The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border

A copy of The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border in the National Museum of Scotland

The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border is a collection of Border ballads compiled by Walter Scott, first published in three volumes in 1802 and 1803, followed by volume IV in 1807. It is not to be confused with his long poem, The Lay of the Last Minstrel.

Volume I[1], Volume II[2], and Volume III[3] are available as e-texts [4].

The three volumes include such well-known ballads as

  • "A Lyke-Wake Dirge" (version beginning "This ae nighte, this ae nighte,/ Every nighte and alle")
  • "The Twa Corbies" ("As I was Walking all alane,/ I heard twa corbies making a mane")
  • "Thomas the Rhymer" ("True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank;/ A ferlie he spièd wi' his e'e")
  • "Lord Randal" ("'O where hae ye been, Lord Randal, my son?/ O where hae ye been, my handsome young man?'")
  • "The Demon Lover" ("'O where have you been, my long, long love,/ This long seven years and more?'")
  • "Helen of Kirkconnel" ("I wish I were where Helen lies!")

Volume IV, which is available as a Google Book, contains an extensive prefatory discussion entitled "Essay on Imitations of the Ancient Ballad."

See also

References

  1. ↑ Volume I
  2. ↑ Volume II
  3. ↑ Volume III
  4. ↑ Sir Walter Scott (1849), The minstrelsy of the Scottish border, Edinburgh Robert Cadell, retrieved 8 February 2018
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