Charley Noble: I agree with you 100%. This is the first time I've seen the complete text of the original poem by Scroggie. Reading it over, if one were to select the best of the verses, combine a few half-verses into whole ones, and judiciously scrap the remainder, you might come up with something closely resembling the text as we all know it now. The "folk" just did all that editing for us.

I've done the same thing with the Tannahill poem that was the basis for "Wild Mountain Thyme" (and "The Braes of Balquiddar" as it is currently sung in the tradition) and come to the same conclusion. Clearly, the "folk" make damned good editors. When the scholars observe that the ballads eschew long, descriptive passages in favor of cutting direct to the chase, I think they must be observing the results of many generations of similar editing. The good folk caught the essence of the story, tossed out the extraneous verbiage that may once have surrounded it, and have presented us with some fine, unadorned, narrative poetry -- stark and powerful. I wish some of our young singer/songwriters would observe the process and follow suit! Could possibly improve their product.

Sandy