Ancient Scottish ballads, recovered from tradition, and never before ...

226
In this ballad, however, he bears a more
courteous name and character, and seems to
have lost his fi
thre heydis,' and his appetite
for ' quyk men' ; although his gormandizing
qualities are proverbial in Mearns-shire, where
the phrase ' Roaring like a Red EtinJ is ap-
plied to any one who is clamorous for his vic-
tuals.
The reciter, unfortunately, could not re-
member more of the ballad, although the story
was strongly impressed on her memory. She
related that the lady, after having been taken
home by Hynde Etin, lived with him many
years, and bore him seven sons, the eldest of
whom, after the enquiries at his parents detail-
ed in the ballad, determines to go in search of
the Earl, his grandfather. At his departure, his
mother instructs him how to proceed, giving
him a ring to bribe the porter at her father's
gate, and a silken vest, wrought by her own
hand, to be worn in the presence of her father.
The son sets out, and arrives at the castle, where,
by bribing the porter, he gets admission to the
Earl, who, struck with the resemblance of the