"A farewell to my wedded wife, 155 A farewell to my brother John, Wha sits into the Troughend tower, Wi' heart as black as any stone. "A farewell to my daughter Jean, A farewell to my young sons five; 160 Had they been at their father's hand, I had this night been man alive. "A farewell to my followers a', And a' my neighbours gude at need; Bid them think how the treacherous Ha's 165 Betrayed the life o' Parcy Reed. "The laird o' Clennel bears my bow, The laird o' Brandon bears my brand; Whene'er they ride i' the border side, They'll mind the fate o' the laird Troughend." 170 CAPTAIN CAR, OR, EDOM O' GORDON. "This ballad is founded upon a real event, which took place in the north of Scotland in the year 1571, during the struggles between the party which held out for the imprisoned Queen Mary, and that which endeavoured to maintain the authority of her infant son, James VI. The person designated Edom o' Gordon was Adam Gordon of Auchindown, brother of the Marquis of Huntly, and his deputy as lieutenant of the north of Scotland for the Queen. This gentleman committed many acts of oppression on the clan Forbes, under colour of the Queen's authority, and in one collision with that family, killed Arthur, brother to Lord Forbes. He afterwards sent a party under one Captain Car, or Ker, to reduce the house of Towie, one of the chief seats of the name of Forbes. The proprietor of the mansion being from home, his lady, who was pregnant at the time, confiding too much in her sex and condition, not only refused to surrender, but gave Car some very opprobrious language over the walls, which irritated him so much that he set fire to the house, and burnt the whole inmates, amounting in all to thirty-seven persons. As Gordon never cashiered Car for this inhuman action, he was held by the public voice to be equally guilty, and accordingly [in one of the versions of the ballad] he is represented as the principal actor himself." (CHAMBERS's _Scottish Ballads_, p. 67.) It appears that the Forbeses afterwards attempted to assassinate Adam Gordon in the streets of Paris. See more of this Captain Ker under _The Battell of Balrinnes_, in the next volume.