a. Percy's Reliques, III, 93, 1765. b. Letter of T. Gray to Mason, June, 1757 (?): Gray's Works, ed. Gosse, II, 316.

1 Gil Morrice was an erles son,
 His name it waxed wide;
 It was nae for his great riches,
 Nor yet his mickle pride,
 Bot it was for a lady gay,
 That livd on Carron side.
2 'Whair sall I get a bonny boy,
 That will win hose and shoen,
 That will gae to Lord Barnard's ha,
 And bid his lady cum?
3 'And ye maun rin errand, Willie,
 And ye may rin wi pride;
 When other boys gae on their foot,
 On horseback ye sall ride.'
4 'O no! Oh no! my master dear,
 I dare nae for my life;
 I'll no gae to the bauld baron's,
 For to triest furth his wife.'
5 'My bird Willie, my boy Willie,
 My dear Willie,' he sayd,
 'How can ye strive against the stream?
 For I sall be obeyd.'
6 'Bot, O my master dear,' he cry'd,
 'In grene-wod ye're your lain;
 Gi owre sic thochts, I walde ye rede,
 For fear ye should be tain.'
7 'Haste, haste, I say, gae to the ha,
 Bid hir cum here wi speid;
 If ye refuse my heigh command,
 I'll gar your body bleid.
8 'Gae bid hir take this gay mantel,
 'Tis a' gowd but the hem;
 Bid hir cum to the gude grene-wode,
 And bring nane bot hir lain.
9 'And there it is, a silken sarke,
 Hir ain hand sewd the sleive;
 And bid hir cum to Gill Morice,
 Speir nae bauld baron's leave.'
10 'Yes, I will gae your black errand,
 Though it be to your cost;
 Sen ye by me will nae be warnd,
 In it ye sall find frost.
11 'The baron he's a man of might,
 He neir could bide to taunt;
 As ye will see, before it's nicht,
 How sma ye hae to vaunt.
12 'And sen I maun your errand rin,
 Sae sair against my will,
 I'se mak a vow, and keip it trow,
 It sall be done for ill.'
13 And when he came to broken brigue,
 He bent his bow and swam;
 And when [he] came to grass growing,
 Set down his feet and ran.
14 And when he came to Barnard's ha,
 Would neither chap nor ca,
 Bot set his bent bow to his breist,
 And lichtly lap the wa.
15 He wauld nae tell the man his errand,
 Though he stude at the gait;
 Bot straiht into the ha he cam,
 Whair they were set at meit.
16 'Hail! hail! my gentle sire and dame,
 My message winna waite;
 Dame, ye maun to the gude grene-wod,
 Before that it be late.
17 'Ye're bidden tak this gay mantel,
 'Tis a' gowd bot the hem;
 You maun gae to the gude grene-wode,
 Evn by your sel alane.
18 'And there it is, a silken sarke,
 Your ain hand sewd the sleive;
 Ye maun gae speik to Gill Morice,
 Speir nae bauld baron's leave.'
19 The lady stamped wi hir foot,
 And winked wi hir ee;
 But a' that she coud say or do,
 Forbidden he wad nae bee.
20 'It's surely to my bowr-woman;
 It neir could be to me:'
 'I brocht it to Lord Barnard's lady;
 I trow that ye be she.'
21 Then up and spack the wylie nurse,
 The bairn upon hir knee:
 'If it be cum frae Gill Morice,
 It's deir welcum to mee.'
22 'Ye leid, ye leid, ye filthy nurse,
 Sae loud's I heire ye lee;
 I brocht it to Lord Barnard's lady;
 I trow ye be nae shee.'
23 Then up and spack the bauld baron,
 An angry man was hee;
 He's tain the table wi his foot,
 Sae has he wi his knee,
 Till siller cup and ezar dish
 In flinders he gard flee.
24 'Gae bring a robe of your cliding,
 That hings upon the pin,
 And I'll gae to the gude grene-wode,
 And speik wi your lemman.'
25 'O bide at hame, now, Lord Barnard,
 I warde ye bide at hame;
 Neir wyte a man for violence
 That neir wate ye wi nane.'
26 Gil Morice sate in gude grene-wode,
 He whistled and he sang:
 'O what mean a' the folk coming?
 My mother tarries lang.'
27 The baron came to the grene-wode,
 Wi mickle dule and care,
 And there he first spied Gill Morice,
 Kameing his yellow hair.
28 'Nae wonder, nae wonder, Gill Morice,
 My lady loed thee weel;
 The fairest part of my body
 Is blacker than thy heel.
29 'Yet neir the less now, Gill Morice,
 For a' thy great bewty,
 Ye's rew the day ye eir was born;
 That head sall gae wi me.'
30 Now he has drawn his trusty brand,
 And slaited on the strae,
 And thro Gill Morice fair body
 He's gard cauld iron gae.
31 And he has tain Gill Morice head,
 And set it on a speir;
 The meanest man in a' his train
 Has gotten that head to bear.
32 And he has tain Gill Morice up,
 Laid him across his steid,
 And brocht him to his painted bowr,
 And laid him on a bed.
33 The lady sat on castil-wa,
 Beheld baith dale and doun,
 And there she saw Gill Morice head
 Cum trailing to the toun.
34 'Far better I loe that bluidy head,
 Bot and that yellow hair,
 Than Lord Barnard, and a' his lands,
 As they lig here and thair.'
35 And she has tain hir Gill Morice,
 And kissd baith mouth and chin:
 'I was once as fow of Gill Morice
 As the hip is o the stean.
36 'I got ye in my father's house,
 Wi mickle sin and shame;
 I brocht thee up in gude green-wode,
 Under the heavy rain.
37 'Oft have I by thy cradle sitten,
 And fondly seen thee sleip;
 Bot now I gae about thy grave,
 The saut tears for to weip.'
38 And syne she kissd his bluidy cheik,
 And syne his bluidy chin:
 'O better I loe my Gill Morice
 Than a' my kith and kin!'
39 'Away, away, ye ill woman,
 And an il deith mait ye dee!
 Gin I had kend he'd bin your son,
 He'd neir bin slain for mee.'

