Part 38

6 Now she is on to Edinburgh, For to try the law, And Errol he has followed her, His manhood for to shaw.

7 Then out it spake her sister, Whose name was Lady Jane; ‘Had I been Lady Errol,’ she says, ‘Or come of sic a clan, I would not in this public way Have sham’d my own gudeman.’

8 But Errol got it in his will To choice a maid himsel, And he has taen a country-girl, Came in her milk to sell.

9 He took her by the milk-white hand, And led her up the green, And twenty times he kissd her there, Before his lady’s een.

10 He took her by the milk-white hand, And led her up the stair; Says, Thrice three hundred pounds I’ll gie To you to bear an heir.

11 He kept her there into a room Three quarters of a year, And when the three quarters were out A braw young son she bear.

12 ‘Tak hame your daughter, Carnegy, And put her till a man, For Errol he cannot please her, Nor any of his men.’

* * * * *

E

C. K. Sharpe’s Letters, ed. Allardyce, I, 180 ff; written down from the recitation of Violet Roddick, a woman living near Hoddam Castle, 1803. Sharpe’s Ballad Book, 1823, p. 89.

1 O Errol it’s a bonny place, It stands in yonder glen; The lady lost the rights of it The first night she gaed hame. A waly and a waly! According as ye ken, The thing we ca the ranting o ‘t, Our lady lies her lane, O.

2 ‘What need I wash my apron, Or hing it on yon door? What need I truce my petticoat? It hangs even down before.’

3 Errol’s up to Edinburgh gaen, That bonny burrows-town; He has chusit the barber’s daughter, The top of a’ that town.

4 He has taen her by the milk-white hand, He has led her through the room, And twenty times he’s kisst her, Before his lady’s een.

5 ‘Look up, look up now, Peggy, Look up, and think nae shame, For I’ll gie thee five hundred pound, To buy to thee a gown.

6 ‘Look up, look up, now, Peggy, Look up, and think nae shame, For I’ll gie thee five hundred pound To bear to me a son.

7 ‘As thou was Kate Carnegie, And I Sir Gilbert Hay, I’ll gar your father sell his lands, Your tocher-gude to pay.

8 ‘Now he may take her back again, Do wi her what he can, For Errol canna please her, Nor ane o a’ his men.’

9 ‘Go fetch to me a pint of wine, Go fill it to the brim, That I may drink my gude lord’s health, Tho Errol be his name.’

10 She has taen the glass into her hand, She has putten poison in, She has signd it to her dorty lips, But neer a drop went in.

11 Up then spake a little page, He was o Errol’s kin; ‘Now fie upon ye, lady gay, There’s poison there within.

12 ‘It’s hold your hand now, Kate,’ he says, ‘Hold it back again, For Errol winna drink on ‘t, Nor none o a’ his men.’

13 She has taen the sheets into her arms, She has thrown them oer the wa: ‘Since I maun gae maiden hame again, Awa, Errol, awa!’

14 She’s down the back o the garden, And O as she did murne! ‘How can a workman crave his wage, When he never wrought a turn?’

* * * * *

F

Kinloch MSS, III, 133.

1 O Errol is a bonny place, And stands upon yon plane, But the lady lost the rights o it Yestreen or she came hame.

2 O Erroll is a bonny place, And lyes forenent the sun, And the apples they grow red and white, And peers o bonny green.

3 ‘I nedna wash my apron, Nor hing it on the door; But I may tuck my petticoat, Hangs even down before.

4 ‘Oh, Erroll, Erroll, Oh, Erroll if ye ken, Why sh_oul_d I love Erroll, Or any of his men?’

5 She’s turned her right and round about, Poured out a glass o wine; Says, I will drink to my true love, He’ll drink to me again.

6 O Erroll stud into the fleer, He was an angry man: ‘See here it is a good gray-hun, We’ll try what is the run.’

7 Then Erroll stud into the fleer, Steered neither ee nor bree, Till that he saw his good gray-hun Was burst and going free.

