Chapter XVII: Part 17

24
The bridegroom thought he had the bonnie bride wed,
But Young Hyn Horn took the bride to bed.

C

#a.# Motherwell's Note-Book, p. 42: from Agnes Lyle. #b.#
Motherwell's MS., p. 413: from the singing of Agnes Lyle,
Kilbarchan, August 24, 1825.

1
Young Hyn Horn's to the king's court gone,
Hoch hey and an ney O
He's fallen in love with his little daughter Jean.
Let my love alone, I pray you

2
He's bocht to her a little gown,
With seven broad flowers spread it along.

3
She's given to him a gay gold ring.
The posie upon it was richt plain.

4
'When you see it losing its comely hue,
So will I my love to you.'

5
Then within a little wee,
Hyn Horn left land and went to sea.

6
When he lookt his ring upon,
He saw it growing pale and wan.

7
Then within a little [wee] again,
Hyn Horn left sea and came to the land.

8
As he was riding along the way,
There he met with a jovial beggar.

9
'What news, what news, old man?' he did say:
'This is the king's young dochter's wedding day.'

10
'If this be true you tell to me,
You must niffer clothes with me.

11
'You'll gie me your cloutit coat,
I'll gie you my fine velvet coat.

12
'You'll gie me your cloutit pock,
I'll gie you my purse; it'll be no joke.'

13
'Perhaps there['s] nothing in it, not one bawbee;'
'Yes, there's gold and silver both,' said he.

14
'You'll gie me your bags of bread,
And I'll gie you my milk-white steed.'

15
When they had niffered all, he said,
'You maun learn me how I'll beg.'

16
'When you come before the gate,
You'll ask for a drink for the highman's sake.'

17
When that he came before the gate,
He calld for a drink for the highman's sake.

18
The bride cam tripping down the stair,
To see whaten a bold beggar was there.

19
She gave him a drink with her own hand;
He loot the ring drop in the can.

20
'Got ye this by sea or land?
Or took ye't aff a dead man's hand?'

21
'I got na it by sea nor land,
But I got it aff your own hand.'

22
The bridegroom cam tripping down the stair,
But there was neither bride nor beggar there.

23
Her ain bridegroom had her first wed,
But Young Hyn Horn had her first to bed.

D

Cromek's Select Scotish Songs, II, 204.

1
Near Edinburgh was a young son born,
Hey lilelu an a how low lan
An his name it was called young Hyn Horn.
An it's hey down down deedle airo

2
Seven long years he served the king,
An it's a' for the sake of his daughter Jean.

3
The king an angry man was he;
He send young Hyn Horn to the sea.

* * * * * * *

4
An on his finger she put a ring.
. . . . . . .

* * * * * * *

5
'When your ring turns pale and wan,
Then I'm in love wi another man.'

* * * * * * *

6
Upon a day he lookd at his ring,
It was as pale as anything.

7
He's left the sea, an he's come to the lan,
An there he met an auld beggar man.

8
'What news, what news, my auld beggar man?
What news, what news, by sea or by lan?'

9
'Nae news, nae news,' the auld beggar said,
'But the king's dochter Jean is going to be wed.'

10
'Cast off, cast off thy auld beggar-weed,
An I'll gie thee my gude gray steed.'

* * * * * * *

11
When he cam to our guid king's yet,
He sought a glass o wine for young Hyn Horn's sake.

12
He drank out the wine, an he put in the ring,
An he bade them carry't to the king's dochter Jean.

* * * * * * *

13
'O gat ye't by sea, or gat ye't by lan?
Or gat ye't aff a dead man's han?'

14
'I gat na't by sea, I gat na't by lan,
But I gat it out of your own han.'

* * * * * * *

15
'Go take away my bridal gown,
For I'll follow him frae town to town.'

16
'Ye need na leave your bridal gown,
For I'll make ye ladie o' mony a town.'

E

Motherwell's MS., p. 91. From the recitation of Mrs
Wilson.

* * * * * * *

1
Hynd Horn he has lookt on his ring,
Hey ninny ninny, how ninny nanny
And it was baith black and blue,
And she is either dead or she's married.
And the barck and the broom blooms bonnie

2
Hynd Horn he has shuped to land,
And the first he met was an auld beggar man.

3
'What news, what news, my silly auld man?
For it is seven years syne I have seen land.

4
'What news, what news, my auld beggar man?
What news, what news, by sea or by land?'

5
'There is a king's dochter in the east,
And she has been marryed these nine nights past.

6
'Intil the bride's bed she winna gang
Till she hears tell of her Hynd Horn.'

7
'Cast aff, cast aff thy auld beggar weed,
And I will gie thee my gude gray steed.'

F

Lowran Castle, or the Wild Boar of Curridoo: with other
Tales. By Robert Trotter, Dumfries, 1822, p. 6. From the
recitation of a young friend.

1
In Newport town this knight was born,
Hey lily loo, hey loo lan
And they've called him Young Hynd Horn.
Fal lal la, fal the dal the dady

2
Seven long years he served the king,
For the love of his daughter Jean.

3
He courted her through a wimble bore,
The way never woman was courted before.

4
He gave her through a silver wand,
With three singing laverocks there upon.

5
She gave him back a gay gold ring,
With three bright diamonds glittering.

6
'When this ring grows pale and blue,
Fair Jeanie's love is lost to you.'

7
Young Hynd Horn is gone to sea,
And there seven long years staid he.

8
When he lookd his ring upon,
It grew pale and it grew wan.

9
Young Hynd Horn is come to land,
When he met an old beggar man.

10
'What news, what news doth thee betide?'
'No news, but Princess Jeanie's a bride.'

11
'Will ye give me your old brown cap?
And I'll give you my gold-laced hat.

12
'Will ye give me your begging weed?
And I'll give you my good grey steed.'

