46CAPTAIN WEDDERBURN'S COURTSHIP

Broadside, printed for P. Brooksby, at the Golden Ball in Pye-corner (1672-95).

1I'll tell you a story, a story anon,Of a noble prince, and his name was King John;For he was a prince, and a prince of great might,He held up great wrongs, he put down great right.Derry down, down hey, derry down2I'll tell you a story, a story so merry,Concerning the Abbot of Canterbury,And of his house-keeping and high renown,Which made him resort to fair London town.3'How now, father abbot? 'T is told unto meThat thou keepest a far better house than I;And for [thy] house-keeping and high renown,I fear thou has treason against my crown.'4'I hope, my liege, that you owe me no grudgeFor spending of my true-gotten goods:''If thou dost not answer me questions three,Thy head shall be taken from thy body.5'When I am set so high on my steed,With my crown of gold upon my head,Amongst all my nobility, with joy and much mirth,Thou must tell me to one penny what I am worth.6'And the next question you must not flout,How long I shall be riding the world about;And the third question thou must not shrink,But tell to me truly what I do think.'7'O these are hard questions for my shallow wit,For I cannot answer your grace as yet;But if you will give me but three days space,I'll do my endeavor to answer your grace.'8'O three days space I will thee give,For that is the longest day thou hast to live.And if thou dost not answer these questions right,Thy head shall be taken from thy body quite.'9And as the shepherd was going to his fold,He spy'd the old abbot come riding along:'How now, master abbot? You'r welcome home;What news have you brought from good King John?'10'Sad news, sad news I have thee to give,For I have but three days space for to live;If I do not answer him questions three,My head will be taken from my body.11'When he is set so high on his steed,With his crown of gold upon his head,Amongst all his nobility, with joy and much mirth,I must tell him to one penny what he is worth.12'And the next question I must not flout,How long he shall be riding the world about;And the third question I must not shrink,But tell him truly what he does think.'13'O master, did you never hear it yet,That a fool may learn a wiseman wit?Lend me but your horse and your apparel,I'll ride to fair London and answer the quarrel.'14'Now I am set so high on my steed,With my crown of gold upon my head,Amongst all my nobility, with joy and much mirth,Now tell me to one penny what I am worth.'15'For thirty pence our Saviour was sold,Amongst the false Jews, as you have been told,And nine and twenty's the worth of thee,For I think thou are one penny worser than he.'16'And the next question thou mayst not flout;How long I shall be riding the world about.''You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same,Until the next morning he rises again,And then I am sure you will make no doubtBut in twenty-four hours you'l ride it about.'17'And the third question you must not shrink,But tell me truly what I do think.''All that I can do, and 't will make you merry;For you think I'm the Abbot of Canterbury,But I'm his poor shepherd, as you may see,And am come to beg pardon for he and for me.'18The king he turned him about and did smile,Saying, Thou shalt be the abbot the other while:'O no, my grace, there is no such need,For I can neither write nor read.'19'Then four pounds a week will I give unto theeFor this merry jest thou hast told unto me;And tell the old abbot, when thou comest home,Thou hast brought him a pardon from good King John.'

2I'll tell you a story, a story so merry,Concerning the Abbot of Canterbury,And of his house-keeping and high renown,Which made him resort to fair London town.

3'How now, father abbot? 'T is told unto meThat thou keepest a far better house than I;And for [thy] house-keeping and high renown,I fear thou has treason against my crown.'

4'I hope, my liege, that you owe me no grudgeFor spending of my true-gotten goods:''If thou dost not answer me questions three,Thy head shall be taken from thy body.

5'When I am set so high on my steed,With my crown of gold upon my head,Amongst all my nobility, with joy and much mirth,Thou must tell me to one penny what I am worth.

6'And the next question you must not flout,How long I shall be riding the world about;And the third question thou must not shrink,But tell to me truly what I do think.'

7'O these are hard questions for my shallow wit,For I cannot answer your grace as yet;But if you will give me but three days space,I'll do my endeavor to answer your grace.'

8'O three days space I will thee give,For that is the longest day thou hast to live.And if thou dost not answer these questions right,Thy head shall be taken from thy body quite.'

9And as the shepherd was going to his fold,He spy'd the old abbot come riding along:'How now, master abbot? You'r welcome home;What news have you brought from good King John?'

10'Sad news, sad news I have thee to give,For I have but three days space for to live;If I do not answer him questions three,My head will be taken from my body.

11'When he is set so high on his steed,With his crown of gold upon his head,Amongst all his nobility, with joy and much mirth,I must tell him to one penny what he is worth.

12'And the next question I must not flout,How long he shall be riding the world about;And the third question I must not shrink,But tell him truly what he does think.'

13'O master, did you never hear it yet,That a fool may learn a wiseman wit?Lend me but your horse and your apparel,I'll ride to fair London and answer the quarrel.'

