Chapter X: Appendix (5)

18
Then ane pat up this big bauld fire,
Anither ca'd in the stake;
It was to burn her Lady Maisry,
All for her true-love's sake.

19
But it fell ance upon a day,
Prince James he thought full lang;
He minded on the lady gay
He left in fair Scotland.

20
'O where will I get a little wee boy,
Will win gowd to his fee,
That will rin on to Adam's high tower,
Bring tidings back to me?'

21
'O here am I, a little wee boy,
Will win gowd to my fee,
That will rin on to Adam's high tower,
Bring tidings back to thee.'

22
Then he is on to Adam's high tower,
As fast as gang coud he,
And he but only wan in time
The fatal sight to see.

23
He sat his bent bow to his breast,
And ran right speedilie,
And he is back to his master,
As fast as gang coud he.

24
'What news, what news, my little wee boy?
What news hae ye to me?'
'Bad news, bad news, my master dear,
Bad news, as ye will see.'

25
'Are ony o my biggins brunt, my boy?
Or ony o my towers won?
Or is my lady lighter yet,
O dear daughter or son?'

26
'There's nane o your biggins brunt, master,
Nor nane o your towers won,
Nor is your lady lighter yet,
O dear daughter nor son.

27
'There's an has been [put up] a big bauld fire,
Anither ca'd in the stake,
And on the head o yon high hill,
They're to burn her for your sake.'

28
'Gae saddle to me the black, the black,
Gae saddle to me the brown;
Gae saddle to me the swiftest steed,
To hae me to the town.'

29
Ere he was three miles near the town,
She heard his horse-foot patt:
'Mend up the fire, my fause brother,
It scarce comes to my pap.'

30
Ere he was twa miles near the town,
She heard his bridle ring:
'Mend up the fire, my fause brother,
It scarce comes to my chin.

31
'But look about, my fause brother,
Ye see not what I see;
I see them coming here, or lang
Will mend the fire for thee.'

32
Then up it comes him little Prince James,
And fiercely looked he:
'I'se make my love's words very true
She said concerning me.

33
'O wha has been sae bauld,' he said,
'As put this bonfire on?
And wha has been sae bauld,' he said,
'As put that lady in?'

34
Then out it spake her brother then,
He spoke right furiouslie;
Says, I'm the man that put her in:
Wha dare hinder me?

35
'If my hands had been loose,' she said,
'As they are fastly bound,
I woud hae looted me to the ground,
Gien you up your bonny young son.'

36
'I will burn, for my love's sake,
Her father and her mother;
And I will burn, for my love's sake,
Her sister and her brother.

37
'And I will burn, for my love's sake,
The whole o a' her kin;
And I will burn, for my love's sake,
Thro Linkum and thro Lin.

38
'And mony a bed will I make toom,
And bower will I make thin;
And mony a babe shall thole the fire,
For I may enter in.'

39
Great meen was made for Lady Maisry,
On that hill whare she was slain;
But mair was for her ain true-love,
On the fields for he ran brain.

I

#a.# Motherwell's MS., p. 235; Motherwell's Minstrelsy,
p. 221. #b.# Motherwell's MS., p. 179, from Mrs Thomson,
of Kilbarchan. #c.# Motherwell's MS., p. 181, from Mrs
McLean, of Glasgow.

1
There lived a lady in Scotland,
Hey my love and ho my joy
There lived a lady in Scotland,
Who dearly loved me
There lived a lady in Scotland,
An she's fa'n in love wi an Englishman.
And bonnie Susie Cleland is to be burnt in Dundee

2
The father unto the daughter came,
Who dearly loved me
Saying, Will you forsake that Englishman?

3
'If you will not that Englishman forsake,
Who dearly loved me
O I will burn you at a stake.'

4
'I will not that Englishman forsake,
Who dearly loved me
Tho you should burn me at a stake.

5
'O where will I get a pretty little boy,
Who dearly loves me
Who will carry tidings to my joy?'

6
'Here am I, a pretty little boy,
Who dearly loves thee
Who will carry tidings to thy joy.'

7
'Give to him this right-hand glove,
Who dearly loves me
Tell him to get another love.
For, etc.

8
'Give to him this little penknife,
Who dearly loves me
Tell him to get another wife.
For, etc.

9
'Give to him this gay gold ring;
Who dearly loves me
Tell him I'm going to my burning.'
An, etc.

10
The brother did the stake make,
Who dearly loved me
The father did the fire set.
An bonnie Susie Cleland was burnt in Dundee.

* * * * *

#A.#

11^1. she says.

16^1. _~blood~ I was disposed to change to ~lord~: but
see #H# 13^1._

21^{3, 4}. _As cited by Anderson from William Tytler's
MS.,_

... to green grass growing
He took off his sheen.

#B.#

22^4. Janet's exite: _in_ #C# 16^4 Janet's lyke.

#D.#

_Stanzas 8, 9, 21, are the three last of the MS._

8^{1, 2}. _I should read ~put on~, were it not for 9^{1,
2}._

23^3. lady lamentless.

#E.#

3^3. _~If~ for ~that~ in the margin, without explanation._

15-17. _The order in the MS. is 16, 17, 15._

_Motherwell, as often elsewhere, makes slight changes in
printing, as: 11^2, ~broken~ to ~won~, though not changed
in 12^2; 15^3 [17^3], ~And~ to ~And wi~, unnecessarily,
see #F# 19^3._

#F.#

2-9. "Her father, brother, and sister successively
address her in the same polite style, and receive the
same answer; except that to the latter, instead of
the information contained in the last two lines, she
addresses a piece of advice." _The phrase ~stood stately~
in 2^2, most appropriate for the mother, was probably
varied for father, brother, and sister._

15-16. "He delivers his message in the approved ballad
style, and the lover speaks."

20. "The few verses following contain her testamentary
bequests to her relatives above mentioned; but the person
from whom I got the ballad could not repeat them."

#G.#

6^2. He bend.

#I. a.#

1. _Given in the Appendix to Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p.
xix, XIV, with this slight difference in the burden_: And
she dearly loved me.

3-9. at Dundee _in the burden_.

8^2. _~Penknife~ for ~wife~, in my copy of the MS._

10. _In the Minstrelsy, from #b#:_

Her father he ca'd up the stake,
Her brother he the fire did make.

