Lord Randal- Robertson; pre-1845; Child Q
Patrick Robertson, who became known as Lord Robertson and was more commonly called "Peter Robertson," died in 1845 and his friend, John Gibson Lockhart (June 12, 1794– November 25, 1854), a Scottish biographer, literary critic, novelist and journalist, best known for his biography of his father-in-law, Walter Scott, wrote Robertson's epitaph:
Here lies the peerless paper lord, Lord Peter,
Who broke the laws of God and man, and metre.
Epitaph on Patrick ("Peter"), Lord Robertson (1845);
Thsi additional information by Charles Mackay was included in Through the long day: or, Memorials of a literary life Volume 1 (1887): "Lord Robertson was a far more polished and accomplished man, though not so able a lawyer as Lord Eldin. He was more commonly called "Peter Robertson" than Lord Robertson (Peter is the familiar and affectionate synonym for Patrick), and was a universal favourite among the wits of Edinburgh. At that time wits were more plentiful than they have since become in that intellectual and then convivial city. The aforesaid wits still retained their love for the old vernacular, and were not ashamed to speak in the broadest Scotch, as they have become in our day, when many young Edinburgh cockneys affect the lisp and the drawl of Londoners, and boast, as if it were a thing to be proud of, that they cannot read the poems of Robert Burns, or the romances of Walter Scott, with any degree of pleasure, on account of the difficulty they find in understanding the dialect.
In London, whither "Peter" was often summoned on legal business, he was as great a favourite in literary, legal, and social circles as he was in Edinburgh. He was particularly intimate with John Gibson Lockhart, the son-in-law of Sir Walter Scott, and for more than a quarter of a century the editor of the Quarterly Review. Their friendship was like that of two rollicking college students, as full of fun and mischief as it was of real regard."
'Lord Randal'- Child Version Q
Pitcairn’s MSS, III, 19. “This was communicated to me by my friend Patrick Robertson, Esq., Advocate,* who heard it sung by an old lady in the North Country; and though by no means enthusiastic about popular poetry, it struck him so forcibly that he requested her to repeat it slowly, so as he might write it down.” Stanzas 2–5 “were very much similar to the set in Scott’s Minstrelsy,” and were not taken down. [I've supplied Scott's 2-5.]
1 ‘O whare hae ye been, Lord Randal, my son?
O whare hae ye been, my handsome young man?’
‘Oer the peat moss mang the heather, mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m weary, weary hunting, and fain wad lie down.’
2 'Where gat ye your dinner, Lord Randal, my son?
Where gat ye your dinner, nmy handsome young man?'
'I din'd wi my true-love; mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm weary wi hunting, and fain wald lie down.'
3 'What gat ye to your dinner, Lord Randal, my son?
'What gat ye to your dinner, my handsome young man?
'I gist eels boild in broo; mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm weary wi hunting, and fain wald lie down.'
4 'What because of your bloodhounds, Lord Randal, my son?
'What became of your bloodhounds, my handsome young man?'
'O they swelld and they died; mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm weary wi hunting, and fain wald lie down.'
5 'O I fear ye are poisond, Lord Randal, my son!
O I fear ye are poisond, my handsonme young man!'
'O yes! I am poisond; mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, amid I fain wald lie down.'
6 ‘What leave ye to your father, Lord Randal, my son?
What leave ye to your father, my handsome young man?’
‘I leave my houses and land, mother, mak my bed soon,
For I’m weary, weary hunting, and fain wad lie down.’
7 ‘What leave ye to your brother, Lord Randal, my son?
What leave ye to your brother, my handsome young man?’
‘O the guid milk-white steed that I rode upon,
For I’m weary, weary hunting, and fain wad lie down.’
8 ‘What leave ye to your true-love, Lord Randal, my son?
What leave ye to your true-love, my handsome young man?’
‘O a high, high gallows, to hang her upon,
For I’m weary, weary hunting, and fain wad lie down.’
*Afterwards a judge, with the name of Lord Robertson, but universally known as Peter Robertson, celebrated for his wit and good fellowship as well as his law, friend of Scott, Christopher North, and Lockhart; “the Paper Lord, Lord Peter, who broke the laws of God, of man, and metre.” Mr Macmath’s note.