Sheldon's Minstrelsy of the English Border, p. 232, as recited "by a lady of Berwick on Tweed, who used to sing it in her childhood, and had learnt it from her nurse."
A. a.
24. I lye.
43,4 and 53,4 have been interchanged.
54. lye you.
b. lay.
71. teen.
171. priest was.
172. it was.
173. boned (?)
b has bored.
b is a copy of a, but with the long lines broken up into two, and some slight variations.
b.
34. And we'll.
51. Omits if.
63. Omits sae jimp.
112. and they are questions.
122. wish.
134. betwixt.
B.
In stanzas of four short lines.
a.
162, 172. Var. women's vice.
171. Var. Poison is greener.
172. Var. There's nathing waur.
b.
Lord Roslin's Daughter's Garland. Containing three excellent new songs.
Licensed and entered according to order.
11, walks throw.
12. And by came.
13, servant man.
14, 34, 64, 74, 104, 144, 184. next the wa.
174. neist.
23, 43. missd you know.
34. And we'll ... and thou's ly next.
42. will I.
44. So I not.
53. of him I'd not stand in aw.
61. He lighted off.
62. And held her by the milk-white hand even as they rode along.
63. so jimp.
64. So I'll take.
71. lodging house.
73. But such a pretty face as thine in it I never saw.
74. make her up a down-bed.
82. will not go to your bed till you dress me.
83. three you must do to me.
91. O I must have ... a cherry without a stone.
92. a chicken without a bone.
103. it is a gentle.
112. I will not go till ... till you answer me questions.
113. Questions four you must tell me.
121. You must get to me.
122. That the wraft was neer ca'd.
123,4 and 163,4 (and consequently 133,4, 173,4) are wrongly interchanged in b, mixing up ferlies and questions.
a 123,4, 133,4, 14, 15, 161,2, 163,4, 171,2, 173,4 == b 153,4, 163,4, 17, 14, 151,2, 123,4, 161,2, 133,4.
132. the wraft was neer ca'd throw.
133,4. A sparrow's horn you well may get, there's one on ilka pa.
141. standing at the door.
143. A hole cut in his mother's side, he from the same did fa.
162. And what ... women's voice.
163. What bird sings best, and wood buds first, that dew does on them fa.
171. sky is higher.
172. worse than women's voice.
173. the dew does on them fa.
182. the last night.
183. now they both lie in one bed.
c closely resembling b, the variations from b are given.
c.
1. came omitted, v. 2; unto, v. 3.
2. into your bed, v. 4.
3. guard you ... who well, v. 3; into ... thou'lt, v. 4.
51,2. Then says, v. 1.
6. lighted from ... this lady, v. 1; middle jimp, v. 3.
7. pretty fair, v. 2; as this, v. 3.
8. dress me, v. 3.
9. unto, vv 1,2; O I must, v. 2.
10. in the bloom, v. 1; we both shall ly in, v. 4.
11. will give oer, v. 1; to your ... you tell me, v. 2.
12. You must get to me ... that waft, v. 2; bird sings first ... on them does, v. 3.
13. sings first, v. 3.
14. in your ... you tell me, v. 2; I'll ly in, v. 4.
15. What is ... woman's, v. 2; I'll ly in, v. 4.
18. the lady ... rose, v. 1; It was to be the very last, v. 2; they ly in ae, v. 4.
d.
Follows the broadside (b, c) through the first nine stanzas, with changes from Jamieson's "own recollection," or invention, and one from A. 10 has certainly arbitrary alterations. The remaining eight stanzas are the corresponding ones of A treated freely. The comparison here is with b, readings from A in 11-18 not being noticed.
13, serving men.
23. mist awa, from A; so in 43, a stanza not in A.
53. I'd have nae awe.
61. He lighted aff ... this lady.
63. middle jimp.
64. To tak her to his ain.
73. sic a lovely face as thine.
74. Gae mak her down.
83. maun dress to me.
91. It's ye maun get.
92,3. And ye maun get.
