Chapter XV: Appendix (10)

6
'Oh is Fair Margaret in the kitchen?
Or is she in the hall?
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

7
'No, she is not in the kitchen,' they cryed,
'Nor is she in the hall;
But she is in the long chamber,
Laid up against the wall.'

8
Go with your right side to Newcastle,
And come with your left side home,
There you will see those two lovers
Lie printed on one stone.

* * * * *

#A. a.#

Fair Margaret's Misfortune, or, Sweet William's Frightful
Dreams on his Wedding Night. With the Sudden Death and
Burial of those Noble Lovers.... Printed for S. Bates,
at the Sun and Bible, in Gilt-Spur Street. _Sarah Bates
published about 1685. Chappell._

3^1. set.

4^1. lay.

5^4. Which causd him for to weep: _caught probably from
7^4. See the quotation in Beaumont and Fletcher, and the
other broadside copies._

13^2. my kin.

18^1. channel.

#b.# 1^1. out upon a day.

1^3. a long.

2^4. you shall.

3^4. a riding.

4^3. went away first from the.

4^4. more came.

5^4. And stood at William's bed-feet.

6^1. you true.

6^3. grass green.

6^4. I am.

9^4. thy bride-bed.

10^1. called his.

12^1. Then he.

12^3. she looks both.

14^1. the seven.

14^3, 15^1. brown dame.

16^2. Of white.

18^2. And William.

19^3. there they.

19^4. all the.

20^1. Then.

#c.# 2^3. at eight.

2^4. you shall.

3^3. She spyed.

3^4. a riding.

4^4. more came.

5^3. There came.

5^4. And stood at William's feet.

6^1. you lovers true.

6^4. I'm.

9^4. And they.

12^1. Then he.

14^1. the seven.

17. William dyed.

18^2. And William.

19^3. there they.

19^4. Made all the folke.

20^1. Then.

#d.#

_Variations not found in_ #c#: "Communicated by a lady
of the first distinction, as she had heard this song
repeated in her infancy."

3^2. Combing her yellow hair.

3^3. There she spyed.

4.
Then down she layd her ivory combe,
And braided her hair in twain;
She went alive out of her bower,
But neer came alive in't again.

6.
'Are you awake, Sweet William?' shee said,
'Or, Sweet William, are you asleep?
God give you joy of your gay bride-bed,
And me of my winding-sheet.'

11^3. And who so ready as her.

15^3. I neer made a vow to yonder poor corpse.

16.
'Deal on, deal on, my merry men all,
Deal on your cake and your wine;
For whatever is dealt at her funeral today
Shall be dealt tomorrow at mine.'

19^1. They grew till they grew unto the.

19^2. And then they.

19^3. they tyed.

19^4. the people.

#C.#

"The ballad of Sweet William," _writes Parsons to Percy_,
"was the same as yours in the stanzas I have omitted....
The person from whom I took the thirty-fifth line
[_thirty-first, here_ 4^3] sang it thus:

My chamber was full of wild men's wine,

which is absolute nonsense, yet, if altered to 'wild men
and swine,' is perfect sense."

[118] "The common title of this ballad, which is a favorite of the stalls, is 'Fair Margaret's Misfortunes:'" Motherwell, Minstrelsy, p. lxviii, note 18.

[119] Reliques, 1765, III, 121, 310.

75

LORD LOVEL

#A.# 'Lady Ouncebell,' communicated to Bishop Percy by
the Rev. P. Parsons, of Wye, 1770 and 1775.

#B.# 'Lord Lavel,' Kinloch MSS, I, 45.

#C.# 'Lord Travell,' communicated by Mr Alexander Laing,
of Newburgh-on-Tay.

#D.# 'Lord Lovel,' Kinloch MSS, VII, 83; Kinloch's
Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 31.

#E.# Communicated by Mr J. F. Campbell, of Islay, as
learned about 1850.

#F.# 'Lord Lovel,' communicated by Mr Robert White, of
Newcastle-on-Tyne.

#G.# 'Lord Revel,' Harris MS., fol. 28b.

#H.# 'Lord Lovel.' #a.# Broadside in Dixon's Ancient
Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England, p.
78, Percy Society, vol. XIX. #b.# Davidson's Universal
Melodist, I, 148.

#I.# Percy Papers, communicated by Principal Robertson.

#I# is made up of portions of several ballads. The first stanza is derived from 'Sweet William's Ghost,' the second and third possibly from some form of 'Death and the Lady,' 4-11 from 'Lady Maisry.' The eighth stanza of #E# should, perhaps, be considered as taken from 'Lord Thomas and Fair Annet,' since in no other copy of 'Lord Lovel' and in none of 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William' does the hero die by his own hand.

In 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William,' as also in 'Lord Thomas and Fair Annet,' a lover sacrifices his inclination to make a marriage of interest. In 'Lord Lovel' the woman dies, not of affection betrayed, but of hope too long deferred, and her laggard but not unfaithful lover sinks under his remorse and grief. 'Lord Lovel' is peculiarly such a ballad as Orsino likes and praises: it is silly sooth, like the old age. Therefore a gross taste has taken pleasure in parodying it, and the same with 'Young Beichan.' But there are people in this world who are amused even with a burlesque of Othello.[120]

There are several sets of ballads, very common in Germany and in Scandinavia, which, whether they are or are not variations of the same original, at least have a great deal in common with 'Lord Lovel' and 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William.'

Of these, one which more closely resembles the English is 'Der Ritter und die Maid,' of German origin, but found also further north.[121]

A knight and maid have been together till morning. She weeps; he tells her that he will pay for her honor, will give her an underling and money. She will have none but him, and will go home to her mother. The mother, on seeing her, asks why her gown is long behind and short before, and offers her meat and drink. The daughter refuses them, goes to bed, and dies. So far there is no dallying with the innocence of love, as in the English ballad; the German knight is simply a brutal man of pleasure. But now the knight has a dream, as in 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William;' it is that his love has died. He bids his squire or groom to saddle, and rides to find out what has happened. On his way he hears an ominous bell; further on he sees a grave digging; then he meets men carrying a bier. Set down the bier, he cries, that I may see my love. He turns back the cloth and looks at the dead. She has suffered for him, he will suffer for her. He draws his sword and runs it through his heart. They are buried in one coffin, or in the same grave. In some of the ballads lilies rise from the grave; in a Swedish version ('Jungfruns död'), a linden, the leaves of which intermingle.