G

Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 18; Jamieson, in The Scots Magazine, 1803, LXV, 698, stanzas 1, 3.

1 Gil Morrice sat in silver wood,
 He whistled and he sang:
 'Whar sall I get a bonny boy
 My errand for to gang?'
2 He ca'd his foster-brither Willie:
 'Come, win ye hose and shoon,
 And gae unto Lord Barnard's ha,
 And bid his lady come.'
 *  *  *  *  *
3 And she has taen the bloody head,
 And cast it i the brim,
 Syne gathered up her robes o green,
 And fast she followed him.

A.

11. siluen: compare 73, 83, 143, 153, etc.

23, 4. In the MS., these go with 3: compare 20.

32. rumeth.

43, 4. These precede what is printed as 6.

51, 61, 121. out many.

63. as schoole masters: compare 133.

65, 6. These lines may be the last half of a stanza. There is nothing corresponding in the page's repetition of his master's message.

171, 2. Joined in the MS. with 18.

184. then my.

21. At least one stanza must be lost after 20.

221, 2 precede 21, and 223, 4 make a stanza with 213, 4: the order being 221, 2, 21, 223, 4.

224. 2 or 3.

261. Only half the n in the MS. Furnivall.

302. but 3.

321. curteouset.

And for & throughout.

B.

23. For is a later insertion.

23, 61. Oh.

61, 2. Originally, O do I not, And do I not.

93. to go to: come written over go.

132, 143. of.

142. That is a later insertion.

182. And is a later insertion.

184. Originally, He should neer have been.

C.

"This ballad was forwarded to me by my good friend Andrew Crawfurd, of John's Hill, Lochwinnoch. He wrote it from the recitation of Mrs Storie, wife of William Storie, laborer, in Lochwinnoch. It was a song of Mrs Storie's grandmother. It is queried if this should not be Babe Norice.... The interlineary corrections were made in consequence of Mrs Storie singing the ballad over to myself." Motherwell. The interlineary corrections have been adopted. The earlier readings follow.

Barnard for Barnet.

54. speir nae bauld baron's.

61. Barnard's ha.

83. and I doubly vow.

101. wee lad.

121. gay wanting.

131. braw manteil.

134. nae bauld baron's.

161. to a busking gane.

162. drest him.

191. Barnard liftit his.

193. has sneddit.

194. And aff frae his bodie.

204. lady wanting.

