Chapter XIII: Part 13

The peculiar testament made by the bride in 'The Cruel Brother,' by which she bequeaths good things to her friends, but ill things to the author of her death, is highly characteristic of ballad poetry. It will be found again in 'Lord Ronald,' 'Edward,' and their analogues. Still other ballads with this kind of testament are: 'Frillens Hævn,' Grundtvig, No 208 #C#, 16-18, IV, 207; a young man, stabbed by his leman, whom he was about to give up in order to marry, leaves his lands to his father, his bride-bed to his sister, his gilded couch to his mother, and his knife to his leman, wishing it in her body. 'Møen paa Baalet,' Grundtvig, No 109 #A#, 1821, II, 587; Ole, falsely accused by her brother, and condemned to be burned, gives her mother her silken sark, her sister her shoes, her father her horse, and her brother her knife, with the same wish. 'Kong Valdemar og hans Søster,' Grundtvig, No 126, III, 97, has a testament in #A-E# and #I#; in #I#, 14-19 (III, 912), Liden Kirsten bequeaths her knife, with the same imprecation, to the queen, who, in the other copies, is her unrelenting foe: so Lillelin to Herr Adelbrand, Danske Viser, III, 386, No 162, 16-18, Kristensen, I, 262, No 100, #A# 20-23, having been dragged at a horse's heels in resentment of a taunt. 'Hustru og Mands Moder,' Grundtvig, No. 84, II, 404, has a testament in #A#, #B#, #D#, #H#, and in the last three a bequest of shoes or sark to a cruel mother-in-law or foster-mother, with the wish that she may have no peace or much pain in the wearing. 'Catarina de Lió,' Briz y Candi, Cansons de la Terra, I, 209, has been beaten by her mother-in-law while in a delicate state. When she is at the point of death, the mother-in-law asks what doctor she will have and what will she will make. "My will," says Catherine, "will not please you much. Send back my velvet dress to my father's; my gala dress give my sister; give my working dress to the maid, my jewels to the Virgin." "And what will you leave to me?" "What I leave you will not please you much: my husband to be hanged, my mother-in-law to be quartered, and my sister-in-law to be burned." 'Le Testament de Marion,' another version of this story from the south of France, Uchaud, Gard, Poésies pop. de la France, MS., IV, fol. 283, bequeaths "my laces to my sister Marioun, my prettiest gowns to my sister Jeanneton; to my rascal of a husband three fine cords, and, if that is not enough (to hang him), the hem of his shirt." The Portuguese ballad of 'Dona Helena' rather implies than expresses the imprecation: Braga, C.P. do Archipelago Açoriano, p. 225, No 15, p. 227, No 16; Almeida-Garrett, III, 56; Hartung, I, 233-43, No 18. Helena leaves her husband's house when near childbirth, out of fear of his mother. Her husband, who does not know her reason, goes after her, and compels her to return on horseback, though she has just borne a son. The consequences are what might be expected, and Helena desires to make her shrift and her will. She leaves one thing to her oldest sister, another to her youngest. "And your boy?" "To your bitch of a mother, cause of my woes." "Rather to yours," says the husband, "for I shall have to kill mine" (so Braga; Garrett differs somewhat). 'Die Frau zur Weissenburg' (#A#), Uhland, p. 287, No 123 #B#, Scherer's Jungbrunnen, p. 94, No 29; 'Das Lied von der Löwenburg' (#B#), Simrock, p. 65, No 27; 'Hans Steutlinger' (#C#), Wunderhorn, II, 168 (1857), all one story, have a bitterly sarcastic testament. A lady instigates her paramour to kill her husband. The betrayed man is asked to whom he will leave his children [commit, #A#, bequeath, #B#, #C#]. "To God Almighty, for he knows who they are." "Your property?" "To the poor, for the rich have enough." "Your wife?" "To young Count Frederic, whom she always liked more than me (#A#)." "Your castle?" "To the flames."

In some cases there is no trace of animosity towards the person who has caused the testator's death; as in 'El testamento de Amelia' (who has been poisoned by her mother), Milá, Observaciones, p. 103, No 5, Briz y Saltó, Cansons de la Terra, II, 197 (two copies); 'Herren Båld,' Afzelius, I, 76, No 16 (new ed. I, 59, No 15); a Swedish form of 'Frillens Hævn,' Grundtvig, IV, 203; 'Renée le Glaz' and 'Ervoanik Le Lintier,' Luzel, C.P. de la Basse Bretagne, I, 405, 539, 553. There are also simple testaments where there is no occasion for an ill remembrance, as in 'Ribold og Guldborg,' Grundtvig, No 82, #I#, #K#, #L#, #U#, #X#, #Æ#, Kristensen, II, No 84 B; 'Pontplancoat;' Luzel, I, 383, 391. And, again, there are parodies of these wills. Thus the fox makes his will: Grundtvig, Gamle danske Minder, 1854, 'Mikkels Arvegods,' p. 24, and p. 25 a copy from a manuscript three hundred years old; Kristensen, Jyske Folkeviser, II, 324, No 90; 'Reven og Bjönnen,' 'Reven og Nils fiskar,' Landstad, Nos 85, 86, p. 637, 639: and the robin, 'Robin's Tesment,' Buchan, I, 273, Herd's MSS, I, 154, and Scottish Songs (1776), II, 166, Chambers' Popular Rhymes, p. 38, "new edition."

* * * * *

Translated in Grundtvig's Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, No 33, p. 212, #F#, with use of #A# and #G b#; Aytoun's copy, with omissions, by Rosa Warrens, Schottische Volkslieder der Vorzeit, No 17, p. 80; after Allingham and others, by Knortz, Lieder und Romanzen Alt-Englands, No 5, p. 16.

A

#a.# Alex. Fraser Tytler's Brown MS. #b.# Jamieson's
Popular Ballads, I, 66, purporting to be from the
recitation of Mrs Arrot of Aberbrothick.

