I

1
Did you ever hear of good Earl Brand,
Aye lally an lilly lally
And the king's daughter of fair Scotland?
And the braw knights o Airly

2
She was scarce fifteen years of age
When she came to Earl Brand's bed.
Wi the braw knights o Airly

3
'O Earl Brand, I fain wad see
Our grey hounds run over the lea.'
Mang the braw bents o Airly

4
'O,' says Earl Brand, 'I've nae steads but one,
And you shall ride and I shall run.'
Oer the braw heights o Airly

5
'O,' says the lady, 'I hae three,
And ye shall hae yeer choice for me.'
Of the braw steeds o Airly

6
So they lap on, and on they rade,
Till they came to auld Carle Hood.
Oer the braw hills o Airly

7
Carl Hood's aye for ill, and he's no for good,
He's aye for ill, and he's no for good.
Mang the braw hills o Airly

8
'Where hae ye been hunting a' day,
And where have ye stolen this fair may?'
I' the braw nights sae airly

9
'She is my sick sister dear,
New comd home from another sister.'
I the braw nights sae early

10
'O,' says the lady, 'if ye love me,
Gie him a penny fee and let him gae.'
I the braw nights sae early

11
He's gane home to her father's bower,
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

12
'Where is the lady o this ha?'
'She's out wi the young maids, playing at the ba.'
I the braw nights so early

13
'No,' says another, 'she's riding oer the moor,
And a' to be Earl Brand's whore.'
I the braw nights so early

14
The king mounted fifteen weel armed men,
A' to get Earl Brand taen.
I the braw hills so early

15
The lady looked over her white horse mane:
'O Earl Brand, we will be taen.'
In the braw hills so early

16
He says, If they come one by one,
Ye'll no see me so soon taen.
In the braw hills so early

17
So they came every one but one,
And he has killd them a' but ane.
In the braw hills so early

18
And that one came behind his back,
And gave Earl Brand a deadly stroke.
In the braw hills of Airly

19
For as sair wounded as he was,
He lifted the lady on her horse.
In the braw nights so early

20
'O Earl Brand, I see thy heart's bluid!'
'It's but the shadow of my scarlet robe.'
I the braw nights so early

21
He came to his mother's home;
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

22
She looked out and cryd her son was gone,
And a' for the sake [of] an English loon.
. . . . . . .

23
'What will I do wi your lady fair?'
'Marry her to my eldest brother.'
The brawest knight i Airly

1
'Rise up, rise up, Lord Douglas,' she said,
'And draw to your arms so bright;
Let it never be said a daughter of yours
Shall go with a lord or a knight.

2
'Rise up, rise up, my seven bold sons,
And draw to your armour so bright;
Let it never be said a sister of yours
Shall go with a lord or a knight.'

3
He looked over his left shoulder,
To see what he could see,
And there he spy'd her seven brethren bold,
And her father that lov'd her tenderly.

4
'Light down, light down, Lady Margret,' he said,
'And hold my steed in thy hand,
That I may go fight with your seven brethren bold,
And your father who's just at hand.'

5
O there she stood, and bitter she stood,
And never did shed a tear,
Till once she saw her seven brethren slain,
And her father she lovd so dear.

6
'Hold, hold your hand, William,' she said,
'For thy strokes are wondrous sore;
For sweethearts I may get many a one,
But a father I neer will get more.'

7
She took out a handkerchief of holland so fine
And wip'd her father's bloody wound,
Which ran more clear than the red wine,
And forked on the cold ground.

8
'O chuse you, chuse you, Margret,' he said,
'Whether you will go or bide!'
'I must go with you, Lord William,' she said,
'Since you've left me no other guide.'

9
He lifted her on a milk-white steed,
And himself on a dapple grey,
With a blue gilded horn hanging by his side,
And they slowly both rode away.

10
Away they rode, and better they rode,
Till they came to yonder sand,
Till once they came to yon river side,
And there they lighted down.

