borrowed even from the praises which are proper to virtue itself.  As of a most notorious thief, and wicked outlaw, which had lived all his life-time of spoils and robberies, one of their bardes, in his praise, will say, ’that he was none of the idle milk-sops that was brought up by the fire-side, but that most of his days he spent in arms and valiant enterprizes; that he never did eat his meat, before he had won it with his sword; that he lay not all night slugging in his cabin under his mantle, but used commonly to keep others waking to defend their lives, and did light his candle at the flames of their houses to lead him in the darkness; that the day was his night, and the night his day; that he loved not to be long wooing of wenches to yield to him; but, where he came, he took by force the spoil of other men’s love, and left but lamentations to their lovers; that his music was not the harp, nor lays of love, but the cries of people, and clashing of armour; and, finally, that he died, not bewailed of many, but made many wail when he died, that dearly bought his death.’  Do not you think, Eudoxus, that many of these praises might be applied to men of best deserts?  Yet, are they all yielded to a most notable traitor, and amongst some of the Irish not smally accounted of.”—­State of Ireland.  The same concurrence of circumstances, so well pointed out by Spenser, as dictating the topics of the Irish bards, tuned the border harps to the praise of an outlawed Armstrong, or Murray.

[Footnote 60:  The reward of the Welch bards, and perhaps of those upon the border, was very similar.  It was enacted by Howel Dha, that if the king’s bard played before a body of warriors, upon a predatory excursion, be should receive, in recompence, the best cow which the party carried off.—­Leges Walliae, I. 1. cap. 19.]

For similar reasons, flowing from the state of society, the reader must not expect to find, in the border ballads, refined sentiment, and, far less, elegant expression; although the stile of such compositions has, in modern hands, been found highly susceptible of both.  But passages might be pointed out, in which the rude minstrel has melted in natural pathos, or risen into rude energy.  Even where these graces are totally wanting, the interest of the stories themselves, and the curious picture of manners, which they frequently present, authorise them to claim some respect from the public.  But it is not the editor’s present intention to enter upon a history of border poetry; a subject of great difficulty, and which the extent of his information does not as yet permit him to engage in.  He will, therefore, now lay before the reader the plan of the present publication; pointing out the authorities from which his materials are derived and slightly noticing the nature of the different classes into which he has arranged them.

The MINSTRELSY of the SCOTTISH BORDER contains Three Classes of Poems: 

    I. HISTORICAL BALLADS.  II.  ROMANTIC.  III.  IMITATIONS OF THESE
    COMPOSITIONS BY MODERN AUTHORS.