1
There was three ladies playd at the ba,
With a hey ho and a lillie gay
There came a knight and played oer them a'.
As the primrose spreads so sweetly

2
The eldest was baith tall and fair,
But the youngest was beyond compare.

3
The midmost had a graceful mien,
But the youngest lookd like beautie's queen.

4
The knight bowd low to a' the three,
But to the youngest he bent his knee.

5
The ladie turned her head aside,
The knight he woo'd her to be his bride.

6
The ladie blushd a rosy red,
And sayd, 'Sir knight, I'm too young to wed.'

7
'O ladie fair, give me your hand,
And I'll make you ladie of a' my land.'

8
'Sir knight, ere ye my favor win,
You maun get consent frae a' my kin.'

9
He's got consent frae her parents dear,
And likewise frae her sisters fair.

10
He's got consent frae her kin each one,
But forgot to spiek to her brother John.

11
Now, when the wedding day was come,
The knight would take his bonny bride home.

12
And many a lord and many a knight
Came to behold that ladie bright.

13
And there was nae man that did her see,
But wishd himself bridegroom to be.

14
Her father dear led her down the stair,
And her sisters twain they kissd her there.

15
Her mother dear led her thro the closs,
And her brother John set her on her horse.

16
She leand her oer the saddle-bow,
To give him a kiss ere she did go.

17
He has taen a knife, baith lang and sharp,
And stabbd that bonny bride to the heart.

18
She hadno ridden half thro the town,
Until her heart's blude staind her gown.

19
'Ride softly on,' says the best young man,
'For I think our bonny bride looks pale and wan.'

20
'O lead me gently up yon hill,
And I'll there sit down, and make my will.'

21
'O what will you leave to your father dear?'
'The silver-shod steed that brought me here.'

22
'What will you leave to your mother dear?'
'My velvet pall and my silken gear.'

23
'What will you leave to your sister Anne?'
'My silken scarf and my gowden fan.'

24
'What will you leave to your sister Grace?'
'My bloody cloaths to wash and dress.'

25
'What will you leave to your brother John?'
'The gallows-tree to hang him on.'

26
'What will you leave to your brother John's wife?'
'The wilderness to end her life.'

27
This ladie fair in her grave was laid,
And many a mass was oer her said.

28
But it would have made your heart right sair,
To see the bridegroom rive his haire.

B

Kinloch's MSS, I, 21, from Mary Barr, May, 1827,
Clydesdale.

1
A gentleman cam oure the sea,
Fine flowers in the valley
And he has courted ladies three.
With the light green and the yellow

2
One o them was clad in red:
He asked if she wad be his bride.

3
One o them was clad in green:
He asked if she wad be his queen.

4
The last o them was clad in white:
He asked if she wad be his heart's delight.

5
'Ye may ga ask my father, the king:
Sae maun ye ask my mither, the queen.

6
'Sae maun ye ask my sister Anne:
And dinna forget my brither John.'

7
He has asked her father, the king:
And sae did he her mither, the queen.

8
And he has asked her sister Anne:
But he has forgot her brother John.

9
Her father led her through the ha,
Her mither danced afore them a'.

10
Her sister Anne led her through the closs,
Her brither John set her on her horse.

11
It's then he drew a little penknife,
And he reft the fair maid o her life.

12
'Ride up, ride up,' said the foremost man;
'I think our bride comes hooly on.'

13
'Ride up, ride up,' said the second man;
'I think our bride looks pale and wan.'

14
Up than cam the gay bridegroom,
And straucht unto the bride he cam.

15
'Does your side-saddle sit awry?
Or does your steed ...

16
'Or does the rain run in your glove?
Or wad ye chuse anither love?'

17
'The rain runs not in my glove,
Nor will I e'er chuse anither love.

18
'But O an I war at Saint Evron's well,
There I wad licht, and drink my fill!

19
'Oh an I war at Saint Evron's closs,
There I wad licht, and bait my horse!'

20
Whan she cam to Saint Evron's well,
She dought na licht to drink her fill.

21
Whan she cam to Saint Evron's closs,
The bonny bride fell aff her horse.

22
'What will ye leave to your father, the king?'
'The milk-white steed that I ride on.'

23
'What will ye leave to your mother, the queen?'
'The bluidy robes that I have on.'

24
'What will ye leave to your sister Anne?'
'My gude lord, to be wedded on.'

25
'What will ye leave to your brither John?'
'The gallows pin to hang him on.'

26
'What will ye leave to your brither's wife?'
'Grief and sorrow a' the days o her life.'

27
'What will ye leave to your brither's bairns?'
'The meal-pock to hang oure the arms.'

28
Now does she neither sigh nor groan:
She lies aneath yon marble stone.

C

Harris MS., p. 11 b, No 7.

1
There waur three ladies in a ha,
Hech hey an the lily gey
By cam a knicht, an he wooed them a'.
An the rose is aye the redder aye

2
The first ane she was cled in green;
'Will you fancy me, an be my queen?'

3
'You may seek me frae my father dear,
An frae my mither, wha did me bear.

4
'You may seek me frae my sister Anne,
But no, no, no frae my brither John.'

5
The niest ane she was cled in yellow;
'Will you fancy me, an be my marrow?'

6
'Ye may seek me frae my father dear,
An frae my mither, wha did me bear.

7
'Ye may seek me frae my sister Anne,
But no, no, no frae my brither John.'

8
The niest ane she was cled in red:
'Will ye fancy me, an be my bride?'

9
'Ye may seek me frae my father dear,
An frae my mither wha did me bear.

10
'Ye may seek me frae my sister Anne,
An dinna forget my brither John.'

11
He socht her frae her father, the king,
An he socht her frae her mither, the queen.

12
He socht her frae her sister Anne,
But he forgot her brither John.

13
Her mither she put on her goun,
An her sister Anne preened the ribbons doun.

14
Her father led her doon the close,
An her brither John set her on her horse.

* * * * * * *

15
Up an spak our foremost man:
'I think our bonnie bride's pale an wan.'

* * * * * * *

16
'What will ye leave to your father dear?'
'My ... an my ... chair.'