8 ‘But ye are Kate Carnegie,’ he said, ‘And I am Sir Gilbert Hay; I’se gar your father sell Kinnaird, Your tocher-good to pay.’

9 Now she is on to Edinburgh, A’ for to use the law, And brave Erroll has followed her, His yellow locks to sheu.

10 Out and spak her sister Jean, And an angry woman was she; ‘If I were lady of Erroll, And hed as fair a face, I w_oul_d no go to Edinburgh, My good lord to disgrace.’

* * * * *

#A. a.#

23^4. toucher one.

26. _May have been a burden._

#b.#

Ballad of Gilbert, Earl of Errol, and Lady Catherine Carnegie

. . . . . . .

13 Up spake Lord Carnegie, ’ O Kate, what do you think? We’ll beguile the Earl of Errol, As long as he’s in drink.’

14 ‘O what need you beguile him? Or what would you do than? For I can easy vow and testify Lord Errol’s not a man.

12 ‘You need not wash my petticoat And hang it at the door; For it’s baith side and wide enough, And hangs even down before.

11 ‘You need not wash my apron And hang it on a pin; For I’m as leil a maiden As first when I went in.’

15 Down came the Earl of Errol, As swift as any roe: ‘Come harness me my Irish coach, To Edinburgh I go.’

16 And when he came to Edinburgh, A ganging through the green, Full four-and-twenty maidens A’ dancing there were seen.

17 And there were fifteen maidens All dancing in a row, And the fairest and the fattest To prove that she must go.

18 He’s taen his Peggy by the hand, And led her through the green, And twenty times he’s kissed her, Before his lady’s een.

19 He’s taen his Peggy by the hand, And led her through the hall, And twenty times he’s kissed her, Before the nobles all.

He’s taen his Peggy by the hand, And led her to a room, And gave her a cup of claret wine, And syne a bed of down.

20^{1,2} ‘Stand up, stand up, my Peggy, Stand up, and think na shame, Na hide your face within your hand, On me be all the blame.

‘For you shall have a thousand pounds As soon as it is won, 20^{3,4} And you shall have ten thousand pounds If you bear to me a son.’

21 He kept his Peggy in a room Full nine months and a day, And at the very nine months’ end She bore a son so gay.

As they were all at dinner sat, And merrily went the can, Up spake the noble Earl of Perth, ‘Kate, what ails you at your man?’

‘Oh, all the lands and earldom Are now to ruin gone, For I can easy vow and testify He’ll never get a son.’

24^{1–4} ‘Ye lie, ye lie, you filthy jade, So loud I hear you lie! For there sits Lord Errol’s son, Upon his mither’s knee.’

22 ‘As you are Kate Carnegie And I Sir Gilbert Hay, I’ll gar your father sell his land Your tocher for to pay.’

23 ‘To gar my father sell his land I’m sure would be a sin, For to tocher any John Sheephead Who could neer a tocher win.’

25^{1–4} ‘You may take hame your daughter Kate, And set her in a glen, For Lord Errol cannot please her, Nor none of Errol’s men.

‘You may provide a knife and fork, A trencher and a spoon, A little boy to call her, Come to your dinner, dame; A little boy to call her Till seven years are done.’

#B.#

_Written in long lines, without division into stanzas; carelessly and in a bad hand, like other transcripts by Skene. The frequent gaps (of which only one is indicated, 5^4) make the division here adopted doubtful in some cases._

_The burden is given at the end only, and is badly corrupted._ 1. the Darton all. 3. Pearting?

7^4. hir all. _Corrupted?_ hir, _or_ him, at?

10^1. tour end: _see_ 24^{1–2}.

15^3, 16^3. Earl.

20^2. gay ladies.

23^4. _Corrupted? some malediction on the lady?_

27^2. gaire is, _I suppose_, gear.

#D.# #b.#

_Burden._ 1. The wally o ‘t, the wally o ‘t. 3. the ranting o ‘t. 4. Our lady lies alane.

1^3. at it.

