My mother is actually a living miscellany of old songs. I never
believed that she had half so many until I came to a trial. There
are some (sic) in your collection of which she hath not a part, and I
should by this time had a great number written for your amusement,
thinking them all of great antiquity and lost to posterity, had I not
luckily lighted upon a collection of songs in two volumes, published
by I know not who, in which I recognised about half-a-score of my
mother's best songs, almost word for word. No doubt I was piqued,
but it saved me much trouble, paper, and ink; for I am carefully
avoiding anything which I have seen or heard of being in print,
although I have no doubt that I shall err, being acquainted with
almost no collections of that sort, but I am not afraid that you too
will mistake. I am still at a loss with respect to some: such as
the Battle of Flodden beginning, "From Spey to the Border," a long
poetical piece on the battle of Bannockburn, I fear modern: The
Battle of the Boyne, Young Bateman's Ghost, all of which, and others
which I cannot mind, I could mostly recover for a few miles' travel
were I certain they could be of any use concerning the above; and I
might have mentioned May Cohn and a duel between two friends, Graham
and Bewick, undoubtedly very old.
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