Robin Oig was hanged in 1753. James Mohr, a detected
traitor to Prince Charles, died miserably in Paris, in 1754.
Readers of Mr. Stevenson's Catriona know James well; information as
to his villanies is extant in Additional MSS. (British Museum).
This is probably the latest ballad in the collection. It occurs in
several variants, some of which, copied out by Burns, derive thence
a certain accidental interest. In Mr. Stevenson's Catriona, the
heroine of that name takes a thoroughly Highland view of the
abduction. Robin Oig, in any case, was "nane the waur o' a
hanging," for he shot a Maclaren at the plough-tail, before the
Forty-Five. The trial of these sons of Alpen was published shortly
after Scott's Rob Roy.
KILLIECRANKIE
Fought on July 27, 1689. NOT on the haugh near the modern road by
the railway, but higher up the hill, in the grounds of Urrard
House. Two shelter trenches, whence Dundee's men charged, are
still visible, high on the hillside above Urrand. There is said,
by Mr. Child, to have been a contemporary broadside of the ballad,
which is an example of the evolution of popular ballads from the
old traditional model. There is another song, by, or attributed
to, Burns, and of remarkable spirit and vigour.
ANNAN WATER
From The Border Minstrelsy Scott says that these are the original
words of the tune of "Allan Water," and that he has added two
verses from a variant with a fortunate conclusion. "Allan Water"
is a common river name; the stream so called joins Teviot above
Branxholme.
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