VOL. I.
1. Riddles Wisely Expounded.
Pp. 1–3, 484; II, 495 a. Little-Russian. Three lads give a girl riddles. ‘If you guess right, shall you be ours?’ Golovatsky, II, 83, 19. Two other pieces in the same, III, 180, 55. (W. W.)
A king’s daughter, or other maid, makes the reading of her riddles a condition of marriage in several Polish tales; it may be further stipulated that a riddle shall be also given which the woman cannot guess, or that those who fail shall forfeit their life. Karłowicz in Wisła, III, 258, 270, where are cited, besides a MS. communication, Zbiór wiadomości do antropologii krajowej, V, 194, VII, 12; Gli[‘n]ski, Bajarz Polski, III, No 1; Kolberg, Krakowskie, IV, 204.
2. The Elfin Knight.
P. 7 a. The last two stanzas of F are also in Kinloch MSS, V, 275, with one trivial variation, and the burden, ‘And then, etc.’
Sir Walter Scott had a copy beginning, ‘There lived a wife in the wilds of Kent:’ Sharpe’s Ballad Book, 1880, p. 147 f.
7 b, 484 a. Add: P, Q, Hruschka u. Toischer, Deutsche Volkslieder aus Böhmen, p. 171, No 124, a, b.
7 b, III, 496 a. ‘Store Fordringer,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 342, No 85 (with the stupid painted roses).
7 f, 484 a, II, 495 a, III, 496 a. Add: ‘I tre Tamburi,’ Ferraro, C. P. del Basso Monferrato, p. 52; ‘Il Compito,’ Romaic, Tommaseo, III, 13 (already cited by Nigra).
8 a, II, 495 a. Tasks. Servian ballads. Karadžić, Sr. n. pj., I, 164, No 240, ‘The Spinster and the Tsar;’ I, 165, No 242, ‘The Spinster and the Goldsmith.’ Cf. I, 166, No 243. Also, Karadžić, Sr. n. pj. iz Herz., p. 217, No 191; Petranović, I, 13, No 16 (where the girl’s father sets the tasks), and p. 218, No 238; Rajković, p. 209, No 237. Bulgarian. Collection of the Bulgarian Ministry of Public Instruction, II, 31, 3; III, 28, 4. Cf. Verković, p. 52, 43; Bezsonov, II, 74, 105; Miladinof, p. 471, 536. Russian. An episode in the old Russian legend of Prince Peter of Murom and his wife Fevronija, three versions: Kušelev-Bezborodko, Monuments of Old Russian Literature, I, 29 ff. (W. W.)
Wit-contests in verse, the motive of love or marriage having probably dropped out. Polish. Five examples are cited by Karłowicz, Wisła, III, 267 ff.: Kolberg, Krakowskie, II, 149, and Mazowsze, II, 149, No 332, Zbiór wiad. do antrop., X, 297, No 217, and two not before printed. Moravian examples from Sušil, p. 692 f., No 809, p. 701 ff., No 815: make me a shirt without needle or thread, twist me silk out of oaten straw; count me the stars, build me a ladder to go up to them; drain the Red Sea, make me a bucket that will hold it; etc. Zapolski, White Russian Weddings and Wedding-Songs, p. 35, No 19. Wisła, as before, III, 532 ff.
Polish tales of The Clever Wench are numerous: Wisła, III, 270 ff.
13 b. A fragment of a riddle given by a wise man to the gods is preserved in a cuneiform inscription: [What is that] which is in the house? which roars like a bull? which growls like a bear? which enters into the heart of a man? etc. The answer is evidently air, wind. George Smith, The Chaldean Account of Genesis, 1876, p. 156 : cited by J. Karłowicz, Wisła, III, 273.
15–20, 484 f., II, 495 f. Communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. “From the north of Cornwall, near Camelford. This used to be sung as a sort of game in farm-houses, between a young man who went outside the room and a girl who sat on the settle or a chair, and a sort of chorus of farm lads and lasses. Now quite discontinued.” The dead lover represents the auld man in I.
1
A fair pretty maiden she sat on her bed,
The wind is blowing in forest and town
She sighed and she said, O my love he is dead!
And the wind it shaketh the acorns down
2
The maiden she sighed; ‘I would,’ said she,
‘That again my lover might be with me!’
3
Before ever a word the maid she spake,
But she for fear did shiver and shake.
4
There stood at her side her lover dead;
‘Take me by the hand, sweet love,’ he said.
5
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
6
‘Thou must buy me, my lady, a cambrick shirt,
Whilst every grove rings with a merry antine
And stitch it without any needle-work.
O and thus shalt thou be a true love of mine
7
‘And thou must wash it in yonder well,
Whilst, etc.
Where never a drop of water in fell.
O and thus, etc.
8
‘And thou must hang it upon a white thorn
That never has blossomed since Adam was born.
9
‘And when that these tasks are finished and done
I’ll take thee and marry thee under the sun.’
10
‘Before ever I do these two and three,
I will set of tasks as many to thee.
11
‘Thou must buy for me an acre of land
Between the salt ocean and the yellow sand.
12
‘Thou must plough it oer with a horse’s horn,
And sow it over with one peppercorn.
13
‘Thou must reap it too with a piece of leather,
And bind it up with a peacock’s feather.
14
‘And when that these tasks are finished and done,
O then will I marry thee under the sun.’
15
‘Now thou hast answered me well,’ he said,
The wind, etc.
‘Or thou must have gone away with the dead.’
And the wind, etc.
16
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
Mr Frank Kidsen has given a copy of ‘Scarborough Fair,’ with some better readings, as sung “in Whitby streets twenty or thirty years ago,” in Traditional Tunes, p. 43, 1891.
1–4, second line of burden, true love.
22. Without any seam or needlework.
31. yonder dry well.
32. no water sprung.
41. Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn.
42. Which never bore blossom since.
5, 6. Wanting.
71. O will you find me.
72. Between the sea-foam [and] the sea-sand. Or never be a true lover of mine.
81. O will you plough.
91. O will you reap it.
92. And tie it all up.
101. And when you have done and finished your work.
102. You may come to me for your. And then you shall be a. At p. 172, the first stanza of another version is given, with Rue, parsley, rosemary and thyme for the first line of the burden.
3. The Fause Knight upon the Road.
Pp. 20, 485 (also, 14 a, 484 a), III, 496 a. Foiling mischievous sprites and ghosts by getting the last word, or prolonging talk till the time when they must go, especially the noon-sprite: Wisła, III, 275 f., and notes 44–6; also, 269 f. The Wends have the proverbial phrase, to ask as many questions as a noon-sprite. The Poles have many stories of beings that take service without wages, on condition of no fault being found, and make off instantly upon the terms being broken.
20, III, 496 a. The last verses of ‘Tsanno d’Oymé,’ Daymard, Vieux Chants pop. recueillis en Quercy, p. 70, are after the fashion of this ballad.
‘Tsano d’Oymé, atal fuessés négado!’
‘Lou fil del rey, et bous né fuessés l’aygo!’
‘Tsano d’Oymé, atal fuessés brullado!’
‘Lou fil del rey, et bous fuessés las clappos!’
4. Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight.
P. 24 a. A copy in Christie’s Traditional Ballad Airs, II, 236, ‘May Colvine and Fause Sir John’ (of which no account is given), is a free compilation from D b, D a, and C c.
The Gaelic tale referred to by Jamieson may be seen, as Mr Macmath has pointed out to me, in Rev. Alexander Stewart’s ’Twixt Ben Nevis and Glencoe, Edinburgh, 1885, p. 205 ff. Dr Stewart gives nine stanzas of a Gaelic ballad, and furnishes an English rendering. The story has no connection with that of No 4.
25 b, note. ‘Halewyn en het kleyne Kind,’ in the first volume of the MS. Poésies pop. de la France, was communicated by Crussemaker, and is the same piece that he printed. Other copies in Lootens et Feys, No 45, p. 85 (see p. 296); Volkskunde, II, 194, ‘Van Mijn-heerken van Bruindergestem.’
27 a, note †. Add: MacInness, Folk and Hero Tales [Gaelic], p. 301, a Highland St George: see I, 487, note.
