John Milburn (c. 1754 – 1837), known as Muckle Jock ('muckle' is Northumbrian for 'big', 'large', 'great'), was a player of the Border pipes, from near Bellingham in Northumberland.
The statement is incorrect in detail, for while Proudlock's mother was a Milburn, she was not Muckle Jock's daughter; it seems almost certain that they were related, however.
Muckle Jock was described by Dr. Edward Charlton, who knew him, as "one of the last of the old Borderers", "a gigantic man ... as famous for the power of his lungs, as for his prowess in clearing a fair or emptying a keg of whisky".
His association with the people of the Tarset area suggests that Muckle Jock originally came from Upper North Tynedale, towards the Border, rather than Bellingham itself.
My fore-elder was then sore beset with the twa Scots, till he gat a straik at them with his swaird, and garred his heid spang alang the heather like an inion!