[19] Professor Aytoun says of this ballad, that 'it was adapted from the original by Sir Alexander Halket--at least, such was the general understanding until lately, when it became a mania with some literary antiquaries [a glance at the opinions of the present writer] to attribute the authorship of the great bulk of the Scottish ballads to Sir Alexander's sister, Lady Wardlaw, on the single ground that she was the composer of _Hardyknute_.' My learned friend is here very unlucky, for Lady Wardlaw had no brother, nor does any Sir Alexander Halket appear in her family history. This, however, is not all. It was a song to the _tune of Gilderoy_ which was attributed to Sir Alexander Halket (Johnson's _Scots Musical Museum_)--namely, the well-known _Ah, Chloris_, which turns out to be a composition of Sir Charles Sedley, inserted by him in a play entitled the _Mulberry Garden_, which was acted in 1668. _Edward, Edward_, which Percy received from Sir David Dalrymple, and placed among his oldest pieces, in affectedly old spelling, is a striking melodramatic composition: 'Why does your brand sae drap wi' bluid, Edward, Edward? Why does your brand sae drap wi' bluid, And why sae sad gang ye, O?' 'O, I hae killed my hawk sae guid, Mother, mother: O, I hae killed my hawk sae guid, And I had nae mair but he, O.' 'Your hawk's bluid was never sae reid, Edward, Edward; Your hawk's bluid was never sae reid, My dear son, I tell ye, O.' 'O, I hae killed my reid-roan steed, Mother, mother; O, I hae killed my reid-roan steed, That erst was sae fair and free, O.' 'Your steed was auld, and ye hae gat mair, Edward, Edward; Your steed was auld, and ye hae gat mair, Some other dool ye drie, O.' 'O, I hae killed my father dear, Mother, mother; O, I hae killed my father dear, Alas, and wae is me, O.' 'And whaten penance will ye drie for that, Edward, Edward? And whaten penance will ye drie for that, My dear son, now tell me, O?' 'I'll set my feet in yonder boat, Mother, mother; I'll set my feet in yonder boat, And I'll fare over the sea, O.' * * * 'And what will ye leave to your bairns and your wife, Edward, Edward? And what will ye leave to your bairns and your wife, When ye gang over the sea, O?' 'The warld's room, let them beg through life, Mother, mother; The warld's room, let them beg through life, For them never mair will I see, O.'