27 f. Professor Bugge, Arkiv för nordisk Filologi, VII, 120–36, 1891, points out that a Swedish ballad given in Grundtvig, D. g. F. IV, 813 f., F, and here referred to under ‘Hind Etin,’ I, 364 b, as Swedish C, has resemblances with ‘Kvindemorderen.’ Fru Malin is combing her hair al fresco, when a suitor enters her premises; he remarks that a crown would sit well on her head. The lady skips off to her chamber, and exclaims, Christ grant he may wish to be mine! The suitor follows her, and asks, Where is the fair dame who wishes to be mine? But when Fru Malin comes to table she is in trouble, and the suitor puts her several leading questions. She is sad, not for any of several reasons suggested, but for the bridge under which her seven sisters (syskon) lie. ‘Sorrow not,’ he says, ‘we shall build the bridge so broad and long that four-and-twenty horses may go over at a time.’ They pass through a wood; on the bridge her horse stumbles, and she is thrown into the water. She cries for help; she will give him her gold crown. He cares nothing for the crown, and never will help her out. Bugge maintains that this ballad is not, as Grundtvig considered it, a compound of ‘Nökkens Svig’ and ‘Harpens Kraft,’ but an independent ballad, ‘The Bride Drowned,’ of a set to which belong ‘Der Wasserman,’ Haupt and Schmaler, I, 62, No 34, and many German ballads: see Grundtvig, IV, 810 f, and here I, 365 f., 38.
29–37, 486 a. Add: E E, Hruschka u. Toischer, Deutsche Volkslieder aus Böhmen, p. 126, No 35. Like Q, p. 35.
39 ff. The Polish ballad ‘Jás i Kasia.’ Mr John Karłowicz has given, in Wisła, IV, 393–424, the results of a study of this ballad, and they are here briefly summarized.
Ten unprinted versions are there added to the large number already published, making about ninety copies, if fragments are counted. Copies not noted at I, 39, 486, are, besides these ten, the following. Kolberg, Krakowskie, II, 111, 168, Nos 208, 336; Kieleckie, II, 148, No 453; Leęczychie, p. 131, No 223; Lubelskie, I, 289 ff., Nos 473, 474; Pozna[‘n]skie, IV, 63, No 131; Mazowsze, III, 274, No 386, IV, 320, No 346. Zbiór wiadomości do antropologii krajowej, II, 78, Nos 89, 90; IV, 129; X, 123. Wisła, II, 132, 159. Prace filologiczne, II, 568. Keętrzy[‘n]ski, O Mazurach, p. 35, No 1. Zawili[‘n]ski, Z powieści i pieśni górali beskidowych, p. 88, No 66. Wasilewski, Jagodne, etc., No 120. Federowski, Lud okolic Żarek, etc., p. 102, No 49.
Most of the ten versions printed in Wisła agree with others previously published; in some there are novel details. In No 3, p. 398, Kasia, thrown into the water by her lover, is rescued by her brother. In No 10, p. 404, Jás, when drowning the girl, tells her that he has drowned four already, and she shall be the fifth; her brother comes sliding down a silken rope; fishermen take the girl out dead. There are still only two of all the Polish versions in which Catharine kills John, A a, b. The name Ligar, in the latter, points clearly, Mr Karłowicz remarks, to the U-linger, Ad-elger, Ol-legehr of the German versions, and he is convinced that the ballad came into Poland from Germany, although the girl is not drowned in the German ballad, as in the Polish, English, and French.
John, who is commonly the hero in the Polish ballad, is at the beginning of many copies declared to have sung, and the words have no apparent sense. But we observe that in the versions of western Europe the hero plays on the horn, sings a seductive song, promises to teach the girl to sing, etc.; the unmeaning Polish phrase is therefore a survival.
In many of the German versions a bird warns the maid of her danger. This feature is found once only in Polish: in Zawili[‘n]ski (No 69 A of Karłowicz).
At p. 777 of Sušil’s Moravian Songs there are two other versions which I have not noticed, the second of them manifestly derived from Poland.
There is a Little-Russian ballad which begins like the Polish ‘Jás i Kasia,’ but ends with the girl being tied to a tree and burned, instead of being drowned: Wisła, IV, 423, from Zbiór wiadom. do antrop., III, 150, No 17. Traces of the incident of the burning are also found in Polish and Moravian songs: Wisła, pp. 418–22. It is probable that there were two independent ballads, and that these have been confounded.
42 a, III, 497 a. A. Add: ‘Renaud et ses Femmes,’ Revue des Traditions Populaires, VI, 34.
43 a. ‘Lou Cros dé Proucinello,’ Daymard, Vieux Chants p. recueillis en Quercy, p. 130, has at the end two traits of this ballad. A young man carries off a girl whom he has been in love with seven years; he throws her into a ravine; as she falls, she catches at a tree; he cuts it away; she cries, What shall I do with my pretty gowns? and is answered, Give them to me for another mistress. Cf. also Daymard, p. 128.
43 b, III, 497 a. ‘La Fille de Saint-Martin.’ Add: ‘Le Mari Assassin,’ Chanson du pays de Caux, Revue des Traditions Populaires, IV, 133.
43 f., 488 a, III, 497. Italian. The ballad in Nannarelli (488 a) I have seen: it is like ‘La Monferrina incontaminata.’ Add: ‘La bella Inglese,’ Salvadori, in Giornale di Filologia Romanza, II, 201; ‘Un’ eroina,’ A. Giannini, Canzoni del Contado di Massa Lunense, No 1, Archivio, VIII, 273; [‘Montiglia’], [‘Inglesa’], Bolognini, Annuario degli Alpinisti Tridentini, XIII, Usi e Costumi del Trentino, 1888, p. 37 f.
44 b. ‘La Princesa Isabel,’ Pidal, Romancero Asturiano, p. 350 (sung by children as an accompaniment to a game), is a variety of ‘Rico Franco.’
45 a, 488 a. Another Portuguese version, ‘O caso de D. Ignez,’ Braga, Ampliações ao Romanceiro das Ilhas dos Açores, Revista Lusitana, I, 103.
45 b. Breton, 5. Marivonnic also in Quellien, Chansons et Danses des Bretons, 1889, p. 99.
50 b, note ǁ. As to this use of blood, cf. H. von Wlisłocki, Volksthümliches zum Armen Heinrich, Ztschr. f. deutsche Philologie, 1890, XXIII, 217 ff; Notes and Queries, 7th Series, VIII, 363. (G. L. K.)
55. B. A copy in Walks near Edinburgh, by Margaret Warrender, 1890, p. 104, differs from B b in only a few words, as any ordinary recollection would. As:
43, 63, 83. my guid steed.
94. It will gar our loves to twine.
104. An I’ll ring for you the bell.
113. Grant me ae kiss o your fause, fause mouth (improbable reading).
142. she won.
143. most heartily.
56 ff., 488 f., II, 497 f.
The copy of ‘May Collin’ which follows is quite the best of the series C-G. It is written on the same sheet of paper as the “copy of some antiquity” used by Scott in making up his ‘Gay Goss Hawk’ (ed. 1802, II, 7). The sheet is perhaps as old as any in the volume in which it occurs, but may possibly not be the original. ‘May Collin’ is not in the same hand as the other ballad.
According to the preface to a stall-copy spoken of by Motherwell, Minstrelsy, p. lxx, 24, “the treacherous and murder-minting lover was an ecclesiastic of the monastery of Maybole,” and the preface to D d (see I, 488) makes him a Dominican friar. So, if we were to accept these guides, the ‘Sir’ would be the old ecclesiastical title and equivalent to the ‘Mess’ of the copy now to be given.
‘May Collin,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 146, Abbotsford.
1
May Collin . . . . .
. . . was her father’s heir,
And she fell in love with a falsh priest,
And she rued it ever mair.
2
He followd her butt, he followd her benn,
He followd her through the hall,
Till she had neither tongue nor teeth
Nor lips to say him naw.
3
‘We’ll take the steed out where he is,
The gold where eer it be,
And we’ll away to some unco land,
And married we shall be.’
4
They had not riden a mile, a mile,
A mile but barely three,
Till they came to a rank river,
Was raging like the sea.
