#A.# ‘A song of Parcy Reed and the Three False Halls,’ the late Robert
White’s papers.
#B.# ‘The Death of Parcy Reed,’ Richardson’s Borderer’s Table Book,
1846, VII, 361; J. H. Dixon, Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the
Peasantry of England, p. 99, Percy Society, vol. xvii, 1846.
Of #B#, which purports to have been taken down from an old woman’s
singing by James Telfer, Mr Robert White, from whom I received #A#, said
in a letter to Mr J. H. Dixon: “Parcy Reed, as you suspect, is not
genuine, for it bears marks of our friend’s improvements. I have a copy
of the original somewhere, but may not be able to find it.” And again,
Telfer himself, “in a letter to the late Robert Storey, the Northumbrian
poet,” wrote, “I will send Mr Dixon the real verses, but it is but a
droll of a ballad.” (J. H. Dixon, in Notes and Queries, Fourth Series,
I, 108, V, 520.)
Comparison will show that almost the whole of #A# is preserved in #B#,
and in fairly good form. #B# has also some stanzas not found in #A#
which may be accepted as traditional. Telfer may have added a dozen of
his own, and has retouched others.
Mr White, after remarking that there is no historical evidence to show
when the event on which the ballad was founded occurred, informs us that
almost every circumstance in the narrative has been transmitted to the
present century by local tradition.
“Percival, or Parcy, Reed,” in the words of Mr White, “was proprietor of
Troughend, an elevated tract of land lying on the west side and nearly
in the centre of Redesdale, Northumberland. The remains of the old tower
may still be seen, a little to the west of the present mansion,
commanding a beautiful and most extensive view of nearly the whole
valley. Here he resided, and being a keen hunter and brave soldier, he
possessed much influence, and was appointed warden or keeper of the
district. His office was to suppress and order the apprehension of
thieves and other breakers of the law; in the execution of which he
incurred the displeasure of a family of brothers of the name of Hall,
who were owners of Girsonsfield, a farm about two miles east from
Troughend. He also drew upon himself the hostility of a band of
moss-troopers, Crosier by name, some of whom he had been successful in
bringing to justice. The former were, however, artful enough to conceal
their resentment, and under the appearance of friendship calmly awaited
an opportunity to be avenged. Some time afterwards, they solicited his
attendance on a hunting expedition to the head of Redesdale, and
unfortunately he agreed to accompany them. His wife had some strange
dreams anent his safety on the night before his departure, and at
breakfast, on the following morning, the loaf of bread from which he was
supplied chanced to be turned with the bottom upwards, an omen which is
still accounted most unfavorable all over the north of England.
Considering these presages undeserving of notice, Reed set out in
company with the Halls, and, after enjoying a good day’s sport, the
party withdrew to a solitary hut in Batinghope, a lonely glen stretching
westward from the Whitelee, whose little stream forms one of the chief
sources of Reedwater. The whole of this arrangement had been previously
planned by the Halls and Crosiers, and when the latter came down, late
in the evening, to execute their purpose of vengeance, they found Parcy
Reed altogether a defenceless man. His companions not only deserted him,
but had previously driven his sword so firmly in its scabbard that it
could not be drawn, and had also moistened the powder with which the
very long gun he carried with him was charged, so as to render both
useless when he came to rely upon them for protection. Accordingly the
Crosiers instantly put him to death; and so far did they carry out their
sanguinary measures, even against his lifeless body, that tradition says
the fragments thereof had to be collected together and conveyed in
pillow-slips home to Troughend. Public indignation was speedily aroused
against the murderers; the very name of Crosier was abhorred throughout
Redesdale, and the abettors were both driven from their residence and
designated as the fause-hearted Ha’s, an appellation which yet remains
in force against them.” (Richardson’s Borderer’s Table Book, VII, 361.)
The farm of Girsonsfield, according to the ballad, #A# 3, 18, belonged
to the Halls. But that place has been the property of others, says Mr
White, “ever since the reign of Elizabeth;” whence he concludes that the
story is not to be dated later than the sixteenth century.
Parcy Reed is famed to have had a favorite dog named Keeldar, and,
though a “peerless archer,” to have killed him by an unlucky shot while
hunting. Sir Walter Scott has celebrated this mishap and its consequence
in ‘The Death of Keeldar’ (Table Book, as above, p. 240); and he alludes
to the treacherous murder of Reed (with which he became acquainted
through Robert Roxby’s ‘Lay of the Reedwater Minstrel,’ 1809) in Rokeby,
written in 1812, Canto I, xx.
* * * * *
A
The late Robert White’s papers; “Woodburn, December 1, 1829, Thomas
Hedley, Bridge End, Corsonside Parish.”
1
The Liddesdale Crosiers hae ridden a race,
And they had far better staid at hame,
For they have lost a gallant gay,
Young Whinton Crosier it was his name.
