_Sae now he's o'er the floods sae gray_.--P. 269. v. 3.
This seems to have been a favourite epithet in old romances, Thus in
_Hornchilde_, and _Maiden Rimuild_,
Thai sayled ower the _flode so gray_,
In Inglond arrived were thay,
Ther him levest ware.
THE LADS OF WAMPHRAY.
The reader will find, prefixed to the foregoing ballad, an account
of the noted feud betwixt the families of Maxwell and Johnstone.
The following song celebrates the skirmish, in 1593, betwixt the
Johnstones and Crichtons, which led to the revival of the ancient
quarrel betwixt Johnstone and Maxwell, and finally to the battle of
Dryffe Sands, in which the latter lost his life. Wamphray is the name
of a parish in Annandale. Lethenhall was the abode of Johnstone of
Wamphray, and continued to be so till of late years. William Johnstone
of Wamphray, called the _Galliard_, was a noted freebooter. A place,
near the head of Tiviotdale, retains the name of the _Galliard's
Faulds_, (folds) being a valley where he used to secrete and divide
his spoil, with his Liddesdale and Eskdale associates. His _nom
de guerre_ seems to have been derived from the dance called _The
Galliard_. The word is still used in Scotland, to express an active,
gay, dissipated character.[199] Willie of the Kirkhill, nephew to the
Galliard, and his avenger, was also a noted border robber.
Pages:
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373