Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrelsy

"Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrelsy" by Andrew Lang is a study of Sir Walter Scott's work with Scottish ballads. It defends Scott against claims that he was not truthful in how he edited and shared these traditional songs in the 1800s. The text looks closely at examples like "Auld Maitland" to show how folklore changes as it's passed down by word of mouth. Lang explains how Scott collected and changed the ballads, with help from people like James Hogg, but still tried to keep the original feeling and stories alive. The investigation gives a view into older Scottish stories and what they meant to the people, by looking at criticisms of literary authenticity in some Scottish narrative styles.