Part 10

[Annotations: 1.2: 'round tables,' an unknown game. 4.1: 'graith'd,' harnessed, usually; here perhaps shod. 6.1: 'laird,' a landholder, below the degree of knight.--+Jamieson+. 13.1: 'heiding-hill': _i.e._ heading (beheading) hill. The place of execution was anciently an artificial hillock.--+Percy+.]

BARBARA ALLAN

+The Text+ is from Allan Ramsay's _Tea-Table Miscellany_ (1763). It was not included in the first edition (1724-1727), nor until the ninth edition in 1740, when to the original three volumes there was added a fourth, in which this ballad appeared. There is also a Scotch version, _Sir John Grehme and Barbara Allan_. Percy printed both in the _Reliques_, vol. iii.

+The Story+ of Barbara Allan's scorn of her lover and subsequent regret has always been popular. Pepys records of Mrs. Knipp, 'In perfect pleasure I was to hear her sing, and especially her little Scotch song of Barbary Allen' (January 2, 1665-6). Goldsmith's words are equally well known: 'The music of the finest singer is dissonance to what I felt when an old dairymaid sung me into tears with _Johnny Armstrong's Last Goodnight_, or _The Cruelty of Barbara Allen_.' The tune is excessively popular: it is given in Chappell's _English Song and Ballad Music_.

BARBARA ALLAN

1. It was in and about the Martinmas time, When the green leaves were afalling, That Sir John Graeme, in the West Country, Fell in love with Barbara Allan.

2. He sent his men down through the town, To the place where she was dwelling; 'O haste and come to my master dear, Gin ye be Barbara Allan.'

3. O hooly, hooly rose she up, To the place where he was lying, And when she drew the curtain by, 'Young man, I think you're dying.'

4. 'O it's I am sick, and very, very sick, And 't is a' for Barbara Allan.' 'O the better for me ye 's never be, Tho' your heart's blood were aspilling.'

5. 'O dinna ye mind, young man,' said she, 'When ye was in the tavern a drinking, That ye made the healths gae round and round, And slighted Barbara Allan?'

6. He turn'd his face unto the wall, And death was with him dealing; 'Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all, And be kind to Barbara Allan.'

7. And slowly, slowly raise she up, And slowly, slowly left him, And sighing, said, she coud not stay, Since death of life had reft him.

8. She had not gane a mile but twa, When she heard the dead-bell ringing, And every jow that the dead-bell geid, It cry'd, 'Woe to Barbara Allan!'

9. 'O mother, mother, make my bed, O make it saft and narrow! Since my love died for me to-day, I'll die for him to-morrow.'

THE GAY GOSHAWK

+The Text+ is from the Jamieson-Brown MS., on which version Scott drew partly for his ballad in the _Minstrelsy_. Mrs. Brown recited the ballad again to William Tytler in 1783, but the result is now lost, with most of the other Tytler-Brown versions.

+The Story.+--One point, the maid's feint of death to escape from her father to her lover, is the subject of a ballad very popular in France; a version entitled _Belle Isambourg_ is printed in a collection called _Airs de Cour_, 1607. Feigning death to escape various threats is a common feature in many European ballads.

It is perhaps needless to remark that no goshawk sings sweetly, much less talks. In Buchan's version (of forty-nine stanzas) the goshawk is exchanged for a parrot.

THE GAY GOSHAWK

1. 'O well's me o' my gay goss-hawk, That he can speak and flee; He'll carry a letter to my love, Bring back another to me.'

2. 'O how can I your true-love ken, Or how can I her know? When frae her mouth I never heard couth, Nor wi' my eyes her saw.'

3. 'O well sal ye my true-love ken, As soon as you her see; For, of a' the flow'rs in fair Englan', The fairest flow'r is she.

4. 'At even at my love's bow'r-door There grows a bowing birk, An' sit ye down and sing thereon As she gangs to the kirk.

5. 'An' four-and-twenty ladies fair Will wash and go to kirk, But well shall ye my true-love ken, For she wears goud on her skirt.

6. 'An' four-and-twenty gay ladies Will to the mass repair, But well sal ye my true-love ken, For she wears goud on her hair.'

7. O even at that lady's bow'r-door There grows a bowin' birk, An' she sat down and sang thereon, As she ged to the kirk.

8. 'O eet and drink, my marys a', The wine flows you among, Till I gang to my shot-window, An' hear yon bonny bird's song.

9. 'Sing on, sing on, my bonny bird, The song ye sang the streen, For I ken by your sweet singin', You 're frae my true-love sen'.'

10. O first he sang a merry song, An' then he sang a grave, An' then he peck'd his feathers gray, To her the letter gave.

