Chapter VII: Part 7

[50] What will those who are so troubled about cork-heeled shoon in 'Sir Patrick Spens' say to the fire-arms in #L#, #N#, #S#?

[51] A variety of #W#, cited in Schlesische Volkslieder, p. 26, has,

'Ach Ulbrich, Ulbrich, Halsemann, Halsemann,
Lass du mich nur drei Gale schrei'n!'

Grundtvig, assuming that the name is Ulbrich Halsemann, would account for the second and superfluous character here [found also in #W#] by a divarication of Ulrich Halsemann into Ulrich _and_ Halsemann (Hanslein). Ansar, "bisher unverständlicher Vorname des Ritters Uleraich" in #Y# (Meinert), would equally well yield Hanslein. Might not Halsemann possibly be an equivalent of Halsherr?

[52] And in 'Der Mutter Fluch,' Meinert, p. 246, a ballad with which #Y# agrees in the first two and last four stanzas.

[53] There is a dove in #Z#, but #Z#, as has been said, presents traits of all three classes.

[54]

'Da lyge, feyns Lybchen, unndt fawle,
Meyn jungk Herze muss trawren.'

Nicolai, vv 35, 36,

'Da liege, du Häuptchen, und faule,
Kein Reuter wird dir nachtrauern.'

Simrock, vv 35, 36,

are evidently derived from the apostrophe to the murderer's head in #I#, #W#, #Y#.

Stolz Syburg is the hero of a very different ballad, from the Münster region, Reifferscheid, No 16, p. 32 (also No 17, and Simrock, No 9, p. 23, 'Stolz Heinrich'). And from this the name, in consequence of a remote resemblance in the story, may have been taken up by the Rhine ballad, though it has contributed nothing more. Margaret, a king's daughter, is wiled away by a splendid description of Stolz Syburg's opulence. When they have gone a long way, he tells her that he has nothing but a barren heath. She stabs herself at his feet.

[55] 'Wassermans Braut,' Meinert, p. 77; 'Die unglückliche Braut,' Hoffmann u. Richter, Schlesische V. L., p. 6, No. 2; 'Königs Töchterlein,' Erk u. Irmer, vi, 6, No 4; 'Der Wassermann,' Erk's Liederhort, p. 50, No 17. ('Die Nixenbraut,' "Norddeutschland," Zuccalmaglio, p. 192, No 92, seems to be Meinert's copy written over.)

[56] The remarkable Norwegian ballad of the 'Wassermanns Brant' group, The Nix and Heiemo, Landstad, No 39, p. 350, has not been unaffected by the one we are now occupied with. There is even a verbal contact between stanza 19,

'Heiemo tenkte með sjave seg:
Tru mine smá _knivar_ 'ki hjelper meg?'

and Norwegian #F#, stanza 9, cited by Grundtvig, IV, 4,

Lengji stó Gullbjör, hó tenkte mæ seg:
'Kann inkje mí' _rúninne_ hjelpe meg?'

[57] Kolberg's #b#, #h#, #k#, #v#, #x#, #bb#, #cc#, #hh#, #kk#, #ll#, #nn#, #xx#, #yy#, #zz#, consist of only one or two initial stanzas, containing no important variation. His #aaa#, a fragment of six stanzas, Pauli, p. 147, No 6, Wojcicki, II, 169, though it begins like the rest, sounds like a different ballad.

The ballad in Wojcicki, I, 38, is allied with the one we are engaged with, and the two fragments on p. 36, p. 37 with both this and that.

[58] Anne in #R#, #LL#, and Kolberg's #h#: Mary in #I#, #U#, #II#: Ursula, #N#: both Catherine and Alice, #AA#. John is found in all but #N#, where there is a nameless seigneur.

[59] They are expressly said to go off in a carriage in #I#, #O#, #Q#, #T#, #BB#, #DD#, #FF#. Still, in #I#, John says, "Let the black horse have something to carry under us." In #O#, #T#, #FF#, the horses have a presentiment of evil to their mistress, and refuse to stir.

[60] One version of 'The Two Sisters,' #Q#, has the same answer:

'I did not put you in with the design
Just for to pull you out again.'

st. 9.

This might be called a formula in Polish ballads: something of the kind occurs three times in #X#, four times in #B#, five times in #P#; in other ballads also. In #Q# 25, Catherine clutches the river bank, and John pushes away her hands. Compare 'The Two Sisters,' #F# 9, further on in this volume.

[61] #L#, #L*#, #M#, #N#, as already said, confuse the two catastrophes. John says, in #N#, "Do you see that broad river? I will measure its depth by throwing you in." We may assume that he was as good as his word. But Ursula made her way home through woods and forests, weeping her eyes out on the way. Kind souls dug a grave for her. The conclusion of #M# is absurd, but need not be particularized. #G# has a passage of the sternest theology. While Catherine is struggling in the water, her father comes by. She cries to him to save her. He says, "My dear Catherine, you have loved pleasure too much. Lord Jesus grant you drown!" Her mother appears, and makes the same reply to her daughter's appeal. There are stall-copy terminal morals to many of the ballads.

[62] #N# 1, "A lord came riding from his estate to a neighbor."

[63] The place is high above the water in #R# 10, 11, as in English #D# 9, 29, #C# 4.

[64] #BB# 6, "My mother said that I had seen you; she will _watch me closely_," may be an accidental coincidence with Danish #A# 7-9, #B# 6-8, etc.

[65] The second, and more valuable, volume of Waldau's B. G. I have found it impossible to obtain. Reifferscheid cites the ballad at p. 166.

[66] A few silly verses follow in the original, in which Thomas treats what he had said as a jest. These are properly rejected by Talvj as a spurious appendage.

[67]

'De achte de soll Helena sin,
De achte de most he sölwer sin.'

German #A b# 13.

[68] Another version of this double ballad, but much corrupted in the second part, was known to Gérard de Nerval. See Les Filles du Feu, Œuvres complètes, V, 132.

[69] So far there is agreement in 'La Fille du Prince,' Paymaigre, No 32, p. 106; Poésies pop. de la France, MS., III, fol. 133.