13
The beggar has got on to ride,
But Young Hynd Horn's bound for the bride.

* * * * * * *

G

Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 135. "From the
recitation of my niece, M. Kinnear, 23 Aug^t, 1826:" the
north of Scotland.

1
'Hynde Horn's bound love, and Hynde Horn's free,
Whare was ye born, or in what countrie?'

2
'In gude greenwud whare I was born,
And all my friends left me forlorn.

3
'I gave my love a silver wand;
That was to rule oure all Scotland.

4
'My love gave me a gay gowd ring;
That was to rule abune a' thing.'

5
'As lang as that ring keeps new in hue,
Ye may ken that your love loves you.

6
'But whan that ring turns pale and wan,
Ye may ken that your love loves anither man.'

7
He hoisted up his sails, and away sailed he,
Till that he cam to a foreign countrie.

8
He looked at his ring; it was turnd pale and wan;
He said, 'I wish I war at hame again.'

9
He hoisted up his sails, and hame sailed he,
Until that he came to his ain countrie.

10
The first ane that he met wi
Was wi a puir auld beggar man.

11
'What news, what news, my silly old man?
What news hae ye got to tell to me?'

12
'Na news, na news,' the puir man did say,
'But this is our queen's wedding day.'

13
'Ye'll lend me your begging weed,
And I'll gie you my riding steed.'

14
'My begging weed is na for thee,
Your riding steed is na for me.'

15
But he has changed wi the beggar man,
. . . . . . .

16
'Which is the gate that ye used to gae?
And what are the words ye beg wi?'

17
'Whan ye come to yon high hill,
Ye'll draw your bent bow nigh until.

18
'Whan ye come to yonder town,
Ye'll let your bent bow low fall down.

19
'Ye'll seek meat for St Peter, ask for St Paul,
And seek for the sake of Hynde Horn all.

20
'But tak ye frae nane of them a',
Till ye get frae the bonnie bride hersel O.'

21
Whan he cam to yon high hill,
He drew his bent bow nigh until.

22
And whan he cam to yonder town,
He lute his bent bow low fall down.

23
He saught meat for St Peter, he askd for St Paul,
And he sought for the sake of Hynde Horn all.

24
But he would tak frae nane o them a',
Till he got frae the bonnie bride hersel O.

25
The bride cam tripping doun the stair,
Wi the scales o red gowd on her hair.

26
Wi a glass of red wine in her hand,
To gie to the puir auld beggar man.

27
It's out he drank the glass o wine,
And into the glass he dropt the ring.

28
'Got ye't by sea, or got ye't by land,
Or got ye't aff a drownd man's hand?'

29
'I got na't by sea, I got na't by land,
Nor got I it aff a drownd man's hand.

30
'But I got it at my wooing,
And I'll gie it at your wedding.'

31
'I'll tak the scales o gowd frae my head,
I'll follow you, and beg my bread.

32
'I'll tak the scales of gowd frae my hair,
I'll follow you for evermair.'

33
She has tane the scales o gowd frae her head,
She has followed him to beg her bread.

34
She has tane the scales o gowd frae her hair,
And she has followed him for evermair.

35
But atween the kitchen and the ha,
There he lute his cloutie cloak fa.

36
And the red gowd shined oure him a',
And the bride frae the bridegroom was stown awa.

H

Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 268.

1
'Hynd Horn fair, and Hynd Horn free,
O where were you born, in what countrie?'

2
'In gude greenwood, there I was born,
And all my forbears me beforn.

3
'O seven years I served the king,
And as for wages, I never gat nane;

4
'But ae sight o his ae daughter,
And that was thro an augre bore.

5
'My love gae me a siller wand,
'Twas to rule ower a' Scotland.

6
'And she gae me a gay gowd ring,
The virtue o't was above a' thing.'

7
'As lang's this ring it keeps the hue,
Ye'll know I am a lover true:

8
'But when the ring turns pale and wan,
Ye'll know I love another man.'

9
He hoist up sails, and awa saild he,
And saild into a far countrie.

10
And when he lookd upon his ring,
He knew she loved another man.

11
He hoist up sails and home came he,
Home unto his ain countrie.

12
The first he met on his own land,
It chancd to be a beggar man.

13
'What news, what news, my gude auld man?
What news, what news, hae ye to me?'

14
'Nae news, nae news,' said the auld man,
'The morn's our queen's wedding day.'

15
'Will ye lend me your begging weed?
And I'll lend you my riding steed.'

16
'My begging weed will ill suit thee,
And your riding steed will ill suit me.'

17
But part be right, and part be wrang,
Frae the beggar man the cloak he wan.

18
'Auld man, come tell to me your leed;
What news ye gie when ye beg your bread.'

19
'As ye walk up unto the hill,
Your pike staff ye lend ye till.

20
'But whan ye come near by the yett,
Straight to them ye will upstep.

21
'Take nane frae Peter, nor frae Paul,
None frae high or low o them all.

22
'And frae them all ye will take nane,
Until it comes frae the bride's ain hand.'

23
He took nane frae Peter nor frae Paul,
Nane frae the high nor low o them all.

24
And frae them all he would take nane,
Until it came frae the bride's ain hand.

25
The bride came tripping down the stair,
The combs o red gowd in her hair.

26
A cup o red wine in her hand,
And that she gae to the beggar man.

27
Out o the cup he drank the wine,
And into the cup he dropt the ring.

28
'O got ye't by sea, or got ye't by land,
Or got ye't on a drownd man's hand?'

29
'I got it not by sea, nor got it by land,
Nor got I it on a drownd man's hand.

30
'But I got it at my wooing gay,
And I'll gie't you on your wedding day.'

31
'I'll take the red gowd frae my head,
And follow you, and beg my bread.

32
'I'll take the red gowd frae my hair,
And follow you for evermair.'

33
Atween the kitchen and the ha,
He loot his cloutie cloak down fa.

34
And wi red gowd shone ower them a',
And frae the bridegroom the bride he sta.

* * * * *

#A.#

1^2, 8^1, 14^2, 15^2, 16^2, 24^2. Hindhorn.