14'Now I am set so high on my steed,With my crown of gold upon my head,Amongst all my nobility, with joy and much mirth,Now tell me to one penny what I am worth.'

15'For thirty pence our Saviour was sold,Amongst the false Jews, as you have been told,And nine and twenty's the worth of thee,For I think thou are one penny worser than he.'

16'And the next question thou mayst not flout;How long I shall be riding the world about.''You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same,Until the next morning he rises again,And then I am sure you will make no doubtBut in twenty-four hours you'l ride it about.'

17'And the third question you must not shrink,But tell me truly what I do think.''All that I can do, and 't will make you merry;For you think I'm the Abbot of Canterbury,But I'm his poor shepherd, as you may see,And am come to beg pardon for he and for me.'

18The king he turned him about and did smile,Saying, Thou shalt be the abbot the other while:'O no, my grace, there is no such need,For I can neither write nor read.'

19'Then four pounds a week will I give unto theeFor this merry jest thou hast told unto me;And tell the old abbot, when thou comest home,Thou hast brought him a pardon from good King John.'

Not divided into stanzas in the MS.33, 35, 62, 85, 152, 222, 244, 273, 312, 374.Arabic numerals are expressed in letters.141. thy court.242. worth 29 pence.312. patten.314. caming.354. 50_{:}11.376. 350_{:}11.

Not divided into stanzas in the MS.

33, 35, 62, 85, 152, 222, 244, 273, 312, 374.Arabic numerals are expressed in letters.

141. thy court.

242. worth 29 pence.

312. patten.

314. caming.

354. 50_{:}11.

376. 350_{:}11.

51, 111, 141. on my [his] steed so high.71. my sh ow.111. sat.123. thou must.194. K. John.

51, 111, 141. on my [his] steed so high.

71. my sh ow.

111. sat.

123. thou must.

194. K. John.

FOOTNOTES:[376]A New Ballad of King John and the Abbot of Canterbury. To the Tune of The King and the Lord Abbot. With allowance. Ro. L'Estrange. Printed for P. Brooksby at the Golden Ball in Pye-corner.[377]The King and the Bishop, or,Unlearned Men hard matters out can findWhen Learned Bishops Princes eyes do blind.To the Tune of Chievy Chase. Printed for F. Coles, T. Vere, and J. Wright (1655-80). Printed for J. Wright, Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T. Passenver.The Old Abbot and King Olfrey. To the tune of the Shaking of the Sheets. Printed by and for A. M., and sold by the booksellers of London.J. Wright's date is 1650-82, T. Passinger's, 1670-82. Chappell.[378]Printed by J. M. for C. D., at the Stationers Armes within Aldgate. C. D. is, no doubt, C. Dennison, who published 1685-89. See Chappell, The Roxburghe Ballads, I, xix.[379]Among these, St Bittel for St Andrew ofA26, with the note, "meaning probably St Botolph:" why "probably"?[380]This story serves as a gloss on 2 Chronicles, ii, 13, 14, where Hiram sends Solomon a cunning Tyrian, skilful to find out every device which shall be put to him by the cunning men of Jerusalem. The Queen of Sheba's hard questions to Solomon, not specified in 1 Kings, x, 1-13, were, according to tradition, of the same general character as the Indian ones spoken of at p. 12. See Hertz, Die Rätsel der Königin von Saba, Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum, XXVII, 1 ff.[381]These are proper riddles, and of a kind still current in popular tradition. See, e. g., Svend Vonved, Grundtvig, I, 237 f. There are thirty-five, before the last, in the oldest text, given, with a translation, by Vigfusson and Powell, Corpus Poeticum Boreale, 'King Heidrek's Riddles,' I, 86 ff.[382]Sacchetti's life extended beyond 1400, or perhaps beyond 1410.[383]The form of the third question is slightly varied at first ¿Cuál es el error en que yo estoy pensando? But when put to the herdsman the question is simply ¿En qué estoy yo pensando? I was pointed to this story by Seidemann, in Archiv für Litteraturgeschichte, IX, 423. Trueba's C. P. forms vol. 19 of Brockhaus's Coleccion de Autores Españoles.[384]The editor of the Grand Parangon, at p. xiii, cites from an older source an anecdote of a king insisting upon being told how much he ought to bring if offered for sale. While his courtiers are giving flattering replies, a fool leaps forward and says, Twenty-nine deniers, and no more; for if you were worth thirty, that would be autant que le tout-puissant Dieu valut, quant il fut vendu. The king took this answer to heart, and repented of his vanities. So an emperor is converted by this reply from a man-at-arms, Van den verwenden Keyser, Jan van Hollant, c. 1400, Willems, Belgisch Museum, X, 57; Thijm, p. 145. The like question and answer, as a riddle, in a German MS. of the fifteenth century, and in Questions énigmatiques, Lyon, 1619; Köhler, in Weimarisches Jahrbuch, V, 354 ff.[385]In Prussia Frederick the Great plays the part of Gustavus. Sepp, p. 558.[386]Another Swabian story, in Meier, No 28, p. 99, is a mixed form. The Duke of Swabia reads "Hans sans cares" over a miller's house-door, and says, "Bide a wee: if you have no cares, I will give you some." The duke, to give the miller a taste of what care is, says he must solve this riddle or lose his mill: Come to me neither by day nor by night, neither naked nor clothed, neither on foot nor on horseback. The miller promises his man his daughter in marriage and the mill in succession, if he will help him out of his dilemma. The man at once says, Go on Mid-week, for Mid-week is no day (Mitt-woch ist ja gar kein Tag, wie Sonn-tag, Mon-tag), neither is it night; and if you are to be neither clothed nor bare, put on a fishing-net; and if you are to go neither on foot nor on horseback, ride to him on an ass. All but the beginning of this is derived from the cycle of 'The Clever Wench:' see No 2. Haltrich, Deutsche Volksmärchen in Siebenbürgen, No 45, which is also of this cycle, has taken up a little of 'Hans ohne Sorgen.' A church has an inscription, Wir leben ohne Sorgen. This vexes the king, who says as before, Just wait, and I will give you reason for cares, p. 244, ed. 1856.[387]These two stories were communicated to me by Mr Ralston.[388]In the beginning there is a clear trace of the Oriental tales of 'The Clever Lass' cycle.

