E
Joseph Robertson’s Note-Book “Adversaria,” p. 88; from tradition.
* * * * * *
1
And she has built a lofty ship,
And set her to the main;
The masts o her were o gude reed gowd,
And the sails o silver clear.
2
‘Ye winna bide three months awa
When ye’ll return again,
In case your lady lichter be,
And your baby want the name.’
3
But the wind blew high,
The mariners they did land at Lundin soon.
4
A lady sat on the castell-wa,
Beheld baith dale and down,
And there she saw this lofty ship,
Comin sailin in the Downs.
5
‘Look out, look out, my maidens a’,
Ye seena what I see;
For I do see as bonny a ship
As ever sailed the sea,
And the master o her’s the bonniest boy
That ever my eyes did see.’
6
She’s taen her mantell her about,
Her cane intill her han,
And she’s away to the shore-side,
Till invite the square to dine.
7
‘O will ye come to our castell?
Or will ye sup or dine?’
‘O excuse me, madam,’ he said,
‘For I hae but little time.’
* * * * * *
8
The wind blew high,
The mariners they did land at home again.
9
The old man sat in the castell-wa,
Beholding dale and down,
And there he spied this goodly ship
Come sailin to the town.
10
‘Look out, look out, my dauchter dear,
Ye see not what I see;
For I do see as bonny a ship
As ever sailed the sea.
11
‘And the master o her’s the bonniest boy
That my eyes did ever see,
And if I were a woman as I’m a man
My husband he should be.’
12
‘Haud far awa frae me, fader,
Haud far awa frae me,
For I never had a lad but ane,
And he’s far awa at sea.
13
‘There is a love-token atween us twa,
It’ll be mair ere it be less,
An aye the langer he bides awa
It will the mair encreass.’
14
He’s taen his mantell him about,
His cane intil his hand,
And he’s awa to the shore-side,
To invite the square to dine.
15
‘O will ye come to our castle?
Or will ye sup or dine?’
‘Indeed I will, kind sir,’ he said,
‘Tho I’ve but little time.’
16
The lady sat on castle-wa,
Beholding dale and down,
But he’s put his veil upon his face,
That she might not him ken.
* * * * * *
A.
Written in long couplets.
81. hadne.
224, 324. ance hane? Cf. 34.
232. I lee. 352. got no.
B.
112. yellow in.
C.
142. glaned. Glant, glent is probably intended. Glancd is less likely.
204. could. MS. possibly would.
E.
Before 1: “A lady falls in love with her father’s kitchie-boy when her father is absent, and to conceal him from him procures a ship and puts him to sea. Her father thinks he has run away.”
After 7: She kills herself.
After 16: Continued on page [ ]: but not continued.
253
THOMAS O YONDERDALE
a. Buchan’s Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 221.
b. Christie’s Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 96.
b is epitomized from a, with a few variations, mostly very trifling, as Christie had heard the ballad sung.
Thomas of Yonderdale gains Lady Maisry’s love and has a son by her. Overhearing some reproachful words one day as he passes her bower, he is touched, and promises to marry her after returning from a voyage, but while he is in a strange country wooes another woman. He dreams that Maisry stands by his bed upbraiding him for his inconstancy, and sends a boy to her to bring her to his wedding. Maisry comes, arrayed, as she had been directed, in noble style. The bride asks the boy who she may be, and is told that she is Thomas’s first love. Maisry asks Thomas why she was sent for: she is to be his wife. The nominal bride asks his will: she is to go home, with the comfort of being sent back in a coach, whereas she came on a hired horse! This ill-used, but not diffident, young woman proposes that Thomas shall give two thirds of his lands to his brother and make him marry her. Thomas refuses to divide his lands for any woman, and has no power over his brother. According to b, the discarded bride asks only a modest third of Thomas’s lands for the brother; Thomas promises to give a third to her, but disclaims, as in a, his competency to arrange a marriage for his brother.
This looks like a recent piece, fabricated, with a certain amount of cheap mortar, from recollections of ‘Fair Annie,’ No 62, ‘Lord Thomas and Fair Annet,’ No 73, and ‘Young Beichan,’ No 53.
1
Lady Maisry lives intill a bower,
She never wore but what she would;
Her gowns were o the silks sae fine,
Her coats stood up wi bolts o gold.
2
Mony a knight there courted her,
And gentlemen o high degree,
But it was Thomas o Yonderdale
That gaind the love o this ladie.
3
Now he has hunted her till her bower,
Baith late at night and the mid day,
But when he stole her virgin rose
Nae mair this maid he would come nigh.
4
But it fell ance upon a time
Thomas her bower he walkëd by;
There he saw her Lady Maisry,
Nursing her young son on her knee.
5
‘O seal on you, my bonny babe,
And lang may ye my comfort be!
Your father passes by our bower,
And now minds neither you nor me.’
6
Now when Thomas heard her speak,
The saut tear trinkled frae his ee;
To Lady Maisry’s bower he went,
Says, Now I’m come to comfort thee.
7
‘Is this the promise ye did make
Last when I was in your companie?
You said before nine months were gane
Your wedded wife that I should be.’
8
‘If Saturday be a bonny day,
Then, my love, I maun sail the sea;
But if I live for to return,
O then, my love, I’ll marry thee.’
