TAM LIN
1.
O I forbid you, maidens a’,
That wear gowd on your hair,
To come or gae by Carterhaugh,
For young Tam Lin is there.
2.
2.2 ‘wad,’ forfeit.
There’s nane that gaes by Carterhaugh
But they leave him a wad,
Either their rings, or green mantles,
Or else their maidenhead.
3.
3.4 ‘bree,’ brow.
Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little aboon her knee,
And she has broded her yellow hair
A little aboon her bree,
And she’s awa’ to Carterhaugh,
As fast as she can hie.
4.
When she came to Carterhaugh
Tam Lin was at the well,
And there she fand his steed standing,
But away was himsel’.
5.
She had na pu’d a double rose,
A rose but only twa,
Till up then started young Tam Lin,
Says, ‘Lady, thou’s pu’ nae mae.
6.
‘Why pu’s thou the rose, Janet,
And why breaks thou the wand?
Or why comes thou to Carterhaugh
Withoutten my command?’
7.
‘Carterhaugh, it is my ain,
My daddie gave it me;
I’ll come and gang by Carterhaugh,
And ask nae leave at thee.’
.....
8.
8.3 ‘snooded,’ tied with a fillet.
Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little aboon her knee,
And she has snooded her yellow hair
A little aboon her bree,
And she is to her father’s ha’,
As fast as she can hie.
9.
Four and twenty ladies fair
Were playing at the ba’,
And out then cam’ the fair Janet,
Ance the flower amang them a’.
10.
10.4 ‘glass’: perhaps a mistake for ‘grass.’
Four and twenty ladies fair
Were playing at the chess,
And out then cam’ the fair Janet,
As green as onie glass.
11.
Out then spak an auld grey knight,
Lay o’er the castle wa’,
And says, ‘Alas, fair Janet, for thee
But we’ll be blamed a’.’
12.
‘Haud your tongue, ye auld fac’d knight,
Some ill death may ye die!
Father my bairn on whom I will,
I’ll father nane on thee.’
13.
Out then spak her father dear,
And he spak meek and mild;
‘And ever alas, sweet Janet,’ he says,
‘I think thou gaes wi’ child.’
14.
‘If that I gae wi’ child, father,
Mysel’ maun bear the blame;
There’s ne’er a laird about your ha’
Shall get the bairn’s name.
15.
‘If my love were an earthly knight,
As he’s an elfin grey,
I wadna gie my ain true-love
For nae lord that ye hae.
16.
‘The steed that my true-love rides on
Is lighter than the wind;
Wi’ siller he is shod before,
Wi’ burning gowd behind.’
17.
Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little aboon her knee,
And she has snooded her yellow hair
A little aboon her bree,
And she’s awa’ to Carterhaugh,
As fast as she can hie.
18.
When she cam’ to Carterhaugh,
Tam Lin was at the well,
And there she fand his steed standing,
But away was himsel’.
19.
She had na pu’d a double rose,
A rose but only twa,
Till up then started young Tam Lin,
Says, ‘Lady, thou pu’s nae mae.
20.
‘Why pu’s thou the rose, Janet,
Amang the groves sae green,
And a’ to kill the bonie babe
That we gat us between?’
21.
‘O tell me, tell me, Tam Lin,’ she says,
‘For’s sake that died on tree,
If e’er ye was in holy chapel,
Or christendom did see?’
22.
‘Roxbrugh he was my grandfather,
Took me with him to bide,
And ance it fell upon a day
That wae did me betide.
23.
23.2 ‘snell,’ keen.
‘And ance it fell upon a day,
A cauld day and a snell,
When we were frae the hunting come,
That frae my horse I fell;
The Queen o’ Fairies she caught me,
In yon green hill to dwell.
24.
24.4 ‘tiend,’ tithe.
‘And pleasant is the fairy land,
But, an eerie tale to tell,
Ay at the end of seven years
We pay a tiend to hell;
I am sae fair and fu’ o’ flesh,
I’m fear’d it be mysel’.
25.
‘But the night is Halloween, lady,
The morn is Hallowday;
Then win me, win me, an ye will,
For weel I wat ye may.
26.
‘Just at the mirk and midnight hour
The fairy folk will ride,
And they that wad their true-love win,
At Miles Cross they maun bide.’
27.
‘But how shall I thee ken, Tam Lin,
Or how my true-love know,
Amang sae mony unco knights
The like I never saw?’
28.
‘O first let pass the black, lady,
And syne let pass the brown,
But quickly run to the milk-white steed,
Pu’ ye his rider down.
29.
‘For I’ll ride on the milk-white steed,
And ay nearest the town;
Because I was an earthly knight
They gie me that renown.