11
They lighted down to take a drink
Of the spring that ran so clear,
And there she spy'd his bonny heart's blood,
A running down the stream.

12
'Hold up, hold up, Lord William,' she says,
'For I fear that you are slain;'
''T is nought but the shade of my scarlet clothes,
That is sparkling down the stream.'

13
He lifted her on a milk-white steed,
And himself on a dapple grey,
With a blue gilded horn hanging by his side,
And slowly they rode away.

14
Ay they rode, and better they rode,
Till they came to his mother's bower;
Till once they came to his mother's bower,
And down they lighted there.

15
'O mother, mother, make my bed,
And make it saft and fine,
And lay my lady close at my back,
That I may sleep most sound.'

16
Lord William he died eer middle o the night,
Lady Margret long before the morrow;
Lord William he died for pure true love,
And Lady Margret died for sorrow.

17
Lord William was bury'd in Lady Mary's kirk,
The other in Saint Mary's quire;
Out of William's grave sprang a red rose,
And out of Margret's a briar.

18
And ay they grew, and ay they threw,
As they wad fain been near;
And by this you may ken right well
They were twa lovers dear.

107 b. There is possibly a souvenir of Walter in Sušil, p. 105, No 107. A man and woman are riding on one horse in the mountains. He asks her to sing. Her song is heard by robbers, who come, intending to kill him and carry her off. He bids her go under a maple-tree, kills twelve, and spares one, to carry the booty home.

9. The Fair Flower of Northumberland.

P. 111 a. B b, as prepared by Kinloch for printing, is found in Kinloch MSS, VII, 105.

* * * * *

1
She stole the keys from her father's bed-head,
O but her love it was easy won!
She opened the gates, she opened them wide,
She let him out o the prison strong.

2
She went into her father's stable,
O but her love it was easy won!
She stole a steed that was both stout and strong,
To carry him hame frae Northumberland.

* * * * *

3
'I'll be cook in your kitchen,
Noo sure my love has been easy won!
I'll serve your own lady with hat an with hand,
For I daurna gae back to Northumberland.'

4
'I need nae cook in my kitchin,
O but your love it was easy won!
Ye'll serve not my lady with hat or with hand,
For ye maun gae back to Northumberland.'

5
When she gaed hame, how her father did ban!
'O but your love it was easy won!
A fair Scottish girl, not sixteen years old,
Was once the fair flower o Northumberland!'

10. The Twa Sisters.

X. 'Binnorie,' Dr Joseph Robertson's Note-Book, January 1, 1830, p. 7, one stanza.

120 a, first paragraph. "A very rare but very stupid modern adaptation, founded on the tradition as told in Småland, appeared in Götheborg, 1836, small 8vo, pp 32: Antiquiteter i Thorskinge. Fornminnet eller Kummel-Runan, tolkande Systersveket Bröllopps-dagen." The author was C. G. Lindblom, a Swedish priest. The first line is:

"En Näskonung bodde på Illvedens fjäll."

120 a. Note [129], lines 3, 4. Read: and in 14, 15, calls the drowned girl "the bonnie miller's lass o Binorie," meaning the bonnie miller o Binorie's lass.

124 a, last paragraph. A drowned girl grows up on the sea-strand as a linden with nine branches: from the ninth her brother carves a harp. "Sweet the tone," he says, as he plays. The mother calls out through her tears, So sang my youngest daughter. G. Tillemann, in Livona, ein historisch-poetisches Taschenbuch, Riga u. Dorpat, 1812, p. 187, Ueber die Volkslieder der Letten. Dr R. Köhler points out to me a version of this ballad given with a translation by Bishop Carl Chr. Ulmann in the Dorpater Jahrbücher, II, 404, 1834, 'Die Lindenharfe,' and another by Pastor Karl Ulmann in his Lettische Volkslieder, übertragen, 1874, p. 199, No 18, 'Das Lied von der Jüngsten.' In the former of these the brother says, Sweet sounds my linden harp! The mother, weeping, It is not the linden harp; it is thy sister's soul that has swum through the water to us; it is the voice of my youngest daughter.