[376]A New Ballad of King John and the Abbot of Canterbury. To the Tune of The King and the Lord Abbot. With allowance. Ro. L'Estrange. Printed for P. Brooksby at the Golden Ball in Pye-corner.

[377]The King and the Bishop, or,Unlearned Men hard matters out can findWhen Learned Bishops Princes eyes do blind.To the Tune of Chievy Chase. Printed for F. Coles, T. Vere, and J. Wright (1655-80). Printed for J. Wright, Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T. Passenver.The Old Abbot and King Olfrey. To the tune of the Shaking of the Sheets. Printed by and for A. M., and sold by the booksellers of London.J. Wright's date is 1650-82, T. Passinger's, 1670-82. Chappell.

[377]The King and the Bishop, or,

Unlearned Men hard matters out can findWhen Learned Bishops Princes eyes do blind.

To the Tune of Chievy Chase. Printed for F. Coles, T. Vere, and J. Wright (1655-80). Printed for J. Wright, Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T. Passenver.

The Old Abbot and King Olfrey. To the tune of the Shaking of the Sheets. Printed by and for A. M., and sold by the booksellers of London.

J. Wright's date is 1650-82, T. Passinger's, 1670-82. Chappell.

[378]Printed by J. M. for C. D., at the Stationers Armes within Aldgate. C. D. is, no doubt, C. Dennison, who published 1685-89. See Chappell, The Roxburghe Ballads, I, xix.

[379]Among these, St Bittel for St Andrew ofA26, with the note, "meaning probably St Botolph:" why "probably"?

[380]This story serves as a gloss on 2 Chronicles, ii, 13, 14, where Hiram sends Solomon a cunning Tyrian, skilful to find out every device which shall be put to him by the cunning men of Jerusalem. The Queen of Sheba's hard questions to Solomon, not specified in 1 Kings, x, 1-13, were, according to tradition, of the same general character as the Indian ones spoken of at p. 12. See Hertz, Die Rätsel der Königin von Saba, Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum, XXVII, 1 ff.

[381]These are proper riddles, and of a kind still current in popular tradition. See, e. g., Svend Vonved, Grundtvig, I, 237 f. There are thirty-five, before the last, in the oldest text, given, with a translation, by Vigfusson and Powell, Corpus Poeticum Boreale, 'King Heidrek's Riddles,' I, 86 ff.

[382]Sacchetti's life extended beyond 1400, or perhaps beyond 1410.

[383]The form of the third question is slightly varied at first ¿Cuál es el error en que yo estoy pensando? But when put to the herdsman the question is simply ¿En qué estoy yo pensando? I was pointed to this story by Seidemann, in Archiv für Litteraturgeschichte, IX, 423. Trueba's C. P. forms vol. 19 of Brockhaus's Coleccion de Autores Españoles.

[384]The editor of the Grand Parangon, at p. xiii, cites from an older source an anecdote of a king insisting upon being told how much he ought to bring if offered for sale. While his courtiers are giving flattering replies, a fool leaps forward and says, Twenty-nine deniers, and no more; for if you were worth thirty, that would be autant que le tout-puissant Dieu valut, quant il fut vendu. The king took this answer to heart, and repented of his vanities. So an emperor is converted by this reply from a man-at-arms, Van den verwenden Keyser, Jan van Hollant, c. 1400, Willems, Belgisch Museum, X, 57; Thijm, p. 145. The like question and answer, as a riddle, in a German MS. of the fifteenth century, and in Questions énigmatiques, Lyon, 1619; Köhler, in Weimarisches Jahrbuch, V, 354 ff.

