"The grand old ballad of Sir Patrick Spence,"
as Coleridge so justly terms it, the fragment in the Reliques being
un-surpassed among them all for poetic beauty. Herd's longer copy,
like several of the others, runs song-fashion:
"They had not saild upon the sea
A league but merely nine, O,
When wind and weit and snaw and sleit
Cam' blawin' them behin', O."
Motherwell gives the ballad in four forms, in one of them the skipper
being dubbed Sir Patrick, in another Earl Patrick, in another Young
Patrick, and in yet another Sir Andrew Wood. Jamieson's version puts
into Sir Patrick's mouth an exclamation that reflects little credit
upon his sailor character:
"O wha is this, or wha is that,
Has tald the king o' me?
For I was never a gude seaman,
Nor ever intend to be."
But with a few such trifling exceptions, the tone toward the skipper
is universally one of earnest respect and sympathy, the keynote of
every ballad being the frank, unconscious heroism of this "gude Sir
Patrick Spens." In regard to the foundation for the story, Scott
maintains that "the king's daughter of Noroway" was Margaret, known to
history as the Maid of Norway, daughter of Eric, king of Norway, and
of Margaret, daughter of Alexander III. of Scotland. This last-named
monarch died in 1285, the Maid of Norway, his yellow-haired little
granddaughter, being the heiress to his crown. The Maid of Norway
died, however, before she was of age to assume control of her
turbulent Scottish kingdom. Scott surmises, on the authority of the
ballad, that Alexander, desiring to have the little princess reared in
the country she was to rule, sent this expedition for her during his
life-time. No record of such a voyage is extant, although possibly the
presence of the king is a bold example of poetic license, and the
reference is to an earlier and more disastrous embassy than that
finally sent by the Regency of Scotland, after Alexander's death, to
their young queen, Sir Michael Scott of wizard fame being at that time
one of the ambassadors. Finlay, on the other hand, places this ballad
in the days of James III., who married Margaret of Denmark. Here we
have historic testimony of the voyage, but none of the shipwreck,--yet
against any one of these theories the natural objection is brought
that so lamentable a disaster, involving so many nobles of the realm,
would hardly be suffered to escape the pen of the chronicler.
Motherwell, Maidment, and Aytoun, relying on a corroborative passage
in Fordun's _Scotichronicon_, hold with good appearance of reason that
the ballad pictures what is known as an actual shipwreck, on the
return from Norway of those Scottish lords who had escorted thither
the bride of Eric, the elder Margaret, afterward mother of the little
Maid of Norway. The ballad itself well bears out this theory,
especially in the taunt flung at the Scottish gallants for lingering
too long in nuptial festivities on the inhospitable Norwegian coast.
The date of this marriage was 1281. _Skeely_, skilful. _Gane_,
sufficed. _Half-fou_, half-bushel. _Gurly_, stormy.
THE BATTE OF OTTERBURNE. After Scott. There are several Scottish
versions of this spirit-stirring ballad, and also an English version,
first printed in the fourth edition of the _Reliques_. The English
ballad, naturally enough, dwells more on the prowess of Percy and his
countrymen in the combat than on their final discomfiture. A vivid
account of the battle of Otterburne may be found in Froissart's
_Chronicles_. In brief, it was a terrible slaughter brought about by
the eager pride and ambition of those two hot-blooded young
chieftains, James, Earl of Douglas, and the redoubtable Harry Percy.
Yet the generosity of the leaders and the devoted loyalty of their men
throw a moral splendor over the scene of bloodshed. In the year 1388
Douglas, at the head of three thousand Scottish spears, made a raid
into Northumberland and, before the walls of Newcastle, engaged Percy
in single combat, capturing his lance with the attached pennon.
Douglas retired in triumph, brandishing his trophy, but Hotspur,
burning with shame, hurriedly mustered the full force of the Marches
and, following hard upon the Scottish rear, made a night attack upon
the camp of Douglas at Otterbnrne, about twenty miles from the
frontier. Then ensued a moonlight battle, gallant and desperate,
fought on either side with unflinching bravery, and ending in the
defeat of the English, Percy being taken prisoner. But the Scots
bought their glory dear by the loss of their noble leader, who, when
the English troops, superior in number, were gaining ground, dashed
forward with impetuous courage, cheering on his men, and cleared a way
with his swinging battle-axe into the heart of the enemy's ranks.
