingled with their own extensive possessions, and in the course of arranging, not, indeed, the feudal superiority, but the property of these lands, a dispute may have arisen of sufficient importance to be the groundwork of a ballad.“It is farther probable that the Murrays, like other Border clans, were in a very lawless state, and held their lands merely by occupancy, without any feudal right. Indeed, the lands of the various proprietors in Ettrick Forest (being a royal demesne) were held by the possessors, not in property, but as the kindly tenants, or rentallers, of the crown.... This state of possession naturally led to a confusion of rights and claims. The kings of Scotland were often reduced to the humiliating necessity of compromising such matters with their rebellious subjects, and James himself even entered into a sort of league with Johnnie Faa, the king of the gypsies. Perhaps, therefore, the tradition handed down in this way may have had more foundation than it would at present be proper positively to assert.”In the way of comment upon these surmises of Scott, which proceed mainly upon what we do not know, it may be alleged that we have a fairly good record of the relations of Selkirkshire to the Scottish crown during the fourteenth century, when this district was so often changing hands between the English and the Scotch, and that there is no indication of any Murray having been concerned in winning it from the Southron, as is pretended in the ballad, either then or at any time, so that this part of the story may be set down as pure invention.[109]Hardly less fictitious seems to be the dispute between the Scottish king and a Murray, in relation to the tenure. The Murrays first became connected with Selkirkshire in 1461. John de Moravia then acquired the lands of Philiphaugh, and was afterwards appointed Custos of Newark Castle, and came into possession of Hangingshaw and Lewinshope. All of these are attributed to the Outlaw in the ballad. This John Murray was a contemporary of Boyd, Earl of Arran, and of the forfeited Murray of Traquair, but, with all this, nobody has pitched upon him for the Outlaw; and it would not have been a happy idea, for he was on perfectly good terms, and even in great favor, with the court under James III. His grandson, John Murray, was in equal or greater favor with James IV, and was made hereditary Sheriff of Selkirk in 1509, and for this last reason has been proposed for the Outlaw, though “nothing could be more improbable than that this orderly, ‘circumspect,’ and law-enforcing officer of the crown should ever take up an attitude of rebellious defiance so diametrically opposed to all we really know of his character and conduct.”[110]Scott thought that light might be thrown upon the history of the ballad by the Philiphaugh family papers. Mr Craig-Brown gave them the accurate examination which Scott suggested, and came to the same conclusion as Aytoun, that the story told in the ballad is, if not altogether fictitious, at least greatly exaggerated. He is inclined to think that “some clue to the date of the ballad lies in the minstrel’s animus against the house of Buccleuch” (shown only inA b). “JamesMurray, tenth laird,” he says, “is the last mentioned in the family MSS as possessor of Newark, which castle passed into the hands of Buccleuch either in his lifetime or that of his successor, Patrick Murray. After the death of James IV at Flodden, the Queen-Regent complained loudly of Buccleuch’s encroachment upon her dowry lands of Ettrick Forest, the Custos of which domain had Newark for a residence. Buccleuch continued to keep his hold, and, as he could only do so by displacing Murray, the ill-will of the latter family was a natural consequence. By way of showing the earlier and superior title of the Murrays, the ballad-writer has either invented the storyin toto, or has amplified the tradition of an actual visit paid to a former Murray by the king. Both Sir Walter Scott and the compiler of the Family Records are of opinion that John Murray, eighth laird, is the presumptive Outlaw of the song; and, as he was undoubtedly in great favor with King James IV, nothing is more likely than that the young monarch may have ended one of his hunting-expeditions to the Forest by confirming John in his hereditary sheriffship, interrupted for a few years by the appointment of Lord Home. As a matter of fact, John Murray did in 1509 obtain a royal charter from his sovereign, of the sheriffship; but, as the office had been vacant since 1506, there is nothing improbable in the supposition that he had already claimed the family rights and taken possession of the castle. Indeed, in 1503, he acted as sheriff at the queen’s infeftment in her dowry-lands of Ettrick Forest. It would have been in thorough keeping with all that is known of James IV if his Majesty had taken the opportunity to give his favorite a half-jesting reproof for his presumption; but that Murray was ever seriously outlawed is out of the question. His king heaped honors on him; and only eighty years after his death his descendant obtained a feudal precept of his lands for gratuitous services rendered to the crown by his family, ‘without default at any time in their due obedience as became faithful subjects.’ So that, granted a royal progress to Newark, followed by Murray’s investiture with the sheriffship, the poet remains chargeable with considerable embellishment. A glorification of the family of Philiphaugh and a sneer at the rapacity of Buccleuch are the evident motives of his rhyme.”[111]“The tradition of Ettrick Forest,” says Scott, Minstrelsy, 2d ed., 1803, I, 4, “bears that the Outlaw was a man of prodigious strength, possessing a batton or club with which he laid lee (i. e.waste) the country for many miles round, and that he was at length slain by Buccleuch or some of his clan.”[112]This account is not in keeping with the conception of the Outlaw given by the ballad, but indicates the ferocious robber and murderer, the Cacus of popular story, of whom no doubt the world was actually once very guilty, and of whom there are many specimens in British tradition as elsewhere.[113]As such he seems to turn up again in Galloway, where he haunts a forest of Kirkcudbrightshire, called the Black Morrow wood, from which he sallies out “in the neighboring country at night, committing horrible outrages.” Of this personage, Mactaggart, in his Gallovidian Encyclopedia, p. 73, says:“Tradition has him a Blackimore, ... but my opinion is that he was no Blackimore; he never saw Africa; his name must have been Murray, and as he must have been, too, an outlaw and a bloody man, gloomy with foul crimes,[114]Black prefaced it, as it did Black Douglass, and that of others; so he became Black Murray.” And he addsthat this pest was disposed of by the people pouring a barrel of spirits into a spring one night when he was out on his rambles, whereof drinking the next day, he was made drunk and fell asleep, in which condition his foes dirked him; or according to others, one of the McLellans of Kirkcudbright took to the wood single-handed, found the outlaw sleeping, and drove a dirk through his head, whence the head on the dagger in the McLellans’ coat of arms.[115]2. The castle, says Scott, is supposed by the common people to have been the castle of Newark; but “this is highly improbable, because Newark was always a royal fortress.” The only important point, however, would seem to be who was the keeper of the castle. The Douglasses are spoken of as holding it from about 1326 to 1455; John de Moravia was Custos after 1462. The Outlaw’s five hundred men are shooting on Newark lee inA b184, and Newark lee is twice mentioned elsewhere in that copy. Sheriff Plummer in his letter to Herd says: This I take to be the castle of New-wark, on the west end of which are the arms of Scotland supported by two unicorns. But in Scott’s preface we are told that Sheriff Plummer has assured the editor that he remembered theinsigniaof the unicorns, etc., so often mentioned in the ballad, in existence upon the old tower at Hangingshaw. Whether the etc. covers the picture of the knight and the lady bright, and Sheriff Plummer had therefore changed his opinion, does not appear.153. “Birkendale brae, now commonly called Birkendailly [seeC21], is a steep descent at the south side of Minchmoor, which separates Tweed-dale from the Forest, at the top of which you come first in sight of New-wark Castle.” Plummer’s letter to Herd.19. Mr MacRitchie, II, 141 ff., considers that the Lincoln green dresses of the Outlaw’s men, and perhaps the purple of the Outlaw and his wife, show that they were “gypsies,” not perhaps of a swarthy color, but still people “living a certain archaic ‘heathen’ life,” at any rate a “wild and lawless life,” and “refusing to follow the course of civilization.” This inference from the costume seems to be not quite necessary, unless, or even if, all outlaws are “gypsies.” Robin Hood, in ‘Robin Hood and Queen Katherine,’ is dressed in scarlet red, and his men in Lincoln green (III, 199, 201). But green is the regular attire for men who shoot with the bow, III, 76 f., 91. Johnie Cock, when going out to ding the dun deer down, puts on Lincoln green, III, 3 ff. Will Stewart, even, when only going to a ball-match, clothes his men in green, and himself in scarlet red, II, 434, 437.51. “Penman’s core, generally called Perman’s core [Permanscore in Scott, ed. 1833], is a nick or hollow on the top of a high ridge of hills a little to the east of Minchmoor.” Plummer, as before. InB50, poor man’s house; 52, poor man’s score.[116]Aa.Herd’s MSS, II, fol. 76, I, 255, 1795.b.Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 1803, I, 1; principally from a copy found among the papers of the late Mrs Cockburn, of Edinburgh.c.Aytoun’s Ballads of Scotland, 1859, II, 131; “from an old manuscript in the Philiphaugh charter-chest,” now not accessible.d.A copy among the Philiphaugh papers, transcribed not earlier than 1848.1Etrick Forest is a fair foreste,In it grows manie a semelie trie;The hart, the hynd, the dae, the rae,And of a’ [wylde] beastis grete plentie.2There’s a castell biggit with lime and stane,O gin it stands not pleasantlie!In the fore front o that castell fairTwa unicorns are bra to see.3There’s the picture of a knight and a ladye bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;There an Outlaw keepis five hundred men,He keepis a royalle companie.4His merrie men are in [ae] liverie clad,Of the Lincoln grene so fair to see;He and his ladie in purple clad,O if they live not royallie!5Word is gane to our nobell king,In Edinburgh where that he lay,That there was an Outlaw in Etterick forestCounted him nought and all his courtrie gay.6‘I mak a vowe,’ then the goode king said,‘Unto the man that dear bought me,I’se either be king of Etrick forest,Or king of Scotland that Outlaw’s bee.’7Then spak the erle hight Hamilton,And to the noble king said he;My sovereign prince, sum counsell tak,First of your nobles, syne of me.8‘I redd you send yon bra Outlaw tillAnd see gif your man cum will he;Desire him cum and be your man,And hald of you yon forest frie.9‘And gif he refuses to do that,We’ll conquess both his lands and he,Or else we’ll throw his castell down,And mak a widowe of his gaye ladie.’10The king called on a gentleman,James Boyd, Erle of Arran; his brother was he;When James he came before the kingHe fell before him on his knie.11‘Welcum, James Boyd,’ said our nobil king,‘A message ye maun gang for me;Ye maun hie to Etrick forrest,To yon Outlaw, where dwelleth he.12‘Ask hym of quhom he haldis his lands,Or, man, wha may his master be;Desyre him come and be my man,And hald of me yon forrest frie.13‘To Edinburgh to cum and gangHis safe-warrand I sall be;And, gif he refuses to do that,We’ll conquess baith his lands and he.14‘Thou mayst vow I’ll cast his castell doun,And mak a widow of his gay ladie;I’ll hang his merrie men pair by pairIn ony frith where I may them see.’15James Boyd took his leave of the nobill king,To Etrick forrest fair came he;Down Birkendale brae when that he cam,He saw the fair forest with his ee.16Baith dae and rae and hart and hynd,And of all wylde beastis grete plentie;He heard the bows that bauldly ring,And arrows whidderand near him by.17Of the fair castell he got a sight,The like he nere saw with his ee;On the fore front of that castellTwa unicorns were bra to see.18The picture of a knight and a ladie bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;Thereat he spy’d five hundred men,Shuting with bows upon the lee.19They a’ were in ae liverie clad,Of the Lincoln grene, sae fair to see;The knight and his ladye in purple clad;O gif they lived right royallie!Therefore he kend he was master-man,And served him in his ain degree.20‘God mot thee save, brave Outlaw Murray,Thy ladie and a’ thy chivalrie!’‘Marry, thou’s wellcum, gentleman,Sum king’s-messenger thou seems to be.’21‘The King of Scotland sent me hier,And, gude Outlaw, I’m sent to thee;I wad wat of whom ye hald your lands,Or, man, wha may thy master be.’22‘Thir landis are mine,’ the Outlaw said,‘I own na king in Christentie;Frae Soudron I this forest wan,When the king nor’s knights were not to see.’23‘He desires you’l come to Edinburgh,And hald of him this forest frie;And gif you refuse to do this,He’ll conquess both thy landis and thee;He has vowd to cast thy castell down,And make a widow of thy gaye ladie.24‘He’ll hang thy merrie men pair by pair,In ony frith where he may them finde;’‘Aye, by my troth,’ the Outlaw said,‘Then wad I think me far behinde.25‘Eere the king my fair countrie get,This land that’s nativest to me,Mony of his nobils sall be cauld,Their ladies sall be right wearie.’26Then spak his ladye fair of face,She said, Without consent of meThat an outlaw shuld come before the king:I am right rad of treasonrie.27‘Bid him be gude to his lordis at hame,For Edinburgh my lord sall never see:’James tuke his leave of the Outlaw keene,To Edinburgh boun is he.28And when he came before the king,He fell before him on his knie:‘Wellcum, James Boyd,’ said the nobil king,‘What foreste is Etrick forest frie?’29‘Etrick forest is the fairest forestThat ever man saw with his ee;There’s the dae, the rae, the hart, the hynde,And of all wild beastis great plentie.30‘There’s a prittie castell of lime and stone,O gif it stands not pleasauntlie!There’s on the fore side of that castellTwa unicorns sae bra to see.31‘There’s the picture of a knight and [a] ladie bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;There the Outlaw keepis five hundred men,O gif they live not royallie!32‘His merry men in [ae] liverie clad,O the Lincoln grene, so fair to see;He and his ladye in purple clad,O gif they live not royallie!33‘He says yon forest is his ain,He wan it from the Soudronie;Sae as he won it, sae will he keep it,Contrair all kings in Christentie.’34‘Gar ray my horse,’ said the nobil king,‘To Etrick [forest] hie will I me;’Then he gard graith five thousand men,And sent them on for the forest frie.35Then word is gane the Outlaw till,In Etrick forest where dwelleth he,That the king was cumand to his cuntrie,To conquess baith his lands and he.36‘I mak a vow,’ the Outlaw said,‘I mak a vow, and that trulie,Were there but three men to tak my part,Yon king’s cuming full deir suld be.’37Then messengers he called forth,And bade them haste them speedilie:‘Ane of you go to Halliday,The laird of the Corehead is he.38‘He certain is my sister’s son,Bid him cum quick and succour me;Tell Halliday with thee to cum,And shaw him a’ the veritie.’39‘What news? what news,’ said Halliday,‘Man, frae thy master unto me?’‘Not as ye wad; seeking your aid;The king’s his mortal enemie.’40‘Aye, by my troth,’ quoth Halliday,‘Even for that it repenteth me;For, gif he lose fair Ettrick forest,He’ll take fair Moffatdale frae me.41‘I’ll meet him wi five hundred men,And surely mae, if mae may be:’[The Outlaw calld a messenger,And bid him hie him speedily.]42‘To Andrew Murray of Cockpool,That man’s a deir cousin to me;Desire him cum and make me aid,With all the power that he may be.43‘The king has vowd to cast my castell down,And mak a widow of my gay ladye;He’ll hang my merry men pair by pairI[n] ony place where he may them see.’44‘It stands me hard,’ quoth Andrew Murray,‘Judge if it stands not hard with me,To enter against a king with crown,And put my lands in jeopardie.45‘Yet, gif I cum not on the daye,Surelie at night he sall me see:’To Sir James Murray, laird of Traquair,A message came right speedilie.46‘What news? what news,’ James Murray said,‘Man, frae thy master unto me?’‘What needs I tell? for well ye kenThe king’s his mortal enemie.47‘He desires ye’ll cum and make him aid,With all the powers that ye may be:’‘And, by my troth,’ James Murray said,‘With that Outlaw I’ll live and die.48‘The king has gifted my lands lang syne,It can not be nae war with me;’.   .   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .   .49The king was cumand thro Cadden ford,And fiftene thousand men was he;They saw the forest them before,They thought it awsom for to see.50Then spak the erle hight Hamilton,And to the nobil king said he,My sovereign prince, sum counsell take,First at your nobles, syne at me.51‘Desyre him meet you at Penman’s Core,And bring four in his cumpanie;Fyve erles sall gang yoursell before,Gude cause that you suld honord be.52‘And, if he refuses to do that,Wi fire and sword we’ll follow thee;There sall never a Murray after himHave land in Etrick forest frie.’53The king then called a gentleman,Royal-banner-bearer then was he,James Hope Pringle of Torsonse by name;He came and knelit upon his knie.54‘Welcum, James Pringle of Torsonse;Ye man a message gae for me;Ye man gae to yon Outlaw Murray,Surely where bauldly bideth he.55‘Bid him meet me at Penman’s Core,And bring four of his companie;Five erles sall cum wi mysell,Gude reason I suld honord be.56‘And if he refuses to do that,Bid him look for nae gude o me;There sall never a Murray after himHave land in Etric forest frie.’57James came before the Outlaw keene,And served him in his ain degree:‘Wellcum, James Pringle of Torsonse,What tidings frae the king to me?’58‘He bids you meet him at Penman’s Core,And bring four of your companie;Five erles will cum with the king,Nae more in number will he be.59‘And gif you refuse to do that,I freely here upgive with thee,There will never a Murray after theeHave land in Etrick forest frie.60‘He’ll cast your bonny castell down,And make a widow of your gay ladie,He’ll hang your merry men pair by pairIn ony place where he may them see.’61‘It stands me hard,’ the Outlaw said,‘Judge if it stands not hard with me;I reck not of losing of mysell,But all my offspring after me.62‘Auld Haliday, young Haliday,Ye sall be twa to gang wi me;Andrew Murray and Sir James Murray,We’ll be nae mae in cumpanie.’63When that they came before the king,They fell before him on their knee:‘Grant mercy, mercy, royal king,Een for his sake who died on tre!’64‘Sicken-like mercy sall ye have,On gallows ye sall hangit be;’‘God forbid!’ quo the Outlaw then,‘I hope your Grace will better be.65‘These lands of Etrick forest fair,I wan them frae the enemie;Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them,Contrair all kings in Christentie.’66All the nobilis said, the king about,Pitye it were to see him die:‘Yet graunt me mercye, sovereign prince,Extend your favour unto me!67‘I’ll give you the keys of my castell,With the blessing of my fair ladie;Mak me the sheriff of the forest,And all my offspring after me.’68‘Wilt thou give me the keys of thy castell,With the blessing of thy fair ladye?I’ll mak the[e] shiryff of the forest,Surely while upwards grows the trie;If you be not traytour to the king,Forfaulted sall ye never be.’69‘But, prince, what sall cum o my men?When I go back, traitour they’ll ca me;I had rather lose my life and land,Eer my merry men rebukëd me.’70‘Will your merry men amend their livesAnd all their pardouns I grant thee:Now name thy landes whe’ere they be,And here I render them to thee.’71‘Fair Philiphaugh, prince, is my awin,I biggit it wi lime and stane;The Tinnies and the Hangingshaw,My leige, are native steeds of mine.72‘.   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .I have mony steeds in the forest shaw,But them by name I dinna knaw.’73The keys of the castell he gave the king,With the blessing of his fair ladye;He was made sheryff of Etrick forest,Surely while upward grows the trie;And, if he was not traytour to the king,Forfaulted he suld never be.74Wha ever heard, in ony tymes,Sicken an outlaw in his degreeSic favour get before a kingAs did the Outlaw Murray of the forest frie?BGlenriddell’s MSS, XI, 61, 1791.1Etterick Forest’s a pleasant land,And it grows mony a bonny tree;With buck and doe and a’ wild beast,A castle stands right bonnilie.2Yon castle has twa unicorns,The like I never saw wi my ee,The picture of a knight and lady bright,And the green hollin’s aboon her [bree].3Word is gane to Edinbro town.   .   .   .   .   .   .That there’s an Outlaw in Etterick forestThat keeps as fine a court as he.4The king has sworn a solemn oath,And he has sworn by [the Virgin Mary],He would either be king of Etterick forest,Or king of Scotland the Outlaw should be.5He has ca’d up Mr James Boyd,A highland laird I’m sure was he:‘Ye must gae to Etterick forestAnd see of wha he hads his land,And wha pays yon men meat and fee.’6He’s tane his leave o the king and court,Een as hard as he may dree;When he came in o’er Loudon edge,He viewed the forest wi his eee.7He thought it was as pleasant a landAs ever his two eyes did see,But when he came in oer ...,They were a’ ranked on Newark lee.8O waly, but they were bonny to see!Five hundred men playing at the ba;They were a’ clad in the Lincoln green,And the Outlaw’s sell in taffety.9‘Weel met you save, Outlaw,’ he says,‘You and your brave companie;The King of Scotland hath sent me here,To see whom on you hold your lands,Or who pays thir men meat and fee.’10The first ae man the answer made,It was the Outlaw he:‘The lands they are all mine,And I pay thir men meat and fee,And as I wan them so will I lose them,Contrair the kings o Cristendie.11‘I never was a king’s subject,And a king’s subject I’ll never be;For I wan them i the fields fighting,Where him and his nobles durst not come and see.’12O out bespeaks the Outlaw’s lady,I wot she spake right wisely;‘Be good unto your nobles at home,For Edinbro mine shall never see;’But meat and drink o the best I’m sure got he.13He has taen his leave o the Outlaw free,And een as hard as he may dree,While he came to the king’s court,Where he kneeld low down on his knee.14‘What news? what news, James,’ he says,‘Frae yon Outlaw and his company?’‘Yon forest is as fine a landAs ever I did see.15‘Yon Outlaw keeps as fine a courtAs any king in Cristendie;Yon lands they are here all his own,And he pays yon men meat and fee,And as he wan them so will he lose them,Contrair the kings of Cristendie.16‘He never was a king’s subject,And a king’s subject he’ll never be;For he wan them in the fields fighting,Where the king and his nobles durst not come to see.’17The king has sworn a solemn oath,And he has sworn by the Virgin Mary,He would either be king of Etterick forest,Or king of Scotland the Outlaw should be.18The king has ca’d up Mr James Pringle,Laird of Torson[s]e at the time was he:‘Ye must gae to Etterick forest,And see wha of he hads his land,And wha pays yon men meat and fee.’19-25==6-12.26‘And as I wan them so will I lose them,Contrair the kings o Cristendie;I wan them frae the Soudan Turk,When their cuckold king durst not come to see;For I wan them in the fields fighting,Where him and his nobles durst not come to see.’27-32==12-17.33‘Gar warn me Perthshire and Angus both,Fifeshire up and down, and Loudons three,For I fear of them we hae great need,.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .’34Then word is come to the Outlaw then,‘Our noble king comes on the morn,Landless men ye will a’ be;’He’s called up his little foot-page,His sister’s son I trow was he.35‘Ye must tak Etterick headEen as hard as ye can drie;Ye must gae to the Corhead and tellAndrew Brown this frae me.36‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless men we will a’ be;.   .   .   .   .   .   .And tell him to send me some supply.’37The boy has taen Etterick head,And een as hard as he may drie,Till he came to the Corhead,And he shouted out and cry’d well he.38‘What news? what news, my little boy?What news has thy master to me?’‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless then ye will a’ be.39‘Ye must meet him on the morn,And mak him some supply;’‘For if he get the forest fair frae him,He’ll hae Moffat-dale frae me.40‘I’ll meet him the morn wi five hundred men,And fifty mair, if they may be;And if he get the forest fairWe’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’41Word is gane to the Border then,To   .   .   . , the country-keeper I’m sure was he:‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless men ye will a’ be.’42‘I’ll meet him the morn wi five hundred men,And fifty mair, if they may be;And if he get the forest fair,We’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’43Word is gane to Philiphaugh,His sister’s son I’m sure was he,To meet him the morn wi some supply,‘For the noble king comes in the morn,And landless men ye will a’ be.’44‘In the day I daur not be seen,For he took a’ my lands frae meAnd gifted me them back again;Therefore against him I must not be;For if I be found against him rebel,It will be counted great treason[rie].45‘In the day I daur not be seen,But in the night he shall me findWith five hundred men and fifty, if they may be,And before he get the forest fairWe’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’46When the king came in oer Loudon edge,Wi three thousand weel teld was he,And when he came in oer ...He viewd that forest wi his ee.47The Outlaw and his men were a’Ranked on the Newark lee;They were a’ clad in the Lincoln green,And he himsell in the taffety.48An auld grey-haird knight has taen aff his cap,.   .   .   .   .   .   .‘Pardon, pardon, my sovereign liege,Two or three words to speak wi you.49‘If you please to send for the Outlaw,To see if he could with you agree,There’s not a man yon Outlaw hasBut of yours he’ll choose to be.’50The king he has taen af his cap,He held it on his majesty;‘I’ll meet him the morn at the poor man’s house,In number not above two or three;’The Outlaw says, I’ll hae as few as thee.51‘There’s Andrew Brown, and Andrew Murray,And Mess James Murray shall gang wi me,.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .And nae mae shall my number be.’52And when they came to the poor man’s coreThey waited two lang hours or three,And they were aware of the noble king coming.And hundreds three in his company.53‘I wonder what the muckle DeelHe’ll learned kings to lie,For to fetch me here frae amang my menEven like a dog for to die;But before I gang to Edinbro townMonny toom saddles shall there be.’54The king he has taen aff his cap;.   .   .   .   .   .‘It [were] great offence here,’ he says,‘And great pity to see thee die.55‘For thou shalt be laerd o this forest fairAs lang as upwards grows the treeAnd downward the twa rivers run,If the steads thou can but rightly name to me.’56‘There’s Hangingshaw high and Hangingshaw laigh,.   .   .   .   .   .   .The Tinis and the Tinis-burn,The Newark and the Newark lee.’*   *   *   *   *   *C“Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 31, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of William Laidlaw.1‘Gae fetch to me James Pringle wi hast,An see that he come speedilie,For he maun on to Ettrick forest,An see whae pays yon men meat and fee.’2When James Pringle cam down oer Birkendalee,The hawks war yellin right loudlie,The hunds war rinnin oer hill and dale,As the bugle-horn soundit bonnilie.3‘Gae tell yer king this land’s my ain,An to thir men I pay meat and fee;I took it thrae the Souden Turk,When nae sic cuckold king might be.4‘Sae as I wan, sae will I lose,Spite o the kings in Christendie;I never was a king’s subject,Nor a king’s subject will I ever be.’5‘Outlaw Murray says yon land’s his ain,And to yon men he pays meat and fee;He took it frae the Souden Turk,When you and your men durstna come and see.’6It was than the king he gat up in hast,An wow an angrie man was he!‘I’se either be king o Ettrick forest,Or king o Scotland sal he be.7‘Gar warn me Fife an a’ Lothian land,An Perth an Angus, to ride wi me,For gin we war five thousan strangMaster and mair I fear he’ll be.’8When the king came oer be Birkendalee,He spy’d the forest wi his ee;There war daes an raes an monie wild beast,An a castle stannin right bonnilie.9An in that castle a unicorn,An, waly, but they war fair to see!A warlike knight and a lady bright,An the green halleen aboon her bree.10An Outlaw Murray an his merry menWar a’ rankit up i the Newark lee,Well mountit on a milk-white steed;Waly, he rankit them bonnilie!11His men war a clad oer wi green,An he was clad i the taffatie,Wi belt an pistle by his side;O waly, but they war fair to see!*   *   *   *   *   *12‘Haliday young an Haliday auld,Ye ir the men that man ride wi me;But gin we war five hunder strangMaster an mair I fear they’ll be.’*   *   *   *   *   *13‘Philliphaugh it is my ain,An Newark it belangs to me;Lewinshope an HanginshawNae mortal man can claim thrae me.’*   *   *   *   *   *14It was than James Boyd got up in hast,An to his merry men a’ spak he;.   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .A.a.The division of stanzas as made in the MS. has been changed in 195-236, 685-736. Of course all the stanzas were originally of four verses, but in some cases it is not now possible to determine at what points verses have been lost. Two lines are in the MS. indicated (conjecturally, no doubt) to have dropped out after 412, 482, 704. 413,4have been supplied from the copy in Herd’s first volume. There are asterisks in HerdIafter 524.14.Cf.162, 294,andb.41, 321.Cf.191andb.Butcagrees witha.51.Side note in MS.: James II, 1454.314. lived.342.Cf.b,c.Variations in Herd, I (not regarding spelling).24, 41. arewanting. 32. the brie.33. hundir.54. his country.61. thenwanting.114. he dwelleth he.164. him near by.173. fair front.213. land.311. and a.313. keeps him: hunder.351. Outlaws (wrongly).413,4.As supplied in the text.Cf.c.582. bring him four.584. Nae mae.624. nae mair.634. sake that.651. Thir.683. mak thee.684. upward.

