The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 5 (of 5)

Volume 5 / Part 3 — ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS

Reading edition

VOL. I.

1. Riddles Wisely Expounded.

P. 1 a, VI, 496 a. Guess or die. Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 2, ‘Svend Bondes Spørgsmaal,’ B.

3-5. From Miss M. H. Mason’s Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs, p. 31; sung in Northumberland.

E

1 There was a lady in the West, Lay the bank with the bonny broom She had three daughters of the best. Fa lang the dillo Fa lang the dillo dillo dee 2 There came a stranger to the gate, And he three days and nights did wait. 3 The eldest daughter did ope the door, The second set him on the floor. 4 The third daughter she brought a chair, And placed it that he might sit there. (To first daughter.) 5 ‘Now answer me these questions three, Or you shall surely go with me. (To second daughter.) 6 ‘Now answer me these questions six, Or you shall surely be Old Nick’s. (To all three.) 7 ‘Now answer me these questions nine, Or you shall surely all be mine. 8 ‘What is greener than the grass? What is smoother than crystal glass? 9 ‘What is louder than a horn? What is sharper than a thorn? 10 ‘What is brighter than the light? What is darker than the night? 11 ‘What is keener than an axe? What is softer than melting wax? 12 ‘What is rounder than a ring?’ ‘To you we thus our answers bring. 13 ‘Envy is greener than the grass, Flattery smoother than crystal glass. 14 ‘Rumour is louder than a horn, Hunger is sharper than a thorn. 15 ‘Truth is brighter than the light, Falsehood is darker than the night. 16 ‘Revenge is keener than an axe, Love is softer than melting wax. 17 ‘The world is rounder than a ring, To you we thus our answers bring. 18 ‘Thus you have our answers nine, And we never shall be thine.’

Findlay’s MSS, I, 151, from J. Milne.

‘What’s greener than the grass? What’s higher than the clouds? What is worse than women’s tongues? What’s deeper than the floods?’ ‘Hollin’s greener than the grass, Heaven’s higher than the clouds, The devil’s worse than women’s tongues, Hell’s deeper than the floods.’

2. The Elfin Knight.

P. 7 b, III, 496 a, IV, 439 a. ‘Store Fordringer,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, XI, 175, No 66 (three copies), 294, No 4. ‘Umulige Fordringer,’ Kristensen, Efterslæt til Skattegraveren, p. 20, No 16.

14 a, II, 495. After the note to 14 a at II, 495, add: C. R. Lanman.

17. Communicated by Mr Walker, of Aberdeen, as sung, 1893, by John Walker, Portlethen; learned by him from his father, above fifty years before.

1 There was a knight on the head o yon hill Blowing his horn lood and shrill. Blow, blow, blow the wind, blow 2 ‘Ye’se get to me a camrick sark Without ae steek o needlewark. 3 ‘An ye will wash it in a wall Where rain never fell nor water sprang. 4 ‘An ye sall dry it on a thorn That never wis sprung sin Adam was born.’ 5 ‘Ye’se gie me an acre o red lan Atween the see an the watery san. 6 ‘An ye will plough it wi yer horn, An sa it a’ wi ae pick o corn. 7 ‘. . . . . . . . An cut it doon wi a sheepshank bone. 8 ‘An ye will big it in the sea, An bring the foonshief dry to me. 9 ‘An when ye have done and finished yer wark, Come in, Jock Sheep, an ye’ll get yer sark.’

As delivered, 5-8 precede 2-4.

17, 484 b. M. Findlay’s MSS, I, 21, from the recitation of Jeany Meldrum, Framedrum, Forfarshire.

17, II, 495 b. In The Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend, III, 7, ‘Whittingham Fair’ is given by Mr Stokoe with a few variations.

1. Second line of refrain, For once she was a true lover of mine. 2, 4. Second line of refrain, Then she shall be a true lover. 3. Second line of refrain, And she shall be a true lover. 5. Second line of refrain, Before he shall be a true lover. 6. Second line of refrain, Then he shall be a true lover. 7, 8, 9. Second line of refrain, And he shall be a true lover.

6¹. to buy.

8¹. to sheer’t.

After 8:

Tell him to thrash it on yonder wall, And never let one corn of it fall. Then he shall be a true lover of mine.

17, 484 f., II, 495 f., IV, 439 f.

‘Scarborough Fair,’ taken down by H. M. Bower, December, 1891, from William Moat, a Whitby fisherman. English County Songs, by Lucy E. Broadwood and J. A. Fuller Maitland, 1893, p. 12.

1 ‘Is any of you going to Scarborough Fair? Remember me to a lad as lives there; Remember me to a lad as lives there; For once he was a true lover of mine. (Second line always twice.) 2 ‘Tell him to bring me an acre of land Betwixt the wild ocean and yonder sea sand; And then he shall be a true lover of mine. 3 ‘Tell him to plough it with one ram’s horn, And sow it all over with one pepper corn; And then he shall be a true lover of mine. 4 ‘Tell him to reap it with sickle of leather, And bind it together with one peacock-feather; And then he shall be a true lover of mine. 5 ‘And now I have answered your questions three, I hope you’ll answer as many for me; And then thou shalt be a true lover of mine.’ 6 ‘Is any of you going to Scarborough Fair? Remember me to a lass as lives there; For once she was a true lover of mine. 7 ‘Tell her to make me a cambric shirt, Without any needles or thread, or owt through’t; And then she shall be a true lover of mine. 8 ‘Tell her to wash it by yonder wall, Where water neer sprung, nor a drop o rain fall; And then she shall be a true lover of mine. 9 ‘Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn, Where blossom neer grew sin Adam was born; And then she shall be a true lover of mine. 10 ‘And now I have answered your questions three, And I hope you’ll answer as many for me; And then thou shalt be a true lover of mine.’

Rev. S. Baring-Gould gives me these variations, from the West of England:

‘O tell her to bleach it on yonder fresh grass, Where never a foot or a hoof did pass.’ ‘O tell him to thresh it in yonder barn, That hangs to the sky by a thread of yarn.’ (Dartmoor.)

‘Pray take it up in a bottomless sack, And every leaf grows merry in time And bear it to the mill on a butterfly’s back. O thus you shall be a true lover of mine’ (Cornwall.)

4. Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight.

P. 26 b. Danish. ‘Kvindemorderen,’ two fragments; Kristensen, Folkeminder, XI, 62, No 33.

29-37, 486 a, IV, 441 a. FF. ‘Schön Hannchen,’ Frischbier und Sembrzycki, Hundert Ostpreussische Volkslieder, 1893, p. 35, No 22, from Angerburg, 51 vv. The ballad is of the third class. Hannchen walks in the wood, and Ulrich advances to meet her. The birds are all singing, and the maid asks why. ‘Every bird has its song,’ says Ulrich; ‘go you your gait.’ He takes her under a briar where there is a pretty damsel (who is quite superfluous). Hannchen lays her head in the damsel’s lap and begins to weep. The damsel asks whether her weeping is for her father’s gear, or because Ulrich is not good enough for her. It is not for her father’s gear, and Ulrich is good enough. ‘Is it, then,’ says the damsel or Ulrich, ‘for the stakes on which the eleven maidens are hanging? Rely upon it, you shall be the twelfth.’ She begs for three cries, which are addressed to God, her parents, and her brothers. The brothers hear, hasten to the wood, and encounter Ulrich, who pretends to know nothing of their sister. His shoes are red with blood. ‘Why not?’ says Ulrich, ‘I have shot a dove.’ They know who the dove is. Hannchen is borne to the churchyard, Ulrich is strung up on the gallows. No 23 of the same collection is X.

‘Die schöne Anna,’ Böckel, Deutsche Volkslieder aus Oberhessen, p. 86, No 103, ‘Als die wunderschöne Anna,’ Lewalter, Deutsche V. l. in Niederhessen gesammelt, 1⁵ Heft, No 24, p. 51, and also No 25, are fragmentary pieces, varieties of DD, I, 486 a.

37 b, 3d paragraph. A variety of A is printed in Altpreussische Monatschrift, N. F., XXVIII, 632, 1892, without indication of local derivation, ‘Der Ritter und die Königstochter.’ The knight takes measures (not very summary ones) to drown himself.

43 b (or 44 a), 488 a, III, 497 a, IV, 441 b. Italian. Add: Canti popolari Emiliani by Maria Carmi, Archivio, XII, 178, No 2.

44 b, 1st paragraph. Add: ‘El Mariner’ and ‘Giovanina,’ Villanis, Canzoni p. Zaratine, in Archivio XI, 33, 34, Nos 2, 3.

58. E. A copy of ‘The Outlandish Knight,’ with unimportant verbal variations, is given in English County Songs, by Lucy E. Broadwood and J. A. Fuller Maitland, p. 164.

III, 497 b. A pair on horseback go a long way without speaking. A trait in Polish, French, and Italian versions of No 4. Add: Munthe, Folkpoesi från Asturien, p. 118 f., VII, A, 76 f., B, 70 f. (‘Don Bueso,’ Duran, I, lxv, no hablara la niña.) Dead lover and maid in Bartoš, Nové národne pisnĕ moravské, p. 150. Lagus, Nyländske F. visor, ‘Kung Valdemo’ (==Ribold), No 1, a, 28, b, 18, ‘Kämpen Grimborg,’ No 3, a, 21, b, 19.

5. Gil Brenton.

P. 62. In Traditionary Stories of Old Families, by Andrew Picken, 1833, I, 289, ‘The Three Maids of Loudon,’ occur the following stanzas:

Seven pretty sisters dwelt in a bower, With a hey-down, and a ho-down And they twined the silk, and they workd the flower. Sing a hey-down and a ho-down And they began for seven years’ wark, With a hey-down and a ho-down All for to make their dear loves a sark. With a hey down and a ho-down O three long years were passd and gone, And they had not finishd a sleeve but one. ‘O we’ll to the woods, and we’ll pull a rose,’ And up they sprang all at this propose. (W. Macmath.)

6. Willie’s Lady.

P. 82 a. ‘Barselkvinden,’ three fragments, Kristensen, Folkeminder, XI, 42, No 23.

85 b, 3d paragraph. Say, of the parish of Logierait.

7. Earl Brand.

P. 88, III, 498 b, IV, 443 a. ‘Hr. Ribolt.’ Danish. Add: Skattegraveren, VI, 17, No 257, ‘Nævnet til døde,’ Kristensen, Efterslæt til Skattegraveren, p. 81, No 76; Folkeminder, XI, 36, No 22, A-D.

91 f. 489 b, III,498 b, IV, 443 a. Swedish. [‘Ridborg,’] Thomasson, Visor från Bleking, Nyare Bidrag, etc., VII, No 6, p. 12, No 7.

96 b. Danish. ‘Hertug Frydenborg,’ Danmarks g. Folkeviser, No 305, V, II, 216. A a, b, h, n, o; B b, c; E k, l; F b, c, e, f; with diversities, the plant nearly always lilies. (A few of these, from Kristensen, have been already cited.)