Struck down by three mortal wounds, he died in the midst of the fray,
urging with his failing breath these last requests upon the little
guard of kinsmen who pressed about him: "First, that yee keep my death
close both from our owne folke and from the enemy; then, that ye
suffer not my standard to be lost or cast downe; and last, that ye
avenge my death, and bury me at Melrosse with my father. If I could
hope for these things," he added, "I should die with the greater
contentment; for long since I heard a prophesie that a dead man should
winne a field, and I hope in God it shall be I." Lammas-tide, the
first of August. Muirmen, moorinen. Harried, plundered. The tane, the
one. Fell, skin. (The inference is that Percy was rescued by his men.)
_Gin_, if. _Burn_, brook. _Kale_, broth. _Fend_, sustain. _Bent_, open
field. _Petitions_, tents (pavilions). _Branking_, prancing.
_Wargangs_, wagons. _Ayont_, beyond. _Hewmont_, helmet. _Smakkit_,
smote. _Bracken_, fern.
THE HUNTING OF THE CHEVIOT. After Hearne, who first printed it from a
manuscript in the Ashmolean collection at Oxford. It was next printed
in the Reliques, under title of Chevy-Chase,--a title now reserved for
the later and inferior broadside version which was singularly popular
throughout the seventeenth century and is still better known than this
far more spirited original. "With regard to the subject of this
ballad,"--to quote from Bishop Percy,--"although it has no countenance
from history, there is room to think it had originally some foundation
in fact. It was one of the laws of the Marches, frequently renewed
between the nations, that neither party should hunt in the other's
borders, without leave from the proprietors or their deputies. There
had long been a rivalship between the two martial families of Percy
and Douglas, which, heightened by the national quarrel, must have
produced frequent challenges and struggles for superiority, petty
invasions of their respective domains, and sharp contests for the
point of honour; which would not always be recorded in history.
Something of this kind, we may suppose, gave rise to the ancient
ballad of the Hunting o' the Cheviat. Percy, Earl of Northumberland,
had vowed to hunt for three days in the Scottish border, without
condescending to ask leave from Earl Douglas, who was either lord of
the soil, or lord warden of the Marches. Douglas would not fail to
resent the insult, and endeavour to repel the intruders by force; this
would naturally produce a sharp conflict between the two parties;
something of which, it is probable, did really happen, though not
attended with the tragical circumstances recorded in the ballad: for
these are evidently borrowed from the Battle of Otterbourn, a very
different event, but which aftertimes would easily confound with it."
The date of the ballad cannot, of course, be strictly ascertained. It
was considered old in the middle of the sixteenth century, being
mentioned in _The Complaynt of Scotland_ (1548) among the "sangis of
natural music of the antiquite." Not much can be said for its
"natural music," yet despite its roughness of form and enviable
inconsistencies of spelling, it has always found grace with the poets.
Rare Ben Jonson used to say that he would rather have been the author
of _Chevy Chase_ than of all his works; Addison honored the broadside
version with two critiques in the _Spectator_; and Sir Philip Sidney,
though lamenting that the ballad should be "so evil apparrelled in the
dust and cobwebs of that uncivill age," breaks out with the ingenuous
confession: "I never heard the olde song of Percy and Duglas that I
found not my heart mooved more then with a trumpet, and yet is it sung
but by some blinde crouder, with no rougher voice then rude stile."
Mauger, despite. _Let_, hinder. _Meany_, company. _Shyars_,
shires. _Bomen_, bowmen. _Byckarte_, moved quickly, rattling their
weapons. _Bent_, open field. _Aras_, arrows. _Wyld_, wild creatures,
as deer. _Shear_, swiftly. _Grevis_, groves. _Glent_, glanced, flashed
by. _Oware off none_, hour of noon. _Mart_, death-signal (as used in
hunting.) _Quyrry_, quarry, slaughtered game. _Bryttlynge_, cutting
up. _Wyste_, knew. _Byll and brande_, axe and sword. _Glede_, live
coal. _The ton_, the one. _Yerle_, earl. _Cars_, curse. _Nam_, name.
