M
‘Earl Richmond,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 81, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of James Skene of Rubislaw.
1
There was a shepherd’s daughter
Kept hogs upo yon hill,
By cam her a gentle knight,
And he would hae his will.
2
Whan his will o her he had,
[His will] as he had taen,
‘Kind sir, for yer courtesy,
Will ye tell me yer name?’
3
‘Some they ca me Jock,’ he says,
‘And some they ca me John;
But whan ‘m in our king’s court
Hitchcock is my name.’
4
The lady being well book-read,
She spelt it oer again:
‘Hitchcock in our king’s court
Is Earl Richard at hame.’
5
He pat his leg out-oer his steed
And to the get he’s gane;
She keltit up her green clothing,
And fast, fast followed him.
6
‘Turn back, turn back, ye carl’s daughter,
And dinna follow me;
It sets na carl’s daughters
Kings’ courts for to see.’
7
‘Perhaps I am a cerl’s daughter,
Perhaps I am nane,
But whan ye gat me in free forest
Ye might ha latten’s alane.’
8
Whan they cam to yon wan water
That a’ man does call Clyde,
He looket oer his left shuder,
Says, Fair may, will ye ride?
9
‘I learnt it in my mother’s bowr,
I wis I had learnt it better,
Whan I cam to wan water
To soom as does the otter.’
10
Or the knight was i the middle o the water,
The lady she was oer;
She took out a came o gold,
To came down her yellow hair.
11
‘Whar gat ye that, ye cerl’s daughter?
I pray ye tell to me:’
‘I got it fra my mither,’ she says,
‘To beguil sick chaps as thee.’
12
Whan they cam to our king’s court,
He rade it round about,
And he gade in at a shot-window,
And left the lady without.
13
She gade to our king hersel,
She fell low down upon her knee:
‘There is a knight into your court
This day has robbed me.’
14
‘Has he robbd ye o your goud?
Or o yer well-won fee?
Or o yer maidenhead,
The flower o yer body?’
15
‘He has na robbd me o my goud,
For I ha nane to gee;
But he has robbd me o my maidenhead,
The flower o my body.’
16
‘O wud ye ken the knight,’ he says,
‘If that ye did him see?’
‘I wud him ken by his well-fared face
And the blyth blink o his ee.’
17
‘An he be a married man,
High hanged sall he be,
And an he be a free man,
Well wedded to him ye’s be,
Altho it be my brother Richie,
And I wiss it be no he.’
18
The king called on his merry young men,
By ane, by twa, by three;
Earl Richmond had used to be the first,
But the hindmost was he.
19
By that ye mith ha well kent
That the guilty man was he;
She took him by the milk-white hand,
Says, This same ane is he.
20
There was a brand laid down to her,
A brand but an a ring,
Three times she minted to the brand,
But she took up the ring;
A’ that was in our king’s court
Countet her a wise woman.
21
‘I’ll gi ye five hundred pounds,
To mak yer marriage we,
An ye’l turn back, ye cerl’s daughter,
And fash nae mere wi me.’
22
‘Gae keep yer five hundred pounds
To mak yer merriage we,
For I’ll hae nathing but yersel
The king he promised me.’
23
‘I’ll gae ye one thousand pounds
To mak yer marriage we,
An ye’l turn back, ye cerl’s daughter,
And fash nae mere wi me.’
24
‘Gae keep yer one thousand pounds,
To mak yer merriage we,
For I’ll hae nathing but yersel
The king he promised me.’
25
He took her down to yon garden,
And clothed her in the green;
Whan she cam up again,
Sh[e] was fairer than the queen.
26
They gad on to Mary kirk, and on to Mary quire,
The nettles they grew by the dyke:
‘O, an my mither wer her[e],
So clean as she wud them pick!’
27
‘I wiss I had druken water,’ he says,
‘Whan I drank the ale,
That ony cerl’s daughter
Sud tell me sick a tale.’
28
‘Perhaps I am a cerl’s daughter,
Perhaps I am nane;
But whan ye gat me in free forest
Ye might ha latten’s alane.
29
‘Well mat this mill be,
And well mat the gae!
Mony a day they ha filled me pock
O the white meal and the gray.’
30
‘I wiss I had druken water,’ he says,
‘When I drank the ale,
That ony cerl’s daughter
Sud tell me sick a tale.’
