Chapter XIX: Part III: , p. 24, Part IV, p. xxxi, taken down from James Olver, (6)

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.’

=a.=

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.
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .

=a.=

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.’

=a.=

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.’

=a.=

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;
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .

=a.=

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.’

=a.=

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.’

=a.=

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;
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .

=a.=

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.’

=a.=

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;
. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .

=a.=

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.’

=a.=

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.

7^4. Lays, Lass.

10^1. bloun.

12^1. 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:

1^1. twa.

1^2. school (_Note._ “I have heard it called the Chase”): the githar.

1^4. a far.

2^1. wrestled.

4^4. And.

5^1. brother.

6^3. both.

7^2, 8^2, 9^2. Should _for_ Gin.

8^1. what shall.

10^1. But _wanting_.

10^3. in fair Kirkland. (_Letter._ “I remembered a fair Kirk something, and Kirkland it must have been.”)

10^4. 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.’

* * * * *

2^1. worse laid, _misheard for_ warseled.

3^3. lands abroad _for_ land sae broad (_misheard_).

4^1. _After_ your, la _and half of an_ n, lan _caught from_ 3^3.

4^3. land abroad. _The reciter, or more probably the transcriber, has become confirmed in the error made in 3^3._

11^3. 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.’

* * * * *

5^2. I att her foot I: _cf._ 8^2.

9^3. tours: _cf._ 6^3.

13^4. spending.

17^3. Sigh an.

18^2. 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 y_e_ 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.’

* * * * *

1^6. bab have.

3^2. bide. _Cf._ =B= 3, =G= 1, =I= 1, =J= 1.

20^3. I an.

20^4. me gell.

21^2. my hell _again_.

21^4. And an.

30^2. 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.

1^2. Are a’.

1^4. 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.

5^1. my lords, she said.

5^2. on me.

5^4. And I have na mair to gie.

6^1. father’s wily page.

6^3. For he has awa to her bauld brother.

7^1. O are my father and mother.

7^2. brethren.

8^1. are weel.

8^2. Likewise your brethren.

8^4. But she’s shamed thy name and thee.

9^1. true, thou little page.

9^2. A bluidy sight thou’s see.

9^3. thou tells.

9^4. High hanged sall thou be.

10^1. O he has gane to.

10^4. Kaming.

11. _A stanza with_ “modern” _in the margin_.

12^1. The lady turnd her round about.

12^2. 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.’

14^1. ye hae gotten knights and lords.

14^2. Within.

14^3. drew.

15^1. your English love.

15^3. For shouldst think of him an hour langer.

15^4. Thy.

16^1. I wad gie up my English love.

16^3. 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.’

17^1. where are a’ my wight.

17^4. this strumpet.

18^2. at my.

19^1. and spake.

19^2. Stude weeping by her side.

19^3. wad rin this.

20. _wanting._

21^1, 22^1. And when.

21^3. to grass growing.

22^{1,5}. yate.

22^2. bade na chap nor.

22^3. to his.

22^5. And er.

23^1. O are.

23^2. Or are.

23^3. Or has my lady gien to me.

23^4. A dear: or a.

24^1. biggins are na broken, lord.

24^2. Nor yet.

24^3. a’ Scotlande.

24^4. This day for you.

25^1. to me the black horse.

25^2. O saddle to me.

25^3. Or saddle to me.

25^4. ere yet rode.

26^2. neeze.

26^3. your fire, my fierce.

26^4. no yet at.

27^1. And when: yate.

28^{1,2}.
And still, Mend up the fire, she cried,
And pour its rage round me.

28^4. will mend it soon for.

29^1. O had my hands.

29^2. Sae fast.

29^4. To save thy infant son.

30^{1,3}. for thee.

30^2. Thy sister and thy brother.

30^4. Thy father and thy mother.

31^1. for thee.

31^2. a’ thy.

31^3. that I make.

31^4. I sall.

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

2^4. on my (_wrongly_).

4^4. It’s liars.

8^2. That’s what I’ll.

10^2. brother.

13^3. But when.

20^1, 21^1, 22^1. rode on.

22^4. Janet’s excit (_Motherwell_, exite).

24^1. said.

27^4. 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.”

1^4. their bonneur.

8^2. to kill.

11^1. boy says.

11^2. An will.

14^{1,3}. line that he.

15^1. (bacon).

16^4. she _wanting_.

18^{2,4}. garl, marl, _are Sharpe’s corrections for words struck out, which seem to be_ guell, meal.

19^1. and that.

21^2. saft.

23^1. twice, so did I.

26^1. did stand.

31^4. he _wanting_.

_Only_ 14^{1,3}, 16^4, 23^1, 31^4, _are wrongly given in Motherwell_.

Scott’s MS.--_The name_ Maisery _is wanting throughout_.

23^3. only _for_ one.

28. _wanting._

30^3. had.

31^2. 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.

* * * * *

4^2. _There may have been a word between_ book _and_ alean.

5^6. bay: _cf._ 6^4.

16^2. flamd _is doubtful_.

21^4. farie.

23^3. 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, 2^3 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_.

3^3, 4^3. Ruchley hill.

5^3. give me.

6. Do not you mind, etc.: _not written in full_.

7 _wanting._

8^1. turned round.

10^1. It’s awa.

10^3. have got the.

13^1. that he.

14^1. Let down, let down.