#B.#

_The burden is given in Motherwell, Appendix, p. xviii,
thus:_

With a hey lilloo and a how lo lan
And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie.

12^2, 13^2. Hyndhorn.

15^2, 16^2, 24^2. Hynhorn.

#C. a.#

5^2. to see.

5^2, 7^2. Hynhorn.

23^2. H. horn.

11^1. clouted.

11^1, 14^1. give.

14^2. white milk. #b.# milk-white.

16^2. hymen's. #b.# highman's.

22^1. can.

#b.#

5^2, 7^2, 23^2. Hynhorn.

7^1. little wee.

13^1. there's.

#D.#

1^2, 3^2, 11^2. Hynhorn.

#E.#

_The second line of the burden stands after st. 2 in MS._

2^1. _The MS reading may be ~sheeped~._

2^1, 6^2. Hyndhorn.

#G.#

_After ~my niece, M. Kinnear, etc.~, stands in pencil
~Christy Smith~._

15. _On the opposite page, over against this stanza, is
written_:

But part by richt, or part be wrang,
The auldman's duddie cloak he's on.

_#G# and #H# are printed by Kinloch and by Buchan in
four-line stanzas._

_The stanzas printed by Motherwell, which have not been
found in his manuscripts, are_:

10
Seven lang years he has been on the sea,
And Hynd Horn has looked how his ring may be.

21
The auld beggar man cast off his coat,
And he's taen up the scarlet cloak.

22
The auld beggar man threw down his staff,
And he has mounted the good gray steed.

29
She went to the gate where the auld man did stand,
And she gave him a drink out of her own hand.

[159] This I should have missed but for the kindness of Mr W. Macmath.

[160] Motherwell's printed copy, Minstrelsy, p. 36, is thus made up: stanzas 1, 2, 3, 8, 15, from Cromek (#D#); 4-7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19, 20, 24-28, 30-37, from #B#; 12, 17, 18 from #E#. 23 # #A# 14. 10, 21, 22, 29, have not been found in his manuscripts. The first line of the burden is from #B#, the second from #E#. Motherwell alters his texts slightly, now and then.

[161] #C# 16, 17 are corrupted, and also #F# 19, 23, #G# 21; all three in a way which allows of easy emendation. Hymon [high, man] in #C# should of course be Hyn Horn. The injunction in #G#, #H# should be to ask nothing for Peter or Paul's sake, but all for Horn's.

[162] When Horn was near the city, he stopped to see how things would go. King Modun passed, with Wikel, in gay discourse of the charms of Rimild. Horn called out to them insultingly, and Modun asked who he was. Horn said he had formerly served a man of consequence as his fisherman: he had thrown a net almost seven years ago, and had now come to give it a look. If it had taken any fish, he would love it no more; if it should still be as he left it, he would carry it away. Modun thinks him a fool. (3984-4057, and nearly the same in 'Horn Childe and Maiden Rimild,' 77-79). This is part of a story in the Gesta Romanorum, of a soldier who loved the emperor's daughter, and went to the holy land for seven years, after a mutual exchange of fidelity for that time. A king comes to woo the princess, but is put off for seven years, upon her alleging that she has made a vow of virginity for so long. At the expiration of this term, the king and the soldier meet as they are on the way to the princess. The king, from certain passages between them, thinks the soldier a fool. The soldier takes leave of the king under pretence of looking after a net which he had laid in a certain place seven years before, rides on ahead, and slips away with the princess. Gest. Rom., Oesterley, p. 597, No 193; Grässe, II, 159; Madden, p. 32; Swan, I, p. lxv. A similar story in Campbell's Tales of the West Highlands, I, 281, 'Baillie Lunnain.' (Simrock, Deutsche Märchen, No 47, is apparently a translation from the Gesta.) The riddle of the hawk, slightly varied, is met with in the romance of Blonde of Oxford and Jehan of Dammartin, v. 2811 ff, 3143 ff, 3288 ff (ed. Le Roux de Lincy, pp. 98, 109, 114), and, still further modified, in Le Romant de Jehan de Paris, ed. Montaiglon, pp. 55, 63, 111. (Le Roux de Lincy, Köhler, Mussafia, G. Paris). 'Horn et Rimenhild,' it will be observed, has both riddles, and that of the net is introduced under circumstances entirely like those in the Gesta Romanorum. The French romance is certainly independent of the English in this passage.

[163] See the excellent studies of King Horn by Wissmann, in Quellen und Forschungen, No 16, and Anglia, IV, 342 ff.

[164] #A#, #B#, and #E#, which had not been printed at the time of his writing, will convince Professor Stimming, whose valuable review in Englische Studien, I, 351 ff, supplements, and in the matter of _derivation_, I think, rectifies, Wissmann's Untersuchungen, that the king's daughter in the ballads was faithful to Horn, and that they were marrying her against her will, as in the romances. This contingency seems not to have been foreseen when the ring was given: but it must be admitted that it was better for the ring to change, to the temporary clouding of the lady's character, than to have Horn stay away and the forced marriage go on.

[165] See the ample introduction to 'Henrik af Brunsvig,' in Grundtvig, No 114, II, 608 ff.

[166] It appears that these half rings are often dug up. "Neuere Ausgrabungen haben vielfach auf solche Ringstücke geführt, die, als Zeichen unverbrüchlicher Treue, einst mit dem Geliebten gebrochen, ja wie der Augenschein beweist, entzwei geschnitten, und so ins Grab mitgenommen wurden, zum Zeichen dass die Liebe über den Tod hinaus daure." Rochholz, Schweizersagen aus dem Aargau, II, 116.

[167] Translated, with introduction of verses from #A#, by Prior, Ancient Danish Ballads, II, 71.

[168] I have not seen this, and depend upon others here.