The affected spelling I suppose to be Crawfurd's.

74, 91. quhan.

In the Appendix to his Minstrelsy, p. xvii, Motherwell adopts the reading Babe Norice in 11, and prints burning gowd in 14.

D.

"This copy is from the recitation of Margaret Paterson, alias widow Michael, a very old woman residing at Dovecote Ha, Barhead. She is a native of Banffshire, and learned the ballad there in her infancy. She mentions that she has heard it sung with many variations, but this copy was considered to be the right way. It is seventy years since she committed it to her memory. 4th August, 1826." Motherwell.

E.

In his Minstrelsy, p. 269, Motherwell says that the reciter learned the ballad from her grandmother. He goes on to say: She mentions that at a later period of her life she also committed to memory 'Gill Morice,' which began with young lasses like her to be a greater favorite and more fashionable than the set which her grandmother and other old folks used to sing, under the title of 'Chield Morice.'

175. Written and dezar dish, the d of and being carried on to the word following.

193. douce makes no apparent sense. Motherwell prints done.

201. Stood originally And when he came to the green wood.

262. No doubt a corruption of the familiar Beheld baith dale and down.

294. heaviy, perhaps representing the actual sound. Motherwell prints heavy.

F. a.

In eight-line stanzas. Wh and y are substituted for the initial quh and z cherished by ballad imitators.

54. shall.

304. He's gar.

b.

12. fame it wexed.

14. Nae for.

16. Carron's.

31. Ye maun rin this.

32. maun rin.

33. feet.

41. Ah na, ah na.

The four stanzas which follow, "produced and handed about in manuscript," in consequence of an advertisement, were introduced into his copy by Percy.

After 26:

His hair was like the threeds of gold,
 Drawne frae Minerva's loome;
 His lipps like roses drapping dew,
 His breath was a' perfume.
His brow was like the mountain snae,
 Gilt by the morning beam;
 His cheeks like living roses glow,
 His een like azure stream.
The boy was clad in robes of grene,
 Sweete as the infant spring,
 And like the mavis on the bush
 He gart the vallies ring.

After 27:

That sweetly wavd around his face,
 That face beyond compare;
 He sang sae sweet, it might dispel
 A' rage but fell dispair.

The following stanzas were appended to the ballad in the edition reprinted by Percy:

'Obraid me not, my Lord Barnard,
 Obraid me not for shame!
 With that saim speir O pierce my heart,
 And put me out o pain.
'Since nothing bot Gill Morice head
 Thy jelous rage could quell,
 Let that saim hand now tak hir life
 That neir to thee did ill.
'To me nae after days nor nichts
 Will eir be saft or kind;
 I'll fill the air with heavy sighs,
 And greet till I am blind.'
'Enouch of blood by me's bin spilt,
 Seek not your death frae mee;
 I rather lourd it had been my sel
 Than eather him or thee.
'With waefo wae I hear your plaint;
 Sair, sair I rew the deid,
 That eir this cursed hand of mine
 Had gard his body bleid.
'Dry up your tears, my winsom dame,
 Ye neir can heal the wound;
 Ye see his head upon the speir,
 His heart's blude on the ground.
'I curse the hand that did the deid,
 The heart that thocht the ill,
 The feet that bore me wi sik speid
 The comely youth to kill.
'I'll ay lament for Gill Morice,
 As gin he were my ain;
 I'll neir forget the dreiry day
 On which the youth was slain.'

The copy lent me by Mr Macmath lacks the four stanzas inserted by Percy, but has the eight given immediately above. The following are the variations from F.

21. will I.

74. thy body.

102. thy cost.

183. maun cum.

261. sits.

263. means a' these folks.

264. she tarrys.

271. And whan he cam to guid.

273. first saw.

274. Kemeing down.

282. Than my, misprint.

304. gard.

344. they lay.

354. hip was.

The eight stanzas follow which are printed immediately above.

FOOTNOTES:

[139] The edition of 1755 is not known now to exist. Mr David Laing showed Motherwell a copy, without place or date, with the title: Gill Morice, An Ancient Scots Poem. The foundation of the tragedy called Douglas, as it is now acted in the Concert-Hall, Canongate. There was no material difference between this edition and that which was reprinted in the Reliques, except that it lacked the four stanzas which Percy introduced. Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 259, note.