#b.#

1.
There lived a lady in Scotland
O my love and O my joy
Who dearly loved an Englishman.
And bonnie Susie Cleland is to be burnt at Dundee

2.
The father to the daughter came:
'Will you forsake your Englishman?'
For, etc.

_3 is wanting._

4.
'My Englishman I'll neer forsake,
Altho you burn me at your stake.
For, etc.

5.
'O where will I get a pretty little boy,
That will bring tidings to my joy?'
For, etc.

6.
'O here am I, a pretty little boy,
And I'll carry tidings to thy joy.'
For, etc.

7.
'O take to him this right-hand glove,
Tell him to seek another love.'
For, etc.

_8 is wanting._

9.
'O bring to him this gay gold ring,
And bid him come to my burning.'
For, etc.

10.
Her father he ca'd up the stake,
Her brother he the fire did make.
And bonnie Susie Cleland is burnt at Dundee

#c.#

_1-4 are wanting._

5.
'Where will I get a bonny boy,
Oh my love and oh my joy
Where will I get a bonny boy,
That dearly loves me
Where will I get a bonny boy,
Will carry tidings to my joy?'
Bonnie Susie Cleland was burned at Dundee

6.
'Here am I, a little boy,
That dearly loves thee
Will carry tidings to thy joy.'

7.
'Carry my love this glove,
Who dearly loves me
Bid him seek another love.

8.
'Carry my love this knife,
That dearly loves me
Bid him seek another wife.

9.
'Carry my love this ring,
That dearly loves me
Bid him come to my burning.

_10 is wanting._

[87] The genuineness of #H#, Buchan's version, may be doubted both on general and on particular grounds, and both because of its departures from the common story and because of its repeating some peculiarities of the Jamieson-Brown copy, #A#. If #H# was compiled, as I think it was, largely from #A#, the person that did the work may have seen the manuscript, which is not at all improbable; for the _English blude_ of #H# 13 is found in the MS., #A# 16, and not in the copy printed by Jamieson, and so with the _thistle_ of #H# 15, #A# 17. Buchan, or Buchan's foreman, is entitled to copyright for the invention, in #H# 17, of Maisry's carrying peats in her petticoat, "her ainsell for to burn;" also for English James, that little prince, 10^3, Adam's high tower, 20^3, thro Linkum and thro Lin, 37^4.

[88] Like the Clerk of Oxenford's two sons, and Sweet William, Motherwell, Minstrelsy, p. 307.

[89] There is no word of quailing except in #G#, and in #G# she blesses her lover most touchingly, with almost her last words.

She turned her head on her left shoulder,
Saw her girdle hang on the tree:
'O God bless them that gave me that!
They'll never give more to me.'

[90] According to Buchan, #H# 39, Maisry's true-love ran brain; so again in Buchan's version of Fair Janet, see #F# 35. This is Maisry's end in several versions of 'Auld Ingram,' and in all, I suppose, a modern substitute for the immediate death of older ballads.

[91] A champion may be offered even in Ariosto's Scotland.

[92] In 'The Infanta and Don Galvan,' the lady, like Fair Janet, calls to Don Galvan to come and take her new-born child and carry it to his mother to nurse. The father superintends in person the preparation of the pile in 'Dona Ausenda.' In the romances of Conde Claros, the infanta, when she learns that she is to be burnt, asks for some one "que haya comido mi pan," to carry a letter to Don Claros, and a page does the errand, just as in the Scottish ballad: Primavera, II, 374, etc. Often a bird, hawk, dove, takes the message, as in 'Sweet William,' Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 307. Don Claros asks the infanta of her father in marriage, and is refused (because she is promised). He then informs the emperor that the infanta is with child. It is a _hunter_ who informs the father of the love of his daughter and the count in one of the romances, Primavera, II, 362. Compare the German ballad, in 'Fair Janet,' p. 102. When the lover gets his letter, in Briz, IV, 43, he reminds us of Sir Patrick Spens:

Quan D. Cárlos reb la carta, molt content y alegre estava:
Al desclohent de la carta, llágrimas de sanch llansava.

66

LORD INGRAM AND CHIEL WYET

#A. a.# 'Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet,' Motherwell's
Minstrelsy, p. 173. #b.# 'Child Vyet,' Maidment's North
Countrie Garland, p. 24.

#B.# 'Lord Ingram and Gil Viett,' Skene MS., p. 16.

#C.# 'Auld Ingram,' Herd's MSS, I, 169, II, 84; 'Lord
Wa'yates and Auld Ingram,' Jamieson's Popular Ballads,
II, 265.

#D.# 'Lord Ingram and Childe Viat,' Kinloch MSS, V, 323.

#E.# 'Lord Ingram and Childe Vyet,' Buchan's Ballads of
the North of Scotland, I, 234.

#C# was furnished Jamieson from Herd's MSS by Scott, and underwent a few slight changes in publication. Jamieson inquired through the Scots Magazine, October, 1803, p. 699, for the conclusion, which is wanting, but unsuccessfully.

The only variation of much moment in the five versions of this tragedy is that, in #C#, the bridegroom and the lover are not brothers, but uncle and nephew. Some inconsistencies have been created in the course of tradition. The bride's insisting on having twenty men before her and twenty on each side, ere she will go to kirk, not to mention the extravagance of twenty milk-white doves above her head, #C# 22,[93] is incompatible with her aversion to the "weary wedding," and with her language about the bridegroom's gifts in #C# 4, 5, #D# 4-6, #E# 8-10. There is much confusion at the end. After the death of the two rivals the lady, in #E#, imposes on herself the penance of begging her bread as a pilgrim for the rest of her days. This penance we find also in the two last stanzas of #A#, and a trace of it in #B# 20, #D# 10. Another, and probably later, representation is that she went mad, #A# 30, #B# 19, #D# 9. The two are blended in #A#, #B#, #D#; unless we are to suppose that Maisry's adopting a beggar's life was a consequence of her madness, which is not according to the simplicity of old ballads. That something was due the unfortunate Lord Ingram, especially if he was disposed to relinquish his wife to his brother, #B# 17, the modern sense of justice will admit; but that Maisry's remorse on account of the handsome wedding Ingram had given her should exceed her grief for Chiel Wyet, #A# 32, #B# 20, #D# 10, #E# 43, 44, is as little natural as romantic, and is only to be explained as an exhibition of imbecility, whether on her part or on the part of some reciter who gave that turn to the story. #B# confounds confusion by killing Maisry on the top of all.

