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

But light now downe, my deare ladyè,
Light downe, and hold my horse;
While I and this difcourteous knight
Doe trye our valours force.

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

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

Paft

The Child of Elle hee fought foe well,
As his weapon he wavde amaine,

That foone he had flaine the carlish knight,
And layde him upon the plaine.

130

135

140

And nowe the baron, and all his men
Full faft approached nye:

145

Ah! what may ladye Emmeline doe?

Twere nowe no boote to flye.

Her lover he put his horne to his mouth,

And blew both loud and fhrill,
And foone he faw his owne merry men

150

Come ryding over the hill.

"Nowe

Fair Emmeline fighde, faire Emmeline wept,

And did all tremblinge ftand:

At lengthe she sprange upon her knee,

And held his lifted hand.

Pardon, my

lorde and father deare,

This faire yong knyght and mee;
Truft me, but for the carlifh knyght,
I ne'er had fled from thee.
H

VOL. III.

170

175

Oft

Oft have you calide your Emmeline

Your darling and your joye;

O let not then your harsh resolves

Your Emmeline destroye.

The baron he ftroakt his dark-brown cheeke,

And turnde his heade afyde

To whipe awaye the starting teare,

He proudly ftrave to hyde.

In deepe revolving thought he ftoode,
And mufde a little space;

Then raifde faire Emmeline from the grounde,

With many a fond embrace.

180

185

Here take her, child of Elle, he fayd,

And gave her lillye hand,

190

Here take my deare and only child,

land:

And with her half my

Thy father once mine honour wrongde

In dayes of youthful pride;

Do thou the injurye repayre

In fondneffe for thy bride.

And as thou love her, and hold her deare,

Heaven profper thee and thine :

And nowe my bleffing wend wr thee,
My lovelye Emmeline.

195

200

XI.

EDOM O GORDON,

A SCOTTISH BALLAD,

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

The reader will here find it improved, and enlarged with feveral fine ftanzas, recovered from a fragment of the fame ballad, in the Editor's folio MS. It is remarkable that the latter is intituled CAPTAIN ADAM CARRE, and is in the English idiom. But whether the author was English or Scotch, the difference originally was not great. The English Ballads are generally of the North of England, the Scottish are of the South of Scotland, and of confequence the country of Ballad-fingers was fometimes fubject to one crown, and fometimes to the other, and most frequently to neither. Most of the fineft old Scotch fongs have the fcene laid within 20 miles of England; which is indeed all poetic ground, green hills, remains of woods, clear brooks. The paftoral scenes remain: Of the rude chivalry of former ages happily nothing remains but the ruins of the caftles, where the more daring and fuccefsful robbers refided. The Castle of the Rhodes is fixed by tradition in the neighbourhood of Dunje in Berwickshire. The Gordons were anciently feated in the fame county. Whether this ballad bath any foundation in fact, we have not been able to dif

cover.

It contains however but too just a picture of the violences practifed in the feudal times all over Europe.

H 2

From

From the different titles of this ballad, it should seem that the old ftrolling bards or minstrels (who gained a livelihood by reciting thefe poems) made no fcruple of changing the names of the perfonages they introduced, to humour their bearers. For inftance, if a Gordon's conduct was blameworthy in the opinion of that age, the obfequious minstrel would, when among Gordons, change the name to Car, whose clan or fept lay further weft, and vice verfâ. In another volume the reader will find a fimilar inflance. See the fong of GIL MORRIS, the hero of which had different names given him, probably from the fame caufe.

It

may be proper to mention, that in the English copy, inftead of the "Caftle of the Rhodes," it is the "Castle of Bittons-borrow" (or "Diactours-borrow," for it is very obfcurely written) and " Capt. Adam Carre" is called the "Lord of Wefterton-town." Uniformity required that the additional ftanzas fupplied from that copy should be clothed in the Scottish orthography and idiom: this has therefore been attempted, though perhaps imperfectly.

T fell about the Martinmas,

IT

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

We maun draw to a hauld.

And quhat a hauld fall we draw to,

5

My mirry men and me?

We wul gae to the house o' the Rhodes,

To fee that fair ladìe.

The lady ftude on hir caftle wa',

Beheld baith dale and down:

10

There she was ware of a host of men

Cum ryding towards the toun.

O fee