Book description
The Border Ballads are rooted in the wild and beautiful lands that
lie between England and Scotland, a traditionally lawless area whose
inhabitants owed allegiance first to kin and laird, and only then to
the authorities in London or Edinburgh. Recording a violent, clannish
world of fierce hatreds and passionate loyalties, the ballads tell
vivid tales of raids, feuds and betrayals, romances and acts of
revenge. They celebrate ungovernable heroes and powerful women, often
in laments for the murderous results of breaking tribal codes, and
they evoke the presence of an older border, between the natural and
the supernatural worlds. The Border Ballads were long regarded as
primitive poems. This selection restores their identity within the
oral tradition, setting them in the context of their time and place
with the aid of maps and a glossary.