Next to this we may put a Norwegian and a Swedish ballad, which, having perhaps lost something at the beginning, cannot safely be classed: 'Maarstíg aa hass möy,' Bugge, p. 127, No 26, A, B; 'Herr Malmstens dröm,' Afzelius, III, 104, No 85. Maarstíg dreams that his love's gold ring has got upon another finger, that her gold belt is off her lithe waist, her cloak or her hair is cut to bits, her shoes are full of blood; Malmsten that his love's heart breaks. The pages are ordered to saddle, and Maarstíg, or Malmsten, rides to find what there is in the dream. Maarstíg encounters two maids, who are just from a wake. "Who is dead?" "Maalfrí, thy sweet love." He rides on, meets the bier, bids the bearers set it down, and looks at the dead. Let them dig the grave, he cries, wide and deep, it shall be his bride-house; let them dig the grave deep and long, that is where bride and bridegroom shall go. He sets his sword against a stone, and falls on it. With slight variations, the course of the story is the same for Malmsten. Another Swedish ballad, 'Den sörjande,' Djurklou, p. 106, No 7, lacks even so much introduction as the dream. The lover orders his horse, hears the funeral bell, sees the grave-digging, meets the bier, looks at his dead mistress, and kills himself. A fragment in Dybeck's Runa, 1845, p. 15, begins with the ride and stops short of the death.

These last ballads apparently give us the middle and end of a story which has also some sort of beginning in the following: Danish, 'Den elskedes Død,' Kristensen, II, 39, No 20, A-D, and in many unprinted copies from oral tradition, besides two from MSS of the sixteenth century, communicated to me by Grundtvig; Swedish, 'Hertig Nils,' Arwidsson, II, 21, No 72, 'Peder Palleson,' Arwidsson, No 71, II, 18, 437; Norwegian, 'Herr Stragi,' Landstad, p. 537, No 61.[122] A lover and his mistress have parted, have been long parted. She is sick, dying, or even dead. In the Danish manuscript copies we are distinctly told that she has grieved herself to death on his account. Word is sent him by carrier-pigeons, a bird, a page; or he is informed by a spae-wife (Landstad). He leaps over the table, spilling mead and wine (Kristensen), and rides faster than the doves fly. The rest of the tale is much as before, with those minor diversities that are to be expected. The lover commonly kills himself, but dies of heart-break in 'Peder Palleson' and one of the sixteenth century Danish copies. In the latter he hears the bells, says he shall never arrive alive, dies without the house and she within; in the former the maid dies in the upper room, the swain on the wild moor. In the Danish manuscript copies the man is laid south in the churchyard, the maid north [west, east], two roses spring from their breasts and span the church-roof, and there they shall stay till doom; in Kristensen it is two lilies, in Arwidsson a linden.

With these last may belong a German ballad of a young Markgraf, who marries a very young wife, goes for her mother upon the approach of a threatening childbirth, and, returning, has encounters similar to those in 'Der Ritter und die Maid.' In some instances it is a Reiter, or Jäger, "wohlgemuth," not married, or in secret relations with his love, who, coming to a wood or heath, hears a bell that alarms him; etc. In the end he generally kills himself, sometimes dies of a broken heart. Lilies in several cases rise from the young woman's grave, or their grave.[123]

A Romaic ballad has the characteristic features of the English, German, and Scandinavian stories, with a beginning of its own, as these also have: 'Ἡ Ευγενουλα,' 'Ὁ Χαρος και ἡ Κορη,' etc. (1) Zambelios, p. 715, 2==Passow, No 415; (2) Passow, No 418; (3) Fauriel, p. 112, No 6==Passow, No 417; (4) Marcellus, II, 72==Passow, No 414; (5) Chasiotis, p. 169, No 5; (6) Passow, No 416; (7) Aravandinos, p. 285, No 472; (8) Tommaseo, III, 307 f; (9) Jeannaraki, p. 239, No 301; and no doubt elsewhere, for the ballad is a favorite. A young girl, who has nine brothers and is betrothed (or perhaps newly married) to a rich pallikar, professes not to fear Death. Death immediately shows his power over her. Her lover, coming with a splendid train to celebrate his nuptials, sees a cross on her mother's gate, a sign that some one has died. In (2) he lifts a gold handkerchief from the face of the dead, and sees that it is his beloved. Or he finds a man digging a grave, and asks for whom the grave is, and is told. "Make the grave deep and broad," he cries; "make it for two," and stabs himself with his dagger. A clump of reeds springs from one of the lovers, a cypress [lemon-tree] from the other, which bend one towards the other and kiss whenever a strong breeze blows.[124]

In a Catalan ballad, a young man hears funeral bells, asks for whom they ring, is told that it is for his love, rides to her house, finds the balcony hung with black, kneels at the feet of the dead, and uncovers her face. She speaks and tells him where his gifts to her may be found, then bids him order the carpenter to make a coffin large enough for two. He draws his dagger and stabs himself; there are two dead in one house! 'La mort de la Nuvia,' Briz y Candi, I, 135, Milá, Romancerillo, p. 321 f, No 337 #A#_{ll}, #B#_{ll}; found also in Majorca.

As will readily be supposed, some of the incidents of this series of ballads are found in traditional song in various connections.

* * * * *

#D# is translated by Grundtvig, Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, p. 194, No 29; by Rose Warrens, Schottische Volkslieder der Vorzeit, p. 115, No 25.

A

Percy Papers, communicated by the Rev. P. Parsons, of
Wye, from singing; May 22, 1770, and April 19, 1775.

1
'And I fare you well, Lady Ouncebell,
For I must needs be gone,
And this time two year I'll meet you again,
To finish the loves we begun.'

2
'That is a long time, Lord Lovill,' said she,
'To live in fair Scotland;'
'And so it is, Lady Ouncebell,
To leave a fair lady alone.'

3
He had not been in fair Scotland
Not half above half a year,
But a longin mind came into his head,
Lady Ouncebell he woud go see her.