_Wat_, wot, know. _Sloughe_, slew. _Byddys_, abides. _Wouche_, injury.
_Ost_, host. _Suar_, sure. _Many a doughete the garde to dy_, many a
doughty (knight) they caused to die. _Basnites_, small helmets.
_Myneyeple_, maniple (of many folds), a coat worn under the armor.
_Freyke_, warrior. _Swapte_, smote. _Myllan_, Milan. _Hight_,
promise. _Spendyd_, grasped (spanned). _Corsiare_, courser. _Blane_,
halted. _Dynte_, stroke. _Halyde_, hauled. _Stour_, press of battle.
_Dre_, endure. _Hinde_, gentle. _Hewyne in to_, hewn in two. _The
mayde them byears_, they made them biers. _Makys_, mates. _Carpe off
care_, tell of sorrow. _March perti_, the Border district.
_Lyff-tenant_, lieutenant. _Weal_, clasp. _Brook_, enjoy. _Quyte_,
avenged. _That tear begane this spurn_, that wrong caused this
retaliation. _Reane_, rain. _Ballys bete_, sorrows amend.
EDOM O' GORDON. After Aytoun. This ballad was first printed at
Glasgow, 1755, as taken down by Sir David Dalrymple "from the
recitation of a lady," and was afterwards inserted--"interpolated and
corrupted," says the unappeasable Ritson--in Percy's _Reliques_.
Ritson himself published a genuine and ancient copy from a manuscript
belonging apparently to the last quarter of the sixteenth century and
preserved in the Cotton Library. The ballad is known under two other
titles, _Captain Car_ and _The Burning o' London Castle._
Notwithstanding this inexactitude in names, the ballad has an
historical basis. In 1571 Adam Gordon, deputy-lieutenant of the North
of Scotland for Queen Mary, was engaged in a struggle against the clan
Forbes, who upheld the Reformed Faith and the King's party. Gordon was
successful in two sharp encounters, but "what glory and renown he
obtained of these two victories," says the contemporary History of
King James the Sixth, "was all cast down by the infamy of his next
attempt; for immediately after this last conflict he directed his
soldiers to the castle of Towie, desiring the house to be rendered to
him in the Queen's name; which was obstinately refused by the lady,
and she burst forth with certain injurious words. And the soldiers
being impatient, by command of their leader, Captain Ker, fire was put
to the house, wherein she and the number of twenty-seven persons were
cruelly burnt to the death."
_Martinmas_, the eleventh of November. _Hauld_, stronghold. _Toun_,
enclosed place. _Buskit_, made ready. _Light_, alighted. _But and_,
and also. _Dree_, suffer. _But an_, unless. _Wude_, mad. _Dule_,
pain. _Reek_, smoke. _Nourice_, nurse. _Jimp_, slender. _Row_,
roll. _Tow_, throw. _Busk and boun_, up and away. _Freits_, ill
omens. _Lowe_, blaze. _Wichty_, sturdy. _Bent_, field. _Teenfu'_,
sorrowful. _Wroken_, avenged.
KINMONT WILLIE. After Scott. This dashing ballad appeared for the
first time in the Border Minstrelsy, having been "preserved by
tradition," says Scott, "on the West Borders, but much mangled by
reciters, so that some conjectural emendations have been absolutely
necessary to render it intelligible." The facts in the case seem to be
that in 1596 Salkeld, deputy of Lord Scroope, English Warden of the
West Marches, and Robert Scott, for the Laird of Buccleuch, Keeper of
Liddesdale, met on the border line for conference in the interest of
the public weal. The truce, that on such occasions extended from the
day of the meeting to the next day at sunset, was this time violated
by a party of English soldiers, who seized upon William Armstrong of
Kinmonth, a notorious freebooter, as he, attended by but three or four
men, was returning from the conference; and lodged him in Carlisle
Castle. The Laird of Buccleuch, after treating in vain for his
release, raised two hundred horse, surprised the castle and carried
off the prisoner without further ceremony. This exploit the haughty
Queen of England "esteemed a great affront" and "stormed not a little"
against the "bauld Buccleuch." _Haribee_, the place of execution at
Carlisle. _Liddel-rack_, a ford on the Liddel. _Reiver_, robber.
