xvii., p. 212 of his manuscript collection, 'Collun gun Cheann,' or 'The
Headless Trunk,' twenty-two lines. In this case, as the title imports, a
body without a head replaces the hideous, dirty, and unkempt
draggle-tail who begs shelter of the Finn successively and obtains her
boon only from Diarmaid. See Campbell's Gaelic Ballads, p. ix.
The monstrous deformity of the woman is a trait in the ballad of 'The
Marriage of Sir Gawain,' and related stories, and is described in these
with revolting details. Her exaggerated appetite also is found in the
romance of The Wedding of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell, see p. 290. The
occasion on which she exhibits it is there the wedding feast, and the
scene consequently resembles, even more closely there than here, what we
meet with in the Danish ballads of 'Greve Genselin,' Grundtvig, No 16,
I, 222, and 'Tord af Havsgaard,' Grundtvig, No 1, I, 1, IV, 580
(==Kristensen, 'Thors Hammer,' I, 85, No 35) the latter founded on the
þrymskviða, or Hamarsheimt, of the older Edda. In a Norwegian version of
'Greve Genselin,' Grundtvig, IV, 732, the feats of eating and drinking
are performed not by the bride, but by an old woman who acts as
bridesmaid, brúrekvinne.[293]
A maid who submits, at a linden-worm's entreaty, to lie in the same bed
with him, finds a king's son by her side in the morning: Grundtvig,
'Lindormen,' No 65, #B#, #C#, II, 213, III, 839; Kristensen, I, 195, No
71; Afzelius, III, 121, No 88; Arwidsson, II, 270, No 139; Hazelius, Ur
de nordiska Folkens Lif, p. 117, and p. 149. In 'Ode und de Slang','
Müllenhoff, Sagen u. s. w., p. 383, a maid, without much reluctance,
lets a snake successively come into the house, into her chamber, and
finally into her bed, upon which the snake changes immediately into a
prince.
Scott's copy is translated by Schubart, p. 127, and by Gerhard, p. 129;
Jamieson's, without the interpolations, after Aytoun, II, 22, by Knortz,
Schottische Balladen, No 36.
1
Lat never a man a wooing wend
That lacketh thingis three;
A routh o gold, an open heart,
Ay fu o charity.
2
As this I speak of King Henry,
For he lay burd-alone;
An he's doen him to a jelly hunt's ha,
Was seven miles frae a town.
3
He chas'd the deer now him before,
An the roe down by the den,
Till the fattest buck in a' the flock
King Henry he has slain.
4
O he has doen him to his ha,
To make him beerly cheer;
An in it came a griesly ghost,
Steed stappin i the fleer.
5
Her head hat the reef-tree o the house,
Her middle ye mot wel span;
He's thrown to her his gay mantle,
Says, 'Lady, hap your lingcan.'
6
Her teeth was a' like teather stakes,
Her nose like club or mell;
An I ken naething she 'peard to be,
But the fiend that wons in hell.
7
'Some meat, some meat, ye King Henry,
Some meat ye gie to me!'
'An what meat's in this house, lady,
An what ha I to gie?'
'O ye do kill your berry-brown steed,
An you bring him here to me.'
8
O whan he slew his berry-brown steed,
Wow but his heart was sair!
Shee eat him [a'] up, skin an bane,
Left naething but hide an hair.
9
'Mair meat, mair meat, ye King Henry,
Mair meat ye gi to me!'
'An what meat's in this house, lady,
An what ha I to gi?'
'O ye do kill your good gray-hounds,
An ye bring them a' to me.'
10
O whan he slew his good gray-hounds,
Wow but his heart was sair!
She eat them a' up, skin an bane,
Left naething but hide an hair.
11
'Mair meat, mair meat, ye King Henry,
Mair meat ye gi to me!'
'An what meat's i this house, lady,
An what ha I to gi?'
'O ye do kill your gay gos-hawks,
An ye bring them here to me.'
12
O whan he slew his gay gos-hawks,
Wow but his heart was sair!
She eat them a' up, skin an bane,
Left naething but feathers bare.
13
'Some drink, some drink, now, King Henry,
Some drink ye bring to me!'
'O what drink's i this house, lady,
That you're nae welcome ti?'
'O ye sew up your horse's hide,
An bring in a drink to me.'
| 14
| And he's sewd up the bloody hide,
| A puncheon o wine put in;
| She drank it a' up at a waught,
| Left na ae drap ahin.