9. The Fair Flower of Northumberland.

P. 116. D. In a copy sent by Motherwell to C. K. Sharpe with a letter, October 8, 1825, this version is said to have been obtained from Mrs Nicol, of Paisley.

117, 493 a.

G

‘The Heiress of Northumberland,’ from C. K. Sharpe’s first collection, p. 7.

Sir W. Scott, commenting on this copy (to which he by mistake gives the title of The Stirrup of Northumberland), says: “An edition considerably varied both from Ritson’s and the present I have heard sung by the Miss Tytlers of Woodhouselee. The tune is a very pretty lilt.” Sharpe’s Ballad Book, ed. 1880, p. 142.

At the end of the ballad we are told: Tradition’s story is that the hero of this song was one of the Earls of Douglass, who was taken captive and put in prison by Percy, Earl of Northumberland.

1 ‘Why, fair maid, have pity on me,’ Waly ‘s my love wi the life that she wan ‘For I am bound in prison strong, And under the heir o Northumberland.’ 2 ‘How can I have pity on thee,’ Waly’s my love, etc. ‘When thou hast a wife and children three, All dwelling at home in fair Scotland?’ 3 Now he has sworn a solemn oath, And it was by eternity, That wife and children he had none, All dwelling at home in fair Scotland. 4 Now she’s gone to her father’s bedstock, Waly’s my love, etc. And has stolen the key of the dungeon-lock, And she the great heir o Northumberland. 5 And she’s gone to her father’s chest, She has stolen away a suit of the best, Altho she was heir o Northumberland. 6 Now she’s gone to her father’s coffer, And has taen out gold nane kens how meickle, Altho she, etc. 7 She’s gane to her father’s stable, And taen out a steed baith lusty and able, For a’she was heir, etc. 8 The rade till they came to Crafurdmoor, He bade her light down for an English whore, Altho she, etc. 9 The rade till the came to the water o Clyde, He bade her light down, nae farer she should ride, ‘For now I am at hame in fair Scotland.’ 10 ‘Yonder view my castle,’ said he; ‘There I hae a wife and children three, All dwelling at home,’ etc. 11 ‘O take me by the middle sae sma And thro me oer your castle-wa, For I darena gang hame to Northumberland.’ 12 When she came to her father’s yett, She durst hardly rapp thereat, Altho she was, etc. 13 Out then spoke her stepmother sour, She bad her pack off for an impudent whore, ‘For thou shalt not be heir o Northumberland.’ 14 Out then spock her bastard brother; ‘She’ll hae nae mair grace than God has gien her, And she shall be heir o Northumberland.’ 15 Out and spoke her father sae mild, ‘She’s no the first maid a false Scot has beguild, And she shall be,’ etc.

10. The Twa Sisters.

P. 125, 493 b, II, 498 b, III, 499 a, IV, 447 b. ‘Les roseaux qui chantent, Revue des Traditions Populaires, VII, 223 (blue flower); ‘L’os qui chante,’ discussion of the tale by M. Charles Ploix, Rev. des Trad. Pop., VIII, 129 ff.

11. The Cruel Brother.

P. 142 b, 496 a, III, 499 a, IV, 449 a. Add a ballad of Rissiäld, Canti popolari Emiliani, Maria Carmi, Archivio, XII, 185, No 7.

144 a, l. 18. ‘Le Testament de Marion.’ Another version, ‘La belo Marioun,’ Laroche, Folklore du Lauraguais, p. 247.

144 b, 2d paragraph. Add at the end: the (she) ass, Testament de l’Âne, Buchon, Noels et Chants pop. de la Franche-Comté, p. 89, No 28; and elsewhere.

147. E. For this stanza we find, whatever may be the explanation, the following in Findlay MSS, I, 146. “From Miss Butchart, Arbroath.”

There were three sisters livd in a bouer, With a hech hey an a lillie gay There cam a knicht to be their wooer. An the primrose springs sae sweetly Sing Annet, an Marrot, an fair Maisrie, An the dew hangs in the wood, gay ladie.

12. Lord Randal.

P. 152 b, 498 b, III, 499 b. Italian. Three imperfect versions (Sardinian) in Ferraro, C. p. in dialetto logudorese, 1891, pp. 3-5.

156 a, last paragraph, northern ballad. Add: ‘Den onde svigermoder,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeviser, I, 332, No 122; Skattegraveren, V, 84, No 635.

157, 499, IV, 449.

‘Lairde Rowlande, or Ronalde,’ The Sporting Magazine, XXV, 209, January, 1805; communicated by Philodice, as recited by a “peasant’s girl” at Randcallas, Perthshire. (Reprinted by Mr Edward Peacock in The Athenæum, August 27, 1892, p. 288.)

1 ‘Ah, where have you been, Lairde Rowlande, my son? Ah, where have you been, Lairde Rowlande, my son?’ ‘I’ve been in the wild woods; mither, mak my bed soon, For I’m weary wi hunting and faine would lie down.’ 2 ‘Oh, you’ve been at your true-love’s, Lairde Rowlande, my son,’ etc. ‘I’ve been at my true-love’s; mither,’ etc. 3 ‘What got you to dinner?’ etc. ‘I got eels boild in brue; mither,’ etc. 4 ‘What’s become of your warden?’ etc. ‘He died in the muirlands; mither,’ etc. 5 ‘What’s become of your stag-hounds?’ etc. ‘They swelled and they died; mither,’ etc.

‘Jacky, my son,’ written out by Miss F. J. Adams, a Devonshire lady, and derived by her from her Devonshire nurse, sixty or seventy years ago. (Rev. S. Baring-Gould.)

1 ‘Where hast thou been to-day, Jacky, my son? Where hast thou been to-day, my honey man?’ ‘Oh, I’ve been a courting, mother, make my bed soon, For I am sick to the heart, fain would lie down.’ 2 ‘Where shall I make it to?’ etc. ‘Oh, in the churchyard, mother,’ etc. 3 ‘What wilt thou leave thy mother?’ etc. ‘Oh, I’ll leave her my money, mother,’ etc. 4 ‘What wilt thou leave thy father?’ etc. ‘Oh, I’ll leave him my ’state, mother,’ etc. 5 ‘What wilt thou leave thy sweetheart?’ etc. ‘A rope for to hang her, mother,’ etc.

‘The Croodin Doo.’ Findlay MSS, I, 192.

1 ‘Whare did ye get your dinner the day, My wee, wee croodin doo?’ (Twice.) 2 ‘I got it in my step-mither’s ha, Oh, granny, mak my bed noo.’ (Twice.) 3 ‘What did ye get to your dinner the day, My wee, wee croodin doo?’ (Twice.) 4 ‘I got a wee fishie wi four wee feeties, Oh, granny, mak my bed noo.’ (Twice.) 5 ‘Did ony body eat it but yoursel, My wee, wee croodin doo?’ (Twice.) 6 ‘I gied the banes to my wee, wee dogie, Oh, granny, mak my bed noo; He streekit out his head an died at my feet, O, granny, een as I do noo.’

Among C. K. Sharpe’s papers, and in his handwriting, is a piece in dialogue between Mother and Son headed, Death of Lord Rounal, a Gaelic ballad founded on a tradition of his receiving poison by treachery at the castle of his mistress’ father, and dying on his return home. This is the familiar Scottish ballad made over in English and mildly sentimental phraseology. All the Celtic in it is “dark Dungael, the chief of meikle guile,” the father.

13. Edward.

P. 167 b, 501 b, III 499 b. Swedish. ‘Sven i Rosengård’ in Thomasson, Visor från Bleking, Nyare Bidrag, etc., VII, No 6, p. 16, No 9.

168 a, second paragraph, ‘when stones float,’ etc. Compare Sir John Mandeville, as to the Dead Sea, ch. 9 (of the Cotton MS.): “And zif a man caste iren therein, it wole flete aboven, and zif men caste a fedre therein, it wol synke to the botme.”

14. Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie.

P. 170, II, 499 a, III, 500. Add to the French ballad, ‘C’est trois garçons dépaysés,’ Pineau, Le Folk-Lore du Poitou, p. 281; ‘Les Coumpagnons,’ Laroche, Folklore du Lauraguais, p. 245.

171 a. Danish. Add: Hr. Tures Døtre, Kristensen, Folkeminder, XI, 145, No 56.

15. Leesome Brand.

P. 178 b. Danish. Add: ‘Barnefødsel i Lunden,’ Kristensen, Folkeminder, XI, 102, No 45, A-I, 9 copies.

181 b, II, 499 a. French, B. Add: ‘La-bas, sus ces grands champs,’ Pineau, Le Folk-Lore du Poitou, p. 315.

16. Sheath and Knife.

P. 185, III, 500. In C. K. Sharpe’s papers there is the following version, in Motherwell’s handwriting, sent by him to Sharpe with a letter dated Paisley, 8th October, 1825.

F

‘The Broom blooms bonnie,’ from the recitation of Agnes Lyle, Kilbarchan.

1 ‘There is a feast in your father’s house, The broom blooms bonnie, and so is it fair It becomes you and me to be very douce.’ And we’ll never gang up to the broom nae mair 2 ‘Will you go to yon hill so hie, Take your bow and your arrow wi thee.’ 3 He’s tane his lady on his back, And his auld son in his coat-lap. 4 ‘When ye hear me give a cry, Ye’ll shoot your bow and let me ly. 5 ‘When ye see me lying still, Throw awa your bow and come running me till.’ 6 When he heard her gie a cry, He shot his bow and he let her lye. 7 When he saw she was lying still, He threw awa his bow and came running her till. 8 It was nae wonder his heart was sad, When he shot his auld son at her head. 9 He howkit a grave lang, large and wide, He buried his auld son down by her side. 10 It was nae wonder his heart was sair, When he shooled the mools on her yellow hair. 11 ‘Oh,’ said his father, ‘son, but thou’rt sad, At our braw meeting you micht be glad.’ 12 ‘Oh,’ said he, ‘father, I’ve lost my knife, I loved as dear almost as my own life. 13 ‘But I have lost a far better thing, I lost the sheathe that the knife was in.’ 14 ‘Hold thy tongue and mak nae din, I’ll buy thee a sheath and a knife therein.’ 15 ‘A’ the ships ere sailed the sea Neer’ll bring such a sheathe and knife to me. 16 ‘A’ the smiths that lives on land Will neer bring such a sheath and knife to my hand.’

III, 500. E. Colonel W. F. Prideaux has printed this piece, from a manuscript of Motherwell’s in his possession, in Notes and Queries, Eighth Series, I, 372, with the trifling variations (or confirmations of doubtful readings) here annexed.

1¹ Ane.

3¹. we’ll hunt

6¹. let me doun by the rute o the.

7². And wanting: as ony.

9². faithless.

10¹. The ae.

17. Hind Horn.

P. 196 a (7). Historia: Hertzog Heinrich der löw, XVI, 221, of the edition of the Litt. Verein in Stuttgart, ed. Goetze, 228 vv.

198 a. Tales. Add: Stier, Ungarische Volksmärchen, p. 53.

198 b, 502 b, II, 499 b, IV, 450 b. ‘Le retour du mari,’ Pineau, Le Folk-Lore du Poitou, p. 385; La Tradition, VI, 207 f.