[70] The Asturian romance communicated in two copies by Amador de los Rios to Jahrbuch für rom. u. eng. Literatur, III, 285, No 2, and the Portuguese 'Romance de Romeirinha,' Braga, Romanceiro, No 9, p. 24, 'A Romeira,' Almeida-Garrett, III, 11, are not parallels, though they have been cited as such.

[71] Magyar Népköltési Gyüjtemény. Uj Folyam, szerkesztik és kiadják Arany László és Gyulai Pál. Collection of Magyar Popular Poetry, New Series, Pest, 1872, 2 vols. Aigner, has blended Nos 4 and 3 (#C#, #A#) in 'Martin und Aennchen,' Ungarische Volksdichtungen, p. 170, and has translated No 1 (#E#), at p. 120, 'Molnár Anna,' in each case obscuring or omitting one or two traits which are important for a comparative view.

[72] Very little remains of the artifice in Polish #A#. The idea seems to be that the girl pretends to be curious about the sword in order to get it into her hands. But the whole story is told in ten stanzas.

[73] I accept and repeat Grundtvig's views as to the relation of the three forms of the story. And with regard to the history of the ballad generally, this is but one of many cases in which much or most of the work had been done to my hand in Danmarks gamle Folkeviser.

[74] Memering was required by his adversary to swear that he knew not of the sword Adelring, and took his oath that he knew of nothing but the hilt being above ground, which was accepted as satisfactory. Presently he pulls Adelring out of the ground, into which he had thrust the blade, and, being accused of perjury, triumphantly rejoins that he had sworn that he knew of nothing but the hilt _being above ground_. Dietrich does the same in his duel with Sigurd Swain.

[75] Magyar #A# is entirely peculiar. Apparently the man lays his head in the woman's lap that he may know, by the falling of her tears, when she has disobeyed his command not to look into the tree. This is like 'Bluebeard,' and rather subtle for a ballad.

[76] 'Child Waters,' 'The Fair Flower of Northumberland.'

[77] The murderer has a horn in Swedish #C#, #D#, as also in the Dutch Halewyn and the German #A#, #B#, #C#, #E#, and the horn may be of magical power, but it is not distinctly described as such.

[78] The scenery of the halting-place in the wood--the bloody streams in Danish #A#, #B#, #D#, #H#, #L#, #K#, the blood-girt spring in German #H#, #J#, #K#, #L#, #O#, #P#, #Q#--is also, to say the least, suggestive of something horribly uncanny. These are undoubtedly ancient features, though the spring, as the Danish editor observes, has no longer any significancy in the German ballads, because in all of them the previous victims are said to have been _hanged_.

[79] The saga in Björner's Nordiska Kämpadater, c. 5-7.

[80] Danish #E#, #I#, #L#, and even #A#, make the knight suggest to the lady that she should get her gold together while he is saddling his horse; but this is a commonplace found in other cases of elopement, and _by itself_ warrants no conclusion as to the knight's rapacity. See 'Samson,' Grundtvig, No 6, #C# 5; 'Ribold og Guldborg,' No 82, #C# 13, #E# 14, etc.; 'Redselille og Medelvold,' No 271, #A# 21, #B# 20; 272, Bilag 3, st. 8; 270, 18, etc.

[81] So perhaps a Polish ballad in Wojcicki, I, 38, akin to the other John and Katie ballads.

[82] It is well known that in the Middle Ages the blood of children or of virgins was reputed a specific for leprosy (see, e.g., Cassel in the Weimar Jahrbücher, I, 408.) Some have thought to find in this fact an explanation of the murders in these ballads and in the Bluebeard stories, and, according to Rochholz, this theory has been adopted into popular tradition in the Aargau. So far as this cycle of ballads is concerned, there is as much ground for holding that the blood was wanted to cure leprosy as for believing that the gold was wanted for _aurum potabile_.

[83] Det philologisk-historiske Samfunds Mindeskrift i Anledning af dets femogtyveaarige Virksomhed, 1854-79, Bidrag til den nordiske Balladedigtnings Historie, p. 75 ff.

[84] Bugge cites the Old German Judith, Müllenhoff u. Scherer, Denkmäler, 2d ed., No 37, p. 105, to show how the Bible story became modified under a popular treatment.

[85] Holefern might doubtless pass into Halewyn, but there is not the slightest need of Holefern to _account_ for Halewyn. Halewyn, besides being a well-known local and family appellation, is found in two other Dutch ballads, one of which (Lootens and Feys, p. 66, No 38; Hoffmann, p. 46, No 11) has no kind of connection with the present, and is no more likely to have derived the name from this than this from that. It shall not be denied that Adelger, Hilsinger, Rullemann, Reimvord might have sprung from or have been suggested by Holofern, under the influence of familiar terminations, but it may be remarked that Hildebrand, Ravengaard, Valdemar, Rosmer, if they had occurred in any version, would have occasioned no greater difficulty.

[86] The Old German poem makes Holofernes kindle with desire for Judith the moment he sees her, and he bids his men bring her to his tent. They lift her up and bring her in.

[87] It should be observed that these words are from the dove's warning.

[88] Simply because he had no other apartment at his disposition. Shall we add, the Polish mother putting her daughter into the "new room," in which she kept her valuables?

[89] Bugge holds that the ballad was derived by the Scandinavians from the Germans, more precisely by the Danes from a Low German form. This, he says, would follow from what he has maintained above, and he finds support for his view in many particular traits of Norse copies. Thus, one of the Norwegian names for the murderer is Alemarken. The first three syllables are very near to the Danish Oldemor; but -ken seems to be the German diminutive suffix, and can only be explained by the ballad having come from Germany.

[90] This toilet derives importance solely from the agreement with Judith x, 3: for the rest it is entirely in the ballad style. Compare the toilets in 'Hafsfrun,' Afzelius, No 92, III, 148, Arwidsson, No 150, II, 320, Wigström, Folkdiktning, No 2, p. 11, Landstad, No 55, p. 494: 'Guldsmedens Datter,' Grundtvig, No. 245, IV, 481 ff, Wigström, ib., No 18, p. 37, Landstad, No 43, p. 437: Torkilds Riim, Lyngbye, Færøiske Qvæder, 534, 535, Afzelius, III, 202: 'Stolts Karin,' Arwidsson, No 63, I, 388: 'Liti Kerstis hevn,' Landstad, No 67, p. 559 == 'Lord Thomas and Fair Annet': in many of which there is a gold crown. There is a man's toilet in Grundtvig, No 207, IV, 201.

