This volume is a collection of Border ballads compiled by Walter Scott. Scott's interest in the folk traditions of the Border region stemmed from early childhood days. Scott originally intended to concentrate on ballads celebrating historical incidents, particularly those connected with the old Border raids, but the first two-volume edition of the Minstrelsy, which appeared on February 24, 1802, eventually contained twenty-nine historical pieces and twenty-four romantic ballads, together with a handful of 'imitations' mostly by Scott himself. The third volume comprised entirely of modern imitations of traditional ballad forms. The first volume contains ballads such as Sir Patrick Spens, Auld Maitland, etc.