Pinkerton, "about 1670," bound up with five other pieces
at the end of a copy of Blind Harry's 'Wallace,' Edin.
1673, in the Pepysian Library.
My plaid awa, my plaid awa,
And ore the hill and far awa,
And far awa to Norrowa,
My plaid shall not be blown awa.
1
The elphin knight sits on yon hill,
Ba, ba, ba, lilli ba
He blaws his horn both lowd and shril.
The wind hath blown my plaid awa
2
He blowes it east, he blowes it west,
He blowes it where he lyketh best.
3
'I wish that horn were in my kist,
Yea, and the knight in my armes two.'
4
She had no sooner these words said,
When that the knight came to her bed.
5
'Thou art over young a maid,' quoth he,
'Married with me thou il wouldst be.'
6
'I have a sister younger than I,
And she was married yesterday.'
7
'Married with me if thou wouldst be,
A courtesie thou must do to me.
8
'For thou must shape a sark to me,
Without any cut or heme,' quoth he.
9
'Thou must shape it knife-and-sheerlesse,
And also sue it needle-threedlesse.'
10
'If that piece of courtesie I do to thee,
Another thou must do to me.
11
'I have an aiker of good ley-land,
Which lyeth low by yon sea-strand.
12
'For thou must eare it with thy horn,
So thou must sow it with thy corn.
13
'And bigg a cart of stone and lyme,
Robin Redbreast he must trail it hame.
14
'Thou must barn it in a mouse-holl,
And thrash it into thy shoes soll.
15
'And thou must winnow it in thy looff,
And also seck it in thy glove.
16
'For thou must bring it over the sea,
And thou must bring it dry home to me.
17
'When thou hast gotten thy turns well done,
Then come to me and get thy sark then.'
18
'I'l not quite my plaid for my life;
It haps my seven bairns and my wife.'
The wind shall not blow my plaid awa
19
'My maidenhead I'l then keep still,
Let the elphin knight do what he will.'
The wind's not blown my plaid awa
B
A Collection of Curious Old Ballads, etc., p. 3. Partly
from an old copy in black letter, and partly from the
recitation of an old lady.
My plaid awa, my plaid awa,
And owre the hills and far awa,
And far awa to Norrowa,
My plaid shall not be blawn awa.
1
The Elphin knight sits on yon hill,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
He blaws his horn baith loud and shrill.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
2
He blaws it east, he blaws it west,
He blaws it where he liketh best.
3
'I wish that horn were in my kist,
Yea, and the knight in my arms niest.'
4
She had no sooner these words said,
Than the knight came to her bed.
5
'Thou art oer young a maid,' quoth he,
'Married with me that thou wouldst be.'
6
'I have a sister, younger than I,
And she was married yesterday.'
7
'Married with me if thou wouldst be,
A curtisie thou must do to me.
8
'It's ye maun mak a sark to me,
Without any cut or seam,' quoth he.
9
'And ye maun shape it, knife-, sheerless,
And also sew it needle-, threedless.'
10
'If that piece of courtisie I do to thee,
Another thou must do to me.
11
'I have an aiker of good ley land,
Which lyeth low by yon sea strand.
12
'It's ye maun till 't wi your touting horn,
And ye maun saw 't wi the pepper corn.
13
'And ye maun harrow 't wi a thorn,
And hae your wark done ere the morn.
14
'And ye maun shear it wi your knife,
And no lose a stack o 't for your life.
15
'And ye maun stack it in a mouse hole,
And ye maun thrash it in your shoe sole.
16
'And ye maun dight it in your loof,
And also sack it in your glove.
17
'And thou must bring it over the sea,
Fair and clean and dry to me.
18
'And when that ye have done your wark,
Come back to me, and ye'll get your sark.'
19
'I'll not quite my plaid for my life;
It haps my seven bairns and my wife.'
20
'My maidenhead I'll then keep still,
Let the elphin knight do what he will.'