9
‘I wish Saturday a stormy day,
High and stormy be the sea,
Ships may not sail, nor boats row,
But gar true Thomas stay wi me.’
10
Saturday was a bonny day,
Fair and leesome blew the wind;
Ships did sail, and boats did row,
Which had true Thomas to unco ground.
11
He hadna been on unco ground
A month, a month but barely three,
Till he has courted anither maid,
And quite forgotten Lady Maisry.
12
Ae night as he lay on his bed,
In a dreary dream dreamed he
That Maisry stood by his bedside,
Upbraiding him for’s inconstancie.
13
He’s calld upon his little boy,
Says, Bring me candle, that I see;
And ye maun gang this night, [my] boy,
Wi a letter to a gay ladie.
14
‘It is my duty you to serve,
And bring you coal and candle-light,
And I would rin your errand, master,
If’t were to Lady Maisry bright.
15
‘Tho my legs were sair I coudna gang,
Tho the night were dark I coudna see,
Tho I should creep on hands and feet,
I woud gae to Lady Maisry.’
16
‘Win up, win up, my bonny boy,
And at my bidding for to be;
For ye maun quickly my errand rin,
For it is to Lady Maisry.
17
‘Ye’ll bid her dress in the gowns o silk,
Likewise in the coats o cramasie;
Ye’ll bid her come alang wi you,
True Thomas’s wedding for to see.
18
‘Ye’ll bid her shoe her steed before,
And a’ gowd graithing him behind;
On ilka tip o her horse mane,
Twa bonny bells to loudly ring.
19
‘And on the tor o her saddle
A courtly bird to sweetly sing;
Her bridle-reins o silver fine,
And stirrups by her side to hing.’
20
She dressd her in the finest silk,
Her coats were o the cramasie,
And she’s awa to unco land,
True Thomas’s wedding for to see.
21
At ilka tippet o her horse mane,
Twa bonny bells did loudly ring,
And on the tor o her saddle
A courtly bird did sweetly sing.
22
The bells they rang, the bird he sang,
As they rode in yon pleasant plain;
Then soon she met true Thomas’s bride,
Wi a’ her maidens and young men.
23
The bride she garned round about,
‘I wonder,’ said she, ‘who this may be?
It surely is our Scottish queen,
Come here our wedding for to see.’
24
Out it speaks true Thomas’s boy,
‘She maunna lift her head sae hie;
But it’s true Thomas’s first love,
Come here your wedding for to see.’
25
Then out bespake true Thomas’s bride,
I wyte the tear did blind her ee;
If this be Thomas’s first true-love,
I’m sair afraid he’ll neer hae me.
26
Then in it came her Lady Maisry,
And aye as she trips in the fleer,
‘What is your will, Thomas?’ she said,
‘This day, ye know, ye calld me here.’
27
‘Come hither by me, ye lily flower,
Come hither and set ye down by me,
For ye’re the ane I’ve call’d upon,
And ye my wedded wife maun be.’
28
Then in it came true Thomas’s bride,
And aye as she trippd on the stane,
‘What is your will, Thomas?’ she said,
‘This day, ye know, ye calld me hame.’
29
‘Ye hae come on hired horseback,
But ye’se gae hame in coach sae free;
For here’s the flower into my bower
I mean my wedded wife shall be.’
30
‘O ye will break your lands, Thomas,
And part them in divisions three;
Gie twa o them to your ae brother,
And cause your brother marry me.’
31
‘I winna break my lands,’ he said,
‘For ony woman that I see;
My brother’s a knight o wealth and might,
He’ll wed nane but he will for me.’
b.
14. And a’ stood.
21. And mony knight.
24. this gay.
83. return again.
101. And Saturday.
104. took true.
132. I may see.
133. my boy.
162. ye maun be.
243. ain first.
303. Gie ane.
31
‘O I will break my lands,’ he said,
‘And ae third will I gie to thee;
But my brother’s ane o wealth and might,
And he’ll wed nane but he will for me.’
254
LORD WILLIAM, OR, LORD LUNDY
A. Motherwell’s MS., p. 361. ‘Sweet William,’ Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, p. 307.
B. ‘Lord Lundy,’ Buchan’s Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 57.
C. ‘Lord William,’ Buchan’s MSS, II, 126; Dixon, Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, p. 57, Percy Society, vol. xvii.
Sweet William (Lord William’s son, or Lord William) and the Baillie’s daughter (Lord Lundy’s daughter) have been lovers: they have in fact been over-sea together, learning “some unco lair.” The young woman’s father recalls her from her studies abroad, and requires her to marry a Southland lord (the young prince of England). She will submit to her father’s will, though she had rather die. In A she sends a letter to William by a bird. The minister has begun the marriage-service, when the lover enters the church with a party of armed men and bids the bridegroom stand back; the bride shall join with him. The father fumes; would shoot William if he had a pistol, A; will give his daughter no dowry, B. William of course cares not the least for dowry; he has what he wants. He tells his ‘foremost man’ to lift his bride on her horse, and sends commendations to her mother.
A 4, B 10, 11, C 6, 7, may be borrowed from ‘Fair Janet,’ No 64, G 1, 2, II, 110.