3^1. It’s I.

4^1. As sure as you’re Jean.

4^2. And I am.

4^3. I’ll cause.

5^1. To cause.

5^2. I think would be.

5^3. give to such a rogue as you.

5^4. Who never could it win.

6^1. So he must go.

6^2. Amang the nobles a’.

6^3. And there before good witnesses.

7^2. was called Miss Anne.

9^3. she says _wanting_.

8–12 A servant girl there was found out, On whom to show his skill; He gave to her a hundred pounds, To purchase her good-will.

And still he cried, Look up, Peggy, Look up, and think no shame, And you shall have your hundred pounds Before I lay you down.

Now he has lain him down wi her, A hundred pounds in pawn, And all the noblemen cried out That Errol is a man.

‘Tak hame your daughter,’ Errol said, ‘And tak her to a glen, For Errol canna pleasure her, Nor can no other man.’

#c.#

_Burden._ 1. And the. 3. And the thing we. 4. Is, Errol’s na a man.

1^1, 2^1. O Errol is.

1^2. Into the simmer time.

1^3. The apples they grow.

1^4. And the pears they grow green.

3^4. bore the.

4^1. Tho your name be Dame Cathrine Carnegie.

4^2. mine Sir Gilbert.

4^3. sell Kinnaird.

4^4. tocher gude to.

5^1. If ye gar my father sell Kinnaird.

5^2. ‘T will be a crying.

5^{3,4}. To tocher onie weary dwrf, That canna tocher win.

6^1. The lady is.

6^2. A’ for.

6^4. His ainsell.

7^1. O up bespak.

7^2. Lady Ann.

7^3. she says _wanting_.

_After 7, two stanzas which are clearly a spurious interpolation._

8^1. Errol has got (But _wanting_).

8^3. has chosen a weel-faurd may.

8^4. Come. _After 8_ (==10):

‘Look up, look up, my weel-faurd may, Look up, and think na shame; I’ll gie to thee five hundred merk To bear to me a son.’

9^1. He’s tane the lassie by the han.

9^3. there _wanting_.

9^4. Afore.

_After 9_:

When they war laid in the proof-bed, And a’ the lords looking on, Then a’ the fifteen vowd and swore That Errol was a man.

11^1. But they hae keepit this lassie.

11^3. And at the end o nine lang months.

11^4. A son to him she bare.

_After 11_:

And there was three thairbut, thairbut, And there was three thairben, And three looking oure the window hie, Crying, Errol’s provd a man!

And whan the word gaed thro the toun, The sentry gied a cry, ‘O fair befa you, Errol, now! For ye hae won the day.’

‘O I’ll tak off my robes o silk, And fling them oure the wa, And I’ll gae maiden hame again, Awa, Errol, awa!’

12^1. Sir Carnegie.

12^2. till the glen.

12^3. he _wanting_.

12^4. nane o Errol’s.

(_12 is found in Kinloch’s MSS,_ VII, 95, _with_ Sir Carnegie _beginning the line._)

_After 12_:

And ilka day her plate was laid, Bot an a siller spune, And three times cried oure Errol’s yett, ‘Lady Errol, come and dine.’

_Kinloch gives the following as a variant. It is found in Kinloch’s MSS_, VII, 95:

Seven years the trencher sat, And seven years the spune; Seven years the servant cried, ‘Lady Errol, come and dine.’

_Burden, at the end._ 3. ye ca. 4. Lady Errol lies her leen.

#E.#

_Sharpe made these changes in his Ballad Book_:

3^4. the toss.

4^2. He’s led her oer the green.

4^3. he kist.

7^1. Your name is.

7^2. And I’m.

12^3. shall not.

#F.#

1^1, 2^1, 6^1. Oh.

232

RICHIE STORY

#A.# ‘Ritchie Storie,’ Motherwell’s MS., p. 426.

#B.# Skene MS., p. 96.

#C. a.# ‘Richie Story,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 65, MS. of Thomas Wilkie, 1813–15, p. 53, Abbotsford. #b.# ‘Ritchie’s Tory Laddie,’ Campbell MSS, II, 116.

