--Perhaps, therefore, the tradition, handed
down in this song, may have had more foundation than it would at
present be proper positively to assert.
The merit of this beautiful old tale, it is thought, will be fully
acknowledged. It has been, for ages, a popular song in Selkirkshire.
The scene is, by the common people, supposed to have been the castle
of Newark, upon Yarrow. This is highly improbable, because Newark was
always a royal fortress. Indeed, the late excellent antiquarian Mr.
Plummer, sheriff-depute of Selkirkshire, has assured the editor, that
he remembered the _insignia_ of the unicorns, &c. so often mentioned
in the ballad, in existence upon the old tower at Hangingshaw, the
seat of the Philiphaugh family; although, upon first perusing a copy
of the ballad, he was inclined to subscribe to the popular opinion.
The tower of Hangingshaw has been demolished for many years. It stood
in a romantic and solitary situation, on the classical banks of the
Yarrow. When the mountains around Hangingshaw were covered with
the wild copse which constituted a Scottish forest, a more secure
strong-hold for an outlawed baron can hardly be imagined.
The tradition of Ettrick Forest bears, that the Outlaw was a man of
prodigious strength, possessing a batton or club, with which he laid
_lee_ (i.
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