15
'A bed, a bed, now, King Henry,
A bed you mak to me!
For ye maun pu the heather green,
An mak a bed to me.'
16
O pu'd has he the heather green,
An made to her a bed,
An up has he taen his gay mantle,
An oer it has he spread.
17
'Tak aff your claiths, now, King Henry,
An lye down by my side!'
'O God forbid,' says King Henry,
'That ever the like betide;
That ever the fiend that wons in hell
Shoud streak down by my side.'
* * * * * * *
18
Whan night was gane, and day was come,
An the sun shone throw the ha,
The fairest lady that ever was seen
Lay atween him an the wa.
19
'O well is me!' says King Henry,
'How lang'll this last wi me?'
Then out it spake that fair lady,
'Even till the day you dee.
20
'For I've met wi mony a gentle knight
That's gien me sic a fill,
But never before wi a courteous knight
That ga me a' my will.'
* * * * *
#a.#
13^6. shew.
19^1. will.
#b.#
1. _The first stanza of the original of this copy, as
cited by Anderson, is_:
Let never a man a wooing wend
That lacketh things three,
A routh of gold, and open heart,
An fu o charity.
1^4. And fu o courtesey.
2^1. And this was seen o.
2^3. And he has taen him to a haunted hunt's ha.
3^1. He's chaced the dun deer thro the wood.
3^3. in a' the herd.
4.
He's taen him to his hunting ha,
For to make burly cheir;
When loud the wind was heard to sound,
And an earthquake rocked the floor.
And darkness coverd a' the hall,
Where they sat at their meat;
The gray dogs, youling, left their food,
And crept to Henrie's feet.
And louder houled the rising wind
And burst the fastned door;
And in there came a griesly ghost,
Stood stamping on the floor.
_The wind and darkness are not of Scott's invention, for
nearly all that is not in #a# is found in Lewis, too._
5^{3,4}.
Each frighted huntsman fled the ha,
And left the king alone.
7^{4-6}.
That ye're nae wellcum tee?'
'O ye's gae kill your berry brown steed,
And serve him up to me.'
9^4. That ye're na wellcum tee?
10^3. a' up, ane by ane.
11^{4-6}.
That I hae left to gie?'
'O ye do fell your gay goss-hawks,
And bring them a' to me.'
12^1. he felled.
12^3. bane by bane.
14^2. And put in a pipe of wine.
14^3. up a' at ae draught.
14^4. drap therein.
15. _Between ^2 and ^3_:
And what's the bed i this house, ladye,
That ye're nae wellcum tee?
15^3. O ye maun pu the green heather.
17^{1,2}.
Now swear, now swear, ye king Henrie,
To take me for your bride.
18^1. When day was come, and night was gane.
19^3. And out and spak that ladye fair.
20.
For I was witched to a ghastly shape,
All by my stepdame's skill,
Till I should meet wi a courteous knight
Wad gie me a' my will.
[293] The like by a carlin at a birth-feast, 'Kællingen til Barsel,'
Kristensen, II, 341, No 100, Landstad, p. 666, No 96; known also in
Sweden. Again, by a fighting friar, 'Den stridbare Munken,' Arwidsson,
I, 417. 'Greve Genselin' is translated by Prior, I, 173, and by
Jamieson, Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 310; 'Tord af
Havsgaard' by Prior, I, 3.
33
KEMPY KAY
#A.# 'Kempy Kay.' Pitcairn's MSS, II, 125. Scotish Ballads
and Songs [James Maidment], Edinb. 1859, p. 85; Sharpe's
Ballad Book, p. 81.
#B.# 'Kempy Kaye.' #a.# Kinloch MSS, I, 65. #b.# Kinloch's
Ballad Book, p. 41.
#C.# 'Kempy Kay,' or 'Kempy Kane,' Motherwell's MS., p.
193. The first stanza in Motherwell's Minstrelsy,
Appendix, p. xxiv, No XXX.
#D.# 'Kempy Kay,' Motherwell's MS., p. 192.
#E.# 'Drowsy Lane.' Campbell MSS, II, 122.
#F.# 'Bar aye your bower door weel.' Campbell MSS, II,
101.
#G.# 'King Knapperty.' Buchan's MSS, I, 133.