[91] Bugge would naturally have seen the Assyrian scouts that Judith falls in with (x, 11) in Roland's father, mother, and brother, all of whom hail the maid as she is making for Roland's quarters (#C# 30-38); still more "Holofernes jacebat in lecto" (xiii, 4), in "Roland die op zijn bedde lag," #C# 39.

[92] Judith xiv, 1: "Suspendite caput hoc super muros nostros." The cutting off and bringing home of the head, as need hardly be said, is not of itself remarkable, being found everywhere from David to Beówulf, and from Beówulf to 'Sir Andrew Barton.'

[93] Dutch #B#, which, as before said, has been completely rewritten, makes the comparison with Holofernes:

34
'Ik heb van't leven hem beroofd,
in mynen schoot heb ik zyn hoofd,
hy is als Holofernes gelooft.'

37
Zy reed dan voort als Judith wys,
zoo regt nae haer vaders paleis,
daer zy wierd ingehaeld met eer en prys.

5

GIL BRENTON

#A. a.# 'Gil Brenton,' Jamieson Brown MS., fol. 34. #b.#
'Chil Brenton,' William Tytler Brown MS., No 3.

#B.# 'Cospatrick,' Scott's Minstrelsy, II, 117 (1802).

#C.# 'We were sisters, we were seven,' Cromek's Remains of
Nithsdale and Galloway Song, p. 207.

#D.# 'Lord Dingwall,' Buchan's Ballads of the North of
Scotland, I, 204.

#E.# Elizabeth Cochrane's song-book, No 112.

#F. a.# 'Lord Brangwill,' Motherwell's MSS, p. 219. #b.#
'Lord Bengwill,' Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p.
xvi.

#G.# 'Bothwell,' Herd's Ancient and Modern Scots Songs, p.
244.

#H.# Kinloch MSS, V, 335.

Eight copies of this ballad are extant, four of them hitherto unpublished. #A a#, No 16 in the Jamieson-Brown MS., is one of twenty ballads written down from the recitation of Mrs. Brown of Falkland, by her nephew, Robert Scott, in 1783, or shortly before. From these twenty thirteen were selected, and, having first been revised by Mrs. Brown, were sent, with two others, to William Tytler in the year just mentioned. William Tytler's MS. has disappeared, but a list of the ballads which it contained, with the first stanza of each, is given by Dr Anderson, in Nichols's Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century, VII, 176. #B# is the 'Cospatrick' of the Border Minstrelsy, described by Scott as taken down from the recitation of a lady (known to be Miss Christian Rutherford, his mother's sister) "with some stanzas transferred from Herd's copy, and some readings adopted from a copy in Mrs Brown's manuscript under the title of Child Brenton," that is, from #A b#. #C# purports to be one of a considerable number of pieces, "copied from the recital of a peasant-woman of Galloway, upwards of ninety years of age." Though overlaid with verses of Cunningham's making (of which forty or fifty may be excided in one mass) and though retouched almost everywhere, both the groundwork of the story and some genuine lines remain unimpaired. The omission of most of the passage referred to, and the restoration of the stanza form, will give us, perhaps, a thing of shreds and patches, but still a ballad as near to genuine as some in Percy's Reliques or even Scott's Minstrelsy. #D# and #F# are (the former presumably, the second certainly) from recitation of the first quarter of this century. #E# is one of the few ballads in Elizabeth Cochrane's song-book, and probably of the first half of the last century. #G#, the earliest printed form of the ballad, appeared in Herd's first collection, in the year 1769. #H# was taken down from recitation by the late Dr Hill Burton in his youth.

#A#, #B#, and #C# agree in these points: A bride, not being a maid, looks forward with alarm to her wedding night, and induces her bower-woman to take her place for the nonce. The imposture is detected by the bridegroom, through the agency of magical blankets, sheets, and pillows, #A#; or of blankets, bed, sheet, and sword, #B#; or simply of the Billie Blin, #C#. (The sword is probably an editorial insertion; and Jamieson, Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 343, doubts, but without sufficient reason, the Billie Blin.) The bridegroom has recourse to his mother, who demands an explanation of the bride, and elicits a confession that she had once upon a time encountered a young man in a wood, who subjected her to violence. Before they parted, he gave her certain tokens, which he enjoined her to be very careful of, a lock of his hair, a string of beads, a gold ring, and a knife. #B# omits the knife, and #C# the beads. The mother goes back to her son, and asks what he had done with the tokens she had charged him never to part with. He owns that he had presented them to a lady, one whom he would now give all his possessions to have for his wife. The lady of the greenwood is identified by the tokens.

#A#, #C#, and #D# make the mother set a golden chair for the bride, in which none but a maid can sit, #D# [no leal maid will sit till bidden, #C#]. In #D# the chair is declined; in #C#, taken without bidding; in #A# the significance of the chair has been lost. #E#, #F#, #G# employ no kind of test of maidenhood,--the bride frankly avows that she is with child to another man; and #D#, as well as #E#, #F#, #G#, omits the substitution of the chambermaid. The tokens in #D# are a chain, a ring, and three locks of hair; in #E#, gloves and a ring; in #F#, #G#, green gloves, a ring, and three locks [plaits] of hair. Only the ring remains in #H#.

"This ballad," says Motherwell (1827), "is very popular, and is known to reciters under a variety of names. I have heard it called Lord Bangwell, Bengwill, Dingwall, Brengwill, etc., and The Seven Sisters, or the Leaves of Lind." He adds: "There is an unedited ballad in Scotland, which is a nearer approximation to the Danish song, inasmuch as the substitution of the maiden sister for the real bride constitutes a prominent feature of the tale."[94] (Minstrelsy, Introduction, lxix^21 and xc.)