C
Kinloch's A. S. Ballads, p. 145. From the recitation of M.
Kinnear, a native of Mearnsshire, 23 Aug., 1826.
1
There stands a knicht at the tap o yon hill,
Oure the hills and far awa
He has blawn his horn loud and shall.
The cauld wind's blawn my plaid awa
2
'If I had the horn that I hear blawn,
And the knicht that blaws that horn!'
3
She had na sooner thae words said,
Than the elfin knicht cam to her side.
4
'Are na ye oure young a may
Wi onie young man doun to lie?'
5
'I have a sister younger than I,
And she was married yesterday.'
6
'Married wi me ye sall neer be nane
Till ye mak to me a sark but a seam.
7
'And ye maun shape it knife-, sheer-less,
And ye maun sew it needle-, threed-less.
8
'And ye maun wash it in yon cistran,
Whare water never stood nor ran.
9
'And ye maun dry it on yon hawthorn,
Whare the sun neer shon sin man was born.'
10
'Gin that courtesie I do for thee,
Ye maun do this for me.
11
'Ye'll get an acre o gude red-land
Atween the saut sea and the sand.
12
'I want that land for to be corn,
And ye maun aer it wi your horn.
13
'And ye maun saw it without a seed,
And ye maun harrow it wi a threed.
14
'And ye maun shear it wi your knife,
And na tyne a pickle o't for your life.
15
'And ye maun moue it in yon mouse-hole
And ye maun thrash it in your shoe-sole.
16
'And ye maun fan it wi your luves,
And ye maun sack it in your gloves.
17
'And ye maun bring it oure the sea,
Fair and clean and dry to me.
18
'And whan that your wark is weill deen,
Yese get your sark without a seam.'
D
Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 296.
1
The Elfin knight stands on yon hill,
Blaw, blaw, blaw winds, blaw
Blawing his horn loud and shrill.
And the wind has blawin my plaid awa
2
'If I had yon horn in my kist,
And the bonny laddie here that I luve best!
3
'I hae a sister eleven years auld,
And she to the young men's bed has made bauld.
4
'And I mysell am only nine,
And oh! sae fain, luve, as I woud be thine.'
5
'Ye maun make me a fine Holland sark,
Without ony stitching or needle wark.
6
'And ye maun wash it in yonder well,
Where the dew never wat, nor the rain ever fell.
7
'And ye maun dry it upon a thorn
That never budded sin Adam was born.'
8
'Now sin ye've askd some things o me,
It's right I ask as mony o thee.
9
'My father he askd me an acre o land,
Between the saut sea and the strand.
10
'And ye maun plow 't wi your blawing horn,
And ye maun saw 't wi pepper corn.
11
'And ye maun harrow 't wi a single tyne,
And ye maun shear 't wi a sheep's shank bane.
12
'And ye maun big it in the sea,
And bring the stathle dry to me.
13
'And ye maun barn 't in yon mouse hole,
And ye maun thrash 't in your shee sole.
14
'And ye maun sack it in your gluve,
And ye maun winno 't in your leuve.
15
'And ye maun dry 't without candle or coal,
And grind it without quirn or mill.
16
'Ye'll big a cart o stane and lime,
Gar Robin Redbreast trail it syne.
17
'When ye've dune, and finishd your wark,
Ye'll come to me, luve, and get your sark.'
E
Motherwell's MS., p. 492.
1
The Elfin Knight sits on yon hill,
Ba ba lilly ba
Blowing his horn loud and shill.
And the wind has blawn my plaid awa
2
'I love to hear that horn blaw;
I wish him [here] owns it and a'.'
3
That word it was no sooner spoken,
Than Elfin Knight in her arms was gotten.
4
'You must mak to me a sark,
Without threed, sheers or needle wark.'
F
Kinloch MSS, I, 75. From Mary Barr.
1
'Did ye ever travel twist Berwick and Lyne?
Sober and grave grows merry in time
There ye'll meet wi a handsome young dame,
Ance she was a true love o mine.