All these versions of 'Kempy Kay' are known, or may be presumed, to have
been taken down within the first three decades of this century; #A# is
traced as many years back into the last. The fourth stanza of #A#
clearly belongs to some other ballad. Both #A# and #B# appear to have
undergone some slight changes when published by Sharpe and Kinloch
respectively. Some verses from this ballad have been adopted into one
form of a still more unpleasant piece in the Campbell collection,
concerning a wife who was "the queen of all sluts."[294]
Sharpe remarks: "This song my learned readers will perceive to be of
Scandinavian origin, and that the wooer's name was probably suggested by
Sir Kaye's of the Round Table.... The description of Bengoleer's
daughter resembles that of the enchanted damsel who appeared to
courteous King Henrie." It is among possibilities that the ballad was an
outgrowth from some form of the story of The Marriage of Sir Gawain, in
the Percy version of which the "unseemly" lady is so rudely commented on
and rejected by Kay. This unseemly lady, in The Wedding of Gawen and
Dame Ragnell, and her counterpart in 'King Henry,' who is of superhuman
height, show an extravagant voracity which recalls the giantess in
'Greve Genselin.' In 'Greve Genselin,' a burlesque form of an heroic
ballad which is preserved in a pure shape in three Färöe versions
(Grundtvig, IV, 737-42), there are many kemps invited to the wedding,
and in a little dance which is had the smallest kemp is fifteen ells to
[below] the knee, Grundtvig, No 16, #A# 26, #B# 29, #C# 29. Kempy Kay
has gigantic dimensions in #A# 7, #C# 9, #E# 7: teeth like
tether-stakes, a nose three [nine, five] feet long, three ells [nine
yards] between his shoulders, a span between his eyne.[295] Of the bride
it is said in #A# 12 that her finger nails were like the teeth of a rake
and her teeth like tether-stakes. This is not decisive; it is her
ugliness, filthiness, and laziness that are made most of. We may assume
that she would be in dimension and the shape of nature a match for the
kemp, but she does not comport herself especially like a giantess.
If Kempy Kay be the original name of the wooer, Knapperty and Chickmakin
might easily be derived from corrupt pronunciations like Kampeky,
Kimpaky.
A
Pitcairn's MSS, II, 125, as taken down by Mr Pitcairn from
the singing of his aunt, Mrs Gammell, who had learned it
in the neighborhood of Kincaid, Stirlingshire, when a
child, or about 1770. Scotish Ballads and Songs [James
Maidment], Edinburgh, 1859, p. 35; Sharpe's Ballad Book,
p. 81.
1
Kempy Kaye's a wooing gane,
Far, far ayont the sea,
And he has met with an auld, auld man,
His gudefaythir to be.
2
'It's I'm coming to court your daughter dear,
And some part of your gear:'
'And by my sooth,' quoth Bengoleer,
'She'll sare a man a wear.
3
'My dochter she's a thrifty lass,
She span seven year to me,
And if it were weel counted up,
Full three heire it would be.
4
'What's the matter wi you, my fair creature,
You look so pale and wan?
I'm sure you was once the fairest creature
That ever the sun shined on.
5
'Gae scrape yoursel, and gae scart yoursel,
And mak your brucket face clean,
For the wooers are to be here to nighte,
And your body's to be seen.'
6
Sae they scrapit her, and they scartit her,
Like the face of an aussy pan;
Syne in cam Kempy Kay himself,
A clever and tall young man.
7
His teeth they were like tether-sticks,
His nose was three fit lang,
Between his shouthers was ells three,
And tween his eyne a span.
8
He led his dochter by the hand,
His dochter ben brought he:
'O is she not the fairest lass
That's in great Christendye?'
9
Ilka hair intil her head
Was like a heather-cowe,
And ilka louse anunder it
Was like a bruckit ewe.
10
She had tauchy teeth and kaily lips,
And wide lugs, fou o hair;
Her pouches fou o peasemeal-daighe
A' hinging down her spare.
11
Ilka eye intil her head
Was like a rotten plumbe,
And down browed was the queyne,
And sairly did she gloom.
12
Ilka nail upon her hand
Was like an iron rake,
And ilka tooth intil her head
Was like a tether-stake.
* * * * * * *
13
She gied to him a gravat,
O the auld horse's sheet,
And he gied her a gay gold ring,
O the auld couple-root.
B
#a.# Kinloch MSS, I, 65. #b.# Kinloch's Ballad Book, p.
41. From the recitation of Mary Barr.
1
Kempy Kaye is a wooing gane,
Far ayont the sea,
And there he met wi auld Goling,
His gudefather to be, be,
His gudefather to be.
