Produced by Simon Gardner, Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe and
the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
https://www.pgdp.net (This file was made using scans of
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Libraries.)
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Greek text has been replaced by a transliteration and indicated by
[Grk: ...]. In "Constantine and Arete" the same transliteration scheme
has been used for modern Greek text as is customary for ancient Greek.
2. Footnotes have been relocated following the paragraph or section
where the anchor occurs. Footnote anchors are in the form [A], [B] etc.
3. Linenotes have been grouped at the end of each ballad. Linenote
anchors in the form [L##] have been added to the text (they are not in
the original but alert the reader to the presence of a note referring to
line number ##). Ballad line numbers have been regularised to multiples
of five and re-positioned or added where necessary.
4. [z] has been used to represent the yogh character.
5. Italic typeface is represented by _underscores_.
6. Archaic, unusual and inconsistent spelling or punctuation has
generally been retained as in the original. Where changes have been made
to the text these are listed in Transcriber's Notes at the end of the
book.
* * * * *
ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH
BALLADS.
EDITED BY
FRANCIS JAMES CHILD.
Sum bethe of wer, and sum of wo,
Sum of joie and mirthe also;
And sum of trecherie and of gile,
Of old aventours that fel while;
And sum of bourdes and ribaudy;
And many ther beth of fairy;
Of all thinges that men seth;--
Maist o love forsothe thai beth.
_Lay le Freine._
VOLUME I.
BOSTON:
LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY.
M.DCCC.LX.
* * * * *
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857,
by LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY, in the Clerk's Office of
the District Court of Massachusetts.
RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:
STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY
H.O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME FIRST.
Page
PREFACE vii
List of Collections of Ballads and Songs xiii
BOOK I.
1. The Boy and the Mantle 3
2. The Horn of King Arthur 17
3. The Marriage of Sir Gawaine 28
4. King Arthur's Death 40
5. The Legend of King Arthur 50
6. Sir Lancelot du Lake 55
7. The Legend of Sir Guy 61
8. St. George and the Dragon 69
9. The Seven Champions of Christendom 83
10a. Thomas of Ersseldoune 95
10b. Thomas the Rhymer 109
11. The Young Tamlane 114
12. The Wee Wee Man 126
13. The Elfin Knight 128
14a. The Broomfield Hill 131
14b. Lord John 134
15a. Kempion 137
15b. Kemp Owyne 143
16. King Henry 147
17a. Cospatrick 152
17b. Bothwell 158
18. Willie's Ladye 162
19. Alison Gross 168
20. The Earl of Mar's Daughter 171
21a. Young Akin 179
21b. Young Hastings the Groom 189
22. Clerk Colvill, or, The Mermaid 192
23a. Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight 195
23b. The Water O'Wearie's Well 198
24a. The Daemon Lover 201
24b. James Herries 205
25. The Knight's Ghost 210
26. The Wife of Usher's Well 213
27. The Suffolk Miracle 217
28. Sir Roland 223
APPENDIX.
Fragment of the Ballad of King Arthur and the King of Cornwall 231
Fragment of Child Rowland and Burd Ellen 245
Rosmer Hafmand, or, The Merman Rosmer 253
Tama-a-Line 258
Tom Linn 267
Burd Ellen and Young Tamlane 271
Als Y yod on ay Mounday 273
The Elphin Knight 277
The Laidley Worm of Spindlestonheugh 281
Lord Dingwall 288
Fragment of Hynde Etin 294
Sir Oluf and the Elf-King's Daughter 298
Fragment of the Daemon Lover 302
Constantine and Arete 304
Translation of the Same 307
The Hawthorn Tree 311
St. Stephen and Herod 315
GLOSSARY 319
PREFACE.
These volumes have been compiled from the numerous collections of
Ballads printed since the beginning of the last century. They contain
all but two or three of the _ancient_ ballads of England and
Scotland, and nearly all those ballads which, in either country, have
been gathered from oral tradition,--whether ancient or not. Widely
different from the true popular ballads, the spontaneous products of
nature, are the works of the professional ballad-maker, which make up
the bulk of Garlands and Broadsides. These, though sometimes not
without grace, more frequently not lacking in humor, belong to
artificial literature,--of course to an humble department.[A] As many
ballads of this second class have been admitted as it was thought
might be wished for, perhaps I should say tolerated, by the
"benevolent reader." No words could express the dulness and inutility
of a collection which should embrace all the Roxburghe and Pepys
broadsides--a scope with which this publication was most undeservedly
credited by an English journal. But while the broadside ballads have
been and must have been gleaned, the popular ballads demand much more
liberal treatment. Many of the older ones are mutilated, many more are
miserably corrupted, but as long as any traces of their originals are
left, they are worthy of attention and have received it. When a ballad
is extant in a variety of forms, all the most important versions are
given.--Less than this would have seemed insufficient for a collection
intended as a complement to an extensive series of the British Poets.
To meet the objections of readers for pleasure, all those pieces which
are wanting in general interest are in each volume inserted in an
appendix.
[A] This distinction is not absolute, for several of the ancient
ballads have a sort of literary character, and many broadsides were
printed from oral tradition. The only _popular_ ballads excluded
from this selection that require mention, are _The Bonny Hynd_, _The
Jolly Beggar_, _The Baffled Knight_, _The Keach in the Creel_, and
_The Earl of Errol_. These ballads, in all their varieties, may be
found by referring to the general Index at the end of the eighth
volume. To extend the utility of this index, references are also
given to many other ballads which, though not worth reprinting, may
occasionally be inquired for.
The ballads are grouped in eight Books, nearly corresponding to the
division of volumes. The arrangement in the several Books may be
called chronological, by which is meant, an arrangement according to
the probable antiquity of the story, not the age of the actual form or
language. Exceptions to this rule will be observed, partly the result
of oversight, partly of fluctuating views; the most noticeable case is
in the First Book, where the ballads that stand at the beginning are
certainly not so old as some that follow. Again, it is very possible
that some pieces might with advantage be transferred to different
Books, but it is believed that the general disposition will be found
practically convenient. It is as follows:--
BOOK I. contains Ballads involving Superstitions of various kinds,--as
of Fairies, Elves, Water-spirits, Enchantment, and Ghostly
Apparitions; and also some Legends of Popular Heroes.