The sword laid in bed between man and woman, #B# 14, #E# 30, as a sign or pledge of continence, does not occur often in popular ballads. We have it in 'Südeli,' Uhland, I, 275, No 121, st. 11, and in two of the Swedish forms of Grundtvig's 'Brud i Vaande,' Danmarks gamle Folkeviser, V, 345, No. 277, #D#, sts 26, 27, and Arwidsson, II, 248, No 132, sts 21, 22, 'Fru Margaretha.' In popular tales: Grimms, K. u. H. märchen, No 60; Asbjørnsen og Moe, Norske Folkeeventyr, No 3; Il Pentamerone, I, 9; Hahn's Griechische Märchen, I, 171, No 122. In Norse poetry and saga: Völsunga saga, 27, Rafn, Fornaldar Sögur, I, 187; Sæmund's Edda, Sigurðarkviða, III, 65, Lüning, p. 401, Bugge (68), p. 259; Snorri's Edda, Hafniæ, 1848, I, 362, Skáldskaparmál, 41; Saxo Grammaticus, Book 9, p. 162 of the Frankfort edition of 1576; Gaungu-Hrólfs saga, 24, Fornaldar Sögur, III, 303. Further, in Orendel und Bríde, ed. Ettmüller, p. 46, XII, 49, 50; Wolfdietrich, von der Hagen's Heldenbuch, I, 236, st. 592; Tristan, ed. Michel, I, 88, v. 1768 ff, Scott's Sir Tristrem, III, 20; Amis and Amiloun, Weber's Metrical Romances, II, 417, v. 1163 ff; Aladdin in the Arabian Nights, J. Scott, IV 345.[94]

Lord Wayets, in #C# 17, kicks up the table and sends the silver cup into the fire. Young Beichan takes the table with his foot and makes the cups and cans to flee, #B# 18, #D# 23, #F# 28, #J# 5, #N# 42, or makes the table flee, #H# 42; so the knight in 'Child Waters,' #G# 18, the baron in 'Child Maurice,' #E#, #F#, and the mother in 'Fair Mary of Wallington,' #A#, #B#. Kinmont Willie, st. 9, takes the table with his hand and gars the red wine spring on hie. The table, being of boards laid on trestles, would be easy to ding over or make flee. Being also narrow, it might be jumped over, and those in whose way it might be seem to have preferred to clear it in that fashion, at least out of Britain. So the Danish Lord Lovel on hearing of his love's death, spilling the mead or wine, Kristensen, II, No 20, #A# 6, #B# 10, #C# 3, #D# 4; Sir Peter in Afzelius, No 9, I, 50, Grundtvig, No 210, IV, 220, etc. The king in the Icelandic Ribbalds kvæði, to be sure, kicks the table away and spills the mead and wine, Íslenzk Fornkvæði, No 16, #B# 8, #C# 2, so that Lord Wayets, Young Beichan, and others may have taken their cue from that island. But against this we may put Hervarar saga, c. 3, Fornaldar Sögur, I, 516; Olafs saga hins Helga, c. 50, Keyser and Unger, p. 36; Grundtvig, Danmarks Folkeviser, No 11, #A# 23, No 13, #B# 18, #G# 15, #I# 16; etc. In 'Magnus Algotsøn,' Grundtvig, No 181, #D# 18, the bride jumps over the table and goes off with her old love; in Sušil's Bohemian ballads, No 135, p. 131, the bride jumps over four tables and on to a fifth to get at her first betrothed; in the Novella della Figlia del Re di Dacia, ed. Wesselofsky, p. 38, the duke jumps over the table to get to his wife; in a German ballad in Schröer's Ausflug nach Gottschee, p. 210 f, the bridegroom, who has lost the bride, jumps over the table to get out of the room as soon as possible; a French gentleman takes a vault over the table before him, Gautier, Les Épopées Françaises, I, 508, ed. 1865, and a lady in a ludicrous anecdote told in the Zimmerische Chronik, ed. Barack, 1881, II, 132 f. But Torello's wife, on the other hand, Decameron, X, 9, throws down the table which bars her way to her lord, and so does the steward in 'Sir Orfeo,' v. 576, ed. Zielke.[95]

Ebbe Skammelsøn, being obliged to absent himself from his plighted maid for a considerable time, loses her through the artifices of his brother [and mother], who pretends first that Ebbe is unfaithful, and then that he is dead. Ebbe is warned by a dream that his brother is about to wed his mistress, goes home in great haste, and arrives on the wedding-day. He kills the bride, and then his brother, who, at the last moment, offers to cede the bride to him, as Lord Ingram, in #B# 17, says he meant to do. Ebbe after this begs his bread, or goes on a pilgrimage weighted with iron on his hands and loins; wherein his part resembles Maisry's. Danske Viser, III, 75, No 120, translated by Prior, II, 380; Arwidsson, No 33, I, 216, 224, 412; Atterbom's Poetisk Kalender, 1816, p. 55.

It may be worth noting that Maisry's wedding, according to #B# 20, was "in good kirk-door," like the five of The Wife of Bath.

* * * * *

Translated by Knortz, Lieder und Romanzen Alt-Englands, p. 166, No 44, after Allingham, p. 306.

A

#a.# Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 173, communicated
by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe. #b.# Maidment's North
Countrie Garland, p. 24, from tradition in Aberdeenshire.

1
Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet
Was baith born in one bower;
Laid baith their hearts on one lady,
The less was their honour.

2
Chiel Wyet and Lord Ingram
Was baith born in one hall;
Laid baith their hearts on one lady,
The worse did them befall.

3
Lord Ingram wood her Lady Maisery
From father and from mother;
Lord Ingram wood her Lady Maisery
From sister and from brother.

4
Lord Ingram wood her Lady Maisery
With leave of a' her kin;
And every one gave full consent,
But she said no to him.

5
Lord Ingram wood her Lady Maisery
Into her father's ha;
Chiel Wyet wood her Lady Maisery
Amang the sheets so sma.

6
Now it fell out upon a day,
She was dressing her head,
That ben did come her father dear,
Wearing the gold so red.

7
He said, Get up now, Lady Maisery,
Put on your wedding gown;
For Lord Ingram he will be here,
Your wedding must be done.

