[426] "Cette action, si peu séante pour nous, est accomplie dans maint conte grec, allemand, etc., par des jeunes filles sur leurs amants, sur des dragons par les princesses qu'ils ont enlevées, et, même dans une légende bulgare en vers, saint Georges reçoit le même service de la demoiselle exposée au dragon, dont il va la délivrer." Dozon, Contes albanais, p. 27, note. In the Bulgarian legend referred to, Bulgarski narodni pĕsni, by the brothers Miladinov, p. 31, the saint having dozed off during the operation, the young maid sheds tears, and a burning drop falls on the face of George, and wakes him. This recalls the Magyar ballad, Molnár Anna, see p. 46. A Cretan legend of St George has the same trait: Jeannaraki, p. 2, v. 41. Even a dead lover recalled to the earth by his mistress, in ballads of the Lenore class, asks the same service: Golovatsky, II, 708, No 12; Sušil, p. 111, No 112, 'Umrlec,' 'The Dead Man.'
[427] Afterwards a judge, with the name of Lord Robertson, but universally known as Peter Robertson, celebrated for his wit and good fellowship as well as his law, friend of Scott, Christopher North, and Lockhart; "the Paper Lord, Lord Peter, who broke the laws of God, of man, and metre." Mr Macmath's note.
Transcriber's Notes
Page [xi], Contents: changed volume reference "I" to "II" under Additions and Corrections to Ballad 11 "The Cruel Brother" (Additions and Corrections: I, 496; II, 498; III, 499;)
Page [xi], Contents: deleted erroneous page reference "170," under Additions and Corrections to Ballad 14 "Babylon".
Page [4], version B, stanza 6: added missing close single quotation mark (And what is sharper than a thorn?')
Page [16], stanza 20: added missing close single quotation mark (Let the elphin knight do what he will.')
Page [18], version G, stanza 3: added missing close single quotation mark (Which never bore blossom since Adam was born?')
Page [37]: changed "Bokendorf" to "Bökendorf" (Reifferscheid, No 18, p. 36, from Bökendorf.)