makes the welkin tremble, he proclaims
The audacious felon; foot by foot he marks
His winding way, while all the listening crowd
Applaud his reasonings. O'er the watery ford,
Dry sandy heaths, and stony barren hills,
O'er beaten tracks, with men and beast distain'd,
Unerring he pursues; till, at the cot
Arrived, and seizing by his guilty throat
The caitiff vile, redeems the captive prey:
So exquisitely delicate his sense!

SOMERVILLE'S _Chase_.

_Methinks it's the Captain of Newcastle, &c.
Coming down by the foul steps of Catlowdie's loan_.--P. 256. v. 2.

According to the late Glenriddell's notes on this ballad, the office
of captain of Bewcastle was held by the chief of the Nixons.

Catlowdie is a small village in Cumberland, near the junction of the
Esk and Liddel.

_Captain Musgrave and a' his band_.--P. 256. v. 3.

This was probably the famous Captain Jack Musgrave, who had charge of
the watch along the Cryssop, or Kershope, as appears from the order of
the watches appointed by Lord Wharton, when deputy-warden-general, in
6th Edward VI.

LORD MAXWELL'S GOODNIGHT.

NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

* * * * *

This beautiful ballad is published from a copy in Glenriddel's MSS.,
with some slight variations from tradition. It alludes to one of the
most remarkable feuds upon the west marches.

A.D. 1585, John, Lord Maxwell, or, as he styled himself, Earl of
Morton, having quarrelled with the Earl of Arran, reigning favourite
of James VI., and fallen, of course, under the displeasure of the
court, was denounced rebel. A commission was also given to the laird
of Johnstone, then warden of the west-marches, to pursue and apprehend
the ancient rival and enemy of his house. Two bands of mercenaries,
commanded by Captains Cranstoun and Lammie, who were sent from
Edinburgh to support Johnstone, were attacked and cut to pieces
at Crawford-muir by Robert Maxwell, natural brother to the
chieftain;[195] who, following up his advantage, burned Johnstone's
castle of Lochwood, observing, with savage glee, that he would
give Lady Johnstone light enough by which to "set her hood." In
a subsequent conflict, Johnstone himself was defeated, and made
prisoner, and is said to have died of grief at the disgrace which
he sustained.--See _Spottiswoode_ and _Johnstone's Histories_, and
_Moyse's Memoirs, ad annum_ 1585.

By one of the revolutions, common in those days, Max