5
‘Light off, light off now, May Collin,
It’s here that you must die;
Here I have drownd seven king’s daughters,
The eight now you must be.
6
‘Cast off, cast off now, May Collin,
Your gown that’s of the green;
For it’s oer good and oer costly
To rot in the sea-stream.
7
‘Cast off, cast off now, May Collin,
Your coat that’s of the black;
For it’s oer good and oer costly
To rot in the sea-wreck.
8
‘Cast off, cast off now, May Collin,
Your stays that are well laced;
For thei’r oer good and costly
In the sea’s ground to waste.
9
‘Cast [off, cast off now, May Collin,]
Your sark that’s of the holland;
For [it’s oer good and oer costly]
To rot in the sea-bottom.’
10
‘Turn you about now, falsh Mess John,
To the green leaf of the tree;
It does not fit a mansworn man
A naked woman to see.’
11
He turnd him quickly round about,
To the green leaf of the tree;
She took him hastly in her arms
And flung him in the sea.
12
‘Now lye you there, you falsh Mess John,
My mallasin go with thee!
You thought to drown me naked and bare,
But take your cloaths with thee,
And if there be seven king’s daughters there
Bear you them company.’
13
She lap on her milk steed
And fast she bent the way,
And she was at her father’s yate
Three long hours or day.
14
Up and speaks the wylie parrot,
So wylily and slee:
‘Where is the man now, May Collin,
That gaed away wie thee?’
15
‘Hold your tongue, my wylie parrot,
And tell no tales of me,
And where I gave a pickle befor
It’s now I’ll give you three.’
11,2. One line: May Collin was her father’s heir.
74. on the.
84. ina? indistinct.
125. 7.
5. Gil Brenton.
P. 63 b. Swedish. ‘Riddar Olof,’ Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 63, No 16, a, b, imperfect copies.
64 b. Danish. ‘Den rette Brudgom’ (Samson and Vendelru), Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 363, No 97.
65 b. ‘Herr Peders Hustru,’ the same, p. 365,==Grundtvig, No 278.
70. B. The three stanzas which follow were communicated to Scott by Major Henry Hutton, Royal Artillery, 24th December, 1802 (Letters, I, No 77), as recollected by his father and the family. “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 18. Instead of 3, 4:
There’s five o them with meal and malt,
And other five wi beef and salt;
There’s five o them wi well-bak’d bread,
And other five wi goud so red.
There’s five o them wi the ladies bright,
There’s other five o belted knights;
There’s five o them wi a good black neat,
And other five wi bleating sheep.
“And before the two last stanzas, introduce”
O there was seald on his breast-bane,
‘Cospatric is his father’s name;’
O there was seald on his right hand
He should inherit his father’s land.
so is written over the second and in 12.
7. Earl Brand.
P. 88. ‘Ribold og Guldborg:’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 33, ‘Nævnet til døde,’ No 15, A-I.
91 b. Swedish. ‘Kung Valdemo,’ ‘Ellibrand och Fröken Gyllenborg,’ Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 1, No 1, a, b. (“Name not my name,” a 20, b 12.)
95 b, 489 b; III, 498 a. For the whole subject, see K. Nyrop. Navnets Magt, 1887, and especially sections 4, 5, pp. 46–70. As to reluctance to have one’s name known, and the advantage such knowledge gives an adversary, see E. Clodd, in The Folk Lore Journal, VII, 154 ff., and, in continuation, Folk-Lore, I, 272.
The berserkr Glammaðr could pick off any man with his pike, if only he knew his name. Saga Egils ok Ásmundar, Rafn, Fornaldar Sögur, III, 387, Ásmundarson, F. s. Norðrlanða, III, 292. (G. L. K.)
The demonic Gelô informs certain saints who force her “to tell them how other people’s children [may] be defended from her attacks,” that if they “can write her twelve names and a half she shall never be able to come within seventy-five stadia and a half:” Thomas Wright, Essays on Subjects connected with the Literature, etc., of the Middle Ages, 1846, I, 294 (referring to Leo Allatius, De Græcorum hodie quorundam opinationibus). The passage in question is to be found at p. 127 of Leo Allatius, De templis Græcorum recentioribus, ad Ioannem Morinum; De Narthece ecclesiæ veteris; nec non De Græcorum hodie quorundam opinationibus, ad Paullum Zacchiam. Coloniæ Agrippinæ, 1645. (G. L. K.)
96 b. Swedish. Two copies of ‘Rosen lilla’ in Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 37, No 10.
Danish. Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 215, No 52, C 9, two lilies; p. 318, No 78, 9, 10, graves south and north, two lilies.
97 b. French. ‘Les deux Amoureux,’ Daymard, Vieux Chants p. rec. en Quercy, p. 122, lavender and tree.
97 b, 489 b, II, 498 a, III, 498 b. Slavic. (1.) White-Russian: he buried in church, she in ditch; plane and linden (planted); plane embraces linden. MS. (2.) Little-Russian: buried apart; plane grows over his grave, two birches over hers; branches do not interlace. Kolberg, Pokucie, p. 41. (3.) White-Russian: he in church, she near church; oak, birch (planted); trees touch. Zbiór wiado do antropol., XIII, 102 f. (4.) Little-Russian: burial apart in a church; rosemary and lily from graves. Var.: rose and sage, rosemary; flowers interlace. Holovatzky, III, 254. (J. Karłowicz, in Mélusine, V, 39 ff.)
Bulgarian. A poplar from the maid’s grave, a pine from her lover’s: Collection of the Bulgarian Ministry of Instruction, I, 35. (W. W.)
97 b, 490 a, III, 498 b. Breton. Luzel, Soniou, I, 272–3: a tree from the young man’s grave, a rose from the maid’s.
99 ff., 490 ff. ‘The Earl o Bran,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 22 b, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of Richard Heber.
1
Did ye ever hear o guid Earl o Bran
An the queen’s daughter o the south-lan?
2
She was na fifteen years o age
Till she came to the Earl’s bed-side.
3
‘O guid Earl o Bran, I fain wad see
My grey hounds run over the lea.’
4
‘O kind lady, I have no steeds but one,
But ye shall ride, an I shall run.’
5
‘O guid Earl o Bran, but I have tua,
An ye shall hae yere wael o those.’
6
The’re ovr moss an the’re over muir,
An they saw neither rich nor poor.
7
Till they came to ald Carl Hood,
He’s ay for ill, but he’s never for good.
8
‘O guid Earl o Bran, if ye loe me,
Kill Carl Hood an gar him die.’
9
‘O kind lady, we had better spare;
I never killd ane that wore grey hair.
10
‘We’ll gie him a penny-fie an let him gae,
An then he’ll carry nae tiddings away.’
11
‘Where hae been riding this lang simmer-day?
Or where hae stolen this lady away?’
12
‘O I hae not riden this lang simmer-day,
Nor hae I stolen this lady away.
13
‘For she is my sick sister
I got at the Wamshester.’
14
‘If she were sick an like to die,
She wad na be wearing the gold sae high.’
15
Ald Carl Hood is over the know,
Where they rode one mile, he ran four.
16
Till he came to her mother’s yetts,
An I wat he rapped rudely at.
17
‘Where is the lady o this ha?’
‘She’s out wie her maidens, playing at the ba.’
18
‘O na! fy na!
For I met her fifteen miles awa.
19
‘She’s over moss, an she’s over muir,
An a’ to be the Earl o Bran’s whore.’
20
Some rode wie sticks, an some wie rungs,
An a’ to get the Earl o Bran slain.
21
That lady lookd over her left shoudder-bane:
‘O guid Earl o Bran, we’ll a’ be taen!
For yond’r a’ my father’s men.
22
‘But if ye’ll take my claiths, I’ll take thine,
An I’ll fight a’ my father’s men.’
23
‘It’s no the custom in our land
For ladies to fight an knights to stand.
24
‘If they come on me ane by ane,
I’ll smash them a’ doun bane by bane.
25
‘If they come on me ane and a’,
Ye soon will see my body fa.’
26
He has luppen from his steed,
An he has gein her that to had.
27
An bad her never change her cheer
Untill she saw his body bleed.