Scott remarks that Cospatrick[95] "was the designation of the Earl of Dunbar, in the days of Wallace and Bruce." Mr Macmath informs me that it is in use at the present day in the families of the Earl of Home and of Dunbar of Mochrum, Bart, who, among others, claim descent from the ancient earls of Dunbar and March. The story of the ballad might, of course, attach itself to any person prominent in the region where the ballad was known.

#Swedish.# Three Swedish versions of this ballad were given by Afzelius: #A#, 'Riddar Olle' in 50 two-line stanzas, II, 217; #B#, 19 two-line stanzas, II, 59; #C#, 19 two-line stanzas, II, 56: No 33, I, 175-182 of Bergström's edition. Besides these, there are two fragments in Cavallius and Stephens's unprinted collection: #D#, 6 stanzas; #E#, 7 stanzas, the latter printed in Grundtvig, V, 307.[96] All these were obtained from recitation in the present century. #A# comes nearest to our #A#, #B#. Like Scottish #B#, it seems to have been compounded from several copies. Sir Olof betrothed Ingalilla, and carried her home for the spousal, wearing a red gold crown and a wan cheek. Ingalilla gave birth to twin-boys. Olof had a maid who resembled Ingalilla completely, and who, upon Ingalilla's entreaty, consented to play the part of bride on the morrow. Dressed in Ingalilla's clothes, blue kirtle, green jacket, etc., and wearing five gold rings and a gold crown, the maid rode to church, with Ingalilla at her back, and her beauty was admired by all as she came and went. But outside of the church were a good many musicians; and one of these piped out, "God-a-mercy, Ingalilla, no maid art thou!" Ingalilla threw into the piper's hand something which made him change his tune. He was an old drunken fellow, and no one need mind what he sang. After five days of drinking, they took the bride to her chamber, not without force. Ingalilla bore the light before her, and helped put her to bed; then lay down herself. Olof had over him a fur rug, which could talk as well as he, and it called out,

'Hear me, Sir Olof, hear what I say;
Thou hast taken a strumpet, and missed a may.'

And Olof,

'Hear, little Inga, sweetheart,' he said;
'What didst thou get for thy maidenhead?'[97]

Inga explained. Her father was a strange sort of man, and built her bower by the sea-strand, where all the king's courtiers took ship. Nine had broken in, and one had robbed her of her honor. He had given her an embroidered sark, a blue kirtle, green jacket, black mantle, gloves, five gold rings, a red gold crown, a golden harp, and a silver-mounted knife, which she now wishes in the youngster's body. The conclusion is abruptly told in two stanzas. Olof bids Inga not to talk so, for he is father of her children. He embraces her and gives her a queen's crown and name. #B# has the same story, omitting the incident of the musician. #C# has preserved this circumstance, but has lost both the substitution of the waiting-woman for the bride and the magical coverlet. #D# has also lost these important features of the original story; #E# has retained them.

#Danish.# 'Brud ikke Mø,' Grundtvig, No 274, V, 304. There are two old versions (more properly only one, so close is the agreement), and a third from recent tradition. This last, Grundtvig's #C#, from Jutland, 1856, seems to be of Swedish origin, and, like Swedish #C#, #D#, wants the talking coverlet, though it has kept the other material feature, that of the substitution. #A# is found in two manuscripts, one of the sixteenth and the other of the seventeenth century. #B# is the well-known 'Ingefred og Gudrune,' or 'Herr Samsings Nattergale,' Syv, IV, No 62, Danske Viser, No 194, translated in Jamieson's Illustrations, p. 340, and by Prior, III, 347. A later form of #B#, from recent recitation, 1868, is given in Kristensen's Jydske Folkeviser, I, No 53.

The story in #A# runs thus: Sølverlad and Vendelrod [Ingefred and Gudrune] were sitting together, and Vendelrod wept sorely. Sølverlad asked her sister the reason, and was told there was cause. Would she be bride one night? Vendelrod would give her wedding clothes and all her outfit. But Sølverlad asked for bridegroom too, and Vendelrod would not give up her bridegroom, happen what might. She went to church and was married to Samsing. On the way from church they met a spaeman [#B#, shepherd], who warned Vendelrod that Samsing had some nightingales that could tell him whether he had married a maid or no. The sisters turned aside and changed clothes, but could not change cheeks! Sølverlad was conducted to Samsing's house and placed on the bride bench. An unlucky jester called out, "Methinks this is not Vendelrod!" but a gold ring adroitly thrown into his bosom opened his eyes still wider, and made him pretend he had meant nothing. The supposed bride is put to bed. Samsing invokes his nightingales: "Have I a maid or no?" They reply, it is a maid that lies in the bed, but Vendelrod stands on the floor. Samsing asks Vendelrod why she avoided her bed, and she answers: her father lived on the strand; her bower was broken into by a large company of men, and one of them robbed her of her honor. In this case there are no tokens for evidence. Samsing owns immediately that he and his men had broken into the bower, and Vendelrod's agony is over.

Some of the usual tokens, gold harp, sark, shoes, and silver-mounted knife, are found in the later #C#. Danish #D# is but a single initial stanza.

Besides Sølverlad and Vendelrod, there is a considerable number of Danish ballads characterized by the feature that a bride is not a maid, and most or all of these have similarities to 'Gil Brenton.' 'Hr. Find og Vendelrod,' Grundtvig, No 275, has even the talking blanket (sometimes misunderstood to be a bed-_board_). In this piece there is no substitution. Vendelrod gives birth to children, and the news makes Find jump over the table. Still he puts the question mildly, who is the father, and recognizes that he is the man, upon hearing the story of the bower on the strand, and seeing half a gold ring which Vendelrod had received "for her honor."

In 'Ingelilles Bryllup,' Grundtvig, No 276, Blidelild is induced to take Ingelild's place by the promise that she shall marry Ingelild's brother. Hr. Magnus asks her why she is so sad, and says he knows she is not a maid. Blidelild says, "Since you know so much, I will tell you more," and relates Ingelild's adventure,--how she had gone out to the river, and nine knights came riding by, etc. [so #A#; in #B# and #C# we have the bower on the strand, as before]. Hr. Magnus avows that he was the ninth, who stayed when eight rode away. Blidelild begs that he will allow her to go and look for some lost rings, and uses the opportunity to send back Ingelild in her stead.

