Conclusions to be derived from sequences in BDL

The sequences of ballads and associated material in BDL allow us to conclude that, in addition to individual ballads, the scribes occasionally had access to groups of poem texts.  These groups did not normally contain more than three poems.  Some of the groups are linked thematically or generically, and they may show territorial affiliations which appear to connect them with Scotland or with Ireland.  With certain groups, it seems possible that the material reached the scribes through Scottish intermediaries, perhaps poets or schools of poets connected with the erstwhile Lordship of the Isles (though we should not regard the Lordship as providing the only channels available to the scribes).  Some sequences of poems reflect the ‘mixed’ nature of the material available to the scribes, but, from time to  time, they apparently  did receive small, homogeneous blocks of poems.