Part 57

The copy of ‘May Collin’ which follows is quite the best of the series #C-G#. It is written on the same sheet of paper as the “copy of some antiquity” used by Scott in making up his ‘Gay Goss Hawk’ (ed. 1802, II, 7). The sheet is perhaps as old as any in the volume in which it occurs, but may possibly not be the original. ‘May Collin’ is not in the same hand as the other ballad.

According to the preface to a stall-copy spoken of by Motherwell, Minstrelsy, p. lxx, 24, “the treacherous and murder-minting lover was an ecclesiastic of the monastery of Maybole,” and the preface to #D d# (see I, 488) makes him a Dominican friar. So, if we were to accept these guides, the ‘Sir’ would be the old ecclesiastical title and equivalent to the ‘Mess’ of the copy now to be given.

‘May Collin,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 146, Abbotsford.

1 May Collin . . . . . . . . was her father’s heir, And she fell in love with a falsh priest, And she rued it ever mair.

2 He followd her butt, he followd her benn, He followd her through the hall, Till she had neither tongue nor teeth Nor lips to say him naw.

3 ‘We’ll take the steed out where he is, The gold where eer it be, And we’ll away to some unco land, And married we shall be.’

4 They had not riden a mile, a mile, A mile but barely three, Till they came to a rank river, Was raging like the sea.

5 ‘Light off, light off now, May Collin, It’s here that you must die; Here I have drownd seven king’s daughters, The eight now you must be.

6 ‘Cast off, cast off now, May Collin, Your gown that’s of the green; For it’s oer good and oer costly To rot in the sea-stream.

7 ‘Cast off, cast off now, May Collin, Your coat that’s of the black; For it’s oer good and oer costly To rot in the sea-wreck.

8 ‘Cast off, cast off now, May Collin, Your stays that are well laced; For thei’r oer good and costly In the sea’s ground to waste.

9 ‘Cast [off, cast off now, May Collin,] Your sark that’s of the holland; For [it’s oer good and oer costly] To rot in the sea-bottom.’

10 ‘Turn you about now, falsh Mess John, To the green leaf of the tree; It does not fit a mansworn man A naked woman to see.’

11 He turnd him quickly round about, To the green leaf of the tree; She took him hastly in her arms And flung him in the sea.

12 ‘Now lye you there, you falsh Mess John, My mallasin go with thee! You thought to drown me naked and bare, But take your cloaths with thee, And if there be seven king’s daughters there Bear you them company.’

13 She lap on her milk steed And fast she bent the way, And she was at her father’s yate Three long hours or day.

14 Up and speaks the wylie parrot, So wylily and slee: ‘Where is the man now, May Collin, That gaed away wie thee?’

15 ‘Hold your tongue, my wylie parrot, And tell no tales of me, And where I gave a pickle befor It’s now I’ll give you three.’

* * * * *

1^{1,2}. _One line_: May Collin was her father’s heir.

7^4. on the.

8^4. ina? _indistinct._

12^5. 7.

5. Gil Brenton.

P. 63 b. #Swedish.# ‘Riddar Olof,’ Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 63, No 16, _a_, _b_, imperfect copies.

64 b. #Danish.# ‘Den rette Brudgom’ (Samson and Vendelru), Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 363, No 97.

65 b. ‘Herr Peders Hustru,’ the same, p. 365,==Grundtvig, No 278.

70. #B#. The three stanzas which follow were communicated to Scott by Major Henry Hutton, Royal Artillery, 24th December, 1802 (Letters, I, No 77), as recollected by his father and the family. “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 18. Instead of 3, 4:

There’s five o them with meal and malt, And other five wi beef and salt; There’s five o them wi well-bak’d bread, And other five wi goud so red.

There’s five o them wi the ladies bright, There’s other five o belted knights; There’s five o them wi a good black neat, And other five wi bleating sheep.

“And before the two last stanzas, introduce”

O there was seald on his breast-bane, ‘Cospatric is his father’s name;’ O there was seald on his right hand He should inherit his father’s land.

so _is written over the second_ and _in_ 1^2.