[385]In Prussia Frederick the Great plays the part of Gustavus. Sepp, p. 558.

[386]Another Swabian story, in Meier, No 28, p. 99, is a mixed form. The Duke of Swabia reads "Hans sans cares" over a miller's house-door, and says, "Bide a wee: if you have no cares, I will give you some." The duke, to give the miller a taste of what care is, says he must solve this riddle or lose his mill: Come to me neither by day nor by night, neither naked nor clothed, neither on foot nor on horseback. The miller promises his man his daughter in marriage and the mill in succession, if he will help him out of his dilemma. The man at once says, Go on Mid-week, for Mid-week is no day (Mitt-woch ist ja gar kein Tag, wie Sonn-tag, Mon-tag), neither is it night; and if you are to be neither clothed nor bare, put on a fishing-net; and if you are to go neither on foot nor on horseback, ride to him on an ass. All but the beginning of this is derived from the cycle of 'The Clever Wench:' see No 2. Haltrich, Deutsche Volksmärchen in Siebenbürgen, No 45, which is also of this cycle, has taken up a little of 'Hans ohne Sorgen.' A church has an inscription, Wir leben ohne Sorgen. This vexes the king, who says as before, Just wait, and I will give you reason for cares, p. 244, ed. 1856.

[387]These two stories were communicated to me by Mr Ralston.

[388]In the beginning there is a clear trace of the Oriental tales of 'The Clever Lass' cycle.

A. a.'I'll no ly neist the wa,' Herd's MS., I, 161.b.'She'll no ly neist [the] wa,' the same, II, 100.B. a.'The Earl of Rosslyn's Daughter,' Kinloch MSS, I, 83.b.'Lord Roslin's Daughter,' Lord Roslin's Daughter's Garland, p. 4.c.'Lord Roslin's Daughter,' Buchan's MSS, II, 34.d.'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship,' Jamieson's Popular Ballads, II, 159.e.Harris MS., fol. 19 b, No 14.f.Notes and Queries, 2d S., IV, 170.C.'The Laird of Roslin's Daughter,' Sheldon's Minstrelsy of the English Border, p. 232.

A. a.'I'll no ly neist the wa,' Herd's MS., I, 161.b.'She'll no ly neist [the] wa,' the same, II, 100.

B. a.'The Earl of Rosslyn's Daughter,' Kinloch MSS, I, 83.b.'Lord Roslin's Daughter,' Lord Roslin's Daughter's Garland, p. 4.c.'Lord Roslin's Daughter,' Buchan's MSS, II, 34.d.'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship,' Jamieson's Popular Ballads, II, 159.e.Harris MS., fol. 19 b, No 14.f.Notes and Queries, 2d S., IV, 170.

C.'The Laird of Roslin's Daughter,' Sheldon's Minstrelsy of the English Border, p. 232.

A copy of this ballad was printed in The New British Songster, a Collection of Songs, Scots and English, with Toasts and Sentiments for the Bottle, Falkirk, 1785: see Motherwell, p. lxxiv.[389]Few were more popular, says Motherwell, and Jamieson remarksthat 'Captain Wedderburn' was equally in vogue in the north and the south of Scotland.

Jamieson writes to the Scots Magazine, 1803, p. 701: "Of this ballad I have got one whole copy and part of another, and I remember a good deal of it as I have heard it sung in Morayshire when I was a child." In his Popular Ballads, II, 154, 1806, he says that the copy which he prints was furnished him from Mr Herd's MS. by the editor of the Border Minstrelsy, and that he had himself supplied a few readings of small importance from his own recollection. There is some inaccuracy here. The version given by Jamieson is ratherB, with readings fromA.

We have had of the questions six,A11, 12, What is greener than the grass? in No 1,A15,C13,D5; What's higher than the tree? inC9,D1; What's war than a woman's wiss? ("than a womanwas")A15,C13,D5; What's deeper than the sea?A13,B8,C9,D1. Of the three dishes,A8, 9, we have the bird without a gall in Ein Spil von den Freiheit, Fastnachtspiele aus dem 15nJhdt, II, 558, v. 23,[390]and the two others in the following song, from a manuscript assigned to the fifteenth century, and also preserved in several forms by oral tradition:[391]Sloane MS., No 2593, British Museum; Wright's Songs and Carols, 1836, No 8; as printed for the Warton Club, No xxix, p. 33.