2
For Parcy Reed he has him taen,
And he’s delivered him to law,
But auld Crosier has made answer
That he’ll gar the house of the Troughend fa.
3
So as it happened on a day
That Parcy Reed is a hunting gane,
And the three false Halls of Girsonsfield
They all along with him are gane.
4
They hunted up and they hunted down,
They hunted all Reedwater round,
Till weariness has on him seized;
At the Batinghope he’s fallen asleep.
5
O some they stole his powder-horn,
And some put water in his lang gun:
‘O waken, waken, Parcy Reed!
For we do doubt thou sleeps too sound.
6
‘O waken, O waken, Parcy Reed!
For we do doubt thou sleeps too long;
For yonder’s the five Crosiers coming,
They’re coming by the Hingin Stane.
7
‘If they be five men, we are four,
If ye will all stand true to me;
Now every one of you may take one,
And two of them ye may leave to me.’
8
‘We will not stay, nor we dare not stay,
O Parcy Reed, for to fight with thee;
For thou wilt find, O Parcy Reed,
That they will slay both us and thee.’
9
‘O stay, O stay, O Tommy Hall,
O stay, O man, and fight with me!
If we see the Troughend again,
My good black mare I will give thee.’
10
‘I will not stay, nor I dare not stay,
O Parcy Reed, to fight for thee;
For thou wilt find, O Parcy Reed,
That they will slay both me and thee.’
11
‘O stay, O stay, O Johnnie Hall,
O stay, O man, and fight for me!
If I see the Troughend again,
Five yoke of oxen I will give thee.’
12
‘I will not stay, nor I dare not stay,
O Parcy Reed, for to fight with thee;
For thou wilt find, O Parcy Reed,
That they will slay both me and thee.’
13
‘O stay, O stay, O Willie Hall,
O stay, O man, and fight for me!
If we see the Troughend again,
The half of my land I will give thee.’
14
‘I will not stay, nor I dare not stay,
O Parcy Reed, for to fight with thee;
For thou wilt find, O Parcy Reed,
That they will slay both me and thee.’
15
‘Now foul fa ye, ye traitors all,
That ever ye should in England won!
You have left me in a fair field standin,
And in my hand an uncharged gun.
16
‘O fare thee well, my wedded wife!
O fare you well, my children five!
And fare thee well, my daughter Jane,
That I love best that’s born alive!
17
‘O fare thee well, my brother Tom!
And fare you well his children five!
If you had been with me this day,
I surely had been man alive.
18
‘Farewell all friends! as for my foes,
To distant lands may they be tane,
And the three false Halls of Girsonsfield,
They’ll never be trusted nor trowed again.’
* * * * *
B
Richardsons’ Borderers’ Table Book, VII, 361, 1846; “taken down by
James Telfer, of Saughtree, Liddesdale, from the chanting of an old
woman named Kitty Hall, a native of Northumberland.”
1
God send the land deliverance
Frae every reaving, riding Scot;
We’ll sune hae neither cow nor ewe,
We’ll sune hae neither staig nor stot.
2
The outlaws come frae Liddesdale,
They herry Redesdale far and near;
The rich man’s gelding it maun gang,
They canna pass the puir man’s mear.
3
Sure it were weel, had ilka thief
Around his neck a halter strang;
And curses heavy may they light
On traitors vile oursels amang.
4
Now Parcy Reed has Crosier taen,
He has delivered him to the law;
But Crosier says he’ll do waur than that,
He’ll make the tower o Troughend fa.
5
And Crosier says he will do waur,
He will do waur if waur can be;
He’ll make the bairns a’ fatherless,
And then, the land it may lie lee.
6
‘To the hunting, ho!’ cried Parcy Reed,
‘The morning sun is on the dew;
The cauler breeze frae off the fells
Will lead the dogs to the quarry true.
7
‘To the hunting, ho!’ cried Parcy Reed,
And to the hunting he has gane;
And the three fause Ha’s o Girsonsfield
Alang wi him he has them taen.
8
They hunted high, they hunted low,
By heathery hill and birken shaw;
They raised a buck on Rooken Edge,
And blew the mort at fair Ealylawe.
9
They hunted high, they hunted low,
They made the echoes ring amain;
With music sweet o horn and hound,
They merry made fair Redesdale glen.
10
They hunted high, they hunted low,
They hunted up, they hunted down,
Until the day was past the prime,
And it grew late in the afternoon.
11
They hunted high in Batinghope,
When as the sun was sinking low;
Says Parcy then, Ca off the dogs,
We’ll bait our steeds and homeward go.
12
They lighted high in Batinghope,
Atween the brown and benty ground;
They had but rested a little while
Till Parcy Reed was sleeping sound.
13
There’s nane may lean on a rotten staff,
But him that risks to get a fa;
There’s nane may in a traitor trust,
And traitors black were every Ha.
14
They’ve stown the bridle off his steed,
And they’ve put water in his lang gun;
They’ve fixed his sword within the sheath
That out again it winna come.