2
'Whar are ye gaun, O Kempy Kaye,
Whar are ye gaun sae sune?'
'O I am gaun to court a wife,
And think na ye that's weel dune?'
3
'An ye be gaun to court a wife,
As ye do tell to me,
'T is ye sal hae my Fusome Fug,
Your ae wife for to be.'
4
Whan auld Goling cam to the house,
He lookit thro a hole,
And there he saw the dirty drab
Just whisking oure the coal.
5
'Rise up, rise up my Fusome Fug,
And mak your foul face clean,
For the brawest wooer that ere ye saw
Is come develling doun the green.'
6
Up then rose the Fusome Fug,
To mak her foul face clean;
And aye she cursed her mither
She had na water in.
7
She rampit out, and she rampit in,
She rampit but and ben;
The tittles and tattles that hang frae her tail
Wad muck an acre o land.
8
She had a neis upon her face
Was like an auld pat-fit;
Atween her neis hot an her mon
Was inch thick deep wi dirt.
9
She had twa een intil her head
War like twa rotten plums;
The heavy brows hung doun her face,
And O I vow she glooms!
10
He gied to her a braw silk napkin,
Was made o' an auld horse-brat:
'I ne'er wore a silk napkin a' my life,
But weel I wat Ise wear that.'
11
He gied to her a braw gowd ring,
Was made frae an auld brass pan:
'I neer wore a gowd ring in a' my life,
But now I wat Ise wear ane.'
12
Whan thir twa lovers had met thegither,
O kissing to get their fill,
The slaver that hang atween their twa gabs
Wad hae tetherd a ten year auld bill.
C
Motherwell's MS., p. 193. Motherwell's Minstrelsy,
Appendix, p. xxiv, No XXX, the first stanza.
1
Kempy Kaye's a wooing gane,
And far beyond the sea, a wee
And there he met wi Drearylane,
His gay gudefather to be. a wee
2
'Gude een, gude een,' quo Drearylane,
'Gude een, gude een,' quo he, a wee
'I've come your dochter's love to win,
I kenna how it will do.' a wee
3
'My dochter she's a thrifty lass,
She's spun this gay seven year,
And if it come to gude guiding,
It will be half a heer.'
4
'Rise up, rise up, ye dirty slut,
And wash your foul face clean;
The wooers will be here the night
That suld been here yestreen.'
5
They took him ben to the fire en,
And set him on a chair;
He looked on the lass that he loved best,
And thought she was wondrous fair.
6
The een that was in our bride's head
Was like twa rotten plooms;
She was a chaunler-chaftit quean,
And O but she did gloom!
7
The skin that was on our bride's breast
Was like a saffron bag,
And aye her hand was at her neek,
And riving up the scabs.
8
The hair that was on our bride's head
Was like a heather-cow,
And every louse that lookit out
Was like a brockit ewe.
9
Betwixd Kempy's shouthers was three ells,
His nose was nine feet lang,
His teeth they were like tether sticks,
Between his eyne a span.
10
So aye they kissed, and aye they clapped,
I wat they kissed weel;
The slaver that hang between their mouths
Wad hae tethered a twa year auld bill.
D
Motherwell's MS., p. 192.
* * * * * * *
1
The father came unto the door,
And keeked thro the key-hole, a wee
And there he saw his dochter Jean,
Sitting on a coal. a wee
2
They scartit her, and scrapit her,
Wi the hand o a rusty pan, a wee
Her father he did all his best
For to get her a man. a wee
3
She is to the stoups gane,
There is nae water in;
She's cursed the hands and ban'd the feet
That did na bring it in.
4
Out then spak her auld mither,
In her bed whare she lay:
'If there is nae water in the house,
Gae harl her thro the lin.'
5
O she is to the taipy tapples gane,
That stood for seven year,
And there she washed her foul face clean,
And dried it wi a huggar.
6
He's gien her a gay gold ring,
Just like a cable-rope,
And she's gien him a gay gravat,
Made out o the tail o a sark.
E
Campbell MSS, II, 122.
1
'Gud een, gud een,' says Chickmakin,
'Ye're welcome here,' says Drowsy Lane;
'I'm comd to court your daughter Jean,
And marry her wi yer will, a wee.'
2
'My daughter Jean's a thrifty lass,
She's spun these seven lang years to me,
And gin she spin another seven,
She'll munt a half an heir, a wee.'