#D.# ‘Richy Story,’ the late Mr Robert White’s papers.

E. ‘Richard Storie,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 76, Abbotsford.

#F. a.# ‘Richie Storie,’ Sharpe’s Ballad Book, 1823, p. 95. #b.# ‘Richie Storrie,’ Nimmo, Songs and Ballads of Clydesdale, 1882, p. 211.

#G. a.# ‘Richard Storry,’ Kinloch MSS, I, 203. #b.# ‘Richie Tory,’ Gibb MS., p. 77. #c.# ‘Ritchie’s Lady,’ Murison MS., p. 82. #d.# ‘Richie’s Lady,’ Christie’s Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 72. #e.# Kinloch MSS, VII, 263, a fragment. #f.# ‘The Earl of Winton’s Daughter,’ Buchan’s MSS, I, 87.

#H.# The Scots Magazine, 1803, LXV, 253, one stanza.

The youngest (eldest, #A#) and fairest of the daughters of the Earl of Wigton, #A#, #F# (bonniest of his sisters, #E#), has fallen in love with her footman, Richie Story (Tory). Richie brings her a letter from a nobleman who desires to be her suitor; the Earl of Hume, #A#, #B#, #F#, #G a#, #d#, #e#; the Earl of Hume’s son, #D#; the Earl of Aboyne, #E#; of Cumbernauld, #G b#; of Mohun, #G c#; of Wemyss, #G f# and a variant of #E#; the Earls of Hume and Skimmerjim, Skimmerham (Kimmerghame), #C#. The lady has made a vow, and will keep it, to marry none but Richie. Richie deprecates; he has nothing to maintain her with; she is ready to descend to the lowest fortune. (In several versions she has enough of her own. Hunten Tour and Tillebarn and the House of Athol are hers, #B#; Musselburgh, #C#; the House of Athol and Taranadie, #G d#; Blair-in-Athol and Dunkeld, #H#.) Asked by her sister, by Richie, or by some one else, whether she is not sorry to have left Cumbernauld (Castle Norry, #G f#) to follow a footman, she answers that there is no reason, she has her heart’s desire and the lot that was ordained her. As she goes up the Parliament close, rides through Edinburgh town, Glasgow city (London city, #C b#, absurdly), she is greeted by many a lord, but few or none of them thought she was a footman’s lady. Arrived at the domicile of the Storys, her good-mother bids her, gars her, kilt up her coats and muck the byres with Richie.

#F#, #G#, are not satisfied with this conclusion. The footman is really a lover in disguise, the Earl of Hume or of Cumbernauld, #F#, #G a b#. (#G b 2# spoils the plot by making the Earl of Hume write to the lady that he will be her footman-laddie.) Four-and-twenty gentlemen welcome the bride at Ritchie’s gates, or elsewhere, and she blesses the day that she was Richie’s lady. This is incontestably a later invention.

#G f#, which is otherwise embellished, goes a good step beyond #G a-e#. Richie is an Englishman and takes the lady to London. ‘Madam’ has left her kindred to gang with a servant; he has ‘left the sceptre and the crown’ her servant for to be; little she knew that her waiting-man was England’s royal king.

“Lillias Fleming, second daughter of John, Earl of Wigton by his wife Jane Drummond (a daughter of the Earl of Perth), did elope with and marry one of her father’s servants, named Richard Storry. In 1673, she, with consent of her husband, resigned her portion, consisting of the five-merk land of Smythson, etc., in the barony of Lenzie, into the hands of her brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Fleming. The Fleming family afterwards procured for Richie a situation in the Custom-House.” So Hunter, Biggar and the House of Fleming, p. 555, and, in part, Douglas’s Peerage, where, however, Lady Lillias is said to have married Richard Storry, “Esq.:” ed. Wood, II, 616.