7. Earl Brand.

P. 88. ‘Ribold og Guldborg:’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 33, ‘Nævnet til døde,’ No 15, #A-I#.

91 b. #Swedish.# ‘Kung Valdemo,’ ‘Ellibrand och Fröken Gyllenborg,’ Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 1, No 1, _a_, _b_. (“Name not my name,” _a_ 20, _b_ 12.)

95 b, 489 b; III, 498 a. For the whole subject, see K. Nyrop. Navnets Magt, 1887, and especially sections 4, 5, pp. 46–70. As to reluctance to have one’s name known, and the advantage such knowledge gives an adversary, see E. Clodd, in The Folk Lore Journal, VII, 154 ff., and, in continuation, Folk-Lore, I, 272.

The berserkr Glammaðr could pick off any man with his pike, if only he knew his name. Saga Egils ok Ásmundar, Rafn, Fornaldar Sögur, III, 387, Ásmundarson, F. s. Norðrlanða, III, 292. (G. L. K.)

The demonic Gelô informs certain saints who force her “to tell them how other people’s children [may] be defended from her attacks,” that if they “can write her twelve names and a half she shall never be able to come within seventy-five stadia and a half:” Thomas Wright, Essays on Subjects connected with the Literature, etc., of the Middle Ages, 1846, I, 294 (referring to Leo Allatius, De Græcorum hodie quorundam opinationibus). The passage in question is to be found at p. 127 of Leo Allatius, De templis Græcorum recentioribus, ad Ioannem Morinum; De Narthece ecclesiæ veteris; nec non De Græcorum hodie quorundam opinationibus, ad Paullum Zacchiam. Coloniæ Agrippinæ, 1645. (G. L. K.)

96 b. #Swedish.# Two copies of ‘Rosen lilla’ in Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 37, No 10.

#Danish.# Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 215, No 52, #C# 9, two lilies; p. 318, No 78, 9, 10, graves south and north, two lilies.

97 b. #French.# ‘Les deux Amoureux,’ Daymard, Vieux Chants p. rec. en Quercy, p. 122, lavender and tree.

97 b, 489 b, II, 498 a, III, 498 b. #Slavic.# (1.) White-Russian: he buried in church, she in ditch; plane and linden (planted); plane embraces linden. MS. (2.) Little-Russian: buried apart; plane grows over his grave, two birches over hers; branches do _not_ interlace. Kolberg, Pokucie, p. 41. (3.) White-Russian: he in church, she near church; oak, birch (planted); trees touch. Zbiór wiado do antropol., XIII, 102 f. (4.) Little-Russian: burial apart in a church; rosemary and lily from graves. Var.: rose and sage, rosemary; flowers interlace. Holovatzky, III, 254. (J. Karłowicz, in Mélusine, V, 39 ff.)

#Bulgarian.# A poplar from the maid’s grave, a pine from her lover’s: Collection of the Bulgarian Ministry of Instruction, I, 35. (W. W.)

97 b, 490 a, III, 498 b. #Breton.# Luzel, Soniou, I, 272–3: a tree from the young man’s grave, a rose from the maid’s.

99 ff., 490 ff. ‘The Earl o Bran,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 22 b, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of Richard Heber.

1 Did ye ever hear o guid Earl o Bran An the queen’s daughter o the south-lan?

2 She was na fifteen years o age Till she came to the Earl’s bed-side.

3 ‘O guid Earl o Bran, I fain wad see My grey hounds run over the lea.’

4 ‘O kind lady, I have no steeds but one, But ye shall ride, an I shall run.’

5 ‘O guid Earl o Bran, but I have tua, An ye shall hae yere wael o those.’

6 The’re ovr moss an the’re over muir, An they saw neither rich nor poor.

7 Till they came to ald Carl Hood, He’s ay for ill, but he’s never for good.

8 ‘O guid Earl o Bran, if ye loe me, Kill Carl Hood an gar him die.’

