The controller compile error is  "Return value must be of type: List".  Thanks everyone for your help, much appreciated.

Part of VF template code:
<apex:repeat var="CurrItem" value="{!relatedto.BMCServiceDesk__Incident_Histories__r}">
<apex:outputPanel rendered="{!CurrItem.BMCServiceDesk__actionId__c = 'Notes'}">
<tr> <td colspan="4" class="hdr"><pre>{!CurrItem.BMCServiceDesk__note__c}</pre>&nbsp;
<apex:outputText value="{0,date,MM/dd/yyyy h:mm a}"> <apex:param value="{!CurrItem.BMCServiceDesk__date__c - (5/24)}"/></apex:outputText></td> </tr> </apex:outputPanel> </apex:repeat>

Controller:
public class sortedController {
    
    public ID attributeNoteID {get; set;}

    public List<Note> getNote() {

       Return [         
            SELECT Id, BMCServiceDesk__note__c, BMCServiceDesk__date__c
            FROM BMCServiceDesk__IncidentHistory__c
            WHERE BMCServiceDesk__actionId__c = 'Notes' AND BMCServiceDesk__incidentId__c = :this.attributeNoteID
            ORDER BY BMCServiceDesk__date__c DESC
        ];

    }
}