B
a. Buchan’s MSS, I, 40. b. Buchan’s MSS, II, 114. c. Christie’s Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 112.
1
‘The bonny heir, and the well-faird heir,
And the weary heir o Linne,
Yonder he stands at his father’s yetts,
And naebody bids him come in.
2
‘O see for he gangs, an see for he stands,
The weary heir o Linne!
O see for he stands on the cauld casey,
And nae an bids him come in!
3
‘But if he had been his father’s heir,
Or yet the heir o Linne,
He wadna stand on the cauld casey,
Some an woud taen him in.’
4
‘Sing ower again that sang, nourice,
The sang ye sung just now;’
‘I never sung a sang in my life
But I woud sing ower to you.
5
‘O see for he gangs, an see for he stands,
The weary heir o Linne!
O see for he stands on the cauld casey,
An nae an bids him come in!
6
‘But if he had been his father’s heir,
Or yet the heir o Linne,
He woudna stand on the cauld casye,
Some an woud taen him in.
7
‘When his father’s lands a selling were,
His claise lay well in fauld,
But now he wanders on the shore,
Baith hungry, weet, and cauld.’
8
As Willie he gaed down the town,
The gentlemen were drinking;
Some bade gie Willie a glass, a glass,
And some bade him gie nane,
Some bade gie Willie a glass, a glass,
The weary heir o Linne.
9
As Willie he came up the town,
The fishers were a’ sitting;
Some bade gie Willie a fish, a fish,
Some bade gie him a fin,
Some bade gie him a fish, a fish,
And lat the palmer gang.
10
He turned him right and round about,
As will as a woman’s son,
And taen his cane into his hand,
And on his way to Linne.
11
His nourice at her window lookd,
Beholding dale and down,
And she beheld this distressd young man
Come walking to the town.
12
‘Come here, come here, Willie,’ she said,
‘And rest yoursel wi me;
I hae seen you in better days,
And in jovial companie.’
13
‘Gie me a sheave o your bread, nourice,
And a bottle o your wine,
And I’ll pay you it a’ ower again,
When I’m the laird o Linne.’
14
‘Ye’se get a sheave o my bread, Willie,
And a bottle o my wine,
But ye’ll pay me when the seas gang dry,
For ye’ll neer be heir o Linne.’
15
Then he turnd him right and round about,
As will as woman’s son,
And aff he set, and bent his way,
And straightway came to Linne.
16
But when he came to that castle,
They were set down to dine;
A score o nobles there he saw,
Sat drinking at the wine.
17
Then some bade gie him beef, the beef,
And some bade gie him the bane;
And some bade gie him naething at a’,
But lat the palmer gang.
18
Then out it speaks the new-come laird,
A saucy word spake hee;
‘Put round the cup, gie my rival a sup,
Let him fare on his way.’
19
Then out it speaks Sir Ned Magnew,
Ane o young Willie’s kin;
‘This youth was ance a sprightly boy
As ever lived in Linne.’
20
He turned him right and round about,
As will as woman’s son,
Then minded him on a little wee key,
That his mother left to him.
21
His mother left [him] this little wee key
A little before she died;
And bade him keep this little wee key
Till he was in maist need.
22
Then forth he went, these nobles left,
All drinkin’ in the room,
Wi walking rod intill his hand,
He walked the castle roun.
23
There he found out a little door,
For there the key slipped in,
And there [he] got as muckle red gowd
As freed the lands o Linne.
24
Back through the nobles then he went,
A saucy man was then:
‘I’ll take the cup frae this new-come laird,
For he neer bade me sit down.’
25
Then out it speaks the new-come laird,
He spake wi mock an jeer;
‘I’d gie a seat to the laird o Linne,
Sae be that he were here.
26
‘When the lands o Linne a selling were,
A’ men said they were free;
This lad shall hae them frae me this day,
If he’ll gie the third pennie.’
27
‘I take ye witness, nobles a’,
Guide witnesses ye’ll be;
I’m promisd the lands o Linne this day,
If I gie the third pennie.’
28
‘Ye’ve taen us witness, Willie,’ they said,
‘Guide witnesses we’ll be;’
‘Buy the lands o Linne who likes,
They’ll neer be bought by thee.’
29
He’s done him to a gaming-table,
For it stood fair and clean;
There he tauld down as much rich gowd
As freed the lands o Linne.
30
Thus having done, he turnd about,
A saucy man was he;
‘Take up your monie, my lad,’ he says,
‘Take up your third pennie.
31
‘Aft hae I gane wi barefeet cauld,
Likewise wi legs full bare,
An mony days walkd at these yetts
Wi muckle dool and care.
32
‘But now my sorrow’s past and gane,
And joy’s returned to me,
And here I’ve gowd enough forbye,
Ahin this third pennie.’
