And Bessy Bell and Mary Gray,
They war twa bonnie lasses;
They bigget a bower on yon burn-brae,
And theekit it o’er wi’ rashes.
SIR JAMES THE ROSE
The Text is from Motherwell’s Minstrelsy (1827). It is based on a stall-copy, presumably similar to one preserved by Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford, combined with a version from recitation, which Child none the less calls ‘well remembered from print.’
The Story has no historical foundation, as far as can be discovered; and for once we have a traditional tale inculcating a moral, though we do not understand why the ‘nourice’ betrays Sir James to his enemies.
Michael Bruce wrote a version of the story of this ballad, which seems to have become more popular than the ballad itself. It may be seen in A. B. Grosart’s edition of his works (1865), p. 197.