124 b, first paragraph. In Bohemian, 'Zakletá dcera,' 'The Daughter Cursed,' Erben, 1864, p. 466 (with other references); Moravian, Sušil, p. 143, No 146. Dr R. Köhler further refers to Peter, Volksthümliches aus Österreichisch-Schlesien, I, 209, 'Die drei Spielleute;' Meinert, p. 122, 'Die Erle;' Vernaleken, Alpensagen, p. 289, No 207, 'Der Ahornbaum.'

125 b. Add to the citations: 'Le Sifflet enchanté,' E. Cosquin, Contes populaires lorrains, No 26, Romania, VI, 565, with annotations, pp 567 f; Köhler's Nachträge in Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie, II, 350 f; Engelien u. Lahn, Der Volksmund in der Mark Brandenburg, I, 105, 'Diä 3 Brüöder;' Sébillot, Littérature orale de la Haute-Bretagne, p. 220, Les Trois Frères, p. 226, 'Le Sifflet qui parle.' (Köhler.)

1
There dwelt twa sisters in a bower,
Benorie, O Benorie
The youngest o them was the fairest flower.
In the merry milldams o Benorie

2
There cam a wooer them to woo,
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

3
He's gien the eldest o them a broach and a real,
Because that she loved her sister weel.
At etc.

4
He's gien the eldest a gay penknife,
He loved the youngest as dear as his life.
At etc.

5
'O sister, O sister, will ye go oer yon glen,
And see my father's ships coming in?'
At etc.

6
'O sister dear, I darena gang,
Because I'm feard ye throw me in.'
The etc.

7
'O set your foot on yon sea stane,
And was yeer hands in the sea foam.'
At etc.

8
She set her foot on yon sea stane,
To wash her hands in the sea foam.
At etc.

9
. . . . . . .
But the eldest has thrown the youngest in.
The etc.

10
'O sister, O sister, lend me your hand,
And ye'se get William and a' his land.'
At etc.

11
The miller's daughter cam out clad in red,
Seeking water to bake her bread.
At etc.

12
'O father, O father, gae fish yeer mill-dam,
There's either a lady or a milk-[white] swan.'
In etc.

13
The miller cam out wi his lang cleek,
And he cleekit the lady out by the feet.
From the bonny milldam, etc.

14
Ye wadna kend her pretty feet,
The American leather was sae neat.
In etc.

15
Ye wadna kend her pretty legs,
The silken stockings were so neat tied.
In etc.

16
Ye wadna kend her pretty waist,
The silken stays were sae neatly laced.
In etc.

17
Ye wadna kend her pretty face,
It was sae prettily preend oer wi lace.
In etc.

18
Ye wadna kend her yellow hair,
It was sae besmeared wi dust and glar.
In etc.

19
By cam her father's fiddler fine,
And that lady's spirit spake to him.
From etc.

20
She bad him take three taits o her hair,
And make them three strings to his fiddle sae rare.
At etc.

21
'Take two of my fingers, sae lang and sae white,
And make them pins to your fiddle sae neat.'
At etc.

22
The ae first spring that the fiddle played
Was, Cursed be Sir John, my ain true-love.
At etc.

23
The next spring that the fiddle playd
Was, Burn burd Hellen, she threw me in.
The etc.

There came ...
Benorie ...
He's gien ...
At the merry ...
Because that ...
At the merry ...

She set ...
Benorie ...
To wash ...
At the ...
But the eldest ...
The bonny ...

O Benorie, O Benorie.

1
Ther were three ladies playing at the ba,
Norham, down by Norham
And there cam a knight to view them a'.
By the bonnie mill-dams o Norham

2
He courted the aldest wi diamonds and rings,
But he loved the youngest abune a' things.

* * * * *

3
'Oh sister, oh sister, lend me your hand,
And pull my poor body unto dry land.