8
'I'd rather be Chiel Wyet's wife,
The white fish for to sell,
Before I were Lord Ingram's wife,
To wear the silk so well.

9
'I'd rather be Chiel Wyet's wife,
With him to beg my bread,
Before I were Lord Ingram's wife,
To wear the gold so red.

10
'Where will I get a bonny boy,
Will win gold to his fee,
And will run unto Chiel Wyet's,
With this letter from me?'

11
'O here I am, the boy,' says one,
'Will win gold to my fee,
And carry away any letter
To Chiel Wyet from thee.'

12
And when he found the bridges broke,
He bent his bow and swam;
And when he found the grass growing,
He hastened and he ran.

13
And when he came to Chiel Wyet's castle,
He did not knock nor call,
But set his bent bow to his breast,
And lightly leaped the wall;
And ere the porter opend the gate,
The boy was in the hall.

14
The first line he looked on,
A grieved man was he;
The next line he looked on,
A tear blinded his ee:
Says, I wonder what ails my one brother
He'll not let my love be!

15
'But I'll send to my brother's bridal bridal--
The bacon shall be mine--
Full four and twenty buck and roe,
And ten tun of the wine;
And bid my love be blythe and glad,
And I will follow syne.'

16
There was not a groom about that castle
But got a gown of green,
And all was blythe, and all was glad,
But Lady Maisery she was neen.

17
There was no cook about that kitchen
But got a gown of gray,
And all was blythe, and all was glad,
But Lady Maisery was wae.

18
Between Mary Kirk and that castle
Was all spread ower with garl,
To keep Lady Maisery and her maidens
From tramping on the marl.

19
From Mary Kirk to that castle
Was spread a cloth of gold,
To keep Lady Maisery and her maidens
From treading on the mold.

20
When mass was sung, and bells was rung,
And all men bound for bed,
Then Lord Ingram and Lady Maisery
In one bed they were laid.

21
When they were laid into their bed--
It was baith soft and warm--
He laid his hand over her side,
Says, I think you are with bairn.

22
'I told you once, so did I twice,
When ye came me to woo,
That Chiel Wyet, your only brother,
One night lay in my bower.

23
'I told you twice, I told you thrice,
Ere ye came me to wed,
That Chiel Wyet, your one brother,
One night lay in my bed.'

24
'O will you father your bairn on me,
And on no other man?
And I'll give him to his dowry
Full fifty ploughs of land.'

25
'I will not father my bairn on you,
Nor on no wrongeous man,
Though ye would give him to his dowry
Five thousand ploughs of land.'

26
Then up did start him Chiel Wyet,
Shed by his yellow hair,
And gave Lord Ingram to the heart
A deep wound and a sair.

27
Then up did start him Lord Ingram,
Shed by his yellow hair,
And gave Chiel Wyet to the heart
A deep wound and a sair.

28
There was no pity for that two lords,
Where they were lying slain;
But all was for her Lady Maisery,
In that bower she gaed brain.

29
There was no pity for that two lords,
When they were lying dead;
But all was for her Lady Maisery,
In that bower she went mad.

30
Said, Get to me a cloak of cloth,
A staff of good hard tree;
If I have been an evil woman,
I shall beg till I dee.

31
'For a bit I'll beg for Chiel Wyet,
For Lord Ingram I'll beg three;
All for the good and honorable marriage
At Mary Kirk he gave me.'

B

Skene MS., p. 16; taken down in the North of Scotland,
1802-1803.

1
Lord Ingram and Gil Viett
Were baith born in ae ha;
They laid their love on ae lady,
An fate they coud na fa.

2
Lord Ingram and Gil Viett
Were baith laid in ae wame;
They laid their love on ae lady,
The greater was their shame.

3
Lord Ingram wood her Lady Masery
Frae father and frae mither;
Gill Viett wood her Lady Masery
Frae sister and frae brither.

4
Lord Ingram courted her Lady Masery
Among the company a';
Gill Viett he wood her Lady Masery
Among the sheets so sma.

5
'Get up, my daughter dear,
Put on your bridal gown;
This day's your bridal day
Wi Lord Ingram.'

6
'How can I get up,
An put on my bridal gown,
Or how marry the ae brither,
An the tither's babe in my womb?'

* * * * * * *

7
'O laugh you at mysell, brither,
Or at my companie?
Or laugh ye at my bonnie bride,
She wad na laugh at thee?'

8
'I laugh na at yoursel, brither,
Nor at your companie;
Nor laugh I at your buirlie bride,
She wad na laugh at me.

9
'But there's a brotch on a breast-bane,
A garlan on ane's hair;
Gin ye kend what war under that,
Ye wad neer love woman mair.

10
'There is a brotch on a breast-bane,
An roses on ane's sheen;
Gin ye kend what war under that,
Your love wad soon be deen.'

11
Whan bells were rung, and mass was sung,
And a' man boun to bed,
Lord Ingram and Lady Masery
In ae chamer were laid.

12
He put his hand out oure his bonnie bride,
The babe between her sides did quake:
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

13
'O father your babe on me, Lady Masery,
O father your babe on me.'
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

14
'I may father my babe on a stock,
Sae may I on a stane,
But my babe shall never hae
A father but its ain.'

15
He took out a brand,
And laid it atween them twa;
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

16
Gill Viett took out a long brand,
And stroakd it oer a stro,
An thro and thro Lord Ingram's bodie
He made it come and go.

17
'Wae mat worth ye, Gill Viett,
An ill died mat ye die!
For I had the cup in my hand
To hae drunken her oer to thee.'

18
'[For] ae mile [I wad gae] for Gil Viett,
For Lord Ingram I wad hae gaen three;
An a' for that in good kirk-door
Fair wedding he gave me.'

19
Gil Viett took a long brand,
An stroakd it on a stro,
An through and thro his own bodie
He made it come and go.

20
There was nae mean made for that godd lords,
In bowr whar they lay slain,
But a' was for that lady,
In bowr whar she gaed brain.

21
There was nae mean made for that lady,
In bowr whar she lay dead,
But a' was for the bonnie babe
That lay blabbering in her bleed.

C

Herd's MSS, I, 169, II, 84. Jamieson's Popular Ballads,
II, 265.