28
They came on him ane by ane,
An he smashed them doun a’ bane by bane.
29
He sat him doun on the green grass,
For I wat a wearit man he was.
30
But ald Carl Hood came him behind,
An I wat he gae him a deadly wound.
31
He’s awa to his lady then,
He kissed her, an set her on her steed again.
32
He rode whistlin out the way,
An a’ to hearten his lady gay.
33
‘Till he came to the water-flood:
‘O guid Earl o Bran, I see blood!’
34
‘O it is but my scarlet hood,
That shines upon the water-flood.’
35
They came on ‘till his mother’s yett,
An I wat he rappit poorly at.
36
His mother she’s come to the door:
‘O son, ye’ve gotten yere dead wie an English whore!’
37
‘She was never a whore to me;
Sae let my brother her husband be.’
38
Sae ald Carl Hood was not the dead o ane,
But he was the dead o hale seeventeen.
Note at the end: I have not written the chorus, but Mr Leyden, having it by him, knows how to insert it.
“Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 22 d. In the handwriting of William Laidlaw. Scott has written at the head, Earl Bran, another copy.
1
Earl Bran’s a wooing gane;
Ae lalie, O lilly lalie
He woo’d a lady, an was bringing her hame.
O the gae knights o Airly
2
. . . . . . . .
They met neither wi rich nor poor.
3
Till they met wi an auld palmer Hood,
Was ay for ill, an never for good.
4
‘O yonder is an auld palmer Heed:
Tak your sword an kill him dead.’
5
‘Gude forbid, O ladie fair,
That I kill an auld man an grey hair.
6
‘We’ll gie him a an forbid him to tell;’
The gae him a an forbad him to tell.
7
The auld man than he’s away hame,
He telld o Jane whan he gaed hame.
8
‘I thought I saw her on yon moss,
Riding on a milk-white horse.
9
‘I thought I saw her on yon muir;
By this time she’s Earl Bran’s whore.’
10
Her father he’s ca’d on his men:
‘Gae follow, an fetch her again.’
11
She’s lookit oer her left shoulder:
‘O yonder is my father’s men!
12
‘O yonder is my father’s men:
Take my cleadin, an I’ll take thine.’
13
‘O that was never law in land,
For a ladie to feiht an a knight to stand.
14
‘But if yer father’s men come ane an ane,
Stand ye by, an ye’ll see them slain.
15
‘If they come twae an twae,
Stand ye by, an ye’ll see them gae.
16
‘And if they come three an three,
Stand ye by, an ye’ll see them die.’
17
Her father’s men came ane an ane,
She stood by . . . .
18
Than they cam by twae an twae,
. . . . . . .
19
Than they cam by three an three,
. . . . . . .
20
But ahint him cam the auld palmer Hood,
An ran him outthro the heart’s blood.
21
‘I think I see your heart’s blood:’
‘It’s but the glistering o your scarlet hood.’
* * * * * *
71. MS., he’s *, and, in the margin, * away has been gane. Over away hame is written thre them (==thrae, frae, them), or, perhaps, thre than.
201. MS., palmer weed: cf. 31, 41.
202. outr thro.
P. 100, B; 489 b, 492, I. The printed copy used by Scott was ‘Lord Douglas’ Tragedy,’ the first of four pieces in a stall-pamphlet, “licensed and entered, 1792:” “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 1. I is another edition of the same. The variations from I are as follows:
11, says.
22. your arms.
34. father who.
43. seven wanting.
44. just now.
51. better for (the obvious misprint) bitter.
53. once that.
61. Hold your hand.
72. wounds.
74. forkd in the.
81. Lady Margret.
93, 133. blue gilded, as in I, for bugelet: hanging down.
94, 134. slowly they both.
103. yon clear river-side.
113. his pretty.
123. ’Tis nothing.
152. soft.
162. long ere day.
164. died wanting.
171. St for Lady.
173. sprung.
182. be near.
183. ye: weil.
8. Erlinton.
P. 107. The two copies from which (with some editorial garnish and filling out) A was compounded were: a. “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 20, obtained from Nelly Laidlaw, and in the handwriting of William Laidlaw; b. ‘Earlington’s Daughter,’ the same collection, No 11, in the handwriting of James Hogg. The differences are purely verbal, and both copies may probably have been derived from the same reciter; still, since only seven or eight verses in sixty-eight agree, both will be given entire, instead of a list of the variations.
a.
1
Lord Erlinton had ae daughter,
I trow he’s weird her a grit sin;
For he has bugn a bigly bower,
An a’ to pit his ae daughter in.
An he has buggin, etc.
2
An he has warn her sisters six,
Her sisters six an her brethren se’en,
Thei’r either to watch her a’ the night,
Or than to gang i the mornin soon.
3
She had na been i that bigly bower
Not ae night but only ane
Untill that Willie, her true-love,
Chappit at the bower-door, no at the gin.
4
‘Whae’s this, whae’s this chaps at my bower-door,
At my bower-door, no at the gin?’
‘O it is Willie, thy ain true-love;
O will ye rise an let me in?’
5
‘In my bower, Willie, there is a wane,
An in the wane there is a wake;
But I will come to the green woods
The morn, for my ain true-love’s sake.’
6
This lady she’s lain down again,
An she has lain till the cock crew thrice;
She said unto her sisters baith,
Lasses, it’s time at we soud rise.
7
She’s putten on her breast a silver tee,
An on her back a silken gown;
She’s taen a sister in ilka hand,
An away to the bonnie green wood she’s gane.
8
They hadna gane a mile in that bonnie green wood,
They had na gane a mile but only ane,
Till they met wi Willie, her ain true-love,
An thrae her sisters he has her taen.
9
He’s taen her sisters ilk by the hand,
He’s kissd them baith, an he’s sent them hame;
He’s muntit his ladie him high behind,
An thro the bonnie green wood thei’r gane.
10
They’d ridden a mile i that bonnie green wood,
They hadna ridden but only ane,
When there cam fifteen o the baldest knights
That ever boor flesh, bluid an bane.
11
Than up bespak the foremost knight,
He woor the gray hair on his chin;
‘Yield me yer life or your lady fair,
An ye sal walk the green woods within.’
12
‘For to gie my wife to thee,
I wad be very laith,’ said he;
‘For than the folk wad think I was gane mad,
Or that the senses war taen frae me.’
13
Up than bespak the niest foremost knight,
I trow he spak right boustrouslie;
‘Yield me yer life or your ladie fair,
An ye sall walk the green woods wi me.’
14
‘My wife, she is my warld’s meed,
My life, it lyes me very near;
But if ye be man o your manhood
I serve will while my days are near.’
15
He’s luppen off his milk-white steed,
He’s gien his lady him by the head:
‘See that ye never change yer cheer
Till ance ye see my body bleed.’
16
An he’s killd a’ the fifteen knights,
He’s killed them a’ but only ane;
A’ but the auld grey-headed knight,
He bade him carry the tiddins hame.
17
He’s gane to his lady again,
I trow he’s kissd her, baith cheek an chin;
‘Now ye’r my ain, I have ye win,
An we will walk the green woods within.’
23. Their struck out.
93. muntit struck out, and set written above.
123. than struck out.
144. while, are, struck out, and till, be, written above.
164. tiddins: one d struck out. These changes would seem to be somebody’s editorial improvements.
Wi me in 134 sacrifices sense to rhyme. We are to understand in 113,4, 133,4 that Willie is to die if he will not give up the lady, but if he will resign her he may live, and walk the wood at his pleasure. 144 is corrupt in both texts.
b.
1
O Earlington, he has ae daughter,
And I wot he has ward her in a great sin;
He has buggin to her a bigly bowr,
And a’ to put his daughter in.
2
O he has warnd her sisters six,
Her sisters six and her brethren seven,
Either to watch her a’ the night,
Or else to search her soon at morn.
3
They had na been a night in that bigly bowr,
’Tis not a night but barely ane,
Till there was Willie, her ain true-love,
Rappd at the door, and knew not the gin.
4
‘Whoe’s this, whoe’s this raps at my bowr-door,
Raps at my bowr-door, and knows not the gin?’
‘O it is Willie, thy ain true-love;
I pray thee rise and let me in.’