[169] Gödeke, 'Reinfrît von Braunschweig,' p. 89, conjectures that the half ring was, or would have been, employed in the sequel by some impostor (the story may never have been finished) as evidence of Brunswick's death. A ring is so used in a Silesian tradition, of the general character of that of Henry the Lion, with the difference that the knight is awakened by a cock's crowing: 'Die Hahnkrähe bei Breslau,' in Kern's Schlesische Sagen-Chronik, p. 151. There is a variation of this last, without the deception by means of the ring, in Goedsche's Schlesischer Sagenschatz, p. 37, No 16.

[170] There are marked correspondences between Boccaccio's story and the veritable history of Henry the Lion as given by Bartsch, Herzog Ernst, cxxvi f: e. g., the presents of clothes by the empress (transferred to Torello's wife), and the handsome behavior of two soldens, here attributed to Saladin.

[171] Without the conclusion, also in Binder's Schwäbische Volkssagen, II, 173. These Volksmärchen, by the way, are "erzählt" by Gottschalk. It is not made quite so clear as could be wished, whether they are merely re-told.

[172] Germaine's husband, after an absence of seven years, overcomes his wife's doubts of his identity by exhibiting half of her ring, which _happened_ to break the day of their wedding, or the day after: Puymaigre, p. 11, Champfleury, Chansons des Provinces, p. 77. The conclusion to Sir Tristrem, which Scott supplied, "abridged from the French metrical romance, in the style of Tomas of Erceldoune," makes Ganhardin lay a ring in a cup which Brengwain hands Ysonde, who recognizes the ring as Tristrem's token. The cup was one of the presents made to King Mark by Tristrem's envoy, and is transferred to Ysonde by Scott. The passage has been cited as ancient and genuine.

[173] In the Greek rite, rings are used in the betrothal, which as a rule immediately precedes the marriage. The rings are exchanged by the priest and sponsors (Camarda says three times). Crowns, of vine twigs, etc., are the emblems in the nuptial ceremony, and these are also changed from one head to the other.

[174] I was guided to nearly all these Greek ballads by Professor Liebrecht's notes, Zur Volkskunde, p. 207.

[175] This high-mettled horse is a capital figure in most of the versions. In one of them the caution is given, "Do not feel safe in spurring him: he will scatter thy brains ten ells below the ground." The gray (otherwise the black) is of the same breed as the Russian Dobrynya's, a little way on; or the foal that took Charles the Great, under similar circumstances, from Passau to Aachen between morn and eve, ('Karl der Grosse,' from Enenkels Weltbuch, c. 1250, in von der Hagen's Gesammtabenteuer, II, 619 ff); or the black in the poem and tale of Thedel von Walmoden.

[176] In Jeannaraki the bey says, "My slave, give us a song, and I will free you." John sings of his love, whom he was to lose that day. So Zambelios, as above, Tommaseo, p. 152, and Νεο. Αναλ. No. 20. Compare Brunswick, in Wyssenhere, and Moringer.

[177] Otherwise: Nastasya waits _six_ years, as desired; is told that Dobrynya is dead and is urged to marry Alesha; will not hear of marriage for six years more; Vladimir then interposes. Dobrynya is furious, as these absentees are sometimes pleased to be. He complains that women have long hair and short wits, and so does Brunswick in Wyssenhere's poem, st. 89. Numerous as are the instances of these long absences, the woman is rarely, if ever, represented as in the least to blame. The behavior of the man, on the other hand, is in some cases trying. Thus, the Conde Dirlos tells his young wife to wait for him seven years, and if he does not come in eight to marry the ninth. He accomplishes the object of his expedition in three years, but stays fifteen, never writes,--he had taken an unnecessary oath not to do that before he started,--and forbids anybody else to write, on pain of death. Such is his humor; but he is very much provoked at being reported dead. Wolf and Hofmann, Primavera y Flor de Romances, II, 129, No 164.

[178] Kathá Sarit Ságara (of the early part of the 12th century), Tawney's translation, I, 136 ff. The story is cited by Rajna, in Romania, VI, 359. Herr v. Bodman leaves his marriage ring in a wash-bowl! Meier, Deutsche V. m. aus Schwaben, 214 f.

[179] The ring given Horn by Rymenbild, in 'King Horn,' 579 ff (Wissmann), and in the French romance, 2056 ff, protects him against material harm or mishap, or assures him superiority in fight, as long as he is faithful. So in Buchan's version of 'Bonny Bee-Ho'm,' st. 8:

'As lang's this ring's your body on,
Your blood shall neer be drawn.'

"The king's daughter of Linne" gives her champion two rings, one of which renders him invulnerable, and the other will staunch the blood of any of his men who may be wounded: Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. lvii. Eglamore's ring, Percy MS., II, 363, st. 51, will preserve his life on water or land. A ring given Wolfdietrich by the empress, #D# VIII, st. 42, ed. Jänicke, doubles his strength and makes him fire-proof in his fight with the dragon. The ring lent Ywaine by his lady will keep him from prison, sickness, loss of blood, or being made captive in battle, and give him superiority to all antagonists, so long as he is true in love: Ritson, Met. Rom. I, 65, vv 1533 ff. But an Indian ring which Reinfrît receives from his wife before he departs for the crusade, 15,066 ff, has no equal, after all; for, besides doing as much as the best of these, it imparts perpetual good spirits. It is interesting to know that this matchless jewel had once been the property of a Scottish king, and was given by him to his daughter when she was sent to Norway to be married: under convoy of Sir Patrick Spens?

18

SIR LIONEL.

#A.# 'Sir Lionell,' Percy MS., p. 32, Hales and Furnivall,
I, 75.

#B.# 'Isaac-a-Bell and Hugh the Græme,' Christie,
Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 110.

#C. a.# 'The Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove,' Allies, The
British, Roman and Saxon Antiquities and Folk-Lore of
Worcestershire, 2d ed., p. 116. #b.# Bell's Ancient Poems,
Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England, p. 124.