9 ‘O kind lady, we had better spare; I never killd ane that wore grey hair.

10 ‘We’ll gie him a penny-fie an let him gae, An then he’ll carry nae tiddings away.’

11 ‘Where hae been riding this lang simmer-day? Or where hae stolen this lady away?’

12 ‘O I hae not riden this lang simmer-day, Nor hae I stolen this lady away.

13 ‘For she is my sick sister I got at the Wamshester.’

14 ‘If she were sick an like to die, She wad na be wearing the gold sae high.’

15 Ald Carl Hood is over the know, Where they rode one mile, he ran four.

16 Till he came to her mother’s yetts, An I wat he rapped rudely at.

17 ‘Where is the lady o this ha?’ ‘She’s out wie her maidens, playing at the ba.’

18 ‘O na! fy na! For I met her fifteen miles awa.

19 ‘She’s over moss, an she’s over muir, An a’ to be the Earl o Bran’s whore.’

20 Some rode wie sticks, an some wie rungs, An a’ to get the Earl o Bran slain.

21 That lady lookd over her left shoudder-bane: ‘O guid Earl o Bran, we’ll a’ be taen! For yond’r a’ my father’s men.

22 ‘But if ye’ll take my claiths, I’ll take thine, An I’ll fight a’ my father’s men.’

23 ‘It’s no the custom in our land For ladies to fight an knights to stand.

24 ‘If they come on me ane by ane, I’ll smash them a’ doun bane by bane.

25 ‘If they come on me ane and a’, Ye soon will see my body fa.’

26 He has luppen from his steed, An he has gein her that to had.

27 An bad her never change her cheer Untill she saw his body bleed.

28 They came on him ane by ane, An he smashed them doun a’ bane by bane.

29 He sat him doun on the green grass, For I wat a wearit man he was.

30 But ald Carl Hood came him behind, An I wat he gae him a deadly wound.

31 He’s awa to his lady then, He kissed her, an set her on her steed again.

32 He rode whistlin out the way, An a’ to hearten his lady gay.

33 ‘Till he came to the water-flood: ‘O guid Earl o Bran, I see blood!’

34 ‘O it is but my scarlet hood, That shines upon the water-flood.’

35 They came on ‘till his mother’s yett, An I wat he rappit poorly at.

36 His mother she’s come to the door: ‘O son, ye’ve gotten yere dead wie an Eng_lish_ wh_o_re!’

37 ‘She was never a wh_o_re to me; Sae let my brother her husband be.’

38 Sae ald Carl Hood was not the dead o ane, But he was the dead o hale seeventeen.

_Note at the end_: I have not written the chorus, but Mr Leyden, having it by him, knows how to insert it.

“Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 22 d. In the handwriting of William Laidlaw. Scott has written at the head, Earl Bran, another copy.

1 Earl Bran’s a wooing gane; Ae lalie, O lilly lalie He woo’d a lady, an was bringing her hame. O the gae knights o Airly

2 . . . . . . . . They met neither wi rich nor poor.

3 Till they met wi an auld palmer Hood, Was ay for ill, an never for good.

4 ‘O yonder is an auld palmer Heed: Tak your sword an kill him dead.’

5 ‘Gude forbid, O ladie fair, That I kill an auld man an grey hair.

6 ‘We’ll gie him a an forbid him to tell;’ The gae him a an forbad him to tell.

7 The auld man than he’s away hame, He telld o Jane whan he gaed hame.

8 ‘I thought I saw her on yon moss, Riding on a milk-white horse.

9 ‘I thought I saw her on yon muir; By this time she’s Earl Bran’s wh_ore_.’

10 Her father he’s ca’d on his men: ‘Gae follow, an fetch her again.’

11 She’s lookit oer her left shoulder: ‘O yonder is my father’s men!

12 ‘O yonder is my father’s men: Take my cleadin, an I’ll take thine.’