5
‘O in my bower, Willie, there is a wake,
And in the wake there is a wan;
But I’ll come to the green wood the morn,
To the green wood for thy name’s sake.’
6
O she has gaen to her bed again,
And a wait she has lain till the cock crew thrice;
Then she said to her sisters baith,
Lasses, ’tis time for us to rise.
7
She’s puten on her back a silken gown,
And on her breast a silver tie;
She’s taen a sister in ilka hand,
And thro the green wood they are gane.
8
They had na walkt a mile in that good green wood,
’Tis not a mile but barely ane,
Till there was Willie, her ain true-love,
And from her sisters he has her taen.
9
He’s taen her sisters by the hand,
He kist them baith, he sent them hame;
He’s taen his lady him behind,
And thro the green wood they are gane.
10
They had na ridden a mile in the good green wood,
’Tis not a mile but barely ane,
Till there was fifteen of the boldest knights
That ever bore flesh, blood or bane.
11
The foremost of them was an aged knight,
He wore the gray hair on his chin:
‘Yield me thy life or thy lady bright,
And thou shalt walk these woods within.’
12
‘’Tis for to give my lady fair
To such an aged knight as thee,
People wad think I were gane mad,
Or else the senses taen frae me.’
13
Up then spake the second of them,
And he spake ay right bousterously;
‘Yield me thy life or thy lady bright,
And thou shalt walk these woods within.’
14
‘My wife, she is my warld’s meed,
My life it lies me very near;
But if you’ll be man of your manheed,
I’ll serve you till my days be near.’
15
He’s lighted of his milk-white steed,
He’s given his lady him by the head:
‘And see ye dinna change your cheer
Till you do see my body bleed.’
16
O he has killd these fifteen lords,
And he has killd them a’ but ane,
And he has left that old aged knight,
And a’ to carry the tidings hame.
17
O he’s gane to his lady again,
And a wait he has kist her, baith cheek and chin:
‘Thou art my ain love, I have thee bought,
And thou shalt walk these woods within.’
5. wake should be wane and wan wake, as in A.
10. The Twa Sisters.
P. 119 a. Danish. ‘De talende Strenge,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 68, 375, No 19, A-E.
119 b. Swedish. ‘De två systrarna,’ Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 27, No 7, a, b; the latter imperfect.
124 b. Bohemian, Waldau, Böhmische Granaten, II, 97, No 137 (with the usual variations).
125 b, 493 b; II, 498 b; III, 499 a. Add: ‘Les roseaux qui chantent,’ Revue des Traditions Populaires, IV, 463, V, 178; ‘La rose de Pimperlé,’ Meyrac, Traditions, etc., des Ardennes, p. 486 ff.; ‘L’os qui chante,’ seven Walloon versions, E. Monseur, Bulletin de Folklore Wallon, I, 39 ff.
128. C. ‘The Cruel Sister,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 16; communicated to Scott by Major Henry Hutton, Royal Artillery, December 24, 1802 (Letters, I, No 77), as recollected by his father “and the family.”
1
There were twa sisters in a bowr,
Binnorie, O Binnorie
The eldest was black and the youngest fair.
By the bonny milldams o Binnorie
After 13 (or as 14):
Your rosie cheeks and white hause-bane
Garrd me bide lang maiden at hame.
After 15:
The miller’s daughter went out wi speed
To fetch some water to make her bread.
After 17:
He coud not see her fingers sma,
For the goud rings they glistend a’.
He coud na see her yellow hair
For pearlin and jewels that were so rare.
And when he saw her white hause-bane
Round it hung a gouden chain.
He stretched her owt-our the bra
And moanëd her wi mekle wa.
“Then, at the end, introduce the following” (which, however, are not traditional).
The last tune the harp did sing,
‘And yonder stands my false sister Alison.
‘O listen, listen, all my kin,
’Twas she wha drownd me in the lin.’
And when the harp this song had done
It brast a’ o pieces oer the stane.
“Alison. The writer of these additional stanzas understands the name was Alison, and not Helen.” Alison occurs in D, K.
Pp. 133, 139. L. Anna Seward to Walter Scott, April 25–29, 1802: Letters addressed to Sir Walter Scott, I, No 54, Abbotsford. “The Binnorie of endless repetition has nothing truly pathetic, and the ludicrous use made of the drowned sister’s body is well burlesqued in a ridiculous ballad, which I first heard sung, with farcial grimace, in my infancy [born 1747], thus:”
1
And O was it a pheasant cock,
Or eke a pheasant hen?
Or was it and a gay lady,
Came swimming down the stream?
2
O it was not a pheasant cock,
Or eke a pheasant hen,
But it was and a gay lady,
Came swimming down the stream.
3
And when she came to the mill-dam
The miller he took her body,
And with it he made him a fiddling thing,
To make him sweet melody.
4
And what did he do with her fingers small?
He made of them pegs to his vial.
5
And what did he do with her nose-ridge?
Why to his fiddle he made it a bridge.
Sing, O the damnd mill-dam, O
6
And what did he do with her veins so blue?
Why he made him strings his fiddle unto.
7
And what did he do with her two shins?
Why to his vial they dancd Moll Sims.
8
And what did he do with her two sides?
Why he made of them sides to his fiddle besides.
9
And what did he do with her great toes?
Why what he did with them that nobody knows.
Sing, O the damnd mill-dam, O
For 4, 5, 6, 7, see A 8, 9, 10, 13.
P. 137. MS. of Thomas Wilkie, p. 1, in “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 32; taken down “from a Miss Nancy Brockie, Bemerside.” 1813.
1
There were twa sisters sat in a bower,
By Nera and by Nora
The youngest was the fairest flower.
Of all the mill-dams of Bennora
2
It happened upon a bonnie summer’s day
The eldest to the youngest did say:
In the bonnie mill-dams of Bennora
3
‘We must go and we shall go
To see our brother’s ships come to land.’
In, etc. (and throughout).
4
‘I winna go and I downa go,
For weeting the corks o my coal-black shoes.’
5
She set her foot into a rash-bush,
To see how tightly she was dressd.
6
But the youngest sat upon a stone,
But the eldest threw the youngest in.
7
‘O sister, oh sister, come lend me your hand,
And draw my life into dry land!’
8
‘You shall not have one bit o my hand;
Nor will I draw you to dry land.’
9
‘O sister, O sister, come lend me your hand,
And you shall have Sir John and all his land.’
10
‘You shall not have one bit o my hand,
And I’ll have Sir John and all his land.
11
The miller’s daughter, clad in red,
Came for some water to bake her bread.
12
‘O father, O father, go fish your mill-dams,
For there either a swan or a drownd woman.’
13
You wad not have seen one bit o her waist,
The body was swelld, and the stays strait laced.
14
You wad not have seen one bit o her neck,
The chains of gold they hang so thick.
15
He has taen a tait of her bonnie yellow hair,
He’s tied it to his fiddle-strings there.
16
The verry first spring that that fiddle playd
Was, Blest be [the] queen, my mother! [it] has said.
17
The verry next spring that that fiddle playd
Was, Blest be Sir John, my own true-love!
18
The very next spring that that fiddle playd
Was, Burn my sister for her sins!
42. Written at first my black heeld shoes.
122. swain.
172. thy own.
11. The Cruel Brother.
P. 142 b, 496 a, III, 499 a. B was repeated by Salvadori in Giornale di Filologia Romanza, II, 197; and E was first published by Mazzatinti in IV, 69, of the same.
142 f. A variety of ‘Graf Friedrich’ in Hruschka u. Toischer, Deutsche Volkslieder aus Böhmen, p. 101, No 25.
143 b. III, 499. Testament. ‘Hr. Adelbrand,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 227, 232, No 54, A, 20 ff., F, 10 ff.==‘Herr Radibrand och lilla Lena,’ ‘Skön Helena och riddaren Hildebrand,’ Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 89, No 25, a, b.
‘Adelbrand’ is No 311 of Danmarks gamle Folkeviser, V, II, 297, ed. Olrik, of which the versions that have been cited in this book are B, K e, G e, F, K b, I. There is a testament in other copies of the same. Also in No 320, not yet published.