2
'Tell her to sew me a holland sark,
And sew it all without needle-wark:
And syne we'll be true lovers again.
3
'Tell her to wash it at yon spring-well,
Where neer wind blew, nor yet rain fell.
4
'Tell her to dry it on yon hawthorn,
That neer sprang up sin Adam was born.
5
'Tell her to iron it wi a hot iron,
And plait it a' in ae plait round.'
6
'Did ye ever travel twixt Berwick and Lyne?
There ye'll meet wi a handsome young man,
Ance he was a true lover o mine.
7
'Tell him to plough me an acre o land
Betwixt the sea-side hot and the sea-sand,
And syne we'll be true lovers again.
8
'Tell him to saw it wi ae peck o corn,
And harrow it a' wi ae harrow tine.
9
'Tell him to shear it wi ae hook-tooth,
And carry it hame just into his loof.
10
'Tell him to stack it in yon mouse-hole,
And thrash it a' just wi his shoe-sole.
11
'Tell him to dry it on yon ribless kiln,
And grind it a' in yon waterless miln.
12
Tell this young man, whan he's finished his wark,
He may come to me, and hese get his sark.'
G
Gammer Gurten's Garland, p. 3, ed. 1810.
1
'Can you make me a cambrick shirt,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Without any seam or needle work?
And you shall be a true lover of mine
2
'Can you wash it in yonder well,
Where never sprung water nor rain ever fell?
3
'Can you dry it on yonder thorn,
Which never bore blossom since Adam was born?'
4
'Now you have askd me questions three,
I hope you'll answer as many for me.
5
'Can you find me an acre of land
Between the salt water and the sea sand?
6
'Can you plow it with a ram's horn,
And sow it all over with one pepper corn?
7
'Can you reap it with a sickle of leather,
And bind it up with a peacock's feather?
8
'When you have done, and finishd your work,
Then come to me for your cambrick shirt.'
H
Motherwell's MS., p. 92.
1
'Come, pretty Nelly, and sit thee down by me,
Every rose grows merry wi thyme
And I will ask thee questions three,
And then thou wilt be a true lover of mine.
2
'Thou must buy me a cambrick smock
Without any stitch of needlework.
3
'Thou must wash it in yonder strand,
Where wood never grew and water neer ran.
4
'Thou must dry it on yonder thorn,
Where the sun never shined on since Adam was formed.'
5
'Thou hast asked me questions three;
Sit down till I ask as many of thee.
6
'Thou must buy me an acre of land
Betwixt the salt water, love, and the sea-sand.
7
'Thou must plow it wi a ram's horn,
And sow it all over wi one pile o corn.
8
'Thou must shear it wi a strap o leather,
And tie it all up in a peacock feather.
9
'Thou must stack it in the sea,
And bring the stale o 't hame dry to me.
10
'When my love's done, and finished his work,
Let him come to me for his cambric smock.'
I
Motherwell's MS., p. 103. From the recitation of John
McWhinnie, collier, Newtown Green, Ayr.
1
A lady wonned on yonder hill,
Hee ba and balou ba
And she had musick at her will.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
2
Up and cam an auld, auld man,
Wi his blue bonnet in his han.
3
'I will ask ye questions three;
Resolve them, or ye'll gang wi me.
4
'Ye maun mak to me a sark,
It maun be free o woman's wark.
5
'Ye maun shape it knife-sheerless,
And ye maun sew it needle-threedless.
6
'Ye maun wash it in yonder well,
Whare rain nor dew has ever fell.
7
'Ye maun dry it on yonder thorn,
Where leaf neer grew since man was born.'
8
'I will ask ye questions three;
Resolve them, or ye'll neer get me.
9
'I hae a rig o bonnie land
Atween the saut sea and the sand.
10
'Ye maun plow it wi ae horse bane,
And harrow it wi ae harrow pin.
11
'Ye maun shear 't wi a whang o leather,
And ye maun bind 't bot strap or tether.