In Herd's MSS, I, 7, II, 70, there are half a dozen more stanzas, from The Weekly Magazine, August 13, 1772, which continue the story still further. My lady flings herself over a craig, my lord seeks death in battle. But, as Sir Walter Scott notes in the margin, these verses are "formed on the conclusion of Douglas, which tragedy is founded on the original ballad." These stanzas are printed by Jamieson, I, 21.

Mr Macmath has communicated to me an early copy of 'Gil Morice,' without place or date, in conjunction with a parody, entitled The Seven Champions of the Stage, printed in 1757, which satirizes Parson Home's efforts to get his Agis and his Douglas acted by Garrick. This copy of 'Gil Morice' might be another edition of that which Mr Laing possessed. Its variations, which are of slight consequence, will be given in the notes to F.

[140] The name of the heroine in the tragedy of Douglas was originally Lady Barnard, as in the ballad; it was altered to Lady Randolph when the play was produced in London. Motherwell, p. 257, note.

[141] Minstrelsy, p. 269, note. Mr Aytoun considers that E is only the copy printed in the middle of the last century purged, in the process of oral transmission, of what was not to the popular taste, "and altered more." There is no doubt that a copy learned from print may be transformed in this way, but it is certain that old tradition does not come to a stop when a ballad gets into print. Mrs Thomson's account of the matter Aytoun does not heed. It is difficult to understand why Aytoun printed the stanzas from Percy's Reliques, at I, 149 f, 2d ed., except as a simple courtesy to his correspondent.

[142] Already cited in The Ballad Minstrelsy of Scotland, Glasgow, 1871, p. 316.

84
BONNY BARBARA ALLAN

A. a. 'Bonny Barbara Allan,' Tea-Table Miscellany, IV, 46, ed. 1740; here from the edition of London, 1763, p. 343. b. 'Sir John Grehme and Barbara Allan,' Percy's Reliques, 1765, III, 131.

B. a. 'Barbara Allen's Cruelty,' etc., Roxburghe Ballads, II, 25; reprint of the Ballad Society, III, 433. b. Roxburghe Ballads, III, 522. c. Broadside formerly belonging to Percy. d. Percy's Reliques, 1765, III, 125.

C. 'Barbara Allan,' Motherwell's MS., p. 288, from recitation.

A a is wrongly said by Stenhouse, The Scots Musical Museum, IV, 213, to have appeared in Ramsay's Miscellany in 1724. It is not even in the edition of 1733, but, according to Mr Chappell, was first inserted in that of 1740. Ramsay's copy is repeated in Herd, 1769, p. 29, 1776, I, 19, Johnson's Museum, p. 230, No 221, and Ritson's Scotish Song, II, 196. C was perhaps derived from Ramsay, but possibly may have come down by purely oral tradition. Some later copies of B have Reading Town for Scarlet Town (Chappell).

The Scottish ballad is extended in Buchan's MSS, I, 90, Motherwell's MS., p. 671, to forty-one stanzas. In this amplified copy, which has no claim to be admitted here, the dying lover leaves his watch and gold ring, his Bible and penknife, a mill and thirty ploughs, nine meal-mills and the freights of nine ships, all to tocher Barbara Allan. This is the ballad referred to by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe in Stenhouse's edition of the Museum, IV, 300*, as sung by the peasantry of Allandale. Doubtless it was learned by them from some stall-print.

Pepys makes this entry in his Diary, January 2, 1666: "In perfect pleasure I was to hear her [Mrs Knipp, an actress] sing, and especially her little Scotch song of Barbary Allen." Goldsmith, in his third essay, 1765, p. 14, writes: The music of the finest singer is dissonance to what I felt when an old dairy-maid sung me into tears with 'Johnny Armstrong's Last Good-night,' or 'The Cruelty of Barbara Allen.'[143]

A b is translated by Loève-Veimars, p. 379, von Marées, p. 34; B d by Bodmer, I, 85.

A

a. The Tea-Table Miscellany, IV, 46, ed. 1740; here from the London edition of 1763, p. 343. b. Percy's Reliques, III, 131, ed. 1765, "with a few conjectural emendations from a written copy."

