almes aforesaid they have redemed the forfeyte; for, at the edge of
the launde, an oulde man shall meet them with the same shoes that were
given by the partie when he was lyving; and, after he hath shodde
them, dismisseth them to go through thick and thin, without scratch or
scalle." _Brigg o' Dread_, Bridge of Dread. Descriptions of this
Bridge of Dread are found in various Scottish poems, the most minute
being given in the legend of _Sir Owain_. Compare the belief of the
Mahometan that in his approach to the judgment-seat, he must traverse
a bar of red-hot iron, stretched across a bottomless abyss, true
believers being upheld by their good works, while the wicked fall
headlong into the gulf.


PROUD LADY MARGARET. After Aytoun. The original versions of this
ballad, as given by Scott, Buchan, Dixon, and Laing, differ widely. It
is known under various titles, _The Courteous Knight_, _The Jolly Hind
Squire_, _The Knicht o Archerdale_, _Fair Margret_, and _Jolly
Janet_. Similar ballads are rife in France, although in these it is
more frequently the ghost of a dead lady who admonishes her living
lover. _Wale_, choose. _Ill-washen feet_, etc., in allusion to the
custom of washing and dressing the dead for burial. _Feckless_,
worthless. _Pirie's chair_ remains an unsolved riddle of the ballad,
editors and commentators not being as good at guessing as the ghost.


THE TWA SISTERS O' BINNORIE. Mainly after Aytoun. There are many
versions of this ballad in Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland,
varying widely in titles, refrains, and indeed in everything save the
main events of the story. A broadside copy appeared as early as
1656. Ballads on the same subject are very popular among the