12
'Ye maun stack it in the sea,
And bring the stale hame dry to me.
13
'Ye maun mak a cart o stane,
And yoke the wren and bring it hame.
14
'Ye maun thresh't atween your lufes,
And ye maun sack't atween your thies.'
15
'My curse on those wha learnëd thee;
This night I weend ye'd gane wi me.'
J
Communicated by Rev. F. D. Huntington, Bishop of Western
New York, as sung to him by his father in 1828, at Hadley,
Mass.; derived from a rough, roystering "character" in the
town.
1
Now you are a-going to Cape Ann,
Follomingkathellomeday
Remember me to the self-same man.
Ummatiddle, ummatiddle, ummatallyho, tallyho, follomingkathellomeday
2
Tell him to buy me an acre of land
Between the salt-water and the sea-sand.
3
Tell him to plough it with a ram's horn,
Tell him to sow it with one peppercorn.
4
Tell him to reap it with a penknife,
And tell him to cart it with two mice.
5
Tell him to cart it to yonder new barn
That never was built since Adam was born.
6
Tell him to thrash it with a goose quill,
Tell him to fan it with an egg-shell.
7
Tell the fool, when he's done his work,
To come to me, and he shall have his shirt.
K
Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes of England, 6th ed., p. 109, No
171.
1
My father left me three acres of land,
Sing ivy, sing ivy
My father left me three acres of land.
Sing holly, go whistle and ivy
2
I ploughed it with a ram's horn,
And sowed it all over with one pepper corn.
3
I harrowed it with a bramble bush,
And reaped it with my little penknife.
4
I got the mice to carry it to the barn,
And thrashed it with a goose's quill.
5
I got the cat to carry it to the mill;
The miller he swore he would have her paw,
And the cat she swore she would scratch his face.
#L#
Notes and Queries, 1st S., VII, 8. Signed D.
1
My father gave me an acre of land,
Sing ivy, sing ivy
My father gave me an acre of land.
Sing green bush, holly and ivy
2
I ploughd it with a ram's horn.
3
I harrowd it with a bramble.
4
I sowd it with a pepper corn.
5
I reapd it with my penknife.
6
I carried it to the mill upon the cat's back.
* * * * * * *
7
I made a cake for all the king's men.
* * * * *
#A.#
_The verses here prefaced to the ballad are appended to
the last stanza in the broadside._ _For_ Norrowa, _v. 3,
Pinkerton has_ To-morrow. 9^1, needle and sheerlesse.
#B.#
'A Proper New Ballad entitled The Wind hath blawn my Plaid
awa, or a Discourse between a Young Woman and the Elphin
Knight. To be sung with its own proper tune.'
"This ballad is printed partly from an old copy in black
letter, and partly from the recitation of an old lady,
which appears to be the Scottish version, and is here
chiefly adhered to."
#D.#
3^2. hae made.
9^1. askd _should perhaps be_ left, _or_ gave, _as in_
#K^1#, #L^1#.
#E.#
_Burden_^2, _in MS._, 1, blown her; 2, 3, blawn her; 4,
blawn my.
2^1, blow;
2^2, and a.
#H.#
1^1. He speaks, _in the margin of MS_.
_Burden_^1, _time in margin_.
5^1. Maid speaks, _in margin_.
#I.#
_Not divided regularly into stanzas in the MS._
4^2. needlewark _in margin_.
10^1. shin? _in margin_.
#L.#
_After_ 6: "Then follows some more which I forget, but I
think it ends thus."