#D.# Allies, as above, p. 118.

#E. a.# 'The Old Man and his Three Sons,' Bell, as above,
p. 250. #b.# Mr Robert White's papers.

#F.# Allies, as above, p. 120.

#B# can be traced in Banffshire, according to Christie, for more than a hundred years, through the old woman that sang it, and her forbears. #C a#, #D# were originally published by Allies in the year 1845, in a pamphlet bearing the title The Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove, Horne the Hunter, and Robin Hood. No intimation as to the source of his copy, #C b#, is given by Bell, i. e., Dixon. Apparently all the variations from Allies, #C a#, are of the nature of editorial improvements. #E a# is said (1857) to be current in the north of England as a nursery song.

One half of #A#, the oldest and fullest copy of this ballad (the second and fourth quarters), is wanting in the Percy MS. What we can gather of the story is this. A knight finds a lady sitting in a tree, #A#, #C#, #D# [under a tree, #E#], who tells him that a wild boar has slain Sir Broning, #A# [killed her lord and thirty of his men, #C#; worried her lord and wounded thirty, #E#]. The knight kills the boar, #B-D#, and seems to have received bad wounds in the process, #A#, #B#; the boar belonged to a giant, #B#; or a wild woman, #C#, #D#. The knight is required to forfeit his hawks and leash, and the little finger of his right hand, #A# [his horse, his hound, and his lady, #C#]. He refuses to submit to such disgrace, though in no condition to resist, #A#; the giant allows him time to heal his wounds, forty days, #A#; thirty-three, #B#; and he is to leave his lady as security for his return, #A#. At the end of this time the knight comes back sound and well, #A#, #B#, and kills the giant as he had killed the boar, #B#. #C# and #D# say nothing of the knight having been wounded. The wild woman, to revenge her "pretty spotted pig," flies fiercely at him, and he cleaves her in two. The last quarter of the Percy copy would, no doubt, reveal what became of the lady who was sitting in the tree, as to which the traditional copies give no light.

Our ballad has much in common with the romance of 'Sir Eglamour of Artois,' Percy MS., Hales and Furnivall, II, 338; Thornton Romances, Camden Society, ed. Halliwell, p. 121; Ellis, Metrical Romances, from an early printed copy, Bohn's ed., p. 527. Eglamour, simple knight, loving Christabel, an earl's daughter, is required by the father, who does not wish him well, to do three deeds of arms, the second being to kill a boar in the kingdom of Sattin or Sydon, which had been known to slay forty armed knights in one day (Percy, st. 37). This Eglamour does, after a very severe fight. The boar belonged to a giant, who had kept him fifteen years to slay Christian men (Thornton, st. 42, Percy, 40). This giant had demanded the king of Sydon's daughter's hand, and comes to carry her off, by force, if necessary, the day following the boar-fight. Eglamour, who had been found by the king in the forest, in a state of exhaustion, after a contest which had lasted to the third or fourth day, and had been taken home by him and kindly cared for, is now ready for action again. He goes to the castle walls with a squire, who carries the boar's head on a spear. The giant, seeing the head, exclaims,

'Alas, art thou dead!
My trust was all in thee!
Now by the law that I lieve in,
My little speckled hoglin,
Dear bought shall thy death be.'

Percy, st. 44.

Eglamour kills the giant, and returns to Artois with both heads. The earl has another adventure ready for him, and hopes the third chance may quit all. Eglamour asks for twelve weeks to rest his weary body.

#B# comes nearest the romance, and possibly even the wood of Tore is a reminiscence of Artois. The colloquy with the giant in #B# is also, perhaps, suggested by one which had previously taken place between Eglamour and another giant, brother of this, after the knight had killed one of his harts (Percy, st. 25). #C# 11, #D# 9 strikingly resemble the passage of the romance cited above (Percy, 44, Thornton, 47).

The ballad has also taken up something from the romance of 'Eger and Grime,' Percy MS., Hales and Furnivall, I, 341; Laing, Early Metrical Tales, p. 1; 'Sir Eger, Sir Grahame, and Sir Gray-Steel,' Ellis's Specimens, p. 546. Sir Egrabell (Rackabello, Isaac-a-Bell), Lionel's father, recalls Sir Eger, and Hugh the Græme in #B# is of course the Grahame or Grime of the romance, the Hugh being derived from a later ballad. Gray-Steel, a man of proof, although not quite a giant, cuts off the little finger of Eger's right hand, as the giant proposes to do to Lionel in #A# 21.

The friar in #E# 1^3, 4^1, may be a corruption of Ryalas, or some like name, as the first line of the burden of #E#, 'Wind well, _Lion_, good hunter,' seems to be a perversion of 'Wind well _thy horn_, good hunter,' in #C#, #D#.[180] This part of the burden, especially as it occurs in #A#, is found, nearly, in a fragment of a song of the time of Henry VIII, given by Mr Chappell in his Popular Music of the Olden Time, I, 58, as copied from "MSS Reg., Append. 58."

'Blow thy horne, hunter,
Cum, blow thy horne on hye!
In yonder wode there lyeth a doo,
In fayth she woll not dye.
Cum, blow thy horne, hunter,
Cum, blow thy horne, joly hunter!'

A terrible swine is a somewhat favorite figure in romantic tales. A worthy peer of the boar of Sydon is killed by King Arthur in 'The Avowynge of King Arthur,' etc., Robson, Three Early English Metrical Romances (see st. xii). But both of these, and even the Erymanthian, must lower their bristles before the boar in 'Kilhwch and Olwen,' Mabinogion, Part iv, pp. 309-16. Compared with any of these, the "felon sow" presented by Ralph Rokeby to the friars of Richmond (Evans, Old Ballads, II, 270, ed. 1810, Scott, Appendix to Rokeby, note M) is a tame villatic pig: the old mettle is bred out.