30.
‘My right hand will be glov’d, lady,
My left hand will be bare,
Cockt up shall my bonnet be,
And kaim’d down shall my hair;
And thae’s the takens I gie thee,
Nae doubt I will be there.
31.
31.2 ‘esk,’ newt.
‘They’ll turn me in your arms, lady,
Into an esk and adder;
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
I am your bairn’s father.
32.
‘They’ll turn me to a bear sae grim,
And then a lion bold;
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
As ye shall love your child.
33.
33.2 ‘gaud,’ bar.
‘Again they’ll turn me in your arms
To a red het gaud of airn;
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
I’ll do to you nae harm.
34.
34.2 ‘gleed,’ a glowing coal.
‘And last they’ll turn me in your arms
Into the burning gleed;
Then throw me into well water,
O throw me in wi’ speed.
35.
‘And then I’ll be your ain true-love,
I’ll turn a naked knight;
Then cover me wi’ your green mantle,
And cover me out o’ sight.’
36.
Gloomy, gloomy was the night,
And eerie was the way,
As fair Jenny in her green mantle
To Miles Cross she did gae.
37.
About the middle o’ the night
She heard the bridles ring;
This lady was as glad at that
As any earthly thing.
38.
First she let the black pass by,
And syne she let the brown;
But quickly she ran to the milk-white steed,
And pu’d the rider down.
39.
Sae weel she minded whae he did say,
And young Tarn Lin did win;
Syne cover’d him wi’ her green mantle,
As blythe’s a bird in spring.
40.
Out then spak the Queen o’ Fairies,
Out of a bush o’ broom:
‘Them that has gotten young Tam Lin
Has gotten a stately groom.’
41.
Out then spak the Queen o’ Fairies,
And an angry woman was she:
‘Shame betide her ill-far’d face,
And an ill death may she die,
For she’s ta’en awa’ the bonniest knight
In a’ my companie.
42.
42.4 ‘tree,’ wood.
‘But had I kend, Tam Lin,’ she says,
‘What now this night I see,
I wad hae ta’en out thy twa grey een,
And put in twa een o’ tree.’
THE CLERK’S TWA SONS O’ OWSENFORD,
and THE WIFE OF USHER’S WELL
These two ballads must be considered together, as the last six verses (18-23) of The Clerk’s Twa Sons, as here given, are a variant of The Wife of Usher’s Well.
Texts.—The Clerk’s Twa Sons is taken from Kinloch’s MSS., in the handwriting of James Chambers, as it was sung to his grandmother by an old woman.
The Wife of Usher’s Well is from Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and however incomplete, may well stand alone.
The Story has a fairly close parallel in the well-known German ballad, ‘Das Schloss in Oesterreich’; and a ballad found both in Spain and Italy has resemblances to each. But in these two ballads, especially in The Wife of Usher’s Well, the interest lies rather in the impressiveness of the verses than in the story.
THE CLERK’S TWA SONS O’ OWSENFORD
1.
1.4 ‘lair,’ lesson. Cp. 16.1.
O I will sing to you a sang,
But oh my heart is sair!
The clerk’s twa sons in Owsenford
Has to learn some unco lair.
2.
They hadna been in fair Parish
A twelvemonth an’ a day,
Till the clerk’s twa sons o’ Owsenford
Wi’ the mayor’s twa daughters lay.
3.
O word’s gaen to the mighty mayor,
As he sail’d on the sea,
That the clerk’s twa sons o’ Owsenford
Wi’ his twa daughters lay.
4.
‘If they hae lain wi’ my twa daughters,
Meg and Marjorie,
The morn, or I taste meat or drink,
They shall be hangit hie.’
5.
O word’s gaen to the clerk himself,
As he sat drinkin’ wine,
That his twa sons in fair Parish
Were bound in prison strong.
6.
Then up and spak the clerk’s ladye,
And she spak pow’rfully:
‘O tak with ye a purse of gold,
Or take with ye three,
And if ye canna get William,
Bring Andrew hame to me.’
7.
7.1 etc. ‘owsen,’ oxen.
‘O lye ye here for owsen, dear sons,
Or lie ye here for kye?
Or what is it that ye lie for,
Sae sair bound as ye lie?’
8.
‘We lie not here for owsen, dear father,
Nor yet lie here for kye;
But it’s for a little o’ dear-bought love
Sae sair bound as we lye.’
9.
O he’s gane to the mighty mayor
And he spake powerfully:
‘Will ye grant me my twa sons’ lives,
Either for gold or fee?
Or will ye be sae gude a man
As grant them baith to me?’
10.