17
'What will ye leave to your mither dear?'
'My silken screen I was wont to wear.'

18
'What will ye leave to your sister Anne?'
'My silken snood an my golden fan.'

19
'What will you leave to your brither John?'
'The gallows tree to hang him on.'

D

Notes and Queries, 1st S., VI, 53, 2d S., V, 171. As sung
by a lady who was a native of County Kerry, Ireland.

1
There were three ladies playing at ball,
Farin-dan-dan and farin-dan-dee
There came a white knight, and he wooed them all.
With adieu, sweet honey, wherever you be

2
He courted the eldest with golden rings,
And the others with many fine things.
And adieu, etc.

E

Notes and Queries, 4th S., V, 105. From Forfarshire, W.F.

There were three sisters playin at the ba,
Wi a hech hey an a lillie gay
There cam a knicht an lookt ower the wa'.
An the primrose springs sae sweetly.
Sing Annet, an Marret, an fair Maisrie,
An the dew hangs i the wood, gay ladie.

F

Gilbert's Ancient Christmas Carols, 2d ed., p. 68, as
remembered by the editor. West of England.

1
There did three knights come from the west,
With the high and the lily oh
And these three knights courted one lady.
As the rose was so sweetly blown

2
The first knight came was all in white,
And asked of her, if she'd be his delight.

3
The next knight came was all in green,
And asked of her, if she'd be his queen.

4
The third knight came was all in red,
And asked of her, if she would wed.

5
'Then have you asked of my father dear,
Likewise of her who did me bear?

6
'And have you asked of my brother John?
And also of my sister Anne?'

7
'Yes, I have asked of your father dear,
Likewise of her who did you bear.

8
'And I have asked of your sister Anne,
But I've not asked of your brother John.'

9
Far on the road as they rode along,
There did they meet with her brother John.

10
She stooped low to kiss him sweet,
He to her heart did a dagger meet.

11
'Ride on, ride on,' cried the serving man,
'Methinks your bride she looks wondrous wan.'

12
'I wish I were on yonder stile,
For there I would sit and bleed awhile.

13
'I wish I were on yonder hill,
There I'd alight and make my will.'

14
'What would you give to your father dear?'
'The gallant steed which doth me bear.'

15
'What would you give to your mother dear?'
'My wedding shift which I do wear.

16
'But she must wash it very clean,
For my heart's blood sticks in evry seam.'

17
'What would you give to your sister Anne?'
'My gay gold ring and my feathered fan.'

18
'What would you give to your brother John?'
'A rope and gallows to hang him on.'

19
'What would you give to your brother John's wife?'
'A widow's weeds, and a quiet life.'

G

#a.# Herd's MSS, I, 41. #b.# Herd's Scottish Songs, 1776,
I, 88.

1
There was three ladys in a ha,
Fine flowers i the valley
There came three lords amang them a',
Wi the red, green, and the yellow

2
The first of them was clad in red:
'O lady fair, will you be my bride?'

3
The second of them was clad in green:
'O lady fair, will you be my queen?'

4
The third of them was clad in yellow:
'O lady fair, will you be my marrow?'

5
'You must ask my father dear,
Likewise the mother that did me bear.'

6
'You must ask my sister Ann,
And not forget my brother John,'

7
'I have askt thy father dear,
Likewise thy mother that did thee bear.

8
'I have askt thy sister Ann,
But I forgot thy brother John.'

9
Her father led her through the ha,
Her mother dancd before them a'.

10
Her sister Ann led her through the closs,
Her brother John put her on her horse.

11
'You are high and I am low;
Let me have a kiss before you go.'

12
She was louting down to kiss him sweet,
Wi his penknife he wounded her deep.

* * * * * * *

13
'O lead me over into yon stile,
That I may stop and breath a while.

14
'O lead me over to yon stair,
For there I'll ly and bleed ne mair.'

15
'O what will you leave your father dear?'
'That milk-white steed that brought me here.'

16
'O what will you leave your mother dear?'
'The silken gown that I did wear.'

17
'What will you leave your sister Ann?'
'My silken snood and golden fan.'

18
'What will you leave your brother John?'
'The highest gallows to hang him on.'

19
'What will you leave your brother John's wife?'
'Grief and sorrow to end her life.'

20
'What will ye leave your brother John's bairns?'
'The world wide for them to range.'

H

Herd's MSS, I, 44, II, 75; Scottish Songs, 1776, I, 90;
appended to #G#.

She louted down to gie a kiss,
With a hey and a lilly gay

He stuck his penknife in her hass.
And the rose it smells so sweetly

'Ride up, ride up,' cry'd the foremost man;
'I think our bride looks pale and wan.'

I

Kinloch's MSS, I, 27. From Mrs Bouchart, an old lady
native of Forfarshire.

1
There war three bonnie boys playing at the ba,
Hech hey and a lily gay
There cam three ladies to view them a'.
And the rose it smells sae sweetlie

2
The first ane was clad in red:
'O,' says he, 'ye maun be my bride.'

3
The next o them was clad in green:
'O,' says he, 'ye maun be my queen.'

4
The tither o them was clad in yellow:
'O,' says he, 'ye maun be my marrow.'

5
'Ye maun gang to my father's bouer,
To see gin your bride he'll let me be.'

6
Her father led her doun the stair,
Her mither at her back did bear.

7
Her sister Jess led her out the closs,
Her brother John set her on the horse.

8
She loutit doun to gie him a kiss;
He struck his penknife thro her breist.

9
'Ride on, ride on,' says the foremaist man;
'I think our bride looks pale and wan.'

10
'Ride on, ride on,' says the merry bridegroom;
'I think my bride's blude is rinnin doun.'

11
'O gin I war at yon bonnie hill,
I wad lie doun and bleed my fill!

12
'O gin I war at yon bonnie kirk-yard,
I wad mak my testament there!'

13
'What will ye leave to your father dear?'
'The milk-white steed that brocht me here.'

14
'What will ye leave to your mother dear?'
'The bluidy robes that I do wear.'

