“The Piper of Northumberland” was hardly a Scotsman, but he was so closely associated with the Borderland that a reference to his exploits may not be out of place. His name was James Allan, and there is an old booklet which tells at considerable length of “his parentage, education, extraordinary adventures, and exploits, his numerous enlistings, and wonderful escapes: with a brief narrative of his last confinement and death in Durham Jail, which happened in 1810.” Jemmy Allan, “the celebrated Northumberland Piper,” was a true-born gipsy, born of gipsy parents in the west of Northumberland in 1734. His father was a piper, and he also developed an inclination for the pipes. Besides, he was a first-class athlete, as hardy as the ordinary gipsy, handsome, daring, cunning, resourceful, untruthful, dishonest, and everything that could be called derogatory to the moral character of a man. He attained to great fame as a piper, being installed among the privileged class of minstrels, and allowed to join the “Faa” gang, over which “Will Faa” held sovereignty for many years. At length his fame reached the Duchess of Northumberland, into whose good graces, by a rather mean subterfuge, Jemmy ingratiated himself, and afterwards ranked as one of her musicians. But his habits of dissipation were too much for polite society, and he was dismissed. During his after wanderings he married several times, had “amours” many, enlisted and deserted immediately afterwards times without number, always taking care to secure the bounty money, swindled at cards and billiards wherever he went, charmed village society with his music until the people were off their guard, and finished up by cheating one and all, “borrowed” horses for getting across the country conveniently, had as many marvellous escapes as could be crammed into the lifetime of one man, tried most of the English towns, and made them too hot to live in, took a turn of the Scottish Border towns, with the same result, and finally got imprisoned for life for horse-stealing. He died in the House of Correction in Durham in 1810, just before the arrival of a pardon, which had been obtained by the exercise of some strong influence. The following verses, which, somehow, have the ring of _Habbie Simson’s Epitaph_, conclude the book:— “All ye whom Music’s charms inspire Who skilful minstrels do admire, All ye whom bagpipe lilts can fire ‘Tween Wear and Tweed, Come, strike with me, the mournful lyre, For ALLAN’S dead. “No more where Coquet’s stream doth glide Shall we view JEMMY in his pride, With bagpipe buckled to his side, And nymphs and swains In groups collect, at even-tide, To hear his strains.