A.

a.‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ Herd’s MSS, II, fol. 76; ‘The Outlaw Murray,’ I, 255.b.‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ Scott’s Minstrelsy, second edition, 1803, I, 1.c.‘The Song of the Outlaw Murray,’ Aytoun’s Ballads of Scotland, 1859, II, 131, “from an old manuscript in the Philiphaugh charter-chest.”d.‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ the copy now extant among the Philiphaugh papers.B.‘An old song called Outlaw Murray,’ Glenriddell MSS, XI, 61, 1791.C.‘Outlaw Murray, an antient historical ballad,’ fragments, “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 31, Abbotsford, in the handwriting of William Laidlaw.

a.‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ Herd’s MSS, II, fol. 76; ‘The Outlaw Murray,’ I, 255.

b.‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ Scott’s Minstrelsy, second edition, 1803, I, 1.

c.‘The Song of the Outlaw Murray,’ Aytoun’s Ballads of Scotland, 1859, II, 131, “from an old manuscript in the Philiphaugh charter-chest.”

d.‘The Sang of the Outlaw Murray,’ the copy now extant among the Philiphaugh papers.

B.‘An old song called Outlaw Murray,’ Glenriddell MSS, XI, 61, 1791.

C.‘Outlaw Murray, an antient historical ballad,’ fragments, “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 31, Abbotsford, in the handwriting of William Laidlaw.

First printed in Scott’s Minstrelsy, 1802, I, 1.

A a,b,c(disregarding Scott’s interpolations inb), do not differ more than transcripts of one original may be expected to do, remembering that copyists are apt to indulge in trivial verbal improvements.[103]awas sent David Herd, with a letter dated January 12, 1795, by Andrew Plummer, Sheriff-Depute of Selkirk, as received by carrier from a lady, who neglected to impart how she came by the copy. In this instance, contrary to what I believe to be the general rule, the second volume of Herd’s MSS seems to have the original text.[104]awas printed, but not with absolute fidelity, by Maidment, Scotish Ballads and Songs, 1868, II, 66. Forb, “the copy principally resorted to,” says Scott, “is one, apparently of considerable antiquity, which was found among the papers of the late Mrs Cockburn of Edinburgh.” Scott made occasional use of Herd’s MS. and of Glenriddell’s, inserted some stanzas which he had received from Sheriff Plummer, and in the second edition (otherwise slightly altered) two stanzas from the recitation of Mungo Park. Mrs Cockburn’s MS. evidently agreed very nearly with the copy in Herd, so far as the latter goes. I much regret that exertions made to secure the Cockburn MS. did not result successfully.c.“From a note appended to the ballad, explanatory of its circumstances, in which reference is made to Lord Philiphaugh (a judge of Session) as being then alive,” says Aytoun, “the manuscript must have been written between the years 1689 and 1702.”[105]The original manuscript, unfortunately and inexplicably, is no longer in the Philiphaugh archives, and has not come to light after search. The text, if earlier transcribed, shows no internal evidence of superior age, and exhibits several inferior readings,—two that are highly objectionable.[106]d, the copy actually preserved among thePhiliphaugh papers, is evinced by a watermark to be not older than 1848. It shows variations from Aytoun’s printed text which cannot be other than wilful alterations.

B, which is both defective, corrupted, and chargeable with flat repetition, andC, a few fragmentary verses, are all that have been retrieved from tradition, although Scott says that the ballad “has been for ages a popular song in Selkirkshire.”

A manuscript copy was understood to be in possession of the late Mr George Wilson, S. S. C., Edinburgh, but, as in the case of the original of the Philiphaugh MS. and in that of Mrs Cockburn’s copy, inquiry and search were fruitless.

