ish Border_ (1802-3). Of the 'history' of the ballad
the less said the better. The argument is neatly summarised by
Mr. Allingham, p. 376 of _The Ballad Book_ ('Golden Treasury,'
1879).

skeely = _skilful_
white monie = _silver_
gane = _would suffice_
half-fou = _the eighth part of a peck_
gurly = _rough_
lap = _sprang_
bout = _bolt_
twine = _thread_, i.e. canvas
wap = _warp_
flattered = '_fluttered_, or rather, floated' (Scott)
kaims = _combs_

XXVII

Printed by Percy, 'from an old black-letter copy; with some
conjectural emendations.' At the suggestion of my friend,
the Rev. Mr. Hunt, I have restored the original readings,
as in truer consonancy with the vainglorious, insolent, and
swaggering ballad spirit. As for the hero, Peregrine Bertie,
Lord Willoughby of Eresby, described as 'one of the Queen's
best swordsmen' and 'a great master of the art military,' he
succeeded Leicester in the command in the Low Countries in 1587,
distinguished himself repeatedly in fight with the Spaniards,
and died in 1601. 'Both Norris and Turner were famous among the
military men of that age' (Percy). In the Roxburgh Ballads the
full title of the broadside--which is 'printed for S. Coles in
Vine St., near Hatton Garden,'--is as follows:--'_A true relation
of a famous and bloudy Battell fought in Flanders by the noble
and valiant Lord Willoughby with 1500 English against 40,000
Spaniards, wherein the English obtained a notable victory for
the glory and renown of our nation._ Tune: _Lord Willoughby_.'

XXVIII

First printed by Tom D'Urfey, _Wit and Mirth, etc._ (1720),
vi. 289-91; revised by Robert Burns for _The Scots Musical
Magazine_, and again by Allan Cunningham for _The Songs
of Scotland_; given with many differences, 'long current in
Selkirkshire,' in the _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_. The
present version is a _rifaccimento_ from Burns and Scott. It is
worth noting that Graeme (pronounced 'Grime'), and Graham are both
forms of one name, which name was originally Grimm, and that,
according to some, the latter orthography is the privilege of
the chief of the clan.

XXIX

First printed in the _Minstrelsy_. This time the 'history'
is authentic enough. It happened early in 1596, when Salkeld,
the Deputy Warden of the Western Marches, seized under truce the
person of William Armstrong of Kinmont--elsewhere described as
'Will Kin