33
As Willie he gaed down the town,
There he crawd wonderous crouse;
He calld the may afore them a’,
The nourice o the house.
34
‘Come here, come here, my nurse,’ he says,
‘I’ll pay your bread and wine;
Seas ebb and flow [as] they wont to do,
Yet I’m the laird o Linne.’
35
As he gaed up the Gallowgate port,
His hose abeen his sheen;
But lang ere he came down again
Was convoyed by lords fifeteen.
A.
2. The third and fourth lines are fourth and third.
3. There is probably a gap after the second line.
51. Ffor wanting: supplied from the bottom of the preceding page.
54. a good-se.
71. Lime.
81, 92, 122, 184, 192, 211. 3.
131. Land selfeer.
162 has bis prefixed to it.
191. 2.
201. blime.
203. Scalels: misprint?
212 has bis prefixed.
20, 21, are written together.
242,4, 302,3. 40.
263. 20[li].
284, 321. Lime.
302 marked bis.
304. 401.
B.
a.92. a; b, all.
142. o your.
144. But ye’ll: cf. b.
232. For there; perhaps simply For (==Where).
b.1 wanting.
23. on that.
23, 33, 53, 63, causey.
41. that sang again.
61. if ye, wrongly.
13, 14 follow 6.
7 wanting.
92. were all.
95. And some: gie ’m.
10-12 wanting.
131. twa sheaves.
132. And ae glass.
133. And I will pay you them back again.
134. The day I’m heir of.
141. get three sheaves.
142. And twa glass.
143. But I’ll be paid: sea gangs.
144. For ye’ll.
15-19 wanting.
201,2.
As Willie was sitting one day alane,
And nae body him wi.
203. He minded on.
204. That’s mither to him did gie.
205, 6.
Bade him never open a lock wi it
Ere the greatest strait he could see.
21, 22 wanting.
23.
Then he did spy a little wee lock,
And the key gied linking in,
And he got goud and money therein
To pay the lands o Linne.
24-32 wanting.
35, 33, 34, for 33-35.
331, 2.
When Willie he came to the ha,
There he cried out wonderous crouse.
341. Come down, come down, nourice, he said.
342. Ere I pay you your.
343. For ye will be paid ere the seas gang dry.
344. For this day I’m heir.
351. As Willie he gied down the town.
353. But when that he came up again.
Both Motherwell in copying the ballad (which he in all likelihood received from Buchan), and Dixon in printing it, made a few changes: as (Motherwell) the northern for in 21, 3, to whare, but not in 292, where for also==where.
C.
“The editor can trace the air and ballad here given as far back as 1775, through an aged relative who died in 1842 in her eightieth year, and who had it from her mother.” Christie neither professed nor practised a rigid fidelity to texts, and this copy, at best not a valuable one, is given for the little it may be worth.
1
O yonder he stands, and there he gangs,
The weary heir o Linne,
Yonder he stands on the cauld causey,
And nane bids him come in.
2
But it fell ance upon a day
The sheets were laid in fauld,
And poor Willie found he had nae friends,
And it was wondrous cauld.
3
‘Oh, one sheave o your bread, nourice,
And one glass o your wine,
And I will pay you oer again
When I am laird o Linne.’
4
‘Oh, one sheave o my bread, Willie,
And one glass o my wine,
But the seas will be dry ere ye pay me again,
For ye’ll never be laird o Linne.’
5
But he mind’t him up, and he mind’t him down,
And he mind’t him oer again,
And he mind’t him on a little wee key
That his mother gae to him.
6
He did him to the house o Linne,
He sought it up and down,
And there he found a little wee door,
And the key gaed slippin in.
7
And he got gowd, and he got gear,
He got gowd stord within,
And he got gowd, and he got gear,
Thrice worth the lands o Linne.
8
He did him to the tavern straight,
Where nobles were drinking therein;
The greatest noble among them a’
Was near to Willie o kin.
9
And some of them bade him fish to eat,
And some of them bade him a fin,
And some of them bade him nothing at a’,
For he’d never be father’s son.
10
But out it spake an aged knicht,
And vow but he spake slie!
‘I’ll sell you your father’s land back again
All for the third pennie.’
11
‘I take witness upon you here,’ he says,
‘I take witness upon thee,
That you will sell me my father’s land again
All for the third pennie.’
12
Then he took out a little wee coffer,
And he set it on his knee,
And he told the goud down on the table roun,
Says, Tak up your third pennie.
13
‘Come ben, come ben, my good nourice,
I’ll pay you when you come ben;
For the seas are not dry, and I’ll pay you back again,
For I’m again the laird o Linne.’
14
Poor Willie that night at eight o’clock
Had his stockings abeen his sheen,
But ere the morrow at twelve o’clock
He was convoyd by lords sixteen.