in #A# which portray the bootless waiting of the ladies for the return of the seafarers.[23] In #G-J# we meet with additional circumstances. The destination of the ship is Norway. The object of the voyage is not told in #G#; in #H# it is to bring home the king of Norway's daughter; in #J# to bring home the Scottish king's daughter; in #I# to take out the Scottish king's daughter to Norway, where she is to be queen. The Scots make the passage in two days, or three, #G#, #H#, #I#. After a time the Norwegians begin to complain of the expense caused by their guests, #G#, #H#; or reproach the Scots with staying too long, to their own king's cost, #I#. Sir Patrick tells them that he brought money enough to pay for himself and his men, and says that nothing shall induce him to stay another day in the country. It is now that we have the omen of the new moon with the old moon in her arm, in #G#, #H#. In #I# this comes before the voyage to Norway,[24] and in #G# the stanza expressing apprehension of a storm, without the reason, occurs twice,[25] before the voyage out as well as before the return voyage. In #J#, as in #A-F#, the ship is lost on the voyage out. In #G#, therefore, and #I# as well, two different accounts may have been blended. Whether there is an historical basis for the shipwreck of Scottish nobles which this ballad sings, and, if so, where it is to be found, are questions that have been considerably discussed. A strict accordance with history should not be expected, and indeed would be almost a ground of suspicion.[26] Ballad singers and their hearers would be as indifferent to the facts as the readers of ballads are now; it is only editors who feel bound to look closely into such matters. Motherwell has suggested a sufficiently plausible foundation. Margaret, daughter of Alexander III, was married, in 1281, to Eric, King of Norway. She was conducted to her husband, "brought home," in August of that year, by many knights and nobles. Many of these were drowned on the return voyage,[27] as Sir Patrick Spens is in #G#, #H#, #I#.