Various other Scandinavian ballads have more or less of the story of those which have been mentioned. In the Danish 'Brud i Vaande,' Grundtvig, No 277, a bride is taken with untimely pains while being "brought home." The question asked in several of the Scottish ballads, whether the saddle is uncomfortable, occurs in #A#, #B#; the bower that was forced by eight swains and a knight in #A#, #C#, #D#, #F#; the gifts in #A#, #B#, #F#; and an express acknowledgment of the act of violence by the bridegroom in #A#, #B#, #D#. We find all of these traits except the first in the corresponding Swedish ballad 'Herr Äster och Fröken Sissa,' Afzelius, No 38, new ed., No 32,^1; the saddle and broken bower in Swedish #D#, Grundtvig, No 277, Bilag 1; only the saddle in Swedish #F#, Grundtvig, No. 277, Bilag 3, and #C#, Arwidsson, No 132; the saddle and gifts in Icelandic #A#, #B#, #C#, #D#, #E#, Grundtvig, No 277, Bilag 5, 6, 7, 8.

'Peder og Malfred,' Grundtvig, No 278, in four versions, the oldest from a manuscript of 1630, represents Sir Peter as riding away from home about a month after his marriage, and meeting a woman who informs him that there is a birth in his house. He returns, and asks who is the father. Sir Peter satisfies himself that he is the man by identifying the gifts, in #A#, #B#, #C#, #D#; and in #A#, #B# we have also the bower by the strand.

In 'Oluf og Ellinsborg,' Grundtvig, No 279, #A#, #B#, #C#, one of the queen's ladies is habitually sad, and is pressed by her lover to account for this. She endeavors to put him off with fictitious reasons, but finally nerves herself to tell the truth: she was walking by herself in her orchard, when five knights came riding by, and one was the cause of her grief. Oluf owns it was all his doing. A Swedish ballad, remarkably close to the Danish, from a manuscript of the date 1572 (the oldest Danish version is also from a manuscript of the 16th century), is 'Riddar Lage och Stolts Elensborg,' Arwidsson, No 56.

'Iver Hr. Jonsøn,' Grundtvig, No 280, in five versions, the oldest of the 16th century, exhibits a lady as fearing the arrival of her lover's ship, and sending her mother to meet him, while she takes to her bed. Immediately upon her betrothed's entering her chamber, she abruptly discloses the cause of her trouble. Eight men had broken into her bower on the strand, and the ninth deprived her of her honor. Iver Hr. Jonsøn, with as little delay, confesses that he was the culprit, and makes prompt arrangements for the wedding.

There is another series of ballads, represented by 'Leesome Brand' in English, and by 'Redselille og Medelvold' in Danish, which describe a young woman, who is on the point of becoming a mother, as compelled to go off on horseback with her lover, and suffering from the ride. We find the question, whether the saddle is too narrow or the way too long, in the Danish 'Bolde Hr. Nilaus' Løn,' Grundtvig, 270, 'Redselille og Medelvold,' Grundtvig, 271 #C#, #D#, #E#, #I#, #K#, #L#, #M#, #P#, #Q#, #V#, #Y#, and the Norwegian versions, #A#, #D#, #E#, #F#, of 'Sønnens Sorg,' Grundtvig, 272, Bilag 1, 4, 5, 6.[98] The gifts also occur in Grundtvig's 271 #A#, #Z#, and Norwegian #D#, Bilag 9.

Perhaps no set of incidents is repeated so often in northern ballads as the forcing of the bower on the strand, the giving of keepsakes, the self-identification of the ravisher through these, and his full and hearty reparation. All or some of these traits are found in many ballads besides those belonging to the groups here spoken of: as 'Hildebrand og Hilde,' #E#, #I#, Grundtvig, No 83, and Norwegian #A#, III, 857; 'Guldsmedens Datter,' Grundtvig, 245, and its Swedish counterpart at p. 481 of the preface to the same, and in Eva Wigström's Folkdiktning, p. 37, No 18; 'Liden Kirstins Dans,' Grundtvig, 263 (translated by Prior, 112), and Norwegian #B#, #C#, Bilag 2, 3; 'Jomfruens Harpeslæt,' Grundtvig, 265 (translated by Jamieson, 'Illustrations,' p. 382, Prior, 123, Buchanan, p. 6), and Swedish #D#, Bilag 2, Swedish #A#, Afzelius, 81. So Landstad, 42, 45; Arwidsson, 141; Grundtvig, 37 #G#; 38 #A#, #D#; Kristensen, I, No 95, II, No 28 #A#, #C#.

A very pretty Norwegian tale has for the talisman a stepping-stone at the side of the bed: Asbjørnsen og Moe, No 29, 'Vesle Aase Gaasepige,' Dasent, 2d ed., p. 478. An English prince had pictures taken of all the handsomest princesses, to pick his bride by. When the chosen one arrived, Aase the goose-girl informed her that the stone at the bedside knew everything and told the prince; so if she felt uneasy on any account, she must not step on it. The princess begged Aase to take her place till the prince was fast asleep, and then they would change. When Aase came and put her foot on the stone, the prince asked, "Who is it that is stepping into my bed?" "A maid clean and pure," answered the stone. By and by the princess came and took Aase's place. When they were getting up in the morning, the prince asked again, "Who is it stepping out of my bed?" "One that has had three children," said the stone. The prince sent his first choice away, and tried a second. Aase faithfully warned her, and she had cause for heeding the advice. When Aase stepped in, the stone said it was a maid clean and pure; when the princess stepped out, the stone said it was one that had had six children. The prince was longer in hitting on a third choice. Aase took the bride's place once more, but this time the prince put a ring on her finger, which was so tight that she could not get it off, for he saw that all was not right. In the morning, when he asked, "Who is stepping out of my bed?" the stone answered, "One that has had nine children." Then the prince asked the stone to clear up the mystery, and it revealed how the princesses had put little Aase in their place. The prince went straight to Aase to see if she had the ring. She had tied a rag over her finger, pretending she had cut it; but the prince soon had the rag off, recognized his ring, and Aase got the prince, for the good reason that so it was to be.

