‘Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border’: Sources and Commentary

This critical edition of Scott’s Minstrelsy presents a seminal 19th-century work for a 21st-century audience

The third volume in this three volume set fully contextualises the Minstrelsy in discussing the 1830 edition. It includes an introductory essay on popular poetry and on various collections of ballads of Britain, particularly those of Scotland, and an essay on the ancient ballad. This volume places Scott’s Minstrelsy text within the broad framework of traditional ballad studies and contemporary compositions. The ballads are printed in full (with music where available) from MS 877, MS 893 and other manuscripts, chap-books, letters and books available to Scott with contextual commentary provided for each ballad as appropriate. The first part of the commentary comprises a literary discussion of Scott’s choice of text followed by a discussion of oral traditions, including the singer and the Sitz-im-Leben.

Key Features:

- Presents the first complete modern critical edition of Scott’s ballads and songs

- Provides insight into the oral and the literate culture of Scotland at a critical point of transition between the two

- Reveals the roots of Scott’s impact on Romantic perceptions and on the creation of an imagined Scotland

- Settles the question of authenticity: identifies the relationship of Scott’s published versions of each ballad to the sources and parallels available to Scott, mainly in manuscript