15
'What will ye leave to your sister Ann?'
'My silken snood and gowden fan.'

16
'What will ye leave to your sister Jess?'
'The bonnie lad that I loe best.'

17
'What will ye leave to your brother John?'
'The gallows pin to hang him on.'

18
'What will ye leave to your brother John's wife?'
'Sorrow and trouble a' her life.'

19
'What will ye leave to your brother's bairns?'
'The warld's wide, and let them beg.'

J

From Miss Margaret Reburn, as current in County Meath,
Ireland, about 1860.

1
There were three sisters playing ball,
With the high and the lily O
And there came three knights to court them all.
With the rosey sweet, heigh ho

2
The eldest of them was drest in green:
'I wish I had you to be my queen.'

3
The second of them was drest in red:
'I wish I had you to grace my bed.'

4
The youngest of them was drest in white:
'I wish I had you to be my wife.'

5
'Did ye ask my father brave?
Or did ye ask my mother fair?

6
'Or did ye ask my brother John?
For without his will I dare not move on.'

7
'I did ask your parents dear,
But I did not see your brother John.'

* * * * * * *

8
'Ride on, ride on,' said the first man,
'For I fear the bride comes slowly on.'

9
'Ride on, ride on,' said the next man,
'For lo! the bride she comes bleeding on.'

* * * * * * *

10
'What will you leave your mother dear?'
'My heart's best love for ever and aye.'

11
'What will ye leave your sister Anne?'
'This wedding garment that I have on.'

12
'What will ye leave your brother John's wife?'
'Grief and sorrow all the days of her life.'

13
'What will ye leave your brother John?'
'The highest gallows to hang him on.'

14
'What will ye leave your brother John's son?'
'The grace of God to make him a man.'

K

Notes and Queries, 4th S., IV, 517, as "sung in Cheshire
amongst the people" in the last century. T. W.

1
There were three ladies playing at ball,
Gilliver, Gentle, and Rosemary
There came three knights and looked over the wall.
Sing O the red rose and the white lilly

2
The first young knight, he was clothed in red,
And he said, 'Gentle lady, with me will you wed?'

3
The second young knight, he was clothed in blue,
And he said, 'To my love I shall ever be true.'

4
The third young knight, he was clothed in green,
And he said, 'Fairest maiden, will you be my queen?'

5
The lady thus spoke to the knight in red,
'With you, sir knight, I never can wed.'

6
The lady then spoke to the knight in blue,
And she said, 'Little faith I can have in you.'

7
The lady then spoke to the knight in green,
And she said, ''T is at court you must seek for a queen.'

8
The three young knights then rode away,
And the ladies they laughed, and went back to their play.
Singing, etc.

* * * * *

#A. b.#

6^2. oer young.

10^2. spear at.

17^2. the bonny.

19^1. said.

23^1. And what will ye.

25^1. This fair lady.

25^2. And a mass.

_Variations of Aytoun's copy, sts. 9-13, 16, 17, 20-24:
11^1 omits ~And~; 12^1, 13^1 omit ~dear~; 13^2 omits
~And~; 16^1, ~through half~ for ~half thro~; 17^2 omits
~For, bonny~; 21^2, ~pearlin~ for ~silken~; 22^1 omits
~And~; 22^2, ~My silken gown that stands its lane~; 23^2,
~shirt~ for ~cloaths~; 24^1, ~And what~; 24^2, ~The gates
o hell to let him in~._

#B.#

"I have seen a fragment of another copy in which [the
burden is]

The red rose and the lily
And the roses spring fu sweetly." _Kinloch_, p. 19.

#F.#

9^1. For on the road.

#G. a.#

1. _Burden^2. ~The red, green~, etc.: afterwards, ~Wi the
red~, etc._

2^2. _MS. also_, He askt of me if I'd be his bride.

3^2. _MS. also_, He askt of me if I'd be his queen.

4^2. _MS. also_, He askt me if I'd be his marrow.

15^2. _MS. also_, The gold and silver that I have here.

16^2. _MS. also_, The silken garment.

17^2. _MS. also_, My satine hat.

20^2, _MS. also_, The world wide, let them go beg.

#b.#

7^2. the mother.

#b.#

14^1. into yon stair.

_Variations of Aytoun's copy, sts. 1-8, 14, 15, 18, 19
from Herd, 1776_: 1^1, three sisters; 2^2, 3^2, 4^2 _omit_
fair; 5^1, O ye maun; 6^1, And ye; 7^1, O I have; 8^1, And
I have ask'd your sister; 8^2, your brother; 14^2, Give me
a kiss; 15^2, When wi his knife.

#H.#

"I have heard this song, to a very good tune not in any
collection, with the above variations--the chorus, of the
whole as in the above two verses." _Herd's note in his
MSS._

[143] Aytoun, 1-8==Herd, 1776, 1-8: 9-13==Jamieson, 11-15: 14, 15==Herd, 11, 12: 16, 17==Jamieson, 18, 19: 18, 19==Herd, 13, 14: 20-24==Jamieson, 21-25.

12

LORD RANDAL

#A.# From a manuscript copy, probably of the beginning of
this century.

#B.# 'Lord Donald,' Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p.
110.

#C.# Motherwell's MS., p. 69.

#D.# Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 1803, III, 292.

#E.# Halliwell's Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales, p. 261.

#F.# 'Lord Ronald, my Son,' Johnson's Museum, No 327, p.
337.

#G.# Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 319.

#H.# From recitation, 1881.

#I.# 'Tiranti, my Son.' #a.# Communicated by a lady of
Boston, #b.# By an aunt of the same. #c.# By a lady of New
Bedford. #d.# By a lady of Cambridge. #e#, #f#, #g#. By
ladies of Boston.

#J.# 'The Bonnie Wee Croodlin Dow,' Motherwell's MS., p.
238.

#K. a.# 'The Croodlin Doo,' Chambers, Scottish Ballads, p.
324. #b.# 'The Wee Croodlen Doo,' Chambers, Popular
Rhymes, 1842, p. 53. #c.# Johnson's Museum, by Stenhouse
and Laing, IV, 364*.

