310 REVIEWS — THE BALLADS OF SCOTLAND. 



wound deliberate instead of accidental ; and lie has further improved 

 on one of its current versions by getting rid of certain foreign ingre- 

 dients mingled with, its genuine stanzas, probably at a very early date; 

 and derived from the ballad of " Edward" one of the most powerful 

 and sternly tragic of all the ancient traditional poems of Scottish folk- 

 lore. It thus opens : — 



" Why does your brand sae drap wi blude, 

 Edward, Edward? 

 "Why does your brand sae drap wi blude, 

 And why sae sad gang ye, ? " 



To these inquiries of his mother, her son renders various evasive re- 

 plies until at length he admits that it is the blood of his own father 

 dear that drops from his sword ; and, replying to her further interro- 

 gatories desparingly, that he means to fly far over the sea, and leave 

 his hall and towers to crumble into ruin, — it thus concludes: — 



And what "^ill ye leave to your bairns and your wife, 



Edward, Edward ? 

 And what will ye leave to your bairns and your wife 

 When ye gang over the sea, ? 

 Mither, mither. 

 The warld's room ; let them beg through life ; 

 For them never mair will I see, 0. 



And what will ye leave to your ain mither dear, 



Edward, Edward ? 

 And what will ye leave to your ain mither dear? 



My dear son now tell me, O ? 

 The curse of hell frae me shall ye bear, 



Mither, mither: 

 The curse of hell frae me shall ye bear, 

 Sic counsels ye gave to me, ! 



That the task of the Scottish ballad collector is scarcely yet com- 

 pleted, is proved by the fact that the editor of these " Ballads of 

 Scotland" has still, like his predecessors, ancient novelties to pro- 

 duce, as in his traditionary version of " The Battle of Harlaw ;" a 

 spirited historical ballad, replete with local names and allusions, and 

 which is still popular in Aberdeenshire, where it was taken down, 

 from recitation, some years ago. It is pleasant to believe that the 

 field is not yet so thoroughly gleaned as to preclude all hope of still 

 recovering more of such golden grain as this new-found version of 



