One "maker" or the other has, in old times, pirated
and perverted the ballad of another "maker."
SCOTT'S TRADITIONAL COPY AND HOW HE EDITED IT
As early as December 1802-January 1803, Scott was "so anxious to have a
complete Scottish Otterburn that I will omit the ballad entirely in the
first volume (of 1803), hoping to recover it in time for insertion in
the third." {67a}
The letter is undated, but is determined by Scott's expressed interest
"about the Tushielaw lines, which, from what you mention, must be worth
recovering." In a letter (Abbotsford MSS.) from Hogg to Scott (marked
in copy, "January 7, 1803") Hogg encloses "the Tushielaw lines," which
were popular in Ettrick, but were verses of the eighteenth century.
They were orally repeated, but literary in origin.
Scott, who wanted "a complete Scottish Otterburn" in winter 1802, did
not sit down and make one. He waited till he got a text from Hogg, in
1805, and published an edited version in 1806.
SCOTT'S PUBLISHED stanza i. is Herd's stanza i.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107