I have a ȝong suster fer beȝondyn the se,Many be the drowryis that che sente me.Che sente me the cherye, withoutyn ony ston,And so che dede [the] dowe, withoutyn ony bon.Sche sente me the brere, withoutyn ony rynde,Sche bad me love my lemman withoute longgyng.How xuld ony cherye be withoute ston?And how xuld ony dowe ben withoute bon?How xuld any brere ben withoute rynde?How xuld y love myn lemman without longyng?Quan the cherye was a flour, than hadde it non ston;Quan the dowe was an ey, than hadde it non bon.Quan the brere was onbred, than hadde it non rynd;Quan the mayden haȝt that che lovit, che is without longyng.

I have a ȝong suster fer beȝondyn the se,Many be the drowryis that che sente me.

Che sente me the cherye, withoutyn ony ston,And so che dede [the] dowe, withoutyn ony bon.

Sche sente me the brere, withoutyn ony rynde,Sche bad me love my lemman withoute longgyng.

How xuld ony cherye be withoute ston?And how xuld ony dowe ben withoute bon?

How xuld any brere ben withoute rynde?How xuld y love myn lemman without longyng?

Quan the cherye was a flour, than hadde it non ston;Quan the dowe was an ey, than hadde it non bon.

Quan the brere was onbred, than hadde it non rynd;Quan the mayden haȝt that che lovit, che is without longyng.

'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship,' or 'Lord Roslin's Daughter,'[392]is a counterpart of the ballad in which a maid wins a husband by guessing riddles. (See Nos 1 and 2, and also the following ballad, for a lady whogivesriddles.) The ingenious suitor, though not so favorite a subject as the clever maid, may boast that he is of an old and celebrated family. We find him in the Gesta Romanorum, No 70; Oesterley, p. 383, Madden's English Versions, No 35, p. 384. A king had a beautiful daughter, whom he wished to dispose of in marriage; but she had made a vow that she would accept no husband who had not achieved three tasks: to tell her how many feet long, broad, and deep were the four elements; to change the wind from the north; to take fire into his bosom, next the flesh, without harm. The king issued a proclamation in accordance with these terms. Many tried and failed, but at last there came a soldier who succeeded. To answer the first question he made his servant lie down, and measured him from head to foot. Every living being is composed of the four elements, he said, and I find not more than seven feet in them. A very easy way was hit on for performing the second task: the soldier simply turned his horse's head to the east, and, since wind is the life of every animal, maintained that he had changed the wind. The king was evidently not inclined to be strict, and said, Clear enough. Let us go on to the third. Then, by the aid of a stone which he always carried about him, the soldier put handfuls of burning coals into his bosom without injury. The king gave his daughter to the soldier.

An extraordinary ballad in Sakellarios's [Greek:Kypriaka] III, 15, No 6, 'The Hundred Sayings,' subjects a lover to a severe probation of riddles. (Liebrecht has given a full abstract of the story in Gosche's Archiv, II, 29.) A youth is madly enamored of a king's daughter, but, though his devotion knows no bound, cannot for a long time get a word from her mouth, and then only disdain. She shuts herself up in a tower. He prays for a heat that may force her to come to the window, and that she may drop her spindle, and he be the only one to bring it to her. The heavens are kind: all this comes to pass, and she is fain to beg him to bring her the spindle. She asks, Can you do what I say? Shoulder a tower? make a stack of eggs? trim a date-tree, standing in a great river?[393]All this he can do. She sends him away once and again to learn various things; last of all, the hundred sayings that lovers use. He presents himself for examination. "One?" "There is one only God: may he help me!" "Two?" "Two doves with silver wings are sporting together: I saw how they kissed," etc. "Three?" "Holy Trinity, help me to love the maid!" "Four?" "There is a four-pointed cross on thy smock, and it implores God I may be thy mate:" and so he is catechised through all the units and tens.[394]Then the lady suddenly turns about, concedes everything, and proposes that they shall go to church: but the man says, If I am to marry all my loves, I have one in every town, and wife and children in Constantinople. They part with reciprocal scurrilities.

Usually when the hand of a princess is to be won by the performance of tasks, whether requiring wit, courage, the overcoming of magic arts, or what not, the loss of your head is the penalty of failure. (See the preface to the following ballad.) Apollonius of Tyre, of Greek original, but first found in a Latin form, is perhaps the oldest riddle-story of this description. Though its age has not been determined, the tale has been carried back even to the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century, was a great favorite with the Middle Ages, and is kept only too familiar by the play of Pericles.

