Part 4

18. Glasgerion swore a full great oath By oak and ash and thorn, 'Lady, I was never in your chamber Sith the time that I was born.'

19. 'O then it was your little foot-page Falsely hath beguiled me': And then she pull'd forth a little pen-knife That hanged by her knee, Says, 'There shall never no churles blood Spring within my body.'

20. But home then went Glasgerion, A woe man, good [Lord], was he; Says, 'Come hither, thou Jack, my boy, Come thou thither to me.

21. 'For if I had killed a man to-night, Jack, I would tell it thee; But if I have not killed a man to-night, Jack, thou hast killed three!'

22. And he pull'd out his bright brown sword, And dried it on his sleeve, And he smote off that lither lad's head, And asked no man no leave.

23. He set the sword's point till his breast, The pommel till a stone; Thorough that falseness of that lither lad These three lives were all gone.

[Annotations: 1.4: Folio:-- 'where cappe & candle yoode.' Percy in the _Reliques_ (1767) printed 'cuppe and _caudle_ stoode.' 1.6: 'wood,' mad, wild (with delight). 3.2: 'blin,' cease. 4.4: _i.e._ durst never speak my mind. 6.1: 'home'; Folio _whom_. 7.3,4: These lines are reversed in the Folio. 9.1: 'lither,' idle, wicked. 10.2: 'thrilled,' twirled or rattled; cp. 'tirled at the pin,' a stock ballad phrase (Scots). 12.2: 'yode,' went. 14.4: 'time': Folio _times_. 17.3: Folio _you are_. 22.2: Another commonplace of the ballads. The Scotch variant is generally, 'And striped it thro' the straw.' See special section of the Introduction. 23.1,2: 'till,' to, against.]

YOUNG BEKIE

+The Text+ is that of the Jamieson-Brown MS., taken down from the recitation of Mrs. Brown about 1783. In printing the ballad, Jamieson collated with the above two other Scottish copies, one in MS., another a stall-copy, a third from recitation in the north of England, a fourth 'picked off an old wall in Piccadilly' by the editor.

+The Story+ has several variations of detail in the numerous versions known (Young Bicham, Brechin, Bekie, Beachen, Beichan, Bichen, Lord Beichan, Lord Bateman, Young Bondwell, etc.), but the text here given is one of the most complete and vivid, and contains besides one feature (the 'Belly Blin') lost in all other versions but one.

A similar story is current in the ballad-literature of Scandinavia, Spain, and Italy; but the English tale has undoubtedly been affected by the charming legend of Gilbert Becket, the father of Saint Thomas, who, having been captured by Admiraud, a Saracen prince, and held in durance vile, was freed by Admiraud's daughter, who then followed him to England, knowing no English but 'London' and 'Gilbert'; and after much tribulation, found him and was married to him. 'Becket' is sufficiently near 'Bekie' to prove contamination, but not to prove that the legend is the origin of the ballad.

The Belly Blin (Billie Blin = billie, a man; blin', blind, and so Billie Blin = Blindman's Buff, formerly called Hoodman Blind) occurs in certain other ballads, such as _Cospatrick_, _Willie's Lady_, and the _Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter_; also in a mutilated ballad of the Percy Folio, _King Arthur and King Cornwall_, under the name Burlow Beanie. In the latter case he is described as 'a lodly feend, with seuen heads, and one body,' breathing fire; but in general he is a serviceable household demon. Cp. German _bilwiz_, and Dutch _belewitte_.

YOUNG BEKIE

1. Young Bekie was as brave a knight As ever sail'd the sea; An' he's doen him to the court of France, To serve for meat and fee.

2. He had nae been i' the court of France A twelvemonth nor sae long, Til he fell in love with the king's daughter, An' was thrown in prison strong.

3. The king he had but ae daughter, Burd Isbel was her name; An' she has to the prison-house gane, To hear the prisoner's mane.

4. 'O gin a lady woud borrow me, At her stirrup-foot I woud rin; Or gin a widow wad borrow me, I woud swear to be her son.

5. 'Or gin a virgin woud borrow me, I woud wed her wi' a ring; I'd gi' her ha's, I'd gie her bowers, The bonny tow'rs o' Linne.'

6. O barefoot, barefoot gaed she but, An' barefoot came she ben; It was no for want o' hose an' shoone, Nor time to put them on;

7. But a' for fear that her father dear, Had heard her making din: She's stown the keys o' the prison-house dor An' latten the prisoner gang.

8. O whan she saw him, Young Bekie, Her heart was wondrous sair! For the mice but an' the bold rottons Had eaten his yallow hair.