101. It's whan the cherry is in the flirry.
102. in the egg.
103. And sin the flood o Noah the dow she had nae ga.
A, B d, 11, 121,2, 131,2, 14, 151,2, 161,2 == B b, c, 14, 151,2, 161,2, 11, 121,2, 131,2.
111. and gie your fleechin oer.
112. Unless you'll find me ferlies, and that is ferlies four.
113. Ferlies four ye maun find me.
114. Or I'll never lie.
122. And get to me.
123. doth first down.
124. Ye sall tell afore I lay me down between you and the wa.
132. has an Indian gown that waft.
133. on cedar top the dew.
142. that gait me perplex.
143. three times twa.
151. the greenest grass.
152. war nor an ill woman's wish.
163. horn is quickly found ... on every claw.
164. There's ane upon the neb of him.
173. A wild bore tore his mither's side.
183. now there's nae within the realm, I think.
e
has stanzas 1, 5 (?), 9, 12, 10, 13, 14 of a, the first two imperfect. The last line of each stanza is changed, no doubt for delicacy's sake, to I will tak you wi me, I tell you, aye or na, or the like.
91. I maun hae to my supper a bird without a bone.
93. An I maun hae a gentle bird that flies.
94. Before that I gae with you, I tell you, aye or na.
101. When the bird is in the egg.
102. in the bud ... I'm sure.
103. it is a gentle bird.
122, 132. a gey mantle ... neer ca'ed.
133. sune sall get.
141. is standing at.
142. say that he was ... a sin.
f.
Stanzas 9, 10 only.
91. 'T is I maun hae to my supper a bird without a bone.
92. withouten stone.
93. withouten ga.
101. When the bird is in the shell, I'm sure.
102. I'm sure.
103. a gentle ... withouten ga.
C.
Printed in stanzas of four short lines.
[389] This book has been pursued by me for years, with the coöperation of many friends and agents, but in vain.
[390] Followed by Virgil's riddle, Ecl. iii, 104-5, Where is the sky but three spans broad?
[391] Halliwell's Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales, p. 150; Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes, No 375; Notes and Queries, 3d Ser., IX, 401; 4th Ser., III, 501, 604; Macmillan's Magazine, V, 248, by T. Hughes. The first of these runs:
The Minnesinger dames went far beyond our laird's daughter in the way of requiring "ferlies" from their lovers. Der Tanhuser and Boppe represent that their ladies would be satisfied with nothing short of their turning the course of rivers; bringing them the salamander, the basilisk, the graal, Paris's apple; giving them a sight of Enoch and Elijah in the body, a hearing of the sirens, etc. Von der Hagen, Minnesinger, II, 91 f, 385 f.
[392] There were, no doubt, Grissels enough in the very distinguished family of the Sinclairs of Roslin to furnish one for this ballad. I see two mentioned among the Sinclairs of Herdmanstoun. Even a Wedderburn connection, as I am informed, is not absolutely lacking. George Home of Wedderburn († 1497), married the eldest daughter of John Sinclair of Herdmanstoun: Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, ed. Wood, 1813, II, 174.
[393] The difficulty here is the want of a [Greek: pou stô], from which to climb the tree.
[394] These number-riddles or songs are known to every nation of Europe. E. g., Chambers' Popular Rhymes of Scotland, p. 44, ed. 1870, from Buchan's MSS, I, 280:
See Köhler in Orient u. Occident, II, 558-9. A dragon, in Hahn's Griechische u. Albanesische Märchen, II, 210, gives Penteklimas ten of these number-riddles: if he answers them he is to have a fine castle; if not, he is to be eaten. An old woman answers for him: "One is God, two are the righteous, etc.; ten is your own word, and now burst, dragon!" The dragon bursts, and Penteklimas inherits his possessions.
[395] Gozzi retains the first and third riddles, Schiller only the third. By a happy idea, new riddles were introduced at the successive performances of Schiller's play. Turandot appears as a traditional tale in Schneller's Märchen u. Sagen aus Wälschtirol, No 49, p. 132, "I tre Indovinelli."