1
Lady Maisdry was a lady fair,
She maid her mither's bed;
Auld Ingram was an aged knight,
And hee sought her to wed.

2
''Tis I forbid ye, Auld Ingram,
For to seek me to spouse;
For Lord Wayets, your sister's son,
Has been into my bowrs.

3
''T is I forbid ye, Auld Ingram,
For to seek me to wed;
For Lord Wayets, your sister's son,
Has been into my bed.'

4
'T is he has bought to this lady
The robes of the brown;
'And ever alas,' says this lady,
'The robs will pit mee down!'

5
And he has bought to this lady
The robs of the red;
'And ever alas,' says this lady,
'The robs will be my dead!'

6
And he has bought to this lady
The chrystal and the lammer,
Sae has hee bought to her mither
The curches of the cammer.

7
Every ane o her se'n brethren
They had a hawk in hand,
And every lady i the place
They got a goud garland.

8
Every cuk in that kitchen
They gat a noble claith;
A' was blyth at Auld Ingram's cuming,
But Lady Maisdrey was wraith.

9
'Whare will I get a bonny boy,
Wad fain wun hos and shoon,
That wud rin on to my Wayets,
And quickly cume again?'

10
'Here am I, a bonny boy,
Wad fain wun hoes and shoon,
Wha wull rin on to your Wayets,
And quickly cume again.'

11
'Ye'l bid him, and ye'l pray him baith,
Gif ony prayer can dee,
To Mary Kirk to cume the morn,
My weary wadding to see.'

12
Lord Wayets lay our his castle wa,
Beheld baith dale and down,
And he beheld a bonny boy
Cume rinnen to the town.

13
'What news, what news, ye bonny boy?
What news ye hae to mee?
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

14
'O is my ladie's fauldis brunt?
Or is her towrs wun?
Or is my Maisdrey lighter yet
A dear dochter or sun?'

15
'Your ladie's faulds they are not brunt,
Nor yet are her towrs wun,
Neither is Maisdrey lighter yet
A dear dochter or sun.

16
'But she bids ye and she prays ye baith,
Gif ony prayer can dee,
To Mary Kirk to cume the morn,
Her weary wadding to see.'

17
He dung the boord up wi his fit,
Sae did he wi his tae;
The silver cup that sat upon't
I the fire he gard it flee:
'O what na a lord in a' Scotland
Dare marry my Maisdrey?'

18
'O 't is but a feeble thought
To tell the tane and not the tither;
O 't is but a feeble thought
To tell't is your mither's brither.'

19
''T is I wull send to that wadding,
And I wul follow syne,
The fitches o the fallow deer
An the gammons o the swine,
An the nine hides o the noble cow;
'T was slain in season time.

20
''T is I wul send to that wadding
Ten ton of the red wyne;
Much more I'll send to that wadding,
An I wul follow syne.'

21
When he came in unto the ha,
Lady Maisdrey she did ween,
And twenty times he kist her mou
Before Auld Ingram's een.

22
Nor to the kirk she wud ne gae,
Nor til't she wudn ride,
Till four and twunty men she gat her before,
An twunty on ilka side,
An four and twunty milk-white dows
To flee aboon her head.

23
A loud laughter gae Lord Wayets
Mang the mids o his men:
'Marry the lady wham they weel,
A maiden she is nane.'

24
'O laugh ye at my men, Wayets?
Or di ye laugh at me?
Or laugh ye at the beerly bride,
That's gane to marry me?'

25
'I laugh na at your men, uncle,
Nor yet dive I at thee,
Bit I laugh at my lands sae braid,
Sae weel's I do them see.'

26
Whan ene was cume, and ene-bells rung,
An a' man gane to bed,
The bride bit and the silly bridegroom
In chambers they were laid.

27
Was na it a fell thing for to see,
Twa heads lye on a coad,
Lady Maisdrey like the moten goud,
Auld Ingram like a toad?

28
He turnd his face unto the stock,
And sound he fell asleep;
She turnd her fair face unto the wa,
An sa't tears she did weep.

29
It fell about the mark midnight,
Auld Ingram began to turn him;
He pat his hands on's lady's sides,
An waly, sair was she murnin.

30
'What aileth thee, my lady dear?
Ever alas and wae's me,
There is a baube betwixt thy sides!
O sae sair's it grieves me.'

31
'Didn I tell ye that, Auld Ingram,
Or ye saught me to wed,
That Lord Wayets, your sister's son,
Had been into my bed?'

32
'O father that bairn on me, Maisdrey,
O father it on me,
An ye sall hae a rigland shire
Your mornin's gift to bee.'

33
'O sarbit,' says the Lady Maisdrey,
'That ever the like me befa,
To father my bairn on Auld Ingram,
Lord Wayets in my father's ha!

34
'O sarbit,' says the Lady Maisdrey,
'That ever the like me betide,
To father my bairn on Auld Ingram,
An Lord Wayets beside!'

D

Kinloch MSS, V, 323, in the handwriting of John Hill
Burton.

1
Lord Ingram and Childe Viat
Were both bred in one ha;
They laid their luves on one ladye,
And frae her they could na fa.

2
Lord Ingram courted Ladye Maisery,
He courted her frae ha to bower;
And even sae did Childe Viat,
Amang the summer flowers.

3
Lord Ingram courted Ladye Maisery,
He courted her frae bower to ha;
And even sae did Childe Viat,
Among the sheets sae sma.

4
Lord Ingram bought her Ladye Maisery
The steed that paid him well;
She wads he were ayont the sea,
Gin she had her true love.

5
Lord Ingram bought her Lady Maisery
The knives hafted wi steel;
She wads they were in his heart's bluid,
Gin Childe Viat was weel.

6
Lord Ingram bought her Lady Maisery
The golden knobbed gloves;
She wads they were ayone the sea,
Gin she had her true love.

* * * * * * *

7
'There's two swords in one scabbard,
They cost me many a pound;
Take you tho best, leave me the worst,
We's fight till they be done.'

8
The firsten stroke Lord Ingram gae,
He wounded Childe Viat nigh;
The nexten stroke Childe Viat gae,
Lord Ingram's head did flie;
And fifty feet oer a burken buss
Lord Ingram's head did flee.

9
There was no mane made for these two lords,
In bower where they lay slain;
But all was for this fair ladie,
In bower where she gaed brain.

