" {131a}
Colonel Elliot quotes Scott's preface to the ballad: "In many things
Satchells agrees with the ballads current in his time" (1643-88), "from
which in all probability he derived most of his information as to past
events, and from which he occasionally pirates whole verses, as we
noticed in the annotations upon the Raid of the Reidswire. In the
present instance he mentions the prisoner's large spurs (alluding to
fetters), and some other little incidents noticed in the ballad, which
therefore was probably well known in his day."
As Satchells was born in 1613, while the rescue of Kinmont Willie by
Buccleuch, out of Carlisle Castle, was in 1596, and as Satchells'
father was in that adventure (or so Satchells says) he probably knew
much about the affair from fresh tradition. Colonel Elliot notices
this, and says: "The probability of Satchells having obtained
information from a hypothetical ballad is really quite an inadmissible
argument."
This comes near to begging the question. As contemporary incidents
much less striking and famous than the rescue of Kinmont Willie were
certainly recorded in ballads, the opinion that there was a ballad of
Kinmont Willie is a legitimate hypothesis, which must be tested on its
merits.
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