_Hostelrie_, inn. _Lawing_, reckoning. _Garr'd_, made. _Basnet_,
helmet. _Curch_, cap. _Lightly_, set light by. _Low_, blaze. _Splent
on spauld_, armor on shoulder. _Woodhouselee_, a house belonging to
Buccleuch, on the Border. _Herry_, harry, spoil. _Corbie_, crow.
_Wons_, dwells. _Lear_, lore. _Row-footed_, rough-footed(?). _Spait_,
flood. _Garr'd_, made. _Stear_, stir. _Coulters_, ploughshares.
_Forehammers_, the large hammers that strike before the small,
sledgehammers. _Fley'd_, frightened. _Spier_, inquire. _Hente_,
caught. _Maill_, rent. _Airns_, irons. _Wood_, mad. _Furs_,
furrows. _Trew_, trust.
KING JOHN AND THE ABBOT OF CANTERBURY. After Percy, who printed from
an ancient black-letter copy. There are three other broadside versions
of this popular ballad extant, and at least one older version has been
lost. Similar riddle-stories are to be found in almost all European
literatures. There is nothing in this ballad save the name of King
John, with his reputation for unjust and high-handed dealing, that can
be called traditional. _Deere_, harm. _Stead_, place. _St. Bittel_,
St. Botolph(?).
ROBIN HOOD RESCUING THE WIDOW'S THREE SONS. After Ritson, who has
collected in two volumes the ballads of Robin Hood. This is believed
to be one of the oldest of them all. A concise introduction to the
Robin Hood ballads is given by Mr. Hales in the _Percy Folio MS_.
vol. i. This legendary king of Sherwood Forest is more rightfully the
hero of English song than his splendid rival, the Keltic King Arthur,
"whose name, a ghost,
Streams like a cloud, man-shaped, from mountain peak,
And cleaves to cairn and cromlech still."
Yet there is scarcely less doubt as to the actual existence of a
flesh-and-blood Robin Hood than there is as to the actual existence of
a flesh-and-blood King Arthur. But let History look to her own;
Literature need have no scruple in claiming both the archer-prince of
outlaws and the blameless king of the Table Round. Robber chieftain or
democratic agitator, romantic invention or Odin-myth, it is certain
that by the fourteenth century Robin Hood was a familiar figure in
English balladry. We have our first reference to this generous-hearted
rogue of the greenwood, who is supposed by Ritson to have lived from
1160 to 1247, in Langlande's _Piers Ploughman_ (1362). There are
brief notices of the popular bandit in Wyntoun's _Scottish Chronicle_
(1420), Fordun's _Scotichronicon_ (1450), and Mair's _Historia Majoris
Brittaniae_ (1521). Famous literary allusions occur in Latimer's
_Sixth Sermon before Edward VI_. (1548), in Drayton's _Polyolbion_
(1613), and Fuller's _Worthies of England_ (1662). The Robin Hood
ballads illustrate to the full the rough and heavy qualities, both of
form and thought, that characterize all our English folk-songs as
opposed to the Scottish. We feel the difference instantly when a
minstrel from over the Border catches up the strain:
"There's mony ane sings o'grass, o'grass,
And mony ane sings o'corn;
And mony ane sings o'Robin Hood,
Kens little whar' he was born.
"It was na' in the ha', the ha',
Nor in the painted bower;
But it was in the gude greenwood,
Amang the lily flower."