* * * * * * *

10
'For one word I would gie for Childe Viat,
For Lord Ingram I would gie three;
And it's a' for the brave wedding
That he did to me gie.'

E

Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 234.

1
Lord Ingram and Childe Vyet
Were baith born in ae bower;
They fell in love wi ae lady,
Their honour was but poor.

2
Lord Ingram and Childe Vyet
Were baith bred in ae ha;
They laid their love on Lady Maisry,
The waur did them befa.

3
Lord Ingram gained Lady Maisry
Frae father and frae mother;
Lord Ingram gained Lady Maisry
Frae sister and frae brother.

4
Lord Ingram gained Lady Maisry
Frae a' her kith and kin;
Lord Ingram courted Lady Maisry
But she said nay to him.

5
Lord Ingram courted Lady Maisry
In the garden amo the flowers;
Childe Vyet courted Lady Maisry
Amo her ha's and bowers.

6
Lord Ingram sent to Lady Maisry
A steed paced fu well;
She wishes he were ower the sea,
If Childe Vyet were well.

7
Lord Ingram courted Lady Maisry
Frae her relations a';
Childe Vyet courted Lady Maisry
Amo the sheets sae sma.

8
Lord Ingram bought to Lady Maisry
The siller knapped gloves;
She wishd his hands might swell in them,
Had she her ain true love.

9
Lord Ingram bought to Lady Maisry
The brands garnishd wi steel;
She wishd the same might pierce his heart,
Gin Childe Vyet were weell.

10
Childe Vyet bought to Lady Maisry
The fancy ribbons sma;
She had mair delight in her sma fancy
Than o Lord Ingram, gowd and a'.

11
Lord Ingram's gane to her father,
And thus he did complain:
'O am I doomd to die for love,
And nae be loved again?

12
'I hae sent to your daughter
The steed paced fu well;
She wishes I were ower the sea,
Gin Childe Vyet were well.

13
'I hae bought to your daughter
The siller knapped gloves;
She wishd my hands might swell in them,
Had she her ain true love.

14
'I hae bought to your daughter
The brands garnishd wi steel;
She wishd the same might pierce my heart,
Gin Childe Vyet were weell.

15
'Childe Vyet bought to your daughter
The fancy ribbons sma;
She's mair delight in her sma fancy
Nor o me, gowd and a'.'

16
Her father turnd him round about,
A solemn oath sware he,
Saying, She shall be the bride this night,
And you bridegroom shall be.

17
'O had your tongue, my father dear,
Let a' your passion be;
The reason that I love this man,
It is unknown to thee.'

18
Sweetly played the merry organs,
Intill her mother's bower;
But still and dum stood Lady Maisry,
And let the tears down pour.

19
Sweetly played the harp sae fine,
Intill her fathers ha;
But still and dum stood Lady Maisry,
And let tears down fa.

20
Tween Marykirk and her mother's bower,
Was a' clad ower wi gowd,
For keeping o her snaw-white feet
Frae treading o the mould.

21
Lord Ingram gaed in at ae church-door,
Childe Vyet at another,
And lightly leugh him Childe Vyet
At Lord Ingram, his brother.

22
'O laugh ye at my men, brother?
Or do ye laugh at me?
Or laugh ye at young Lady Maisry,
This night my bride's to be?'

23
'I laugh na at your men, brother,
Nor do I laugh at thee;
But I laugh at the knightless sport
That I saw wi my ee.

24
'It is a ring on ae finger,
A broach on ae breast-bane;
And if ye kent what's under that,
Your love woud soon be dane.'

25
Lord Ingram and his merry young men
Out ower the plains are gane,
And pensively walkd him Childe Vyet,
Him single self alane.

26
When they had eaten and well drunken,
And a' men bound for bed,
Lord Ingram and Lady Maisry
In ae chamber were laid.

27
He laid his hand upon her breast,
And thus pronounced he:
'There is a bairn within your sides,
Wha may the father be?

28
'Wha ever be your bairn's father,
Ye will father it on me;
The fairest castle o Snowdown
Your morning gift shall be.'

29
'Wha ever be my bairn's father,
I'll neer father it on thee;
For better love I my bairn's father
Nor ever I'll love thee.'

30
Then he's taen out a trusty brand,
Laid it between them tway;
Says, Lye ye there, ye ill woman,
A maid for me till day.

31
Next morning her father came,
Well belted wi a brand;
Then up it starts him Lord Ingram,
He was an angry man.

32
'If your daughter had been a gude woman,
As I thought she had been,
Cauld iron shoud hae never lien
The lang night us between.'

33
'Ohon, alas! my daughter dear,
What's this I hear o thee?
I thought ye was a gude woman
As in the north countrie.'

34
'O had your tongue, my father dear,
Let a' your sorrows be;
I never liked Lord Ingram,
Ye ken ye forced me.'

35
Then in it came him Childe Vyet,
Well belted wi a brand;
Then up it raise him Lord Ingram,
He was an angry man.

36
'Win up, win up, now Lord Ingram,
Rise up immediately,
That you and I the quarrel try,
Who gains the victory.

37
'I hae twa brands in ae scabbard,
That cost me mony pound;
Take ye the best, gie me the warst,
And I'll fight where I stand.'

38
Then up it starts him Childe Vyet,
Shook back his yellow hair;
The first an stroke Childe Vyet drew,
He wounded Ingram sair.

39
Then up it starts him Lord Ingram,
Shed back his coal-black hair;
The first an stroke Lord Ingram drew,
Childe Vyet needed nae mair.

40
Nae meen was made for these twa knights,
Whan they were lying dead,
But a' for her Lady Maisry,
That gaes in mournfu weed.

41
Says, 'If I hae been an ill woman,
Alas and wae is me!
And if I've been an ill woman,
A gude woman I'll be!

42
'Ye'll take frae me my silk attire,
Bring me a palmer's weed,
And thro the world, for their sakes,
I'll gang and beg my bread.

43
'If I gang a step for Childe Vyet,
For Lord Ingram I'll gang three;
All for the honour that he paid
At Marykirk to me.

44
'I'll gang a step for Childe Vyet,
For Lord Ingram I'll gang three;
It was into my mother's bower
Childe Vyet wronged me.'

* * * * *

#A. a.#

1^4, their bonheur.

8^2. to kill.

11^1. boy _wanting_: see #b#.