Douglas notes that “John, third Earl of Wigton, ... had a charter of the lordship of Cumbernauld, 1st February, 1634.” This place (Comarnad, Campernadie, etc., #B#, #D#, #G a#, #c#, #d#) is in Dumbartonshire. In #F 11# it is attributed to the young Earl of Hume, and the disguised lover is the Earl of Cumbernauld in #G b#.

The lady, ready for any extremity, says in #F 6# that she will lie ayont a dyke (on the other side of a wall), in #E 6# sit below the dyke, in #D 5# sit aneath the duke, and that she will be at Richie’s command at all times. This matter was not understood by the reciter of #B#, and in #B 7# the lady is made to say, We will go to sea, I’ll sit upon the _deck_ (and be your servant, as in the other cases). In #A# the difficulty, such as it is, seems to have been evaded, and we read, #6#, I’ll live whereer you please (and be ready at your call late or early).

For the relation of this ballad to ‘Huntingtower’ and ‘The Duke of Athol,’ see an appendix.

* * * * *

A

Motherwell’s MS., p. 426; from the recitation of Mrs ——, of Kilbarchan, January 3, 1826.

1 The Earl of Wigton had three daughters, Oh and a waly, but they were unco bonnie! The eldest of them had the far brawest house, But she’s fallen in love with her footman-laddie.

2 As she was a walking doun by yon river-side, Oh and a wally, but she was unco bonnie! There she espied her own footman, With ribbons hanging over his shoulders sae bonnie.

3 ‘Here’s a letter to you, madame, Here’s a letter to you, madame; The Earl of Hume is waiting on, And he has his service to you, madame.’

4 ‘I’ll have none of his service,’ says she, ‘I’ll have none of his service,’ says she, ‘For I’ve made a vow, and I’ll keep it true, That I’ll marry none but you, Ritchie.’

5 ‘O say not so again, madame, O say not so again, madame; For I have neither lands nor rents For to keep you on, madam.’

6 ‘I’ll live where eer you please, Ritchie, I’ll live where eer you please, [Ritchie,] And I’ll be ready at your ca’, Either late or early, Ritchie.’

7 As they went in by Stirling toun, O and a wally, but she was unco bonnie! A’ her silks were sailing on the ground, But few of them knew of Ritchie Story.

8 As they went in by the Parliament Close, O and a wally, but she was unco bonnie! All the nobles took her by the hand, But few of them knew she was Ritchie’s lady.

9 As they came in by her goodmother’s yetts, O and a wally, but she was unco bonnie! Her goodmother bade her kilt her coats, And muck the byre with Ritchie Storie.

10 ‘Oh, may not ye be sorry, madame, Oh, may not ye be sorry, madame, To leave a’ your lands at bonnie Cumbernaud, And follow home your footman-laddie?’

11 ‘What need I be sorry?’ says she, ‘What need I be sorry?’ says she, ‘For I’ve gotten my lot and my heart’s desire, And what Providence has ordered for me.’

* * * * *

B

Skene MS., p. 96; taken down in the north of Scotland, 1802–3.

1 Comarnad is a very bonny place, And there is ladies three, madam, But the fairest and rairest o them a’ Has married Richard Storry.

2 ‘O here is a letter to ye, madam, Here is a letter to ye, madam; The Earle of Hume, that gallant knight, Has fallen in love wi ye, madam.’

3 ‘There is a letter to ye, madam, [There is a letter to ye, madam;] That gallant knight, the Earl of Hume, Desires to be yer servan true, madam.

4 ‘I’ll hae nane o his letters, Richard, I’ll hae nane o his letters, [Richard;] I hae voued, and will keep it true, I’ll marry nane but ye, Richie.’

5 ‘Say ne sae to me, lady, Say ne sae to me, [lady,] For I hae neither lands nor rents To mentain ye, lady.’

6 ‘Hunten Tour and Tillebarn, The House o Athol is mine, Richie, An ye sal hae them a’ Whan ere ye incline, Richie.

7 ‘For we will gae to sea, Richie, I’ll sit upon the deck, Richie, And be your servant ere and late, At any hour ye like, [Richie.’]