Professor Grundtvig has communicated to me a curious Danish ballad of this class, 'Limgrises Vise,' from a manuscript of the latter part of the 16th century. A very intractable damsel, after rejecting a multitude of aspirants, at last marries, with the boast that her progeny shall be fairer than Christ in heaven. She has a litter of nine pups, a pig, and a boy. The pig grows to be a monster, and a scourge to the whole region.

He drank up the water from dike and from dam,
And ate up, besides, both goose, gris and lamb.

The beast is at last disposed of by baiting him with the nine congenerate dogs, who jump down his throat, rend liver and lights, and find their death there, too. This ballad smacks of the broadside, and is assigned to the 16th century. A fragment of a Swedish swine-ballad, in the popular tone, is given by Dybeck, Runa, 1845, p. 23; another, very similar, in Axelson's Vesterdalarne, p. 179, 'Koloregris,' and Professor Sophus Bugge has recovered some Norwegian verses. The Danish story of the monstrous birth of the pig has become localized: the Liimfiord is related to have been made by the grubbing of the Limgris: Thiele, Danmarks Folkesagn, II. 19, two forms.

There can hardly be anything but the name in common between the Lionel of this ballad and Lancelot's cousin-german.

A

Percy MS., p. 32, Hales and Furnivall, I, 75.

1
Sir Egrabell had sonnes three,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Sir Lyonell was one of these.
As I am a gentle hunter

2
S_ir_ Lyonell wold on hunting ryde,
Vntill the forrest him beside.

3
And as he rode thorrow the wood,
Where trees and harts and all were good,

4
And as he rode over the plaine,
There he saw a knight lay slaine.

5
And as he rode still on the plaine,
He saw a lady sitt in a graine.

6
'Say thou, lady, and tell thou me,
What blood shedd heere has bee.'

7
'Of this blood shedd we may all rew,
Both wife and childe and man alsoe.

8
'For it is not past 3 days right
Since S_ir_ Broninge was mad a k_nigh_t.

9
'Nor it is not more than 3 dayes agoe
Since the wild bore did him sloe.'

10
'Say thou, lady, and tell thou mee,
How long thou wilt sitt in _tha_t tree.'

11
She said, 'I will sitt in this tree
Till my friends doe feitch me.'

12
'Tell me, lady, and doe not misse,
Where that y_ou_r friends dwellings is.'

13
'Downe,' shee said, 'in yonder towne,
There dwells my freinds of great renowne.'

14
Says, 'Lady, Ile ryde into yonder towne
And see wether y_ou_r friends beene bowne.

15
'I my self wilbe the formost man
That shall come, lady, to feitch you home.'

16
But as he rode then by the way,
He thought it shame to goe away;

17
And vmbethought him of a wile,
How he might that wilde bore beguile.

18
'S_i_r Egrabell,' he said, 'my father was;
He neuer left lady in such a case;

19
'Noe more will I' ...
. . . . . . .

20
'And a[fter] that thou shalt doe mee
Thy hawkes and thy lease alsoe.

21
'Soe shalt thou doe at my com_m_and
The litle fingar on thy right hand.'

22
'Ere I wold leaue all this with thee,
Vpoon this ground I rather dyee.'

23
The gyant gaue S_i_r Lyon_el_l such a blow,
The fyer out of his eyen did throw.

24
He said then, 'if I were saffe and sound,
As with-in this hower I was in this ground,

25
'It shold be in the next towne told
How deare thy buffett it was sold;

26
'And it shold haue beene in the next towne _sai_d
How well thy buffett it were paid.'

27
'Take 40 daies into spite,
To heale thy wounds that beene soe wide.

28
'When 40 dayes beene at an end,
Heere meete thou me both safe and sound.

29
'And till thou come to me againe,
With me thoust leaue thy lady alone.

30
When 40 dayes was at an end,
Sir Lyon_el_l of his wounds was healed sound.

31
He tooke with him a litle page,
He gaue to him good yeomans wage.

32
And as he rode by one hawthorne,
Even there did hang his hunting horne.

33
He sett his bugle to his mouth,
And blew his bugle still full south.

34
He blew his bugle lowde and shrill;
The lady heard, and came him till.

35
Sayes, 'the gyant lyes vnder yond low,
And well he heares yo_u_r bugle blow.

36
'And bidds me of good cheere be,
This night heele supp with you and me.'

37
Hee sett that lady vppon a steede,
And a litle boy before her yeede.

38
And said, 'lady, if you see that I must dye,
As euer you loued me, from me flye.

39
'But, lady, if you see _tha_t I must liue,'
. . . . . . .

B

Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 110. From the
singing of an old woman in Buckie, Enzie, Banffshire.

1
A knicht had two sons o sma fame,
Hey nien nanny
Isaac-a-Bell and Hugh the Graeme.
And the norlan flowers spring bonny

2
And to the youngest he did say,
'What occupation will you hae?
When the, etc.

3
'Will you gae fee to pick a mill?
Or will you keep hogs on yon hill?'
While the, etc.

4
'I winna fee to pick a mill,
Nor will I keep hogs on yon hill.
While the, etc.

5
'But it is said, as I do hear,
That war will last for seven year,
And the, etc.

6
'With a giant and a boar
That range into the wood o Tore.
And the, etc.

7
'You'll horse and armour to me provide,
That through Tore wood I may safely ride.'
When the, etc.

8
The knicht did horse and armour provide,
That through Tore wood Graeme micht safely ride.
When the, etc.

9
Then he rode through the wood o Tore,
And up it started the grisly boar.
When the, etc.

10
The firsten bout that he did ride,
The boar he wounded in the left side.
When the, etc.

11
The nexten bout at the boar he gaed,
He from the boar took aff his head.
And the, etc.

12
As he rode back through the wood o Tore,
Up started the giant him before.
And the, etc.

13
'O cam you through the wood o Tore,
Or did you see my good wild boar?'
And the, etc.