The king of Scotland is informed that there is an Outlaw in Ettrick Forest who makes no account of him; the king vows that he will be king of Ettrick Forest, or the Outlaw shall be king of Scotland. Earl Hamilton advises that an envoy be sent to the Outlaw to ascertain whether he is willing to do homage to the king and hold the forest of him; if the Outlaw should refuse, then they will proceed to extremities with him. The king sends Boyd, Earl of Arran, to announce his terms: the Outlaw is to do homage; otherwise he and his lands will be subjugated, his castle levelled, his wife made a widow, and his men be hanged. The messenger demands of the Outlaw, in the king’s name, of whom he holds his lands; the Outlaw replies that the lands are his own, won by himself from the Southron, and that he recognizes no king in Christendom. The messenger intimates that it will nevertheless be necessary for the Outlaw to do homage to the king of Scotland, under the penalties before mentioned. Many of the king’s nobles shall lie cold first, he replies. Boyd reports to his master that the Outlaw claims to hold the forest by his own right, which he will maintain against all kings in Christendom; the king prepares to enforce his sovereignty with five thousand men.

The Outlaw vows that the king shall pay dear for his coming, and sends for succor to three of his kinsmen, all of whom promise help. As the king approaches the forest, Hamilton ventures to give further advice: that the Outlaw should be summoned to come with four of his best men to meet the king and five earls; fire, sword, and forfeiture to follow upon refusal. The Outlaw bethinks himself of his children, and complies. He and his company fall on their knees and implore the king’s mercy; his mercy shall be the gallows, says the king. The Outlaw protests again that he won his lands from the enemy, and as he won them so will he keep them, against all kings in Christendom; but having indulged in this vaunt asks mercy again, and offers to give up the keys of his castle if the king will constitute him and his successors sheriffs of the forest. The king, on his part, is equally ready for a compromise. The Outlaw, on surrendering the keys of his castle, shall be made sheriff of Ettrick Forest, and shall never be forfeited as long as he continues loyal, and his men shall have pardon if they amend their lives. After all the strong language on both sides, the Outlaw has only to name his lands (but gives a very imperfect list), and the king (waiving complete particulars) renders him whatever he is pleased to claim, and makes him sheriff of Ettrick Forest while upwards grows the tree.

So far all the copies ofAconcur, as to the story, except thatc22, 33, by an absurd corruption, makes the Outlaw to have won his lands, not from the Soudron, the Soudronie, but from Soldan Turk, the Soldanie; in which respectA cis followed byB26,C3, 5. Between 52 and 53,bintroduces this passage:

Then spak the kene laird of Buckscleuth,A stalworthye man and sterne was he:‘For a king to gang an outlaw tillIs beneath his state and his dignitie.‘The man that wons yon foreste intill,He lives by reif and felonie;Wherefore, brayd on, my sovereign liege,Wi fire and sword we’ll follow thee,Or, gif your courtrie lords fa back,Our borderers sall the onset gie.’Then out and spak the nobil king,And round him cast a wilie ee:‘Now haud thy tongue, Sir Walter Scott,Nor speik of reif nor felonie,For had everye honeste man his awin kye,A right puir clan thy name wad be.’[107]

Then spak the kene laird of Buckscleuth,A stalworthye man and sterne was he:‘For a king to gang an outlaw tillIs beneath his state and his dignitie.‘The man that wons yon foreste intill,He lives by reif and felonie;Wherefore, brayd on, my sovereign liege,Wi fire and sword we’ll follow thee,Or, gif your courtrie lords fa back,Our borderers sall the onset gie.’Then out and spak the nobil king,And round him cast a wilie ee:‘Now haud thy tongue, Sir Walter Scott,Nor speik of reif nor felonie,For had everye honeste man his awin kye,A right puir clan thy name wad be.’[107]

Then spak the kene laird of Buckscleuth,A stalworthye man and sterne was he:‘For a king to gang an outlaw tillIs beneath his state and his dignitie.

Then spak the kene laird of Buckscleuth,

A stalworthye man and sterne was he:

‘For a king to gang an outlaw till

Is beneath his state and his dignitie.

‘The man that wons yon foreste intill,He lives by reif and felonie;Wherefore, brayd on, my sovereign liege,Wi fire and sword we’ll follow thee,Or, gif your courtrie lords fa back,Our borderers sall the onset gie.’

‘The man that wons yon foreste intill,

He lives by reif and felonie;

Wherefore, brayd on, my sovereign liege,

Wi fire and sword we’ll follow thee,

Or, gif your courtrie lords fa back,

Our borderers sall the onset gie.’

Then out and spak the nobil king,And round him cast a wilie ee:‘Now haud thy tongue, Sir Walter Scott,Nor speik of reif nor felonie,For had everye honeste man his awin kye,A right puir clan thy name wad be.’[107]

Then out and spak the nobil king,

And round him cast a wilie ee:

‘Now haud thy tongue, Sir Walter Scott,

Nor speik of reif nor felonie,

For had everye honeste man his awin kye,

A right puir clan thy name wad be.’[107]

Brepresents that the king, after appointing a meeting with the Outlaw ‘in number not above two or three,’ comes with a company of three hundred, which violation of the mutual understanding naturally leads the Outlaw to expect treachery. The king, however, not only proceeds in good faith, but, without any stipulations, at once makes the Outlaw laird of the Forest.

From the note, otherwise of no value, which accompanies the Philiphaugh MS., it is clear that the ballad was known before 1700; how much earlier it is to be put we can neither ascertain nor safely conjecture, but we may say that there is nothing in the language of the piece as it stands which obliges us to assign it a much higher antiquity.[108]

As to James Murray, laird of Traquair, whose lands the king had gifted lang syne,A453, 481, Sheriff Plummer remarks in Herd’s MS.: “Willielmus de Moravia had forfeited the lands of ‘trakware’ ante annum 1464. As of that date I have a charter of these lands, proceeding upon his forfeiture, granted Willielmo Douglas de Cluny.” Thomas Boyd was created Earl of Arran after his marriage with the eldest sister of James III, 1467. The Earl of Hamilton is mentionedA71, 501. Sheriff Plummer observes that there was an earl of that surname till 1503.

Scott, in his preface in the Border Minstrelsy, after professing himself unable to ascertain the foundation of the tale, goes on to state the following historical possibilities:

“This ballad ... commemorates a transaction supposed to have taken place betwixt a Scottish monarch and an ancestor of the ancient family of Murray of Philiphaugh in Selkirkshire.... It is certain that during the civil wars betwixt Bruce and Baliol the family of Philiphaugh existed and was powerful, for their ancestor, Archibald de Moravia, subscribes the oath of fealty to Edward I,A. D.1296. It is therefore not unlikely that, residing in a wild and frontier country, they may have, at one period or other during these commotions, refused allegiance to the feeble monarch of the day, and thus extorted from him some grant of territory or jurisdiction. It is also certain that, by a charter from James IV, dated November 30, 1509, John Murray of Philiphaugh is vested with the dignity of heritable Sheriff of Ettrick Forest, an office held by his descendants till the final abolition of such jurisdictions by 28th George II, cap. 23. But it seems difficult to believe that the circumstances mentioned in the ballad could occur under the reign of so vigorous a monarch as James IV. It is true that thedramatis personæintroduced seem to refer to the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century; but from this it can only be argued that the author himself lived soon after that period. It may therefore be supposed (unless further evidence can be produced tending to invalidate the conclusion) that the bard, willing to pay his court to the family, has connected his grant of the sheriffship by James IV with some former dispute betwixt the Murrays of Philiphaugh and their sovereign, occurring either while they were engaged upon the side of Baliol, or in the subsequent reigns of David II and Robert II and III, when the English possessed great part of the Scottishfrontier, and the rest was in so lawless a state as hardly to acknowledge any superior.

“At the same time, this reasoning is not absolutely conclusive. James IV had particular reasons for desiring that Ettrick Forest, which actually formed part of the jointure-lands of Margaret, his queen, should be kept in a state of tranquillity: Rymer, vol. xiii, p. 66. In order to accomplish this object, it was natural for him, according to the policy of his predecessors, to invest one great family with the power of keeping order among the rest. It is even probable that the Philiphaugh family may have had claims upon part of the lordship of Ettrick Forest, which lay intermingled with their own extensive possessions, and in the course of arranging, not, indeed, the feudal superiority, but the property of these lands, a dispute may have arisen of sufficient importance to be the groundwork of a ballad.

“It is farther probable that the Murrays, like other Border clans, were in a very lawless state, and held their lands merely by occupancy, without any feudal right. Indeed, the lands of the various proprietors in Ettrick Forest (being a royal demesne) were held by the possessors, not in property, but as the kindly tenants, or rentallers, of the crown.... This state of possession naturally led to a confusion of rights and claims. The kings of Scotland were often reduced to the humiliating necessity of compromising such matters with their rebellious subjects, and James himself even entered into a sort of league with Johnnie Faa, the king of the gypsies. Perhaps, therefore, the tradition handed down in this way may have had more foundation than it would at present be proper positively to assert.”

In the way of comment upon these surmises of Scott, which proceed mainly upon what we do not know, it may be alleged that we have a fairly good record of the relations of Selkirkshire to the Scottish crown during the fourteenth century, when this district was so often changing hands between the English and the Scotch, and that there is no indication of any Murray having been concerned in winning it from the Southron, as is pretended in the ballad, either then or at any time, so that this part of the story may be set down as pure invention.[109]Hardly less fictitious seems to be the dispute between the Scottish king and a Murray, in relation to the tenure. The Murrays first became connected with Selkirkshire in 1461. John de Moravia then acquired the lands of Philiphaugh, and was afterwards appointed Custos of Newark Castle, and came into possession of Hangingshaw and Lewinshope. All of these are attributed to the Outlaw in the ballad. This John Murray was a contemporary of Boyd, Earl of Arran, and of the forfeited Murray of Traquair, but, with all this, nobody has pitched upon him for the Outlaw; and it would not have been a happy idea, for he was on perfectly good terms, and even in great favor, with the court under James III. His grandson, John Murray, was in equal or greater favor with James IV, and was made hereditary Sheriff of Selkirk in 1509, and for this last reason has been proposed for the Outlaw, though “nothing could be more improbable than that this orderly, ‘circumspect,’ and law-enforcing officer of the crown should ever take up an attitude of rebellious defiance so diametrically opposed to all we really know of his character and conduct.”[110]

Scott thought that light might be thrown upon the history of the ballad by the Philiphaugh family papers. Mr Craig-Brown gave them the accurate examination which Scott suggested, and came to the same conclusion as Aytoun, that the story told in the ballad is, if not altogether fictitious, at least greatly exaggerated. He is inclined to think that “some clue to the date of the ballad lies in the minstrel’s animus against the house of Buccleuch” (shown only inA b). “JamesMurray, tenth laird,” he says, “is the last mentioned in the family MSS as possessor of Newark, which castle passed into the hands of Buccleuch either in his lifetime or that of his successor, Patrick Murray. After the death of James IV at Flodden, the Queen-Regent complained loudly of Buccleuch’s encroachment upon her dowry lands of Ettrick Forest, the Custos of which domain had Newark for a residence. Buccleuch continued to keep his hold, and, as he could only do so by displacing Murray, the ill-will of the latter family was a natural consequence. By way of showing the earlier and superior title of the Murrays, the ballad-writer has either invented the storyin toto, or has amplified the tradition of an actual visit paid to a former Murray by the king. Both Sir Walter Scott and the compiler of the Family Records are of opinion that John Murray, eighth laird, is the presumptive Outlaw of the song; and, as he was undoubtedly in great favor with King James IV, nothing is more likely than that the young monarch may have ended one of his hunting-expeditions to the Forest by confirming John in his hereditary sheriffship, interrupted for a few years by the appointment of Lord Home. As a matter of fact, John Murray did in 1509 obtain a royal charter from his sovereign, of the sheriffship; but, as the office had been vacant since 1506, there is nothing improbable in the supposition that he had already claimed the family rights and taken possession of the castle. Indeed, in 1503, he acted as sheriff at the queen’s infeftment in her dowry-lands of Ettrick Forest. It would have been in thorough keeping with all that is known of James IV if his Majesty had taken the opportunity to give his favorite a half-jesting reproof for his presumption; but that Murray was ever seriously outlawed is out of the question. His king heaped honors on him; and only eighty years after his death his descendant obtained a feudal precept of his lands for gratuitous services rendered to the crown by his family, ‘without default at any time in their due obedience as became faithful subjects.’ So that, granted a royal progress to Newark, followed by Murray’s investiture with the sheriffship, the poet remains chargeable with considerable embellishment. A glorification of the family of Philiphaugh and a sneer at the rapacity of Buccleuch are the evident motives of his rhyme.”[111]

“The tradition of Ettrick Forest,” says Scott, Minstrelsy, 2d ed., 1803, I, 4, “bears that the Outlaw was a man of prodigious strength, possessing a batton or club with which he laid lee (i. e.waste) the country for many miles round, and that he was at length slain by Buccleuch or some of his clan.”[112]This account is not in keeping with the conception of the Outlaw given by the ballad, but indicates the ferocious robber and murderer, the Cacus of popular story, of whom no doubt the world was actually once very guilty, and of whom there are many specimens in British tradition as elsewhere.[113]As such he seems to turn up again in Galloway, where he haunts a forest of Kirkcudbrightshire, called the Black Morrow wood, from which he sallies out “in the neighboring country at night, committing horrible outrages.” Of this personage, Mactaggart, in his Gallovidian Encyclopedia, p. 73, says:

“Tradition has him a Blackimore, ... but my opinion is that he was no Blackimore; he never saw Africa; his name must have been Murray, and as he must have been, too, an outlaw and a bloody man, gloomy with foul crimes,[114]Black prefaced it, as it did Black Douglass, and that of others; so he became Black Murray.” And he addsthat this pest was disposed of by the people pouring a barrel of spirits into a spring one night when he was out on his rambles, whereof drinking the next day, he was made drunk and fell asleep, in which condition his foes dirked him; or according to others, one of the McLellans of Kirkcudbright took to the wood single-handed, found the outlaw sleeping, and drove a dirk through his head, whence the head on the dagger in the McLellans’ coat of arms.[115]

2. The castle, says Scott, is supposed by the common people to have been the castle of Newark; but “this is highly improbable, because Newark was always a royal fortress.” The only important point, however, would seem to be who was the keeper of the castle. The Douglasses are spoken of as holding it from about 1326 to 1455; John de Moravia was Custos after 1462. The Outlaw’s five hundred men are shooting on Newark lee inA b184, and Newark lee is twice mentioned elsewhere in that copy. Sheriff Plummer in his letter to Herd says: This I take to be the castle of New-wark, on the west end of which are the arms of Scotland supported by two unicorns. But in Scott’s preface we are told that Sheriff Plummer has assured the editor that he remembered theinsigniaof the unicorns, etc., so often mentioned in the ballad, in existence upon the old tower at Hangingshaw. Whether the etc. covers the picture of the knight and the lady bright, and Sheriff Plummer had therefore changed his opinion, does not appear.

153. “Birkendale brae, now commonly called Birkendailly [seeC21], is a steep descent at the south side of Minchmoor, which separates Tweed-dale from the Forest, at the top of which you come first in sight of New-wark Castle.” Plummer’s letter to Herd.

19. Mr MacRitchie, II, 141 ff., considers that the Lincoln green dresses of the Outlaw’s men, and perhaps the purple of the Outlaw and his wife, show that they were “gypsies,” not perhaps of a swarthy color, but still people “living a certain archaic ‘heathen’ life,” at any rate a “wild and lawless life,” and “refusing to follow the course of civilization.” This inference from the costume seems to be not quite necessary, unless, or even if, all outlaws are “gypsies.” Robin Hood, in ‘Robin Hood and Queen Katherine,’ is dressed in scarlet red, and his men in Lincoln green (III, 199, 201). But green is the regular attire for men who shoot with the bow, III, 76 f., 91. Johnie Cock, when going out to ding the dun deer down, puts on Lincoln green, III, 3 ff. Will Stewart, even, when only going to a ball-match, clothes his men in green, and himself in scarlet red, II, 434, 437.