#L.# 'Willie Doo,' Buchan's MSS, II, 322, and Ballads, II,
179.

#M.# 'The Croodin Doo,' Chambers, Popular Rhymes, 1870, p.
51.

#N.# Kinloch MSS, V, 347.

#O.# 'The Croodlin Doo.' From a manuscript belonging to
the Fraser-Tytler family.

The title 'Lord Randal' is selected for this ballad because that name occurs in one of the better versions, and because it has become familiar through Scott's Minstrelsy. Scott says that the hero was more generally termed Lord Ronald: but in the versions that have come down to us this is not so. None of these can be traced back further than a century. #F# and #D# were the earliest published. Jamieson remarks with respect to #G# (1814): "An English gentleman, who had never paid any attention to ballads, nor ever read a collection of such things, told me that when a child he learnt from a playmate of his own age, the daughter of a clergyman in Suffolk, the following imperfect ditty." #I#, a version current in eastern Massachusetts, may be carried as far back as any. #a#, #b# derive from Elizabeth Foster, whose parents, both natives of eastern Massachusetts, settled, after their marriage, in Maine, where she was born in 1789. Elizabeth Foster's mother is remembered to have sung the ballad, and I am informed that the daughter must have learned it not long after 1789, since she was removed in her childhood from Maine to Massachusetts, and continued there till her death. 'Tiranti' ['Taranti'] may not improbably be a corruption of Lord Randal.

The copy in Smith's Scottish Minstrel, III, 58, is Scott's altered. The first four stanzas are from the Border Minstrelsy, except the last line of the fourth, which is from Johnson's Museum. The last two stanzas are a poor modern invention.

Three stanzas which are found in #A#. Cunningham's Scottish Songs, I, 286 f, may be given for what they are worth. 'The house of Marr,' in the first, is not to be accepted on the simple ground of its appearance in his pages. The second is inserted in his beautified edition of Scott's ballad, and has its burden accordingly; but there is, besides this, no internal evidence against the second, and none against the third.

'O where have you been, Lord Ronald, my son?
O where have you been, my handsome young man?'
'At the house of Marr, mother, so make my bed soon,
For I'm wearied with hunting, and fain would lie down.'

'O where did she find them, Lord Randal, my son?
O where did she catch them, my handsome young man?'
'Neath the bush of brown bracken, so make my bed soon,
For I'm wae and I'm weary, and fain would lie down.'

'O what got your bloodhounds, Lord Ronald, my son?
O what got your bloodhounds, my handsome young man?'
'They lapt the broo, mother, so make my bed soon,
I am wearied with hunting, and fain would lie down.'

A pot-pourri or quodlibet, reprinted in Wolff's Egeria, p. 53, from a Veronese broadside of the date 1629, shows that this ballad was popular in #Italy# more than 250 years ago; for the last but one of the fragments which make up the medley happens to be the first three lines of 'L'Avvelenato,' very nearly as they are sung at the present day, and these are introduced by a summary of the story:

"Io vo' finire con questa _d'un amante
Tradito dall' amata._
Oh che l'è sì garbata
A cantarla in ischiera:
_'Dov' andastu iersera,
Figliuol mio ricco, savio e gentile?
Dov' andastu iersera'?_"[144]

The ballad was first recovered in 1865, by Dr G. B. Bolza, who took it down from the singing of very young girls at Loveno. Since then good copies have been found at Venice. #A#, 'L'Avvelenato,' Bolza, Canzoni popolari comasche, No 49, Sitzungsberichte of the Vienna Academy (philos. histor. class), LIII, 668, is of seventeen stanzas, of seven short lines, all of which repeat but two: the 8th and 10th stanzas are imperfect.[145] A mother inquires of her son where he has been. He has been at his mistress's, where he has eaten part of an eel; the rest was given to a dog, that died in the street. The mother declares that he has been poisoned. He bids her send for the doctor to see him, for the curate to shrive him, for the notary to make his will. He leaves his mother his palace, his brothers his carriage and horses, his sisters a dowry, his servants a free passage to mass ("la strada d'andà a messa" # nothing), a hundred and fifty masses for his soul; for his mistress the gallows to hang her. #B#, #C#, 'L'Avvelenato,' Bernoni, Nuovi Canti popolari veneziani, 1874, No 1, p. 5, p. 3, have twelve and eighteen four-line stanzas, the questions and answers in successive stanzas, and the last three lines of the first pair repeated respectively throughout.[146] #B#, which is given as a variant of #C#, agrees with #A# as to the agent in the young man's death. It is his mistress in #B#, but in #C# it is his mother. In both, as in #A#, he has eaten of an eel. The head he gave to the dogs, the tail to the cats (#C#). He leaves to his stewards (castaldi) his carriages and horses (#C#); to his herdsmen his cows and fields; to the maids his chamber furnishings; to his sister the bare privilege of going to mass (#C#, as in #A#); to his mother [wife, #C#] the keys of his treasure. "La forca per picarla" is in #B# as in #A# the bequest to his false love, instead of whom we have his mother in #C#.

The corresponding #German# ballad has been known to the English for two generations through Jamieson's translation. The several versions, all from oral tradition of this century, show the same resemblances and differences as the English.