[13] All that was required of the burden, Mr Chappell kindly writes me,
was to support the voice by harmonious notes under the melody; it was
not sung _after_ each half of the stanza, or after the stanza, and it
was heard separately only when the voices singing the air stopped. Even
the Danish ballads exhibit but a few cases of these "burden-stems," as
Grundwig calls them: see Danmarks Gamle Folkeviser, II, 221, B 1; 295, B
1; 393, A 1: III, 197, D; 470, A. Such burden-stems are, however, very
common in Icelandic ballads. They are, for the most part, of a different
metre from the ballad, and very often not of the same number of lines as
the ballad stanza. A _part_ of the burden stem would seem to be taken
for the refrain; as Íslenzk Fornkvæði, I, 30, of four verses, 1, 2, 4;
129, of two, the last half of the first and all the second; 194, of
four, the last; 225, of five, the last two; II, 52, of five, the second
and last two.
In later times the Danish stev-stamme was made to conform to the metre
of the ballad, and sung as the first stanza, the last line perhaps
forming the burden. Compare the stev-stamme, Grundwig, III, 470, with
the first stanza of the ballad at p. 475. If not so changed, says
Grundtvig, it dropped away. Lyngbye, at the end of his Færöiske Qvæder,
gives the music of a ballad which he had heard sung. The whole stem is
sung first, and then repeated as a burden at the end of every verse. The
modern way, judging by Berggreen, Folke-Sange og Melodier, 3d ed., I,
352, 358, is simply to sing the whole stem after each verse, and so says
Grundtvig, III, 200, D. The whole stem is appended to the last stanza
(where, as usual, the burden, which had been omitted after stanza 1, is
again expressed) in the Færöe ballad in Grundtvig, III, 199, exactly as
in our broadside, or in Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. iii. I
must avow myself to be very much in the dark as to the exact relation of
stem and burden.
[14] Grundtvig has noticed the resemblance of G.R. 64 and the
ballad.--Much of what follows is derived from the admirable Benfey's
papers, 'Die kluge Dirne, Die indischen Märchen von den klugen
Räthsellösern, und ihre Verbreitung über Asien und Europa,' Ausland,
1859, p. 457, 486, 511, 567, 589, in Nos 20, 21, 22, 24, 25.
[15] Ragnar Loðbrók (Saga, c. 4, Rafn, Fornaldar Sögur, I, 245), as
pointed out by the Grimms, notes to No 94, requires Kraka (Aslaug) to
come to him clothed and not clothed, fasting and not fasting, alone and
not without a companion. She puts on a fishing net, bites a leek, and
takes her dog with her. References for the very frequent occurrence of
this feature may be found in Oesterley's note to Gesta Romanorum, No
124, at p. 732.
[16] Benfey, Das Ausland, 1859, p. 459. The versions referred to are:
Shukasaptati (Seventy Tales of a Parrot), 47th and 48th night; the
Buddhist Kanjur, Vinaya, III, fol. 71-83, and Dsanglun, oder der Weise
u. der Thor, also from the Kanjur, translated by I.J. Schmidt, c. 23;
the Mongol translation of Dsanglun [see Popow, Mongolische
Chrestomathie, p. 19, Schiefner's preface to Radloff, I, xi, xii]; an
imperfect Singhalese version in Spence Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, p.
220, 'The History of Wisákhá;' 'Geschichte des weisen Heykar,' 1001
Nacht, Habicht, v. d. Hagen u. Schall, XIII, 71, ed. 1840; 'Histoire de
Sinkarib et de ses deux Visirs,' Cabinet des Fées, XXXIX, 266 (Persian);
two old Russian translations of Greek tales derived from Arabic, Pypin,
'in the Papers of the Second Division of the Imperial Acad. of Sciences,
St Petersburg, 1858, IV, 63-85;' Planudes, Life of Æsop; A. and A.
Schott, Walachische Mæhrchen, p. 125, No 9, 'Vom weissen und vom rothen
Kaiser;' Erdélyi, Népdalok és Mondák, III, 262, No 8, 'The Little Boy
with the Secret and his Little Sword.' To these is to be added,
'L'Histoire de Moradbak,' Caylus, Nouveaux Contes Orientaux, Œuvres
Badines, VII, 289 ff, Cabinet des Fées, XXV, 9-406 (from the Turkish?).