51. “Penman’s core, generally called Perman’s core [Permanscore in Scott, ed. 1833], is a nick or hollow on the top of a high ridge of hills a little to the east of Minchmoor.” Plummer, as before. InB50, poor man’s house; 52, poor man’s score.[116]

a.Herd’s MSS, II, fol. 76, I, 255, 1795.b.Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 1803, I, 1; principally from a copy found among the papers of the late Mrs Cockburn, of Edinburgh.c.Aytoun’s Ballads of Scotland, 1859, II, 131; “from an old manuscript in the Philiphaugh charter-chest,” now not accessible.d.A copy among the Philiphaugh papers, transcribed not earlier than 1848.

a.Herd’s MSS, II, fol. 76, I, 255, 1795.b.Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 1803, I, 1; principally from a copy found among the papers of the late Mrs Cockburn, of Edinburgh.c.Aytoun’s Ballads of Scotland, 1859, II, 131; “from an old manuscript in the Philiphaugh charter-chest,” now not accessible.d.A copy among the Philiphaugh papers, transcribed not earlier than 1848.

1Etrick Forest is a fair foreste,In it grows manie a semelie trie;The hart, the hynd, the dae, the rae,And of a’ [wylde] beastis grete plentie.2There’s a castell biggit with lime and stane,O gin it stands not pleasantlie!In the fore front o that castell fairTwa unicorns are bra to see.3There’s the picture of a knight and a ladye bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;There an Outlaw keepis five hundred men,He keepis a royalle companie.4His merrie men are in [ae] liverie clad,Of the Lincoln grene so fair to see;He and his ladie in purple clad,O if they live not royallie!5Word is gane to our nobell king,In Edinburgh where that he lay,That there was an Outlaw in Etterick forestCounted him nought and all his courtrie gay.6‘I mak a vowe,’ then the goode king said,‘Unto the man that dear bought me,I’se either be king of Etrick forest,Or king of Scotland that Outlaw’s bee.’7Then spak the erle hight Hamilton,And to the noble king said he;My sovereign prince, sum counsell tak,First of your nobles, syne of me.8‘I redd you send yon bra Outlaw tillAnd see gif your man cum will he;Desire him cum and be your man,And hald of you yon forest frie.9‘And gif he refuses to do that,We’ll conquess both his lands and he,Or else we’ll throw his castell down,And mak a widowe of his gaye ladie.’10The king called on a gentleman,James Boyd, Erle of Arran; his brother was he;When James he came before the kingHe fell before him on his knie.11‘Welcum, James Boyd,’ said our nobil king,‘A message ye maun gang for me;Ye maun hie to Etrick forrest,To yon Outlaw, where dwelleth he.12‘Ask hym of quhom he haldis his lands,Or, man, wha may his master be;Desyre him come and be my man,And hald of me yon forrest frie.13‘To Edinburgh to cum and gangHis safe-warrand I sall be;And, gif he refuses to do that,We’ll conquess baith his lands and he.14‘Thou mayst vow I’ll cast his castell doun,And mak a widow of his gay ladie;I’ll hang his merrie men pair by pairIn ony frith where I may them see.’15James Boyd took his leave of the nobill king,To Etrick forrest fair came he;Down Birkendale brae when that he cam,He saw the fair forest with his ee.16Baith dae and rae and hart and hynd,And of all wylde beastis grete plentie;He heard the bows that bauldly ring,And arrows whidderand near him by.17Of the fair castell he got a sight,The like he nere saw with his ee;On the fore front of that castellTwa unicorns were bra to see.18The picture of a knight and a ladie bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;Thereat he spy’d five hundred men,Shuting with bows upon the lee.19They a’ were in ae liverie clad,Of the Lincoln grene, sae fair to see;The knight and his ladye in purple clad;O gif they lived right royallie!Therefore he kend he was master-man,And served him in his ain degree.20‘God mot thee save, brave Outlaw Murray,Thy ladie and a’ thy chivalrie!’‘Marry, thou’s wellcum, gentleman,Sum king’s-messenger thou seems to be.’21‘The King of Scotland sent me hier,And, gude Outlaw, I’m sent to thee;I wad wat of whom ye hald your lands,Or, man, wha may thy master be.’22‘Thir landis are mine,’ the Outlaw said,‘I own na king in Christentie;Frae Soudron I this forest wan,When the king nor’s knights were not to see.’23‘He desires you’l come to Edinburgh,And hald of him this forest frie;And gif you refuse to do this,He’ll conquess both thy landis and thee;He has vowd to cast thy castell down,And make a widow of thy gaye ladie.24‘He’ll hang thy merrie men pair by pair,In ony frith where he may them finde;’‘Aye, by my troth,’ the Outlaw said,‘Then wad I think me far behinde.25‘Eere the king my fair countrie get,This land that’s nativest to me,Mony of his nobils sall be cauld,Their ladies sall be right wearie.’26Then spak his ladye fair of face,She said, Without consent of meThat an outlaw shuld come before the king:I am right rad of treasonrie.27‘Bid him be gude to his lordis at hame,For Edinburgh my lord sall never see:’James tuke his leave of the Outlaw keene,To Edinburgh boun is he.28And when he came before the king,He fell before him on his knie:‘Wellcum, James Boyd,’ said the nobil king,‘What foreste is Etrick forest frie?’29‘Etrick forest is the fairest forestThat ever man saw with his ee;There’s the dae, the rae, the hart, the hynde,And of all wild beastis great plentie.30‘There’s a prittie castell of lime and stone,O gif it stands not pleasauntlie!There’s on the fore side of that castellTwa unicorns sae bra to see.31‘There’s the picture of a knight and [a] ladie bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;There the Outlaw keepis five hundred men,O gif they live not royallie!32‘His merry men in [ae] liverie clad,O the Lincoln grene, so fair to see;He and his ladye in purple clad,O gif they live not royallie!33‘He says yon forest is his ain,He wan it from the Soudronie;Sae as he won it, sae will he keep it,Contrair all kings in Christentie.’34‘Gar ray my horse,’ said the nobil king,‘To Etrick [forest] hie will I me;’Then he gard graith five thousand men,And sent them on for the forest frie.35Then word is gane the Outlaw till,In Etrick forest where dwelleth he,That the king was cumand to his cuntrie,To conquess baith his lands and he.36‘I mak a vow,’ the Outlaw said,‘I mak a vow, and that trulie,Were there but three men to tak my part,Yon king’s cuming full deir suld be.’37Then messengers he called forth,And bade them haste them speedilie:‘Ane of you go to Halliday,The laird of the Corehead is he.38‘He certain is my sister’s son,Bid him cum quick and succour me;Tell Halliday with thee to cum,And shaw him a’ the veritie.’39‘What news? what news,’ said Halliday,‘Man, frae thy master unto me?’‘Not as ye wad; seeking your aid;The king’s his mortal enemie.’40‘Aye, by my troth,’ quoth Halliday,‘Even for that it repenteth me;For, gif he lose fair Ettrick forest,He’ll take fair Moffatdale frae me.41‘I’ll meet him wi five hundred men,And surely mae, if mae may be:’[The Outlaw calld a messenger,And bid him hie him speedily.]42‘To Andrew Murray of Cockpool,That man’s a deir cousin to me;Desire him cum and make me aid,With all the power that he may be.43‘The king has vowd to cast my castell down,And mak a widow of my gay ladye;He’ll hang my merry men pair by pairI[n] ony place where he may them see.’44‘It stands me hard,’ quoth Andrew Murray,‘Judge if it stands not hard with me,To enter against a king with crown,And put my lands in jeopardie.45‘Yet, gif I cum not on the daye,Surelie at night he sall me see:’To Sir James Murray, laird of Traquair,A message came right speedilie.46‘What news? what news,’ James Murray said,‘Man, frae thy master unto me?’‘What needs I tell? for well ye kenThe king’s his mortal enemie.47‘He desires ye’ll cum and make him aid,With all the powers that ye may be:’‘And, by my troth,’ James Murray said,‘With that Outlaw I’ll live and die.48‘The king has gifted my lands lang syne,It can not be nae war with me;’.   .   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .   .49The king was cumand thro Cadden ford,And fiftene thousand men was he;They saw the forest them before,They thought it awsom for to see.50Then spak the erle hight Hamilton,And to the nobil king said he,My sovereign prince, sum counsell take,First at your nobles, syne at me.51‘Desyre him meet you at Penman’s Core,And bring four in his cumpanie;Fyve erles sall gang yoursell before,Gude cause that you suld honord be.52‘And, if he refuses to do that,Wi fire and sword we’ll follow thee;There sall never a Murray after himHave land in Etrick forest frie.’53The king then called a gentleman,Royal-banner-bearer then was he,James Hope Pringle of Torsonse by name;He came and knelit upon his knie.54‘Welcum, James Pringle of Torsonse;Ye man a message gae for me;Ye man gae to yon Outlaw Murray,Surely where bauldly bideth he.55‘Bid him meet me at Penman’s Core,And bring four of his companie;Five erles sall cum wi mysell,Gude reason I suld honord be.56‘And if he refuses to do that,Bid him look for nae gude o me;There sall never a Murray after himHave land in Etric forest frie.’57James came before the Outlaw keene,And served him in his ain degree:‘Wellcum, James Pringle of Torsonse,What tidings frae the king to me?’58‘He bids you meet him at Penman’s Core,And bring four of your companie;Five erles will cum with the king,Nae more in number will he be.59‘And gif you refuse to do that,I freely here upgive with thee,There will never a Murray after theeHave land in Etrick forest frie.60‘He’ll cast your bonny castell down,And make a widow of your gay ladie,He’ll hang your merry men pair by pairIn ony place where he may them see.’61‘It stands me hard,’ the Outlaw said,‘Judge if it stands not hard with me;I reck not of losing of mysell,But all my offspring after me.62‘Auld Haliday, young Haliday,Ye sall be twa to gang wi me;Andrew Murray and Sir James Murray,We’ll be nae mae in cumpanie.’63When that they came before the king,They fell before him on their knee:‘Grant mercy, mercy, royal king,Een for his sake who died on tre!’64‘Sicken-like mercy sall ye have,On gallows ye sall hangit be;’‘God forbid!’ quo the Outlaw then,‘I hope your Grace will better be.65‘These lands of Etrick forest fair,I wan them frae the enemie;Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them,Contrair all kings in Christentie.’66All the nobilis said, the king about,Pitye it were to see him die:‘Yet graunt me mercye, sovereign prince,Extend your favour unto me!67‘I’ll give you the keys of my castell,With the blessing of my fair ladie;Mak me the sheriff of the forest,And all my offspring after me.’68‘Wilt thou give me the keys of thy castell,With the blessing of thy fair ladye?I’ll mak the[e] shiryff of the forest,Surely while upwards grows the trie;If you be not traytour to the king,Forfaulted sall ye never be.’69‘But, prince, what sall cum o my men?When I go back, traitour they’ll ca me;I had rather lose my life and land,Eer my merry men rebukëd me.’70‘Will your merry men amend their livesAnd all their pardouns I grant thee:Now name thy landes whe’ere they be,And here I render them to thee.’71‘Fair Philiphaugh, prince, is my awin,I biggit it wi lime and stane;The Tinnies and the Hangingshaw,My leige, are native steeds of mine.72‘.   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .I have mony steeds in the forest shaw,But them by name I dinna knaw.’73The keys of the castell he gave the king,With the blessing of his fair ladye;He was made sheryff of Etrick forest,Surely while upward grows the trie;And, if he was not traytour to the king,Forfaulted he suld never be.74Wha ever heard, in ony tymes,Sicken an outlaw in his degreeSic favour get before a kingAs did the Outlaw Murray of the forest frie?