The artifice of substituting waiting-woman for bride has been thought to be derived from the romance of Tristan, in which Brangwain [Brengain, Brangaene] sacrifices herself for Isold: Scott's 'Sir Tristrem,' ii, 54; Gottfried V. Strassburg, xviii, ed. Bechstein. Grundtvig truly remarks that a borrowing by the romance from the popular ballad is as probable a supposition as the converse; and that, even should we grant the name of the hero of the ballad to be a reminiscence of that of Isold's attendant (e. g. Brangwill of Brangwain), nothing follows as to the priority of the romance in respect to this passage. A similar artifice is employed in the ballad of 'Torkild Trundeson,' Danske Viser, 200 (translated by Prior, 100); Afzelius, II, 86, from the Danish; Arwidsson, 36. The resemblance is close to 'Ingelilles Bryllup,' #C#, Grundtvig, 276. See also, further on, 'The Twa Knights.'

The Billie Blin presents himself in at least four Scottish ballads: 'Gil Brenton,' #C#; 'Willie's Lady;' one version of 'Young Beichan;' two of 'The Knight and Shepherd's Daughter;' and also in the English ballad of 'King Arthur and the King of Cornwall,' here under the slightly disfigured name of Burlow Beanie.[99] In all he is a serviceable household demon; of a decidedly benignant disposition in the first four, and, though a loathly fiend with seven heads in the last, very obedient and useful when once thoroughly subdued. He is clearly of the same nature as the Dutch _belewitte_ and German _bilwiz_, characterized by Grimm as a friendly domestic genius, _penas_, _guote holde_; and the names are actually associated in a passage cited by Grimm from Voet: "De illis quos nostrates appellant _beeldwit et blinde belien_, a quibus nocturna visa videri atque ex iis arcana revelari putant."[100] Though the etymology of these words is not unencumbered with difficulty, _bil_ seems to point to a just and kindly-tempered being. Bilvís, in the seventh book of Saxo Grammaticus, is an aged counsellor whose bent is to make peace, while his brother Bölvís, a blind man, is a strife-breeder and mischief-maker.[101] The same opposition of Bil and Böl apparently occurs in the Edda, Grímnismál, 47^4, where Bil-eygr and Böl-eygr (Bal-eygr) are appellatives of Odin, which may signify mild-eyed and evil-eyed. Bölvís is found again in the Hrômund's saga, under the description of 'Blind the Bad,' and 'the Carl Blind whose name was Bavís.' But much of this saga is taken from the story of Helgi Hundingslayer; and Blind the Bad in the saga is only Sæmund's Blindr inn bölvísi,--the blind man whose baleful wit sees through the disguise of Helgi, and all but betrays the rash hero to his enemies; that is, Odin in his malicious mood (Bölverkr), who will presently be seen in the ballad of 'Earl Brand' masking as Old Carl Hood, "aye for ill and never for good." Originally and properly, perhaps, only the bad member of this mythical pair is blind; but it would not be at all strange that later tradition, which confuses and degrades so much in the old mythology, should transfer blindness to the good-natured one, and give rise to the anomalous Billie Blind. See Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, 1879, I, 391 ff; Uhland, Zur Geschichte der Dichtung u. Sage, III, 132 ff, VII, 229; Schmeller, Bayerisches Wörterbuch, II, 1037 ff, ed. 1877; Van den Bergh, Woordenboek der nederlandsche Mythologie, 12.

It has been suggested to me that "the Haleigh throw" in #E# 6 is a corruption of the High Leith Row, a street in Edinburgh. I have not as yet been able to obtain information of such a street.

#D# is translated by Grundtvig, Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, No 40, p. 262.

A

#a.# Jamieson-Brown MS., No 16, fol. 34. #b.# William
Tytler's Brown MS., No 3. From the recitation of Mrs Brown
of Falkland, 1783, Aberdeenshire.

1
Gil Brenton has sent oer the fame,
He's woo'd a wife an brought her hame.

2
Full sevenscore o ships came her wi,
The lady by the greenwood tree.

3
There was twal an twal wi beer an wine,
An twal an twal wi muskadine:

4
An twall an twall wi bouted flowr,
An twall an twall wi paramour:

5
An twall an twall wi baken bread,
An twall an twall wi the goud sae red.

6
Sweet Willy was a widow's son,
An at her stirrup-foot he did run.

7
An she was dressd i the finest pa,
But ay she loot the tears down fa.

8
An she was deckd wi the fairest flowrs,
But ay she loot the tears down pour.

9
'O is there water i your shee?
Or does the win blaw i your glee?

10
'Or are you mourning i your meed
That eer you left your mither gueede?

11
'Or are ye mourning i your tide
That ever ye was Gil Brenton's bride?'

12
'The[re] is nae water i my shee,
Nor does the win blaw i my glee:

13
'Nor am I mourning i my tide
That eer I was Gil Brenton's bride:

14
'But I am mourning i my meed
That ever I left my mither gueede.

15
'But, bonny boy, tell to me
What is the customs o your country.'

16
'The customs o't, my dame,' he says,
'Will ill a gentle lady please.

17
'Seven king's daughters has our king wedded,
An seven king's daughters has our king bedded.

18
'But he's cutted the paps frae their breast-bane,
An sent them mourning hame again.

19
'But whan you come to the palace yate,
His mither a golden chair will set.

20
'An be you maid or be you nane,
O sit you there till the day be dane.

21
'An gin you're sure that you are a maid,
Ye may gang safely to his bed.

22
'But gin o that you be na sure,
Then hire some woman o youre bowr.'

23
O whan she came to the palace yate,
His mither a golden chair did set.

24
An was she maid or was she nane,
She sat in it till the day was dane.

25
An she's calld on her bowr woman,
That waiting was her bowr within.

26
'Five hundred pound, maid, I'll gi to the,
An sleep this night wi the king for me.'