199 b. Romaic. Add: Manousos, II, 73; Ζωγραφεῖος Ἀγών, p. 76, No 26.

205. G. Kinloch has made numerous small changes. The ballad will now be given as first written down, Kinloch MSS, VII, 117. It appears to have been derived by Miss Kinnear from Christy Smith.

1 ‘Hynde Horn’s bound, love, and Hynde Horn’s free; Whare was ye born? or frae what cuntrie?’ 2 ‘In gude greenwud whare I was born, And all my friends left me forlorn. 3 ‘I gave my love a gay gowd wand, That was to rule oure all Scotland. 4 ‘My love gave me a silver ring, That was to rule abune aw thing. 5 ‘Whan that ring keeps new in hue, Ye may ken that your love loves you. 6 ‘Whan that ring turns pale and wan, Ye may ken that your love loves anither man.’ 7 He hoisted up his sails, and away sailed he Till he cam to a foreign cuntree. 8 Whan he lookit to his ring, it was turnd pale and wan; Says, I wish I war at hame again. 9 He hoisted up his sails, and hame sailed he Until he cam till his ain cuntree. 10 The first ane that he met with, It was with a puir auld beggar-man. 11 ‘What news? what news, my puir auld man? What news hae ye got to tell to me?’ 12 ‘Na news, na news,’ the puirman did say, ‘But this is our queen’s wedding-day.’ 13 ‘Ye’ll lend me your begging-weed, And I’ll lend you my riding-steed.’ 14 ‘My begging-weed is na for thee, Your riding-steed is na for me.’ 15 He has changed wi the puir auld beggar-man. 16 ‘What is the way that ye use to gae? And what are the words that ye beg wi?’ 17 ‘Whan ye come to yon high hill, Ye’ll draw your bent bow nigh until. 18 ‘Whan ye come to yon town-end, Ye’ll lat your bent bow low fall doun. 19 ‘Ye’ll seek meat for St Peter, ask for St Paul, And seek for the sake of your Hynde Horn all. 20 ‘But tak ye frae nane o them aw Till ye get frae the bonnie bride hersel O.’ 21 Whan he cam to yon high hill, He drew his bent bow nigh until. 22 And when he cam to yon toun-end, He loot his bent bow low fall doun. 23 He sought for St Peter, he askd for St Paul, And he sought for the sake of his Hynde Horn all. 24 But he took na frae are o them aw Till he got frae the bonnie bride hersel O. 25 The bride cam tripping doun the stair, Wi the scales o red gowd on her hair. 26 Wi a glass o red wine in her hand, To gie to the puir beggar-man. 27 Out he drank his glass o wine, Into it he dropt the ring. 28 ‘Got ye’t by sea, or got ye’t by land, Or got ye’t aff a drownd man’s hand?’ 29 ‘I got na’t by sea, I got na’t by land, Nor gat I it aff a drownd man’s hand; 30 ‘But I got it at my wooing, And I’ll gie it to your wedding. 31 ‘I’ll tak the scales o gowd frae my head, I’ll follow you, and beg my bread. 32 ‘I’ll tak the scales o gowd frae my hair, I’ll follow you for evermair.’ 33 She has tane the scales o gowd frae her head, She’s followed him, to beg her bread. 34 She has tane the scales o gowd frae her hair, And she has followd him evermair. 35 Atween the kitchen and the ha, There he loot his cloutie cloak fa. 36 The red gowd shined oure them aw, And the bride frae the bridegroom was stown awa.

19. King Orfeo.

P. 215. Professor Sophus Bugge maintains that the Scandinavian ballad ‘Harpens Kraft’ shows acquaintance with the English romance, and indeed, like the English ballad, is derived from it. (Arkiv för nordisk Filologi, VII, 97 ff., 1891.)

20. The Cruel Mother.

P. 218. Findlay’s MSS, I, 58 f., derived from his mother.

1 I lookëd ower the castle-wa, Hey rose, ma lindie, O Saw twa bonnie babies playin at the ba. Doon in the green wood-sidie, O 2 ‘O bonnie babies, an ye were mine, I wad feid ye wi flour-breid an wine.’ 3 ‘O cruel mother, when we were thine, You did not prove to us sae kin.’ 4 ‘O bonnie babies, an ye were mine, I wad cleid ye wi scarlet sae fine.’ 5 ‘O cruel mother, when we were thine, You did not prove to us sae fine. 6 ‘For wi a penknife ye took our life And threw us ower the castle-wa.’ 7 ‘O bonnie babies, what wad ye hae dune to me For my bein sae cruel to thee?’ 8 ‘Seven yeare a fish in the flood, Seven yeare a bird in the wood. 9 ‘Seven yeare a tinglin bell, Seventeen yeare in the deepest hell.’ Under the green wood-sidie, O

219 b, 504 a, II, 500 a, III, 502 b, IV, 451 a. Add S, Deutsche Volksballaden aus Südungarn, Grünn und Baróti, in Ethnologische Mitteilungen aus Ungarn, II, 201, No 4, 1892.

21. The Maid and the Palmer.

P. 228. M. G. Doncieux has attempted to arrange “Le cycle de Sainte Marie-Madelaine,” in Revue des Traditions Populaires, VI, 257.

22. St Stephen and Herod.

P. 233 ff. ‘Stjærnevisen,’ Kristensen, XI, 207, No 76 A, B, has nothing about Stephen, but is confined to the scripture-history, piety, and New Year’s wishes.

P. 236 a, IV, 451 b. French. An imperfect French ballad in Mélusine, VI, 24, from a wood-cut “at least three centuries old.”

Add a Piedmontese popular tale communicated by Count Nigra to the editor of Mélusine, VI, 25 f.

M. Gaidoz, at the same place, 26 f., cites two versions of the resuscitation of the cock, from example-books. The first, from Erythræus (i.e. Rossi), ch. CLV, p. 187, is essentially the same as the legend of St Gunther given from Acta Sanctorum (p. 239 a). The other, from the Giardino d’ Essempi of Razzi, is the story told by Vincentius (p. 237, note †).

25. Willie’s Lyke-Wake.

P. 250, II, 502 a, III, 503 a. Italian. Add: Canti pop. Emiliani, Maria Carmi, Archivio, XII, 187, No 9. A fragment in Dalmedico, Canti del popolo veneziano, p. 109, seems, as Maria Carmi suggests, to belong to this ballad.

26. The Three Ravens.

P. 253. It has already been noted that traditional copies of ‘The Three Ravens’ have been far from infrequent. When a ballad has been nearly three hundred years in print, and in a very impressive form, the chance that traditional copies, differing principally by what they lack, should be coeval and independent amounts at most to a bare possibility. Traditional copies have, however, sometimes been given in this collection on the ground of a very slight chance; and not unreasonably, I think, considering the scope of the undertaking.

The copy which follows was communicated by E. L. K. to Notes and Queries, Eighth Series, II, 437, 1892, and has been sent me lately in MS. by Mr R. Brimley Johnson, of Cambridge, England, with this note:

“From E. Peacock, Esq., F. S. A., of Dunstan House, Kirton-in-Lindsay, Lincolnshire, whose father, born in 1793, heard it as a boy at harvest-suppers and sheep-shearings, and took down a copy from the recitation of Harry Richard, a laborer, who could not read, and had learnt it ‘from his fore-elders.’ He lived at Northorpe, where a grass-field joining a little stream, called Ea, Ee, and Hay, is pointed out as the scene of the tragedy.”

1 There was three ravens in a tree, As black as any jet could be. A down a derry down 2 Says the middlemost raven to his mate, Where shall we go to get ought to eat? 3 ‘It’s down in yonder grass-green field There lies a squire dead and killd. 4 ‘His horse all standing by his side, Thinking he’ll get up and ride. 5 ‘His hounds all standing at his feet, Licking his wounds that run so deep.’ 6 Then comes a lady, full of woe, As big wi bairn as she can go. 7 She lifted up his bloody head, And kissd his lips that were so red. 8 She laid her down all by his side, And for the love of him she died.

6². Var. child.

27. The Whummil Bore.

P. 255. Serving the king long without sight of his daughter. Prof. Wollner notes that this trait is rather frequently found in Slavic. For example, in Karadžič, II, 617, No 96, Yakšič Mitar serves the vojvode Yanko nine years and never sees his sister.

29. The Boy and the Mantle.

P. 268 ff., II, 502 a, III, 503, IV, 454 a. Tests of chastity. On the Herodotean story, I, 271, see E. Lefébure, Mélusine, IV, 37-39.—St Wilfred’s Needle, in Ripon Minster. ‘In ipso templo, avorum memoria Wilfridi acus celeberrima fuit. Id erat augustum in cryptoporticu foramen quo mulierum pudicitia explorabatur; quæ enim castæ erant facile transibant, quæ dubia fama nescio quo miraculo constrictæ detinebantur.’ Camden, Britannia, ed. 1607, p. 570; see Folk-Lore Journal, II, 286. (G. L. K.)

31. The Marriage of Sir Gawain.

P. 293. Mr Clouston, Originals and Analogues of some of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, p. 520 cites a pretty story from a modern Turkish author, in which, as so often happens, parts are reversed. A young king of the fairies of a certain realm is cursed by his mother to appear old and ugly until a fair mortal girl shall love him enough to miss his company. This comes to pass after forty years, and the ugly old man becomes a beautiful youth of seventeen. (Phantasms from the Presence of God, written in 1796-97 by ‘Ali ‘Aziz Efendi, the Cretan.)

33. Kempy Kay.

P. 301. A was communicated to C. K. Sharpe by Robert Pitcairn with the stanzas in the order printed by Sharpe. The arrangement in A would seem, therefore, to have been an afterthought of Pitcairn’s. There is some slight difference of reading, also, in Pitcairn’s MS., and one defect is supplied. The variations in the copy sent Sharpe are (besides the order, as aforesaid) as follows:

2¹. I’m coming.

2⁴. o weir.

3⁴. three heire wanting.

4⁴. Shone.

5². bruchty.

5³. the night.

6³. And in.

7⁴. Between.

9⁴. a lintseed bow (with the variant a bruchtit ewe).

10¹. lauchty.

10⁴. A’ wanting.

12³. teeth into.

13². sheets (no doubt erroneously). A stanza between 8 and 9 is noted as deficient, and something after 13.

303. C. In a copy of C sent Sharpe by Motherwell in a letter of December 6, 1824, the fourth stanza is lacking, the fifth is third.

3². span: years.

5². stool.

‘Knip Knap,’ taken down in the summer of 1893 by Mr Walker, of Aberdeen, at Portlethen, from the singing of an old man, as learned more than fifty years before from an old blacksmith at Dyce, near Aberdeen.