In the opinion of Benfey, it is in the highest degree likely, though not
demonstrable, that the Indian tale antedates our era by several
centuries. Ausland, p. 511; see also pp. 487, 459.
[17] Ingenuity is one of the six transcendental virtues of
Mahāyāna Buddhism. Schlagintweit, Buddhism in Tíbet, p. 36.
[18] The resemblance to the Siberian tale is here especially striking.
[19] The Shukasaptati, in the form in which we have them, are supposed
to date from about the 6th century, and are regarded as abridgments of
longer tales. The Vinaya probably took a permanent shape as early as the
beginning of the Christian era. As already remarked, there is scarcely a
doubt that the Indian story is some centuries older still.
[20] Amasis in return (8) puts some of the questions which we are apt to
think of as peculiarly mediæval: What is oldest? What is most beautiful,
biggest, wisest, strongest? etc. Two of these we have had in Zingerle's
story. They are answered in a commonplace way by the Æthiop, with more
refinement by Thales. Seven similar questions were propounded by David
to his sons, to determine who was worthiest to succeed him, and answered
by Solomon, according to an Arabian writer of the 14th century: Rosenöl,
I, 167. Amasis also sent a victim to Bias (2), and asked him to cut out
the best and worst of the flesh. Bias cut out the tongue. Here the two
anticipate the Anglo-Saxon Salomon and Saturn: "Tell me what is best and
worst among men." "I tell thee word is best and worst:" Kemble, p. 188,
No 37; Adrian and Ritheus, p. 204, No 43; and Bedæ Collectanea, p. 326.
This is made into a very long story in the Life of Æsop, 11. See other
examples in Knust, Mittheilungen aus dem Eskurial, p. 326 f, note b, and
Nachtrag, p. 647; Oesterley's Kirchhof, V, 94, note to 3, 129; and
Landsberger, Die Fabeln des Sophos, CX, ff. We may add that Plutarch's
question, Which was first, the bird or the egg? (Quæst. Conviv. l. 2, q.
3), comes up again in The Demaundes Joyous, No 41, Kemble's Salomon and
Saturn, p. 290.
[21] Afanasief, Poetic Views of the Slavonians about Nature, I, 25. The
poludnitsa seems to belong to the same class: Afanasief, III, 76;
Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 147.
[22] The legend of St Andrew in Legenda Aurea, Grässe, cap. II, 9, p. 19
ff; also in the Fornsvenskt Legendarium, I, 143 ff; Zambrini, Leggende
Inedite, II, 94 ff; Pitré, Canti pop. Siciliani, II, 232 ff: that of St
Bartholomew, Grässe, p. 545, cap. CXXIII, 5, and in a German Passional,
Mone's Anzeiger, 1839, VIII, col. 319 f: that of St Ulrich in Achazel
and Korytko, I, 76, 'Svéti Ureh,' translated by A. Grün, Volkslieder aus
Krain, p. 136 ff. The third question and answer are in all the same. St
Serf also has the credit of having baffled the devil by answering occult
questions in divinity: Wintown's Scottish Chronicle, I, 131, V, 1238 ff,
first pointed out by Motherwell, Minstrelsy, p. lxxiv, who besides cites
the legend of St Andrew.
3
THE FAUSE KNIGHT UPON THE ROAD
#A.# 'The Fause Knight upon the Road,' Motherwell's
Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. lxxiv.
#B.# 'The False Knight,' Motherwell's Minstrelsy,
Appendix, Musick, p. xxiv.
This singular ballad is known only through Motherwell. The opening
stanza of a second version is given by the editor of the music, Mr.
Blaikie, in the Appendix to the Minstrelsy. The idea at the bottom of
the piece is that the devil will carry off the wee boy if he can nonplus
him. So, in certain humorous stories, a fool wins a princess by
dumfounding her: e.g., Halliwell's Popular Rhymes and Nursery-Tales, p.