9. She's gi'en him a shaver for his beard, A comber till his hair, Five hunder pound in his pocket, To spen', and nae to spair.

10. She's gi'en him a steed was good in need, An' a saddle o' royal bone, A leash o' hounds o' ae litter, An' Hector called one.

11. Atween this twa a vow was made, 'Twas made full solemnly, That or three years was come and gane, Well married they shoud be.

12. He had nae been in's ain country A twelvemonth till an end, Till he's forc'd to marry a duke's daughter, Or than lose a' his land.

13. 'Ohon, alas!' says Young Bekie, 'I know not what to dee; For I canno win to Burd Isbel, And she kensnae to come to me.'

14. O it fell once upon a day Burd Isbel fell asleep, An' up it starts the Belly Blin, An' stood at her bed-feet.

15. 'O waken, waken, Burd Isbel, How [can] you sleep so soun', Whan this is Bekie's wedding day, An' the marriage gain' on?

16. 'Ye do ye to your mither's bow'r, Think neither sin nor shame; An' ye tak twa o' your mither's marys, To keep ye frae thinking lang.

17. 'Ye dress yoursel' in the red scarlet, An' your marys in dainty green, An' ye pit girdles about your middles Woud buy an earldome.

18. 'O ye gang down by yon sea-side, An' down by yon sea-stran'; Sae bonny will the Hollans boats Come rowin' till your han'.

19. 'Ye set your milk-white foot abord, Cry, Hail ye, Domine! An' I shal be the steerer o't, To row you o'er the sea.'

20. She's tane her till her mither's bow'r, Thought neither sin nor shame, An' she took twa o' her mither's marys, To keep her frae thinking lang.

21. She dress'd hersel' i' the red scarlet. Her marys i' dainty green, And they pat girdles about their middles Woud buy an earldome.

22. An' they gid down by yon sea-side, An' down by yon sea-stran'; Sae bonny did the Hollan boats Come rowin' to their han'.

23. She set her milk-white foot on board, Cried 'Hail ye, Domine!' An' the Belly Blin was the steerer o't, To row her o'er the sea.

24. Whan she came to Young Bekie's gate, She heard the music play; Sae well she kent frae a' she heard, It was his wedding day.

25. She's pitten her han' in her pocket, Gin the porter guineas three; 'Hae, tak ye that, ye proud porter, Bid the bride-groom speake to me.'

26. O whan that he cam up the stair, He fell low down on his knee: He hail'd the king, an' he hail'd the queen, An' he hail'd him, Young Bekie.

27. 'O I've been porter at your gates This thirty years an' three; But there's three ladies at them now, Their like I never did see.

28. 'There's ane o' them dress'd in red scarlet, And twa in dainty green, An' they hae girdles about their middles Woud buy an earldome.'

29. Then out it spake the bierly bride, Was a' goud to the chin: 'Gin she be braw without,' she says, 'We's be as braw within.'

30. Then up it starts him, Young Bekie, An' the tears was in his ee: 'I'll lay my life it's Burd Isbel, Come o'er the sea to me.'

31. O quickly ran he down the stair, An' whan he saw 'twas she, He kindly took her in his arms, And kiss'd her tenderly.

32. 'O hae ye forgotten, Young Bekie The vow ye made to me, Whan I took ye out o' the prison strong Whan ye was condemn'd to die?

33. 'I gae you a steed was good in need, An' a saddle o' royal bone, A leash o' hounds o' ae litter, An' Hector called one.'

34. It was well kent what the lady said, That it wasnae a lee, For at ilka word the lady spake, The hound fell at her knee.

35. 'Tak hame, tak hame your daughter dear, A blessing gae her wi', For I maun marry my Burd Isbel, That's come o'er the sea to me.'

36. 'Is this the custom o' your house, Or the fashion o' your lan', To marry a maid in a May mornin', An' send her back at even?'

[Annotations: 4.1: 'borrow,' ransom. 6.1,2: 'but ... ben,' out ... in. 7.3: 'stown,' stolen. 8.3: 'rottons,' rats. 15.2: The MS. reads 'How y you.' 16.3: 'marys,' maids. 29.1: 'bierly,' stately.]

OLD ROBIN OF PORTINGALE

+Text.+-- The Percy Folio is the sole authority for this excellent ballad, and the text of the MS. is therefore given here _literatim_, in preference to the copy served up 'with considerable corrections' by Percy in the _Reliques_. I have, however, substituted a few obvious emendations suggested by Professor Child, giving the Folio reading in a footnote.

+The Story+ is practically identical with that of _Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard_; but each is so good, though in a different vein, that neither could be excluded.