4
'Oh sister, oh sister, lend me your glove,
And you shall have my own true love!'

5
Oot cam the miller's daughter upon Tweed,
To carry in water to bake her bread.

6
'Oh father, oh father, there's a fish in your dam;
It either is a lady or a milk-white swan.'

7
Oot cam the miller's man upon Tweed,
And there he spied a lady lying dead.

8
He could not catch her by the waist,
For her silken stays they were tight laced.

9
But he did catch her by the hand,
And pulled her poor body unto dry land.

10
He took three taets o her bonnie yellow hair,
To make harp strings they were so rare.

11
The very first tune that the bonnie harp played
Was The aldest has cuisten the youngest away.

I see a lady in the dam,
Binnorie, oh Binnorie
She shenes as sweet as ony swan.
I the bonny milldams o Binnorie

1
There was a king lived in the North Country,
Hey down down dery down
There was a king lived in the North Country,
And the bough it was bent to me
There was a king lived in the North Country,
And he had daughters one, two, three.
I'll prove true to my love,
If my love will prove true to me.

* * * * *

2
He gave the eldest a gay gold ring,
But he gave the younger a better thing.

3
He bought the younger a beaver hat;
The eldest she thought much of that.

4
'Oh sister, oh sister, let us go run,
To see the ships come sailing along!'

5
And when they got to the sea-side brim,
The eldest pushed the younger in.

6
'Oh sister, oh sister, lend me your hand,
I'll make you heir of my house and land.'

7
'I'll neither lend you my hand nor my glove,
Unless you grant me your true-love.'

8
Then down she sunk and away she swam,
Untill she came to the miller's mill-dam.

9
The miller's daughter sat at the mill-door,
As fair as never was seen before.

10
'Oh father, oh father, there swims a swan,
Or else the body of a dead woman.'

11
The miller he ran with his fishing hook,
To pull the fair maid out o the brook.

12
'Wee'll hang the miller upon the mill-gate,
For drowning of my sister Kate.'

11. The Cruel Brother.

N. 'The Bride's Testamen,' Dr Joseph Robertson's Note-Book, January 1, 1830, one stanza.

142 b, second paragraph, lines 5, 6. Say: on the way kisses her arm, neck, and mouth.

B. 'Luggieri,' Contado aretino, communicated by Giulio Salvatori to the Rassegna Settimanale, Rome, 1879, June 22, No 77, p. 485; reprinted in Romania, XI, 391, note.

D. 'La Canzóne de 'Nucénzie,' Pitré e Salomone-Marino, Archivio per Tradizioni popolari, I, 213, 1882.

Moravian, Sušil, 'Nešt'astna svatba,' 'The Unhappy Wedding,' No 89, c, d, pp 85 f. A bridegroom is bringing home his bride; his sword slips from the sheath and wounds the bride in the side. He binds up the wound, and begs her to hold out till she comes to the house. The bride can eat nothing, and dies in the night. Her mother comes in the morning with loads of cloth and feathers, is put off when she asks for her daughter, reproaches the bridegroom for having killed her; he pleads his innocence.

Servian. Karadshitch, I, 309, No 421, 'Jani and Milenko,' belongs to this class, though mixed with portions of at least one other ballad ('Earl Brand'). Milenko wooes the fair Jani, and is favored by her mother and by all her brothers but the youngest. This brother goes hunting, and bids Jani open to nobody while he is away, but Milenko carries her off on his horse. As they are riding over a green hill, a branch of a tree catches in Jani's dress. Milenko attempts to cut the branch off with his knife, but in so doing wounds Jani in the head. Jani binds up the wound, and they go on, and presently meet the youngest brother, who hails Milenko, asks where he got the fair maid, discovers the maid to be his sister, but bids her Godspeed. On reaching his mother's house, Milenko asks that a bed may be prepared for Jani, who is in need of repose. Jani dies in the night, Milenko in the morning. They are buried in one grave; a rose is planted over her, a grape-vine over him, and these intertwine, "as it were Jani with Milenko."