More deserving of perpetuation is the charming Persian story of Prince Calaf, in Pétis de La Croix's 1001 Days (45e-82ejour), upon which Carlo Gozzi founded his play of "La Turandot," now best known through Schiller's translation. Tourandocte's riddles are such as we should call legitimate, and are three in number. "What is the being that is found in every land, is dear to all the world, and cannot endure a fellow?" Calaf answers, The sun. "What mother swallows the children she has given birth to, as soon as they have attained their growth?" The sea, says Calaf, for the rivers that flow into it all came from it. "What is the tree that has all its leaves white on one side and black on the other?" This tree, Calaf answers, is the year, which is made up of days and nights.[395]

A third example of this hazardous wooing is the story of The Fair One of the Castle, the fourth in the Persian poem of The Seven Figures (or Beauties), by Nisami of Gendsch († 1180). A Russian princess is shut up in a castle made inaccessible by a talisman, and every suitor must satisfy four conditions: he must be a man of honor, vanquish the enchanted guards, take away the talisman, and obtain the consent of her father. Many had essayed their fortune, and their heads were now arrayed on the pinnacles of the castle.[396]A young prince had fulfilled the first three conditions, but the father would not approve his suit until he had solved the princess's riddles. These are expressed symbolically, and answered in the same way. The princess sends the prince two pearls from her earring: he at once takes her meaning,—life is like two drops of water,—and returns the pearls with three diamonds, to signify that joy—faith, hope, and love—can prolong life. The princess now sends him three jewels in a box, with sugar. The prince seizes the idea,—life is blended with sensuous desire,—and pours milk on the sugar, to intimate that as milk dissolves sugar, so sensuous desire is quenched by true love. After four such interchanges, the princess seals her consent with a device not less elegant than the others.[397]

A popular tale of this class is current in Russia, with this variation: that the hard-hearted princess requires her lovers to give her riddles, and those who cannot pose her lose their heads. Foolish Iván, the youngest of three brothers, adventures after many have failed. On his way to the trial he sees a horse in a cornfield and drives it out with a whip, and further on kills a snake with a lance, saying in each case, Here's a riddle! Confronted with the princess, he says to her, As I came to you, I saw by the roadside what was good; and in the good was good; so I set to work, and with what was good I drove the good from the good. The good fled from the good out of the good. The princess pleads a headache, and puts off her answer till the next day, when Iván gives her his second enigma: As I came to you, I saw on the way what was bad, and I struck the bad with a bad thing, and of what was bad the bad died. The princess, unable to solve these puzzles, is obliged to accept foolish Iván. (Afanasief, Skazki, II, 225 ff, No 20, in Ralston's Songs of the Russian People, p. 354 f.) Closely related to this tale, and still nearer to one another, are the Grimms' No 22, 'Das Räthsel' (see, also, the note in their third volume), and the West Highland story, 'The Ridere (Knight) of Riddles,' Campbell, No 22, II, 27. In the former, as in the Russian tale, it is the princess that must be puzzled before she will yield her hand; in the latter, an unmatchable beauty is to be had by no man who does not put a question which her father cannot solve.

Here may be put three drolleries, all clearly of the same origin, in which a fool wins a princess by nonplussing her: 'The Three Questions,' Halliwell's Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales, p. 32; a "schwank" of the fourteenth century, by Heinz der Kellner, von der Hagen's Gesammtabenteuer, No 63, III, 179 (there very improperly called Turandot); 'Spurningen,' Asbjørnson og Moe, Norske Folkeeventyr, No 4, Dasent, Popular Tales from the Norse, p. 148. According to the first of these, the king of the East Angles promises his clever daughter to any one who can answer three of her questions (in the other versions, more correctly,silenceher). Three brothers, one of them a natural, set out for the court, and, on the way, Jack finds successively an egg, a crooked hazel-stick, and a nut, and each time explodes with laughter. When they are ushered into the presence, Jack bawls out, What a troop of fair ladies! "Yes," says the princess, "we are fair ladies, for we carry fire in our bosoms." "Then roast me an egg," says Jack, pulling out the egg from his pocket. "How will you get it out again?" asks the princess? "With a crooked stick," says Jack, producing the same. "Where did that come from?" says the princess. "From a nut," answers Jack, pulling out the nut. And so, as the princess is silenced, the fool gets her in marriage.[398]

Even nowadays riddles play a noteworthy part in the marriages of Russian peasants. In the government Pskof, as we are informed by Khudyakof, the bridegroom's party is not admitted into the bride's house until all the riddles given by the party of the bride have been answered; whence the saying or proverb, to the behoof of bridegrooms, Choose comrades that can guess riddles. In the village of Davshina, in the Yaroslav government, the bridegroom's best man presents himself at the bride's house on the wedding-day, and finding a man, called the bride-seller, sitting by the bride, asks him to surrender the bride and vacate his place. "Fair and softly," answers the seller; "you will not get the bride for nothing; make us a bid, if you will. And how will you trade? will you pay in riddles or in gold?" If the best man is prepared for the emergency, as we must suppose he always would be, he answers, I will pay in riddles. Half a dozen or more riddles are now put by the seller, of which these are favorable specimens: Give me the sea, full to the brim, and with a bottom of silver. The best man makes no answer in words, but fills a bowl with beer and lays a coin at the bottom. Tell me the thing, naked itself, which has a shift over its bosom. The best man hands the seller a candle. Finally the seller says, Give me something which the master of this house lacks. The best man then brings in the bridegroom. The seller gives up his seat, and hands the best man a plate, saying, Put in this what all pretty girls like. The best man puts in what money he thinks proper, the bridesmaids take it and quit the house, and the bridegroom's friends carry off the bride.