[396] The castle with walls and gate thus equipped, or a palisade of stakes each crowned with a head, is all but a commonplace in such adventures. This grim stroke of fancy is best in 'La mule sanz frain,' where there are four hundred stakes, all but one surmounted with a bloody head: Méon, Nouveau Recueil, 1, 15, vv 429-37. For these parlous princesses, of all sorts, see Grundtvig, 'Den farlige Jomfru,' IV, 43 ff, No 184.
[397] Von Hammer, Geschichte der schönen Redekünste Persiens, p. 116, previously cited by von der Hagen, Gesammtabenteuer, III, lxii.
[398] The German schwank affixes the forfeit of the head to failure. In the Norwegian the unsuccessful brothers get off with a thrashing. The fire in the English, found also in the German, recalls the third task in the Gesta Romanorum.
[399] Khudyakof, in the Ethnographical Collection of the Russian Geographical Society, Etnografitcheskiy Sbornik, etc., VI, 9, 10, 8. Ralston, The Songs of the Russian People, p. 353.
[400] Vigfusson objects to Thor being the interlocutor, though that is the name in the MS., because cunning does not suit Thor's blunt character, and proposes Odin instead. "May be the dwarf first met Thor (Wingthor), whereupon Woden (Wingi) came up." Corpus Poeticum Boreale, I, 81.
A. 'Proud Lady Margaret,' Scott's Minstrelsy, III, 275, ed. 1803.
B. a. 'The Courteous Knight,' Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 91; Motherwell's MS., p. 591. b. Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. lxxxi.
C. 'The Jolly Hind Squire,' Buchan's MSS, II, 95.
D. 'The Knicht o Archerdale,' Harris MS., fol. 7, No 3.
E. 'Fair Margret,' A. Laing, Ancient Ballads and Songs, MS., 1829, p. 6.
A was communicated to Scott "by Mr Hamilton, music-seller, Edinburgh, with whose mother it had been a favorite." Two stanzas and one line were wanting, and were supplied by Scott "from a different ballad, having a plot somewhat similar." The stanzas were 6 and 9. C was printed from the MS., with a few changes, under the title of 'The Bonny Hind Squire,' by Dixon, in Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, p. 42, and from Dixon in Bell's Early Ballads, p. 183. Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 28, says the ballad was called 'Jolly Janet' by the old people in Aberdeenshire.
A-D are plainly compounded of two ballads, the conclusion being derived from E. The lady's looking oer her castle wa, her putting riddles, and her having gard so mony die, make the supposition far from incredible that the Proud Lady Margaret of the first part of the ballad may originally have been one of the cruel princesses spoken of in the preface to 'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship,' p. 417. But the corrupt condition of the texts of A-D forbids any confident opinion.
A dead mistress similarly admonishes her lover, in a ballad from Brittany, given in Ampère, Instructions relatives aux Poésies populaires de la France, p. 36.
So Beaurepaire, Étude, p. 53; Puymaigre, 'La Damnée,' Chants populaires, I, 115; V. Smith, Chants du Velay et du Forez, Romania, IV, 449 f, 'La Concubine;' and Luzel, "Celui qui alla voir sa maitresse en enfer," I, 44, 45. In this last, a lover, whose mistress has died, goes into a monastery, where he prays continually that he may see her again. The devil presents himself in the likeness of a young man, and on condition of being something gently considered takes him to hell. He sees his mistress sitting in a fiery chair (cf. B, 30, 31), devoured by serpents night and day, and is informed that fasts and masses on his part will only make things worse. Like Dives, she sends word to her sister not to do as she has done. Some of these traits are found also in one or another of the French versions.
Translated by Doenniges, p. 6, after Scott, and by Knortz, Schottische Balladen, No 1, after Aytoun, II, 62.
Scott's Minstrelsy, III, 275, ed. 1803. Communicated "by Mr Hamilton, music-seller, Edinburgh, with whose mother it had been a favorite."
a. Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, 1, 91; Motherwell's MS., p. 591. b. Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. lxxxi.