The Dowie Dens o Yarrow

The lady may see the events in a dream, either before or after they take place and usually has some sort of dialogue with her father about the merits of the man who has been ambushed and killed.

It also includes the motif, present in some versions of "The Dowie Dens o Yarrow", of the woman dreaming of her murdered lover before discovering the truth of the plot.

[9] The song is closely associated with the geographical area of the valley of the Yarrow Water that extends through the Scottish borders towards Selkirk.

The hero of the ballad was a knight of great bravery, popularly believed to be John Scott, sixth son of the Laird of Harden.

According to history, he met a treacherous and untimely death in Ettrick Forest at the hands of his kin, the Scotts of Gilmanscleugh in the seventeenth century.

[14] However, the song is much older: William Hamilton of Bangour wrote a poem called "The Braes of Yarrow" which has some basis in the ballad.

Child points out the similarity with "Herr Helmer", a Scandinavian ballad (TSB D 78; SMB 82; DgF 415; NMB 84).