11. 'Ha, there's a letter frae your love, He says he sent you three; He canna wait your love langer, But for your sake he'll die.

12. 'He bids you write a letter to him; He says he's sent you five; He canno wait your love langer, Tho' you're the fairest woman alive.'

13. 'Ye bid him bake his bridal bread, And brew his bridal ale, An' I'll meet him in fair Scotlan' Lang, lang or it be stale.'

14. She's doen her to her father dear, Fa'n low down on her knee: 'A boon, a boon, my father dear, I pray you, grant it me.'

15. 'Ask on, ask on, my daughter, An' granted it sal be; Except ae squire in fair Scotlan', An' him you sall never see.'

16. 'The only boon my father dear, That I do crave of the, Is, gin I die in southin lans, In Scotland to bury me.

17. 'An' the firstin kirk that ye come till, Ye gar the bells be rung, An' the nextin kirk that ye come till, Ye gar the mess be sung.

18. 'An' the thirdin kirk that ye come till, You deal gold for my sake, An' the fourthin kirk that ye come till, You tarry there till night.'

19. She is doen her to her bigly bow'r, As fast as she coud fare, An' she has tane a sleepy draught, That she had mix'd wi' care.

20. She's laid her down upon her bed, An' soon she's fa'n asleep, And soon o'er every tender limb Cauld death began to creep.

21. Whan night was flown, an' day was come, Nae ane that did her see But thought she was as surely dead As ony lady coud be.

22. Her father an' her brothers dear Gard make to her a bier; The tae half was o' guid red gold, The tither o' silver clear.

23. Her mither an' her sisters fair Gard work for her a sark; The tae half was o' cambrick fine, The tither o' needle wark.

24. The firstin kirk that they came till, They gard the bells be rung, An' the nextin kirk that they came till, They gard the mess be sung.

25. The thirdin kirk that they came till, They dealt gold for her sake, An' the fourthin kirk that they came till, Lo, there they met her make!

26. 'Lay down, lay down the bigly bier, Lat me the dead look on'; Wi' cherry cheeks and ruby lips She lay an' smil'd on him.

27. 'O ae sheave o' your bread, true-love, An' ae glass o' your wine, For I hae fasted for your sake These fully days is nine.

28. 'Gang hame, gang hame, my seven bold brothers, Gang hame and sound your horn; An' ye may boast in southin lan's Your sister's play'd you scorn.'

[Annotations: 2.3: 'couth,' word.--+Jamieson+. The derivation, from Anglo-Saxon _cwide_, is hard. 7.3: 'she' is the goshawk; called 'he' in 1.2. 8.3: 'shot-window,' here perhaps a bow-window. 9.2: 'streen' = yestreen, last evening. 19.1: 'bigly,' _lit._ habitable; the stock epithet of 'bower.' 25.4: 'make,' mate, lover. 27.1: 'sheave,' slice.]

BROWN ROBIN

+The Text+ is here given from the Jamieson-Brown MS. Versions, lengthened and therefore less succinct and natural, are given in Christie's _Traditional Ballad Airs_ (_Love Robbie_) and in Buchan's _Ballads of the North of Scotland_ (_Brown Robyn and Mally_).

+The Story+ is a genuine bit of romance. The proud porter is apparently suspicious, believing that the king's daughter would not have made him drunk for any good purpose. In spite of that he cannot see through Brown Robin's disguise, though the king remarks that 'this is a sturdy dame.' The king's daughter, one would think, who conceals Robin's bow in her bosom, must also have been somewhat sturdy. Note the picturesque touch in 8.2.

BROWN ROBIN

1. The king but an' his nobles a' } _bis_ Sat birling at the wine; } He would ha' nane but his ae daughter To wait on them at dine.

2. She's served them butt, she's served them ben, Intill a gown of green, But her e'e was ay on Brown Robin, That stood low under the rain.

3. She's doen her to her bigly bow'r, As fast as she coud gang, An' there she's drawn her shot-window, An' she's harped an' she sang.

4. 'There sits a bird i' my father's garden, An' O but she sings sweet! I hope to live an' see the day When wi' my love I'll meet.'

5. 'O gin that ye like me as well As your tongue tells to me, What hour o' the night, my lady bright, At your bow'r sal I be?'

6. 'Whan my father an' gay Gilbert Are baith set at the wine, O ready, ready I will be To lat my true-love in.'

7. O she has birl'd her father's porter Wi' strong beer an' wi' wine, Untill he was as beastly drunk As ony wild-wood swine: She's stown the keys o' her father's yates An latten her true-love in.