#A#, #B#, 'Schlangenköchin,' eight stanzas of six lines, four of which are burden, #A#, Liederhort, p. 6, No 2^a, from the neighborhood of Wilsnack, Brandenburg, #B#, Peter, I, 187, No 6, from Weidenau, Austrian Silesia, run thus: Henry tells his mother that he has been at his sweetheart's (but not a-hunting); has had a speckled fish to eat, part of which was given to the dog [cat, #B#], which burst. Henry wishes his father and mother all blessings, and hell-pains to his love, #A# 6-8. His mother, #B# 8, asks where she shall make his bed: he replies, In the church-yard. #C#, 'Grossmutter Schlangenköchin,' first published in 1802, in Maria's (Clemens Brentano's) romance Godwi, II, 113, afterward in the Wunderhorn, I, 19 (ed. 1819, I, 20, ed. 1857), has fourteen two-line stanzas, or seven of four lines, one half burden. The copy in Zuccalmaglio, p. 217, No 104, "from Hesse and North Germany," is the same thing with another line of burden intercalated and two or three slight changes. Maria has been at her grandmother's, who gave her a fish to eat which she had caught in her kitchen garden; the dog ate the leavings, and his belly burst. The conclusion agrees with #B#, neither having the testament. #D#, 'Stiefmutter,' seven stanzas of four short lines, two being burden, Uhland, No 120, p. 272; excepting one slight variation, the same as Liederhort, p. 5, No 2, from the vicinity of Bückeburg, Lippe-Schaumburg. A child has been at her mother's sister's house, where she has had a well-peppered broth and a glass of red wine. The dogs [and cats] had some broth too, and died on the spot. The child wishes its father a seat in heaven, for its mother one in hell. #E#, 'Kind, wo bist du denn henne west?' Reiffenberg, p. 8, No 4, from Bökendorf, Westphalia, four stanzas of six lines, combining question and answer, two of the six burden. A child has been at its step-aunt's, and has had a bit of a fish caught in the nettles along the wall. The child gives all its goods to its brother, its clothes to its sister, but three devils to its [step-]mother. #F#, 'Das vergiftete kind,' seven four-line stanzas, two burden, Schuster, Siebenbürgisch-sächsische V. L., p. 62, No 58, from Mühlbach. A child tells its father that its heart is bursting; it has eaten of a fish, given it by its mother, which the father declares to be an adder. The child wishes its father a seat in heaven, its mother one in hell.

#A#, #B# are nearer to 'Lord Randal,' and have even the name Henry which we find in English #C#. #C-F# are like #J-O#, 'The Croodlin Doo.'

#Dutch.# 'Isabelle,' Snellaert, p. 73, No 67, seven four-line stanzas, the first and fourth lines repeated in each. Isabel has been sewing at her aunt's, and has eaten of a fish with yellow stripes that had been caught with tongs in the cellar. The broth, poured into the street, caused the dogs to burst. She wishes her aunt a red-hot furnace, herself a spade to bury her, her brother a wife like his mother.

#Swedish.# #A#, 'Den lillas Testamente,' ten five-line stanzas, three lines burden, Afzelius, III, 13, No 68; ed. Bergström, I, 291, No 55. A girl, interrogated by her step-mother, says she has been at her aunt's, and has eaten two wee striped fishes. The bones she gave the dog; the stanza which should describe the effect is wanting. She wishes heaven for her father and mother, a ship for her brother, a jewel-box and chests for her sister, and hell for her step-mother and her nurse. #B#, Arwidsson, II, 90, No 88, nine five-line stanzas, two lines burden. In the first stanza, evidently corrupt, the girl says she has been at her brother's. She has had eels cooked with pepper, and the bones, given to the dogs, made them burst. She gives her father good corn in his barns, her brother and sister a ship, etc., hell to her step-mother and nurse.

#Danish.# Communicated by Prof. Grundtvig, as obtained for the first time from tradition in 1877; five stanzas of five lines, three lines repeating. Elselille, in answer to her mother, says she has been in the meadow, where she got twelve small snakes. She wishes heavenly joy to her father, a grave to her brother, hell torment to her sister.

#Magyar.# 'Der vergiftete Knabe,' Aigner, Ungarische Volksdichtungen, 2^e Auflage, p. 127, in nine six-line stanzas, four being a burden. Johnnie, in answer to his mother, says he has been at his sister-in-law's, and has eaten a speckled toad, served on her handsomest plate, of which he is dying. He bequeaths to his father his best carriage, to his brothers his finest horses, to his sister his house furniture, to his sister-in-law everlasting damnation, to his mother pain and sorrow.

#Wendish.# 'Der vergiftete Knabe,' Haupt u. Schmaler, I, 110, No 77, twelve four-line stanzas, combining question and answer, the first and last line repeating. Henry has been at the neighbor's, has eaten part of a fish caught in the stable with a dung-fork; his dog ate the rest, and burst. There is no testament. His mother asks him where she shall make his bed; he replies, In the churchyard; turn my head westward, and cover me with green turf.

The numerous forms of this story show a general agreement, with but little difference except as to the persons who are the object and the agent of the crime. These are, according to the Italian tradition,--which is 250 years old, while no other goes back more than a hundred years, and far the larger part have been obtained in recent years,--a young man and his true-love; and in this account unite two of the three modern Italian versions, English #A-G#, German #A#, #B#. Scott suggests that the handsome young sportsman (whom we find in English #A#, #C#, #D#, #E#, #F#, #H#) may have been exchanged for a little child poisoned by a step-mother, to excite greater interest in the nursery. This seems very reasonable. What girl with a lover, singing the ballad, would not be tempted to put off the treacherous act on so popular, though most unjustly popular, an object of aversion? A mother, again, would scarcely allow "mother" to stand, as is the case in Italian #C# and German #F#, and a singer who considered that all blood relations should be treated as sacred would ascribe the wickedness to somebody beyond that pale, say a neighbor, as the Wendish ballad does, and Zuccalmaglio's reading of German #C#. The step-mother is expressly named only in English #J#, #K c#, #L#, #M#, #N#, #O#, and in four of these, #J#, #K c#, #M#, #O#, the child has a mammie,[147] which certainly proves an _alibi_ for the step-mother, and confirms what Scott says. There is a step-aunt in German #E# and Swedish #A#, and the aunt in German #D# and the Dutch ballad, and the grandmother in English #I#, #K a#, #b#, German #C#, are perhaps meant (as the brother in Swedish #B# certainly is) to be step-relations and accommodating instruments.

The poisoning is shifted to a wife in English #H#, to an uncle in English #I d#, and to a sister-in-law in the Magyar version.

