Note 13 — 57 BROWN ROBYN´S CONFESSION
Reading edition
These touching verses, which are of a kind found elsewhere in ballads (see 'The Twa Brothers,' I, 436 f), are preceded by a vow in Swedish A, and the same vow ends Swedish E:
'And if God would but help me, That I might come to some land, So surely would I build a church All on the snow-white sand. 'And if I might but come to some town, And God would so much stead, So surely would I build a church, And roof it over with lead.'
Slavic examples of these affecting messages are found in Roger, No 141, p. 80=Konopka, No 14, p. 114; Woicicki, Pieśńi, I, 76, II, 328, W. z Oleska, p. 507, No 27; Zegota Pauli, P. l. polskiego, p. 97, No 9, Lipiński, p. 90, No 47; Kolberg, No 16, pp 196-205, c, d, l, m, p, s, x; Kozlowski, p. 43, No 8; Sakarof, Pyesni, IV, 8. See also 'Mary Hamilton,' further on.