3
Drowsy Lane, it's he's gane hame,
And keekit through the hole, a wee
And there he saw his daughter Jean
A reeking oer the coal. a wee
4
'Get up, get up, ye dirty bitch,
And wash yer foul face clean,
For they are to be here the night
That should hae been here yestreen.'
5
Up she rose, pat on her clothes,
She's washen her foul face clean;
She cursd the hands, she ban'd the feet,
That wadna bring the water in.
6
She rubbit hersel, she scrubbit hersel,
Wi the side of a rustit pan, a wee,
And in a little came Chickmakin,
A braw young lad indeed was he.
7
His teeth they were like tether-steeks,
His nose was five feet lang;
Between his shoulders was nine yards broad,
And between his een a span.
8
Ilka hair into his head
Was like a heather-cowe,
And ilka louse that lookit out
Was like a brookit ewe.
9
Thae twa kissd and thae twa clapt,
And thae twa kissd their fill,
And aye the slaver between them hang
Wad tetherd a ten-pund bull.
10
They twa kissd and they twa clapt,
And they gaed to their bed, a wee,
And at their head a knocking stane
And at their feet a mell, a wee.
11
The auld wife she lay in her bed:
'And gin ye'll do my bidding a wee,
And gin ye'll do my bidding,' quoth she,
'Yees whirl her oer the lea, a wee.'
F
Campbell MSS, II, 101.
1
As I cam oer yon misty muir,
And oer yon grass-green hill,
There I saw a campy carle
Going to the mill.
And bar aye yer bower door weel weel,
And bar aye yer bower door weel.
2
I lookit in at her window,
And in at her hove hole,
And there I saw a fousome fag,
Cowering oer a coal.
3
'Get up, get up, ye fousome fag,
And make yer face fou clean;
For the wooers will be here the night,
And your body will be seen.'
4
He gave her a gay cravat,
'T was of an auld horse-sheet;
He gave her a gay goud ring,
'T was of an auld tree root.
5
He laid his arms about her neck,
They were like kipple-roots;
And aye he kissd her wi his lips,
They were like meller's hoops.
6
When they were laid in marriage bed,
And covered oer wi fail,
The knocking mell below their heads
Did serve them wondrous weel.
7
Ilka pap into her breasts
Was like a saffron bag,
And aye his hand at her a..e
Was tearing up the scabs.
8
Ilka hair into her head
Was like a heather-cow,
And ilka louse that lookit out
Was like a brookit ewe.
G
Buchan's MSS, I, 133.
1
King Knapperty he's a hunting gane,
Oer hills and mountains high, high, high,
A gude pike-staff intill his hand,
And dulgets anew forbye, I, I, I,
And dulgets anew forbye.
2
Then he met in wi an auld woman,
Was feeding her flocks near by, I, I, I:
'I'm come a wooing to your daughter,
And a very gude bargain am I, I, I.'
3
And she's awa to her wee hole house,
Lookd in a wee chip hole,
And there she saw her filthy wee flag,
Was sitting athort the coal.
4
'Get up, get up, ye filthy foul flag,
And make your foul face clean;
There are wooers coming to the town,
And your foul face mauna be seen.'
5
Then up she raise, an awa she gaes,
And in at the back o the door,
And there a pig o water she saw,
'T was seven years auld an mair.
6
Aye she rubbed, an aye she scrubbed,
To make her foul face clean,
And aye she bannd the auld wife, her mither,
For nae bringing clean water in.
7
King Knapperty he came in at the door,
Stood even up in the floor;
Altho that she had neer seen him before,
She kent him to be her dear.
8
He has taen her in his arms twa,
And kissd her, cheek and chin:
'I neer was kissd afore in my life,
But this night got mony ane.'
9
He has put his hand in his pocket,
And he's taen out a ring:
Says, 'Take ye that, my dearest dear,
It is made o the brazen pan.'
10
She thankd him ance, she thankd him twice,
She thankd him oer again:
'I neer got a ring before in my life,
But this night hae gotten ane.'
11
These lovers bed it was well made,
And at their hearts' desire;
These lovers bed it was well made,
At the side o the kitchen fire.
12
The bolster that these lovers had
Was the mattock an the mell,
And the covring that these lovers had
Was the clouted cloak an pale.
13
The draps that fell frae her twa een
Woud have gard a froth-mill gang,
An [the] clunkerts that hung at their heels
Woud hae muckd an acre o land.