So, apparently in some ballad, a maid gives riddles, and will marry only the man who will guess them.

By day like a hoop,By night like a snake;Who reads my riddle,I take him for mate. (A belt.)

No 1103 of Khudyakof.[399]

In Radloff's Songs and Tales of the Turkish tribes in East Siberia, I, 60, a father, wanting a wife for his son, applies to another man, who has a marriageable daughter. The latter will not make a match unless the young man's father will come to him with pelt and sans pelt, by the road and not by the road, on a horse and yet not on a horse: see 8 ff of this volume. The young man gives his father proper instructions, and wins his wife.

A Lithuanian mother sends her daughter to the wood to fetch "winter May and summer snow." She meets a herdsman, and asks where she can find these. The herdsman offers to teach her these riddles in return for her love, and she complying with these terms, gives her the answers: The evergreen tree is winter May, and sea-foam is summer snow. Beiträge zur Kunde Preussens, I, 515 (Rhesa), and Ausland, 1839, p. 1230.

The European tales, excepting the three drolleries (and even they are perhaps to be regarded only as parodies of the others), must be of Oriental derivation; but the far north presents us with a similar story in the lay of Alvíss, in the elder Edda. The dwarf Alvíss comes to claim Freya for his bride by virtue of a promise from the gods. Thor[400]says that the bride is in his charge, and that he was from home when the promise was made: at any rate, Alvíss shall not have the maid unless he can answer all the questions that shall be put him. Thor then requires Alvíss to give him the names of earth, heaven, moon, sun, etc., ending with barley and the poor creature small beer, in all the worlds; that is, in the dialect of the gods, of mankind, giants, elves, dwarfs, etc. Alvíss does this with such completeness as to extort Thor's admiration, but is craftily detained in so doing till after sunrise, when Thor cries, You are taken in! Above ground at dawn! and the dwarf turns to stone.

Translated, in part, after Aytoun, by Knortz, Schottische Balladen, p. 107.

a.Herd's MS., I, 161.b.The same, II, 100.

1The laird of Bristoll's daughter was in the woods walking,And by came Captain Wetherbourn, a servant to the king;And he said to his livery man, Wer 't not against the law,I would tak her to mine ain bed, and lay her neist the wa.2'I'm into my father's woods, amongst my father's trees,O kind sir, let mee walk alane, O kind sir, if you please;The butler's bell it will be rung, and I'll be mist awa;I'll lye into mine ain bed, neither at stock nor wa.'3'O my bonny lady, the bed it's not be mine,For I'll command my servants for to call it thine;The hangings are silk satin, the sheets are holland sma,And we's baith lye in ae bed, but you's lye neist the wa.4'And so, my bonny lady,—I do not know your name,—But my name's Captain Wetherburn, and I'm a man of fame;Tho your father and a' his men were here, I would na stand in aweTo tak you to mine ain bed, and lay you neist the wa.5'Oh my bonny, bonny lady, if you'll gie me your hand,You shall hae drums and trumpets to sound at your command;Wi fifty men to guard you, sae weel their swords can dra,And wee's baith lye in ae bed, but you's lye neist the wa.'6He's mounted her upon a steid, behind his gentleman,And he himself did walk afoot, to had his lady on,With his hand about her midle sae jimp, for fear that she should fa;She man lye in his bed, but she'll not lye neist the wa.7He's taen her into Edinburgh, his landlady cam ben:'And monny bonny ladys in Edinburgh hae I seen,But the like of this fine creature my eyes they never sa;''O dame bring ben a down-bed, for she's lye neist the wa.'8'Hold your tongue, young man,' she said, 'and dinna trouble me,Unless you get to my supper, and that is dishes three;Dishes three to my supper, tho I eat nane at a',Before I lye in your bed, but I winna lye neist the wa.9'You maun get to my supper a cherry but a stane,And you man get to my supper a capon but a bane,And you man get a gentle bird that flies wanting the ga,Before I lye in your bed, but I'll not lye neist the wa.'10'A cherry whan in blossom is a cherry but a stane;A capon when he's in the egg canna hae a bane;The dow it is a gentle bird that flies wanting the ga;And ye man lye in my bed, between me and the wa.'11'Hold your tongue, young man,' she said, 'and dinna me perplex,Unless you tell me questions, and that is questions six;Tell me them as I shall ask them, and that is twa by twa,Before I lye in your bed, but I'll not lye neist the wa.12'What is greener than the grass, what's higher than the tree?What's war than a woman's wiss, what's deeper than the sea?What bird sings first, and whereupon the dew down first does fa?Before I lye in your bed, but I'll not lye neist the wa.'13'Virgus is greener than the grass, heaven's higher than the tree;The deil's war than a woman's wish, hell's deeper than the sea;The cock sings first, on the Sugar Loaf the dew down first does fa;And ye man lye in my bed, betweest me and the wa.'14'Hold your tongue, young man,' she said, 'I pray you give it oer,Unless you tell me questions, and that is questions four;Tell me them as I shall ask them, and that is twa by twa,Before I lye in your bed, but I winna lye neist the wa.15'You man get to me a plumb that does in winter grow;And likewise a silk mantle that never waft gaed thro;A sparrow's horn, a priest unborn, this night to join us twa,Before I lye in your bed, but I winna lye neist the wa.'16'There is a plumb in my father's yeard that does in winter grow;Likewise he has a silk mantle that never waft gaed thro;A sparrow's horn, it may be found, there's ane in every tae,There's ane upo the mouth of him, perhaps there may be twa.17'The priest is standing at the door, just ready to come in;Nae man could sae that he was born, to lie it is a sin;For a wild boar bored his mother's side, he out of it did fa;And you man lye in my bed, between me and the wa.'18Little kent Grizey Sinclair, that morning when she raise,'T was to be the hindermost of a' her single days;For now she's Captain Wetherburn's wife, a man she never saw,And she man lye in his bed, but she'll not lye neist the wa.