27
Whan bells was rung, an mass was sung,
An a' man unto bed was gone,

28
Gil Brenton an the bonny maid
Intill ae chamber they were laid.

29
'O speak to me, blankets, an speak to me, sheets,
An speak to me, cods, that under me sleeps;

30
'Is this a maid that I ha wedded?
Is this a maid that I ha bedded?'

31
'It's nae a maid that you ha wedded,
But it's a maid that you ha bedded.

32
'Your lady's in her bigly bowr,
An for you she drees mony sharp showr.'

33
O he has taen him thro the ha,
And on his mither he did ca.

34
'I am the most unhappy man
That ever was in christend lan.

35
'I woo'd a maiden meek an mild,
An I've marryed a woman great wi child.'

36
'O stay, my son, intill this ha,
An sport you wi your merry men a'.

37
'An I'll gang to yon painted bowr,
An see how't fares wi yon base whore.'

38
The auld queen she was stark an strang;
She gard the door flee aff the ban.

39
The auld queen she was stark an steer;
She gard the door lye i the fleer.

40
'O is your bairn to laird or loon?
Or is it to your father's groom?'

41
'My bairn's na to laird or loon,
Nor is it to my father's groom.

42
'But hear me, mither, on my knee,
An my hard wierd I'll tell to thee.

43
'O we were sisters, sisters seven,
We was the fairest under heaven.

44
'We had nae mair for our seven years wark
But to shape an suc the king's son a sark.

45
'O it fell on a Saturday's afternoon,
Whan a' our langsome wark was dane,

46
'We keist the cavils us amang,
To see which shoud to the greenwood gang.

47
'Ohone, alas! for I was youngest,
An ay my wierd it was the hardest.

48
'The cavil it did on me fa,
Which was the cause of a' my wae.

49
'For to the greenwood I must gae,
To pu the nut but an the slae;

50
'To pu the red rose an the thyme,
To strew my mother's bowr and mine.

51
'I had na pu'd a flowr but ane,
Till by there came a jelly hind greeme,

52
'Wi high-colld hose an laigh-colld shoone,
An he 'peard to be some kingis son.

53
'An be I maid or be I nane,
He kept me there till the day was dane.

54
'An be I maid or be I nae,
He kept me there till the close of day.

55
'He gae me a lock of yallow hair,
An bade me keep it for ever mair.

56
'He gae me a carket o gude black beads,
An bade me keep them against my needs.

57
'He gae to me a gay gold ring,
An bade me ke[e]p it aboon a' thing.

58
'He gae to me a little pen-kniffe,
An bade me keep it as my life.'

59
'What did you wi these tokens rare
That ye got frae that young man there?'

60
'O bring that coffer hear to me,
And a' the tokens ye sal see.'

61
An ay she ranked, an ay she flang,
Till a' the tokens came till her han.

62
'O stay here, daughter, your bowr within,
Till I gae parley wi my son.'

63
O she has taen her thro the ha,
An on her son began to ca.

64
'What did you wi that gay gold ring
I bade you keep aboon a' thing?

65
'What did you wi that little pen-kniffe
I bade you keep while you had life?

66
'What did you wi that yallow hair
I bade you keep for ever mair?

67
'What did you wi that good black beeds
I bade you keep against your needs?'

68
'I gae them to a lady gay
I met i the greenwood on a day.

69
'An I would gi a' my father's lan,
I had that lady my yates within.

70
'I would gi a' my ha's an towrs,
I had that bright burd i my bowrs.'

71
'O son, keep still your father's lan;
You hae that lady your yates within.

72
'An keep you still your ha's an towrs;
You hae that bright burd i your bowrs.'

73
Now or a month was come an gone,
This lady bare a bonny young son.

74
An it was well written on his breast-bane
'Gil Brenton is my father's name.'

B

Scott's Minstrelsy, II, 117, ed. 1802. Ed. 1830, III, 263.
Partly from the recitation of Miss Christian Rutherford.

1
Cospatrick has sent oer the faem,
Cospatrick brought his ladye hame.

2
And fourscore ships have come her wi,
The ladye by the grenewood tree.

3
There were twal and twal wi baken bread,
And twal and twal wi gowd sae reid:

4
And twal and twal wi bouted flour,
And twal and twal wi the paramour.

5
Sweet Willy was a widow's son,
And at her stirrup he did run.

6
And she was clad in the finest pall,
But aye she let the tears down fall.

7
'O is your saddle set awrye?
Or rides your steed for you owre high?

8
'Or are you mourning in your tide
That you suld be Cospatrick's bride?'

9
'I am not mourning at this tide
That I suld be Cospatrick's bride;

10
'But I am sorrowing in my mood
That I suld leave my mother good.

11
'But, gentle boy, come tell to me,
What is the custom of thy countrye?'

12
'The custom thereof, my dame,' he says,
'Will ill a gentle laydye please.

13
'Seven king's daughters has our lord wedded,
And seven king's daughters has our lord bedded;

14
'But he's cutted their breasts frae their breast bane,
And sent them mourning hame again.

15
'Yet, gin you're sure that you're a maid,
Ye may gae safely to his bed;

16
'But gif o that ye be na sure,
Then hire some damsell o your bour.'

17
The ladye's calld her bour-maiden,
That waiting was into her train;

18
'Five thousand merks I will gie thee,
To sleep this night with my lord for me.'

19
When bells were rung, and mass was sayne,
And a' men unto bed were gane,

20
Cospatrick and the bonny maid,
Into ae chamber they were laid.

21
'Now, speak to me, blankets, and speak to me, bed,
And speak, thou sheet, inchanted web;

22
'And speak up, my bonny brown sword, that winna lie,
Is this a true maiden that lies by me?'

23
'It is not a maid that you hae wedded,
But it is a maid that you hae bedded.

24
'It is a liel maiden that lies by thee,
But not the maiden that it should be.'

25
O wrathfully he left the bed,
And wrathfully his claiths on did.

26
And he has taen him thro the ha,
And on his mother he did ca.

27
'I am the most unhappy man
That ever was in christen land!

28
'I courted a maiden meik and mild,
And I hae gotten naething but a woman wi child.'

29
'O stay, my son, into this ha,
And sport ye wi your merrymen a';

30
'And I will to the secret bour,
To see how it fares wi your paramour.'