11^2. And will.

19^1. and that.

26^1. did stand.

#b.#

1^1. Childe Vyet, _and always_.

1^3, 2^3. Had... loves.

1^4, honour.

3^1, 3^3, 4^1, 5^1, 5^3. the Lady.

7^1. He said _wanting_.

7^3. he _wanting_.

8^2. to sell. 9^3. I'd be.

10^3. Will run.

11^1. I am the boy, says one.

11^2. Will win.

13^1. to Vyet's.

14^1. line that Childe Vyet read.

14^3. line that he.

14^{5, 6}, 15^{1, 2}, _as_ 15.

What ails my one brother, he says,
He'll not let my love be?
But I'll send to my brother's bridal,
The woman shall be free.

15^3. Take four and twenty bucks and ewes.

16^4. was wi wean.

17^1. about the.

18^2. with gold.

18^3, 19^3. keep the lady.

18^4. the mould.

20^1. bells were.

21^1. upon their.

21^4. Says he, You are with bairn.

22^2. came as my wooer.

22^3. your one.

23^1. so did I.

26^1. start him.

28^1, 29^1. for the.

28^3, 29^3. All was for Lady.

30^1. O get to me.

31. For ae.

31^3. All for the honourable marriage that.

#B.#

1^3. Their laid.

2^2. womb.

_12, 13 make one stanza in the MS._

_15, 16 are written together in three long lines._

_18 did not belong where it stands, cf. #A# 31, #E# 43,
44, but as the text now runs, cannot well change place._

#C.#

_Herd's copies differ little except in spelling._

6^4. cannell (_cinnamon_). _I have thought it best to
risk ~cammer~, for ~camerik~, ~cambric~, though I have
not found the word in English: Danish ~kammer-dug~._

10^3. _second copy omits_ on.

11^2. due (?).

_13, 14 are written in one stanza._

19^5. _second copy_ hidies.

25^1. men, Wayets: uncle _in second copy_.

_26-28 precede 23-25._

#D.#

4^2. that paid: _cf._ #E# 6^2. _10 follows 6 in MS._

#E.#

31^2, 35^2. belted and a brand.

[93] This stanza, which comes in here with flagrant impropriety, is a commonplace, or movable passage. It occurs, as a feature in the ceremony of a brilliant wedding, in 'Fair Mary of Wallington,' #E# 6, 7, and in some copies of 'Lord Thomas and Fair Annet:' see that ballad, note to #A#.

[94] These citations, which might easily be extended, are many of them repeated from Grimm's Rechtsalterthümer, pp. 168-70 of the second edition. Sir Walter Scott has pointed out that on the occasion of the marriage of Maria of Burgundy with the Archduke Maximilian, in 1477, the marriage being by proxy, Ludwig, Pfalzgraf of Vendelz, the bridegroom's representative, was formally bedded with the bride, a naked sword being laid between them. Scott also refers to a play called The Jovial Crew, acted in 1641, in which one of the characters, to enrage another, proposes to be his proxy, marry his love for him, and lay a naked cudgel betwixt them: Sir Tristrem, p. 439, ed. 1833. In an Italian ballad the sword is reduced to a straw: Wolf, Volkslieder aus Venetien, No 95, Bolza, No 56, Ferraro, C. p. monferrini, No 76. In the Spanish and Portuguese romances of 'Gerineldo,' the sultan or king, having found the page asleep with the infanta, lays his sword between the two and retires: Duran, Nos 320, 321; Hardung, I, 101.

[95] Some of the Norse examples were derived from notes of Grundtvig, three others from Liebrecht. Grundtvig cites an ordinance of Frederic II of Denmark, dated 1586, to this effect: Whereas a custom has come in of having a dance during a wedding-repast, which dance those that sit behind the tables are asked to as well as others, and therefore are obliged to step on the tables, on which the victuals are still standing, and whereas this, indecorous of itself, might even prove dangerous to women-folk, and others, who should attempt to jump over the tables, now therefore dancing during meal-time is forbidden until dishes and tables shall have been cleared away: IV, 754. The table-jumping above is mostly done under great excitement, and at weddings, in order that the right parties may come together; but nimble young men in England seem to have taken this short way to their places habitually in old times. Liebrecht cites this curious passage from the Jests of Scogin, Hazlitt's Shakespeare Jest-Books, II, 105: "Scogin did mark the fashions of the court, and among all other things he did mark how men did leap over the table in the king's hall to sit down at dinner and supper, which is not used now." The first edition of Scogin's Jests is of 1565.

67

GLASGERION

#A.# 'Glasgerion,' Percy MS., p. 94; Hales and Furnivall,
I, 248.

#B.# 'Glenkindie,' Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 93.

#C.# Kinloch MSS, III, 139.

'Glasgerion' was first printed in Percy's Reliques, III, 43, 1765, and was not thought by the editor to require much correction. Certainly the English ballad is one which it would be hard to mend. Scottish #B# is mainly of good derivation (a poor old woman in Aberdeenshire), and has some good stanzas, but Jamieson unfortunately undertook to improve a copy in which the story was complete, but "the diction much humbled," by combining with it a fragment of another version. Dr John Hill Burton seems, in turn, to have compounded a portion of the ballad as printed by Jamieson with a fragment from tradition (#C#): Kinloch MSS, III, 147.

Cunningham, Songs of Scotland, II, 32, has fused Percy's and Jamieson's copies, as Motherwell remarks, "in a flux of his own which has disfigured and quite changed the features of each."

The grete Glascurion is joined in Chaucer's House of Fame, III, 113-118, with the harpers Orpheus, Orion (Arion), and Chiron, and with Orpheus again by Gavin Douglas, copying Chaucer, in his Palice of Honour, I, 21, vv 15, 16, ed. Small.

