Grie and grie—In regular descent; from gre, French.
Such liberties with the genealogy of monarchs were common to romancers. Henry the Minstrel makes Wallace slay more than one of King Edward's nephews; and Johnie Armstrong claims the merit of slaying a sister's son of Henry VIII.
It is impossible to pass over this curious list of Scottish romances without a note; to do any justice to the subject would require an essay.—Raf Coilyear is said to have been printed by Lekprevik, in 1572; but no copy of the edition is known to exist, and the hero is forgotten, even by popular tradition.
John the Reif, as well as the former personage, is mentioned by Dunbar, in one of his poems, where he stiles mean persons,
Kyne of Rauf Colyard, and Johne the Reif.