Minstrelsy of the Scottish border - National Library of Scotland

112 MINSTRELSY OF
" lad, ' does not remember ever to have seen the origi-
" nal genuine words,'—as he obligingly acknowledged
" in a letter to the editor. Mr Robertson, however,
" who gives the statistical account of the parish of Sel-
" kirk, seems to know something more of the matter
" ' Some,' says he, ' have veryfalsely attributed to this
" event (the battle of Flowden,) that song,
' Up wi' the souters of Selkirk,
' And down with the Earl of Hume.'
" There was no Earl of Hume,' he adds, ' at that time,
" nor was this song composed till long after. It arose
" from a bet betwixt the Philiphaugh and Hume fami-
" lies ; the souters (or shoemakers) of Selkirk, against
" the men of Hume, at a match of football, in which the
** souters of Selkirk completely gained, and afterwards
" perpetuated their victory in that song.'—This is de-
" cisive ; and so much for Scottish tradition."—Note
to Historical Essay on Scotish Song, prefixed to Scotish
Songs, in 2 vols. 1 794.
It is proper to remark, that the passage of Mr Robert-
son's statistical account, above quoted, does not relate
to the authenticity of the tradition, but to the origin of
the song, which is obviously a separate and distinct
question. The entire passage in the statistical account
(of which a part only is quoted in the essay) runs thus
"Here, too, the inhabitants ofthe town of Selkirk, who
" breathed the manly spirit of real freedom, justly merit
" particular attention. Of one hundred citizens, who fol-
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