The last stanza narrates the practice of burning a cross on the flesh of the right shoulder when setting forth to the Holy Land--a practice which obtained only among the very devout or superstitious of the Crusaders. Usually a cross of red cloth attached to the right shoulder of the coat was deemed sufficient.

OLD ROBIN OF PORTINGALE

1. God! let neuer soe old a man Marry soe yonge a wiffe As did old Robin of Portingale! He may rue all the dayes of his liffe.

2. Ffor the Maior's daughter of Lin, God wott, He chose her to his wife, & thought to haue liued in quiettnesse With her all the dayes of his liffe.

3. They had not in their wed bed laid, Scarcly were both on sleepe, But vpp she rose, & forth shee goes To Sir Gyles, & fast can weepe.

4. Saies, 'Sleepe you, wake you, faire Sir Gyles Or be not you within?' ... ... ... ... ... ...

5. 'But I am waking, sweete,' he said, 'Lady, what is your will?' 'I haue vnbethought me of a wile, How my wed lord we shall spill.

6. 'Four and twenty knights,' she sayes, 'That dwells about this towne, Eene four and twenty of my next cozens, Will helpe to dinge him downe.'

7. With that beheard his litle foote page, As he was watering his master's steed, Soe ... ... ... His verry heart did bleed;

8. He mourned, sikt, & wept full sore; I sweare by the holy roode, The teares he for his master wept Were blend water & bloude.

9. With that beheard his deare master As in his garden sate; Sayes, 'Euer alacke, my litle page, What causes thee to weepe?

10. 'Hath any one done to thee wronge, Any of thy fellowes here? Or is any of thy good friends dead, Which makes thee shed such teares?

11. 'Or if it be my head kookes man Greiued againe he shalbe, Nor noe man within my howse Shall doe wrong vnto thee.'

12. 'But it is not your head kookes man, Nor none of his degree, But or tomorrow ere it be noone, You are deemed to die;

13. '& of that thanke your head steward, & after your gay ladie.' 'If it be true, my litle foote page, Ile make thee heyre of all my land.'

14. 'If it be not true, my deare master, God let me neuer thye.' 'If it be not true, thou litle foot page, A dead corse shalt thou be.'

15. He called downe his head kooke's man: 'Cooke, in kitchen super to dresse': 'All & anon, my deare master, Anon att your request.'

16. '& call you downe my faire Lady, This night to supp with mee.' ... ... ... ... ... ...

17. & downe then came that fayre Lady, Was cladd all in purple & palle, The rings that were vpon her fingers Cast light thorrow the hall.

18. 'What is your will, my owne wed Lord, What is your will with me?' 'I am sicke, fayre Lady, Sore sicke, & like to dye.'

19. 'But & you be sicke, my owne wed Lord, Soe sore it greiueth mee, But my 5 maydens & my selfe Will goe & make your bedd,

20. '& at the wakening of your first sleepe, You shall haue a hott drinke made, & at the wakening of your next sleepe Your sorrowes will haue a slake.'

21. He put a silke cote on his backe, Was 13 inches folde, & put a steele cap vpon his head, Was gilded with good red gold;

22. & he layd a bright browne sword by his side & another att his ffeete, & full well knew old Robin then Whether he shold wake or sleepe.

23. & about the middle time of the night Came 24 good knights in, Sir Gyles he was the formost man, Soe well he knew that ginne.

24. Old Robin with a bright browne sword Sir Gyles' head he did winne, Soe did he all those 24, Neuer a one went quicke out [agen];

25. None but one litle foot page Crept forth at a window of stone, & he had 2 armes when he came in And [when he went out he had none].

26. Vpp then came that ladie light With torches burning bright; Shee thought to haue brought Sir Gyles a drinke, But shee found her owne wedd knight;

27. & the first thing that this ladye stumbled vpon, Was of Sir Gyles his ffoote; Sayes, 'Euer alacke, & woe is me, Heere lyes my sweete hart roote!'

28. & the 2d. thing that this ladie stumbled on, Was of Sir Gyles his head; Sayes, 'Euer alacke, & woe is me, Heere lyes my true loue deade!'

29. Hee cutt the papps beside her brest, & bad her wish her will, & he cutt the eares beside her heade, & bade her wish on still.

30. 'Mickle is the man's blood I haue spent To doe thee & me some good'; Sayes, 'Euer alacke, my fayre Lady, I thinke that I was woode!'

31. He call'd then vp his litle foote page, & made him heyre of all his land, ... ... ... ... ... ...

32. & he shope the crosse in his right sholder Of the white flesh & the redd, & he went him into the holy land, Wheras Christ was quicke and dead.

