When you have your own true-love
A mile or twaine out of the towne,
Spare not for her gay clothing,
But lay her body flat on the ground.
OUR GOODMAN
The Text is from Herd’s MSS., as given by Professor Child to form a regular sequence. The ballad also exists in an English broadside form.
The Story of the ballad has a close counterpart in Flemish Belgium, and in southern France. The German variants, however, have a curious history. The English broadside ballad was translated into German by F. W. Meyer in 1789, and in this form gained such popularity that it was circulated not only as a broadside, but actually in oral tradition,—with the usual result of alteration. Its vogue was not confined to Germany, but spread to Hungary and Scandinavia, a Swedish broadside appearing within ten years of Meyer’s translation.
OUR GOODMAN
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