‘I’ll no’ grant ye yere twa sons’ lives,
Neither for gold or fee,
Nor will I be sae gude a man
As gie them back to thee;
Before the morn at twelve o’clock
Ye’ll see them hangit hie.’
11.
Up and spak his twa daughters,
And they spak pow’rfully:
‘Will ye grant us our twa loves’ lives,
Either for gold or fee?
Or will ye be sae gude a man
As grant them baith to me?’
12.
‘I ‘ll no’ grant ye yere twa loves’ lives,
Neither for gold or fee,
Nor will I be sae gude a man
As grant their lives to thee;
Before the morn at twelve o’clock
Ye’ll see them hangit hie.’
13.
O he’s ta’en out these proper youths,
And hang’d them on a tree,
And he’s bidden the clerk o’ Owsenford
Gang hame to his ladie.
14.
His lady sits on yon castle-wa’,
Beholding dale and doun,
An’ there she saw her ain gude lord
Come walkin’ to the toun.
15.
‘Ye’re welcome, welcome, my ain gude lord,
Ye’re welcome hame to me;
But where away are my twa sons?
Ye should hae brought them wi’ ye.’
16.
‘It’s I’ve putten them to a deeper lair,
An’ to a higher schule;
Yere ain twa sons ’ill no’ be here
Till the hallow days o’ Yule.’
17.
17.2 ‘dool,’ grief.
‘O sorrow, sorrow, come mak’ my bed,
An’ dool come lay me doon!
For I’ll neither eat nor drink,
Nor set a fit on ground.’
18.
18 Here begins The Wife of Usher’s Well in a variant.
The hallow days of Yule are come,
The nights are lang and dark;
An’ in an’ cam’ her ain twa sons,
Wi’ their hats made o’ the bark.
19.
‘O eat an’ drink, my merry men a’,
The better shall ye fare,
For my twa sons the[y] are come hame
To me for evermair.’
20.
20.3 ‘happit,’ wrapped.
She has gaen an’ made their bed,
An’ she’s made it saft an’ fine,
An’ she’s happit them wi’ her gay mantel,
Because they were her ain.
21.
21.1 ‘Linkem,’ perhaps a stock ballad-locality, like ‘Lin,’ etc. See First Series, Introduction, p. 1.
O the young cock crew i’ the merry Linkem,
An’ the wild fowl chirp’d for day;
The aulder to the younger did say,
‘Dear brother, we maun away.’
22.
‘Lie still, lie still, a little wee while,
Lie still but if we may;
For gin my mother miss us away,
She’ll gae mad or it be day.’
23.
O it’s they’ve ta’en up their mother’s mantel,
And they’ve hang’d it on the pin:
‘O lang may ye hing, my mother’s mantel,
Or ye hap us again!’
THE WIFE OF USHER’S WELL
1.
There lived a wife at Usher’s Well,
And a wealthy wife was she;
She had three stout and stalwart sons,
And sent them o’er the sea.
2.
2.3 ‘carline,’ old woman.
They hadna been a week from her,
A week but barely ane,
When word came to the carline wife
That her three sons were gane.
3.
They hadna been a week from her,
A week but barely three,
When word came to the carlin wife,
That her sons she’d never see.
4.
‘I wish the wind may never cease,
Nor fishes in the flood,
Till my three sons come hame to me,
In earthly flesh and blood.’
5.
5.4 ‘birk,’ birch.
It fell about the Martinmass,
When nights are lang and mirk,
The carlin wife’s three sons came hame,
And their hats were o’ the birk.
6.
6.1 ‘syke,’ marsh.
6.2 ‘sheugh,’ ditch.
It neither grew in syke nor ditch,
Nor yet in ony sheugh;
But at the gates o’ Paradise
That birk grew fair eneugh.
.....
7.
‘Blow up the fire, my maidens,
Bring water from the well;
For a’ my house shall feast this night,
Since my three sons are well.’
8.
And she has made to them a bed,
She’s made it large and wide,
And she’s ta’en her mantle her about,
Sat down at the bedside.
.....
9.
Up then crew the red, red cock,
And up and crew the gray;
The eldest to the youngest said,
‘’Tis time we were away.’
10.
The cock he hadna craw’d but once,
And clapp’d his wings at a’,
Whan the youngest to the eldest said,
‘Brother, we must awa’.
11.
11.2 ‘channerin’,’ fretting.
‘The cock doth craw, the day doth daw,
The channerin’ worm doth chide;
Gin we be mist out o’ our place,
A sair pain we maun bide.
12.
‘Fare-ye-weel, my mother dear!
Fareweel to barn and byre!
And fare-ye-weel, the bonny lass
That kindles my mother’s fire!’
.....