Poetry

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border

by Walter Scott

Walter Scott rode through the Borders as a young lawyer collecting the old ballads from shepherds and farm wives, and published them in 1802 and 1803. James Hogg’s mother, who gave him some, told him they were made for singing and not for reading, and that he had spoiled them. As a boy of fifteen Scott had met Burns once, in Edinburgh, and never forgot his eyes.

The librarian

Read it in the Library After Dark Or read it as plain text

Reading time

About 5 hr 50 min

Where to find it

The Burns Room

Edition

Project Gutenberg, eBook #12742. In the public domain in the United States.