56 EXCUBSION TO ETTBICK FOREST. [Nov., 



This landisof Ettricke Foreste feir. 



I wan them from the enemie ; 

 Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them 



Contrair a' kingis in Christentie." 

 ' All the nobilis the king about 



Said, " Pitie it were to see him die." 

 " Yet grant me mercie, sovereign prince, 



Extend your favour unto me. 

 I'll give thee the keys of my castell, 



"Wi' the blessing o' my gaye ladye, 

 Gin thou'lt mak me sheriflfe of this Foreste, 



And a' my offspring after me." 

 * " Wilt thou give me the keys of thy castell, 



Wi' the blessing of thy gaye ladye 1 

 I'se mak thee sheriffe of Ettiicke Foreste, 



Surely, while upward grows the trie : 

 If you be not traitour to the king, 



Forfaulted sail thou nevir be. 

 Now name thy landis where'er they lie. 



And here I render them to thee.' 

 ' " Fair Philiphaugh is mine by right. 



And Lewinshope still mine sail be ; 

 Newark, Foulshiell, and Twinies baith^ 



My bow and arrow purchased me ; 

 And I have native steads to me, 



The Newark Lee and Hangingshaw ; 

 I have mony steads in the Foreste shaw, 



But them by name I dinna knaw." ' 



The kirg thereupon invested the Outlaw with all his lands, and the 



ballad ends — 



' Wha ever heard, in ony times, 



Sicken an outlaw in his degree, 

 Sick favour get befor a king 



As did the Outlaw Murray of the Forest frie.' 



Our guide, philcsophcr, and friend had just finished the recitation of 

 this charining Border talc, when, rounding the shoulder of the Piper's 

 Hill, we came to a nice open glade adorned with thriving specimens of 

 Birch, Yew, Oak, Thorn, Scotch Fir, and Plane. About the centre of this 

 glade was a rough pyramidal structure almost bidden by giaccful cuitains 

 of ivy. A carved stone told the monument's own tale in the following 

 inscription: 'Erected by Sir John Murray, Bart., to the memory of the 

 Covenanters, who fought tind gained the battle of Philiphaugh on 13"' 

 Sept., 1G45.' 3 he Covenanters were commanded by the renowned General 

 David Leslie, and the forces raised in defence of the cause of Charles I. 

 by Gnihnm, Marquis of Montrose. Sir Walter Scott, in liis introdLCtion 

 to the ballad of the Battle of Philiphaugh, contained in the 'Minstrelsy 

 of the Scottish Border,' gives a graphic account of the battle. Advancing, 

 T7e drive past the ancient mansion of Philiphaugh, beantilully situated on 

 a terrace overlooking the Ettrick. A finer view it were hard to imagine 