1Etrick Forest is a fair foreste,In it grows manie a semelie trie;The hart, the hynd, the dae, the rae,And of a’ [wylde] beastis grete plentie.2There’s a castell biggit with lime and stane,O gin it stands not pleasantlie!In the fore front o that castell fairTwa unicorns are bra to see.3There’s the picture of a knight and a ladye bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;There an Outlaw keepis five hundred men,He keepis a royalle companie.4His merrie men are in [ae] liverie clad,Of the Lincoln grene so fair to see;He and his ladie in purple clad,O if they live not royallie!5Word is gane to our nobell king,In Edinburgh where that he lay,That there was an Outlaw in Etterick forestCounted him nought and all his courtrie gay.6‘I mak a vowe,’ then the goode king said,‘Unto the man that dear bought me,I’se either be king of Etrick forest,Or king of Scotland that Outlaw’s bee.’7Then spak the erle hight Hamilton,And to the noble king said he;My sovereign prince, sum counsell tak,First of your nobles, syne of me.8‘I redd you send yon bra Outlaw tillAnd see gif your man cum will he;Desire him cum and be your man,And hald of you yon forest frie.9‘And gif he refuses to do that,We’ll conquess both his lands and he,Or else we’ll throw his castell down,And mak a widowe of his gaye ladie.’10The king called on a gentleman,James Boyd, Erle of Arran; his brother was he;When James he came before the kingHe fell before him on his knie.11‘Welcum, James Boyd,’ said our nobil king,‘A message ye maun gang for me;Ye maun hie to Etrick forrest,To yon Outlaw, where dwelleth he.12‘Ask hym of quhom he haldis his lands,Or, man, wha may his master be;Desyre him come and be my man,And hald of me yon forrest frie.13‘To Edinburgh to cum and gangHis safe-warrand I sall be;And, gif he refuses to do that,We’ll conquess baith his lands and he.14‘Thou mayst vow I’ll cast his castell doun,And mak a widow of his gay ladie;I’ll hang his merrie men pair by pairIn ony frith where I may them see.’15James Boyd took his leave of the nobill king,To Etrick forrest fair came he;Down Birkendale brae when that he cam,He saw the fair forest with his ee.16Baith dae and rae and hart and hynd,And of all wylde beastis grete plentie;He heard the bows that bauldly ring,And arrows whidderand near him by.17Of the fair castell he got a sight,The like he nere saw with his ee;On the fore front of that castellTwa unicorns were bra to see.18The picture of a knight and a ladie bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;Thereat he spy’d five hundred men,Shuting with bows upon the lee.19They a’ were in ae liverie clad,Of the Lincoln grene, sae fair to see;The knight and his ladye in purple clad;O gif they lived right royallie!Therefore he kend he was master-man,And served him in his ain degree.20‘God mot thee save, brave Outlaw Murray,Thy ladie and a’ thy chivalrie!’‘Marry, thou’s wellcum, gentleman,Sum king’s-messenger thou seems to be.’21‘The King of Scotland sent me hier,And, gude Outlaw, I’m sent to thee;I wad wat of whom ye hald your lands,Or, man, wha may thy master be.’22‘Thir landis are mine,’ the Outlaw said,‘I own na king in Christentie;Frae Soudron I this forest wan,When the king nor’s knights were not to see.’23‘He desires you’l come to Edinburgh,And hald of him this forest frie;And gif you refuse to do this,He’ll conquess both thy landis and thee;He has vowd to cast thy castell down,And make a widow of thy gaye ladie.24‘He’ll hang thy merrie men pair by pair,In ony frith where he may them finde;’‘Aye, by my troth,’ the Outlaw said,‘Then wad I think me far behinde.25‘Eere the king my fair countrie get,This land that’s nativest to me,Mony of his nobils sall be cauld,Their ladies sall be right wearie.’26Then spak his ladye fair of face,She said, Without consent of meThat an outlaw shuld come before the king:I am right rad of treasonrie.27‘Bid him be gude to his lordis at hame,For Edinburgh my lord sall never see:’James tuke his leave of the Outlaw keene,To Edinburgh boun is he.28And when he came before the king,He fell before him on his knie:‘Wellcum, James Boyd,’ said the nobil king,‘What foreste is Etrick forest frie?’29‘Etrick forest is the fairest forestThat ever man saw with his ee;There’s the dae, the rae, the hart, the hynde,And of all wild beastis great plentie.30‘There’s a prittie castell of lime and stone,O gif it stands not pleasauntlie!There’s on the fore side of that castellTwa unicorns sae bra to see.31‘There’s the picture of a knight and [a] ladie bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;There the Outlaw keepis five hundred men,O gif they live not royallie!32‘His merry men in [ae] liverie clad,O the Lincoln grene, so fair to see;He and his ladye in purple clad,O gif they live not royallie!33‘He says yon forest is his ain,He wan it from the Soudronie;Sae as he won it, sae will he keep it,Contrair all kings in Christentie.’34‘Gar ray my horse,’ said the nobil king,‘To Etrick [forest] hie will I me;’Then he gard graith five thousand men,And sent them on for the forest frie.35Then word is gane the Outlaw till,In Etrick forest where dwelleth he,That the king was cumand to his cuntrie,To conquess baith his lands and he.36‘I mak a vow,’ the Outlaw said,‘I mak a vow, and that trulie,Were there but three men to tak my part,Yon king’s cuming full deir suld be.’37Then messengers he called forth,And bade them haste them speedilie:‘Ane of you go to Halliday,The laird of the Corehead is he.38‘He certain is my sister’s son,Bid him cum quick and succour me;Tell Halliday with thee to cum,And shaw him a’ the veritie.’39‘What news? what news,’ said Halliday,‘Man, frae thy master unto me?’‘Not as ye wad; seeking your aid;The king’s his mortal enemie.’40‘Aye, by my troth,’ quoth Halliday,‘Even for that it repenteth me;For, gif he lose fair Ettrick forest,He’ll take fair Moffatdale frae me.41‘I’ll meet him wi five hundred men,And surely mae, if mae may be:’[The Outlaw calld a messenger,And bid him hie him speedily.]42‘To Andrew Murray of Cockpool,That man’s a deir cousin to me;Desire him cum and make me aid,With all the power that he may be.43‘The king has vowd to cast my castell down,And mak a widow of my gay ladye;He’ll hang my merry men pair by pairI[n] ony place where he may them see.’44‘It stands me hard,’ quoth Andrew Murray,‘Judge if it stands not hard with me,To enter against a king with crown,And put my lands in jeopardie.45‘Yet, gif I cum not on the daye,Surelie at night he sall me see:’To Sir James Murray, laird of Traquair,A message came right speedilie.46‘What news? what news,’ James Murray said,‘Man, frae thy master unto me?’‘What needs I tell? for well ye kenThe king’s his mortal enemie.47‘He desires ye’ll cum and make him aid,With all the powers that ye may be:’‘And, by my troth,’ James Murray said,‘With that Outlaw I’ll live and die.48‘The king has gifted my lands lang syne,It can not be nae war with me;’.   .   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .   .49The king was cumand thro Cadden ford,And fiftene thousand men was he;They saw the forest them before,They thought it awsom for to see.50Then spak the erle hight Hamilton,And to the nobil king said he,My sovereign prince, sum counsell take,First at your nobles, syne at me.51‘Desyre him meet you at Penman’s Core,And bring four in his cumpanie;Fyve erles sall gang yoursell before,Gude cause that you suld honord be.52‘And, if he refuses to do that,Wi fire and sword we’ll follow thee;There sall never a Murray after himHave land in Etrick forest frie.’53The king then called a gentleman,Royal-banner-bearer then was he,James Hope Pringle of Torsonse by name;He came and knelit upon his knie.54‘Welcum, James Pringle of Torsonse;Ye man a message gae for me;Ye man gae to yon Outlaw Murray,Surely where bauldly bideth he.55‘Bid him meet me at Penman’s Core,And bring four of his companie;Five erles sall cum wi mysell,Gude reason I suld honord be.56‘And if he refuses to do that,Bid him look for nae gude o me;There sall never a Murray after himHave land in Etric forest frie.’57James came before the Outlaw keene,And served him in his ain degree:‘Wellcum, James Pringle of Torsonse,What tidings frae the king to me?’58‘He bids you meet him at Penman’s Core,And bring four of your companie;Five erles will cum with the king,Nae more in number will he be.59‘And gif you refuse to do that,I freely here upgive with thee,There will never a Murray after theeHave land in Etrick forest frie.60‘He’ll cast your bonny castell down,And make a widow of your gay ladie,He’ll hang your merry men pair by pairIn ony place where he may them see.’61‘It stands me hard,’ the Outlaw said,‘Judge if it stands not hard with me;I reck not of losing of mysell,But all my offspring after me.62‘Auld Haliday, young Haliday,Ye sall be twa to gang wi me;Andrew Murray and Sir James Murray,We’ll be nae mae in cumpanie.’63When that they came before the king,They fell before him on their knee:‘Grant mercy, mercy, royal king,Een for his sake who died on tre!’64‘Sicken-like mercy sall ye have,On gallows ye sall hangit be;’‘God forbid!’ quo the Outlaw then,‘I hope your Grace will better be.65‘These lands of Etrick forest fair,I wan them frae the enemie;Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them,Contrair all kings in Christentie.’66All the nobilis said, the king about,Pitye it were to see him die:‘Yet graunt me mercye, sovereign prince,Extend your favour unto me!67‘I’ll give you the keys of my castell,With the blessing of my fair ladie;Mak me the sheriff of the forest,And all my offspring after me.’68‘Wilt thou give me the keys of thy castell,With the blessing of thy fair ladye?I’ll mak the[e] shiryff of the forest,Surely while upwards grows the trie;If you be not traytour to the king,Forfaulted sall ye never be.’69‘But, prince, what sall cum o my men?When I go back, traitour they’ll ca me;I had rather lose my life and land,Eer my merry men rebukëd me.’70‘Will your merry men amend their livesAnd all their pardouns I grant thee:Now name thy landes whe’ere they be,And here I render them to thee.’71‘Fair Philiphaugh, prince, is my awin,I biggit it wi lime and stane;The Tinnies and the Hangingshaw,My leige, are native steeds of mine.72‘.   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .I have mony steeds in the forest shaw,But them by name I dinna knaw.’73The keys of the castell he gave the king,With the blessing of his fair ladye;He was made sheryff of Etrick forest,Surely while upward grows the trie;And, if he was not traytour to the king,Forfaulted he suld never be.74Wha ever heard, in ony tymes,Sicken an outlaw in his degreeSic favour get before a kingAs did the Outlaw Murray of the forest frie?

1Etrick Forest is a fair foreste,In it grows manie a semelie trie;The hart, the hynd, the dae, the rae,And of a’ [wylde] beastis grete plentie.

1

Etrick Forest is a fair foreste,

In it grows manie a semelie trie;

The hart, the hynd, the dae, the rae,

And of a’ [wylde] beastis grete plentie.

2There’s a castell biggit with lime and stane,O gin it stands not pleasantlie!In the fore front o that castell fairTwa unicorns are bra to see.

2

There’s a castell biggit with lime and stane,

O gin it stands not pleasantlie!

In the fore front o that castell fair

Twa unicorns are bra to see.

3There’s the picture of a knight and a ladye bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;There an Outlaw keepis five hundred men,He keepis a royalle companie.

3

There’s the picture of a knight and a ladye bright,

And the grene hollin aboon their brie;

There an Outlaw keepis five hundred men,

He keepis a royalle companie.

4His merrie men are in [ae] liverie clad,Of the Lincoln grene so fair to see;He and his ladie in purple clad,O if they live not royallie!

4

His merrie men are in [ae] liverie clad,

Of the Lincoln grene so fair to see;

He and his ladie in purple clad,

O if they live not royallie!

5Word is gane to our nobell king,In Edinburgh where that he lay,That there was an Outlaw in Etterick forestCounted him nought and all his courtrie gay.

5

Word is gane to our nobell king,

In Edinburgh where that he lay,

That there was an Outlaw in Etterick forest

Counted him nought and all his courtrie gay.

6‘I mak a vowe,’ then the goode king said,‘Unto the man that dear bought me,I’se either be king of Etrick forest,Or king of Scotland that Outlaw’s bee.’

6

‘I mak a vowe,’ then the goode king said,

‘Unto the man that dear bought me,

I’se either be king of Etrick forest,

Or king of Scotland that Outlaw’s bee.’

7Then spak the erle hight Hamilton,And to the noble king said he;My sovereign prince, sum counsell tak,First of your nobles, syne of me.

7

Then spak the erle hight Hamilton,

And to the noble king said he;

My sovereign prince, sum counsell tak,

First of your nobles, syne of me.

8‘I redd you send yon bra Outlaw tillAnd see gif your man cum will he;Desire him cum and be your man,And hald of you yon forest frie.

8

‘I redd you send yon bra Outlaw till

And see gif your man cum will he;

Desire him cum and be your man,

And hald of you yon forest frie.

9‘And gif he refuses to do that,We’ll conquess both his lands and he,Or else we’ll throw his castell down,And mak a widowe of his gaye ladie.’

9

‘And gif he refuses to do that,

We’ll conquess both his lands and he,

Or else we’ll throw his castell down,

And mak a widowe of his gaye ladie.’

10The king called on a gentleman,James Boyd, Erle of Arran; his brother was he;When James he came before the kingHe fell before him on his knie.

10

The king called on a gentleman,

James Boyd, Erle of Arran; his brother was he;

When James he came before the king

He fell before him on his knie.

11‘Welcum, James Boyd,’ said our nobil king,‘A message ye maun gang for me;Ye maun hie to Etrick forrest,To yon Outlaw, where dwelleth he.

11

‘Welcum, James Boyd,’ said our nobil king,

‘A message ye maun gang for me;

Ye maun hie to Etrick forrest,

To yon Outlaw, where dwelleth he.

12‘Ask hym of quhom he haldis his lands,Or, man, wha may his master be;Desyre him come and be my man,And hald of me yon forrest frie.

12

‘Ask hym of quhom he haldis his lands,

Or, man, wha may his master be;

Desyre him come and be my man,

And hald of me yon forrest frie.

13‘To Edinburgh to cum and gangHis safe-warrand I sall be;And, gif he refuses to do that,We’ll conquess baith his lands and he.

13

‘To Edinburgh to cum and gang

His safe-warrand I sall be;

And, gif he refuses to do that,

We’ll conquess baith his lands and he.

14‘Thou mayst vow I’ll cast his castell doun,And mak a widow of his gay ladie;I’ll hang his merrie men pair by pairIn ony frith where I may them see.’

14

‘Thou mayst vow I’ll cast his castell doun,

And mak a widow of his gay ladie;

I’ll hang his merrie men pair by pair

In ony frith where I may them see.’

15James Boyd took his leave of the nobill king,To Etrick forrest fair came he;Down Birkendale brae when that he cam,He saw the fair forest with his ee.

15

James Boyd took his leave of the nobill king,

To Etrick forrest fair came he;

Down Birkendale brae when that he cam,

He saw the fair forest with his ee.

16Baith dae and rae and hart and hynd,And of all wylde beastis grete plentie;He heard the bows that bauldly ring,And arrows whidderand near him by.

16

Baith dae and rae and hart and hynd,

And of all wylde beastis grete plentie;

He heard the bows that bauldly ring,

And arrows whidderand near him by.

17Of the fair castell he got a sight,The like he nere saw with his ee;On the fore front of that castellTwa unicorns were bra to see.

17

Of the fair castell he got a sight,

The like he nere saw with his ee;

On the fore front of that castell

Twa unicorns were bra to see.

18The picture of a knight and a ladie bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;Thereat he spy’d five hundred men,Shuting with bows upon the lee.

18

The picture of a knight and a ladie bright,

And the grene hollin aboon their brie;

Thereat he spy’d five hundred men,

Shuting with bows upon the lee.

19They a’ were in ae liverie clad,Of the Lincoln grene, sae fair to see;The knight and his ladye in purple clad;O gif they lived right royallie!Therefore he kend he was master-man,And served him in his ain degree.

19

They a’ were in ae liverie clad,

Of the Lincoln grene, sae fair to see;

The knight and his ladye in purple clad;

O gif they lived right royallie!

Therefore he kend he was master-man,

And served him in his ain degree.

20‘God mot thee save, brave Outlaw Murray,Thy ladie and a’ thy chivalrie!’‘Marry, thou’s wellcum, gentleman,Sum king’s-messenger thou seems to be.’

20

‘God mot thee save, brave Outlaw Murray,

Thy ladie and a’ thy chivalrie!’

‘Marry, thou’s wellcum, gentleman,

Sum king’s-messenger thou seems to be.’

21‘The King of Scotland sent me hier,And, gude Outlaw, I’m sent to thee;I wad wat of whom ye hald your lands,Or, man, wha may thy master be.’

21

‘The King of Scotland sent me hier,

And, gude Outlaw, I’m sent to thee;

I wad wat of whom ye hald your lands,

Or, man, wha may thy master be.’

22‘Thir landis are mine,’ the Outlaw said,‘I own na king in Christentie;Frae Soudron I this forest wan,When the king nor’s knights were not to see.’

22

‘Thir landis are mine,’ the Outlaw said,

‘I own na king in Christentie;

Frae Soudron I this forest wan,

When the king nor’s knights were not to see.’

23‘He desires you’l come to Edinburgh,And hald of him this forest frie;And gif you refuse to do this,He’ll conquess both thy landis and thee;He has vowd to cast thy castell down,And make a widow of thy gaye ladie.

23

‘He desires you’l come to Edinburgh,

And hald of him this forest frie;

And gif you refuse to do this,

He’ll conquess both thy landis and thee;

He has vowd to cast thy castell down,

And make a widow of thy gaye ladie.

24‘He’ll hang thy merrie men pair by pair,In ony frith where he may them finde;’‘Aye, by my troth,’ the Outlaw said,‘Then wad I think me far behinde.

24

‘He’ll hang thy merrie men pair by pair,

In ony frith where he may them finde;’

‘Aye, by my troth,’ the Outlaw said,

‘Then wad I think me far behinde.

25‘Eere the king my fair countrie get,This land that’s nativest to me,Mony of his nobils sall be cauld,Their ladies sall be right wearie.’

25

‘Eere the king my fair countrie get,

This land that’s nativest to me,

Mony of his nobils sall be cauld,

Their ladies sall be right wearie.’

26Then spak his ladye fair of face,She said, Without consent of meThat an outlaw shuld come before the king:I am right rad of treasonrie.

26

Then spak his ladye fair of face,

She said, Without consent of me

That an outlaw shuld come before the king:

I am right rad of treasonrie.

27‘Bid him be gude to his lordis at hame,For Edinburgh my lord sall never see:’James tuke his leave of the Outlaw keene,To Edinburgh boun is he.

27

‘Bid him be gude to his lordis at hame,

For Edinburgh my lord sall never see:’

James tuke his leave of the Outlaw keene,

To Edinburgh boun is he.

28And when he came before the king,He fell before him on his knie:‘Wellcum, James Boyd,’ said the nobil king,‘What foreste is Etrick forest frie?’

28

And when he came before the king,

He fell before him on his knie:

‘Wellcum, James Boyd,’ said the nobil king,

‘What foreste is Etrick forest frie?’

29‘Etrick forest is the fairest forestThat ever man saw with his ee;There’s the dae, the rae, the hart, the hynde,And of all wild beastis great plentie.

29

‘Etrick forest is the fairest forest

That ever man saw with his ee;

There’s the dae, the rae, the hart, the hynde,

And of all wild beastis great plentie.

30‘There’s a prittie castell of lime and stone,O gif it stands not pleasauntlie!There’s on the fore side of that castellTwa unicorns sae bra to see.

30

‘There’s a prittie castell of lime and stone,

O gif it stands not pleasauntlie!

There’s on the fore side of that castell

Twa unicorns sae bra to see.

31‘There’s the picture of a knight and [a] ladie bright,And the grene hollin aboon their brie;There the Outlaw keepis five hundred men,O gif they live not royallie!

31

‘There’s the picture of a knight and [a] ladie bright,

And the grene hollin aboon their brie;

There the Outlaw keepis five hundred men,

O gif they live not royallie!

32‘His merry men in [ae] liverie clad,O the Lincoln grene, so fair to see;He and his ladye in purple clad,O gif they live not royallie!

32

‘His merry men in [ae] liverie clad,

O the Lincoln grene, so fair to see;

He and his ladye in purple clad,

O gif they live not royallie!

33‘He says yon forest is his ain,He wan it from the Soudronie;Sae as he won it, sae will he keep it,Contrair all kings in Christentie.’

33

‘He says yon forest is his ain,

He wan it from the Soudronie;

Sae as he won it, sae will he keep it,

Contrair all kings in Christentie.’