1 Knip Knap a hunting went, Out-ower the head o yon hill, aye, aye Wi a lust o pig-staves out-oer his shouther, An mony a dulchach forby, aye, aye. 2 There he met an old woman, Was herdin at her kye; ‘I’m come yer ae dochter to woo,’ She’s a very good servant,’ said I. 3 The wife gaed hame to her ain hole-house, Lookit in at her ain spunk-hole, An there she saw her ain foul flag, Loupin across the coal. 4 ‘Win up, win up, my ae foul flag, An mak yer foul face clean, For yer wooer is comin here the nicht, But yer foul face canna be seen. na, na’ 5 She’s taen the sheave-wisps out o her sheen, An in behint the door, An she has faen to the stale strang, Seven year auld an more. 6 An aye she scrubbit, an aye she weesh, Out-ower the pint o her chin, Till a knip-knap cam to the door, She kent it was her wooer. 7 He’s taen her in his airms twa, Kissd her cheek an chin: ‘An I hae gotten kisses twa, Whaur I never thocht to get ane.’ 8 The verra hair was in her head Was like the heather-cowe, An ilka louse at the reet o that Was like a brockit ewe. 9 The verra ee was in her head Was like a muckle pan, The hunkers and clunkers that hang frae her sheen Wad hae covered an acre o lan. 10 The verra teeth was in her head Was like a tether’s check, An the sneeters and snotters that hang frae her nose Wad a gart a frozen mill gang. 11 The verra tongue was in her head Wad been a guid mill-clap, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An ye may know very weel by that She was a comely woman.

34. Kemp Owyne.

P. 309. From a manuscript collection of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe’s, p. 2; “Second Collection,” see Sharpe’s Ballad Book, ed. 1880, p. 144. This copy closely resembles A.

1 Her mother died when she was young, And was laid in the silent tomb; The father weded the weel worst woman This day that lives in Christiendom. 2 She served her with hands and feet, In every way that well could be, Yet she did once upon a day Throw her in over a craig of sea. 3 Says, Ly you there, you dove Isabeal, And let you never borrowed be Till Kempenwine come ower the sea And borrow you with kisses three; Whatever any may do or say, O borrowed may you never be! 4 Her breath grew strong, and her hair grew long, And twisted thrice about a tree, And so hideous-like she did apear That all who saw her from her did flee. 5 Now Kempenwine gat word of this Where he was living beyond the sea; He hied him straight unto that shoar, The monstrous creature for to se. 6 Her breath was strong, and her hair was long, And twisted was around the tree, And with a swing she cried aloud, Come to craig of sea and kiss with me. 7 ‘Here is a royal ring,’ she cried, ‘That I have found in the green sea, And while your finger it is on Drawn shall your blood never be; But if you touch me, tail or fin, I vow this brand your death shall be.’ 8 He steppëd in, gave her a kiss, The royal ring he brought him wi; Her breath was strong, and [her] hair was long, Yet twisted twice about the tree, And with a swing she came about, ‘Come to craig of sea and kiss with me. 9 ‘Here is a royal belt,’ she cried, ‘That I have found in the green sea, And while your body it is on Drawn shall your blood never be; But if you touch me, tail or fin, I vow this brand your death shall be.’ 10 He steppëd in, gave her a kiss, The royal belt he brought him wee; Her breath yet strong, her hair yet long, Yet twisted once about the tree, And with a swing she came about, ‘Come to craig of sea and kiss with me. 11 ‘Here is a royal brand,’ she cried, ‘That I have found in the green sea, And while your body it is on Drawn shall your blood never be; But if you touch me, tail or fin, I vow my brand your death shall be.’ 12 He steppëd in, gave her a kiss, The royal brand he brought him wee; Her breath now soft, her hair now short, And disengagëd from the tree, She fell into his arms two, As fair a woman as ever could be.

Written in long lines, and not divided into stanzas.

8². him with.

6⁴, 8⁶, 10⁶. Craig of sea.

35. Allison Gross.

P. 314. Gifts offered by a hill-maid. ‘Bjærgjomfruens Frieri,’ Kristensen, Skattegraveren, II, 100, No 460; XII, 22 ff., Nos 16, 17; Folkeminder, XI, 20 ff., No 18, A-E.

36. The Laily Worm and the Mackrel of the Sea.

P. 315. Though Skene has rendered this ballad with reasonable fidelity, for an editor, it shall, on account of its interest, be given as it stands in the old lady’s MS., where it is No 2. It proves not absolutely true, as I have said, that the Skene ballad has “never been retouched by a pen.”

1 ‘I was bat seven year alld Fan my mider she did dee, My father marrëd the ae warst woman The wardle did ever see. 2 ‘For she has made me the lailly worm That lays att the fitt of the tree, An o my sister Meassry The machrel of the sea. 3 ‘An every Saterday att noon The machrl comes ea to me, An she takes my laylë head, An lays it on her knee, An keames it we a silver kemm, An washes it in the sea. 4 ‘Seven knights ha I slain Sane I lay att the fitt of the tree; An ye war na my ain father, The eight an ye sud be.’ 5 ‘Sing on your song, ye l[a]ily worm, That ye sung to me;’ ‘I never sung that song But fatt I wad sing to ye. 6 ‘I was but seven year aull Fan my mider she [did] dee, My father marrëd the a warst woman The wardle did ever see. 7 ‘She changed me to the layel[y] worm That layes att the fitt of the tree, An my sister Messry [To] the makrell of the sea. 8 ‘And every Saterday att noon The machrell comes to me, An she takes my layly head, An layes it on her knee, An kames it weth a siller kame, An washes it in the sea. 9 ‘Seven knights ha I slain San I lay att the fitt of the tree; An ye war na my ain father, The eight ye sud be.’ 10 He sent for his lady As fast as sen cod he: ‘Far is my son, That ye sent fra me, And my daughter, Lady Messry?’ 11 ‘Yer son is att our king’s court, Sarving for meatt an fee, And yer doughter is att our quin’s court, A mary suit an free.’ 12 ‘Ye lee, ye ill woman, Sa loud as I hear ye lea, For my son is the layelly worm That lays at the fitt of the tree, An my daughter Messry The machrell of the sea.’ 13 She has tain a silver wan An gine him stroks three, An he started up the bravest knight Your eyes did ever see. 14 She has tane a small horn An loud an shill blue she, An a’ the came her tell but the proud machrell, An she stood by the sea: ‘Ye shaped me ance an unshemly shape, An ye’s never mare shape me.’ 15 He has sent to the wood For hathorn an fun, An he has tane that gay lady, An ther he did her burne.

Written without division into stanzas or verses.

3². comes ea (aye); but, on repetition in 8², comes simply, with better metre.

15¹. hes has.

15³. that that.

316. ‘Nattergalen,’ in Kristensen, Folkeminder, XI, 25, No 20, A-C.

In a Kaffir tale a girl marries a crocodile. The crocodile bids her lick his face. Upon her doing so, the crocodile casts his skin and turns into a strong and handsome man. He had been transformed by the enemies of his father’s house. (Theal, Kaffir Folk-Lore, 1882, p. 37, cited by Mr Clouston.)

39. Tam Lin.

P. 339. Teind to hell. See Isabel Gowdie’s case, in the Scottish Journal, I, 256, and compare Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials.

345. D a. This copy occurs in “the second collection” of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, p. 3, with a few variations, as follows. (See Sharpe’s Ballad Book, ed. 1880, p. 145.)

1³. Charters wood, and always.

3¹. the seam.

3³. is gone.

5². ye.

6⁴. ask no.

10⁴. we have.

11¹. to me.

12². aft.

12³. the Lord of Forbes.

12⁴. all his.

15 occurs after 24.

15¹. Tho Elfin.

15⁴. the tenth one goes.

15⁵. I am an, or, I a man.

16⁵. if that.

16⁶. miles Cross.

17¹. go unto the Miles cross.

20⁴. next the.

23¹, 24¹. int.

25¹. She did her down.

27². so green.

27³. Where.

27⁴. ride next.

28⁴. he is.

29⁴. He.

32². and cry.

34¹. I thought.

40. The Queen of Elfan’s Nourice.

P. 358, II, 505 b, III, 505 b, IV, 459 a. Mortal midwife for fairies. ‘La Sage-femme et la Fée,’ R. Basset, Contes pop. berbères, 1887, No 26, p. 55 (and see notes, pp. 162, 163). (G. L. K.)

41. Hind Etin.

P. 361 b, III, 506 a, IV, 459 a. Danish. ‘Jomfruen i Bjærget,’ fragment, in Kristensen, Folkeminder, XI, 6, No 12.

364 a, III, 506 a, IV, 459 a. Danish. ‘Agnete og Havmanden,’ Kristensen, Skattegraveren, III, p. 17, No 34, XII, 65 ff., Nos 136, 137; Efterslæt, p. 2, No 2, p. 174, No 126; Folkeminder, XI, 7, No 13, A-D.

42. Clerk Colvill.

P. 371, No 42, p. 389. C in Findlay MSS, I, 141: ‘Clerk Colin,’ from Miss Butchart, Arbroath, 1868. Miss Butchart, who died about 1890, aged above ninety years, was the daughter of the Mrs Butchart from whom Kinloch got certain ballads, and niece to the Mrs Arrot who was one of Jamieson’s contributors. In the MS. there are these readings:

2³. To gang.

4³. maun gae.

5². could gang.

6¹. To Clyde’s.

374 b, IV, 459 a. Danish. ‘Elveskud,’ Kristensen, Skattegraveren, XII, 54, No 125; ‘Elvedansen,’ Folkeminder, XI, 15, No 17, A-C.

380, II, 506 a, III, 506 a, IV, 459 a. TT, ‘La chanson de Renaud,’ Pineau, Le Folk-Lore du Poitou, p. 399; UU, ‘La Mort de Jean Raynaud, Wallonia, I, 22.

VV, WW. Versions de la Bresse, one, and a fragment, J. Tiersot, Revue des Traditions Populaires, VII, 654 ff.

382, II, 506 a, III, 506 a. Italian. N. ‘El conte Anzolin,’ Villanis, Canzoni pop. Zaratine, Archivio, XI, 32. A burlesque form in Canti pop. Emiliani, Maria Carmi, Archivio, XII, 186, and a Venetian rispetto of the same character (noted by Maria Carmi) in Bernoni, Canti pop. Veneziani, 1873, Puntata 7, p. 12, No 62.

44. The Twa Magicians.

P. 400 a, III, 506 b, IV, 459 b. French. Y. ‘Les Transformations,’ Wallonia, I, 50.

401 b, 3d paragraph. Say: Cosquin, Contes lorrains, I, 103, No 9, and notes.

402 a, last paragraph, Gwion. See the mabinogi of Taliesin in Lady Charlotte Guest’s Mabinogion, Part VII, p. 358 f.

45. King John and the Bishop.

P. 405 b, II, 506, IV, 459 b. Another Magyar version in Zs. f. vergleichende Literaturgeschichte, N. F. V, 467.

46. Captain Wedderburn’s Courtship.

P. 414. Rev. J. Baring-Gould informs me that there is an Irish version of this piece in Ulster Ballads, British Museum, 1162. k. 6, entitled ‘The Lover’s Riddle.’ The lady, who in B, C is walking through the wood ‘her lane,’ is in the Ulster copy walking ‘down a narrow lane,’ and she meets ‘with William Dicken, a keeper of the game.’ The only important difference as to the riddles and the answers is that the young lady remembers her Bible to good purpose, and gives Melchisedec as an example of a priest unborn (Hebrews vii, 3).