There is all but universal consent that the poisoning was done by serving up snakes for fish. The Magyar says a toad, English #M# a four-footed fish,[148] German #D# a well-peppered broth and a glass of red wine. English #L# adds a drink of hemlock stocks to the speckled trout; #F#, #H# have simply poison. The fish are distinctively eels in the Italian versions, and in English #A#, #D#, #E#, #G#, #I#, Swedish #B#. English #A#, #J#, #K#, #M#, #N#, #O#, German #A-D#, the Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Wendish versions, and by implication English #C#, #D#, #E# also, concur in saying that a part of the fish was given to a dog [dogs, cat, cats], and that death was the consequence. Bursting or swelling is characteristic of this kind of poisoning: German #A#, #B#, #C#, #F#, English #D#, #E#, and the Dutch and Wendish versions.

The dying youth or child in many cases makes a nuncupative will, or declares his last wishes, upon a suggestion proceeding from the person who is by him, commonly from the mother: English #A#, #B#, #C#, #H#, #I#: German #A#, #D#, #E#, #F#: the Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Magyar versions. The bequest to the poisoner is the gallows in English #B#, #C#, #H#, #I#, Italian #A#, #B#, #C#; hell, English #A#, German #A#, #D#, #F#, Swedish #A#, #B#, Danish; and an equivalent in German #E#, the Dutch and the Magyar copy. 'The Cruel Brother,' No 11, and 'Edward,' No 13, have a will of this same fashion.

In all the English versions the burden has the entreaty "Make my bed," and this is addressed to the mother in all but #L#, #N#. In #H#, an Irish copy, and #I#, an American one, the mother asks where the bed shall be made; and the answer is, In the churchyard. This feature is found again in German #B#, #C# and in the Wendish version.

The resemblance in the form of the stanza in all the versions deserves a word of remark. For the most part, the narrative proceeds in sections of two short lines, or rather half lines, which are a question and an answer, the rest of the stanza being regularly repeated. English #L#, #N#, as written (#L# not always), separate the question and answer; this is done, too, in Italian #B#, #C#. German #E#, on the contrary, has two questions and the answers in each stanza, and is altogether peculiar. Swedish #B# varies the burden in part, imagining father, brother, sister, etc., to ask what the little girl will give to each, and adapting the reply accordingly, "Faderen min," "Broderen min."

A Bohemian and a Catalan ballad which have two of the three principal traits of the foregoing, the poisoning and the testament, do not exhibit, perhaps have lost, the third, the employment of snakes.

The story of the first is that a mother who dislikes the wife her son has chosen attempts to poison her at the wedding feast. She sets a glass of honey before the son, a glass of poison before the bride. They exchange cups. The poison is swift. The young man leaves four horses to his brother, eight cows to his sister, his fine house to his wife. "And what to me, my son?" asks the mother. A broad mill-stone and the deep Moldau is the bequest to her. Waldau, Böhmische Granaten, II, 109, cited by Reifferscheid, p. 137 f.

The Catalan ballad seems to have been softened at the end. Here again a mother hates her daughter-in-law. She comes to the sick woman, "com qui no 'n sabès res," and asks What is the matter? The daughter says, You have poisoned me. The mother exhorts her to confess and receive the sacrament, and then make her will. She gives her castles in France to the poor and the pilgrims [and the friars], and to her brother Don Carlos [who, in one version is her husband]. Two of the versions remember the Virgin. "And to me?" "To you, my husband [my cloak, rosary], that when you go to mass you may remember me." In one version the mother asks the dying woman where she will be buried. She says At Saint Mary's. Milà, Observaciones, p. 103 f, No 5, two versions: Briz y Saltó, II, 197 f, two also, the first nearly the same as Milà's first.

Poisoning by giving a snake as food, or by infusing the venom in drink, is an incident in several other popular ballads.

Donna Lombarda attempts, at the instigation of a lover, to rid herself of her husband by pounding a serpent, or its head, in a mortar, and mixing the juice with his wine [in one version simply killing the snake and putting it in a cask]: Nigra, Canzoni del Piemonti, in Rivista Contemporanea, XII, 32 ff, four versions; Marcoaldi, p. 177, No 20; Wolf, Volkslieder aus Venetien, p. 46, No 72; Righi, Canti popolari veronesi, p. 37, No 100*; Ferraro, C. p. monferrini, p. 1, No 1; Bernoni, C. p. veneziani, Puntata V, No 1. In three of Nigra's versions and in Ferraro's the drink is offered when the husband returns from hunting. The husband, rendered suspicious by the look of the wine, or warned of his danger, forces his wife to drink first. So in a northern ballad, a mother who attempts to destroy her sons [step-sons] with a brewage of this description is obliged to drink first, and bursts with the poison: 'Eiturbyrlunar kvæði,' Íslenzk Fornkv., II, 79, No 43 A; 'Fru Gundela,' Arwidsson, II, 92, No 89; 'Signelill aa hennes synir,' Bugge, p. 95, No XX, the last half.

In one of the commonest Slavic ballads, a girl, who finds her brother an obstacle to her desires, poisons him, at the instigation and under the instruction of the man she fancies, or of her own motion, by giving him a snake to eat, or the virus in drink. The object of her passion, on being informed of what she has done, casts her off, for fear of her doing the like to him. Bohemian: 'Sestra travička,' Erben, P. n. w Čechách, 1842, I, 9, No 2, Prostonárodni české P., 1864, p. 477, No 13; Swoboda, Sbírka č. n. P., p. 19; German translations by Swoboda, by Wenzig, W. s. Märchenschatz, p. 263, I. v. Düringsfeld, Böhmische Rosen, p. 176, etc. Moravian: Sušil, p. 167, No 168. Slovak, Čelakowsky, Slowanské n. P., III, 76. Polish: Kolberg, P. L. p., I, 115, No 8, some twenty versions; Wojcicki, P. L. białochrobatow, etc., I, 71, 73, 232, 289; Pauli, P. L. polskiego, p. 81, 82: Konopka, P. L. krakowskiego, p. 125. Servian: Vuk, I, 215, No 302, translated by Talvj, II, 192, and by Kapper, Gesänge der Serben, II, 177. Russian: Čelakowsky, as above, III, 108. Etc. The attempt is made, but unsuccessfully, in Sacharof, P. russkago N., IV, 7.