145 ff. “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 22 a. In the handwriting of William Laidlaw; “from Jean Scott.”
There was three ladies playd at the ba,
With a hey hey an a lilly gay
Bye cam three lords an woo’d them a’.
Whan the roses smelld sae sweetly
The first o them was clad in yellow:
‘O fair may, will ye be my marrow?’
Whan the roses smell, etc.
The niest o them was clad i ried:
‘O fair may, will ye be my bride?’
The thrid o them was clad i green:
He said, O fair may, will ye be my queen?
12. Lord Randal.
Pp. 152 b, 498 b, III, 499 b. Italian. Add L, ‘'U Cavalieru Traditu;’ communicated to La Calabria, October 15, 1888, p. 5, ‘Storie popolari Acresi,’ by Antonio Julia.
154 a. Danish. ‘Den forgivne Søster’ (with testament), Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 358, No 92.
156 b. Vuk, I, No 302, is translated by Bowring, p. 143.
157 ff., 499 ff. “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 22 g, in the handwriting of William Laidlaw.
1
‘Where ha ye been, Lord Randal, my son?’
‘I been at the huntin, mother, mak my bed soon;
I’m weariet wi huntin, I fain wad lie down.’
2
‘What gat ye to yer supper, Lord Randal, my son?’
‘An eel boild i broo, mother, mak my bed soon;
I’m,’ etc.
3
‘What gat yer dogs, Earl Randal, my son?’
‘The broo o the eel, mother,’ etc.
4
‘What leave [ye] yer false love, Lord Randal, my son?’
‘My goud silken garters, to hang hersel on;
I’m,’ etc.
41. leave year.
U
Letters addressed to Sir Walter Scott, XX, No 77, Abbotsford; from Joseph Jamieson Archibald, Largs, 18th February, 1830.
“By the bye! How does your copy of ‘Willie Doo’ go? Or is it the same as our ‘Auld Nursery Lilt,’ better known by the name of ‘My Wee Croodling Doo’? To give you every justice, I shall copy a stanza or two.”
1
‘Whare were ye the lea lang day,
My wee crooding doo, doo?’
‘I hae been at my step-dame’s;
Mammy, mak my bed noo, noo!’
2
‘Whare gat she the wee, wee fish?’
‘She gat it neist the edder-flowe.’
3
‘What did she wi the fishie’s banes?’
‘The wee black dog gat them to eat.’
4
‘What did the wee black doggie then?’
‘He shot out his fittie an deed;
An sae maun I now too, too.’ Etc.
“The wee crooding doo next received a fatal drink, and syne a lullaby, when his bed was made ‘baith saft an fine,’ while his lang fareweel and dying lamentation was certainly both trying and afflicting to the loving parents.” The drink after the fish was a senseless interpolation; the ‘lang fareweel’ was probably the testament of the longer ballad.
500. The title of Q in the MS. is ‘Lord Randal;’ of R, ‘Little wee toorin dow.’
14. Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie.
P. 171 a. Danish. ‘Herr Tures Døtre,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 294, No 72.
15. Leesome Brand.
P. 178 a. ‘Jomfru i Hindeham,’ D. g. F. No 58, Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 14, No 7.
179 a, III, 500 b. Danish, II, ‘Barnefødsel i Lunden,’ six copies and a fragment, in Kristensen’s Skattegraveren, X, 145 ff., Nos 416–22, 1888. (‘Sadlen for trang, vejen for lang,’ 416, 17, 20; man’s help, 416, 419; children buried alive, 417, 18, 22; sister and brother, 418; lilies from grave, 416, 17.) ‘Skjøn Medler,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 182, No 46, A-H. (Saddle, way, A; man’s help, A, B, E, F, H; children buried alive, A, B, C, E, F.)
Swedish. ‘Herr Riddervall,’ Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 75, No 20.
16. Sheath and Knife.
P. 186. D is in or from T. Lyle’s Ancient Ballads and Songs, 1827, p. 241. Scott, as Lyle says, has nearly the same burden in a stanza (of his own?) which he makes E. Deans sing, in The Heart of Mid-Lothian.
17. Hind Horn.
P. 193 b (2). ‘Hr. Lovmand,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 252, No 62, A-D.
194 ff., 502 f.; II, 499 b; III, 501 b. Ring stories. Cf. MacInnes, Folk and Hero Tales (Argyllshire), 1890, p. 157. (G. L. K.)
Bulgarian ballad.—Stojan is married on Sunday; on Monday he is ordered to join the army. His wife gives him a posy, which will remain fresh until she marries another man. He serves nine years; the tenth the queen discovers from his talk that he has a wife, and gives him permission to go home. He arrives the very day on which his wife is to be remarried, goes to the wedding, and asks her to kiss his hand and accept a gift from him. She recognizes him by the ring on his hand, sends off the guests, and goes home with him. Collection of the Ministry of Instruction, I, 39. In a variant, Verković, p. 329, No 301, the man is gone three years, and arrives just as the wedding procession comes for the bride. (W. W.)
198 b. ‘Le Retour du Mari.’ ‘Un Retour de Guerre’ (cards), Daymard, pp. 203, 4.
202 a, III, 501 b. For more of these curiosities (in Salman u. Morolf, Orendel, Virginal, Laurin, etc.), see Vogt’s note, p. 181 (248 ff.), to Salman u. Morolf.
206. H. I have received from Mr Walker, of Aberdeen, author of ‘The Bards of Bonaccord,’ a copy of ‘Hind Horn’ which was taken down by a correspondent of his on lower Deeside about 1880. It closely resembles G and H. Collated with H, the more note-worthy variations are as follows:
11. Hey how, bound, lovie, hey how, free.
62. An the glintin o ‘t was aboon.
10. An when he looked the ring upon, O but it was pale an wan!
132. What news, what news is in this lan?
19.
Ye’ll ging up to yon high hill,
An ye’ll blaw yer trumpet loud an shrill.
20.
Doun at yon gate ye will enter in,
And at yon stair ye will stan still.
21.
Ye’ll seek meat frae ane, ye’ll seek meat frae twa,
Ye’ll seek meat fra the highest to the lowest o them a’.
22.
But it’s out o their hans an ye will tak nane
Till it comes out o the bride’s ain han.
262. Wi the links o the yellow gowd in her hair.
After 27: An when she looked the ring upon, O but she grew pale an wan!
After 28: Or got ye it frae ane that is far, far away, To gie unto me upon my weddin-day?
30. But I got it frae you when I gaed away, To gie unto you on your weddin-day.
32. It’s I’ll gang wi you for evermore, An beg my bread frae door to door.
502 a. There can hardly be a doubt that the two stanzas cited belonged to ‘The Kitchie-Boy,’ ‘Bonny Foot-Boy,’ No 252. Cf. A 34, 35, B 47, D 7, 8, of that ballad.
18. Sir Lionel.
P. 209 b. ‘Blow thy horne, hunter.’ Found, with slight variations, in Add. MS. 31922, British Museum, 39, b (Henry VIII): Ewald, in Anglia, XII, 238.
19. King Orfeo.
P. 215. The relations of the Danish ‘Harpens Kraft,’ and incidentally those of this ballad, to the English romance are discussed, with his usual acuteness, by Professor Sophus Bugge in Arkiv för nordisk Filologi, VII, 97 ff., 1891. See II, 137, of this collection.
20. The Cruel Mother.
P. 218 b, III, 502 a. ‘Barnemordersken,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 356, No 90, A, B.
219 b, 504 a, II, 500 a, III, 502 b. Add: Q, R, Hruschka u. Toischer, Deutsche Volkslieder aus Böhmen, p. 129, No 40 a, b.
220 ff. a. MS. of Thomas Wilkie, p. 4, in “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 33. “Taken down from Mrs Hislope, Gattonside. The air is plaintive and very wild.” 1813. b. “Scotch Ballads, Materials,” etc., No 113; in the hand of T. Wilkie.
1
As I looked over my father’s castle-wa,
All alone and alone, O
I saw two pretty babes playing at the ba.
Down by yone greenwood side, O
2
‘O pretty babes, if ye were mine,’
All alone, etc.,
‘I would clead you o the silk so fine.’
Alone by the, etc.
