9
‘Green grass grows at our head, dear mother,
Green moss grows at our feet;
The tears that you shed for us three babes
Won’t wet our winding sheet.’]
80. Old Robin of Portingale.
[P. 240. Dr. Axel Olrik thinks that this ballad is related to the Danish ballad ‘Utro Fæstemø vil forgive sin Fæstemand,’ No 345 in the Grundtvig-Olrik collection (Ridderviser, I, 167, note *), which he refers for its origin to the story of the Lombard queen Rosemunda (see note on ‘Lord Randal,’ No 12, p. 286, above). The drink promised to Old Robin by his wife Dr Olrik thinks may indicate that the English ballad was once more similar to the Danish than it is in the version which we possess.]
87. Prince Robert.
P. 284. A mother prepares wholesome drink for her son, poison for his wife; both son and wife are poisoned. They are buried separately, one in the church, one in the graveyard. Trees from their graves join their tops. White Russian, Šejn, I, I, 444, No 544, 447-51, Nos 546-9; Hiltebrandt, p. 64, No 65; Kupčanko, ‘Vdova otravljaet nevěstu,’ p. 255, No 300. Ruthenian, Kolberg, Pokucie, II, 41, No 48.