Minstrelsy of the Scottish border - National Library of Scotland

THE SCOTTISH BORDER. 73
ANNAN WATER.
NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.
THEfoUowingverses are theoriginal words of the tune o€
" Allan Water," by which name the song is mentioned in
Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellajiy. Theballadis given from
tradition ; and it is said, that a bridge, over the Annan,
was built in consequence of the melancholy catastrophe
which it narrates. Two verses are added in this edition,
from another copy of the ballad, in which the conclusion
proves fortunate. By the Gatehope Slack, is perhaps
meant the Gate Slack, a pass in Annandale. The Annan,
and the Frith of Solway, into which it falls, are the fre-
quent scenes of tragical accidents. The editor trusts he
will be pardoned for inserting the following awfully im-
pressive account of such an event, contained in a letter
fromDr Currie, of Liverpool, by whose correspondence,
while in the course of preparing these volumes for the
press, he has been alike honoured and instructed. After
stating, that he had some recollection of the ballad which