n the bonnie banks of Yarrow.'

* * * * *

"Four has he hurt, and five has slain;
On the bloody braes of Yarrow,
Till that stubborn knight came him behind,
And ran his body thorough.

* * * * *

"Yestreen I dream'd a dolefu' dream;
I fear there will be sorrow!
I dream'd I pu'd the heather green
Wi' my true love on Yarrow.

* * * * *

"She kiss'd his cheek, she kaimed his hair;
She search'd his wounds all thorough;
She kiss'd them till her lips grew red,
On the dowie houms of Yarrow."

A fragment of rare beauty, believed to be based on the same incident
(unlikely however) was one of Scott's special favourites. Rather does it
shrine a similar tragedy, one of many such which must have been common
enough in those troubled and lawless times. How melting is the pathos of
the following verses, for instance!

"Willie's rare and Willie's fair,
And Willie's wondrous bonny,
And Willie's hecht to marry me,
Gin e'er he married ony.

"Yestreen I made my bed fu' braid,
This night I'll make it narrow,
For a' the livelong winter night,
I'll lie twin'd of my marrow.

She sought him east, she sought him west,
She sought him braid and narrow;
Syne, in the cleaving of a craig
She found him drown'd in Yarrow.

Somewhat akin is the "Lament of the Border Widow," located at
Henderland, in Meggetdale, not far from St. Mary's Loch. In the preface
to this ballad in the "Minstrelsy," Scott states that it was "obtained
from recitation in the Forest of Ettrick, and is said to relate to the
execution of Cockburn of Henderland, a Border freebooter, hanged over
the gate of his own tower by James V. in the course of that memorable
expedition in 1529 which was fatal to Johnie Armstrong, Adam Scott of
Tushielaw, and many other marauders." The grave of "Perys of Cockburne
and hys wyfe Marjory" on a wooded knoll at Henderland, is still pointed
out. But the historicity of the ballad has been questioned from the
statement (which seems to be correct) that Cockburn was actually
executed at Edinburgh, instead of at his own home. There is no evidence,
however, to assume that the ballad commemorates this particular
occurrence or that it has any connection with the grave referred to. For
genuine balladic merit it will be dif