13 ‘O that was never law in land, For a ladie to feiht an a knight to stand.

14 ‘But if yer father’s men come ane an ane, Stand ye by, an ye’ll see them slain.

15 ‘If they come twae an twae, Stand ye by, an ye’ll see them gae.

16 ‘And if they come three an three, Stand ye by, an ye’ll see them die.’

17 Her father’s men came ane an ane, She stood by . . . .

18 Than they cam by twae an twae, . . . . . . .

19 Than they cam by three an three, . . . . . . .

20 But ahint him cam the auld palmer Hood, An ran him outthro the heart’s blood.

21 ‘I think I see your heart’s blood:’ ‘It’s but the glistering o your scarlet hood.’

* * * * * *

* * * * *

7^1. _MS._, he’s *, _and, in the margin_, * away has been gane. _Over_ away hame _is written_ thre them (==thrae, frae, them), _or, perhaps_, thre than.

20^1. _MS_., palmer weed: _cf._ 3^1, 4^1.

20^2. outr thro.

P. 100, #B#; 489 b, 492, #I#. The printed copy used by Scott was ‘Lord Douglas’ Tragedy,’ the first of four pieces in a stall-pamphlet, “licensed and entered, 1792:” “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 1. #I# is another edition of the same. The variations from #I# are as follows:

* * * * *

1^1, says.

2^2. your arms.

3^4. father who.

4^3. seven _wanting_.

4^4. just now.

5^1. better _for_ (_the obvious misprint_) bitter.

5^3. once that.

6^1. Hold your hand.

7^2. wounds.

7^4. forkd in the.

8^1. Lady Margret.

9^3, 13^3. blue gilded, _as in_ #I#, _for_ bugelet: hanging down.

9^4, 13^4. slowly they both.

10^3. yon clear river-side.

11^3. his pretty.

12^3. ’Tis nothing.

15^2. soft.

16^2. long ere day.

16^4. died _wanting_.

17^1. St _for_ Lady.

17^3. sprung.

18^2. be near.

18^3. ye: weil.

8. Erlinton.

P. 107. The two copies from which (with some editorial garnish and filling out) #A# was compounded were: #a#. “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 20, obtained from Nelly Laidlaw, and in the handwriting of William Laidlaw; #b#. ‘Earlington’s Daughter,’ the same collection, No 11, in the handwriting of James Hogg. The differences are purely verbal, and both copies may probably have been derived from the same reciter; still, since only seven or eight verses in sixty-eight agree, both will be given entire, instead of a list of the variations.

#a.# 1 Lord Erlinton had ae daughter, I trow he’s weird her a grit sin; For he has bugn a bigly bower, An a’ to pit his ae daughter in. An he has buggin, etc.

2 An he has warn her sisters six, Her sisters six an her brethren se’en, Thei’r either to watch her a’ the night, Or than to gang i the mornin soon.

3 She had na been i that bigly bower Not ae night but only ane Untill that Willie, her true-love, Chappit at the bower-door, no at the gin.

4 ‘Whae’s this, whae’s this chaps at my bower-door, At my bower-door, no at the gin?’ ‘O it is Willie, thy ain true-love; O will ye rise an let me in?’

5 ‘In my bower, Willie, there is a wane, An in the wane there is a wake; But I will come to the green woods The morn, for my ain true-love’s sake.’

6 This lady she’s lain down again, An she has lain till the cock crew thrice; She said unto her sisters baith, Lasses, it’s time at we soud rise.

7 She’s putten on her breast a silver tee, An on her back a silken gown; She’s taen a sister in ilka hand, An away to the bonnie green wood she’s gane.

8 They hadna gane a mile in that bonnie green wood, They had na gane a mile but only ane, Till they met wi Willie, her ain true-love, An thrae her sisters he has her taen.

9 He’s taen her sisters ilk by the hand, He’s kissd them baith, an he’s sent them hame; He’s muntit his ladie him high behind, An thro the bonnie green wood thei’r gane.