1 It was in and about the Martinmas time,
 When the green leaves were a falling,
 That Sir John Græme, in the West Country,
 Fell in love with Barbara Allan.
2 He sent his men down through the town,
 To the place where she was dwelling:
 'O haste and come to my master dear,
 Gin ye be Barbara Allan.'
3 O hooly, hooly rose she up,
 To the place where he was lying,
 And when she drew the curtain by,
 'Young man, I think you're dying.'
4 'O it's I'm sick, and very, very sick,
 And 'tis a' for Barbara Allan:'
 'O the better for me ye's never be,
 Tho your heart's blood were a spilling.
5 'O dinna ye mind, young man,' said she,
 'When ye was in the tavern a drinking,
 That ye made the healths gae round and round,
 And slighted Barbara Allan?'
6 He turnd his face unto the wall,
 And death was with him dealing:
 'Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all,
 And be kind to Barbara Allan.'
7 And slowly, slowly raise she up,
 And slowly, slowly left him,
 And sighing said, she coud not stay,
 Since death of life had reft him.
8 She had not gane a mile but twa,
 When she heard the dead-bell ringing,
 And every jow that the dead-bell geid,
 It cry'd, Woe to Barbara Allan!
9 'O mother, mother, make my bed!
 O make it saft and narrow!
 Since my love died for me to-day,
 I'll die for him to-morrow.'

B

a. Roxburghe Ballads, II, 25; reprint of the Ballad Society, III, 433. b. Roxburghe Ballads, III, 522. c. A broadside formerly belonging to Bishop Percy, d. Percy's Reliques, 1765, III, 125.

1 In Scarlet Town, where I was bound,
 There was a fair maid dwelling,
 Whom I had chosen to be my own,
 And her name it was Barbara Allen.
2 All in the merry month of May,
 When green leaves they was springing,
 This young man on his death-bed lay,
 For the love of Barbara Allen.
3 He sent his man unto her then,
 To the town where she was dwelling:
 'You must come to my master dear,
 If your name be Barbara Allen.
4 'For death is printed in his face,
 And sorrow's in him dwelling,
 And you must come to my master dear,
 If your name be Barbara Allen.'
5 'If death be printed in his face,
 And sorrow's in him dwelling,
 Then little better shall he be
 For bonny Barbara Allen.'
6 So slowly, slowly she got up,
 And so slowly she came to him,
 And all she said when she came there,
 Young man, I think you are a dying.
7 He turnd his face unto her then:
 'If you be Barbara Allen,
 My dear,' said he, 'come pitty me,
 As on my death-bed I am lying.'
8 'If on your death-bed you be lying,
 What is that to Barbara Allen?
 I cannot keep you from [your] death;
 So farewell,' said Barbara Allen.
9 He turnd his face unto the wall,
 And death came creeping to him:
 'Then adieu, adieu, and adieu to all,
 And adieu to Barbara Allen!'
10 And as she was walking on a day,
 She heard the bell a ringing,
 And it did seem to ring to her
 'Unworthy Barbara Allen.'
11 She turnd herself round about,
 And she spy'd the corps a coming:
 'Lay down, lay down the corps of clay,
 That I may look upon him.'
12 And all the while she looked on,
 So loudly she lay laughing,
 While all her friends cry'd [out] amain,
 'Unworthy Barbara Allen!'
13 When he was dead, and laid in grave,
 Then death came creeping to she:
 'O mother, mother, make my bed,
 For his death hath quite undone me.
14 'A hard-hearted creature that I was,
 To slight one that lovd me so dearly;
 I wish I had been more kinder to him,
 The time of his life when he was near me.'
15 So this maid she then did dye,
 And desired to be buried by him,
 And repented her self before she dy'd,
 That ever she did deny him.

C

Motherwell's MS., p. 288; from Mrs Duff, Kilbirnie, February 9, 1825.