Yet these rude English ballads have just claims on our regard. They
stand our feet squarely upon the basal rock of Saxon ethics, they
breathe a spirit of the sturdiest independence, and they draw, in a
few strong strokes, so fresh a picture of the joyous, fearless life
led under the green shadows of the deer-haunted forest by that
memorable band, bold Robin and Little John, Friar Tuck and George a
Green, Will Scarlett, Midge the Miller's Son, Maid Marian and the
rest, that we gladly succumb to a charm recognized by Shakespeare
himself: "They say he is already in the forest of Arden, and a many
merry men with him; and there they live like the old Robin Hood of
England; they say many young gentlemen flock to him every day, and
fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden world."--_As You
Like It._
ROBIN HOOD AND ALLIN A DALE. After Ritson. This ballad is first found
in broadside copies of the latter half of the seventeenth
century. _Lin._, pause.
ROBIN HOOD'S DEATH AND BURIAL. After Ritson, who made his version from
a collation of two copies given in a York garland.
ANNIE OF LOCHROYAN. After Aytoun, who improves on Jamieson's
version. This beautiful ballad is given in varying forms by Herd,
Scott, Buchan, and others. Lochroyan, or Loch Ryan, is a bay on the
south-west coast of Scotland. _Jimp_, slender. _Gin_, if. _Greet_,
cry. _Tirl'd_, rattled. _But and_, and also. _Warlock_, wizard.
_Sinsyne_, since then. _Hooly_, slowly. _Deid_, death. _Syne_, then.
LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET. After Aytoun, who adds to the first
twenty-four stanzas of the copy given in the _Reliques_ a concluding
fourteen taken from Jamieson's _Sweet Willie and Fair Annie_. The
unfortunate lady elsewhere figures as _The Nut-Brown Bride_ and _Fair
Ellinor_. There are Norse ballads which relate something akin to the
same story. _Gif_, if. _Rede_, counsel. _Owsen_, oxen. _Billie_, an
affectionate term for brother. _Byre_, cow-house. _Fadge_, clumsy
woman. _Sheen_, shoes. _Tift_, whiff. _Gin_, if. _Cleiding_,
clothing. _Bruik_, enjoy. _Kist_, chest. _Lee_, lonesome. _Till_,
to. _Dowie_, doleful. _Sark_, shroud. _But and_, and also. _Birk_,
birch.
THE BANKS OF YARROW. After Allingham's collated version. There are
many renderings of this ballad, which Scott declares to be a great
favorite among the peasantry of the Ettrick forest, who firmly believe
it founded on fact. The river Yarrow, so favored of the poets, flows
through a valley in Selkirkshire and joins the Tweed above the town of
Selkirk. The _Tennies_ is a farm below the Yarrow kirk. _Lawing_,
reckoning. _Dawing_, dawn. _Marrow_, mate. _Dowie_, doleful.
_Leafu'_, lawful. _Binna_, be not.
THE DOUGLAS TRAGEDY. After Scott. This ballad is likewise known under
titles of _Earl Brand, Lady Margaret_ and _The Child of Ell_. Danish,
Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic ballads relate a kindred story, and
the incident of the intertwining plants that spring from the graves of
hapless lovers, occurs in the folk-lore of almost all peoples.
_Bugelet_, a small bugle. _Dighted_, strove to stanch. _Plat_,
intertwined.
FINE FLOWERS I' THE VALLEY. After Aytoun, his version, though taken
down from recitation, being in reality a compound of Herd's and
Jamieson's. Aytoun claims that "this is perhaps the most popular of
all the Scottish ballads, being commonly recited and sung even at the
present day." Different refrains are often employed, and the ballad is
frequently given under title of _The Cruel Brother_. Stories similar
to this are found in the balladry of both northern and southern
Europe. _Marrow_, mate. _Close_, avenue leading from the door to the
street. _Loutiny_, bowing. _Its lane_, alone.
THE GAY GOSS-HAWK. Mainly after Motherwell, although his version is
entitled _The Jolly Goshawk_. The epithet _Gay_ has the sanction of
Scott and Jamieson. Buchan gives a rendering of this ballad under
title of _The Scottish Squire_. _Whin_, furze. _Bigly_, spacious. _Sark_,
shroud. _Claith_, cloth. _Steeking_, stitching. _Gar'd_, made. _Chive_,
morsel. _Skaith_, harm.
