A specimen of the ancient ballad in its most perfect strength, absolute and concise in its construction, without wandering into irrelevancies and incongruities, as many of them do, and in which the appalling tragedy strikes with a sudden blow upon the heart at its close, is Edward. It has all the characteristic features of the ballads, in the vivid colors of nature illuminating and intensifying his dramatic dialogue, while it has the mist of blood in the witchlike questions of its opening, and the passion of hatred and despair in its close. Ballads of similar form and subject are to be found in Scandinavian literature, and counterparts to its methods of revelation in various English and Scottish ballads, but none have so pure a construction and so perfect an effect as this:-- "Why does your brand sae drap wi' bluid, Edward, Edward? Why does your brand sae drap wi' bluid, And why sae sad gang yee, O?" "O, I hae killed my hauke sae guid, Mither, mither. O, I hae killed my hauke sae guid, And I had nae mair but hee, O." "Your hauke's bluid was nevir sae reid, Edward, Edward. Your hauke's bluid was nevir sae reid, My deir son, I tell thee, O." O, I hae killed my red roan steed, Mither, mither. O, I hae killed my red roan steed That was sae fair and free, O." "Your steed was auld and ye hae gat mair, Edward, Edward. Your steed was auld and ye hae got mair. Sum other dule ye drie, O." "O, I hae killed my fadir deir, Mither, mither. O, I hae killed my fadir deir. Alas! and wae is mee, O." "And whatten penance will ye drie for that, Edward, Edward? And whatten penance will ye drie for that, My deir son? Now tell mee, O." "I 'll set my feit in yonder boat, Mither, mither. I 'll set my feit in yonder boat, And I 'll fare ovir the sea, O." "And what will you doe wi' your towirs and your ha', Edward, Edward? And what will you doe wi' your towirs and your ha', That were sae fair and free, O?" "I 'll let them stand tul they down fa', Mither, mither. I 'll let them stand tul they down fa', For here nevir mair maun I bee, O." "And what wul ye leave to your bairns and your wife, Edward, Edward? And what wul ye leave to your bairns and your wife, When ye gang ovir the sea, O?" "The warlde's room, late them beg thrae life, Mither, mither. The warlde's room, late them bag thrae life, For them nevir mair wul I see, O." "And what wul ye leave to your ain mither, deir, Edward, Edward? And what wul ye leave to your ain mither, deir,