' before leaping the castle wall? It seems to me that the
two expressions must stand or fall together; therefore the entire
lack of suggestions to explain the latter phrase drives me to
distrust of any of the explanations given for the former.

A suggestion recently made to me appears to dispose of all
difficulties; and, once made, is convincing in its very obviousness.
It is, that 'bow' means 'elbow,' or simply 'arm.' The first phrase
then exhibits the commonest form of ballad-conventionalities,
picturesque redundancy: the parallel phrase is 'he slacked his shoon
and ran.' In the second phrase it is, indeed, necessary to suppose
the wall to be breast-high; the messenger places one elbow on the
wall, pulls himself up, and vaults across.

Lexicographers distinguish between the Old English _b[-o]g_ or
_b[-o]h_ (O.H.G. buog = arm; Sanskrit, bahu-s = arm), which means arm,
arch, bough, or bow of a ship; and the Old English _boga_ (O.H.G.
bogo), which means the archer's bow. The distinction is continued in
Middle English, from the twelfth to the fifteenth century. Instances
of the use of the word as equivalent to 'arm' may be found in Old
English in _King Alfred's Translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care_
(E.E.T.S., 1871, ed. H. Sweet) written in West Saxon dialect of the
ninth century.

It is true that the word does not survive elsewhere in this meaning,
but I give the suggestion for what it is worth.

+Briar.+

'briar and rose,' _Douglas Tragedy_, 18, 19, 20; _Fair Margaret and
Sweet William_, 18, 19, 20; _Lord Lovel_, 9, 10; etc.

'briar and birk,' _Lord Thomas and Fair Annet_, 29, 30; _Fair Janet_,
30; etc.

'roses,' _Lady Alice_, 5, 6. (See introductory note to _Lord Lovel_,
p. 67.)

The ballads which exhibit this pleasant conception that, after
death, the spirits of unfortunate lovers pass into plants, trees, or
flowers springing from their graves, are not confined to European
folklore. Besides appearing in English, Gaelic, Swedish, Norwegian,
Danish, German, French, Roumanian, Romaic, Portuguese, Servian,
Wendish, Breton, Italian, Albanian, Russian, etc., we find it
occurring in Afghanistan and Persia. As a rule, the branches of the
trees intertwine; but in some cases they only bend towards each
other, and kiss when the wind blows.

In an Armenian tale a curious addition is made. A young man,
separated by her father from his sweetheart becau