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JOCK 0' THE SIDE. |
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by Eobin Hood and his associates; and in Kinmont Willie have had an authenticated account of a remarkable exploit of this description at the close of the reign of Elizabeth. The two ballads which follow have this same theme; but only the authority of tradition. Jock o' the Side has one circumstance in common with Kinmont Willie—the daring passage of the river : with Archie of Ca'field it agrees throughout.
Jock o' the Side would seem to have been nephew to the Laird of Mangertoun (the chief of the clan Armstrong), and consequently cousin to the Laird's Jock. Scott suggests that he was probably brother to Christie of the Syde, mentioned in the list of Border clans, 1597. Both of these worthies receive special notice in Maitland's complaint Against the Thieves of Liddisdale.
" He is weil kend, Johne of the Syde; A greater thief did never ryde; He nevir tyris For to brek byria, Our muir and myria Onir glide ane guide."
Scott has pointed out that Jock o' the Side assisted the Earl of Westmoreland in his escape after his insurrection with the Earl of Northumberland, in the twelfth year of Elizabeth.
" Now Liddisdale has ridden a raid,
But I wat they had better staid at hame;
For Mitchel o' Winfield he is dead, And my son Jolinie is prisoner ta'en."
VOL. VI. 6 |
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