32; Von der Hagen's Gesammtabenteuer, No 63, iii, 179; Asbjørnsen og
Moe, Norske Folkeeventyr, No 4. But here the boy always gets the last
word. (See further on, under 'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship.')
An extremely curious Swedish ballad of the same description, from the
Lappfiord, Finland, with the substitution of an old crone, possibly a
witch, and clearly no better than one of the wicked, for the false
knight, is given by Oskar Rancken in Några Prof af Folksång och Saga i
det svenska Österbotten, p. 25, No 10. It is a point in both that the
replicant is a wee boy (gossen, som liten var).
1
'Why are you driving over my field?' said the carlin:
'Because the way lies over it,' answered the boy, who was a little
fellow.
2
'I will cut [hew] your traces,' said etc.:
'Yes, you hew, and I'll build,' answered etc.
3
'I wish you were in the wild wood:'
'Yes, you in, and I outside.'
4
'I wish you were in the highest tree-top:'
'Yes, you up in the top, and I at the roots.'
5
'I wish you were in the wild sea:'
'Yes, you in the sea, and I in a boat.'
6
'I'll bore a hole in your boat:'
'Yes, you bore, and I'll plug.'
7
'I wish you were in hell:'
'Yes, you in, and I outside.'
8
'I wish you were in heaven:'
'Yes, I in, and you outside.'
Chambers, in his Popular Rhymes of Scotland, p. 66 of the new edition,
gives, without a word of explanation, a piece, 'Harpkin,' which seems to
have been of the same character, but now sounds only like a
"flyting."[23] The first stanza would lead us to expect that Harpkin is
to be a form of the Elfin Knight of the preceding ballad, but Fin is
seen to be the uncanny one of the two by the light of the other ballads.
Finn (Fin) is an ancestor of Woden, a dwarf in Völuspá 16 (19), and also
a trold (otherwise a giant), who is induced by a saint to build a
church: Thiele, Danske Folkesagn, I, 45, Grimm, Mythologie, p. 455. The
name is therefore diabolic by many antecedents.
HARPKIN.
1
Harpkin gaed up to the hill,
And blew his horn loud and shrill,
And by came Fin.
2
'What for stand you there?' quo Fin:
'Spying the weather,' quo Harpkin.
3
'What for had you your staff on your shouther?' quo Fin:
'To haud the cauld frae me,' quo Harpkin.
4
'Little cauld will that haud frae you,' quo Fin:
'As little will it win through me,' quo Harpkin.
5
'I came by your door,' quo Fin:
'It lay in your road,' quo Harpkin.
6
'Your dog barkit at me,' quo Fin:
'It's his use and custom,' quo Harpkin.
7
'I flang a stane at him,' quo Fin:
'I'd rather it had been a bane,' quo Harpkin.
8
'Your wife's lichter,' quo Fin:
'She'll clim the brae the brichter,' quo Harpkin.
9
'Of a braw lad bairn,' quo Fin:
'There'll be the mair men for the king's wars,' quo Harpkin.
10
'There's a strae at your beard,' quo Fin:
'I'd rather it had been a thrave,' quo Harpkin.
11
'The ox is eating at it,' quo Fin:
'If the ox were i the water,' quo Harpkin.
12
'And the water were frozen,' quo Fin:
'And the smith and his fore-hammer at it,' quo Harpkin.
13
'And the smith were dead,' quo Fin:
'And another in his stead,' quo Harpkin.
14
'Giff, gaff,' quo Fin:
'Your mou's fou o draff,' quo Harpkin.
The peit (peat) in st. 3, below, as I am informed by Dr Davidson, is the
wee boy's contribution to the school firing.
A
Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. lxxiv. From
Galloway.
1
'O whare are ye gaun?'
Quo the fause knicht upon the road:
'I'm gaun to the scule,'
Quo the wee boy, and still he stude.
2
'What is that upon your back? ' quo etc.
'Atweel it is my bukes,' quo etc.
3
'What's that ye've got in your arm?'
'Atweel it is my peit.'