8 ‘O manna ye be sad, sister, An mann ye be sae sorry, To leave the house o bonny Comarnad, An follow Richard Storry?’

9 ‘O what neads I be sad, sister, An how can I be sorry? A bonny lad is my delit, And my lot has been laid afore me.’

10 As she went up the Parliament Close, Wi her laced shoon so fine, Many ane bad the lady good day, But few thought o Richard’s lady.

11 As she gaed up the Parliament Close, Wi her laced shoon so fine, Mony ane hailed that gay lady, But few hailed Richard Storry.

* * * * *

C

#a.# “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 65, MS. of Thomas Wilkie, 1813–15, p. 53, from the singing or recitation of Miss Euphemia Hislope. #b.# Campbell MSS, II, 116.

1 There are three white hens i the green, madam, There are three white hens i the green, madam, But Richie Story he’s comd by, And he’s stollen away the fairest of them.

2 ‘O are’int ye now sad, sister, O are’in[t] ye now sad, sister, To leave your bowers and your bony Skimmerknow, And follow the lad they call Richie Story?’

3 ‘O say not that again, sister, O say not that again, sister, For he is the lad that I love best, And he is the lot that has fallen to me.’

4 ‘O there’s a letter to thee, madam, O there’s a letter to thee, madam; The Earl of Hume and Skimmerjim, For to be sweethearts to thee, madam.’

5 ‘But I’ll hae none of them, Richie, But I’ll hae none of them, Richie, For I have made a vow, and I’ll keep it true, I’ll have none but Ric[h]ie Story.’

6 ‘O say not that again, madam, O say not that again, madam, For the Earl of Hume and Skimmerjim, They are men of high renown.’

7 ‘Musslebury’s mine, Richie, Musslebury’s mine, Richie, And a’ that’s mine it shall be thine, If you will marry me, Richie.’

8 As she went up through Glasgow city, Her gold watch was shining pretty; Many [a] lord bade her good day, But none thought she was a footman’s lady.

9 As she went up through London city, There she met her scolding minny: ‘Cast off your silks and kilt your coats, And muck the byre wi Richie Story.’

10 ‘Hold your tongue, my scolding minnie, Hold your tongue, my scolding minnie; For I’ll cast of my silks and kilt my coats, And muck the byres wi Richie Story.’

* * * * *

D

The late Mr Robert White’s papers.

1 As I came in by Thirlwirl Bridge, A coming frae the land of fair Camernadie, There I met my ain true love, Wi ribbons at her shoulders many.

2 ‘Here is a letter to you, madam; [Here is a letter to you, madam;] The Earl of Hume’s eldest son Sent this letter to you, madam.

3 ‘I’ll have none of his [letters], Richy, I’ll have none of his letters, Richy; I made a vow, and I’ll keep it true, I’ll wed wi nane but you, Richy.’

4 ‘Say not so again, madam, Say not so again, madam; I have neither lands nor rents To maintain you on, madam.’

5 ‘I’ll sit aneath the duke, Richy, I’ll sit aneath the duke, Richy; I’ll sit on hand, at your command At ony time ye like, Richy.’

6 As they came in by Thirlewirle bridge, A coming frae fair Cummernadie, She brak the ribbons that tied her shoon Wi following after the footman-laddie.

7 ‘O but ye be sad, sister, O but ye be sad and sorry, To leave the lands o bonnie Cummernad, To gang alang wi a footman-laddie!’

8 ‘How can I be sad, sister? How can I be sad or sorry? I have gotten my heart’s delight; And what can ye get mair?’ says she.

9 To the house-end Richy brought his lady, To the house-end Richy brought his lady; Her mother-in-law gart her kilt her coats, And muck the byre wi Richy Story.

* * * * *

E

“Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 76, Abbotsford.

1 The Earl of Wigton has seven sisters, And O but they be wondrous bonnie! And the bonniest lass amang them a’ Has fallen in love wi Richie Storie.