8. When night was gane, an' day was come, An' the sun shone on their feet, Then out it spake him Brown Robin, 'I'll be discover'd yet.'

9. Then out it spake that gay lady: 'My love ye need na doubt, For wi' ae wile I've got you in, Wi' anither I'll bring you out.'

10. She's ta'en her to her father's cellar, As fast as she can fare; She's drawn a cup o' the gude red wine, Hung 't low down by her gare; An' she met wi' her father dear Just coming down the stair.

11. 'I woud na gi' that cup, daughter, That ye hold i' your han', For a' the wines in my cellar, An' gantrees whare the[y] stan'.'

12. 'O wae be to your wine, father, That ever 't came o'er the sea; 'Tis pitten my head in sic a steer I' my bow'r I canna be.'

13. 'Gang out, gang out, my daughter dear, Gang out an' tack the air; Gang out an' walk i' the good green wood, An' a' your marys fair.'

14. Then out it spake the proud porter-- Our lady wish'd him shame-- 'We'll send the marys to the wood, But we'll keep our lady at hame.'

15. 'There's thirty marys i' my bow'r, There's thirty o' them an' three; But there 's nae ane amo' them a' Kens what flow'r gains for me.'

16. She's doen her to her bigly bow'r As fast as she could gang, An' she has dresst him Brown Robin Like ony bow'r-woman.

17. The gown she pat upon her love Was o' the dainty green, His hose was o' the saft, saft silk, His shoon o' the cordwain fine.

18. She's pitten his bow in her bosom, His arrow in her sleeve, His sturdy bran' her body next, Because he was her love.

19. Then she is unto her bow'r-door As fast as she coud gang; But out it spake the proud porter-- Our lady wish'd him shame-- 'We'll count our marys to the wood, And we'll count them back again.'

20. The firsten mary she sent out Was Brown Robin by name; Then out it spake the king himsel', 'This is a sturdy dame.'

21. O she went out in a May morning, In a May morning so gay, But she never came back again, Her auld father to see.

[Annotations: 1.2: 'birling,' drinking: cf. 7.1. 3.1: 'bigly,' commodious: see _The Gay Goshawk_, 19.1. 3.3: 'shot-window,' here perhaps a shutter with a pane of glass let in. 7.1: 'birl'd,' plied: cf. 1.2. 7.4: Cf. _Fause Footrage_ 16.4: a popular simile. 7.5: 'stown,' stolen: 'yates,' gates. 10.4: 'gare,' gore; _i.e._ by her knee: a stock ballad phrase. 11.4: 'gantrees,' stands for casks. 12.3: 'sic,' such: the MS. gives _sick_: 'steer,' disturbance. 13.4: 'marys,' maids. 15.4: 'gains for,' suits, is meet (Icelandic, _gegna_). Cf. Jamieson's version of _Sir Patrick Spence_:-- 'For I brought as much white money As will gain my men and me.' 17.4: 'cordwain,' Cordovan (Spanish) leather. 21.2: 'gay': the MS. gives _gray_. This is Child's emendation, who points out that the sun was up, 8.2.]

LADY ALICE

+The Text+ of this little ballad is given from Bell's _Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England_.

It should be compared with _Lord Lovel_.

LADY ALICE

1. Lady Alice was sitting in her bower-window, At midnight mending her quoif, And there she saw as fine a corpse As ever she saw in her life.

2. 'What bear ye, what bear ye, ye six men tall? What bear ye on your shoulders?' 'We bear the corpse of Giles Collins, An old and true lover of yours.'

3. 'O lay him down gently, ye six men tall, All on the grass so green, And to-morrow, when the sun goes down, Lady Alice a corpse shall be seen.

4. 'And bury me in Saint Mary's church, All for my love so true, And make me a garland of marjoram, And of lemon-thyme, and rue.'

5. Giles Collins was buried all in the east, Lady Alice all in the west, And the roses that grew on Giles Collins's grave, They reached Lady Alice's breast.

6. The priest of the parish he chanced to pass, And he severed those roses in twain; Sure never were seen such true lovers before, Nor e'er will there be again.

[Annotations: 1.2: 'quoif,' cap. The line should doubtless be:-- 'Mending her midnight quoif.']

CHILD MAURICE

+The Text+ is from the Percy Folio, given _literatim_, with two rearrangements of the lines (in stt. 4 and 22) and a few obvious corrections, as suggested by Hales, and Furnivall, and Child. The Folio version was printed by Jamieson in his _Popular Ballads and Songs_.

