"chance of war,” which I give in the words of the old historian. "I shall shewe you of Sir Mathewe Reedman (an En"glish warrior, and governor of Berwick), who was on horse"backe, to save himselfe, for he alone coude nat remedy the 66 mater. At his departynge, Sir James Limsay was nere him, "and sawe Sir Mathewe departed. And this Sir James, to wyn honour, followed in chase Sir Mathewe Reedman, and came so nere him, that he myght have stryken hym with hys speare, if he had lyst, Than he said, Ah! Sir knyght, "tourne! it is a shame thus to fly! I am James of Lindsay. "If ye will nat tourne, I shall strike you on the back with my

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speare.' Sir Mathewe spoke no worde, but struke his hors "with his spurres sorer than he did before. In this maner he "chased hym more than three myles. And at last Sir Ma“thewe Reedman's hors foundered, and fell under hym. Than ❝he stept forthe on the erthe, and drewe oute his swerde, and "toke corage to defend himselfe. And the Scotte thought to "have stryken hym on the brest, but Sir Mathewe Reedman "swerved fro the stroke, and the speare point entred into the "erthe. Than Sir Mathewe strake asonder the speare wyth "his swerde. And whan Sir James Limsay sawe howe he had "lost his speare, he cast away the tronchon, and lyghted a-fote, "and toke a lytell battell-axe, that he carryed at his backe, " and handled it with his one hand, quickly and delyverly, in "the whyche feate Scottes be well experte. And than he set "at Sir Mathewe, and he defended himselfe properly. Thus they journeyed tognyder, one with an axe, and the other with

a swerde, a longe season, and no man to lette them. Fy"nally, Sir James Limsay gave the knyght such strokes, and "helde him so shorte, that he was putte out of brethe in such

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wyse, that he yelded himselfe, and sayde, Sir James Lim66 say, I yeld me to you.'-' Well,' quod he; and I receyve you, rescue or no rescue.'—' I am content,' quod Reedman, so ye dele wyth me like a good companyon.'-' I shall not "fayle that,' quod Limsay, and so put up his swerde. 'Well,' " said Reedman, what will ye nowe that I shall do? I am "your prisoner; ye have conquered me; I wolde gladly go

agayn to Newcastell, and, within fiftene dayes, I shall come to you into Scotlande, where as ye shall assigne me.'—' I am " content,' quod Limsay; ye shall promyse, by your faythe, "to present yourselfe, within these foure wekes, at Edinborowe; and wheresoever ye go, to repute yourselfe my pri"soner. All this Sir Mathewe sware, and promised to fulfil."

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The warriors parted upon these liberal terms, and Reedman returned to Newcastle. But Lindsay had scarcely ridden a mile, when he met the bishop of Durham, with 500 horse, whom he rode towards, believing them to be Scottish, until he was too near them to escape. "The bysshoppe stepte to him, "and sayde, Limsay, ye are taken; yelde ye to me.'-' Who "be you?' quod Limsay. I am,' quod he, the bysshoppe of "Durham.'- And fro whens come you, sir?' quod Limsay. 'I come fro the battell,' quod the bysshoppe, but I strucke never a stroke there. I go backe to Newcastell for this "night, and ye shal go with me.'-' I may not chuse,' quod Limsay, 'sith ye will have it so. I have taken, and I am "taken; suche is the adventures of armes." Lindsay was accordingly conveyed to the bishop's lodgings in Newcastle, and here he was met by his prisoner, Sir Matthew Reedman; who "founde hym in a studye, lying in a windowe, and sayde, 'What! Sir James Lindsay, what make you here? Than Sir "James came forth of the study to him, and sayde, By my fayth, Sir Mathewe, fortune hath brought me hyder; for, as soon as I was departed fro you, I mete by chaunce the bisshoppe of Durham, to whom I am prisoner, as ye be to me. "I beleve ye shall not nede to come to Edenborowe to me to "mak your fynaunce. I thynk, rather, we shall make an exchange one for another, if the bysshoppe be also contente.'— 'Well, sir,' quod Reedman, we shall accord ryghte well toguyder; ye shall dine this day with me: the bysshoppe and our men be gone forth to fyght with your men. I can nat tell "what we shall know at their retourne.'-'I am content to

't

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dyne with you,' quod Limsay."- Froissart's Chronicle, translated by Bourchier, Lord Berners, Vol. I. chap. 146.

But the Jardines wald not with him ride.-P. 64. v. 2. The Jardines were a clan of hardy west-border men. Their chief was Jardine of Applegirth. Their refusal to ride with Douglas was, probably, the result of one of those perpetual feuds, which usually rent to pieces a Scottish army.

And he that had a bonny boy,

Sent out his horse to grass.-P. 67. v. 4.

Froissard describes a Scottish host, of the same period, as consisting of "IIII. M. men of armes, knightis, and squires, "mounted on good horses; and other X. M. men of warre "armed, after their gyse, right hardy and firse, mounted on lytle hackneys, the whiche were never tyed, nor kept at hard meat, but lette go to pasture in the fieldis and bushes.”— Cronykle of Froissart, translated by Lord Berners, Chap. xvii.

THE SANG

OF

THE OUTLAW MURRAY.

THIS ballad appears to have been composed about the reign of James V. It commemorates a transaction, supposed to have taken place betwixt a Scottish monarch, and an ancestor of the ancient family of Murray of Philiphaugh, in Selkirkshire. The editor is unable to ascertain the historical foundation of the tale; nor is it probable that any light can be thrown upon the subject, without an accurate examination of the family charter chest. It is certain, that, during the civil wars betwixt Bruce and Baliol, the family of Philiphaugh existed, and was powerful; for their ancestor, Archibald de Moravia, subscribes the oath of fealty to Edward I. A. D. 1296. It is, therefore, not unlikely, that, residing in a wild and fron

tier country, they may have, at one period or other, during these commotions, refused allegiance to the feeble monarch of the day, and thus extorted from him some grant of territory or jurisdiction. It is also certain, that, by a charter from James IV., dated November 30, 1509, John Murray of Philiphaugh is vested with the dignity of heritable sheriff of Ettrick Forest, an office held by his descendants till the final abolition of such jurisdictions by 28th George II. cap. 23. But it seems difficult to believe, that the circumstances, mentioned in the ballad, could occur under the reign of so vigorous a monarch as James IV. It is true, that the Dramatis Personæ introduced seem to refer to the end of the fifteenth, or beginning of the sixteenth, century; but from this it can only be argued, that the author himself lived soon after that period. It may, therefore, be supposed (unless farther evidence can be produced, tending to invalidate the conclusion), that the bard, willing to pay his court to the family, has connected the grant of the sheriffship by James IV. with some further dispute betwixt the Murrays of Philiphaugh and their sovereign, occurring, either while they were engaged upon the side of Baliol, or in the subsequent reigns of David II. and Robert II. and III., when the English possessed great part of the Scottish frontier, and the rest was in so lawless a state as hardly to acknowledge any superior. At the same time, this reasoning is not absolutely conclusive. James IV. had particular reasons for desiring that Ettrick Forest, which ac

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