Hi Joe,
Sorry not to chip in sooner. I was away in the smoke for a few days. I have your name again now from another thread so I've made a proper note.

I think it's a shame for future reference that all of your hard work is going to be lost in a thread on Barbara Allen. I don't know if a Mudelf can transfer all of the Edom o' Gordon info onto a separate thread where it would make more sense.

Re Sharpe's comments. All of the earlier collectors, particularly those from the late 18th/early 19th centuries had their own agendas so without corroboration I tend to take what they say with a pinch of salt.

>>>>>>>If, as the experts claim, ballads founded on fact are produced within 30 years of the actual event the finding of the ballad based on the burning of Auchruglen becomes important as this event predates the burning of the house of Rhodes in the North East of Scotland by two centuries.<<<<<<<<

I don't agree with this assertion though no doubt it is true in many cases. There is very little proof to verify this. In many cases it is more likely that the ballads were written centuries later based on legends and local tradition. Chevy Chase' and 'The Battle of Otterburn' were much more likely written long after the events. I personally think that many of the Sc ballads written on 16th/17th century events were written in the 18th century. I can't prove this but you try and disprove it.

Regarding academics. Most of us on here are not academics. We do it for the love of it just like you.

Regarding your info on Auchruglen, whilst it's possible the ballad was based on legends from the 14th century, my own instinct tells me that it's more likely to be based on a more recent event. There is also the possibility that the ballad is a conflation of more than one similar event. There are examples of this. 'Geordie' is based on several events. 'The Whittam Miller', likewise.