a state of
tranquillity.--_Rymer_, Vol. XIII. p. 66. In order to accomplish
this object, it was natural for him, according to the policy of his
predecessors to invest one great family with the power of keeping
order among the rest. It is even probable, that the Philiphaugh family
may have had claims upon part of the lordship of Ettrick Forest, which
lay intermingled with their own extensive possessions; and, in the
course of arranging, not indeed the feudal superiority, but the
property, of these lands, a dispute may have arisen, of sufficient
importance to be the ground-work of a ballad.--It is farther probable,
that the Murrays, like other border clans, were in a very lawless
state, and held their lands merely by occupancy, without any feudal
right. Indeed, the lands of the various proprietors in Ettrick Forest
(being a royal demesne) were held by the possessors, not in property,
but as the kindly tenants, or rentallers, of the crown; and it is only
about 150 years since they obtained charters, striking the feu-duty of
each proprietor, at the rate of the quit-rent, which he formerly paid.
This state of possession naturally led to a confusion of rights and
claims. The kings of Scotland were often reduced to the humiliating
necessity of compromising such matters with their rebellious subjects,
and James himself even entered into a sort of league with Johnie Faa,
the king of the gypsies.--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