The Romantic Scottish Ballads: Their Epoch and Authorship

A critical investigation into the age and authorship of Scottish traditional ballads argues that many celebrated lyrical narratives long assumed to be ancient may be considerably more recent. The author surveys influential collectors and printed miscellanies, notes the absence of secure documentary evidence before the early eighteenth century, and analyzes linguistic traits, editorial affectation, and specific cases such as Hardyknute and Sir Patrick Spence. Emphasizing how modern compositions and oral reciters could be presented as archaic, the essay interrogates transmission practices and editorial decisions, urging a cautious reevaluation of provenance instead of uncritically accepting received antiquity.