233. Englishman.
L.
“The story of the ballad was that Lochinvar went to Netherby with a band of men dressed in green, whom he concealed near the tower, and with whose assistance he forcibly abducted the young lady.”
222
BONNY BABY LIVINGSTON
A. ‘Bonny Baby Livingston.’ a. Jamieson-Brown MS. b. Jamieson’s Popular Ballads, II, 135.
B. ‘Barbara Livingston,’ Buchan’s MSS, I, 77.
C. Motherwell’s MS., p. 375; ‘Barbara Livingston,’ Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, p. 304.
D. ‘Annie Livingston,’ Campbell MSS, II, 254.
E. ‘Baby Livingstone,’ Kinloch MSS, V, 355.
Mrs Brown was not satisfied with A b, which Jamieson had taken down from her mouth, and after a short time she sent him A a. The verbal differences are considerable. We need not suppose that Mrs Brown had heard two “sets” or “ways,” of which she blended the readings; the fact seems to be that, at the time when she recited to Jamieson, she was not in good condition to remember accurately.