4
He called up his stable-groom,
To sadle his milk-white stead;
Dey down, dey down, dey down dery down,
I wish Lord Lovill good speed.

5
He had not been in fair London
Not half above half a day,
But he heard the bells of the high chapel ring,
They rang with a ceserera.

6
He asked of a gentleman,
That set there all alone,
What made the bells of the high chapel ring,
The ladys make all their moan.

7
'One of the king's daughters are dead,' said he,
'Lady Ouncebell was her name;
She died for love of a courtous young night,
Lord Lovill he was the same.'

8
He caused her corps to be set down,
And her winding sheet undone,
And he made a vow before them all
He'd never kiss wowman again.

9
Lady Ouncebell died on the yesterday,
Lord Lovill on the morrow;
Lady Ouncebell died for pure true love,
Lord Lovill died for sorrow.

10
Lady Ouncebell was buried in the high chancel,
Lord Lovill in the choir;
Lady Ouncebell's breast sprung out a sweet rose,
Lord Lovill's a bunch of sweet brier.

11
They grew till they grew to the top of the church,
And then they could grow no higher;
They grew till they grew to a true-lover's not,
And then they tyed both together.

12
An old wowman coming by that way,
And a blessing she did crave,
To cut off a bunch of that true-lover's not,
And buried them both in one grave.

B

Kinloch MSS, I, 45, from the recitation of Mary Barr, of
Lesmahago, "aged upwards of 70," May, 1827.

1
Lord Lavel he stands at his stable-door,
Kaiming his milk-white steed;
And by and cam Fair Nancybelle,
And wished Lord Lavel good speed.

2
'O whare are ye going, Lord Lavel?' she said,
'I pray ye tell to me:'
'O I am going to merry England,
To win your love aff me.'

3
'And when will ye return again?' she said,
'Lord Lavel, pray tell to me:'
'Whan seven lang years are past and gane,
Fair Nancybelle, I'll return to thee.'

4
''T is too lang, Lord Lavel,' she said,
''T is too lang for me;
'T is too long, Lord Lavel,' she said,
'A true lover for to see.'

* * * * * * *

5
He had na been in merry England
A month but barely three,
Till languishing thoughts cam into his mind,
And Nancybelle fain wad he see.

6
He rade, and he rade, alang the hieway,
Till he cam to yonder toun;
He heard the sound o a fine chapel-bell,
And the ladies were mourning roun.

7
He rade, and he rade, alang the hieway,
Till he cam to yonder hall;
He heard the sound o a fine chapel-bell,
And the ladies were mourning all.

8
He asked wha it was that was dead,
The ladies did him tell:
They said, It is the king's daughter,
Her name is Fair Nancybelle;
She died for the love of a courteous young knicht,
His name is Lord Lavel.

9
'O hast thou died, Fair Nancybelle,
O hast thou died for me!
O hast thou died, Fair Nancybelle!
Then I will die for thee.'

10
Fair Nancybelle died, as it might be, this day,
Lord Lavel he died tomorrow;
Fair Nancybelle died with pure, pure love,
Lord Lavel he died with sorrow.

11
Lord Lavel was buried in Mary's kirk,
Nancybelle in Mary's quire;
And out o the ane there grew a birk,
Out the other a bonny brier.

12
And ae they grew, and ae they threw,
Until they twa did meet,
That ilka ane might plainly see
They war twa lovers sweet.

C

Communicated by Mr Alexander Laing, 1873, as taken down
from the recitation of Miss Fanny Walker, of Mount
Pleasant, near Newburgh-on-Tay.

1
Lord Travell stands in his stable-door,
Dressing his milk-white steed,
An bye comes Lady Ounceville:
'I wish you muckle speed.

2
'Oh whar are ye gaun, Lord Travell?' she says,
'Whar are gaun frae me?'
'I am gaun to London town,
Some strange things for to see.'

3
'Whan will ye be back, Lord Travell?' she says,
'Whan will ye be back to me?'
'I will be back in seven lang years,
To wed my gay ladie.'

4
'Oh that is too lang for me,' she says,
'Oh that is too lang for me;
Oh that is too lang for me,' she says,
'To wed thy gay ladie.'

5
He hadna been in London town
A week but only three,
Whan a boding voice thirld in his ear,
That Scotland he maun see.

6
He rade an he rode alang the highway,
Till he cam to yon little town:
'Oh is there ony body dead?
The bells they mak sic a sound.'

7
He rade an he rode alang the highway,
Till he cam to yon little town:
'Oh is there ony body dead?
The folk gae mournin round.'

8
'Oh yes indeed, there is ane dead,
Her name is Ounceville;
An she has died for a courteous knicht,
His name is Lord Travell.'

9
'Oh hand ye aboot, ye gentlemen,
The white bread an the wine,
For the morn's nicht aboot this time
Ye'll do the same for mine!'

D

Kinloch MSS, VII, 83, from the recitation of a lady of
Roxburghshire; Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 31.

1
Lord Lovel stands at his stable-door,
Mounted upon a grey steed,
And bye cam Ladie Nanciebel,
And wishd Lord Lovel much speed.

2
'O whare are ye going, Lord Lovel?
My dearest, tell unto me:'
'I am going a far journey,
Some strange countrey to see.

3
'But I'll return in seven long years,
Lady Nanciebel to see:'
'Oh seven, seven, seven long years,
They are much too long for me.'

* * * * * * *

4
He was gane about a year away,
A year but barely ane,
Whan a strange fancy cam intil his head
That faire Nanciebel was gane.

5
It's then he rade, and better rade,
Untill he cam to the toun,
And there he heard a dismal noise,
For the church bells au did soun.

6
He asked what the bells rang for;
They said, It's for Nanciebel;
She died for a discourteous squire,
And his name is Lord Lovel.

7
The lid of the coffin he opened up,
The linens he faulded doun,
And ae he kissd her pale, pale lips,
And the tears cam trinkling doun.

8
'Weill may I kiss these pale, pale lips,
For they will never kiss me;
I'll mak a vow, and I'll keep it true,
That I'll neer kiss ane but thee.'

9
Lady Nancie died on Tuesday's nicht,
Lord Lovel upon the niest day;
Lady Nancie died for pure, pure love,
Lord Lovel for deep sorraye.