The Scotch version, _Gil Morrice_, was printed by Percy in the _Reliques_ in preference to the version of his Folio. He notes that the ballad 'has lately run through two editions in Scotland: the second was printed at Glasgow in 1755.' Thanks to an advertisement prefixed to these Scottish editions, sixteen additional verses were obtained and added by Percy, who thought that they were 'perhaps after all only an ingenious interpolation.' _Gil Morrice_ introduces 'Lord Barnard' in place of 'John Steward,' adopted, perhaps, from _Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard_. Motherwell's versions were variously called _Child Noryce_, _Bob Norice_, _Gill Morice_, _Chield Morice_. Certainly the Folio ballad is unsurpassed for its vigorous, objective style, and forcible, vivid pictures.

+The Story+ of this ballad gave rise to Home's _Douglas_, a tragedy, produced in the Concert Hall, Canongate, Edinburgh, 1756 (on which occasion the heroine's name was given as 'Lady Barnard'), and transferred to Covent Garden Theatre, in London, in 1757, the heroine's name being altered to 'Lady Randolph.'

Perhaps in the same year in which the play was produced in London, the poet Gray wrote from Cambridge:-- 'I have got the old Scotch ballad on which _Douglas_ was founded; it is divine, and as long as from hence to Aston. Aristotle's best rules are observed in it in a manner which shows the author never had heard of Aristotle. It begins in the fifth act of the play. You may read it two-thirds through without guessing what it is about; and yet, when you come to the end, it is impossible not to understand the whole story.'

CHILD MAURICE

1. Child Maurice hunted ithe siluer wood, He hunted itt round about, And noebodye that he ffound therin, Nor none there was with-out.

2. ... ... ... ... ... ... And he tooke his siluer combe in his hand, To kembe his yellow lockes.

3. He sayes, 'Come hither, thou litle ffoot-page, That runneth lowlye by my knee, Ffor thou shalt goe to Iohn Stewards wiffe And pray her speake with mee.

4. ... ... ... ... ... ... I, and greete thou doe that ladye well, Euer soe well ffroe mee.

5. 'And, as itt ffalls, as many times As knotts beene knitt on a kell, Or marchant men gone to leeue London Either to buy ware or sell;

6. 'And, as itt ffalles, as many times As any hart can thinke, Or schoole-masters are in any schoole-house Writting with pen and inke: Ffor if I might, as well as shee may, This night I wold with her speake.

7. 'And heere I send her a mantle of greene, As greene as any grasse, And bid her come to the siluer wood, To hunt with Child Maurice.

8. 'And there I send her a ring of gold, A ring of precyous stone, And bidd her come to the siluer wood, Let ffor no kind of man.'

9. One while this litle boy he yode, Another while he ran, Vntill he came to Iohn Stewards hall, I-wis he never blan.

10. And of nurture the child had good, Hee ran vp hall and bower ffree, And when he came to this lady ffaire, Sayes, 'God you saue and see!

11. 'I am come ffrom Child Maurice, A message vnto thee; And Child Maurice, he greetes you well, And euer soe well ffrom mee;

12. 'And, as itt ffalls, as oftentimes As knotts beene knitt on a kell, Or marchant-men gone to leeue London Either ffor to buy ware or sell;

13. 'And as oftentimes he greetes you well As any hart can thinke, Or schoolemasters are in any schoole, Wryting with pen and inke.

14. 'And heere he sends a mantle of greene, As greene as any grasse, And he bidds you come to the siluer wood, To hunt with Child Maurice.

15. 'And heere he sends you a ring of gold, A ring of the precyous stone; He prayes you to come to the siluer wood, Let ffor no kind of man.'

16. 'Now peace, now peace, thou litle ffoot-page, Ffor Christes sake, I pray thee! Ffor if my lord heare one of these words, Thou must be hanged hye!'

17. Iohn Steward stood vnder the castle-wall, And he wrote the words euerye one, ... ... ... ... ... ...

18. And he called vnto his hors-keeper, 'Make readye you my steede!' I, and soe he did to his chamberlaine, 'Make readye thou my weede!'

19. And he cast a lease vpon his backe, And he rode to the siluer wood, And there he sought all about, About the siluer wood.

20. And there he ffound him Child Maurice Sitting vpon a blocke, With a siluer combe in his hand, Kembing his yellow locke.

... ... ...

21. But then stood vp him Child Maurice, And sayd these words trulye: 'I doe not know your ladye,' he said, 'If that I doe her see.'

22. He sayes, 'How now, how now, Child Maurice? Alacke, how may this bee? Ffor thou hast sent her loue-tokens, More now then two or three;

23. 'Ffor thou hast sent her a mantle of greene, As greene as any grasse, And bade her come to the siluer woode To hunt with Child Maurice.