A version given by De Rada, Rapsodie d'un poema albanese, p. 78, canto x, resembles the Slavic, with a touch of the Italian. A man incites a girl to poison her brother by pounding the poison out of a serpent's head and tail and mixing it with wine.

In a widely spread Romaic ballad, a mother poisons the bride whom her son has just brought home,--an orphan girl in some versions, but in one a king's daughter wedding a king's son. The cooks who are preparing the feast are made to cook for the bride the heads of three snakes [nine snakes' heads, a three-headed snake, winged snakes and two-headed adders]. In two Epirote versions the poisoned girl bursts with the effects. "Τα κακα πεθερικα," Passow, p. 335, No 456, nearly==Zambelios, p. 753, No 41; Passow, p. 337, No 457; Tommaseo, Canti popolari, III, 135; Jeannaraki, p. 127, No 130[149]; Chasiotis (Epirote), p. 51, No 40, "Ἡ βουργαροπουλα και ἡ κακη πεθερα·" p. 103, No 22, "Ὁ Διονυς και ἡ κακη πεθερα." (Liebrecht, Volkskunde, p. 214.)

An Italian mother-in-law undertakes to poison her son's wife with a snake-potion. The wife, on her husband's return from the chase, innocently proposes to share the drink with him. Her husband no sooner has tasted than he falls dead. (Kaden, Italien's Wunderhorn, p. 85).

Scott cites in his preface to 'Lord Randal' a passage from a MS. chronicle of England, in which the death of King John is described as being brought about by administering to him the venom of a toad (cf. the Magyar ballad). The symptoms--swelling and rupture--are found in the Scandinavian and Epirote ballads referred to above, besides those previously noticed (p. 155). King John had asked a monk at the abbey of Swinshed how much a loaf on the table was worth. The monk answered a half-penny. The king said that if he could bring it about, such a loaf should be worth twenty pence ere half a year. The monk thought he would rather die than that this should come to pass. "And anon the monk went unto his abbot and was shrived of him, and told the abbot all that the king said, and prayed his abbot to assoil him, for he would give the king such a wassail that all England should be glad and joyful thereof. Then went the monk into a garden, and found a toad therein, and took her up, and put her in a cup, and filled it with good ale, and pricked her in every place, in the cup, till the venom came out in every place, and brought it before the king, and kneeled, and said: 'Sir, wassail: for never in your life drank ye of such a cup.' 'Begin, monk,' said the king: and the monk drank a great draught, and took the king the cup, and the king also drank a great draught, and set down the cup. The monk anon went to the firmary, and there died anon, on whose soul God have mercy, amen. And five monks sing for his soul especially, and shall while the abbey standeth. The king was anon full evil at ease, and commanded to remove the table, and asked after the monk; and men told him that he was dead, for his womb was broke in sunder. When the king heard this tiding, he commanded for to truss: but all it was for nought, for his belly began to swell from the drink that he drank, that he died within two days, the morrow after Saint Luke's day." Minstrelsy, III, 287 f. The same story in Eulogium Historiarum, ed. Haydon, III, 109 f.

* * * * *

#B# and #K c# are translated by Grundtvig, Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, p. 284, 286. #D#, by W. Grimm, 3 Altschottische Lieder, p. 3; by Schubart, p. 177; Arndt, p. 229; Doenniges, p. 79; Gerhardt, p. 83; Knortz, L. u. R. Alt-Englands, p. 174. #K a# by Fiedler, Geschichte der volksthümlichen schottischen Liederdichtung, II, 268. German #C# is translated by Jamieson, Illustrations, p. 320: Swedish #A# by W. and M. Howitt, Literature and Romance of Northern Europe, I, 265.

A

From a small manuscript volume lent me by Mr William
Macmath, of Edinburgh, containing four pieces written in
or about 1710, and this ballad in a later hand. Charles
Mackie, August, 1808, is scratched upon the binding.

1
'O where ha you been, Lord Randal, my son?
And where ha you been, my handsome young man?'
'I ha been at the greenwood; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi hunting, and fain wad lie down.'

2
'An wha met ye there, Lord Randal, my son?
An wha met you there, my handsome young man?'
'O I met wi my true-love; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, an fain wad lie down.'

3
'And what did she give you, Lord Randal, my son?
And what did she give you, my handsome young man?'
'Eels fried in a pan; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down.'

4
'And wha gat your leavins, Lord Randal, my son?
And wha gat your leavins, my handsom young man?'
'My hawks and my hounds; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi hunting, and fain wad lie down.'

5
'And what becam of them, Lord Randal, my son?
And what becam of them, my handsome young man?'
'They stretched their legs out an died; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm wearied wi huntin, and fain wad lie down.'

6
'O I fear you are poisoned, Lord Randal, my son!
I fear you are poisoned, my handsome young man!'
'O yes, I am poisoned; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.'

7
'What d' ye leave to your mother, Lord Randal, my son?
What d' ye leave to your mother, my handsome young man?'
'Four and twenty milk kye; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.'

8
'What d' ye leave to your sister, Lord Randal, my son?
What d' ye leave to your sister, my handsome young man?'
'My gold and my silver; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, an I fain wad lie down.'

9
'What d' ye leave to your brother, Lord Randal, my son?
What d' ye leave to your brother, my handsome young man?'
'My houses and my lands; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.'

10
'What d' ye leave to your true-love, Lord Randal, my son?
What d' ye leave to your true-love, my handsome young man?'
'I leave her hell and fire; mother, mak my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down.'

B

Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 110. From Mrs
Comie, Aberdeen.

1
'O whare hae ye been a' day, Lord Donald, my son?
O whare hae ye been a' day, my jollie young man?'
'I've been awa courtin; mither, mak my bed sune,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie doun.'