One of the other
incidents is of April 1597. {107a} Here Buccleuch in person, on the
Sabbath, burned twenty houses in Tynedale, and "slew fourteen men who
had been in Scotland and brought away their booty." Here we have
Buccleuch "on the hot trod," pursuing English reivers, recovering the
spoils probably, and slaying as many of the raiders as the Captain
lost, in the ballad. Again, not a SON of Elliot of Preakinhaugh (as I
had erroneously said), but a NEPHEW named Martin, was slain in a
Tynedale raid into Liddesdale. {108a} Soldiers aided the English
raiders. A confused memory of this death of Elliot's nephew in 1597
may be the source of the story of the death of his son, Simmy, in the
ballad.
Our traditional ballads all arise out of some germs of history, all
handle the facts romantically, and all appear to have been composed, in
their extant shapes, at a considerable time after the events. I may
cite Mary Hamilton; The Laird of Logie is another case in point; there
are many others.
Colonel Elliot does not agree with me.
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