Indeed my
narrators added no more, but told me that Sir Hugh died on the field,
but that
He left not an Englishman on the field,
. . .
That he hadna either killed or ta'en
Ere his heart's blood was cauld.
Almonshire (Stanza iii.) may probably be a corruption of Bamburghshire,
but as both my narrators called it so I thought proper to preserve it.
The towers in Roxburgh fells (Stanza iii.) may not be so improper as we
were thinking, there may have been some [English] strength on the very
borders.--I remain, Dear Sir, your most faithful and affectionate
servant, JAMES HOGG.
Hogg adds a postscript:
Not being able to get the letter away to the post, I have taken the
opportunity of again pumping my old friend's memory, and have recovered
some more lines and half lines of Otterburn, of which I am becoming
somewhat enamoured. These I have been obliged to arrange somewhat
myself, as you will see below, but so mixed are they with original
lines and sentences that I think, if you pleased, they might pass
without any acknowledgment.
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