34‘Gar ray my horse,’ said the nobil king,‘To Etrick [forest] hie will I me;’Then he gard graith five thousand men,And sent them on for the forest frie.

34

‘Gar ray my horse,’ said the nobil king,

‘To Etrick [forest] hie will I me;’

Then he gard graith five thousand men,

And sent them on for the forest frie.

35Then word is gane the Outlaw till,In Etrick forest where dwelleth he,That the king was cumand to his cuntrie,To conquess baith his lands and he.

35

Then word is gane the Outlaw till,

In Etrick forest where dwelleth he,

That the king was cumand to his cuntrie,

To conquess baith his lands and he.

36‘I mak a vow,’ the Outlaw said,‘I mak a vow, and that trulie,Were there but three men to tak my part,Yon king’s cuming full deir suld be.’

36

‘I mak a vow,’ the Outlaw said,

‘I mak a vow, and that trulie,

Were there but three men to tak my part,

Yon king’s cuming full deir suld be.’

37Then messengers he called forth,And bade them haste them speedilie:‘Ane of you go to Halliday,The laird of the Corehead is he.

37

Then messengers he called forth,

And bade them haste them speedilie:

‘Ane of you go to Halliday,

The laird of the Corehead is he.

38‘He certain is my sister’s son,Bid him cum quick and succour me;Tell Halliday with thee to cum,And shaw him a’ the veritie.’

38

‘He certain is my sister’s son,

Bid him cum quick and succour me;

Tell Halliday with thee to cum,

And shaw him a’ the veritie.’

39‘What news? what news,’ said Halliday,‘Man, frae thy master unto me?’‘Not as ye wad; seeking your aid;The king’s his mortal enemie.’

39

‘What news? what news,’ said Halliday,

‘Man, frae thy master unto me?’

‘Not as ye wad; seeking your aid;

The king’s his mortal enemie.’

40‘Aye, by my troth,’ quoth Halliday,‘Even for that it repenteth me;For, gif he lose fair Ettrick forest,He’ll take fair Moffatdale frae me.

40

‘Aye, by my troth,’ quoth Halliday,

‘Even for that it repenteth me;

For, gif he lose fair Ettrick forest,

He’ll take fair Moffatdale frae me.

41‘I’ll meet him wi five hundred men,And surely mae, if mae may be:’[The Outlaw calld a messenger,And bid him hie him speedily.]

41

‘I’ll meet him wi five hundred men,

And surely mae, if mae may be:’

[The Outlaw calld a messenger,

And bid him hie him speedily.]

42‘To Andrew Murray of Cockpool,That man’s a deir cousin to me;Desire him cum and make me aid,With all the power that he may be.

42

‘To Andrew Murray of Cockpool,

That man’s a deir cousin to me;

Desire him cum and make me aid,

With all the power that he may be.

43‘The king has vowd to cast my castell down,And mak a widow of my gay ladye;He’ll hang my merry men pair by pairI[n] ony place where he may them see.’

43

‘The king has vowd to cast my castell down,

And mak a widow of my gay ladye;

He’ll hang my merry men pair by pair

I[n] ony place where he may them see.’

44‘It stands me hard,’ quoth Andrew Murray,‘Judge if it stands not hard with me,To enter against a king with crown,And put my lands in jeopardie.

44

‘It stands me hard,’ quoth Andrew Murray,

‘Judge if it stands not hard with me,

To enter against a king with crown,

And put my lands in jeopardie.

45‘Yet, gif I cum not on the daye,Surelie at night he sall me see:’To Sir James Murray, laird of Traquair,A message came right speedilie.

45

‘Yet, gif I cum not on the daye,

Surelie at night he sall me see:’

To Sir James Murray, laird of Traquair,

A message came right speedilie.

46‘What news? what news,’ James Murray said,‘Man, frae thy master unto me?’‘What needs I tell? for well ye kenThe king’s his mortal enemie.

46

‘What news? what news,’ James Murray said,

‘Man, frae thy master unto me?’

‘What needs I tell? for well ye ken

The king’s his mortal enemie.

47‘He desires ye’ll cum and make him aid,With all the powers that ye may be:’‘And, by my troth,’ James Murray said,‘With that Outlaw I’ll live and die.

47

‘He desires ye’ll cum and make him aid,

With all the powers that ye may be:’

‘And, by my troth,’ James Murray said,

‘With that Outlaw I’ll live and die.

48‘The king has gifted my lands lang syne,It can not be nae war with me;’.   .   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

48

‘The king has gifted my lands lang syne,

It can not be nae war with me;’

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

49The king was cumand thro Cadden ford,And fiftene thousand men was he;They saw the forest them before,They thought it awsom for to see.

49

The king was cumand thro Cadden ford,

And fiftene thousand men was he;

They saw the forest them before,

They thought it awsom for to see.

50Then spak the erle hight Hamilton,And to the nobil king said he,My sovereign prince, sum counsell take,First at your nobles, syne at me.

50

Then spak the erle hight Hamilton,

And to the nobil king said he,

My sovereign prince, sum counsell take,

First at your nobles, syne at me.

51‘Desyre him meet you at Penman’s Core,And bring four in his cumpanie;Fyve erles sall gang yoursell before,Gude cause that you suld honord be.

51

‘Desyre him meet you at Penman’s Core,

And bring four in his cumpanie;

Fyve erles sall gang yoursell before,

Gude cause that you suld honord be.

52‘And, if he refuses to do that,Wi fire and sword we’ll follow thee;There sall never a Murray after himHave land in Etrick forest frie.’

52

‘And, if he refuses to do that,

Wi fire and sword we’ll follow thee;

There sall never a Murray after him

Have land in Etrick forest frie.’

53The king then called a gentleman,Royal-banner-bearer then was he,James Hope Pringle of Torsonse by name;He came and knelit upon his knie.

53

The king then called a gentleman,

Royal-banner-bearer then was he,

James Hope Pringle of Torsonse by name;

He came and knelit upon his knie.

54‘Welcum, James Pringle of Torsonse;Ye man a message gae for me;Ye man gae to yon Outlaw Murray,Surely where bauldly bideth he.

54

‘Welcum, James Pringle of Torsonse;

Ye man a message gae for me;

Ye man gae to yon Outlaw Murray,

Surely where bauldly bideth he.

55‘Bid him meet me at Penman’s Core,And bring four of his companie;Five erles sall cum wi mysell,Gude reason I suld honord be.

55

‘Bid him meet me at Penman’s Core,

And bring four of his companie;

Five erles sall cum wi mysell,

Gude reason I suld honord be.

56‘And if he refuses to do that,Bid him look for nae gude o me;There sall never a Murray after himHave land in Etric forest frie.’

56

‘And if he refuses to do that,

Bid him look for nae gude o me;

There sall never a Murray after him

Have land in Etric forest frie.’

57James came before the Outlaw keene,And served him in his ain degree:‘Wellcum, James Pringle of Torsonse,What tidings frae the king to me?’

57

James came before the Outlaw keene,

And served him in his ain degree:

‘Wellcum, James Pringle of Torsonse,

What tidings frae the king to me?’

58‘He bids you meet him at Penman’s Core,And bring four of your companie;Five erles will cum with the king,Nae more in number will he be.

58

‘He bids you meet him at Penman’s Core,

And bring four of your companie;

Five erles will cum with the king,

Nae more in number will he be.

59‘And gif you refuse to do that,I freely here upgive with thee,There will never a Murray after theeHave land in Etrick forest frie.

59

‘And gif you refuse to do that,

I freely here upgive with thee,

There will never a Murray after thee

Have land in Etrick forest frie.

60‘He’ll cast your bonny castell down,And make a widow of your gay ladie,He’ll hang your merry men pair by pairIn ony place where he may them see.’

60

‘He’ll cast your bonny castell down,

And make a widow of your gay ladie,

He’ll hang your merry men pair by pair

In ony place where he may them see.’

61‘It stands me hard,’ the Outlaw said,‘Judge if it stands not hard with me;I reck not of losing of mysell,But all my offspring after me.

61

‘It stands me hard,’ the Outlaw said,

‘Judge if it stands not hard with me;

I reck not of losing of mysell,

But all my offspring after me.

62‘Auld Haliday, young Haliday,Ye sall be twa to gang wi me;Andrew Murray and Sir James Murray,We’ll be nae mae in cumpanie.’

62

‘Auld Haliday, young Haliday,

Ye sall be twa to gang wi me;

Andrew Murray and Sir James Murray,

We’ll be nae mae in cumpanie.’

63When that they came before the king,They fell before him on their knee:‘Grant mercy, mercy, royal king,Een for his sake who died on tre!’

63

When that they came before the king,

They fell before him on their knee:

‘Grant mercy, mercy, royal king,

Een for his sake who died on tre!’

64‘Sicken-like mercy sall ye have,On gallows ye sall hangit be;’‘God forbid!’ quo the Outlaw then,‘I hope your Grace will better be.

64

‘Sicken-like mercy sall ye have,

On gallows ye sall hangit be;’

‘God forbid!’ quo the Outlaw then,

‘I hope your Grace will better be.

65‘These lands of Etrick forest fair,I wan them frae the enemie;Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them,Contrair all kings in Christentie.’

65

‘These lands of Etrick forest fair,

I wan them frae the enemie;

Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them,

Contrair all kings in Christentie.’

66All the nobilis said, the king about,Pitye it were to see him die:‘Yet graunt me mercye, sovereign prince,Extend your favour unto me!

66

All the nobilis said, the king about,

Pitye it were to see him die:

‘Yet graunt me mercye, sovereign prince,

Extend your favour unto me!

67‘I’ll give you the keys of my castell,With the blessing of my fair ladie;Mak me the sheriff of the forest,And all my offspring after me.’

67

‘I’ll give you the keys of my castell,

With the blessing of my fair ladie;

Mak me the sheriff of the forest,

And all my offspring after me.’

68‘Wilt thou give me the keys of thy castell,With the blessing of thy fair ladye?I’ll mak the[e] shiryff of the forest,Surely while upwards grows the trie;If you be not traytour to the king,Forfaulted sall ye never be.’

68

‘Wilt thou give me the keys of thy castell,

With the blessing of thy fair ladye?

I’ll mak the[e] shiryff of the forest,

Surely while upwards grows the trie;

If you be not traytour to the king,

Forfaulted sall ye never be.’

69‘But, prince, what sall cum o my men?When I go back, traitour they’ll ca me;I had rather lose my life and land,Eer my merry men rebukëd me.’

69

‘But, prince, what sall cum o my men?

When I go back, traitour they’ll ca me;

I had rather lose my life and land,

Eer my merry men rebukëd me.’

70‘Will your merry men amend their livesAnd all their pardouns I grant thee:Now name thy landes whe’ere they be,And here I render them to thee.’

70

‘Will your merry men amend their lives

And all their pardouns I grant thee:

Now name thy landes whe’ere they be,

And here I render them to thee.’

71‘Fair Philiphaugh, prince, is my awin,I biggit it wi lime and stane;The Tinnies and the Hangingshaw,My leige, are native steeds of mine.

71

‘Fair Philiphaugh, prince, is my awin,

I biggit it wi lime and stane;

The Tinnies and the Hangingshaw,

My leige, are native steeds of mine.

72‘.   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .I have mony steeds in the forest shaw,But them by name I dinna knaw.’

72

‘.   .   .   .   .   .   .

.   .   .   .   .   .   .

I have mony steeds in the forest shaw,

But them by name I dinna knaw.’

73The keys of the castell he gave the king,With the blessing of his fair ladye;He was made sheryff of Etrick forest,Surely while upward grows the trie;And, if he was not traytour to the king,Forfaulted he suld never be.

73

The keys of the castell he gave the king,

With the blessing of his fair ladye;

He was made sheryff of Etrick forest,

Surely while upward grows the trie;

And, if he was not traytour to the king,

Forfaulted he suld never be.

74Wha ever heard, in ony tymes,Sicken an outlaw in his degreeSic favour get before a kingAs did the Outlaw Murray of the forest frie?

74

Wha ever heard, in ony tymes,

Sicken an outlaw in his degree

Sic favour get before a king

As did the Outlaw Murray of the forest frie?

Glenriddell’s MSS, XI, 61, 1791.

Glenriddell’s MSS, XI, 61, 1791.

1Etterick Forest’s a pleasant land,And it grows mony a bonny tree;With buck and doe and a’ wild beast,A castle stands right bonnilie.2Yon castle has twa unicorns,The like I never saw wi my ee,The picture of a knight and lady bright,And the green hollin’s aboon her [bree].3Word is gane to Edinbro town.   .   .   .   .   .   .That there’s an Outlaw in Etterick forestThat keeps as fine a court as he.4The king has sworn a solemn oath,And he has sworn by [the Virgin Mary],He would either be king of Etterick forest,Or king of Scotland the Outlaw should be.5He has ca’d up Mr James Boyd,A highland laird I’m sure was he:‘Ye must gae to Etterick forestAnd see of wha he hads his land,And wha pays yon men meat and fee.’6He’s tane his leave o the king and court,Een as hard as he may dree;When he came in o’er Loudon edge,He viewed the forest wi his eee.7He thought it was as pleasant a landAs ever his two eyes did see,But when he came in oer ...,They were a’ ranked on Newark lee.8O waly, but they were bonny to see!Five hundred men playing at the ba;They were a’ clad in the Lincoln green,And the Outlaw’s sell in taffety.9‘Weel met you save, Outlaw,’ he says,‘You and your brave companie;The King of Scotland hath sent me here,To see whom on you hold your lands,Or who pays thir men meat and fee.’10The first ae man the answer made,It was the Outlaw he:‘The lands they are all mine,And I pay thir men meat and fee,And as I wan them so will I lose them,Contrair the kings o Cristendie.11‘I never was a king’s subject,And a king’s subject I’ll never be;For I wan them i the fields fighting,Where him and his nobles durst not come and see.’12O out bespeaks the Outlaw’s lady,I wot she spake right wisely;‘Be good unto your nobles at home,For Edinbro mine shall never see;’But meat and drink o the best I’m sure got he.13He has taen his leave o the Outlaw free,And een as hard as he may dree,While he came to the king’s court,Where he kneeld low down on his knee.14‘What news? what news, James,’ he says,‘Frae yon Outlaw and his company?’‘Yon forest is as fine a landAs ever I did see.15‘Yon Outlaw keeps as fine a courtAs any king in Cristendie;Yon lands they are here all his own,And he pays yon men meat and fee,And as he wan them so will he lose them,Contrair the kings of Cristendie.16‘He never was a king’s subject,And a king’s subject he’ll never be;For he wan them in the fields fighting,Where the king and his nobles durst not come to see.’17The king has sworn a solemn oath,And he has sworn by the Virgin Mary,He would either be king of Etterick forest,Or king of Scotland the Outlaw should be.18The king has ca’d up Mr James Pringle,Laird of Torson[s]e at the time was he:‘Ye must gae to Etterick forest,And see wha of he hads his land,And wha pays yon men meat and fee.’19-25==6-12.26‘And as I wan them so will I lose them,Contrair the kings o Cristendie;I wan them frae the Soudan Turk,When their cuckold king durst not come to see;For I wan them in the fields fighting,Where him and his nobles durst not come to see.’27-32==12-17.33‘Gar warn me Perthshire and Angus both,Fifeshire up and down, and Loudons three,For I fear of them we hae great need,.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .’34Then word is come to the Outlaw then,‘Our noble king comes on the morn,Landless men ye will a’ be;’He’s called up his little foot-page,His sister’s son I trow was he.35‘Ye must tak Etterick headEen as hard as ye can drie;Ye must gae to the Corhead and tellAndrew Brown this frae me.36‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless men we will a’ be;.   .   .   .   .   .   .And tell him to send me some supply.’37The boy has taen Etterick head,And een as hard as he may drie,Till he came to the Corhead,And he shouted out and cry’d well he.38‘What news? what news, my little boy?What news has thy master to me?’‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless then ye will a’ be.39‘Ye must meet him on the morn,And mak him some supply;’‘For if he get the forest fair frae him,He’ll hae Moffat-dale frae me.40‘I’ll meet him the morn wi five hundred men,And fifty mair, if they may be;And if he get the forest fairWe’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’41Word is gane to the Border then,To   .   .   . , the country-keeper I’m sure was he:‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless men ye will a’ be.’42‘I’ll meet him the morn wi five hundred men,And fifty mair, if they may be;And if he get the forest fair,We’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’43Word is gane to Philiphaugh,His sister’s son I’m sure was he,To meet him the morn wi some supply,‘For the noble king comes in the morn,And landless men ye will a’ be.’44‘In the day I daur not be seen,For he took a’ my lands frae meAnd gifted me them back again;Therefore against him I must not be;For if I be found against him rebel,It will be counted great treason[rie].45‘In the day I daur not be seen,But in the night he shall me findWith five hundred men and fifty, if they may be,And before he get the forest fairWe’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’46When the king came in oer Loudon edge,Wi three thousand weel teld was he,And when he came in oer ...He viewd that forest wi his ee.47The Outlaw and his men were a’Ranked on the Newark lee;They were a’ clad in the Lincoln green,And he himsell in the taffety.48An auld grey-haird knight has taen aff his cap,.   .   .   .   .   .   .‘Pardon, pardon, my sovereign liege,Two or three words to speak wi you.49‘If you please to send for the Outlaw,To see if he could with you agree,There’s not a man yon Outlaw hasBut of yours he’ll choose to be.’50The king he has taen af his cap,He held it on his majesty;‘I’ll meet him the morn at the poor man’s house,In number not above two or three;’The Outlaw says, I’ll hae as few as thee.51‘There’s Andrew Brown, and Andrew Murray,And Mess James Murray shall gang wi me,.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .And nae mae shall my number be.’52And when they came to the poor man’s coreThey waited two lang hours or three,And they were aware of the noble king coming.And hundreds three in his company.53‘I wonder what the muckle DeelHe’ll learned kings to lie,For to fetch me here frae amang my menEven like a dog for to die;But before I gang to Edinbro townMonny toom saddles shall there be.’54The king he has taen aff his cap;.   .   .   .   .   .‘It [were] great offence here,’ he says,‘And great pity to see thee die.55‘For thou shalt be laerd o this forest fairAs lang as upwards grows the treeAnd downward the twa rivers run,If the steads thou can but rightly name to me.’56‘There’s Hangingshaw high and Hangingshaw laigh,.   .   .   .   .   .   .The Tinis and the Tinis-burn,The Newark and the Newark lee.’*   *   *   *   *   *

