Minstrelsy of the Scottish border - National Library of Scotland

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 437
THE GRAY BROTHER.
A FRAGMENT.
NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. WALTER SCOTT.
The imperfect state of this ballad, which was written
several years ago, is not a circumstance affected for the
purpose of giving it that peculiar interest, which is often
found to arise from ungratified curiosity. On the con-
trary, it was the editor's intention to have completed
the tale, if he had found himself able to succeed to his
own satisfaction. Yielding to the opinion of persons,
whose judgment, if not biassed by the partiality of
friendship, is entitled to deference, the editor has pre-
ferred inserting these verses as a fragment, to Ills in-
tention of entirely suppressing them.