415, note †. Miss M. H. Mason gives two copies in her Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs, pp. 23, 24, ‘A Paradox.’

417, note †, II, 507 b, III, 507 a, IV, 459 b. “They were told that in front of the king’s house there were twenty-score poles, with a head on each pole with the exception of three.” ‘The Lad with the Skin Coverings,’ J. G. Campbell, The Fians, p. 261. (There are three adventurers in this case.) (G. L. K.)

421. B. h. ‘Captian Wederburn,’ “The Old Lady’s Collection,” No 38.

1 The lard of Roslie’s doughter was walking on the green, An by came Captain Wederburn, a servant to our king, An he said to his livery-man, Wer it no agenst our laa, I wad take her to my ain bed an lay her neast the waa.

2 ‘I am in my father’s garden, walken among my father’s trees, An ye dou latt me walk a whill nou, kind sir, if ye pleas; For the supper-beals they will be rung an I will be mised awa,

4³. An my father will ate nae supper gine I be mised awa.’

6. He lighted off his hors an sett the lady one, . . . . . . . . .

6^1,3. He sett her ahind his livery-man, was leath to latt her faa:

5⁴. ‘We’s baith lay in ae bed, an ye’s lay neast the wa.’

7 Fan they came to his quarter-house, his landl[ad]y came ben: ‘Ther is mony bonny lady in Edenbrugh toun, Bat sick a bonny lady is no in it aa;’ Says, ‘Lass, mak up a doun-bed, we will lay her nist the waa.’

8 ‘Hold yer toung, young man,’ she says, ‘an latt yer folly be; I winnë come to my bed till ye gett to me things three. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9 ‘Ye gett to my supper a cherrey without a ston, An ye gett to my suppeer a chiken without a bone, An ye gett to my super a burd that flayes without a gaa, Or I winnë lay in your bed, nether att stok nor waa.’

10 ‘The cherry when it is in the bloum, it is without a ston; The chiken when it is in the egg is without a bon; The dove she is a harmless burd, she flays without a gaa; An we’s baith lay in ae bed, an ye’s lay nist the waa.’

15 ‘Hold off yer hands, young man,’ she says, ‘an dou not me perplex; I winnë gae to my bed till ye tell me qustens six; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16 ‘What is greaner nor the grass? what is hig[h]er the[n] the tree? What is war nor woman’s wish? what is deaper nor the sea? What burd sings first? what life buds first, an what dos on it faa? I winnë lay in your bed, nether att stok nor waa.’

17 ‘Death is greaner nor the grass; heaven is higher nor the tree; The devill is war nor woman’s wish; hell is deaper nor the sea; The coke crous first; the suderen wood springs first, the due dos on it faa; An we’s baith lay in ae bed, an ye’s lay neast the waa.’

11 ‘Hold off yer hands, young man,’ she says, ‘an yer folly gie our, I winne come to your bed till ye gett to me things four; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12 ‘Ye gett to me a cherry that in December grou; Leguays a fine silk mantell that waft gad never throu; A sparrou’s horn, a prist unborn, this night to join us tua; Or I winnë lay in your bed, nether att stok nor waa.’

13 ‘Ther is a hote-bed in my father’s garden wher winter chirrys grou, Lequays a fine silk mantell in his closet which waft never gaid throu; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14 ‘Ther is a prist nou att the dore, just ready to come in, An never one could say he was born, For ther was a holl cut out of his mother’s side, an out of it he did faa; An we’s baith lay in ae bed, an ye’s lay nist the waa.’

18 Littel kent the lassie in the morning fan she raise That wad be the last of a’ her maiden days; For nou she is marrëd to Captian Wederburn, that afore she never saa, An they baith lay in ae bed, an she lays nest the waa.

7⁴. Lays, Lass.

10¹. bloun.

12¹. grous.

49. The Twa Brothers.

P. 436 a, 3d paragraph. It ought to have been remarked that it was a William Somerville that killed John. The names being the same as in the ballad, “unusually gratuitous” is not warranted.

438. A was derived by Sharpe from Elizabeth Kerry. The original copy was not all written at one time, but may have been written by one person. The first and the last stanza, and some corrections, are in the same hand as a letter which accompanied the ballad. The paper has a watermark of 1817. A few trifling differences in the MS. may be noted:

1¹. twa.

1². school (Note. “I have heard it called the Chase”): the githar.

1⁴. a far.

2¹. wrestled.

4⁴. And.

5¹. brother.

6³. both.

7², 8², 9². Should for Gin.

8¹. what shall.

10¹. But wanting.

10³. in fair Kirkland. (Letter. “I remembered a fair Kirk something, and Kirkland it must have been.”)

10⁴. again wanting.

H

‘Perthshire Tredgey.’ From a copy formerly in the possession of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe. This fragment has some resemblances to F. “Copied 1823” is endorsed on the sheet (in the hand which made an insertion in st. 11) and crossed out.

1 Two pretty boys lived in the North, The went to the school so rare; The one unto the other said, We’ll try some battle of war. 2 The worselaid up, the worselaid down, Till John lay on the ground; A pen-knife out of William’s pocket Gave John a deadly wound. 3 ‘O is it for my gold?’ he said, ‘Or for my rich monie? Or is it for my land sa broad, That you have killed me?’ 4 ‘It’s neither for your gold,’ he said, ‘Or for your rich monie, But it is for your land sa broad That I have killed thee.’ 5 ‘You’ll take [me] up upon your back, Carry me to Wastlen kirk-yard; You’ill houk a hole large and deep, And lay my body there. 6 ‘You’ll put a good stone ou my head, Another at my feet, A good green turf upon my breast, That the sounder I m[a]y sleep. 7 ‘And if my father chance to ask What’s come of your brother John, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * * 8 ‘What blood is this upon your coat? I pray come tell to me;’ ‘It is the blood of my grey hound, It would not run for me.’ 9 ‘The blood of your greyhound was near so red, I pray come tell to me;’ ‘It is the blood of my black horse, It would not hunt for me.’ 10 ‘The blood of your black horse was near so red, I pray come tell to me;’ ‘It is the blood of my brother John, Since better canna be.’ * * * * * * 11 He put his foot upon a ship, Saying, I am gane our the sea; ‘O when will you come back again, I pray come tell to me.’ 12 ‘When the sun and the moon passes over the broom, That[’s] the day you’ll never see.’

2¹. worse laid, misheard for warseled.

3³. lands abroad for land sae broad (misheard).

4¹. After your, la and half of an n, lan caught from 3³.

4³. land abroad. The reciter, or more probably the transcriber, has become confirmed in the error made in 3³.

11³. come inserted in a different hand.

11^3,4 should probably be the first half of stanza 12.

50. The Bonny Hind.

P. 444 a. Motherwell MS., p. 485, professes to copy the ballad from Herd’s MS. by way of supplying the stanzas wanting in Scott. There are, however, in Motherwell’s transcript considerable deviations from Herd, a fact which I am unable to understand.

53. Young Beichan.

P. 454. ‘Lord Beichim,’ Findlay’s MSS, I, 1, from Jeanie Meldrum, Framedrum, Forfarshire, has these verses, found in G and in Spanish and Italian ballads.

(“She meets a shepherd and addresses him.”)

‘Whas are a’thae flocks o sheep? And whas are a’thae droves o kye? And whas are a’thae statelie mansions, That are in the way that I passd bye?’ ‘O these are a’Lord Beichim’s sheep, And these are a’Lord Beichim’s kye, And these are a’Lord Beichim’s castles, That are in the way that ye passd bye.’

There are three or four stanzas more, but they resemble the English vulgar broadsides. There must have been a printed copy in circulation in Scotland which has not been recovered.

468. D is now given as it stands in “The Old Lady’s Collection,” from which it was copied by Skene: ‘Young Beachen,’ No. 14.

1 Young Beachen as born in fair London, An foiren lands he langed to see, An he was tean by the savage Mour, An they used him mast cruely. 2 Throu his shoulder they patt a bore, An throu the bore they patt a tree, An they made him tralle ther ousen-carts, An they used him most cruelly. 3 The savige More had ae doughter, I wat her name was Susan Pay, An she is to the prison-house To hear the prisenor’s mone. 4 He made na his mone to a stok, He made it no to a ston, But it was to the Quin of Heaven, That he made his mone. 5 ‘Gine a lady wad borrou me, Att her foot I wad rune, An a widdou wad borrou me, I wad becom her sone. 6 ‘Bat an a maid wad borrou me, I wad wed her we a ring, I wad make her lady of haas an bours, An of the high tours of Line.’ 7 ‘Sing our yer sang, Young Bichen,’ she says, ‘Sing our yer sang to me;’ ‘I never sang that sang, lady, Bat fat I wad sing to ye. 8 ‘An a lady wad borrou me, Att her foot I wad rune, An a widdou wad borrou me, I wad becom her son. 9 ‘Bat an a maid wad borrou me, I wad wed her we a ring, I wad mak her lady of haas an bours, An of the high tours of Line.’ 10 Saftly gaid she but, An saftly gaid she ben; It was na for want of hose nor shone, Nor time to pit them on. 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An she has stoun the kees of the prison, An latten Young Beachen gang. 12 She gae him a lofe of her whit bread, An a bottel of her wine, She bad him mind on the leady’s love That fread him out of pine. 13 She gae him a stead was gued in time of nead, A sadle of the bone, Five hundred poun in his poket, Bad him gae speading home. 14 An a lish of gued gray honds, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Fan seven lang year wer come an gane, Shusie Pay thought lang, An she is on to fair London, As fast as she could gang. 16 Fan she came to Young Beachen’s gate, . . . . . . . . ‘Is Young Beachen att home, Or is he in this country?’ 17 ‘He is att home, [H]is bearly bride him we;’ Sighan says her Susë Pay, ‘Was he quit forgoten me?’ 18 On every finger she had a ring, An on the middel finger three; She gave the porter on of them, ‘Gett a word of your lord to me.’ 19 He gaed up the stare, Fell lau doun on his knee: ‘Win up, my proud porter, What is your will we [me]?’ 20 ‘I ha ben porter att your gate This therty year an three; The fairest lady is att yer gate Mine eays did ever see.’ 21 Out spak the brid’s mother, An a haghty woman was she; ‘If ye had not excepted the bonny brid, Ye might well ha excepted me.’ 22 ‘No desparegment to you, madam, Nor non to her grace; The sol of yon lady’s foot Is fairer then yer face.’ 23 He’s geen the table we his foot, An caped it we his knee: ‘I wad my head an a’my land It’s Susie Pay come over the sea.’ 24 The stare was therty steps, I wat he made them three; He toke her in his arms tua, ‘Susie Pay, y’er welcom to me!’ 25 ‘Gie me a shive of your whit bread, An a bottel of your wine; Dinner ye mind on the lady’s love That freed ye out of pine?’ 26 He took her Doun to yon garden green, An changed her name fra Shusie Pay, An called her bonny Lady Jean. 27 ‘Yer daughter came hear on high hors-back, She sall gae hame in coaches three, An I sall dubel her tocher our, She is nean the war of me.’ 28 ‘It’s na the fashon of our country, Nor yet of our name, To wed a may in the morning An send her hame att none.’ 29 ‘It’s na the fashon of my country, Nor of my name, Bat I man mind on the lady’s love That freed me out of pine.’

