Wi’ the truth o’ his right hand.
FAIR ANNIE OF ROUGH ROYAL
‘Ouvre ta port’, Germin’, c’est moi qu’est ton mari.’
‘Donnez-moi des indic’s de la première nuit,
Et par là je croirai que vous et’s mon mari.’
—Germaine.
The Text is Fraser Tytler’s, taken down from the recitation of Mrs. Brown in 1800, who had previously (1783) recited a similar version to Jamieson. The later recitation, which was used by Scott, with others, seems to contain certain improvisations of Mrs. Brown’s which do not appear in the earlier form.
The Story.—A mother, who feigns to be her own son and demands tokens of the girl outside the gate, turns her son’s love away, and is cursed by him. Similar ballads exist in France, Germany, and Greece.
There is an early eighteenth-century MS. (Elizabeth Cochrane’s Song-Book) of this ballad, which gives a preliminary history. Isabel of Rochroyal dreams of her love Gregory; she rises up, calls for a swift steed, and rides forth till she meets a company. They ask her who she is, and are told that she is ‘Fair Isabel of Rochroyal,’ seeking her true-love Gregory. They direct her to ‘yon castle’; and thenceforth the tale proceeds much as in the other versions.