14^3. late _wanting_.

15^3. morrow.

15^4. 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, 4^5, b 3^5, p. 195, No 171, 2^1, 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.= 10^3 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.’

* * * * *

5^2. The knights knaked ther whit fingers _is certainly an anticipation_. _This is always done for anguish: see_ 29^{3,4}, 30^{1,2}.

7^{3,4}. Till ther couldne ane come near her bour For the morning of they may. _Perhaps_ moaning.

16^2. he had.

18^3. _Perhaps_ the meat.

19^{2,4}. sale, cale (_for_ sold, cold).

22^2. hean.

22^3. bidden ga.

35^3. Didde.

92. Bonny Bee Horn.

P. 317. ‘The Lowlands of Holland.’ In ‘The Sorrowful Lover’s Regrate, or, The Low-Lands of Holland,’ British Museum 1346. m. 7(40), dated May the 5th, 1776, a threnody in eleven double stanzas. 1, 2 of the copy in Johnson’s Museum are 1, 2; Johnson, 3==7, 4==4, 5==6, 6==3, and the stanza added by Stenhouse is 9 (with verbal divergences). ‘The Maid’s Lamentation for the loss of her true love,’ Museum 11621. c. 3(39), “Newcastle, 1768?,” the fifth piece in The Complaining Lover’s Garland, has five stanzas: 1 corresponding to 2 of Johnson, 2 to 5, 5 to 6, 3 to 5 of the Regrate, and 4 to 9, with considerable differences. ‘The Seaman’s Sorrowful Bride,’ Roxburghe, IV, 73, Ebsworth, VI, 444, begins with two stanzas which resemble Johnson, 2, 1. This last was printed for J. Deacon, in Guilt-spur-street, and the date, according to Chappell, would be 1684-95.

93. Lamkin.

P. 331, =I=, as it stands in “The Old Lady’s Collection,” No 15.

1
Lamken was as gued a masson
as ever did hue ston;
He bigged Lord Weary’s house,
an pament never got non.

2
It fell ance on a day
Lord Weary went from home,
An Lamkin came to the fause nirice,
. . . . . . .

* * * * * * *

3
‘O still my bairn, nirice,
still him we the kniff:’
‘He winnë still, lady,
tho I sud lay doun my life.’

4
‘O still my bairn, nirice,
still him we the bell:’
‘He winnë still, lady,
till ye come doun yersell.’

5
The first step she came on,
it was the stane;
The nest step
she mett him Lamkin.

6
‘O spare my life, Lamkin,
an I ell gee ye a peak of goud well laid on;
An that dinnë pleas ye,
I ell heap it we my hand.’

7
‘O will I kill the lady, nirice,
or will I lat her gang?’
‘O kill her, Lanken,
she was never gued to me.’

8
‘O wanted ye yer meatt, nirice?
or wanted ye yer fiee?
Or wanted ye the other bountys
lady’s are wont to gee?’

9
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
‘Kill her, Lanken,
she was never gued to me.’

10
‘Ye wash a bason, nirice,
an ye wash it clean,
To cape this lady’s blode;
she is come of high kine.’

11
‘I winnë wash a bason,
nor wash it clean,
To cap this lady’s blod,
tho she be come of high kine.’

12
Bonny sang yon burd
as he satt on the tree,
Bat sare grat Lamkin
fan he was hanged hie.

13
Bonny sang the burd
that satt on the hill,
Bat sare grat the nirice
fan the caldron began to boill.

14
Lankin was hanged,
. . . . . high,
An the faus nirice
was burnt in the cadron was she.

* * * * *

339 ff., 513, IV, 480.

Y

‘Lammikin,’ Findlay’s MSS, I, 173, “from J. Milne, who wrote it down from recitation by John Duncan.”

1
Lie in your room, my wife,
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . .

2
‘You’ll fasten doors and windows,
you’ll fasten them out an in,
For if you leave ae window open
Lammikin will come in.’

3
They’ve fastened doors an windows,
they’ve fastened them out an in,
But they have left ae window open,
an Lammikin cam in.

4
‘O where are a’ the women
that dwell here within?’
‘They’re at the well washin,
and they will not come in.’

5
‘O where are a’ the men
that dwell here within?’
‘They’re at the. .. .,
and they will not come in.’

6
‘O where is the lady
that dwells here within?’
‘She’s up the stair dressin,
an she will not come doun.’

7
‘It’s what will we do
to mak her come doun?
We’ll rock the cradle, nourrice,
an mak her come doun.’

8
They [hae] rocked the cradle
to mak her come doun,
. . . . . .
the red bluid out sprung.

9
‘O still the bairn, nourrice,
O still him wi the bell:’
‘He winna still, my lady,
till ye come doun yersel.’

10
The first step she steppit,
it was upon a stane;
The next step she steppit,
she keppit Lammikin.

11
‘O mercy, mercy, Lammikin,
hae mercy upo me!
Tho ye hae killed my young son,
ye may lat mysel abee.’

12
‘O it’s will I kill her, nourrice,
or will I lat her be?’
‘O kill her, kill her, Lammikin,
she neer was gude to me.’

13
‘O it’s wanted ye your meat?
or wanted ye your fee?’
. . . . . .
. . . . . .

14
‘I wanted not my meat,
I wanted not my fee,
But I wanted some bounties
that ladies can gie.’

95. The Maid freed from the Gallows.