31
‘Perhaps I am a cerl’s daughter,
Perhaps I am nane;
But whan ye gat me in free forest
Ye might ha latten’s alane.
32
‘Tak awa yer siller spoons,
Tak awa fra me,
An gae me the gude horn spoons,
It’s what I’m used tee.
33
‘O an my mukle dish wer here,
And sine we hit were fu,
I wud sup file I am saerd,
And sine lay down me head and sleep wi ony sow.’
34
‘I wiss I had druken water,’ he says,
‘Whan I drank the ale,
That any cerl’s daughter
Sud tell me sick a tale.’
35
‘Perhaps I am a cerl’s daughter,
Perhaps I am nane,
But whan ye gat me in free forest,
Ye might ha latten’s alane.’
36
He took his hat in oer his face,
The tear blindit his ee;
She threw back her yellow locks,
And a light laughter leugh she.
37
‘Bot an ye be a beggar geet,
As I trust well ye be,
Whar gat ye their fine clothing
Yer body was covered we?’
38
‘My mother was an ill woman,
And an ill woman was she;
She gat them . . . .
Fra sic chaps as thee.’
39
Whan bells were rung, and mess was sung,
And aa man bound to bed,
Earl Richard and the carl’s daughter
In a chamer were laid.
40
‘Lie yont, lie yont, ye carl’s daughter,
Yer hot skin burns me;
It sets na carl’s daughters
In earls’ beds to be.’
41
‘Perhaps I am a carl’s daughter,
Perhaps I am nane;
But whan ye gat me in free forest
Ye might ha latten’s alane.’
42
Up it starts the Belly Blin,
Just at their bed-feet.
43
‘I think it is a meet marrige
Atween the taen and the tither,
The Earl of Hertford’s ae daughter
And the Queen of England’s brither.’
44
‘An this be the Earl of Hertford’s ae daughter,
As I trust well it be,
Mony a gude horse ha I ridden
For the love o thee.’
1–34. Written as far as 36 in long lines, two to a stanza: there is no division of stanzas..
23, 24, 28, 30, 31, 34, 35, 41, are not fully written out.
292. Possibly mat she gae, but observe the plural in the next line.
112. The Baffled Knight.
P. 480 a. There is another variety of D in The Calleen Fuine, to which are added The Shepherd’s Boy, etc. Limerick, Printed by W. Goggin, corner of Bridge-Street. British Museum, 11621. e. 14 (16). Dated 1810? in the catalogue.
This begins:
There was a shepherd’s boy,
He kept sheep upon a hill,
And he went out upon a morning
To see what he could kill.
It’s blow away the morning dew,
It’s blow, you winds, hi ho!
You stole away my morning blush,
And blow a little, blow.
481 a. ‘Lou Cabalier discret’ (‘Je vous passerai le bois’), Daymard, Vieux Chants p. rec. en Quercy, p. 126.
481 b, III, 518 a. Dans le bois elle s’est mise à pleurer: Revue des Traditions Populaires, IV, 514; ‘J’ai fini ma journée,’ Gothier, Recueil de Crâmignons, p. 5, ‘Youp ta deritou la la,’ Terry et Chaumont, Recueil d’Airs de Crâmignons, etc., p. 66, No 34; ‘Après ma journée faite,’ Meyrac, Traditions, etc., des Ardennes, pp. 277, 279.
Varieties: ‘Lou Pastour brégountsous (trop discret),’ Daymard, p. 124; ‘A la ronde, mesdames,’ Terry et Chaumont, p. 22, No 13; ‘La belle et l’ermite,’ ‘La jeune couturière,’ La Tradition, IV, 346, 348, Chansons populaires de la Picardie (half-popular).
482 a. A Breton song gives the essence of the story in seven couplets: Quellien, Chansons et Danses des Bretons, p. 156.
Danish. ‘Den dyre Kaabe,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 142, No 38.
482 b, third paragraph. The incident of the boots in Hazlitt, Jest-Books, II, 241 (Tarlton’s Jests, 1611, but printed before 1600).
113. The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry.
P. 494, III, 518. See David MacRitchie, The Finn-Men of Britain, in The Archæological Review, IV, 1–26, 107–129, 190 ff., and Alfred Nutt, p. 232.
A husband who is a man by day, but at night a seal: Curtin, Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland, p. 51. (G. L. K.)