E

Communicated by J. F. Campbell, Esq., as learned from the
singing of an English gentleman, about 1850.

1
'Now fare ye well, Lady Oonzabel,
For I must needs be gone,
To visit the king of fair Scotland,
Oh I must be up and ride.'

2
So he called unto him his little foot-page,
To saddle his milk-white steed;
Hey down, hey down, hey derry, hey down,
How I wish my Lord Lovel good speed!

3
He had not been in fair Scotland,
Not passing half a year,
When a lover-like thought came into his head,
Lady Oonzabel he would go see her.

4
So he called unto him his little foot-page,
To saddle his milk-white steed;
Hey down, hey down, hey derry, hey down,
How I wish my Lord Lovel good speed.

5
He had not been in fair England,
Not passing half a day,
When the bells of the high chappel did ring,
And they made a loud sassaray.

6
He asked of an old gentleman
Who was sitting there all alone,
Why the bells of the high chappel did ring,
And the ladies were making a moan.

7
'Oh, the king's fair daughter is dead,' said he;
'Her name's Lady Oonzabel;
And she died for the love of a courteous young knight,
And his name it is Lord Lovel.'

* * * * * * *

8
He caused the bier to be set down,
The winding sheet undone,
And drawing forth his rapier bright,
Through his own true heart did it run.

9
Lady Oonzabel lies in the high chappel,
Lord Lovel he lies in the quier;
And out of the one there grew up a white rose,
And out of the other a brier.

10
And they grew, and they grew, to the high chappel top;
They could not well grow any higher;
And they twined into a true lover's knot,
So in death they are joined together.

F

Communicated by Mr Robert White, of Newcastle-on-Tyne.

1
As Lord Lovel was at the stable-door,
Mounting his milk-white steed,
Who came by but poor Nancy Bell,
And she wished Lovel good speed.

2
'O where are ye going, Lord Lovel?' she said,
'How long to tarry from me?'
'Before six months are past and gone,
Again I'll return to thee.'

3
He had not been a twelvemonth away,
A twelvemonth and a day,
Till Nancy Bell grew sick and sad,
She pined and witherd away.

4
The very first town that he came to,
He heard the death-bell knell;
The very next town that he came to,
They said it was Nancy Bell.

5
He orderd the coffin to be broke open,
The sheet to be turned down,
And then he kissd her cold pale lips,
Till the tears ran tricklin down.

6
The one was buried in St. John's church,
The other in the choir;
From Nancy Bell sprang a bonny red rose,
From Lord Lovel a bonny briar.

7
They grew, and they grew, to the height o the church,
To they met from either side,
And at the top a true lover's knot
Shows that one for the other had died.

G

Harris MS., fol. 28 b, from the recitation of Mrs
Molison, Dunlappie.

1
Lord Revel he stands in his stable-door,
He was dressing a milk-white steed;
A lady she stands in her bour-door,
A dressin with haste an speed.

2
'O where are you goin, Lord Revel,' she said,
'Where are you going from me?'
'It's I am going to Lonnon toun,
That fair city for to see.'

3
'When will you be back, Lord Revel?' she said,
'When will you be back to me?'
'I will be back in the space of three years,
To wed you, my gey ladie.'

4
'That's too long a time for me,' she said,
'That's too long a time for me;
For I'll be dead long time ere that,
For want of your sweet companie.'

5
He had not been in Lonnon toun
A month but barely three,
When word was brought that Isabell
Was sick, an like to dee.

6
He had not been in Lonnon toun
A year but barely ane,
When word was brought from Lonnon toun
That Isabell was gane.

7
He rode an he rode along the high way,
Till he came to Edenborrow toon:
Is there any fair lady dead,' said he,
'That the bells gie such a tone?'

8
'Oh yes, there's a ladie, a very fine ladie,
Her name it is Isabell;
She died for the sake of a young Scottish knight,
His name it is Lord Revel.'

9
'Deal well, deal well at Isabell's burial
The biscuit and the beer,
An gainst the morrow at this same time
You'll aye deal mair and mair.

10
'Deal well, deal well at Isabell's burial
The white bread and the wine,
An gainst the morn at this same time
You'll deal the same at mine.'

11
They dealt well, dealt weel at Isabell's burial
The biscuit an the beer,
And gainst the morn at that same time
They dealt them mair an mair.

12
They dealt weel, dealt weel at Isabell's burial
The white bread an the wine,
An gainst the morn at that same time
They dealt the same again.

H

#a.# London broadside of 1846, in Dixon's Ancient Poems,
Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England, p. 78,
Percy Society, vol. XIX. #b.# Davidson's Universal
Melodist, I, 148.

1
Lord Lovel he stood at his castle-gate,
Combing his milk-white steed,
When up came Lady Nancy Belle,
To wish her lover good speed, speed,
To wish her lover good speed.

2
'Where are you going, Lord Lovel?' she said,
'Oh where are you going?' said she;
'I'm going, my Lady Nancy Belle,
Strange countries for to see.'

3
'When will you be back, Lord Lovel?' she said,
'Oh when will you come back?' said she;
'In a year or two, or three, at the most,
I'll return to my fair Nancy.'

4
But he had not been gone a year and a day,
Strange countries for to see,
When languishing thoughts came into his head,
Lady Nancy Belle he would go see.

5
So he rode, and he rode, on his milk-white steed,
Till he came to London town,
And there he heard St Pancras bells,
And the people all mourning round.

6
'Oh what is the matter?' Lord Lovel he said,
'Oh what is the matter?' said he;
'A lord's lady is dead,' a woman replied,
'And some call her Lady Nancy.'

7
So he ordered the grave to be opened wide,
And the shroud he turned down,
And there he kissed her clay-cold lips,
Till the tears came trickling down.

8
Lady Nancy she died, as it might be, today,
Lord Lovel he died as tomorrow;
Lady Nancy she died out of pure, pure grief,
Lord Lovel he died out of sorrow.

9
Lady Nancy was laid in St. Pancras church,
Lord Lovel was laid in the choir;
And out of her bosom there grew a red rose,
And out of her lover's a briar.