31
The carline she was stark and sture;
She aff the hinges dang the dure.

32
'O is your bairn to laird or loun?
Or is it to your father's groom?'

33
'O hear me, mother, on my knee,
Till my sad story I tell to thee.

34
'O we were sisters, sisters seven,
We were the fairest under heaven.

35
'It fell on a summer's afternoon,
When a' our toilsome task was done,

36
'We cast the kavils us amang,
To see which suld to the grene-wood gang.

37
'O hon, alas! for I was youngest,
And aye my wierd it was the hardest.

38
'The kavil it on me did fa,
Whilk was the cause of a' my woe.

39
'For to the grene-wood I maun gae,
To pu the red rose and the slae;

40
'To pu the red rose and the thyme,
To deck my mother's bour and mine.

41
'I hadna pu'd a flower but ane,
When by there came a gallant hende,

42
'Wi high-colld hose and laigh-colld shoon,
And he seemd to be sum king's son.

43
'And be I maid or be I nae,
He kept me there till the close o day.

44
'And be I maid or be I nane,
He kept me there till the day was done.

45
'He gae me a lock o his yellow hair,
And bade me keep it ever mair.

46
'He gae me a carknet o bonny beads,
And bade me keep it against my needs.

47
'He gae to me a gay gold ring,
And bade me keep it abune a' thing.'

48
'What did ye wi the tokens rare
That ye gat frae that gallant there?'

49
'O bring that coffer unto me,
And a' the tokens ye sall see.'

50
'Now stay, daughter, your bour within,
While I gae parley wi my son.'

51
O she has taen her thro the ha,
And on her son began to ca.

52
'What did you wi the bonny beads
I bade ye keep against your needs?

53
'What did you wi the gay gowd ring
I bade ye keep abune a' thing?'

54
'I gae them a' to a ladye gay
I met in grene-wood on a day.

55
'But I wad gie a' my halls and tours,
I had that ladye within my bours.

56
'But I wad gie my very life,
I had that ladye to my wife.'

57
'Now keep, my son, your ha's and tours;
Ye have that bright burd in your bours.

58
'And keep, my son, your very life;
Ye have that ladye to your wife.'

59
Now or a month was cum and gane,
The ladye bore a bonny son.

60
And 't was weel written on his breast-bane,
'Cospatrick is my father's name.'

61
'O rowe my ladye in satin and silk,
And wash my son in the morning milk.'

C

Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, p. 207.
"From the recital of a peasant-woman of Galloway, upwards
of ninety years of age."

1
We were sisters, we were seven,
We were the fairest under heaven.

2
And it was a' our seven years wark
To sew our father's seven sarks.

3
And whan our seven years wark was done,
We laid it out upo the green.

4
We coost the lotties us amang,
Wha wad to the greenwood gang,

5
To pu the lily but and the rose,
To strew witha' our sisters' bowers.

6
... I was youngest,
... my weer was hardest.

7
And to the greenwood I bud gae,
. . . . . . .

8
There I met a handsome childe,
. . . . . . .

9
High-coled stockings and laigh-coled shoon,
He bore him like a king's son.

10
An was I weel, or was I wae,
He keepit me a' the simmer day.

11
An though I for my hame-gaun sich[t],
He keepit me a' the simmer night.

12
He gae to me a gay gold ring,
And bade me keep it aboon a' thing.

13
He gae to me a cuttie knife,
And bade me keep it as my life:

14
Three lauchters o his yellow hair,
For fear we wad neer meet mair.

* * * * * * *

15
Next there came shippes three,
To carry a' my bridal fee.

16
Gowd were the beaks, the sails were silk,
Wrought wi maids' hands like milk.

17
They came toom and light to me,
But heavie went they waie frae me.

18
They were fu o baken bread,
They were fu of wine sae red.

19
My dowry went a' by the sea,
But I gaed by the grenewode tree.

20
An I sighed and made great mane,
As thro the grenewode we rade our lane.

21
An I ay siched an wiped my ee,
That eer the grenewode I did see.

22
'Is there water in your glove,
Or win into your shoe?
O[r] am I oer low a foot-page
To rin by you, ladie?'

23
'O there's nae water in my glove,
Nor win into my shoe;
But I am maning for my mither
Wha's far awa frae me.'

* * * * * * *

24
'Gin ye be a maiden fair,
Meikle gude ye will get there.

25
'If ye be a maiden but,
Meikle sorrow will ye get.

26
'For seven king's daughters he hath wedded,
But never wi ane o them has bedded.

27
'He cuts the breasts frae their breast-bane,
An sends them back unto their dame.

28
'He sets their backs unto the saddle,
An sends them back unto their father.

29
'But be ye maiden or be ye nane,
To the gowden chair ye draw right soon.

30
'But be ye leman or be ye maiden,
Sit nae down till ye be bidden.'

31
Was she maiden or was she nane,
To the gowden chair she drew right soon.

32
Was she leman or was she maiden,
She sat down ere she was bidden.

33
Out then spake the lord's mother;
Says, 'This is not a maiden fair.

34
'In that chair nae leal maiden
Eer sits down till they be bidden.'

35
The Billie Blin then outspake he,
As he stood by the fair ladie.

36
'The bonnie may is tired wi riding,
Gaurd her sit down ere she was bidden.'

* * * * * * *

37
But on her waiting-maid she ca'd:
'Fair ladie, what 's your will wi me?'
'O ye maun gie yere maidenheid
This night to an unco lord for me.'

38
'I hae been east, I hae been west,
I hae been far beyond the sea,
But ay, by grenewode or by bower,
I hae keepit my virginitie.

39
'But will it for my ladie plead,
I'll gie 't this night to an unco lord.'

* * * * * * *

40
When bells were rung an vespers sung,
An men in sleep were locked soun,

41
Childe Branton and the waiting-maid
Into the bridal bed were laid.

42
'O lie thee down, my fair ladie,
Here are a' things meet for thee;

43
'Here's a bolster for yere head,
Here is sheets an comelie weids.'

* * * * * * *

44
'Now tell to me, ye Billie Blin,
If this fair dame be a leal maiden.'