I have always found "the waters shone sae bricht" puzzling & suspected a corruption. Child 223 has "Their *swords* they shin'd so bright", which makes more sense: it might be a bashful metaphor for "She dared not defend her daughter for fear of their swords" -- ashamed of not fighting back at odds of 24 to 2! That would be consistent with the rest of the story in that it presumes a culture in which physical courage is admired in women as well as men.

Child's synopsis of the ending is: "She defends herself successfully, and in the morning comes in her lover, Belbordlane [sic], or John Forsyth, well armed, and we presume well supported, who carries her back to her mother, to be his bride." Perhaps he is *Lord* Belbordlane; that would explain the two names. Perhaps, also, Willie lived in Strathdon but John did not; then "There's no a man in a' Strathdon" would only be an emphatic rejection of Willie & not of the whole male sex.

My reading of "The sun shines oer the westlin hills by the lamplicht o' the moon" is that the rising sun is lighting up the hills to the west, and the (full) moon is setting behind them.

A consistent reading of the sequence at the end would be that she tells Willie to be a good sport and give her a horse so that she can accompany her betrothed back to her mother's house. That does not seem to me incredible. Willie is not exactly a gallant character, but it appears that for him there are decencies that even ruffians must respect. It is O.K. for his gang to help him in the abduction, but not in the rape proper. It is O.K. for him to threaten the minister with his pistols, but not her. Evidently the rape itself has to be naked and one on one. If he succeeds, of course she will have to marry him. If he fails, he has to let her go. Chivalry, 18th-century Scots fashion!

That doesn't explain why John Forsyth didn't bring an extra horse with him, or invite Eppie to ride with him on his, but perhaps there were practical difficulties.