[28]. Stanza 21 recalls the verses in Hume of Godscroft:
Edinburgh castle, towne, and tower,
God grant thou sink for sinne! etc.
[29]. Gordon’s History of Sutherland, p. 414; Spalding’s Memorials, I, 11, 21–23, 29 f., 43 f.
[30]. Gordon’s History, pp. 481, 460; Spalding, with details, I, 70.
[31]. Spalding, I, 141, 188, 244.
[32]. Gordon, History of Scots Affairs, II, 276–80; Spalding, Memorials, I, 209–11. Seton is called a bold, or brave, baron, in A 2, B 3, not in the mediæval way, but as one of the gentlemen of the king’s party. The Gordons and their associates “at this time were called the Barons, and their actings, by way of derision, the Barons’ Reign.” Gordon, p. 261. “Northern,” B 13, should be southern, as in A.
[33]. Gordon, II, 274; Spalding, I, 208; Napier’s Montrose and the Covenanters, I, 284 f. The Hieland men, says Baillie, “avowed that they could not abide the musket’s mother, and so fled in troops at the first volley.” Letters, ed. Laing, I, 221.
[34]. History of Scots Affairs, II, 281, note: see also what is added to that note.
[35]. “‘The deep, deep den’ referred to in the ballad is the Den of Airlie, celebrated for its fine scenery and romantic beauty. It extends about a mile below the junction of the Isla and the Melgum.” Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, II, 296.