14
'I cam now through the wood o Tore,
But woe be to your grisly boar.
And the, etc.

15
'The firsten bout that I did ride,
I wounded your wild boar in the side.
And the, etc.

16
'The nexten bout at him I gaed,
From your wild boar I took aff his head.'
And the, etc.

17
'Gin you have cut aff the head o my boar,
It's your head shall be taen therfore.
And the, etc.

18
'I'll gie you thirty days and three,
To heal your wounds, then come to me.'
While the, etc.

19
'It's after thirty days and three,
When my wounds heal, I'll come to thee.'
When the, etc.

20
So Graeme is back to the wood o Tore,
And he's killd the giant, as he killd the boar.
And the, etc.

C

#a.# Allies, The British, Roman, and Saxon Antiquities and
Folk-Lore of Worcestershire, 2d ed., p. 116. From the
recitation of Benjamin Brown, of Upper Wick, about 1845.
#b.# Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of
England, edited by Robert Bell, p. 124.

1
Sir Robert Bolton had three sons,
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
And one of them was called Sir Ryalas.
For he was a jovial hunter

2
He rang'd all round down by the woodside,
Till up in the top of a tree a gay lady he spy'd.
For he was, etc.

3
'O what dost thou mean, fair lady?' said he;
'O the wild boar has killed my lord and his men thirty.'
As thou beest, etc.

4
'O what shall I do this wild boar to see?'
'O thee blow a blast, and he'll come unto thee.'
As thou beest, etc.

5
[Then he put his horn unto his mouth],
Then he blowd a blast full north, east, west and south.
As he was, etc.

6
And the wild boar heard him full into his den;
Then he made the best of his speed unto him.
To Sir Ryalas, etc.

7
Then the wild boar, being so stout and so strong,
He thrashd down the trees as he came along.
To Sir Ryalas, etc.

8
'O what dost thou want of me?' the wild boar said he;
'O I think in my heart I can do enough for thee.'
For I am, etc.

9
Then they fought four hours in a long summer's day,
Till the wild boar fain would have gotten away.
From Sir Ryalas, etc.

10
Then Sir Ryalas drawd his broad sword with might,
And he fairly cut his head off quite.
For he was, etc.

11
Then out of the wood the wild woman flew:
'Oh thou hast killed my pretty spotted pig!
As thou beest, etc.

12
'There are three things I do demand of thee,
It's thy horn, and thy hound, and thy gay lady.'
As thou beest, etc.

13
'If these three things thou dost demand of me,
It's just as my sword and thy neck can agree.'
For I am, etc.

14
Then into his locks the wild woman flew,
Till she thought in her heart she had torn him through.
As he was, etc.

15
Then Sir Ryalas drawd his broad sword again,
And he fairly split her head in twain.
For he was, etc.

16
In Bromsgrove church they both do lie;
There the wild boar's head is picturd by
Sir Ryalas, etc.

D

Allies, Antiquities and Folk-Lore of Worcestershire, p.
118. From the recitation of ---- Oseman, Hartlebury.

1
As I went up one brook, one brook,
Well wind the horn, good hunter
I saw a fair maiden sit on a tree top.
As thou art the jovial hunter

2
I said, 'Fair maiden, what brings you here?'
'It is the wild boar that has drove me here.'
As thou art, etc.

3
'I wish I could that wild boar see;'
Well wind the horn, good hunter,
And the wild boar soon will come to thee.'
As thou art, etc.

4
Then he put his horn unto his mouth,
And he blowd both east, west, north and south.
As he was, etc.

5
The wild boar hearing it into his den,
[Then he made the best of his speed unto
him].

6
He whetted his tusks for to make them strong,
And he cut down the oak and the ash as he came along.
For to meet with, etc.

7
They fought five hours one long summer's day,
Till the wild boar he yelld, and he'd fain run away.
And away from, etc.

8
O then he cut his head clean off,
. . . . . . .

9
Then there came an old lady running out of the wood,
Saying, 'You have killed my pretty, my pretty spotted pig.'
As thou art, etc.

10
Then at him this old lady she did go,
And he clove her from the top of her head to her toe.
As he was, etc.

11
In Bromsgrove churchyard this old lady lies,
And the face of the boar's head there is drawn by,
That was killed by, etc.

E

#a.# Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of
England, edited by Robert Bell, p. 250. #b.# Mr Robert
White's papers.

1
There was an old man and sons he had three;
Wind well, Lion, good hunter
A friar he being one of the three,
With pleasure he ranged the north country.
For he was a jovial hunter

2
As he went to the woods some pastime to see,
He spied a fair lady under a tree,
Sighing and moaning mournfully.
He was, etc.

3
'What are you doing, my fair lady?'
'I'm frightened the wild boar he will kill me;
He has worried my lord and wounded thirty.'
As thou art, etc.

4
Then the friar he put his horn to his mouth,
And he blew a blast, east, west, north and south,
And the wild boar from his den he came forth.
Unto the, etc.

* * * * * * *

F

Allies, Antiquities of Worcestershire, p. 120.

1
Sir Rackabello had three sons,
Wind well your horn, brave hunter
Sir Ryalash was one of these.
And he was a jovial hunter

* * * * *

#A.#

3^1. _MS._ And as thé.

6^2. _MS._ had bee.

11^1. _MS._ I wilt.

12^1. _MS._ miste.

16^2. _MS._ awaw.

17^1. _MS._ vnbethought ... while.

19. _Between 19 and 20 half a page of the MS. is wanting._

20^1. a[fter]: _MS. blotted._

36^1. _MS._ bidds eue.

39. _Half a page of the MS. is wanting._

#B.#

_The stanzas are doubled in Christie, to suit the air._

#C#.

