NOTES ON THE FLODDEN BANNER 291 



My dear Sir, 



Will you pardon the vanity of an author in 

 hoping a copy of a new edition of his work may not be 

 unacceptable to you as a man of letters* and an ancient 

 borderer. It contains some lines on p. 138 relative to the 

 Homes of Wedderburne and the Swintons (my own maternal 

 ancestors) with a few others, which were added since to the 

 quarto edition. I am ever, with great regard, 



Dear Sir, 



Your obliged and faithful servant, 

 W. Scott. 

 Castle Street, 



Friday. 



The lines on p. 138 are: — 



" Vails not to tell each hardy clan, 

 From the fair Middle Marches came, 

 The bloody Heart blazed in the van, 

 Announcintjj Douglas, dreaded name ! 

 Vails not to tell what steeds did spurn. 

 Where the Seven Spears of Wedderburne 

 Their men in battle order set, 

 And Swinton laid the lance to rest, 

 That tamed of yore the sparkling crest 

 Of Clarence's Plantagenet. 

 Nor lists, I say, what hundreds more 

 From the rich Merse and Lammermore, 

 And Tweed's fair borders, to the war 



* With reference to Sir Walter's flattering phrase, " man of letters," 

 it may be as well to quote the following from " Scotch Legal 

 Antiquities," by Cosmo Innes, the well-known antiquary and his- 

 torian : — " George Home, of Wedderburn and Paxton, was learned 

 especially in Commercial Law. He managed the affairs of Douglas, 

 Heron and Co.'s Bank, after its bankruptcy — the most noted bankruptcy, 

 I suppose, in Scotland, previous to the failure of the Western Bank. 

 There is a tradition that it was the general wish of his profession 

 that Mr Home should be raised to the Bench. I think Sir Walter 

 Scott succeeded him as Clerk of Session. He contributed 

 papers to the Mirror." 



