Prof. Peter Garside about Reiving and Bereaving at the Scott Club, 7th February 2013:

The ‘Reiving and Bereaving’ event, as presented to Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club on Thursday 7 February 2013, proved to be one of the most successful in the Club’s history. The historical introductions to the history of the ballads were concise and to the point, accessible to all members present without any hint of ‘dumbing down’.  The performance of the selected individual ballads gave a great sense of authenticity; and the personal enthusiasm of the singers, all with strong local connections, was unmistakable. The overall packaging of the  presentation seemed spot on, with good visual back-up, and a nice mixture of the various components. Timing was impeccable,and it is a great achievement to have packed in so much valuable material with concision into a limited space. Overall a masterly combination of instruction and entertainment, that will remain in the membership’s memory for a long time.

Innerleithen Music Festival preview: Songs about reiving and rough justice ring out in the Borders

by Jim Gilchrist (Scotsman, 2 August 2012)

The event is a spin-off from an international academic collaboration, the Walter Scott Minstrelsy Project, to produce a major critical edition of the Minstrelsy. […] The nocturnal jingle of reivers’ bridles, the frantic crying of the “hot trod”, a still figure swinging at the peel tower gate… such is the stuff of the Border ballads.

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Riding to a Common Cause

by Stuart Kelly (Scotsman, 23 February 2012)

Move to produce first academic edition of Sir Walter Scott’s Minstrelsy highlights the centuries-long ties between Scotland and Germany

Border Ballads

by Nate Peterson (FineBooks & Collections, May 2010)

Sir Walter Scott first published them, but to whom do traditional ballads belong?