143 b, after the first paragraph. A pallikar, who is bringing home his bride, is detained on the way in consequence of his whole train leaving him to go after a stag. The young man, who has never seen his bride's face, reaches over his horse to give her a kiss; his knife disengages itself and wounds her. She begs him to staunch the blood with his handkerchief, praying only to live to see her bridegroom's house. This wish is allowed her; she withdraws the handkerchief from the wound and expires. Dozon, Chansons p. bulgares, 'Le baiser fatal,' p. 270, No 49.

144 a, line 4. 'Catarina de Lió;' in Milá, Romancerillo Catalan, 2d ed., No 307, p. 291, 'Trato feroz,' seven versions.

144 b, first paragraph. A mother, not liking her son's wife, puts before him a glass of mead, and poison before the wife. God exchanges them, and the son drinks the poison. The son makes his will. To his brother he leaves four black horses, to his sister four cows and four calves, to his wife a house. "And to me?" the mother asks. "To you that big stone and the deep Danube, because you have poisoned me and parted me from my beloved." Sušil,' Matka travička,' pp 154, 155, No 157, two versions.

144 b, second paragraph. 'El testamento de Amelia,' No 220, p. 185, of the second edition of Romancerillo Catalan, with readings of eleven other copies, A-F, A₁-F₁. In B₁ only have we an ill bequest to the mother. After leaving her mother a rosary, upon the mother's asking again, What for me? the dying lady says, I will leave you my chopines, clogs, so that when you come downstairs they may break your neck.

There are testaments in good will also in 'Elveskud,' Grundtvig, No 47, IV, 836 ff, L 14, 15, M 17, O 17-19.

1
There were three ladies playing at the ba,
With a hey and a lilly gay
When the King o Fairies rode by them a'.
And the roses they grow sweetlie

2
The foremost one was clad in blue;
He askd at her if she'd be his doo.

3
The second of them was clad in red;
He askd at her if she'd be his bride.

4
The next of them was clad in green;
He askd at her if she'd be his queen.

5
'Go you ask at my father then,
And you may ask at my mother then.

6
'You may ask at my sister Ann,
And not forget my brother John.'

7
'O I have askd at your father then,
And I have askd at your mother then.

8
'And I have askd at your sister Ann,
But I've quite forgot your brother John.'

9
Her father led her down the stair,
Her mother combd down her yellow hair.

10
Her sister Ann led her to the cross,
And her brother John set her on her horse.

11
'Now you are high and I am low,
Give me a kiss before ye go.'

12
She's lootit down to gie him a kiss,
He gave her a deep wound and didna miss.

13
And with a penknife as sharp as a dart,
And he has stabbit her to the heart.

14
'Ride up, ride up,' says the foremost man,
'I think our bride looks pale an wan.'

15
'Ride up, ride up,' says the middle man,
'I see her heart's blude trinkling down.'

16
'Ride on, ride,' says the Fairy King,
'She will be dead lang ere we win hame.'

17
'O I wish I was at yonder cross,
Where my brother John put me on my horse.

18
'I wish I was at yonder thorn,
I wad curse the day that ere I was born.

19
'I wish I was at yon green hill,
Then I wad sit and bleed my fill.'

20
'What will you leave your father then? '
'The milk-white steed that I ride on.'

21
'What will you leave your mother then?'
'My silver Bible and my golden fan.'

22
'What will ye leave your sister Ann?'
'My good lord, to be married on.'

23
'What will ye leave your sister Pegg?'
'The world wide to go and beg.'

24
'What will you leave your brother John? '
'The gallows-tree to hang him on.'

25
'What will you leave your brother's wife?'
'Grief and sorrow to end her life.'

Burden in all but 1, 2, 13, lilly hey; in 16, 17, 18, spring sweetlie; in 22, smell sweetlie.