nt
Willie_. I am the more confirmed in this opinion, because Kerr
of Ancrum was at this time a fugitive, for slaying one of the
Rutherfords, and the tower of Ancrum given in keeping to the
Turnbulls, his hereditary enemies. His mother, however, a daughter of
Home of Wedderburn, contrived to turn out the Turnbulls, and possess
herself of the place by surprise.--_Godscroft_, Vol. II. p. 250.

_The Armestranges, that aye hae been_.--P. 158. v. 1.

This clan are here mentioned as not being hail, or whole, because
they were outlawed or broken men. Indeed, many of them had become
Englishmen, as the phrase then went. Accordingly, we find, from Paton,
that forty of them, under the laird of Mangertoun, joined Somerset
upon his expedition into Scotland.--_Paton, in Dalyell's Fragments_,
p. 1. There was an old alliance betwixt the Elliots and Armstrongs,
here alluded to. For the enterprises of the Armstrongs, against their
native country, when under English assurance, see _Murdin's State
Papers_, Vol. I. p. 43. From which it appears, that, by command of
Sir Ralph Evers, this clan ravaged almost the whole west border of
Scotland.

_The sheriffe brought the Douglas down_.--P. 158. v. 2,

Douglas of Cavers, hereditary sheriff of Teviotdale, descended from
Black Archibald, who carried the standard of his father, the Earl of
Douglas, at the battle of Otterbourne.--_See the Ballad of that name_.

_Wi' Cranstane, Gladstain, good at need_.--P. 158. v. 2.

Cranstoun of that ilk, ancestor to Lord Cranstoun; and Gladstain of
Gladstains.

_Wi a' the Trumbills, stronge and stout;
The Rutherfoords, with grit renown_.--P. 158. v. 2.

These were ancient and powerful border clans, residing chiefly upon
the river Jed. Hence, they naturally convoyed the town of Jedburgh
out. Although notorious freebooters, they were specially patronised by
Morton, who, by their means, endeavoured to counterpoise the power
of Buccleuch and Ferniherst, during the civil wars attached to the
queen's faction.

The following fragment of an old ballad is quoted in a letter from
an aged gentleman of this name, residing at New-York, to a friend in
Scotland:

"Bauld Rutherfurd, he was fow stout, Wi' a' his nine sons
him round about; He led the town o' Jedburgh out, All bravely
fought that day."

_Wi' Sir John Forster for their guyde_.--P. 158. v. 3.

This gentleman is called, erroneously, in some copies of this ballad,
_Sir George_. He