Minstrelsy of the Scottish border - National Library of Scotland

36 ]\iinstiii:lsv oi-
LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNIE.
FIHST PUBLISHED IN A PERFECT STATE.
This ballad is now, for the first time, published in a per-
fect state. A fragment, comprehending the 2d, 4th, 5th,
and 6th verses, as also the 1 7th, has appeared in several
collections. The present copy is chiefly taken from the
recitation of an old woman, residing near Kirkhill, in
West Lothian ; the same from whom were obtained the
variations in the tale of Tamhuie, and the fragment of
the IVi/e of Usher's Well, which is the next in order.
The tale is much the same with the Breton romance,
called Lay Le Frain, or the Song of the Ash. Indeed,
the editor is convinced, that the farther our researches
are extended, the more we shall see ground to believe,
that the romantic ballads of later times are, for the most
part, abridgments of the ancient metrical romances, nar-