This ballad must of course not be regarded as historical, but there are correspondences between the story and the proceedings by which the Earl of Morton, in April, 1578, after his resignation of the regency, obtained possession of the person of the young king James VI and virtually reestablished himself in power. The citizens of Edinburgh rose in arms against Morton (cf. sts. 21, 22), and large forces collected from other parts of Scotland for the liberation of James. The Douglas of the ballad is clearly William Douglas of Lochleven, who was a partisan of Morton.
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