10 They’d ridden a mile i that bonnie green wood, They hadna ridden but only ane, When there cam fifteen o the baldest knights That ever boor flesh, bluid an bane.

11 Than up bespak the foremost knight, He woor the gray hair on his chin; ‘Yield me yer life or your lady fair, An ye sal walk the green woods within.’

12 ‘For to gie my wife to thee, I wad be very laith,’ said he; ‘For than the folk wad think I was gane mad, Or that the senses war taen frae me.’

13 Up than bespak the niest foremost knight, I trow he spak right boustrouslie; ‘Yield me yer life or your ladie fair, An ye sall walk the green woods wi me.’

14 ‘My wife, she is my warld’s meed, My life, it lyes me very near; But if ye be man o your manhood I serve will while my days are near.’

15 He’s luppen off his milk-white steed, He’s gien his lady him by the head: ‘See that ye never change yer cheer Till ance ye see my body bleed.’

16 An he’s killd a’ the fifteen knights, He’s killed them a’ but only ane; A’ but the auld grey-headed knight, He bade him carry the tiddins hame.

17 He’s gane to his lady again, I trow he’s kissd her, baith cheek an chin; ‘Now ye’r my ain, I have ye win, An we will walk the green woods within.’

* * * * *

2^3. Their _struck out_.

9^3. muntit _struck out, and_ set _written above_.

12^3. than _struck out_.

14^4. while, are, _struck out, and_ till, be, _written above_.

16^4. tiddins: _one_ d _struck out_. _These changes would seem to be somebody’s editorial improvements._

Wi me _in_ 13^4 _sacrifices sense to rhyme_. _We are to understand in_ 11^{3,4}, 13^{3,4} _that Willie is to die if he will not give up the lady, but if he will resign her he may live, and walk the wood at his pleasure._ 14^4 _is corrupt in both texts_.

#b.# 1 O Earlington, he has ae daughter, And I wot he has ward her in a great sin; He has buggin to her a bigly bowr, And a’ to put his daughter in.

2 O he has warnd her sisters six, Her sisters six and her brethren seven, Either to watch her a’ the night, Or else to search her soon at morn.

3 They had na been a night in that bigly bowr, ’Tis not a night but barely ane, Till there was Willie, her ain true-love, Rappd at the door, and knew not the gin.

4 ‘Whoe’s this, whoe’s this raps at my bowr-door, Raps at my bowr-door, and knows not the gin?’ ‘O it is Willie, thy ain true-love; I pray thee rise and let me in.’

5 ‘O in my bower, Willie, there is a wake, And in the wake there is a wan; But I’ll come to the green wood the morn, To the green wood for thy name’s sake.’

6 O she has gaen to her bed again, And a wait she has lain till the cock crew thrice; Then she said to her sisters baith, Lasses, ’tis time for us to rise.

7 She’s puten on her back a silken gown, And on her breast a silver tie; She’s taen a sister in ilka hand, And thro the green wood they are gane.

8 They had na walkt a mile in that good green wood, ’Tis not a mile but barely ane, Till there was Willie, her ain true-love, And from her sisters he has her taen.

9 He’s taen her sisters by the hand, He kist them baith, he sent them hame; He’s taen his lady him behind, And thro the green wood they are gane.

10 They had na ridden a mile in the good green wood, ’Tis not a mile but barely ane, Till there was fifteen of the boldest knights That ever bore flesh, blood or bane.

11 The foremost of them was an aged knight, He wore the gray hair on his chin: ‘Yield me thy life or thy lady bright, And thou shalt walk these woods within.’

12 ‘’Tis for to give my lady fair To such an aged knight as thee, People wad think I were gane mad, Or else the senses taen frae me.’

13 Up then spake the second of them, And he spake ay right bousterously; ‘Yield me thy life or thy lady bright, And thou shalt walk these woods within.’

14 ‘My wife, she is my warld’s meed, My life it lies me very near; But if you’ll be man of your manheed, I’ll serve you till my days be near.’

