LIZIE LINDSAY
The Text is from Kinloch’s MSS. He obtained it from Mearnsshire, and remarks that according to the tradition of that district the heroine was said to have been a daughter of Lindsay of Edzell, though he had searched in vain for genealogical confirmation of the tradition.
The Story.—‘Ballads of this description,’ says Professor Child, ‘are peculiarly liable to interpolation and debasement.’ In this version the most offending stanza is the tenth; and the extra two lines in stt. 22 and 24 also appear to be unnecessary. The anapaestic metre of this version should be noted.
The ballad was and is a great favourite with singers, and the tune may be found in several of the collections of Scottish songs.
LIZIE LINDSAY
1.
It’s of a young lord o’ the Hielands,
A bonnie braw castle had he,
And he says to his lady mither,