10
They grew, and they grew, to the church-steeple too,
And then they could grow no higher;
So there they entwined in a true-lover's knot,
For all lovers true to admire.

I

Percy Papers, communicated by Principal Robertson, the
historian.

1
There came a ghost to Helen's bower,
Wi monny a sigh and groan:
'O make yourself ready, at Wednesday at een,
Fair Helen, you must be gone.'

2
'O gay Death, O gallant Death,
Will you spare my life sae lang
Untill I send to merry Primrose,
Bid my dear lord come hame?'

3
'O gay Helen, O galant Helen,
I winna spare you sae lang;
But make yoursell ready, again Wednesday at een,
Fair Helen, you must be gane.'

4
'O where will I get a bonny boy,
That would win hose and shoon,
That will rin fast to merry Primrose,
Bid my dear lord come soon?'

5
O up and speak a little boy,
That would win hose and shoon:
'Aft have I gane your errants, lady,
But by my suth I'll rin.'

6
When he came to broken briggs
He bent his bow and swam,
And when he came to grass growing
He cast off his shoon and ran.

7
When he came to merry Primrose,
His lord he was at meat:
'O my lord, kend ye what I ken,
Right little wad ye eat.'

8
'Is there onny of my castles broken doun,
Or onny of my towers won?
Or is Fair Helen brought to bed
Of a doughter or a son?'

9
'There's nane of [your] castles broken doun,
Nor nane of your towers won,
Nor is Fair Helen brought to bed
Of a doghter or a son.'

10
'Gar sadle me the black, black steed,
Gar sadle me the brown;
Gar sadle me the swiftest horse
Eer carried man to town.'

11
First he bursted the bonny black,
And then he bursted the brown,
And then he bursted the swiftest steed
Eer carried man to town.

12
He hadna ridden a mile, a mile,
A mile but barelins ten,
When he met four and twenty gallant knights,
Carrying a dead coffin.

13
'Set down, set down Fair Helen's corps,
Let me look on the dead;'
And out he took a little pen-knife,
And he screeded the winding-sheet.

14
O first he kist her rosy cheek,
And then he kist her chin,
And then he kist her coral lips,
But there's nae life in within.

15
'Gar deal, gar deal the bread,' he says,
'The bread bat an the wine,
And at the morn at twelve o'clock
Ye's gain as much at mine.'

16
The tane was buried in Mary's kirk,
The tother in Mary's choir,
And out of the tane there sprang a birch,
And out of the tother a briar.

17
The tops of them grew far sundry,
But the roots of them grew neer,
And ye may easy ken by that
They were twa lovers dear.

* * * * *

#A.#

_The copy sent Percy in 1770 was slightly revised by
Parsons; the original was communicated in 1775._

3^3. along in.

4^4. coud speed.

6^3. make.

6^4. their mourn.

10^4. _Parsons corrects ~bunch~ to ~branch~._

#G.#

7^4. bell.

#H. a.#

10^1. church-steeple too, _perhaps a misprint for_ top.

#b.#

_This is an attempt to burlesque the broadside by
vulgarizing two or three words, as ~lovier~, ~buzzum~,
and inserting one stanza._

2^4, 4^2. Foreign countries.

3^3. In a year, or two or three, or four.

4^1. twelve months and a day.

6^3. dead, the people all said.

7^2. to be turned.

7^4. Whilst.

_After_ 7:

Then he flung his self down by the side of the corpse,
With a shivering gulp and a guggle;
Gave two hops, three kicks, heavd a sigh, blew his nose,
Sung a song, and then died in the struggle.

10^1. church-steeple top.

10^3. they twin'd themselves into.

#I.#

3^2. 'you,' _as if changed or supplied_.

5^2. _Crossed out. In a different hand_, Just at the
lady's chin.

7^4. would wad ye.

11^3. swifted.

13^4. _Perhaps_ scrieded.

[120] It can scarcely be too often repeated that such ballads as this were meant only to be sung, not at all to be recited. As has been well remarked of a corresponding Norwegian ballad, 'Lord Lovel' is especially one of those which, for their due effect, require the support of a melody, and almost equally the comment of a burden. No burden is preserved in the case of 'Lord Lovel,' but we are not to infer that there never was one. The burden, which is at least as important as the instrumental accompaniment of modern songs, sometimes, in these little tragedies, foreshadows calamity from the outset, sometimes, as in the Norwegian ballad referred to, is a cheerful-sounding formula, which in the upshot enhances by contrast the gloom of the conclusion. "A simple but life-like story, supported by the burden and the air, these are the means by which such old romances seek to produce an impression:" Landstad, to 'Herr Stragi,' p. 541.

[121] (1), 'Das Lied vom Herren und der Magd,' 1771, Düntzer u. Herder, Briefe Goethe's an Herder, I, 157. (2), 'Eyn klegliche Mordgeschicht, von ey'm Graven vnnde eyner Meyd,' Nicolai, Eyn feyner kleyner Almanach, 1777, I, 39, No 2; with variations, Kretzschmer, I, 89, No 54, Uhland, p. 220, No 97 A. (3), 'Der Ritter und das Mägdlein,' Erk, Liederhort, p. 81, No 26, a traditional variety of (2). (4), Wunderhorn, 1806, I, 50==Erlach, II, 531, Mittler, No 91. (5), 'Des Prinzen Reue,' Meinert, p. 218, 1817. (6), Alemannia, II, 185, after a manuscript of von Arnim. (7), Erk's edition of the Wunderhorn, IV, 304. (8), Hoffmann u. Richter, Schlesische Volkslieder, p. 9, No 4. (9), Erk u. Irmer, IV, 62, No 56. (10), 'Zu späte Reue,' Fiedler, p. 161. (11), 'Der Erbgraf,' Simrock, p. 33, No 12, compounded, but partly oral. (12), 'Der Ritter und seine Dame,' Pröhle, p. 19, No 13. (13), Meier, p. 316, No 177. (14-16), Ditfurth, II, 4-8, Nos 6, 7, 8. (17-22), Wagner, in Deutsches Museum, 1862, II, 758-68. (23), 'Der Herr und seine Dame,' Peter, I, 193, No 10. (24), Parisius, p. 33, No 10. (25), Adam Wolf, p. 11, No 6. (26), Alfred Müller, p. 98. (27), 'Die traurige Begegnung,' Paudler, p. 21, No 13.