1Etterick Forest’s a pleasant land,And it grows mony a bonny tree;With buck and doe and a’ wild beast,A castle stands right bonnilie.2Yon castle has twa unicorns,The like I never saw wi my ee,The picture of a knight and lady bright,And the green hollin’s aboon her [bree].3Word is gane to Edinbro town.   .   .   .   .   .   .That there’s an Outlaw in Etterick forestThat keeps as fine a court as he.4The king has sworn a solemn oath,And he has sworn by [the Virgin Mary],He would either be king of Etterick forest,Or king of Scotland the Outlaw should be.5He has ca’d up Mr James Boyd,A highland laird I’m sure was he:‘Ye must gae to Etterick forestAnd see of wha he hads his land,And wha pays yon men meat and fee.’6He’s tane his leave o the king and court,Een as hard as he may dree;When he came in o’er Loudon edge,He viewed the forest wi his eee.7He thought it was as pleasant a landAs ever his two eyes did see,But when he came in oer ...,They were a’ ranked on Newark lee.8O waly, but they were bonny to see!Five hundred men playing at the ba;They were a’ clad in the Lincoln green,And the Outlaw’s sell in taffety.9‘Weel met you save, Outlaw,’ he says,‘You and your brave companie;The King of Scotland hath sent me here,To see whom on you hold your lands,Or who pays thir men meat and fee.’10The first ae man the answer made,It was the Outlaw he:‘The lands they are all mine,And I pay thir men meat and fee,And as I wan them so will I lose them,Contrair the kings o Cristendie.11‘I never was a king’s subject,And a king’s subject I’ll never be;For I wan them i the fields fighting,Where him and his nobles durst not come and see.’12O out bespeaks the Outlaw’s lady,I wot she spake right wisely;‘Be good unto your nobles at home,For Edinbro mine shall never see;’But meat and drink o the best I’m sure got he.13He has taen his leave o the Outlaw free,And een as hard as he may dree,While he came to the king’s court,Where he kneeld low down on his knee.14‘What news? what news, James,’ he says,‘Frae yon Outlaw and his company?’‘Yon forest is as fine a landAs ever I did see.15‘Yon Outlaw keeps as fine a courtAs any king in Cristendie;Yon lands they are here all his own,And he pays yon men meat and fee,And as he wan them so will he lose them,Contrair the kings of Cristendie.16‘He never was a king’s subject,And a king’s subject he’ll never be;For he wan them in the fields fighting,Where the king and his nobles durst not come to see.’17The king has sworn a solemn oath,And he has sworn by the Virgin Mary,He would either be king of Etterick forest,Or king of Scotland the Outlaw should be.18The king has ca’d up Mr James Pringle,Laird of Torson[s]e at the time was he:‘Ye must gae to Etterick forest,And see wha of he hads his land,And wha pays yon men meat and fee.’19-25==6-12.26‘And as I wan them so will I lose them,Contrair the kings o Cristendie;I wan them frae the Soudan Turk,When their cuckold king durst not come to see;For I wan them in the fields fighting,Where him and his nobles durst not come to see.’27-32==12-17.33‘Gar warn me Perthshire and Angus both,Fifeshire up and down, and Loudons three,For I fear of them we hae great need,.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .’34Then word is come to the Outlaw then,‘Our noble king comes on the morn,Landless men ye will a’ be;’He’s called up his little foot-page,His sister’s son I trow was he.35‘Ye must tak Etterick headEen as hard as ye can drie;Ye must gae to the Corhead and tellAndrew Brown this frae me.36‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless men we will a’ be;.   .   .   .   .   .   .And tell him to send me some supply.’37The boy has taen Etterick head,And een as hard as he may drie,Till he came to the Corhead,And he shouted out and cry’d well he.38‘What news? what news, my little boy?What news has thy master to me?’‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless then ye will a’ be.39‘Ye must meet him on the morn,And mak him some supply;’‘For if he get the forest fair frae him,He’ll hae Moffat-dale frae me.40‘I’ll meet him the morn wi five hundred men,And fifty mair, if they may be;And if he get the forest fairWe’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’41Word is gane to the Border then,To   .   .   . , the country-keeper I’m sure was he:‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless men ye will a’ be.’42‘I’ll meet him the morn wi five hundred men,And fifty mair, if they may be;And if he get the forest fair,We’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’43Word is gane to Philiphaugh,His sister’s son I’m sure was he,To meet him the morn wi some supply,‘For the noble king comes in the morn,And landless men ye will a’ be.’44‘In the day I daur not be seen,For he took a’ my lands frae meAnd gifted me them back again;Therefore against him I must not be;For if I be found against him rebel,It will be counted great treason[rie].45‘In the day I daur not be seen,But in the night he shall me findWith five hundred men and fifty, if they may be,And before he get the forest fairWe’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’46When the king came in oer Loudon edge,Wi three thousand weel teld was he,And when he came in oer ...He viewd that forest wi his ee.47The Outlaw and his men were a’Ranked on the Newark lee;They were a’ clad in the Lincoln green,And he himsell in the taffety.48An auld grey-haird knight has taen aff his cap,.   .   .   .   .   .   .‘Pardon, pardon, my sovereign liege,Two or three words to speak wi you.49‘If you please to send for the Outlaw,To see if he could with you agree,There’s not a man yon Outlaw hasBut of yours he’ll choose to be.’50The king he has taen af his cap,He held it on his majesty;‘I’ll meet him the morn at the poor man’s house,In number not above two or three;’The Outlaw says, I’ll hae as few as thee.51‘There’s Andrew Brown, and Andrew Murray,And Mess James Murray shall gang wi me,.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .And nae mae shall my number be.’52And when they came to the poor man’s coreThey waited two lang hours or three,And they were aware of the noble king coming.And hundreds three in his company.53‘I wonder what the muckle DeelHe’ll learned kings to lie,For to fetch me here frae amang my menEven like a dog for to die;But before I gang to Edinbro townMonny toom saddles shall there be.’54The king he has taen aff his cap;.   .   .   .   .   .‘It [were] great offence here,’ he says,‘And great pity to see thee die.55‘For thou shalt be laerd o this forest fairAs lang as upwards grows the treeAnd downward the twa rivers run,If the steads thou can but rightly name to me.’56‘There’s Hangingshaw high and Hangingshaw laigh,.   .   .   .   .   .   .The Tinis and the Tinis-burn,The Newark and the Newark lee.’*   *   *   *   *   *

1Etterick Forest’s a pleasant land,And it grows mony a bonny tree;With buck and doe and a’ wild beast,A castle stands right bonnilie.

1

Etterick Forest’s a pleasant land,

And it grows mony a bonny tree;

With buck and doe and a’ wild beast,

A castle stands right bonnilie.

2Yon castle has twa unicorns,The like I never saw wi my ee,The picture of a knight and lady bright,And the green hollin’s aboon her [bree].

2

Yon castle has twa unicorns,

The like I never saw wi my ee,

The picture of a knight and lady bright,

And the green hollin’s aboon her [bree].

3Word is gane to Edinbro town.   .   .   .   .   .   .That there’s an Outlaw in Etterick forestThat keeps as fine a court as he.

3

Word is gane to Edinbro town

.   .   .   .   .   .   .

That there’s an Outlaw in Etterick forest

That keeps as fine a court as he.

4The king has sworn a solemn oath,And he has sworn by [the Virgin Mary],He would either be king of Etterick forest,Or king of Scotland the Outlaw should be.

4

The king has sworn a solemn oath,

And he has sworn by [the Virgin Mary],

He would either be king of Etterick forest,

Or king of Scotland the Outlaw should be.

5He has ca’d up Mr James Boyd,A highland laird I’m sure was he:‘Ye must gae to Etterick forestAnd see of wha he hads his land,And wha pays yon men meat and fee.’

5

He has ca’d up Mr James Boyd,

A highland laird I’m sure was he:

‘Ye must gae to Etterick forest

And see of wha he hads his land,

And wha pays yon men meat and fee.’

6He’s tane his leave o the king and court,Een as hard as he may dree;When he came in o’er Loudon edge,He viewed the forest wi his eee.

6

He’s tane his leave o the king and court,

Een as hard as he may dree;

When he came in o’er Loudon edge,

He viewed the forest wi his eee.

7He thought it was as pleasant a landAs ever his two eyes did see,But when he came in oer ...,They were a’ ranked on Newark lee.

7

He thought it was as pleasant a land

As ever his two eyes did see,

But when he came in oer ...,

They were a’ ranked on Newark lee.

8O waly, but they were bonny to see!Five hundred men playing at the ba;They were a’ clad in the Lincoln green,And the Outlaw’s sell in taffety.

8

O waly, but they were bonny to see!

Five hundred men playing at the ba;

They were a’ clad in the Lincoln green,

And the Outlaw’s sell in taffety.

9‘Weel met you save, Outlaw,’ he says,‘You and your brave companie;The King of Scotland hath sent me here,To see whom on you hold your lands,Or who pays thir men meat and fee.’

9

‘Weel met you save, Outlaw,’ he says,

‘You and your brave companie;

The King of Scotland hath sent me here,

To see whom on you hold your lands,

Or who pays thir men meat and fee.’

10The first ae man the answer made,It was the Outlaw he:‘The lands they are all mine,And I pay thir men meat and fee,And as I wan them so will I lose them,Contrair the kings o Cristendie.

10

The first ae man the answer made,

It was the Outlaw he:

‘The lands they are all mine,

And I pay thir men meat and fee,

And as I wan them so will I lose them,

Contrair the kings o Cristendie.

11‘I never was a king’s subject,And a king’s subject I’ll never be;For I wan them i the fields fighting,Where him and his nobles durst not come and see.’

11

‘I never was a king’s subject,

And a king’s subject I’ll never be;

For I wan them i the fields fighting,

Where him and his nobles durst not come and see.’

12O out bespeaks the Outlaw’s lady,I wot she spake right wisely;‘Be good unto your nobles at home,For Edinbro mine shall never see;’But meat and drink o the best I’m sure got he.

12

O out bespeaks the Outlaw’s lady,

I wot she spake right wisely;

‘Be good unto your nobles at home,

For Edinbro mine shall never see;’

But meat and drink o the best I’m sure got he.

13He has taen his leave o the Outlaw free,And een as hard as he may dree,While he came to the king’s court,Where he kneeld low down on his knee.

13

He has taen his leave o the Outlaw free,

And een as hard as he may dree,

While he came to the king’s court,

Where he kneeld low down on his knee.

14‘What news? what news, James,’ he says,‘Frae yon Outlaw and his company?’‘Yon forest is as fine a landAs ever I did see.

14

‘What news? what news, James,’ he says,

‘Frae yon Outlaw and his company?’

‘Yon forest is as fine a land

As ever I did see.

15‘Yon Outlaw keeps as fine a courtAs any king in Cristendie;Yon lands they are here all his own,And he pays yon men meat and fee,And as he wan them so will he lose them,Contrair the kings of Cristendie.

15

‘Yon Outlaw keeps as fine a court

As any king in Cristendie;

Yon lands they are here all his own,

And he pays yon men meat and fee,

And as he wan them so will he lose them,

Contrair the kings of Cristendie.

16‘He never was a king’s subject,And a king’s subject he’ll never be;For he wan them in the fields fighting,Where the king and his nobles durst not come to see.’

16

‘He never was a king’s subject,

And a king’s subject he’ll never be;

For he wan them in the fields fighting,

Where the king and his nobles durst not come to see.’

17The king has sworn a solemn oath,And he has sworn by the Virgin Mary,He would either be king of Etterick forest,Or king of Scotland the Outlaw should be.

17

The king has sworn a solemn oath,

And he has sworn by the Virgin Mary,

He would either be king of Etterick forest,

Or king of Scotland the Outlaw should be.

18The king has ca’d up Mr James Pringle,Laird of Torson[s]e at the time was he:‘Ye must gae to Etterick forest,And see wha of he hads his land,And wha pays yon men meat and fee.’

18

The king has ca’d up Mr James Pringle,

Laird of Torson[s]e at the time was he:

‘Ye must gae to Etterick forest,

And see wha of he hads his land,

And wha pays yon men meat and fee.’

19-25==6-12.

19-25==6-12.

26‘And as I wan them so will I lose them,Contrair the kings o Cristendie;I wan them frae the Soudan Turk,When their cuckold king durst not come to see;For I wan them in the fields fighting,Where him and his nobles durst not come to see.’

26

‘And as I wan them so will I lose them,

Contrair the kings o Cristendie;

I wan them frae the Soudan Turk,

When their cuckold king durst not come to see;

For I wan them in the fields fighting,

Where him and his nobles durst not come to see.’

27-32==12-17.

27-32==12-17.

33‘Gar warn me Perthshire and Angus both,Fifeshire up and down, and Loudons three,For I fear of them we hae great need,.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .’

33

‘Gar warn me Perthshire and Angus both,

Fifeshire up and down, and Loudons three,

For I fear of them we hae great need,

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .’

34Then word is come to the Outlaw then,‘Our noble king comes on the morn,Landless men ye will a’ be;’He’s called up his little foot-page,His sister’s son I trow was he.

34

Then word is come to the Outlaw then,

‘Our noble king comes on the morn,

Landless men ye will a’ be;’

He’s called up his little foot-page,

His sister’s son I trow was he.

35‘Ye must tak Etterick headEen as hard as ye can drie;Ye must gae to the Corhead and tellAndrew Brown this frae me.

35

‘Ye must tak Etterick head

Een as hard as ye can drie;

Ye must gae to the Corhead and tell

Andrew Brown this frae me.

36‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless men we will a’ be;.   .   .   .   .   .   .And tell him to send me some supply.’

36

‘The noble king comes in the morn,

And landless men we will a’ be;

.   .   .   .   .   .   .