5². I att her foot I: cf. 8².

9³. tours: cf. 6³.

13⁴. spending.

17³. Sigh an.

18². niddel.

After 29:

Courtes kind an generse mind, An winne ye ansur me? An fan they hard ther lady’s word, Well ansuared was she.

P. 476, II, 508. L. For the modern vulgar ballad, Catnach’s is a better copy than that of Pitts. See Kidson, Traditional Tunes, p. 34, for Catnach.

VOL. II.

54. The Cherry-Tree Carol.

P. 1 b. (Apple tree.) Chanson de la Corrèze, Mélusine, VI, 40.

55. The Carnal and the Crane.

P. 7. The Sower: La Tradition, VII, 312.

56. Dives and Lazarus.

P. 10 b, IV, 462 b. ‘Lazare et le mauvais riche,’ L’Abbé Durdy, Anthologie pop. de l’Albret, Poésies gasconnes, p. 6.

Esthonian, Hurt, Vana Kannel, II, 210, No 296.

57. Brown Robyn’s Confession.

P. 13 b, IV, 463 a. Danish. ‘Sejladsen,’ Kristensen, Efterslæt til Skattegraveren, p. 22, No 18, p. 161 ff., Nos 116, 117; Folkeminder, XI, 148, No 57.

15 b. For Sadko, see Vesselofsky in Archiv für slavische Philologie, IX, 282.

58. Sir Patrick Spens.

P. 17. Among Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe’s papers there is a copy of this ballad, which, from its being entirely in Sharpe’s hand excepting the first line, we may suppose to have been intended as a reply to some person who had inquired for a ballad so beginning. This copy is mainly compounded, with a word altered here and there, from D (which Sharpe gave Motherwell), ten stanzas of H, and two resembling L 2, 3. The Sir Andrew Wood of D is changed to Sir Patrick Spens, and there is this one stanza which I have not observed to occur elsewhere, following D 7, or H 21:

O laith, laith war our gude Scots lords To weet their silken sarks, But lang or a’ the play was playd The weet gade to their hearts.

62. Fair Annie.

P. 65 a. Danish. ‘Skjön Anna,’ Kristensen, Folkeminder, XI, 91, No 92.

63. Child Waters.

P. 83. ‘Fair Ellen,’ from “The Old Lady’s Collection,” No 30, a version resembling J. The first two stanzas belong to ‘Glasgerion;’ compare No 67, C, 1, 2, II, 140.

K

1 Willie was a harper guid, He was a harper fine; He harped the burds out of the tree, The fish out of the flood, The milk out of a woman’s brist That bab had never nean. 2 He harped out, an he harped in, Till he harped them a’ aslep, Unless it was her Fair Elen, An she stood on her feett. 3 Willie stod in stabile dor, He said he wad ride, . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ‘Na women mane gae we me, Hellen, Na women mane gaie we me Bat them that will saddle my hors, An bridell my steed, An elky toun that I come to A lish of hons mane lead.’ 5 ‘I will saddle yer hors, Willie, An I will bridel yer steed, An elky toun att we come tell A leash of honds will lead.’ 6 ‘The dogs sall eat the gued fite bread, An ye the douë pran, An ye sall bliss, an na curse, That ever ye lied a man.’ 7 ‘The dogs sall eat the whit bread, An me the douë pran, An I will bliss, an na curs, That ear I loved a man.’ 8 She has saddled his hors, An she has bridled his stead, An ealky toun att they came throu A lish of honds did lead. 9 The dogs did eatt the whit bread, An her the douey pran, An she did bliss, an she did na curs, That ever she loyed a man. 10 Fan they came to yon wan water That a’ man caas Clayd, He louked over his left shoder, Says, Ellen, will ye ride? 11 ‘I learned it in my medder’s bour, I wiss I had learned it better, Fan I came to wane water To sume as dos the otter. 12 ‘I learned in my midder’s bour, I watt I learned it well, Fan I came to wan water, To sume as dos the ell.’ 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Or the knight was in the middell of the water, The lady was in the eather side. 14 She leaned her back to a stane, Gaa a call opon: ‘O my back is right sore, An I sae farr frae hame! 15 ‘Hou monny mill ha ye to rid, An hou mony I to rine?’ ‘Fifty mill ha I to rid, Fifty you to rine, An by that time I dou supos Ye will be a dead woman.’ 16 Out spak a bonny burd, Sate on yon tree, ‘Gaa on, fair Ellen, Ye ha scarcly milles three.’ 17 Four-an-tuenty bony ladys Mett Willie in the closs, Bat the fairest lady among them a’ Took Willie frae his horse. 18 Four-an-tuenty bonny ladys Lead Willie to the table, Bat the fairest lady among them a’ Led his hors to the stable. 19 She leaned betuen the gray folle an the waa, An gae a call opon; ‘O my back is fue sore, An I sae far fra home! 20 ‘Fan I was in my father’s bour, I ware goud to my hell; Bat nou I am among Willie’s hors feet, An the call it will me kell. 21 ‘Fan I was in my midder’s bour I wear goud to my head; Bat nou I am among Willie’s hors feet, And the calle will be my dead.’ 22 ‘Fatten a heavey horse-boy, my son Willie, Is this ye ha brought to me? Some times he grous read, read, An some times paill an wane; He louks just leak a woman we bairn, An no weis es leak a man.’ 23 ‘Gett up, my heavey hors-boy, Gie my hors corn an hay;’ ‘By my soth,’ says her Fair Ellen, ‘Bat as fast as I may.’ 24 ‘I dreamed a dream san the straine, Gued read a’ dreams to gued! I dreamed my stable-dor was opned An stoun was my best steed. Ye gae, my sister, An see if the dream be gued.’ 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . She thought she hard a baby greet, Bat an a lady mone. 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘I think I hard a baby greet, Bat an a lady mone.’ 27 ‘A askend, Willie,’ she says, ‘An ye man grant it me; The warst room in a’ yer house To your young son an me.’ 28 [‘Ask on, Fair Ellen, Ye’r sure yer asken is free;] The best room in a’ my house To yer young son an ye.’ 29 ‘[A] asken, Willie,’ she sayes, ‘An ye will grant it me; The smallest bear in yer house To [yer] young son an me.’ 30 ‘Ask on, Fair Ellen, Ye’r sure your asken is free; The best bear in my house [To yer young son an ye.] 31 ‘The best bear in my house Is the black bear an the wine, An ye sall haa that, Fair Ellen, To you an yer young son.’ 32 ‘[A] askent, Willie,’ she says, ‘An ye will grant [it] me; The warst maid in yer house To wait on yer young son an me.’ 33 ‘The best maid in my house Is my sister Meggie, An ye sall ha her, Fair Ellen, To wait on yer young son an ye. 34 ‘Chire up, Fair Ellen, Chire up, gin ye may; Yer kirking an yer fair weding Sail baith stand in ae day.’

1⁶. bab have.

3². bide. Cf. B 3, G 1, I 1, J 1.

20³. I an.

20⁴. me gell.

21². my hell again.

21⁴. And an.

30². sure yours.

64. Fair Janet.

P. 102. (See III, 497 b, No 5.) Add: ‘La Fiancée du Prince,’ Revue des Traditions Populaires, VIII, 406-409, two versions.

65. Lady Maisry.

P. 114. A. The variations in the Abbotsford MS. “Scottish Songs” are of the very slightest value; but as the MS. is in Scott’s hand, and as Scott says that they were from his recollection of recitation in the south of Scotland, they may be given for what they are worth. (See the note, IV, 387.)

‘Lady Maiserye,’ fol. 34, back.

1². Are a’.

1⁴. she’ll hae.

2, 3, wanting.

4^1,2.

They woo’d her up, they woo’d her doun, They woo’d her in the ha.

5¹. my lords, she said.

5². on me.

5⁴. And I have na mair to gie.

6¹. father’s wily page.

6³. For he has awa to her bauld brother.

7¹. O are my father and mother.

7². brethren.

8¹. are weel.

8². Likewise your brethren.

8⁴. But she’s shamed thy name and thee.

9¹. true, thou little page.

9². A bluidy sight thou’s see.

9³. thou tells.

9⁴. High hanged sall thou be.

10¹. O he has gane to.

10⁴. Kaming.

11. A stanza with “modern” in the margin.

12¹. The lady turnd her round about.

12². The kame fell.

12^3,4.

The bluid ran backward to her heart And left her cheek sae wan.

13.

‘O bend nae sae, my dear brother, Your vengefu look on me! My love is laid on Lord William, And he is married to me.’

14¹. ye hae gotten knights and lords.

14². Within.

14³. drew.

15¹. your English love.

15³. For shouldst think of him an hour langer.

15⁴. Thy.

16¹. I wad gie up my English love.

16³. or an hour.

After 16 this stanza, not marked “modern:”

‘Ah, faithless woman, trow nae sae My just revenge to flee, For a’ your English lordling’s power, Our ancient enemy.’

17¹. where are a’ my wight.

17⁴. this strumpet.

18². at my.

19¹. and spake.

19². Stude weeping by her side.

19³. wad rin this.

20. wanting.

21¹, 22¹. And when.

21³. to grass growing.

22^1,5. yate.

22². bade na chap nor.

22³. to his.

22⁵. And er.

23¹. O are.

23². Or are.

23³. Or has my lady gien to me.

23⁴. A dear: or a.

24¹. biggins are na broken, lord.

24². Nor yet.

24³. a’ Scotlande.

24⁴. This day for you.

25¹. to me the black horse.

25². O saddle to me.

25³. Or saddle to me.

25⁴. ere yet rode.

26². neeze.

26³. your fire, my fierce.

26⁴. no yet at.

27¹. And when: yate.

28^1,2.

And still, Mend up the fire, she cried, And pour its rage round me.

28⁴. will mend it soon for.

29¹. O had my hands.

29². Sae fast.

29⁴. To save thy infant son.

30^1,3. for thee.

30². Thy sister and thy brother.

30⁴. Thy father and thy mother.

31¹. for thee.

31². a’ thy.

31³. that I make.

31⁴. I sall.

115. B. Variations of C. K. Sharpe’s own MS. (“second collection”):

2⁴. on my (wrongly).

4⁴. It’s liars.

8². That’s what I’ll.

10². brother.

13³. But when.

20¹, 21¹, 22¹. rode on.

22⁴. Janet’s excit (Motherwell, exite).

24¹. said.

27⁴. mony one.

66. Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet.