YOUNG REDIN. After Allingham's collated copy. There are many versions
of this ballad, the hero being variously known as Young Hunting, Earl
Richard, Lord William, Lord John and Young Redin. _Birl'd_, plied. _Douk_,
dive. _Weil-head_, eddy. _Linn_, the pool beneath a cataract. _Brin_, burn.
_Balefire_, bonfire.
WILLIE AND MAY MARGARET. After Allingham's copy framed by collating
Jamieson's fragmentary version with Buchan's ballad of _The Drowned
Lovers_. _Stour_, wild. _Pot_, a pool in a river. _Dowie den_, doleful
hollow. _Tirled_, rattled. _Sleeked_, fastened. _Brae_, hillside. _Sowm,
swim. _Minnie_, affectionate term for mother.
YOUNG BEICHAN. Mainly after Jamieson, his version being based upon a
copy taken down from the recitation of the indefatigable Mrs. Brown
and collated with a manuscript and stall copy, both from Scotland, a
recited copy from the North of England, and a short version "picked
off an old wall in Piccadilly." Of this ballad of _Young Beichan_
there are numerous renderings, the name of the hero undergoing many
variations,--Bicham, Brechin, Beachen, Bekie, Bateman, Bondwell--and
the heroine, although Susie Pye or Susan Pye in ten of the fourteen
versions, figuring also as Isbel, Essels, and Sophia. It was probably
an English ballad at the start, but bears the traces of the Scottish
minstrels who were doubtless prompt to borrow it. There is likelihood
enough that the ballad was originally suggested by the legend of
Gilbert Becket, father of the great archbishop; the story running that
Becket, while a captive in Holy Land, plighted his troth to the
daughter of a Saracenic prince. When the crusader had made good his
escape, the lady followed him, inquiring her way to "England" and to
"London," where she wandered up and down the streets, constantly
repeating her lover's name, "Gilbert," the third and last word of
English that she knew, until finally she found him, and all her woes
were put to flight by the peal of wedding bells. _Termagant_, the name
given in the old romances to the God of the Saracens. _Pine_, pain.
_Sheave_, slice. _But and_, and also. _Dreed_, endured.
GILDEROY. After the current version adapted from the original by Sir
Alexander Halket or his sister, Lady Elizabeth Wardlaw, the composer
of _Hardyknute_. There is extant a black-letter broadside printed in
England as early as 1650, and the ballad appears in several
miscellanies of later date. The reviser added the sixth, seventh, and
eighth stanzas. It is mortifying to learn that this "winsome Gilderoy
"--the name, properly Gillie roy, signifying in Gaelic "the red-haired
lad"--was in reality one Patrick Mac-Gregor, who was hanged at the
cross of Edinburgh, 1638, as a common cateran or free-booter. That the
romantic element in the ballad so outweighs the historical, must
account for its classification here. _Soy_, silk. _Cess_,
black-mail. _Gear_, property.
BONNY BARBARA ALLAN. After the version given in Ramsay's _Tea-Table
Miscellany_ and followed by Herd, Ritson, and others. Percy prints
with this in the _Reliques_ a longer, but poorer copy. In Pepys's
_Diary_, Jan. 2,1666, occurs an allusion to the "little Scotch song of
Barbary Alien." _Gin_, if. _Hooly_, slowly. _Jow_, knell.
THE GARDENER. After Kinloch. Buchan gives a longer, but less valuable
version. _Jimp_, slender. _Weed_, dress. _Camorine_, camomile.
_Kail-blade_, cabbage-leaf. _Cute_, ankle. _Brawn_, calf.
_Blaewort_, witch bells.