And tell him to send me some supply.’

37The boy has taen Etterick head,And een as hard as he may drie,Till he came to the Corhead,And he shouted out and cry’d well he.

37

The boy has taen Etterick head,

And een as hard as he may drie,

Till he came to the Corhead,

And he shouted out and cry’d well he.

38‘What news? what news, my little boy?What news has thy master to me?’‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless then ye will a’ be.

38

‘What news? what news, my little boy?

What news has thy master to me?’

‘The noble king comes in the morn,

And landless then ye will a’ be.

39‘Ye must meet him on the morn,And mak him some supply;’‘For if he get the forest fair frae him,He’ll hae Moffat-dale frae me.

39

‘Ye must meet him on the morn,

And mak him some supply;’

‘For if he get the forest fair frae him,

He’ll hae Moffat-dale frae me.

40‘I’ll meet him the morn wi five hundred men,And fifty mair, if they may be;And if he get the forest fairWe’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’

40

‘I’ll meet him the morn wi five hundred men,

And fifty mair, if they may be;

And if he get the forest fair

We’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’

41Word is gane to the Border then,To   .   .   . , the country-keeper I’m sure was he:‘The noble king comes in the morn,And landless men ye will a’ be.’

41

Word is gane to the Border then,

To   .   .   . , the country-keeper I’m sure was he:

‘The noble king comes in the morn,

And landless men ye will a’ be.’

42‘I’ll meet him the morn wi five hundred men,And fifty mair, if they may be;And if he get the forest fair,We’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’

42

‘I’ll meet him the morn wi five hundred men,

And fifty mair, if they may be;

And if he get the forest fair,

We’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’

43Word is gane to Philiphaugh,His sister’s son I’m sure was he,To meet him the morn wi some supply,‘For the noble king comes in the morn,And landless men ye will a’ be.’

43

Word is gane to Philiphaugh,

His sister’s son I’m sure was he,

To meet him the morn wi some supply,

‘For the noble king comes in the morn,

And landless men ye will a’ be.’

44‘In the day I daur not be seen,For he took a’ my lands frae meAnd gifted me them back again;Therefore against him I must not be;For if I be found against him rebel,It will be counted great treason[rie].

44

‘In the day I daur not be seen,

For he took a’ my lands frae me

And gifted me them back again;

Therefore against him I must not be;

For if I be found against him rebel,

It will be counted great treason[rie].

45‘In the day I daur not be seen,But in the night he shall me findWith five hundred men and fifty, if they may be,And before he get the forest fairWe’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’

45

‘In the day I daur not be seen,

But in the night he shall me find

With five hundred men and fifty, if they may be,

And before he get the forest fair

We’ll a’ die on the Newark lee.’

46When the king came in oer Loudon edge,Wi three thousand weel teld was he,And when he came in oer ...He viewd that forest wi his ee.

46

When the king came in oer Loudon edge,

Wi three thousand weel teld was he,

And when he came in oer ...

He viewd that forest wi his ee.

47The Outlaw and his men were a’Ranked on the Newark lee;They were a’ clad in the Lincoln green,And he himsell in the taffety.

47

The Outlaw and his men were a’

Ranked on the Newark lee;

They were a’ clad in the Lincoln green,

And he himsell in the taffety.

48An auld grey-haird knight has taen aff his cap,.   .   .   .   .   .   .‘Pardon, pardon, my sovereign liege,Two or three words to speak wi you.

48

An auld grey-haird knight has taen aff his cap,

.   .   .   .   .   .   .

‘Pardon, pardon, my sovereign liege,

Two or three words to speak wi you.

49‘If you please to send for the Outlaw,To see if he could with you agree,There’s not a man yon Outlaw hasBut of yours he’ll choose to be.’

49

‘If you please to send for the Outlaw,

To see if he could with you agree,

There’s not a man yon Outlaw has

But of yours he’ll choose to be.’

50The king he has taen af his cap,He held it on his majesty;‘I’ll meet him the morn at the poor man’s house,In number not above two or three;’The Outlaw says, I’ll hae as few as thee.

50

The king he has taen af his cap,

He held it on his majesty;

‘I’ll meet him the morn at the poor man’s house,

In number not above two or three;’

The Outlaw says, I’ll hae as few as thee.

51‘There’s Andrew Brown, and Andrew Murray,And Mess James Murray shall gang wi me,.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .And nae mae shall my number be.’

51

‘There’s Andrew Brown, and Andrew Murray,

And Mess James Murray shall gang wi me,

.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

And nae mae shall my number be.’

52And when they came to the poor man’s coreThey waited two lang hours or three,And they were aware of the noble king coming.And hundreds three in his company.

52

And when they came to the poor man’s core

They waited two lang hours or three,

And they were aware of the noble king coming.

And hundreds three in his company.

53‘I wonder what the muckle DeelHe’ll learned kings to lie,For to fetch me here frae amang my menEven like a dog for to die;But before I gang to Edinbro townMonny toom saddles shall there be.’

53

‘I wonder what the muckle Deel

He’ll learned kings to lie,

For to fetch me here frae amang my men

Even like a dog for to die;

But before I gang to Edinbro town

Monny toom saddles shall there be.’

54The king he has taen aff his cap;.   .   .   .   .   .‘It [were] great offence here,’ he says,‘And great pity to see thee die.

54

The king he has taen aff his cap;

.   .   .   .   .   .

‘It [were] great offence here,’ he says,

‘And great pity to see thee die.

55‘For thou shalt be laerd o this forest fairAs lang as upwards grows the treeAnd downward the twa rivers run,If the steads thou can but rightly name to me.’

55

‘For thou shalt be laerd o this forest fair

As lang as upwards grows the tree

And downward the twa rivers run,

If the steads thou can but rightly name to me.’

56‘There’s Hangingshaw high and Hangingshaw laigh,.   .   .   .   .   .   .The Tinis and the Tinis-burn,The Newark and the Newark lee.’

56

‘There’s Hangingshaw high and Hangingshaw laigh,

.   .   .   .   .   .   .

The Tinis and the Tinis-burn,

The Newark and the Newark lee.’

*   *   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *   *

“Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 31, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of William Laidlaw.

“Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 31, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of William Laidlaw.

1‘Gae fetch to me James Pringle wi hast,An see that he come speedilie,For he maun on to Ettrick forest,An see whae pays yon men meat and fee.’2When James Pringle cam down oer Birkendalee,The hawks war yellin right loudlie,The hunds war rinnin oer hill and dale,As the bugle-horn soundit bonnilie.3‘Gae tell yer king this land’s my ain,An to thir men I pay meat and fee;I took it thrae the Souden Turk,When nae sic cuckold king might be.4‘Sae as I wan, sae will I lose,Spite o the kings in Christendie;I never was a king’s subject,Nor a king’s subject will I ever be.’5‘Outlaw Murray says yon land’s his ain,And to yon men he pays meat and fee;He took it frae the Souden Turk,When you and your men durstna come and see.’6It was than the king he gat up in hast,An wow an angrie man was he!‘I’se either be king o Ettrick forest,Or king o Scotland sal he be.7‘Gar warn me Fife an a’ Lothian land,An Perth an Angus, to ride wi me,For gin we war five thousan strangMaster and mair I fear he’ll be.’8When the king came oer be Birkendalee,He spy’d the forest wi his ee;There war daes an raes an monie wild beast,An a castle stannin right bonnilie.9An in that castle a unicorn,An, waly, but they war fair to see!A warlike knight and a lady bright,An the green halleen aboon her bree.10An Outlaw Murray an his merry menWar a’ rankit up i the Newark lee,Well mountit on a milk-white steed;Waly, he rankit them bonnilie!11His men war a clad oer wi green,An he was clad i the taffatie,Wi belt an pistle by his side;O waly, but they war fair to see!*   *   *   *   *   *12‘Haliday young an Haliday auld,Ye ir the men that man ride wi me;But gin we war five hunder strangMaster an mair I fear they’ll be.’*   *   *   *   *   *13‘Philliphaugh it is my ain,An Newark it belangs to me;Lewinshope an HanginshawNae mortal man can claim thrae me.’*   *   *   *   *   *14It was than James Boyd got up in hast,An to his merry men a’ spak he;.   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .

1‘Gae fetch to me James Pringle wi hast,An see that he come speedilie,For he maun on to Ettrick forest,An see whae pays yon men meat and fee.’2When James Pringle cam down oer Birkendalee,The hawks war yellin right loudlie,The hunds war rinnin oer hill and dale,As the bugle-horn soundit bonnilie.3‘Gae tell yer king this land’s my ain,An to thir men I pay meat and fee;I took it thrae the Souden Turk,When nae sic cuckold king might be.4‘Sae as I wan, sae will I lose,Spite o the kings in Christendie;I never was a king’s subject,Nor a king’s subject will I ever be.’5‘Outlaw Murray says yon land’s his ain,And to yon men he pays meat and fee;He took it frae the Souden Turk,When you and your men durstna come and see.’6It was than the king he gat up in hast,An wow an angrie man was he!‘I’se either be king o Ettrick forest,Or king o Scotland sal he be.7‘Gar warn me Fife an a’ Lothian land,An Perth an Angus, to ride wi me,For gin we war five thousan strangMaster and mair I fear he’ll be.’8When the king came oer be Birkendalee,He spy’d the forest wi his ee;There war daes an raes an monie wild beast,An a castle stannin right bonnilie.9An in that castle a unicorn,An, waly, but they war fair to see!A warlike knight and a lady bright,An the green halleen aboon her bree.10An Outlaw Murray an his merry menWar a’ rankit up i the Newark lee,Well mountit on a milk-white steed;Waly, he rankit them bonnilie!11His men war a clad oer wi green,An he was clad i the taffatie,Wi belt an pistle by his side;O waly, but they war fair to see!*   *   *   *   *   *12‘Haliday young an Haliday auld,Ye ir the men that man ride wi me;But gin we war five hunder strangMaster an mair I fear they’ll be.’*   *   *   *   *   *13‘Philliphaugh it is my ain,An Newark it belangs to me;Lewinshope an HanginshawNae mortal man can claim thrae me.’*   *   *   *   *   *14It was than James Boyd got up in hast,An to his merry men a’ spak he;.   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .

1‘Gae fetch to me James Pringle wi hast,An see that he come speedilie,For he maun on to Ettrick forest,An see whae pays yon men meat and fee.’

1

‘Gae fetch to me James Pringle wi hast,

An see that he come speedilie,

For he maun on to Ettrick forest,

An see whae pays yon men meat and fee.’

2When James Pringle cam down oer Birkendalee,The hawks war yellin right loudlie,The hunds war rinnin oer hill and dale,As the bugle-horn soundit bonnilie.

2

When James Pringle cam down oer Birkendalee,

The hawks war yellin right loudlie,

The hunds war rinnin oer hill and dale,

As the bugle-horn soundit bonnilie.

3‘Gae tell yer king this land’s my ain,An to thir men I pay meat and fee;I took it thrae the Souden Turk,When nae sic cuckold king might be.

3

‘Gae tell yer king this land’s my ain,

An to thir men I pay meat and fee;

I took it thrae the Souden Turk,

When nae sic cuckold king might be.

4‘Sae as I wan, sae will I lose,Spite o the kings in Christendie;I never was a king’s subject,Nor a king’s subject will I ever be.’

4

‘Sae as I wan, sae will I lose,

Spite o the kings in Christendie;

I never was a king’s subject,

Nor a king’s subject will I ever be.’

5‘Outlaw Murray says yon land’s his ain,And to yon men he pays meat and fee;He took it frae the Souden Turk,When you and your men durstna come and see.’

5

‘Outlaw Murray says yon land’s his ain,

And to yon men he pays meat and fee;

He took it frae the Souden Turk,

When you and your men durstna come and see.’

6It was than the king he gat up in hast,An wow an angrie man was he!‘I’se either be king o Ettrick forest,Or king o Scotland sal he be.

6

It was than the king he gat up in hast,

An wow an angrie man was he!

‘I’se either be king o Ettrick forest,

Or king o Scotland sal he be.

7‘Gar warn me Fife an a’ Lothian land,An Perth an Angus, to ride wi me,For gin we war five thousan strangMaster and mair I fear he’ll be.’

7

‘Gar warn me Fife an a’ Lothian land,

An Perth an Angus, to ride wi me,

For gin we war five thousan strang

Master and mair I fear he’ll be.’

8When the king came oer be Birkendalee,He spy’d the forest wi his ee;There war daes an raes an monie wild beast,An a castle stannin right bonnilie.

8

When the king came oer be Birkendalee,

He spy’d the forest wi his ee;

There war daes an raes an monie wild beast,

An a castle stannin right bonnilie.

9An in that castle a unicorn,An, waly, but they war fair to see!A warlike knight and a lady bright,An the green halleen aboon her bree.

9

An in that castle a unicorn,

An, waly, but they war fair to see!

A warlike knight and a lady bright,

An the green halleen aboon her bree.

10An Outlaw Murray an his merry menWar a’ rankit up i the Newark lee,Well mountit on a milk-white steed;Waly, he rankit them bonnilie!

10

An Outlaw Murray an his merry men

War a’ rankit up i the Newark lee,

Well mountit on a milk-white steed;

Waly, he rankit them bonnilie!

11His men war a clad oer wi green,An he was clad i the taffatie,Wi belt an pistle by his side;O waly, but they war fair to see!

11

His men war a clad oer wi green,

An he was clad i the taffatie,

Wi belt an pistle by his side;

O waly, but they war fair to see!

*   *   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *   *

12‘Haliday young an Haliday auld,Ye ir the men that man ride wi me;But gin we war five hunder strangMaster an mair I fear they’ll be.’

12

‘Haliday young an Haliday auld,

Ye ir the men that man ride wi me;

But gin we war five hunder strang

Master an mair I fear they’ll be.’

*   *   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *   *

13‘Philliphaugh it is my ain,An Newark it belangs to me;Lewinshope an HanginshawNae mortal man can claim thrae me.’

13

‘Philliphaugh it is my ain,

An Newark it belangs to me;

Lewinshope an Hanginshaw

Nae mortal man can claim thrae me.’

*   *   *   *   *   *

*   *   *   *   *   *

14It was than James Boyd got up in hast,An to his merry men a’ spak he;.   .   .   .   .   .   ..   .   .   .   .   .   .

14

It was than James Boyd got up in hast,

An to his merry men a’ spak he;

.   .   .   .   .   .   .

.   .   .   .   .   .   .

A.

a.

The division of stanzas as made in the MS. has been changed in 195-236, 685-736. Of course all the stanzas were originally of four verses, but in some cases it is not now possible to determine at what points verses have been lost. Two lines are in the MS. indicated (conjecturally, no doubt) to have dropped out after 412, 482, 704. 413,4have been supplied from the copy in Herd’s first volume. There are asterisks in HerdIafter 524.

14.Cf.162, 294,andb.

41, 321.Cf.191andb.Butcagrees witha.

51.Side note in MS.: James II, 1454.

314. lived.

342.Cf.b,c.

Variations in Herd, I (not regarding spelling).24, 41. arewanting. 32. the brie.

33. hundir.

54. his country.

61. thenwanting.

114. he dwelleth he.

164. him near by.

173. fair front.

213. land.

311. and a.

313. keeps him: hunder.

351. Outlaws (wrongly).

413,4.As supplied in the text.Cf.c.

582. bring him four.

584. Nae mae.

624. nae mair.

634. sake that.

651. Thir.

683. mak thee.

684. upward.

b.

13. There’s hart and hynd and dae and rae.

14. wilde beastes.

21. a feir.

33. keeps.

41. are a’ in ae.

42. sae gaye.

44. gin they lived.

54. nor a’.

64. outlaw sall.

71, 501. the lord.

74. at your: at me.

81. ye.

91. Andwanting.

92, 121, 134, 213, 354, 444, 481, 651, 703. landis.

101. then called a.

102. the erle.

104. He knelit.

114. where bydeth.

123. And desyre.

132. sall gie.

164. hym neir bi.

171. Of that.

173. castell feir.

174. were gaye.

184. on Newark lee.

191. were a’.

192. sae gaye.

194. 1802, gin. 1803,instead of193,4:

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