#a.# 3^1, 4^2, 7^2. #D.# 2^1, 3^2, 6. _John Cole, who had
heard an old man sing the ballad fifty years before
(Allies, p. 115), could recollect only so much:_

'Oh! lady, Oh! lady, what bringst thou here?'
Wind went his horn, as a hunter
'Thee blow another blast, and he'll soon come to thee.'
As thou art a jovial hunter

He whetted his tusks as he came along,
Wind went his horn, as a hunter

#a# 5, 6 _stand thus in Allies_:

V
Then he blowd a blast full north, east, west and south,
For he was, etc.
And the wild boar heard him full into his den,
As he was, etc.

VI
Then he made the best of his speed unto him.
_(Two lines wrongly supplied from another source.)_
To Sir Ryalas, etc.

_5 has been completed from the corresponding stanza in
#D#, and the two verses of 6, separated above, are put
together._

#b.#

1^1. Old Sir Robert.

1^2. was Sir Ryalas.

2^2. Till in a tree-top.

3^1. dost thee.

3^2. The wild boar's killed my lord and has thirty men
gored.

_Burden_^2. And thou beest.

4^1. for to see.

5^1. _As in Allies (see above), except ~full~ in his den._

5^2. then heard him full in his den.

6^1. _As in Allies (see above), but 6^2 supplied by Bell._

7^2. Thrashed down the trees as he ramped him along.

8^1. 'Oh, what dost thee want of me, wild boar.'

_Burden_^2. the jovial.

9^1. summer.

9^2. have got him.

10^2. cut the boar's head off quite.

11^2. Oh, my pretty spotted pig thou hast slew.

_Burden_^2. for thou beest.

12^1. I demand them of thee.

13^1. dost ask.

14^1. long locks.

14^2. to tear him through.

_Burden_^2. Though he was.

15^2. into twain.

16^1. the knight he doth lie.

16^2. And the wild boar's head is pictured thereby.

#D#.

5, 6. _In Allies thus:_

V
The wild boar hearing it into his den,
Well wind, etc.
He whetted his tusks, for to make them strong,
And he cut down the oak and the ash as he came along.
For to meet with, etc.

_Stanza 5 has been completed from stanza vi of Allies'
other ballad, and 6 duly separated from the first line of
5._

8^2, 9. _In Allies' copy thus_:

VII
Oh! then he cut his head clean off!
Well wind, etc.
Then there came an old lady running out of the wood
Saying, 'You have killed my pretty, my pretty spotted pig.'
As thou art, etc.

_What stanza 8 should be is easily seen from #C# 10._

#C# 16, #D# 11. _As imperfectly remembered by Allies (p.
114):_

In Bromsgrove church his corpse doth lie,
Why winded his horn the hunter?
Because there was a wild boar nigh,
And as he was a jovial hunter.

#E.#

#b.# "Fragment found on the fly-leaf of an old book." _Mr
R. White's papers._

1^2, one of these three.

1^3. wide countrie.

_Burden_^2. He was.

2^1. was in woods.

2^3. With a bloody river running near she.

3^1. He said, 'Fair lady what are you doing there?'

3^3. killed my lord.

4. _wanting._

[180] The friar might also be borrowed from 'The Felon Sow and the Friars of Richmond,' but this piece does not appear to have been extensively known.

19

KING ORFEO

The Leisure Hour, February 14, 1880, No 1468: Folk-Lore
from Unst, Shetland, by Mrs Saxby, p. 109.

Mr Edmondston, from whose memory this ballad was derived, notes that though stanzas are probably lost after the first which would give some account of the king in the east wooing the lady in the west, no such verses were sung to him. He had forgotten some stanzas after the fourth, of which the substance was that the lady was carried off by fairies; that the king went in quest of her, and one day saw a company passing along a hill-side, among whom he recognized his lost wife. The troop went to what seemed a great "ha-house," or castle, on the hillside. Stanzas after the eighth were also forgotten, the purport being that a messenger from behind the grey stane appeared and invited the king in.

We have here in traditional song the story of the justly admired mediæval romance of Orpheus, in which fairy-land supplants Tartarus, faithful love is rewarded, and Eurydice (Heurodis, Erodys, Eroudys) is retrieved. This tale has come down to us in three versions: #A#, in the Auchinleck MS., dating from the beginning of the fourteenth century, Advocates Library, Edinburgh, printed in Laing's Select Remains of the Ancient Popular Poetry of Scotland, 'Orfeo and Heurodis,' No 3; #B#, Ashmole MS., 61, Bodleian Library, of the first half of the fifteenth century, printed in Halliwell's Illustrations of Fairy Mythology, 'Kyng Orfew,' p. 37; #C#, Harleian MS., 3810, British Museum, printed by Ritson, Metrical Romancëes, II, 248, 'Sir Orpheo.' At the end of the Auchinleck copy we are told that harpers in Britain heard this marvel, and made a lay thereof, which they called, after the king, 'Lay Orfeo.' The other two copies also, but in verses which are a repetition of the introduction to 'Lay le Freine,' call this a Breton lay.

The story is this (#A#). Orfeo was a king [and so good a harper never none was, #B#]. One day in May his queen went out to a garden with two maidens, and fell asleep under an "ympe" tree. When she waked she shrieked, tore her clothes, and acted very wildly. Her maidens ran to the palace and called for help, for the queen would go mad. Knights and ladies went to the queen, took her away, and put her to bed; but still the excitement continued. The king, in great affliction, besought her to tell him what was the matter, and what he could do. Alas! she said, I have loved thee as my life, and thou me, but now we must part. As she slept knights had come to her and had bidden her come speak with their king. Upon her refusal, the king himself came, with a company of knights and damsels, all on snow-white steeds, and made her ride on a palfrey by his side, and, after he had shown her his palace, brought her back and said: Look thou be under this ympe tree tomorrow, to go with us; and if thou makest us any let, we will take thee by force, wherever thou be. The next day Orfeo took the queen to the tree under guard of a thousand knights, all resolved to die before they would give her up: but she was spirited away right from the midst of them, no one knew whither.