Scandinavian, from the German: 'Ungersvennens Dröm,' Fagerlund, Anteckningar, p. 196; 'Jungfruns död,' Wigström, Folkdiktning, I, 52; and besides these Swedish copies, a Danish broadside, from the beginning of this century, which is very common. 'Stolten Hellelille,' "Tragica, No 22," 1657, Danske Viser, III, 184, No 130 (translated by Prior, III, 214), a somewhat artificial piece, has the outline of 'Der Ritter u. die Maid,' and is a hundred years older than any known copy of the German ballad.

A Wendish ballad, founded on the German, is very like (4): Haupt and Schmaler, I, 139, No 136.

A Dutch ballad, in the Antwerpener Liederbuch, No 45, Hoffmann, Niederländische Volkslieder, p. 61, No 15, Willems, p. 154, No 60, Uhland, No 97 B, has some points of the above, but is a very different story.

[122] There is a Finnish form of this ballad, probably derived from the Swedish; also another Swedish version in Westergötlands Fornminnesförenings Tidskrift, 1869, häfte 1, which I have not yet seen.

[123] (1), "Bothe, Frühlings-Almanach," p. 132, 1806; 'Hans Markgraf,' Büsching u. von der Hagen, p. 30; Erlach, II, 136; Mittler, No 133. (2), 'Alle bei Gott die sich lieben,' Wunderhorn, II, 250, 1808, Mittler, No 128. (3), 'Alle bei Gott die sich lieben,' Hoffmann u. Richter, p. 12, No 5, Mittler, No 132. (4), 'Der Graf u. die Bauerntochter,' Ditfurth, II, 8, No 9. (5), 'Vom jungen Markgrafen,' Pogatschnigg u. Hermann, II, 179, No 595. (6), 'Die junge Mutter,' Paudler, p. 22, No 14.

(7), 'Jungfer Dörtchen ist todt,' Parisius, p. 36, No 10. (8), 'Liebchens Tod,' Erk u. Irmer, VI, 4, No 2; Mittler, No 130. (9), 'Jägers Trauer,' Pröhle, p. 86, No 57; Mittler, No 129. (10), 'Das unverdiente Kränzlein,' Meinert, p. 32; Mittler, No 131. For plants springing from lovers' graves, as here and in Nos 73, 74, see vol. i, 96 ff.

[124] In (2) the lover is warned of mishap by a bird, and the bird is a nightingale, as in Kristensen, II, No 20 A. A bird of some sort figures in all the Danish ballads referred to, printed and unprinted, and in the Swedish 'Hertig Nils;' also in the corresponding Finnish ballad. The nightingale warns to the same effect in a French ballad, Beaurepaire, p. 52. The lover goes straight to his mistress's house, and learns that they are burying her; then makes for the cemetery, hears the bells, the priests chanting, etc., and approaches the bier. The dead gives him some information, followed by some admonition.

76

THE LASS OF ROCH ROYAL

#A.# 'Fair Isabell of Rochroyall,' Elizabeth Cochrane's
Song-Book, p. 151, No 114.

#B.# 'The Bonny Lass of Lochroyan, or Lochroyen,' Herd's
MSS, I, 144, II, 60; Herd's Scottish Songs, 1776, I, 149.

#C.# 'Lord Gregory,' Pitcairn's MSS, III, 1.

#D.# 'Fair Anny,' Jamieson-Brown MS., fol. 27; 'Fair
Annie of Lochroyan,' Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 36.

#E.# #a.# 'Love Gregor,' Alexander Fraser Tytler's
Brown MS., No 2. #b.# 'The Lass of Lochroyan,' Scott's
Minstrelsy, II, 49, 1802.

#F.# Herd's MSS, I, 31, II, 65.

#G.# 'Love Gregory,' Buchan's MSS, II, 149; Buchan's
Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 198; Dixon,
Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, Percy
Society, vol. xvii, p. 60.

#H.# 'The Lass of Aughrim,' an Irish version,
communicated by Mr G. C. Mahon, of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

#I.# 'Oh open the door, Lord Gregory,' Johnson's Museum,
I, 5, No 5, four stanzas.

#J.# Motherwell's Note-Book, p. 12, two stanzas.

#K.# Stenhouse's Johnson's Museum, IV, *107, one stanza.

* * * * *

#A#, never as yet published, is from a manuscript of the first half of the last century. #B#, the earliest printed copy, was given by Herd, from his manuscript, in 1776, with his usual fidelity. Scott followed, in 1802, with a copy obtained from Mrs Brown by Alexander Fraser Tytler in 1800, introducing six stanzas from #B# and five from #F#, and a few readings from two recited copies. This compounded copy is the one that is most generally known. Jamieson printed, in 1806, #D#, a version written down from Mrs Brown's recitation in 1783, giving it not quite _verbatim_, as he says (he changes, for instance, Rochroyal to Lochroyan), but in general adhering to his text. #E a#, the copy principally used by Scott, is, to a considerable extent, a repetition of #D#, but is by no means an imperfectly remembered version of its predecessor (which was written down seventeen years earlier), filled out by Mrs Brown's improvised inventions. #E a# has stanzas not found in #D#, two of which occur in #B#, and is to be regarded as a blending of two independent versions known to Mrs Brown, which no doubt had much in common, though not so much as #D# and #E a#. The whole of the fragment #F# has not been published hitherto, but five of the eight stanzas are interpolated into Scott's copy, including the two last, which are shown by the very style to be spurious. Fairy charms have been exercised on Lord Gregory, according to the final stanza of #F#, and Lord Gregory calls his dame "witch mother" in #C# 10. But there appears to be no call for magic or witchcraft in the case. A man who is asleep is simply not informed by an ill disposed mother that a woman whom he would like to see is at the door; that is all.[125]