24. 'And thou [hast] sent her a ring of gold, A ring of precyous stone, And bade her come to the siluer wood, Let ffor noe kind of man.

25. 'And by my ffaith, now, Child Maurice, The tone of vs shall dye!' 'Now be my troth,' sayd Child Maurice, 'And that shall not be I.'

26. But hee pulled forth a bright browne sword, And dryed itt on the grasse, And soe ffast he smote att Iohn Steward, I-wisse he neuer rest.

27. Then hee pulled fforth his bright browne sword, And dryed itt on his sleeue, And the ffirst good stroke Iohn Stewart stroke, Child Maurice head he did cleeue.

28. And he pricked itt on his swords poynt, Went singing there beside, And he rode till he came to that ladye ffaire, Wheras this ladye lyed.

29. And sayes, 'Dost thou know Child Maurice head, If that thou dost itt see? And lap itt soft, and kisse itt oft, For thou louedst him better than mee.'

30. But when shee looked on Child Maurice head, She neuer spake words but three: 'I neuer beare no child but one, And you haue slaine him trulye.'

31. Sayes, 'Wicked be my merrymen all, I gaue meate, drinke, and clothe! But cold they not haue holden me When I was in all that wrath!

32. 'Ffor I haue slaine one of the curteousest knights That euer bestrode a steed, Soe haue I done one [of] the fairest ladyes That euer ware womans weede!'

[Annotations: 1.1: 'siluer': the Folio gives _siluen_. 4.3,4: These lines in the Folio precede st. 6. 5.2: _i.e._ as many times as there are knots knit in a net for the hair; cf. French _cale_. 5.3: 'leeue,' lovely. 8.4: 'Let,' fail: it is the infinitive, governed by 'bidd.' 9.1: 'yode,' went. 9.4: 'blan,' lingered. 13.3: 'are': omitted in the Folio. 18.3: 'I,' aye. 19.1: 'lease,' leash, thong, string: perhaps for bringing back any game he might kill. After 20 at least one verse is lost. 22.1,2: In the Folio these lines precede 21.1,2. 24.1: 'hast' omitted in the Folio. 25.2: 'tone,' the one (or other).]

FAUSE FOOTRAGE

+The Text+ is from Alexander Fraser Tytler's Brown MS., which was also the source of Scott's version in the _Minstrelsy_. One line (31.1), closely resembling a line in Lady Wardlaw's forged ballad _Hardyknute_, caused Sir Walter to investigate strictly the authenticity of the ballad, but the evidence of Lady Douglas, that she had learned the ballad in her childhood, and could still repeat much of it, removed his doubts. It is, however, quite possible, as Professor Child points out, 'that Mrs. Brown may unconsciously have adopted this verse from the tiresome and affected _Hardyknute_, so much esteemed in her day.'

+The Story.+--In _The Complaynt of Scotlande_ (1549) there is mentioned a tale 'how the King of Estmure Land married the King's daughter of Westmure Land,' and it has been suggested that there is a connection with the ballad.

This is another of the ballads of which the English form has become so far corrupted that we have to seek its Scandinavian counterpart to obtain the full form of the story. The ballad is especially popular in Denmark, where it is found in twenty-three manuscripts, as follows:--

The rich Svend wooes Lisbet, who favours William for his good qualities. Svend, ill with grief, is well-advised by his mother, not to care for a plighted maid, and ill-advised by his sister, to kill William. Svend takes the latter advice, and kills William. Forty weeks later, Lisbet gives birth to a son, but Svend is told that the child is a girl. Eighteen years later, the young William, sporting with a peasant, quarrels with him; the peasant retorts, 'You had better avenge your father's death.' Young William asks his mother who slew his father, and she, thinking him too young to fight, counsels him to bring Svend to a court. William charges him in the court with the murder of his father, and says that no compensation has been offered. Not a penny shall be paid, says Svend. William draws his sword, and slays him.

Icelandic, Swedish, and Faeroee ballads tell a similar story.

FAUSE FOOTRAGE

1. King Easter has courted her for her gowd, King Wester for her fee; King Honor for her lands sae braid, And for her fair body.

2. They had not been four months married, As I have heard them tell, Until the nobles of the land Against them did rebel.

3. And they cast kaivles them amang, And kaivles them between; And they cast kaivles them amang, Wha shoud gae kill the king.

4. O some said yea, and some said nay, Their words did not agree; Till up it gat him Fa'se Footrage, And sware it shoud be he.

5. When bells were rung, and mass was sung, And a' man boon to bed, King Honor and his gay ladie In a hie chamer were laid.