P. 128. A. Collated with Sharpe’s MS., p. 17. The MS., which is in the handwriting of Sharpe, contains the same ballads as an Abbotsford MS. called North Country Ballads, but the two copies are independent transcripts. In a note to Sharpe, without date (Sharpe’s Ballad Book, ed. 1880, p. 148), Scott says, “I enclose Irvine’s manuscripts, which are, I think, curious. They are at your service for copying or publishing, or whatever you will.” Hugh Irvine, Drum, communicated to Scott a copy of ‘Tam Lin’ (see IV, 456), and it is possible that the manuscripts referred to in Scott’s note were the originals of the “North Country Ballads.”

1⁴. their bonneur.

8². to kill.

11¹. boy says.

11². An will.

14^1,3. line that he.

15¹. (bacon).

16⁴. she wanting.

18^2,4. garl, marl, are Sharpe’s corrections for words struck out, which seem to be guell, meal.

19¹. and that.

21². saft.

23¹. twice, so did I.

26¹. did stand.

31⁴. he wanting.

Only 14^1,3, 16⁴, 23¹, 31⁴, are wrongly given in Motherwell.

Scott’s MS.—The name Maisery is wanting throughout.

23³. only for one.

28. wanting.

30³. had.

31². beg wrongly copied by.

68. Young Hunting.

P. 145. A 22. Findlay’s MSS, I, 146, gives a corresponding stanza, from Miss Butchart, Arbroath:

‘Ye’ll gie ower your day’s doukin An douk upon the nicht, An the place Young Redin he lies in The torches will brin bricht.’

148. C 21, 22. At the same place in Findlay’s MSS we find these stanzas, from Miss Bower:

The firsten grasp that she got o him, It was o his yellow hair; O wasna that a dowie grasp, For her that did him bear! The nexten grasp that she got o him, It was o his lillie hand; O was na that a dowie grasp, For her brocht him to land!

69. Clerk Saunders.

P. 156 b, 2d paragraph. Austerities. ‘Mijn haer sel onghevlochten staen,’ etc. ‘Brennenberg,’ Hoffmann, Niederländische Volkslieder, p. 33, No 6, st. 17.

IV, 468 a, 3d line. Add: also four versions of Karl Hittebarn, No 294.

71. The Bent sae Brown.

P. 170. Danish. ‘Jomfruens Brødre,’ Kristensen, Skattegraveren, II, 145 ff., Nos 717-23 V, 81 ff., Nos 632-34; Efterslæt til Sk., p. 15, No 13, p. 84, No 79, ‘Den ulige Kamp;’ Folkeminder, XI, 139, No 53, A-C, p. 307, No 53.

73. Lord Thomas and Fair Annet.

P. 181, III, 510 b, IV, 469 a. Add another version of ‘Le Rossignolet,’ Rev. des Trad. pop., VIII, 418.

192. G as it stands in “The Old Lady’s Collection,” No 24.

1 Suit Willie an Fair Annë, They satt on yon hill, An fra the morning till night this tua Never ta’ked ther fill. 2 Willie spak a word in jeast, An Anny toke it ill: ‘We’s court ne mare mean madens, Agenst our parents’ will.’ 3 ‘It’s na agenst our parents’ will,’ Fair Annie she did say; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Willie is hame to his bour, To his book alean, An Fair Anni is to her bour, To her book an her seam. 5 Suit Willie is to his mider dear, Fell lou doun on his knee: ‘A asking, my mider dear, An ye grant it me; O will I marry the nut-broun may, An latt Faire Anny be?’ 6 ‘The nut-broun may has ousen, Willie, The nut-broun may has kay; An ye will wine my blissing, Willie, An latt Fair Anny be.’ 7 He did him to his father dear, Fell lou doun on his knee: ‘A asken, my father, An ye man grant it me.’ 8 ‘Ask on, my ae sin Willie, Ye’r sear yer asking is frea; Except it be to marry her Fair Anny, An that ye manna deei.’ 9 Out spak his littel sister, As she sat by the fire; The oxe-lig will brak in the plough, An the cou will droun in the mire. 10 ‘An Willie will hae nathing Bat the dam to sitt by the fire, An Faire Annie will sit in her beagly bour, An wine a eearl’s hire.’ 11 ‘Fair faa ye, my littel sister, A gued dead matt ye dee! An ever I hae goud, Well touchered sall ye be.’ 12 Hi’se away to Fair Annie, As fast as gang coud he: ‘O will ye come to my marrag? The morn it’s to be.’ ‘O I will come to yer marrag the morn, Gin I can wine,’ said she. 13 Annie did her to her father d[ea]r, Fell lou doun on her knee: ‘An askin, my father, An ye mane grant it me; Latt me to Suit Willie’s marrage, The morn it is to be.’ 14 ‘Your hors sall be siler-shod afor, An guid read goud ahind, An bells in his main, To ring agenst the wind.’ 15 She did her to her mother dear, Fell lou on her knee: ‘Will ye latt me to Willie’s marrage? To-morraa it is to be.’ ‘I ill latt ye to Willie’s marrage, To-morray it is to be.’ 16 Fan Annë was in her sadel sett, She flamd agenst the fire; The girdell about her sma middell Wad a wone a eearl’s hire. 17 Fan they came to Mary kirk, An on to Mary quir, ‘O far gat ye that water, Annë, That washes ye sae clean?’ ‘I gat it in my fa(t)hers garden, Aneth a marbell stane.’ 18 ‘O fare gatt ye that water, Annë, That washes ye sae fett?’ ‘I gat it in my mider’s womb, Far ye never gat the leak. 19 ‘For ye ha ben cirsned we mose-water, An roked in the reak, An sin-brunt in yer midder’s womb, For I think ye’ll never be faitt.’ 20 The broun bride pat her hand in Att Annë’s left gare, An gen her . . . . . . . . A deap wound an a sare. 21 O Annë gid on her hors back, An fast away did ride, Batt lang or kok’s crawang Fair Annë was dead. 22 Fan bells was rung, an messe was sung, An a’ man boun to bed, Suit Willie an the nut-broun bride In a chamber was lead. 23 But up an wakned him Suit Willie, Out of his dreary dream: ‘I dreamed a dream this night, God read a’ dreams to gued! 24 ‘That Fair Annë’s bour was full of gentelmen, An her nen sellf was dead; Bat I will on to Fair Annie, An see if it be gued.’ 25 Seven lang mille or he came near, He hard a dulfull chear, Her father an her seven bretheren Making to her a bear, The half of it guid read goud, The eather silver clear. 26 ‘Ye berl att my love’s leak The whit bread an the wine, Bat or the morn att this time Ye’s de the leak att mine.’ 27 The tean was beared att Mary kirk, The eather att Mary quir; Out of the an grue a birk, Out of the eather a brear. 28 An ay the langer att they grue They came the eather near, An by that ye might a well kent They war tua lovers dear.

4². There may have been a word between book and alean.

5⁶. bay: cf. 6⁴.

16². flamd is doubtful.

21⁴. farie.

23³. might.

74. Fair Margaret and Sweet William.

P. 199. The Roxburghe copy, III, 338, Ebsworth, VI, 640, is a late one, of Aldermary Church-Yard.

200 b. A c is translated by Pröhle, G. A. Bürger, Sein Leben u. seine Dichtungen, p. 109.

75. Lord Lovel.

P. 204 f., note †, 512 b, IV 471 a. Add ‘Der Graf und das Mädchen,’ Böckel, Deutsche V.-l. aus Oberhessen, p. 5, No 6; ‘Es schlief ein Graf bei seiner Magd,’ Lewalter, Deutsche V.-l. in Niederhessen gesammelt, 2³ Heft, p. 3, No 2: ‘Der Graf und sein Liebchen,’ Frischbier u. Sembrzycki, Hundert Ostpreussische Volkslieder, p. 34, No 21.

205 a, note, III, 510 b, IV, 471 b. Scandinavian, Other copies of ‘Lille Lise,’ ‘Greven og lille Lise,’ Kristensen, Efterslæt til Skattegraveren, p. 18, No 15, Folkeminder, XI, 159, No 62, A-D.

205. ‘Den elskedes Død,’ Berggreen, Danske Folkesange, 3d ed., p. 162, No 80 b; Svenske Fs., 2d ed., p. 84, No 66 b.

The ballad exists in Esthonian: Kaarle Krohn, Die geographische Verbreitung estnischer Lieder, p. 23.

76. The Lass of Roch Royal.

P. 213. B was received by Herd, with several other ballads, “by post, from a lady in Ayrshire (?), name unknown:” Herd’s MSS, I, 143.

215 b, 2d paragraph, tokens. Add: Ζωγραφεῖος Ἀγών, p. 90, No 67, p. 91, No 69, p. 95, No 81.

The lady demands love-tokens of Clerk Saunders’ ghost, No 69, G, 33, II, 166.

219. C occurs in C. K. Sharpe’s small MS. volume “Songs,” p. 40, and must have been communicated to Sharpe by Pitcairn. Collation:

2. It’s open, etc.: not written in full.

3³, 4³. Ruchley hill.

5³. give me.

6. Do not you mind, etc.: not written in full.

7 wanting.

8¹. turned round.

10¹. It’s awa.

10³. have got the.

13¹. that he.

14¹. Let down, let down.

14³. late wanting.

15³. morrow.

15⁴. of mine.

16, 17, wanting.

77. Sweet William’s Ghost.

P. 228, note †. Add: Zingerle, in Zeitschrift für Volkskunde, II, 147.

229. C is translated by Pröhle, G. A. Bürger, Sein Leben u. seine Dichtungen, p. 106.

78. The Unquiet Grave.

P. 236 b, last paragraph. See the preface to ‘The Suffolk Miracle’ in this volume, p. 58 ff.

This “fragment,” in a small MS. volume entirely in C. K. Sharpe’s handwriting (“Songs”), p. 21, “from the recitation of Miss Oliphant of Gask, now Mrs Nairn” (later Lady Nairne), evidently belongs here.

O wet and weary is the night, And evendown pours the rain, O, And he that was sae true to me Lies in the greenwood slain, O. P. 21.

80. Old Robin of Portingale.

P. 240. ‘Sleep you, wake you.’ So, ‘Soldatenlohn,’ Zeitschrift für Volkskunde, II, 426, sts. 6, 7; Hruschka u. Toischer, Deutsche Volkslieder aus Böhmen, p. 183, No 147 a, 4⁵, b 3⁵, p. 195, No 171, 2¹, No 172, 4.

240, 513 a, III, 514, IV, 476. Two religious persons from India display to the Pope a cross burned on the breast in token of Christian faith, and also a baptismal mark on the right ear, “non flumine sed flamine:” Chronicon Adae de Usk ad ann. 1404, ed. E. M. Thompson, p. 90. See also the reference to York’s Marco Polo, 1875, II, 421, in Mr Thompson’s note, p. 219. (G. L. K.)

81. Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard.

P. 242. ‘Little Musgrave’ is entered to Francis Coules in the Stationers’ Registers, 24 June, 1630: Arber, IV, 236.

85. Lady Alice.

P. 279.

C

Miss M. H. Mason’s Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs, p. 46, ‘Giles Collin.’