#A#, the oldest copy, has a preliminary history wanting in the others. Isabel of Rochroyal has a dream about her lover. She orders her horse, to ride till she comes to some hold. She meets a company, who ask her questions about a first and a second young may, which _she_ seems to understand, but which are not made intelligible to us. They then ask whether she be Isabel of Rochroyal, and she answers that she is that same lady, banished from kith and kin; why, we are not informed, but we might conjecture that it would be on account of her relations with Love Gregory. She is directed to Gregory's castle, tirls at the pin, and begs admission. Gregory's mother answers as and for her son, and demands proofs of her being the lass of Rochroyal. These are given, and the mother says that Gregory is gone to sea. Hereupon Isabel breaks out into exclamations as to her helpless condition; who will take care of her? who will be the bairn's father till Gregory come home? The mother replies that she will do all that is necessary for her, but there is none to be her bairn's father till Gregory return. This is in itself unnatural, since the mother is hostile to her son's love, and it is counter to what we read in the other versions. In #B# as in #A#, to be sure, the lass is said to be banished from her kin, but her kin nevertheless show a disposition to do all that is in their power in the way of kind attentions. The other copies say nothing of her family being alienated. The father in #D# even furnishes his daughter with a bonny ship, to go to her true-love. If we seek to reconcile these accounts, we must take the banishment as a separation for which only the fates are responsible, and suppose that verses are lost in #A# after 17 which narrated Annie's return to her own family. The lass says, st. 22, that she will set her foot on ship-board, having been told by the mother, st. 17, that Gregory is on the sea. Gregory, in turn, has his dream, that his love has been knocking at the door, and his mother tells him that she has not been gone half an hour, and gets his curses for not informing him. Gregory orders his swiftest horse, to ride till he comes to some hold, and presently meets a funeral train who are carrying his love to burial. This conclusion, found also in #B#, #C#, is that of 'Lord Lovel' and 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William,' and must perhaps be set aside as not the original one. In #B# Gregory kills himself, as Lord Lovel does in one copy, #E#.

The whole story as #A# actually stands, notwithstanding that the lass says she will take ship, seems to pass on land. Two different relations may have been confounded. In the other versions Love Gregory is somewhere over sea, and in #B#, #F# his lass is indebted for his direction, not to a company who are raking over the lea, but to a sea-rover, who shows a consideration not to be looked for from his class.[126] The maid, repulsed by Gregory's mother, and supposing herself to be cast off by Gregory himself, sails away from his castle, and in #D#, #E# encounters a storm, and is wrecked. In #D# Gregory rushes to the strand near which his castle lies, sees Annie sailing away, witnesses the wreck of her vessel, plunges into the sea and brings her body to land, and dies of heartbreak. So in #E#, with the difference that Annie's body is thrown ashore by the waves, and that the tale does not finish with the death of Gregory, which we know must have followed.

Why the lovers are parted, why Gregory winna come to the lass, and she must go to him, is not accounted for in #C-G#. We may deduce from #A# and #B#, though the story in these versions as we have it is not altogether consistent, that the lass was banished from kith and kin on account of her connection with Gregory (which in #B# 16 and #H# 9 is said to have been irregular) and flying to her lover, found no acceptance with his mother.

Cunningham has rewritten this ballad, Scottish Songs, I, 298, and several songs have been composed on the story: by Burns and Dr Wolcott (Peter Pindar), Thomson's Select Melodies of Scotland, I, 37, ed. 1822; Jamieson, Popular Ballads, I, 46; and by an anonymous writer in a London periodical, cited by Dixon, Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, p. 99.

Roch- or Rough-royal, #A#, #D#, #E#, #F#, Ruchlawhill, #C#, I have not found, but there is a Rough castle in Stirlingshire. Loch Ryan runs up into the north-west corner of Wigtown, a shire at the south-west extremity of Scotland. Aughrim is in the county of Roscommon, Ireland.

As the mother in this ballad, feigning to be her son, requires the lady at the gate to legitimate herself by mentioning some of the tokens which have been exchanged between her and her lover, so in other ballads a wife demands conclusive proofs that a man claiming to be her long absent husband is what he pretends to be. E. g., some forms of the French ballad of 'Germaine:'

'Ouvre ta port', Germin', c'est moi qu'est ton mari.'
'Donnez-moi des indic's de la première nuit,
Et par là je croirai que vous êt's mon mari.'

'T'en souviens-tu, Germin', de la première nuit,
Où tu étais monté' sur un beau cheval gris,
Placée entre tes frèr's et moi ton favori?'

'Donnez-moi des indic's de la deuxième nuit,
Et par là je croirai que vous êt's mon mari,
Et par là je croirai que vous êt's mon mari.'

'T'en souviens-tu, Germin', de la deuxième nuit?
En te serrant les doigts ton anneau y cassa,
Tu en as la moitié, et l'autre la voilà.'

Champfleury, Chansons populaires des Provinces, p. 196.

Cf. Poésies pop. de la France, MS., IV, fol. 189; Puymaigre, p. 11, 2d ed., I, 50 f; Beaurepaire, p. 76; Fleury, p. 267; Rathery, in Le Moniteur, Aug. 26, 1853, p. 945 f, 'Le Sire de Créqui;' Wolf, Volkslieder aus Venetien, No 81, p. 59; Ferraro, Canti p. monferrini, No 26, p. 33. And again in Romaic: Ἡ Αναγνωρισις, etc.; Fauriel, II, 422-25; Tommaseo, III, 141-44, 148-50; Marcellus, Chants du Peuple en Grèce, I, 328; Schmidt, Griechische Märchen, u. s. w., p. 192, No 57; Chasiotis, p. 89, No 28; Zambelios, p. 718, No 5; Jeannaraki, p. 237, No 300; Aravandinos, pp 209, 211, Nos 347, 348; Passow, pp 321-28, Nos 441-446; Manousos, p. 103==Fauriel, II, 423. Several of the ballads in Passow are of course repetitions.[127]

* * * * *

#D# is translated, after Jamieson, by Grundtvig, Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, No 16; #E b#, Scott's compounded version, by Schubart, p. 93, Doenniges, p. 33, Gerhard, p. 21, Wolff, Halle der Völker, I, 52, and by Rosa Warrens, Schottische Volkslieder der Vorzeit, No 39, with a change or two from Aytoun; Allingham's compounded version by Knortz, Lieder u. Romanzen Alt-Englands, No 63.

A

#E.# Cochrane's Songbook, p. 151, No 114.