[Annotations: 2.1: 'Lin,' a stock ballad-locality: cp. _Young Bekie_, 5.4. 5.3: 'vnbethought.' The same expression occurs in two other places in the Percy Folio, each time apparently in the same sense of 'bethought [him] of.' 6.1,3: 'Four and twenty': the Folio gives '24' in each case. 8.1: 'sikt,' sighed. The Folio reads _sist_. 11.1, 12.1: The Folio reads _bookes man_; but see 15.1. 14.2: 'thye,' thrive: the Folio reads _dye_. 19.1: '&' = an, if. 20.3: 'next': the Folio reads _first_ again; probably the copyist's error. 23.4: 'ginne,' door-latch. 24.4: 'quicke,' alive. The last word was added by Percy in the Folio. 25.4: Added by Hales and Furnivall. 26.1,2: _light_ and _bright_ are interchanged in the Folio. 32.3: 'went': the Folio gives _sent_.]

LITTLE MUSGRAVE AND LADY BARNARD

+The Text+ here given is the version printed, with very few variations, in _Wit Restor'd_, 1658, _Wit and Drollery_, 1682, Dryden's _Miscellany_, 1716, etc. The Percy Folio contains a fragmentary version, consisting of some dozen stanzas. Child says that all the Scottish versions are late, and probably derived, though taken down from oral tradition, from printed copies. As recompense, we have the Scotch _Bonny Birdy_.

+The Story+ would seem to be purely English. That it was popular long before the earliest known text is proved by quotations from it in old plays: as from _Fair Margaret and Sweet William_. Merrythought in _The Knight of the Burning Pestle_ (1611) sings from this ballad a version of stanza 14, and Beaumont and Fletcher also put quotations into the mouths of characters in _Bonduca_ (circ. 1619) and _Monsieur Thomas_ (circ. 1639). Other plays before 1650 also mention it.

The reader should remember, once for all, that burdens are to be repeated in every verse, though printed only in the first.

LITTLE MUSGRAVE AND LADY BARNARD

1. As it fell one holy-day, _Hay downe_ As many be in the yeare, When young men and maids together did goe, Their mattins and masse to heare;

2. Little Musgrave came to the church-dore;-- The preist was at private masse;-- But he had more minde of the faire women Then he had of our lady['s] grace.

3. The one of them was clad in green, Another was clad in pall, And then came in my lord Barnard's wife, The fairest amonst them all.

4. She cast an eye on Little Musgrave, As bright as the summer sun; And then bethought this Little Musgrave, 'This lady's heart have I woonn.'

5. Quoth she, 'I have loved thee, Little Musgrave, Full long and many a day'; 'So have I loved you, fair lady, Yet never word durst I say.'

6. 'I have a bower at Bucklesfordbery, Full daintyly is it deight; If thou wilt wend thither, thou Little Musgrave, Thou's lig in mine armes all night.'

7. Quoth he, 'I thank yee, fair lady, This kindnes thou showest to me; But whether it be to my weal or woe, This night I will lig with thee.'

8. With that he heard, a little tyne page, By his ladye's coach as he ran: 'All though I am my ladye's foot-page, Yet I am Lord Barnard's man.

9. 'My lord Barnard shall knowe of this, Whether I sink or swim'; And ever where the bridges were broake He laid him downe to swimme.

10. 'A sleepe or wake, thou Lord Barnard, As thou art a man of life, For Little Musgrave is at Bucklesfordbery, A bed with thy own wedded wife.'

11. 'If this be true, thou little tinny page, This thing thou tellest to me, Then all the land in Bucklesfordbery I freely will give to thee.

12. 'But if it be a ly, thou little tinny page, This thing thou tellest to me, On the hyest tree in Bucklesfordbery Then hanged shalt thou be.'

13. He called up his merry men all: 'Come saddle me my steed; This night must I to Bucklesfordbery, For I never had greater need.'

14. And some of them whistled, and some of them sung, And some these words did say, And ever when my lord Barnard's horn blew, 'Away, Musgrave, away!'

15. 'Methinks I hear the thresel-cock, Methinks I hear the jaye; Methinks I hear my Lord Barnard, And I would I were away!'

16. 'Lye still, lye still, thou little Musgrave, And huggell me from the cold; 'Tis nothing but a shephard's boy A driving his sheep to the fold.

17. 'Is not thy hawke upon a perch, Thy steed eats oats and hay, And thou a fair lady in thine armes, And wouldst thou bee away?'

18. With that my lord Barnard came to the dore, And lit a stone upon; He plucked out three silver keys And he open'd the dores each one.

19. He lifted up the coverlett, He lifted up the sheet: 'How now, how now, thou Little Musgrave, Doest thou find my lady sweet?'