ETIN THE FORESTER. Collated. No single version of this ballad is
satisfactory, not Kinloch's fine fragment, _Hynde Etin_, nor Buchan's
complete but inferior version, _Young Akin_, nor the modernized copy,
_Young Hastings_, communicated by Buchan to Motherwell. Earlier and
better renderings of the ballad have doubtless been lost. In the old
Scottish speech, an Etin signified an ogre or giant, and although the
existing versions show but faint traces of a supernatural element, it
is probable that the original character of the story has been changed
by the accidents of tradition, and that the Etin was at the outset in
line with such personages as Arnold's Forsaken Merman. In the
beautiful kindred ballads which abound in the Norse and German
literatures, the Etin is sometimes represented by a merman, though
usually by an elf-king, dwarf-king, or hill-king. _Hind chiel_, young
stripling. _Spier_, ask. _Bigg_, build. _Their lane_, alone. _Brae_,
hillside. _Gars_, makes. _Greet_, weep. _Stown_, stolen. _Laverock_,
lark. _Lift_, air. _Buntin'_, blackbird. _Christendame_, christening.
_Ben_, in. _Shaw_, forest. _Louted_, bowed. _Boun'_, go.
LAMKIN. After Jamieson. The many versions of this ballad show an
unusually small number of variations. The name, though occurring in
the several forms of Lambert Linkin, Lamerlinkin, Rankin, Belinkin,
Lankyn, Lonkin, Balcanqual, most often appears as Lamkin or Lammikin
or Lambkin, being perhaps a nick-name given to the mason for the
meekness with which he had borne his injuries. This would explain the
resentful tone of his inquiries on entering the house. _Nourice_,
nurse. _Limmer_, wretch. _Shot-window_, projecting window. _Gaire_,
edge of frock. _Ilka_, each. _Bore_, crevice. _Greeting_, crying.
_Dowie_, doleful. _Chamer_, chamber. _Lamer_, amber. _Ava'_, of all.
HUGH OF LINCOLN. Mainly after Jamieson. Percy gives a version of this
famous ballad under title of _The Jew's Daughter_, and Herd and
Motherwell, as well as Jamieson, have secured copies from recitation.
The general view that this ballad rests upon an historical basis has
but slender authority behind it. Matthew Paris, never too reliable as
a chronicler, says that in 1255 the Jews of Lincoln, after their
yearly custom, stole a little Christian boy, tortured and crucified
him, and flung him into a pit, where his mother found the body. This
is in all probability one of the many cruel slanders circulated
against the Jews during the Middle Ages, to reconcile the Christian
conscience to the Christian maltreatment of that long-suffering
race. Such stories are related of various mediaeval innocents, in
various lands and centuries, and may be classed together, until better
evidence to the contrary presents itself, as malicious falsehood. This
ballad should be compared, of course, with Chaucer's _Prioresses
Tale_. _Keppit_, caught. _Gart_, made. _Twinn'd_, deprived. _Row'd_,
rolled. _Ilka_, each. _Gin_, it.
FAIR ANNIE. Mainly after Jamieson's version entitled _Lady Jane_.
Jamieson gives another copy, where the heroic lady is known as _Burd
Helen_, but Scott, Motherwell, Kinloch, Buchan, and others agree on
the name _Fair Annie_. The pathetic beauty of the ballad has secured
it a wide popularity. There are Danish, Swedish, Dutch, and German
versions. "But Fair Annie's fortunes have not only been charmingly
sung," says Professor Child. "They have also been exquisitely _told_
in a favorite lay of Marie de France, 'Le Lai del Freisne.' This tale
of Breton origin is three hundred years older than any manuscript of
the ballad. Comparison will, however, quickly show that it is not the
source either of the English or of the Low German and Scandinavian
ballad. The tale and the ballads have a common source, which lies
further back, and too far for us to find." _Your lane_, alone. _Braw_,
finely dressed. _Gear_, goods. _But and_, and also. _Stown_, stolen.
_Leugh_, laughed. _Loot_, let. _Gars_, makes. _Greet_, weep.
THE LAIRD O' DRUM. After Aytoun's collated version. Copies obtained
from recitation are given by Kinloch and Buchan. The eccentric Laird
o' Drum was an actual personage, who, in the seventeenth century,
mortified his aristocratic relatives and delighted the commons by
marrying a certain Margaret Coutts, a woman of lowly rank, his first
wife having been a daughter of the Marquis of Huntly. The old shepherd
speaks in the Aberdeen dialect. _Weel-faur'd_, well-favored. _Gin_,
if. _Speer_, ask. _Kebbuck_, cheese. _Yetts_, gates. _Gawsy_, portly.