1
Fair Isabell of Rochroyall,
She dreamed where she lay,
She dreamd a dream of her love Gregory,
A litle before the day.

2
O huly, huly rose she up,
And huly she put on,
And huly, huly she put on
The silks of crimsion.

3
'Gar sadle me the black,' she sayes,
'Gar sadle me the broun;
Gar sadle me the swiftest steed
That ever rode the toun.

4
'Gar shoe him with the beat silver,
And grind him with the gold;
Gar put two bells on every side,
Till I come to some hold.'

5
She had not rode a mile, a mile,
A mile but barely three,
Till that she spyed a companie
Come rakeing oere the lee.

6
'O whether is this the first young may,
That lighted and gaed in;
Or is this the second young may,
That neer the sun shined on?
Or is this Fair Isabell of Roch Royall,
Banisht from kyth and kin.'

7
'O I am not the first young may,
That lighted and gaed in;
Nor neither am I the second young may,
That neer the sun shone on;

8
'But I'm Fair Isabell of Roch Royall
Banisht from kyth and kin;
I'm seeking my true-love Gregory,
And I woud I had him in.'

9
'O go your way to yon castle,
And ride it round about,
And there you'll find Love Gregory;
He's within, without any doubt.'

10
O she's away to yon castle,
She's tirled at the pin:
'O open, open, Love Gregory,
And let your true-love in.'

11
'If you be the lass of the Rochroyall,
As I trow not you be,
You will tell me some of our love-tokens,
That was betwixt you and me.'

12
'Have you not mind, Love Gregory,
Since we sat at the wine;
When we changed the rings off our fingers,
And ay the worst fell mine?

13
'Mine was of the massy gold,
And thine was of the tin;
Mine was true and trusty both,
And thine was false within.'

14
If you be [the] lass of the Roch Royall,
As I trow not you be,
You will tell me some other love-token
That was betwixt you and me.'

15
'Have you not mind, Love Gregory,
Since we sat at the wine,
We changed the smocks off our two backs,
And ay the worst fell mine?

16
'Mine was of the holland fine,
And thine was course and thin;
So many blocks have we two made,
And ay the worst was mine.'

17
'Love Gregory, he is not at home,
But he is to the sea;
If you have any word to him,
I pray you leave 't with me.'

* * * * * * *

18
'O who will shoe my bony foot?
Or who will glove my hand?
Or who will bind my midle jimp
With the broad lilly band?

19
'Or who will comb my bony head
With the red river comb?
Or who will be my bairn's father
Ere Gregory he come home?'

20
'O I's gar shoe thy bony foot,
And I's gar glove thy hand,
And I's gar bind thy midle jimp
With the broad lilly band.

21
'And I's gar comb thy bony head
With the red river comb;
But there is none to be thy bairn's father
Till Love Gregory he come home.

22
'I'll set my foot on the ship-board,
God send me wind and more!
For there's never a woman shall bear a son
Shall make my heart so sore.'

23
'I dreamed a dream now since yestreen,
That I never dreamed before;
I dreamd that the lass of the Rochroyall
Was knocking at the door.'

24
'Ly still, ly still, my é dear son,
Ly still, and take a sleep;
For it's neither ane hour, nor yet a half,
Since she went from the gate.'

25
'O wo be to you, ill woman,
And ane ill death mott you die!
For you might have come to my bed-side,
And then have wakened me.

26
'Gar sadle me the black,' he sayes,
'Gar sadle me the broun;
Gar sadle me the swiftest steed
That ever rode the toun.

27
'Gar shoe him with the beat silver,
Gar grind him with the gold;
Cause put two bells on every side,
Till I come to some hold.'

28
They sadled him the black, the black,
So did they him the broun;
So did they him the swiftest steed
That ever rode to toun.

29
They shoed him with the beat silver,
They grind him with the gold;
They put two bells on every side,
Till he came to some hold.

30
He had not rode a mile, a mile,
A mile but barely three,
Till that he spyed her comely corps
Come raking oere the lee.

31
'Set doun, set doun these comely corps,
Let me look on the dead:'
And out he's ta'en his little pen-knife,
And slitted her winding sheet.

32
And first he kist her cheek, her cheek,
And then he kist her chin;
And then he kist her rosy lips,
But there was no breath within.

33
'Gar deall, gar deall for my love sake
The spiced bread and the wine;
For ere the morn at this time
So shall you deall for mine.

34
'Gar deall, gar deall for my love sake
The pennys that are so small;
For ere the morn at this time,
So shall you deall for all.'

35
The one was buried in Mary kirk,
The other in Mary quire;
Out of the one there sprung a birk,
Out of the other a bryar;
So thus you may well know by that
They were two lovers dear.

B

Herd's MS, I, 144; II, 60, the first ten lines; Herd's
Scottish Songs, 1776, I, 149.

1
'O wha will shoe thy bonny feet?
Or wha will glove thy hand?
Or wha will lace thy midle jimp,
With a lang, lang London whang?

2
'And wha will kame thy bonny head,
With a tabean brirben kame?
And wha will be my bairn's father,
Till Love Gregory come hame?'

3
'Thy father'll shoe his bonny feet,
Thy mither'll glove his hand;
Thy brither will lace his middle jimp,
With a lang, lang London whang.

4
'Mysel will kame his bonny head,
With a tabean brirben kame;
And the Lord will be the bairn's father,
Till Love Gregory come hame.'

5
Then she's gart build a bonny ship,
It's a' cored oer with pearl,
And at every needle-tack was in't
There hang a siller bell.

6
And she's awa ...
To sail upon the sea;
She's gane to seek Love Gregory,
In lands whereer he be.

7
She hadna saild a league but twa,
O scantly had she three,
Till she met with a rude rover,
Was sailing on the sea.

8
'O whether is thou the Queen hersel,
Or ane o her maries three?
Or is thou the lass of Lochroyan,
Seeking Love Gregory?'

9
'O I am not the Queen hersell,
Nor ane o her maries three;
But I am the lass o Lochroyan,
Seeking Love Gregory.

10
'O sees na thou yone bonny bower?
It's a' cored oer with tin;
When thou hast saild it round about,
Love Gregory is within.'