3
‘O mother dear, when we were thine,
Ye houket a hole fornent the sun,’
And laid yer two babes in, O
4
‘O pretty babes, if ye were mine,
I would feed you wi the morning’s milk.’
Alone by, etc.
5
‘O mother dear, when we were thine,
Ye houket a hole fornent the sun.
And laid yer two babes in, O.
6
‘But we are in the heavens high,
And ye hae the pains of hell to dri.’
Alone by, etc.
7
‘O pretty babes, pray weel for me!’
‘Aye, mother, as ye did for we.’
Down by, etc.
a.
31. when that ye had done is written above we were thine.
b.
1. Burden, second line, by the.
22. with the.
After 2:
‘O mother dear, when we were thine,
Ye stabd us wi your little penknife.’
Down by the, etc.
31. when that ye had done.
4, 5. Wanting.
6. Burden, second line, Down by the, etc.
The copy at II, 500 b (Pepys, V, 4, No 2), is also in the Crawford collection, No 1127, and in that from the Osterley Park library, British Museum, C. 39. k. 6 (60). It is dated 1688–95 in the Crawford catalogue, and 1690? in the Museum catalogue.
The text printed II, 500 is here corrected according to the Museum copy.
21. lovd.
32. for her heaviness.
62. pritty.
81. long and sharp.
122. other as naked as.
132. would.
142. dress us.
211, 221. O mother, O mother.
231. Alass! said.
After 10, etc.: hair and.
Title: Infants whom.
Imprint: London: Printed, etc.: Guiltspur.
(92, 192. have into, wrongly.)
21. The Maid and the Palmer.
P. 228, III, 502. ‘Synderinden,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 71, No 20.
Swedish K is repeated in Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 105, No 32.
230 b. A Bohemian ballad, to the same effect, in Waldau’s Böhmische Granaten, II, 210, No 299.
231, III, 502 b. French. A has been printed by Rolland, Chansons Populaires, VI, 22, o (it is folio 60 of the MS.). Two other before unprinted versions p, q, at pp. 25, 26, of Rolland.
232, 504 b. ‘Maria Maddalena,’ three stanzas only, Archivio, VIII, 323, Canti Parmigiani, No 2.
22. St Stephen and Herod.
P. 236 a. French. ‘Trois Pelerins de Dieu,’ Meyrac, Traditions, etc., des Ardennes, p. 280.
240 f., 505 f., II, 501 b. Add:
Cantou il gatsu:
¡Cristu naciú!
Dixu il buey:
¿Agú?
Dixu la ubecha:
¡En Bilén!
Dixu la cabra:
¡Catsa, cascarra,
Que nació en Grenada!
Munthe, Folkpoesi från Asturien, III, No 24, cited by Pitrè in Archivio, VIII, 141.
“Quando Christo nasceu, disse o gallo: Jesus-Christo é ná ... á ... á ... do.” Leite de Vasconcellos, Tradições pop. de Portugal, p. 148, No 285 b.
241. Greek ballad, The Taking of Constantinople. There is a Bulgarian version. A roasted cock crows, fried fish come to life: Sbornik of the Ministry of Public Instruction, II, 82. In other ballads the same incident is transferred to the downfall of Bulgaria: Kačanofskij, p. 235, No 116; Sbornik, II, 129, 2, and II, 131, 2. (W. W.)
24. Bonnie Annie.
P. 245 ff. The Rev. S. Baring-Gould has recently found this ballad in South Devon.
a. Taken down from a man of above eighty years at Bradstone. b. From a young man at Dartmoor. c. From an old man at Holne.
1
‘T was of a sea-captain came oer the salt billow,
He courted a maiden down by the green willow:
‘O take of your father his gold and his treasure,
O take of your mother her fee without measure.’
2
‘I’ll take of my father his gold and his treasure,
I’ll take of my mother her fee without measure:’
She has come with the captain unto the sea-side, O,
‘We’ll sail to lands foreign upon the blue tide, O!’
3
And when she had sailed today and tomorrow,
She was beating her hands, she was crying in sorrow;
And when she had sailed the days were not many,
The sails were outspread, but of miles made not any.
4
And when she had sailed today and tomorrow,
She was beating her hands, she was crying in sorrow;
And when she had sailed not many a mile, O,
The maid was delivered of a beautiful child, O.
5
. . . . . . . . .
6
‘O take a white napkin, about my head bind it!
O take a white napkin, about my feet wind it!
Alack! I must sink, both me and my baby,
Alack! I must sink in the deep salten water.
7
‘O captain, O captain, here’s fifty gold crown, O,
I pray thee to bear me and turn the ship round, O;
O captain, O captain, here’s fifty gold pound, O,
If thou wilt but set me upon the green ground, O.’
8
‘O never, O never! the wind it blows stronger,
O never, O never! the time it grows longer;
And better it were that thy baby and thou, O,
Should drown than the crew of the vessel, I vow, O.’
9
‘O get me a boat that is narrow and thin, O,
And set me and my little baby therein, O:’
‘O no, it were better that thy baby and thou, O,
Should drown than the crew of the vessel, I vow, O.’
10
They got a white napkin, about her head bound it,
They got a white napkin, about her feet wound it;
They cast her then overboard, baby and she, O,
Together to sink in the cruel salt sea, O.
11
The moon it was shining, the tide it was running;
O what in the wake of the vessel was swimming?
‘O see, boys! O see how she floats on the water!
O see, boys! O see! the undutiful daughter!
12
‘Why swim in the moonlight, upon the sea swaying?
O what art thou seeking? for what art thou praying?’
‘O captain, O captain, I float on the water;
For the sea giveth up the undutiful daughter.
13
‘O take of my father the gold and the treasure,
O take of my mother her fee without measure;
O make me a coffin of gold that is yellow,
And bury me under the banks of green willow!’
14
‘I will make thee a coffin of gold that is yellow,
I’ll bury thee under the banks of green willow;
I’ll bury thee there as becometh a lady,
I’ll bury thee there, both thou and thy baby.’
15
The sails they were spread, and the wind it was blowing,
The sea was so salt, and the tide it was flowing;
They steered for the land, and they reachd the shore, O,
But the corpse of the maiden had reachd there before, O.
b.
11,2.
There was a sea-captain came to the sea-side, O,
He courted a damsel and got her in trouble.
133. coffin of the deepest stoll yellow.
154. But the mother and baby had got there before, O.
c.
1
’Tis of a sea-captain, down by the green willow,
He courted a damsel and brought her in trouble;
When gone her mother’s good will and all her father’s money,
She fled across the wide sea along with her Johnny.
2
They had not been sailing the miles they were many
Before she was delivered of a beautiful baby:
‘O tie up my head! O and tie it up easy,
And throw me overboard, both me and my baby!’
3
She floated on the waves, and she floated so easy,
That they took her on board again, both she and her baby.
(The rest forgotten.)
25. Willie’s Lyke-Wake.
Pp. 247 ff., 506. ‘The Blue Flowers and the Yellow,’ Greenock, printed by W. Scott [1810].
1
‘This seven long years I’ve courted a maid,’
As the sun shines over the valley
‘And she neer would consent for to be my bride.’
Among the blue flowers and the yellow
2
‘O Jamie, O Jamie, I’ll learn you the way
How your innocent love you’ll betray.
3
‘If you will give to the bell-man a groat,
And he’ll toll you down a merry night-wake.’
4
Now he has given the bell-man a groat,
And he has tolld him down a merry night-wake.
5
‘It’s I must go to my true-love’s wake,
For late last night I heard he was dead.’
6
‘Take with you your horse and boy,
And give your true lover his last convoy.’
7
‘I’ll have neither horse nor boy,
But I’ll go alone, and I’ll mourn and cry.’
8
When that she came to her true-love’s hall,
Then the tears they did down fall.
9
She lifted up the sheets so small,
He took her in his arms and he threw her to the wa.
10
‘It’s let me go a maid, young Jamie,’ she said,
‘And I will be your bride, and to-morrow we’ll be wed.’
11
‘If all your friends were in this bower,
You should not be a maid one quarter of an hour.
12
‘You came here a maid meek and mild,
But you shall go home both marryd and with child.’