_But the pearlin' abune her bree_, without the lace above her brow.
LIZIE LINDSAY. After Jamieson. Complete copies are given by Buchan and
Whitelaw, also. _Till_, to. _Braes_, hills. _Fit_, foot. _Gin_, if.
_Tocher_, dowry. _Gait_, way. _Wale_, choice. _Dey_, dairy-woman.
_Laverock_, lark. _Liltin'_, carolling. _Shealin'_, sheep-shed. _Gaits
and kye_, goats and cows.
KATHARINE JANFARIE. Mainly after Motherwell's version entitled
_Catherine Johnstone_. Other renderings are given by Scott, Maidment,
and Buchan. In Scott's version the name of the English suitor is Lord
Lochinvar, and both name and story the thieving poet has turned, as
everybody knows, to excellent account. The two closing stanzas here
seem to betray the hand of an English balladist. _Weel-faur'd_,
well-favored. _Lave_, rest. _Spier'd_, asked. _Brae_, hill.
GLENLOGIE. After Smith's version in the _Scottish Minstrel_,--a book
wherein "great liberties," Motherwell claims, have been taken with
ancient lays. A rough but spirited version is given by Sharpe, and a
third by Buchan. _Gar_, make. _His lane_, alone.
GET UP AND BAR THE DOOR. After Herd. This ballad appears, too, in
Johnson's _Museum_ and Ritson's _Scottish Songs_. _Martinmas_, the
eleventh of November. _Intil_, into. _Hussyskep_, house-keeping.
_Bree_, broth. _Scaud_, scald.
THE LAWLANDS O' HOLLAND. After Herd. Another version, longer and
poorer, occurs in Johnson's _Museum_. _Withershins_, the wrong
way. _Twinned_, parted.
THE TWA CORBIES. After Scott, who received it from Mr. C. K. Sharpe,
"as written down, from tradition, by a lady." This seems to be the
Scottish equivalent of an old English poem, _The Three Ravens_, given
by Ritson in his _Ancient Songs_. _Corbies_, ravens. _Fail_, turf.
_Kens_, knows. _Hause_, neck. _Pyke_, pick. _Theek_, thatch.
HELEN OF KIRCONNEL. After Scott. Other versions are given by Herd,
Ritson, and Jamieson. There is said to be a traditional basis for the
ballad, and the grave of the lovers, Adam Fleming and Helen Irving (or
Helen Bell), is still pointed out in the churchyard of Kirconnell,
near Springkell. _Burd_, lady.
WALY WALY. After Ramsay, being first published in the _Tea-Table
Miscellany_. These touching and tender stanzas have been pieced by
Chambers into the patchwork ballad, _Lord Jamie Douglas_, but
evidently it is not there that they belong. _Waly_, a cry of
lamentation. _Brae_, hillside. _Burn_, brook. _Syne_, then. _Lichtly_,
slight. _Busk_, adorn. _Marti'mas_, November. _Fell_, bitterly.
_Cramasie_, crimson.
LORD RONALD. After Scott's version entitled _Lord Randal_. Scott
adopts this name because he thinks the ballad may originally have had
reference to the death of Thomas Randolph, or Randal, Earl of
Murray,--a theory which Allingham, with more justice than mercy,
briefly disposes of as "mere antiquarian moonshine." In point of fact
the ballad recounts an old, old story, told in many literatures,
Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Magyar, Wendish, Bohemian,
Catalan. The English offshoot takes on a bewildering variety of
forms. (See Introduction, pp. xiii, xiv.) _Broo'_, broth.
EDWARD, EDWARD. After Percy, the ballad having made its first
appearance in the _Reliques_. Motherwell gives an interesting version,
in which the murderer, who in this case has slain his brother, is
addressed as _Son Davie_. There are German, Swedish, Danish and Finish
equivalents. The old orthography, which is retained here for its
literary interest, cannot obscure the tragic power of the ballad.
_Frie_, free. _Dule ye drie_, grief ye suffer. _Tul_, till.