1 It fell about the Lammas time,
 When the woods grow green and yellow,
 There came a wooer out of the West
 A wooing to Barbara Allan.
2 'It is not for your bonny face,
 Nor for your beauty bonny,
 But it is all for your tocher good
 I come so far about ye.'
3 'If it be not for my comely face,
 Nor for my beauty bonnie,
 My tocher good ye'll never get paid
 Down on the board before ye.'
4 'O will ye go to the Highland hills,
 To see my white corn growing?
 Or will ye go to the river-side,
 To see my boats a rowing?'
5 O he's awa, and awa he's gone,
 And death's within him dealing,
 And it is all for the sake of her,
 His bonnie Barbara Allan.
6 O he sent his man unto the house,
 Where that she was a dwelling:
 'O you must come my master to see,
 If you be Barbara Allan.'
7 So slowly aye as she put on,
 And so stoutly as she gaed till him,
 And so slowly as she could say,
 'I think, young man, you're lying.'
8 'O I am lying in my bed,
 And death within me dwelling;
 And it is all for the love of thee,
 My bonny Barbara Allan.'
9 She was not ae mile frae the town,
 Till she heard the dead-bell ringing:
 'Och hone, oh hone, he's dead and gone,
 For the love of Barbara Allan!'

A. b.

13. o the.

44. a wanting.

51. Remember ye nat in the tavern, sir.

52. Whan ye the cups wer fillan.

53. How ye.

64. And wanting.

71. Then hooly, hooly.

72. And hooly, hooly.

82. deid-bell knellan.

83. that wanting.

84. It wanting.

94. I 'se.

B. a.

Barbara Allen's Cruelty, or, The Youngman's Tragedy. With Barbara Allen's Lamentation for her Unkindness to her Lover and her Self.... Printed for P. Brooksby, J. Deacon, J. Blare, J. Back. Black Letter.

134. undone we.

b.

Barbara Allen's Cruelty, or, The Young Man's Tragedy. No name of printer.

13. for my own.

22. they were.

24. the sake of.

34. name is.

44. thy name is.

53. Then wanting.

61. she came to him.

63. came to him.

64. a wanting.

72. you are.

74. As I am on my death-bed lying.

81. If you are on your death-bed lying.

83. from your.

84. Then farewell: said wanting.

92. on him.

93. and wanting: to you all.

101. And wanting: out one day.

102. bells.

103. And they.

112. And saw.

113. corps said she.

123. cry'd out.

131. in his.

134. will quite undo me.

141. A wanting.

143. more kind.

144. In time of life.

153. eer.

16. As she was lying down to die,
 A sad feud she fell in;
 She said, I pray take warning by
 Hard-hearted Barbara Allen.

c.

Title the same as in a. Printed and sold at the Printing-office in Bow-Church-Yard, London.

13. for my own.

22. they wore.

34. name is.

43. And thou.

44. thy name is.

53. O little.

61. she came to him.

63. came to him.

64. a wanting.

72. you are.

74. As I am on my death-bed lying.

83. from your.

84. Then farewell: said wanting.

92. on him.

93. to you all.

101. And wanting: out one day.

102. bells.

103. And they.

112. And espy'd.

113. corps said she.

123. cry'd out.

134. will quite undo me.

141. A wanting.

143. more kind.

144. In time of life.

154. eer.

16 as in b.

d was "given, with some corrections, from an old printed copy in the editor's possession." That these corrections were considerable, we know from the [asterism] at the end. The old printed copy is very likely to have been c, and, if so, the ballad was simply written over. It does not seem necessary to give the variations under the circumstances. In 23 Percy has Yong Jemmye Grove.

C.

21. bonny should perhaps be comely, as in 31.

42. Originally written To see my white... courting.

52. Originally dwelling.

53. Originally it's.

54. The is written over His, probably as a conjecture.

72. After stoutly, slowly? as a conjectural emendation.

74. lying. 'An ingenious friend' of Percy's suggested the transposition of lying and dying in A 32, 4.

FOOTNOTES:

[143] Pepys is cited by James Farquhar Graham, The Scottish Songs, II, 157, and Goldsmith by Chappell, The Roxburghe Ballads, III, 433.

85
LADY ALICE

A. 'Lady Alice.' a. Bell's Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England, p. 127. b. Notes and Queries, Second Series, I, 418. c. Notes and Queries, Second Series, I, 354.

B. 'Giles Collins and Proud Lady Anna,' Gammer Gurton's Garland, p. 38, ed. 1810.

This little ballad, which is said to be still of the regular stock of the stalls, is a sort of counterpart to 'Lord Lovel.' A writer in Notes and Queries, Second Series, I, 418, says: This old song was refined and modernized by the late Richard Westall, R. A.

A