Y Bardd Glas Keraint, in English Keraint the Blue Bard (Blue Bard being an appellation of a chief bard, who wore an official robe of blue), is recorded, as Mr Edward Williams informs us, to have been an eminent poet of distinguished birth, son of Owain, Prince of Glamorgan. The English name Glasgerion, Mr Williams further remarks, differs not half so much from Glasgeraint as most Welsh names, as written by Englishmen, do from their true orthography. There is, therefore, at least no absurdity in the suggestion that the Glascurion of Chaucer and the Glasgerion of the ballad may represent the Welsh Glas Keraint.[96]

A peasant lad, tailor's lad, who had overheard the troth-plight of a knight and lady, anticipates the lover in 'Den fule Bondedreng,' Kristensen, II, 25-27; 'Torpardrängen,' Hazelius, Ur de Nordiska Folkens Lif, p. 138; 'Die Betrogene,' Norrenberg, Des dülkener Fiedlers Liederbuch, p. 79. The adventure is jocosely treated in the first two, and does not amount to a tragedy in the other. A groom forestalls Agilulf, King of the Lombards, in the Decameron, III, 2, again without a bloody conclusion.

The marvellous power of the harp in #B# 2, #C# 1 is precisely paralleled in the Scandinavian 'Harpans Kraft,' Arwidsson, No 149, II, 311-17; Afzelius, No 91, III, 144-47; Grundtvig, No 40, II, 65-68; Landstad, No 51, p. 475; Íslenzk Fornkvæði, No 3, p. 18 f. In these the fish is harped out of the water, the young from folk and from fee, the bairn from its mother's womb, the water from the brook, the hind from the wood, the horns from the hart's head, the bark from the tree, the dead out of the mould, etc., etc. These effects are of the same nature as those produced by the harp of Orpheus, and it is to be observed that in the ballad of 'Harpans Kraft' the harper is a bridegroom seeking (successfully) to recover his bride, who has been carried down to the depths of the water by a merman. We have had something like these effects in the 'Twa Brothers,' No 49, #B# 10, I, 439, where Lady Margaret harps the small birds off the briers and her true love out of the grave.[97] There is a fisherman in the Gesta Romanorum who has a harp so sweet that all the fish in the water come to his hand: Oesterley, No 85, p. 413, Madden, No 35, p. 116, No 8, p. 293. Equally potent is pipe, flute, or song in many ballads of various nations; the fish come up from below, the stars are stopped, the brook rises, the pines vail their top, the deer stops in its leap, etc., the musician being sometimes an elf, sometimes an inspired mortal: 'Hr. Tönne af Alsö,' Grundtvig, No 34, II, 15, 19, Afzelius, No 7, I, 33, 128; 'Elvehöj,' Grundtvig, No 46, II, 107-109, Afzelius, No 95, III, 170, Arwidsson, No 147, II, 301; Kudrun, ed. Bartsch, sts 379, 381, 388; the Roumanian 'Salga,' 'Mihu Copilul,' 'Vidra,' Stanley, p. 29, Alecsandri, pp 58, 66, 98 f, the same, Ballades et Chants populaires, pp 118, 168, Murray, pp 44, 53 f, 83; 'El Poder del Canto,' Milá, Romancerillo, No 207, p. 165, Nigra, Rivista Contemporanea, XX, 78; 'Conde Arnaldos,' Wolf and Hofmann, No 153, II, 80. For the soporific effect of such music, as shown in #B# 5, #C# 2, there are parallels in 'Albred Lykke,' who sings a ballad which sets everybody asleep but the young bride who had been stolen from him, Kristensen, I, 281, No 105, sts 11, 12, II, 259 f, No 76, sts 13, 14; 'Den fortryllende Sang,' Grundtvig, No 243, IV, 470, Danish #A# 12, 473, Swedish #G# 25, 26; 'El Rey marinero,' Milá, No 201, p. 151, Briz, I, 117, IV, 15, V, 75; Campbell's West Highland Tales, I, 291 f.

The oath by oak, ash, and thorn, #A# 18, is a relic or trait of high antiquity. We have an oath by the thorn in 'Fair Janet,' #G# 13, 'Young Hunting,' #K# 26; by corn, grass sae green and corn, in 'Young Hunting,' #A# 16, #D# 19, #G# 7. It is to be supposed that the tree, thorn, corn, was touched while swearing, a sod taken up in the hand. See Grimm's Rechtsalterthümer, 2d ed., p. 896 f, p. 117 f.

For drying the sword on the sleeve, #A# 22, see 'Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard.'

Translated by Bodmer, I, 73, after Percy; by Knortz, Lieder und Romanzen Alt-Englands, No 59, after Allingham, p. 358.

#A#

Percy MS., p. 94; Hales and Furnivall, I, 248.

1
Glasgerion was a kings owne sonne,
And a harp_er_ he was good;
He harped in the kings chamber,
Where cuppe and candle stoode,
And soe did hee in the queens chamber,
Till ladies waxed wood.

2
And then bespake the k_ing_s daughter,
And these words thus sayd shee:
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

3
Saide, Strike on, strike on, Glasgerrion,
Of thy striking doe not blinne;
There's neuer a stroke comes ou_er_ thin harpe
But it glads my hart w_i_thin.

4
'Faire might you fall, lady!' q_uo_th hee;
'Who taught you now to speak?
I haue loued you, lady, seuen yeere;
My hart I durst neere breake.'

5
'But come to my bower, my Glasgerryon,
When all men are att rest;
As I am a ladie true of my p_ro_mise,
Thou shalt bee a welcome guest.'

6
But hom then came Glasgerryon,
A glad man, Lord, was hee:
'And come thou hither, Iacke, my boy,
Come hither vnto mee.

7
'For the k_ing_s daughter of Normandye,
Her loue is granted mee,
And beffore the cocke haue crowen,
Att her chamber must I bee.'

8
'But come you hither m_aste_r,' q_uo_th hee,
'Lay yo_u_r head downe on this stone;
For I will waken you, m_aste_r deere,
Afore it be time to gone.'

9
But vpp then rose _tha_t lither ladd,
And did on hose and shoone;
A coller he cast vpon his necke,
Hee seemed a gentleman.

10
And when he came to _tha_t ladies chamber,
He thrild vpon a pinn;
The lady was true of her p_ro_mise,
Rose vp and lett him in.

11
He did not take the lady gay
To boulster nor to bedd,
But downe vpon her chamber-flore
Full soone he hath her layd.

12
He did not kisse _tha_t lady gay
When he came nor when he youd;
And sore mistrusted that lady gay
He was of some churlës blood.

13
But home then came _tha_t lither ladd,
And did of his hose and shoone,
And cast _tha_t coller from about his necke;
He was but a churlës sonne:
'Awaken,' q_uo_th hee, 'my m_aste_r deere,
I hold it time to be gone.