15
‘Awaken ye, waken ye, Parcy Reed,
Or by your enemies be taen;
For yonder are the five Crosiers
A-coming owre the Hingin-stane.’
16
‘If they be five, and we be four,
Sae that ye stand alang wi me,
Then every man ye will take one,
And only leave but two to me:
We will them meet as brave men ought,
And make them either fight or flee.’
17
‘We mayna stand, we canna stand,
We daurna stand alang wi thee;
The Crosiers haud thee at a feud,
And they wad kill baith thee and we.’
18
‘O turn thee, turn thee, Johnie Ha,
O turn thee, man, and fight wi me;
When ye come to Troughend again,
My gude black naig I will gie thee;
He cost full twenty pound o gowd,
Atween my brother John and me.’
19
‘I mayna turn, I canna turn,
I daurna turn and fight wi thee;
The Crosiers haud thee at a feud,
And they wad kill baith thee and me’
20
‘O turn thee, turn thee, Willie Ha,
O turn thee, man, and fight wi me;
When ye come to Troughend again,
A yoke o owsen I’ll gie thee.’
21
‘I mayna turn, I canna turn,
I daurna turn and fight wi thee;
The Crosiers haud thee at a feud,
And they wad kill baith thee and me.’
22
‘O turn thee, turn thee, Tommy Ha,
O turn now, man, and fight wi me;
If ever we come to Troughend again,
My daughter Jean I’ll gie to thee.’
23
‘I mayna turn, I canna turn,
I daurna turn and fight wi thee;
The Crosiers haud thee at a feud,
And they wad kill baith thee and me.’
24
‘O shame upon ye, traitors a’!
I wish your hames ye may never see;
Ye’ve stown the bridle off my naig,
And I can neither fight nor flee.
25
‘Ye’ve stown the bridle off my naig,
And ye’ve put water i my lang gun;
Ye’ve fixed my sword within the sheath
That out again it winna come.’
26
He had but time to cross himsel,
A prayer he hadna time to say,
Till round him came the Crosiers keen,
All riding graithed and in array.
27
‘Weel met, weel met, now, Parcy Reed,
Thou art the very man we sought;
Owre lang hae we been in your debt,
Now will we pay you as we ought.
28
‘We’ll pay thee at the nearest tree,
Where we shall hang thee like a hound;’
Brave Parcy raisd his fankit sword,
And felld the foremost to the ground.
29
Alake, and wae for Parcy Reed,
Alake, he was an unarmed man;
Four weapons pierced him all at once,
As they assailed him there and than.
30
They fell upon him all at once,
They mangled him most cruellie;
The slightest wound might caused his deid,
And they hae gien him thirty-three;
They hacket off his hands and feet,
And left him lying on the lee.
31
‘Now, Parcy Reed, we’ve paid our debt,
Ye canna weel dispute the tale,’
The Crosiers said, and off they rade;
They rade the airt o Liddesdale.
32
It was the hour o gloaming gray,
When herds come in frae fauld and pen;
A herd he saw a huntsman lie,
Says he, Can this be Laird Troughen?
33
‘There’s some will ca me Parcy Reed,
And some will ca me Laird Troughen;
It’s little matter what they ca me,
My faes hae made me ill to ken.
34
‘There’s some will ca me Parcy Reed,
And speak my praise in tower and town;
It’s little matter what they do now,
My life-blood rudds the heather brown.
35
‘There’s some will ca me Parcy Reed,
And a’ my virtues say and sing;
I would much rather have just now
A draught o water frae the spring.’
36
The herd flung aff his clouted shoon
And to the nearest fountain ran;
He made his bonnet serve a cup,
And wan the blessing o the dying man.
37
‘Now, honest herd, ye maun do mair,
Ye maun do mair, as I you tell;
Ye maun bear tidings to Troughend,
And bear likewise my last farewell.
38
‘A farewell to my wedded wife,
A farewell to my brother John,
Wha sits into the Troughend tower
Wi heart as black as any stone.
39
‘A farewell to my daughter Jean,
A farewell to my young sons five;
Had they been at their father’s hand,
I had this night been man alive.
40
‘A farewell to my followers a’,
And a’ my neighbours gude at need;
Bid them think how the treacherous Ha’s
Betrayed the life o Parcy Reed.
41
‘The laird o Clennel bears my bow,
The laird o Brandon bears my brand;
Wheneer they ride i the Border-side,
They’ll mind the fate o the laird Troughend.’
* * * * *
#A.#
10^1, 12^1, 14^1, or _for_ nor; _cf._ 8^1.
12^2. “O Parcy Reed, etc. (same as stanza 8, save at end, thee and
me).” _The same abridgment and remark at 10^2, 14^2, but the
last words are there given as_ me and thee. _Uniformity is to be
expected._
16^1. fare thou: _cf._ 16^3, 17^1.
194