In the Forest, as was natural,
he found much of his materials. The people at the head of Ettrick
were still, says Hogg, {1a} like many of the Highlanders even now, in
that they cheered the long winter nights with the telling of old
tales; and some aged people still remembered, no doubt in a defective
and corrupted state, many old ballads. Some of these, especially the
ballads of Border raids and rescues, may never even have been written
down by the original authors. The Borderers, says Lesley, Bishop of
Ross, writing in 1578, "take much pleasure in their old music and
chanted songs, which they themselves compose, whether about the deeds
of their ancestors, or about ingenious raiding tricks and
stratagems." {2a}
The historical ballads about the deeds of their ancestors would be
far more romantic than scientifically accurate. The verses, as they
passed from mouth to mouth and from generation to generation, would
be in a constant state of flux and change. When a man forgot a
verse, he would make something to take its place.
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