1 Giles Collin he said to his mother one day, Oh, mother, come bind up my head! For tomorrow morning before it is day I’m sure I shall be dead. 2 ‘Oh, mother, oh, mother, if I should die, And I am sure I shall, I will not be buried in our churchyard, But under Lady Alice’s wall.’ 3 His mother she made him some water-gruel, And stirred it up with a spoon; Giles Collin he ate but one spoonful, And died before it was noon. 4 Lady Alice was sitting in her window, All dressed in her night-coif; She saw as pretty a corpse go by As ever she’d seen in her life. 5 ‘What bear ye there, ye six tall men? What bear ye on your shourn?’ ‘We bear the body of Giles Collin, Who was a true lover of yourn.’ 6 ‘Down with him, down with him, upon the grass, The grass that grows so green; For tomorrow morning before it is day My body shall lie by him.’ 7 Her mother she made her some plum-gruel, With spices all of the best; Lady Alice she ate but one spoonful, And the doctor he ate up the rest. 8 Giles Collin was laid in the lower chancel, Lady Alice all in the higher; There grew up a rose from Lady Alice’s breast, And from Giles Collin’s a briar. 9 And they grew, and they grew, to the very church-top, Until they could grow no higher, And twisted and twined in a true-lover’s knot, Which made all the parish admire.

90. Jellon Grame.

P. 303 b, 513 b, III, 515 b, IV, 479 b. Precocious growth.

The French romance of Alexander. Albéric de Besançon: Alexander had more strength when three days old than other children of four months; he walked and ran better from his first year than any other child from its seventh. (The same, nearly, in Lamprecht, vv. 142-4: he throve better in three days than any other child of three months; 178-80, in his first year his strength and body waxed more than another’s in three.) MS. de l’Arsenal: the child grew in vitality and knowledge more in seven years than others do in a hundred. MS. de Venise: he grew more in body and knowledge in eight years than others in a hundred. P. Meyer, Alexandre le Grand, I, 5, v. 56 f., 6, v. 74 f., 27, v. 39 f., 240, v. 53 f. ‘Plus sot en x jors que i. autres en c:’ Michelant, p. 8, v. 20. A similar precocity is recorded of the Chinese Emperor Schimong: Gützlaff, Geschichte der Chinesen, hrsgg. v. Neumann, S. 19, cited by Weismann, Lamprecht’s Alexander, I, 432.

In the romance of Mélusine it is related how, after her disappearance in serpent-form, she was seen by the nurses to return at night and care for her two infant sons, who, according to the earliest version, the prose of Jehan d’Arras, grew more in a week than other children in a month: ed. Brunet, 1854, p. 361. The same in the French romance, l. 4347 f., the English metrical version, l. 4035-37, and in the German Volksbuch. (H. L. Koopman.)

Tom Hickathrift “was in length, when he was but ten years of age, about eight foot, and in thickness five foot, and his hand was like unto a shoulder of mutton, and in all parts from top to toe he was like a monster.” The History of Thomas Hickathrift, ed. by G. L. Gomme, Villon Society, 1885, p. 2. (G. L. K.)

305. B. The following, a variety of B, is from the papers of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, “second collection,” p. 6.

1 Word has come to May Young Ro, In her bower where she sat, ‘You’r bidden come to good green wood And sew your love a shirt.’ 2 ‘I wonder much,’ said May Young Roe, ‘Such word is come to me; Ther’s not a month throwout this year But I have sewed him three.’ 3 Then out it spake her mother, And a wise word spoke she; Said, Stay at home, my daughter, They want to murder thee. 4 ‘I will cast off my gloves, mother, And hing them on a pin; If I come never back again, You’l mind on your daugh[t]er young. 5 ‘Come here, my boy,’ she cried, ‘And bring my horse to me, That I may ride to good green wood, The flowers in it to see.’ 6 When she was got to good green wood, No further did she ride Till up did start him Hind Henry, Just at the ladie’s side. 7 ‘O stop, O stop there, May,’ he cried, ‘O stop, I say to thee; The boy who holds your bridle-reins Shall see your body wea.’ 8 Then out he drew a large long brand, And struck it ower a str[ow], And throw and throw that ladie’s side He made the cold steel go. 9 Said, Take you that now, May Young Roe, Just take you that from me, Because you loved Brown Robin, And never would love me. 10 The boy was in a dreadful fright, And in great haste rode home, Lamenting sadly all the way, And made a piteous moan. 11 And when her mother heard his tale She took the bed of care; Her sister ran to good green wood, A tearing of her hair. 12 There was small pity for that lady, Where she was lying dead, Compared with for the pretty babe, Weltring among the blood. 13 ‘I will take up this babe,’ she said, ‘And lull him on my sleeve; Altho his father should wish me woe, His mother was to me live.’ 14 Now she has taken the boy up, And she has brought him hame, And she has called him Brown Robin, It was his father’s name. 15 And she has nursed him carefuly, And put him to the school, And any who affronted him He soon did make cry dule. 16 And it fell ance upon a time It was a haly day, And all the boys at that school On it they got the play. 17 He hied him unto good green wood, And leap from tree to tree, And there did pull some hollin wands, To play his own self we. 18 And aft he looked on a spot, And at it marvelled sair, That all the wood was clad with leaves, And that one spot was bare. 19 And he said unto Hind Henry, ‘I wonder very sair That all the wood is clad with leaves, And this one spot is bare.’ 20 ‘You need not wonder, boy,’ he said, ‘You need not wonder none, For it is just the very spot I killed your mother on.’ 21 The boy’s pulled out his daggar then, And struck it ower a strow, And even to Hind Henry’s heart He made the cold steel go. 22 Says, Take you that, you vile Henry, Just take you that from me, For killing of my mother dear, And she not harming thee.

91. Fair Mary of Wallington.

P. 314, IV, 480 a. D. 10³ in Kinloch MSS, V, 363, reads, I hear this babe now from her side; but in Mr Macmath’s transcript of Burton’s MS., No 2, I bear ... my side.

316. ‘The Lady of Livenston,’ from “The Old Lady’s Collection,” No 32.

G

1 ‘We was sisters, we was seven, Five of us dayed we child, An you an me, Burd Ellen, Sall live maidens mild.’ 2 Ther came leards, an ther came lords, An knights of high degree, A’courting Lady Messry, Bat it widne deei. 3 Bat the bonny lord of Livenston, He was flour of them a’, The bonny lord of Livenston, He stole the lady awaa. 4 Broad was the horses hoves That dumped the water of Clide, An a’ was for honor of that gay lady That day she was Livenston’s bride. 5 Fan she came to Livenston Mukell mirth was ther; The knights knaked ther whit fingers The ladys curled ther hear. 6 She had no ben in Livenston A tuall-month an a day, Till she was as big we bearn As a lady coud gaa. 7 She had ne ben in Livenston A tuall-month an a hour, Till for the morning of the may The couldne ane come near her bour. 8 ‘Far will I gett a bonny boy That will rean my earend shoun, That will goo to leve London, To my mother, the quin?’ 9 ‘Hear am I, a bonny boy Will rin yer earend sune, That will rin on to fair London, To yer mother, the quin.’ 10 ‘Hear is the bruch fra my breast-bane, The garlands fra my hear; Ye ge that to my mider, Fra me she’ll never gett mare. 11 ‘Hear is the rosses fra my shoun, The ribbons fra my hear; Ye gee that to my mider, Fra me she’ll never gett mare. 12 ‘Hear is my briddel-stand, It is a’ goud to the heam; Ye gie that to Burd Ellen, Forbed her to marry men. 13 ‘Ye bid them and ye pray them bath, If they will dou it for my sake, If they be not att my death, To be att my leak-wake. 14 ‘Ye bid them and ye pray them baith, If they will dou it for my name, If they be not att my leak-wake, To be att my birrien.’ 15 Fan he came to grass grouen, He strated his bou an rane, An fan he came to brigs broken He slaked his bou an swam. 16 An fan he came to yon castell, He bad nether to chap nor caa, But sait his bent bou to his breast An lightly lap the waa; Or the porter was att the gate, The boy was in the haa. 17 ‘Mukell meatt is on yer table, lady, An littil of it is eaten, Bat the bonny lady of Livenston Ye have her clean forgotten.’ 18 ‘Ye lie, ye lie, ye bonny boy, Sae loud as I hear ye lie; Mukell ha I sold the [meatt], An littel hae I bought, Batt the bonny lady of Livenston Gaas never out of my thought. 19 ‘Mukell have I bought, bonny boy, An littel haa I sale, Bat the bonny lady of Livenston She couls my heart fue cale.’ 20 ‘Hear is the ribbings fra her hear, The roses fra her shoun; I was bidden gie that to her midder, To her midder, the quin. 21 ‘Hear is the bruch fra her breast-bean, The garlands frae her hear; I was bidden gee that to her mother, Fra her she’ll never gett mare. 22 ‘Hear is her bridell-stand, The’r a’ goud to the heam; I was bidden ga that to Burd Ellen, Forbid her to marry man. 23 ‘She bids ye an she prays ye bath, Gin yee’ll di et for her sake, If ye be not att her death, To be att her leak-wake. 24 ‘She bidds yee an she prays ye bath, Gine ye’ll dou et for her name, If ye be not att her leak-wake, To be at her burrien.’ 25 ‘Garr saddell to me the blak, Saddle to me the broun, Gar saddel to me the suiftest stead That ever read fraa a toun, Till I gaa to Livenston An see hou Measry fairs.’ 26 The first stead was saddled to her, It was the bonny black; She spured him aftt and she spared him na, An she tayened him at a slap. 27 The neast stead that was saddled to her Was the berrey-broun; She spured him aftt an she spared him not, An she tayned him att a toun. 28 The neast an steed that was saddled to her, It was the milk-white: ‘Fair faa the mear that folled the foll Had me to Meassry’s leak!’ 29 Fan she came to Livenston, Mukel dolle was ther; The knights wrang ther whit fingers, The ladys tore ther hear. 30 The knights they wrang ther whit fingers, The rings they flue in four: ‘Latt haas an tours an a’ doun fan! My dear thing has gine it our.’ 31 Out spak him Livenston, An a sorry man was he; ‘I had rader lost the lands of Livenston, Afor my gay lady.’ 32 ‘Had yer toung nou, Livenston, An latt yer folly be; I bare the burd in my bosom, I man thole to see her diee.’ 33 Fan she came to her doughter’s boure, Ther was littel pride; The scoups was in her doughter’s mouth, An the sharp shirrs in her side. 34 Out spake her Burd Ellen, An she spake ay threu pride; The wife sall never bear the sin Sall lay doun by my side. 35 ‘Had your toung nou, Burd Ellen, Ye latt yer folly a be; Dinnë ye mind that ye promised yer love To him that is ayond the seaa?’ 36 ‘Hold yer toung, my mother, Ye speak just leak a fooll; Tho I wer marred att Martimes, I wad be dead or Yeull.’ 37 ‘I have five bonny oyes att heam, Ther was never ane of them born, Bat every are of them Out of ther midder’s sides shorn.’

5². The knights knaked ther whit fingers is certainly an anticipation. This is always done for anguish: see 29^3,4, 30^1,2.