14
An ilka hair that was in their head
Was like a heather-cow,
And ilka tenant that it containd
Was like a lintseed-bow.
* * * * *
#A.#
5^{3,4}. _Var._
For Kempy Kay will be here the night
Or else the morn at een.
9^4. _Var._ Was like a lintseed bow.
_These variations are found in Sharpe's copy. The first
seven stanzas are put in the order 1, 6, 7, 3, 2, 4, 5._
2^1. I'm coming.
3^4. Full ten wobs it would be.
4^{1,3}. fair maiden, fairest maiden.
5^2. bruchty.
6^3. And in.
7^4. Between his een.
10^1. _~tauchty~ is misprinted ~lauchty~._
10^4. War hinging.
11^3. An down down.
12^3. _~teeth~, no doubt to indicate the pronunciation._
#B. a.#
4^1. Whan Kempy Kaye. _Other copies show that it must be
the father, and not the wooer._
6^3. _~ae~, with ~ay~ in the margin: qu. ~aye as~?_
#b.#
_The variations of the ~Ballad Book~ are apparently
arbitrary._
1^2. Far far.
8^4. o dirt.
_After 9 follows_:
Ilka hair that was on her head
Was like a heather cow,
And ilka Iouse that lookit out
Was like a lintseed bow.
_#a^4# succeeds, with ~Kempy Kaye~ for ~auld Goling~, and
is necessarily transferred if the reading ~Kempy Kaye~ is
retained._
#C.#
_The order of the first five stanzas in the MS is 1, 2, 5,
4, 3._
_~A wee~ is the burden after every second and fourth
verse, and so with #D#._
1^{1,2}. _In Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xxiv,
No_ XXX,
Kempy Kane's a wooin gane,
And far ayont the sea awee.
3^2. years.
5^2. on a stool.
#D.#
_The first stanza is numbered 3 in the MS., the second 5,
and there is space left, as if for another, between 2 and
3._
#E.#
_~A wee~, originally a burden at the middle and the end of
the stanza, as in #C#, #D#, has been adopted into the
verse in 1, 2, 6, 10(?), 11, in which stanzas the even
lines are of four accents instead of three. 2, 6 can be
easily restored, on the model of #C# 3, #A# 6._
5^4. in the water.
#G.#
_~I, I, I~ is added as burden to every second and fourth
line; except 1^2, which adds ~high, high~, and 2^4, only
~I, I~._
[294] MSS, II, 294, "What a bad luck had I"==The Queen of all Sluts, the
same, p. 297. Stanzas 2, 3, 4, of the former are:
Then een in her head are like two rotten plumbs;
Turn her about and see how she glooms.
The teeth in her head were like harrow-pins;
Turn her about, and see how she girns.
The hair in her head was like heathercrows,
The l ...s were in't thick as linseed bows.
A comparatively inoffensive version, 'The Queen of Sluts,' in Chambers'
Scottish Songs, p. 454.
[295] The Carl of Carlile has the space of a large span between his
brows, three yards over his shoulders, fingers like tether-stakes, and
fifty cubits of height. Percy MS., Hales & Furnivall, III, 283 f, vv
179-187.
34
KEMP OWYNE
#A.# 'Kemp Owyne.' Buchan's Ballads of the North of
Scotland, II, 78; Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 373; 'Kemp
Owayne,' Motherwell's MS., p. 448.
#B.# 'Kempion.' #a.# Jamieson-Brown MS., fol. 29. #b.#
Scott's Minstrelsy, 1802, II, 93, from William Tytler's
Brown MS., No 9, "with corrections from a recited
fragment."
It is not, perhaps, material to explain how Owain, "the king's son
Urien," happens to be awarded the adventure which here follows. It is
enough that his right is as good as that of other knights to whom the
same achievement has been assigned, though the romance, or, as the
phrase used to be, "the book," says nothing upon the subject. Owain's
slaying the fire-drake who was getting the better of the lion may have
led to his name becoming associated with the still more gallant exploit
of thrice kissing a fire-drake to effect a disenchantment. The ring in
#A# 9 might more plausibly be regarded as being a repetition of that
which Owain's lady gave him on leaving her for a twelvemonth's outing, a
ring which would keep him from loss of blood, and also from prison,
sickness, and defeat in battle--in short, preserve him against all the
accidents which the knight suggested might prevent his holding his
day--provided that he had it by him and thought on her. Ritson, Ywaine
and Gawin, vv 1514-38.