13
He gave to her a gay gold ring,
And the next day they had a gay wedding.
The unfortunate Weaver. To which are added The Farmer’s Daughter and The Blue Flowers and the Yellow. Greenock. Printed by W. Scott. [1810.] British Museum, 11621. b. 7 (43).
248 a (C), III, 503 a. ‘Hr. Mortens Klosterrov,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 264, No 64.
249 b, 506 a, III, 503 a. Swedish. ‘Herr Karl,’ Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 51, No 12.
26. The Three Ravens.
P. 253. J. Haslewood made an entry in his copy of Ritson’s Scotish Song of a MS. Lute-Book (presented to Dr C. Burney by Dr Skene, of Marischal College, in 1781), which contained airs “noted and collected by Robert Gordon, at Aberdeen, in the year of our Lord 1627.” Among some ninety titles of tunes mentioned, there occur ‘Ther wer three ravens,’ and ‘God be with the, Geordie.’ (W. Macmath.)
“The song of ‘The Twa Corbies’ was given to me by Miss Erskine of Alva (now Mrs Kerr), who, I think, said that she had written it down from the recitation of an old woman at Alva.” C. K. Sharpe to Scott, August 8, 1802, Letters, I, 70, Abbotsford; printed in Sharpe’s Letters, ed. Allardyce, I, 136.
29. The Boy and the Mantle.
P. 268 a. Flowers. 2. A garland, Kathá Sarit Ságara, Tawney’s translation, II, 601.
269 b. The chaste Sítá clears herself of unjust suspicion by passing safely over a certain lake: Kathá Sarit Ságara, Tawney’s translation, I, 486 f.
A chessboard that can be “mated” only by one that has never been false in love: English Prose Merlin, ed. Wheatley, ch. 21, vol. i, part II, p. 363. (G. L. K.)
31. The Marriage of Sir Gawain.
P. 289, II, 502 b. On the loathly damsel in the Perceval of Chrestien de Troyes, see The Academy, October 19, 1889, p. 255. (G. L. K.)
290, note †. One shape by day, another by night: Curtin, Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland, 1890, pp. 51, 68, 69, 71, 136.
32. King Henry.
P. 298 b. Second paragraph. Prince as lindworm restored by maid’s lying in bed with him one night: ‘Lindormen,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 20, No 9, Lagus, Nyländske Folkvisor, I, 97, No 29, a, b. (Lindworm asks for a kiss in a 4, b 2.)
34. Kemp Owyne.
P. 307 b. Second paragraph. ‘Jomfruen i Linden,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 22, No 10.
37. Thomas Rymer.
P. 323 ff. “Thomas the Rhymer. Variations. J. Ormiston, Kelso.” “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 96, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of John Leyden.
Her horse was o the dapple-gray,
And in her hands she held bells nine:
‘Harp and carp, Thomas,’ she said,
‘For a’ thae bonny bells shall be thine.’
It was a night without delight,
And they rade on and on, I wiss, (amiss)
Till they came to a garden green;
He reached his hand to pu an apple,
For lack o fruit he was like to tyne.
‘Now had your hand, Thomas,’ she said,
‘Had your hand, and go wi me;
That is the evil fruit o hell,
Beguiled man and women in your countrie.
‘O see you not that road, Thomas,
That lies down by that little hill?
Curst is the man has that road to gang,
For it takes him to the lowest hell.
‘O see you not that road, Thomas,
That lies across yon lily lea?
Blest is the man has that road to gang,
For it takes him to the heavens hie.
‘When ye come to my father’s ha,
To see what a learned man you be
They will you question, one and a’,
But you must answer none but me,
And I will answer them again
I gat you at the Eildon tree.’
And when, etc.
He answered none but that gay ladie.
‘Harp and carp, gin ye gang wi me,
It shall be seven year and day
Or ye return to your countrie.
‘Wherever ye gang, or wherever ye be,
Ye’se bear the tongue that can never lie.
‘Gin ere ye want to see me again,
Gang to the bonny banks o Farnalie.’
‘Thomas the Rhymer,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 97, Abbotsford; communicated to Sir Walter Scott by Mrs Christiana Greenwood, London, May 27, 1806 (Letters, I, 189), from the recitation of her mother and of her aunt, both then above sixty, who learned it in their childhood from Kirstan Scot, a very old woman, at Longnewton, near Jedburgh.
1
Thomas lay on the Huntlie bank,
A spying ferlies wi his eee,
And he did spy a lady gay,
Come riding down by the lang lee.
2
Her steed was o the dapple grey,
And at its mane there hung bells nine;
He thought he heard that lady say,
‘They gowden bells sall a’ be thine.’
3
Her mantle was o velvet green,
And a’ set round wi jewels fine;
Her hawk and hounds were at her side,
And her bugle-horn in gowd did shine.
4
Thomas took aff baith cloak and cap,
For to salute this gay lady:
‘O save ye, save ye, fair Queen o Heavn,
And ay weel met ye save and see!’
5
‘I’m no the Queen o Heavn, Thomas;
I never carried my head sae hee;
For I am but a lady gay,
Come out to hunt in my follee.
6
‘Now gin ye kiss my mouth, Thomas,
Ye mauna miss my fair bodee;
Then ye may een gang hame and tell
That ye’ve lain wi a gay ladee.’
7
‘O gin I loe a lady fair,
Nae ill tales o her wad I tell,
And it’s wi thee I fain wad gae,
Tho it were een to heavn or hell.’
8
‘Then harp and carp, Thomas,’ she said,
‘Then harp and carp alang wi me;
But it will be seven years and a day
Till ye win back to yere ain countrie.’
9
The lady rade, True Thomas ran,
Untill they cam to a water wan;
O it was night, and nae delight,
And Thomas wade aboon the knee.
10
It was dark night, and nae starn-light,
And on they waded lang days three,
And they heard the roaring o a flood,
And Thomas a waefou man was he.
11
Then they rade on, and farther on,
Untill they came to a garden green;
To pu an apple he put up his hand,
For the lack o food he was like to tyne.
12
‘O haud yere hand, Thomas,’ she cried,
‘And let that green flourishing be;
For it’s the very fruit o hell,
Beguiles baith man and woman o yere countrie.
13
‘But look afore ye, True Thomas,
And I shall show ye ferlies three;
Yon is the gate leads to our land,
Where thou and I sae soon shall be.
14
‘And dinna ye see yon road, Thomas,
That lies out-owr yon lilly lee?
Weel is the man yon gate may gang,
For it leads him straight to the heavens hie.
15
‘But do you see yon road, Thomas,
That lies out-owr yon frosty fell?
Ill is the man yon gate may gang,
For it leads him straight to the pit o hell.
16
‘Now when ye come to our court, Thomas,
See that a weel-learnd man ye be;
For they will ask ye, one and all,
But ye maun answer nane but me.
17
‘And when nae answer they obtain,
Then will they come and question me,
And I will answer them again
That I gat yere aith at the Eildon tree.
* * * * * *
18
‘Ilka seven years, Thomas,
We pay our teindings unto hell,
And ye’re sae leesome and sae strang
That I fear, Thomas, it will be yeresell.’
14. the Lang-lee.
122. flour is hing.
39. Tam Lin.
P. 335. D a, excepting the title and the first stanza, is in a hand not Motherwell’s.
I a first appeared in the second edition of the Minstrelsy, 1803, II, 245. The “gentleman residing near Langholm,” from whom Scott derived the stanzas of a modern cast, was a Mr Beattie, of Meikledale, and Scott suspected that they might be the work of some poetical clergyman or schoolmaster: letter to W. Laidlaw, January 21, 1803, cited by Carruthers, Abbotsford Notanda, appended to R. Chambers’s Life of Scott, 1871, p. 121 f.
336 b. ‘Den förtrollade prinsessan,’ Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 67, No 17.
356 b. Add: D c, 122. aft.
340 a, II, 505 b, III, 505 b. Sleeping under an apple-tree. See also st. 14 of the version immediately following.
So Lancelot goes to sleep about noon under an apple-tree, and is enchanted by Morgan the Fay. Malory’s Morte Darthur, bk. vi, ch. 1, ch. 3, ed. Sommer, I, 183, 186. (G. L. K.)