20. 'I find her sweet,' quoth Little Musgrave, 'The more 'tis to my paine; I would gladly give three hundred pounds That I were on yonder plaine.'

21. 'Arise, arise, thou Little Musgrave, And put thy clothes on; It shall nere be said in my country I have killed a naked man.

22. 'I have two swords in one scabberd, Full deere they cost my purse; And thou shalt have the best of them, And I will have the worse.'

23. The first stroke that Little Musgrave stroke, He hurt Lord Barnard sore; The next stroke that Lord Barnard stroke, Little Musgrave nere struck more.

24. With that bespake this faire lady, In bed whereas she lay: 'Although thou'rt dead, thou Little Musgrave, Yet I for thee will pray.

25. 'And wish well to thy soule will I, So long as I have life; So will I not for thee, Barnard, Although I am thy wedded wife.'

26. He cut her paps from off her brest; Great pitty it was to see That some drops of this ladies heart's blood Ran trickling downe her knee.

27. 'Woe worth you, woe worth, my mery men all, You were nere borne for my good; Why did you not offer to stay my hand, When you see me wax so wood?

28. 'For I have slaine the bravest sir knight That ever rode on steed; So have I done the fairest lady That over did woman's deed.

29. 'A grave, a grave,' Lord Barnard cry'd, 'To put these lovers in; But lay my lady on the upper hand, For she came of the better kin.'

[Annotations: 3.2: 'pall,' a cloak: some versions read _pale_. 6.2: 'deight,' _i.e._ dight, decked, dressed. 15.1: 'thresel-cock,' throstle, thrush. 27.4: 'wood,' wild, fierce.]

THE BONNY BIRDY

+Text.+--From the Jamieson-Brown MS. Jamieson, in printing this ballad, enlarged and rewrote much of it, making the burden part of the dialogue throughout.

+The Story+ is much the same as that of _Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard_; but the ballad as a whole is worthy of comparison with the longer English ballad for the sake of its lyrical setting.

THE BONNY BIRDY

1. There was a knight, in a summer's night, Was riding o'er the lee, _(diddle)_ An' there he saw a bonny birdy, Was singing upon a tree. _(diddle)_

O wow for day! _(diddle)_ An' dear gin it were day! _(diddle)_ Gin it were day, an' gin I were away, For I ha' na lang time to stay. _(diddle)_

2. 'Make hast, make hast, ye gentle knight, What keeps you here so late? Gin ye kent what was doing at hame, I fear you woud look blate.'

3. 'O what needs I toil day an' night, My fair body to kill, Whan I hae knights at my comman', An' ladys at my will?'

4. 'Ye lee, ye lee, ye gentle knight, Sa loud's I hear you lee; Your lady's a knight in her arms twa That she lees far better nor thee.'

5. 'Ye lee, ye lee, you bonny birdy, How you lee upo' my sweet! I will tak' out my bonny bow, An' in troth I will you sheet.'

6. 'But afore ye hae your bow well bent, An' a' your arrows yare, I will flee till another tree, Whare I can better fare.'

7. 'O whare was you gotten, and whare was ye clecked? My bonny birdy, tell me'; 'O I was clecked in good green wood, Intill a holly tree; A gentleman my nest herryed An' ga' me to his lady.

8. 'Wi' good white bread an' farrow-cow milk He bade her feed me aft, An' ga' her a little wee simmer-dale wanny, To ding me sindle and saft.

9. 'Wi' good white bread an' farrow-cow milk I wot she fed me nought, But wi' a little wee simmer-dale wanny She dang me sair an' aft: Gin she had deen as ye her bade, I wouldna tell how she has wrought.'

10. The knight he rade, and the birdy flew, The live-lang simmer's night, Till he came till his lady's bow'r-door, Then even down he did light: The birdy sat on the crap of a tree, An' I wot it sang fu' dight.

11. 'O wow for day! _(diddle)_ An' dear gin it were day! _(diddle)_ Gin it were day, and gin I were away, For I ha' na lang time to stay.' _(diddle)_

12. 'What needs ye lang for day, _(diddle)_ An' wish that you were away? _(diddle)_ Is no your hounds i' my cellar. Eating white meal and gray?' _(diddle)_ 'O wow for day,' _etc._

13. 'Is nae you[r] steed in my stable, Eating good corn an' hay? An' is nae your hawk i' my perch-tree, Just perching for his prey? An' is nae yoursel i' my arms twa? Then how can ye lang for day?'

14. 'O wow for day! _(diddle)_ An' dear gin it were day! _(diddle)_ For he that's in bed wi' anither man's wife Has never lang time to stay.' _(diddle)_