15 He’s lighted of his milk-white steed, He’s given his lady him by the head: ‘And see ye dinna change your cheer Till you do see my body bleed.’

16 O he has killd these fifteen lords, And he has killd them a’ but ane, And he has left that old aged knight, And a’ to carry the tidings hame.

17 O he’s gane to his lady again, And a wait he has kist her, baith cheek and chin: ‘Thou art my ain love, I have thee bought, And thou shalt walk these woods within.’

5. wake _should be_ wane _and_ wan wake, _as in #A#._

10. The Twa Sisters.

P. 119 a. #Danish.# ‘De talende Strenge,’ Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 68, 375, No 19, #A-E#.

119 b. #Swedish.# ‘De två systrarna,’ Lagus, Nyländska Folkvisor, I, 27, No 7, _a_, _b_; the latter imperfect.

124 b. Bohemian, Waldau, Böhmische Granaten, II, 97, No 137 (with the usual variations).

125 b, 493 b; II, 498 b; III, 499 a. Add: ‘Les roseaux qui chantent,’ Revue des Traditions Populaires, IV, 463, V, 178; ‘La rose de Pimperlé,’ Meyrac, Traditions, etc., des Ardennes, p. 486 ff.; ‘L’os qui chante,’ seven Walloon versions, E. Monseur, Bulletin de Folklore Wallon, I, 39 ff.

128. #C.# ‘The Cruel Sister,’ “Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy,” No 16; communicated to Scott by Major Henry Hutton, Royal Artillery, December 24, 1802 (Letters, I, No 77), as recollected by his father “and the family.”

1 There were twa sisters in a bowr, Binnorie, O Binnorie The eldest was black and the youngest fair. By the bonny milldams o Binnorie

After 13 (or as 14): Your rosie cheeks and white hause-bane Garrd me bide lang maiden at hame.

After 15: The miller’s daughter went out wi speed To fetch some water to make her bread.

After 17: He coud not see her fingers sma, For the goud rings they glistend a’. He coud na see her yellow hair For pearlin and jewels that were so rare.

And when he saw her white hause-bane Round it hung a gouden chain.

He stretched her owt-our the bra And moanëd her wi mekle wa.

“Then, at the end, introduce the following” (which, however, are not traditional).

The last tune the harp did sing, ‘And yonder stands my false sister Alison.

‘O listen, listen, all my kin, ’Twas she wha drownd me in the lin.’

And when the harp this song had done It brast a’ o pieces oer the stane.

“Alison. The writer of these additional stanzas understands the name was Alison, and not Helen.” Alison occurs in #D#, #K#.

Pp. 133, 139. #L.# Anna Seward to Walter Scott, April 25–29, 1802: Letters addressed to Sir Walter Scott, I, No 54, Abbotsford. “The Binnorie of endless repetition has nothing truly pathetic, and the ludicrous use made of the drowned sister’s body is well burlesqued in a ridiculous ballad, which I first heard sung, with farcial grimace, in my infancy [born 1747], thus:”

1 And O was it a pheasant cock, Or eke a pheasant hen? Or was it and a gay lady, Came swimming down the stream?

2 O it was not a pheasant cock, Or eke a pheasant hen, But it was and a gay lady, Came swimming down the stream.

3 And when she came to the mill-dam The miller he took her body, And with it he made him a fiddling thing, To make him sweet melody.

4 And what did he do with her fingers small? He made of them pegs to his vial.

5 And what did he do with her nose-ridge? Why to his fiddle he made it a bridge. Sing, O the damnd mill-dam, O

6 And what did he do with her veins so blue? Why he made him strings his fiddle unto.

7 And what did he do with her two shins? Why to his vial they dancd Moll Sims.

8 And what did he do with her two sides? Why he made of them sides to his fiddle besides.

9 And what did he do with her great toes? Why what he did with them that nobody knows. Sing, O the damnd mill-dam, O

For 4, 5, 6, 7, see #A# 8, 9, 10, 13.