2'I'm into my father's woods, amongst my father's trees,O kind sir, let mee walk alane, O kind sir, if you please;The butler's bell it will be rung, and I'll be mist awa;I'll lye into mine ain bed, neither at stock nor wa.'

3'O my bonny lady, the bed it's not be mine,For I'll command my servants for to call it thine;The hangings are silk satin, the sheets are holland sma,And we's baith lye in ae bed, but you's lye neist the wa.

4'And so, my bonny lady,—I do not know your name,—But my name's Captain Wetherburn, and I'm a man of fame;Tho your father and a' his men were here, I would na stand in aweTo tak you to mine ain bed, and lay you neist the wa.

5'Oh my bonny, bonny lady, if you'll gie me your hand,You shall hae drums and trumpets to sound at your command;Wi fifty men to guard you, sae weel their swords can dra,And wee's baith lye in ae bed, but you's lye neist the wa.'

6He's mounted her upon a steid, behind his gentleman,And he himself did walk afoot, to had his lady on,With his hand about her midle sae jimp, for fear that she should fa;She man lye in his bed, but she'll not lye neist the wa.

7He's taen her into Edinburgh, his landlady cam ben:'And monny bonny ladys in Edinburgh hae I seen,But the like of this fine creature my eyes they never sa;''O dame bring ben a down-bed, for she's lye neist the wa.'

8'Hold your tongue, young man,' she said, 'and dinna trouble me,Unless you get to my supper, and that is dishes three;Dishes three to my supper, tho I eat nane at a',Before I lye in your bed, but I winna lye neist the wa.

9'You maun get to my supper a cherry but a stane,And you man get to my supper a capon but a bane,And you man get a gentle bird that flies wanting the ga,Before I lye in your bed, but I'll not lye neist the wa.'

10'A cherry whan in blossom is a cherry but a stane;A capon when he's in the egg canna hae a bane;The dow it is a gentle bird that flies wanting the ga;And ye man lye in my bed, between me and the wa.'

11'Hold your tongue, young man,' she said, 'and dinna me perplex,Unless you tell me questions, and that is questions six;Tell me them as I shall ask them, and that is twa by twa,Before I lye in your bed, but I'll not lye neist the wa.

12'What is greener than the grass, what's higher than the tree?What's war than a woman's wiss, what's deeper than the sea?What bird sings first, and whereupon the dew down first does fa?Before I lye in your bed, but I'll not lye neist the wa.'

13'Virgus is greener than the grass, heaven's higher than the tree;The deil's war than a woman's wish, hell's deeper than the sea;The cock sings first, on the Sugar Loaf the dew down first does fa;And ye man lye in my bed, betweest me and the wa.'

14'Hold your tongue, young man,' she said, 'I pray you give it oer,Unless you tell me questions, and that is questions four;Tell me them as I shall ask them, and that is twa by twa,Before I lye in your bed, but I winna lye neist the wa.

15'You man get to me a plumb that does in winter grow;And likewise a silk mantle that never waft gaed thro;A sparrow's horn, a priest unborn, this night to join us twa,Before I lye in your bed, but I winna lye neist the wa.'

16'There is a plumb in my father's yeard that does in winter grow;Likewise he has a silk mantle that never waft gaed thro;A sparrow's horn, it may be found, there's ane in every tae,There's ane upo the mouth of him, perhaps there may be twa.

17'The priest is standing at the door, just ready to come in;Nae man could sae that he was born, to lie it is a sin;For a wild boar bored his mother's side, he out of it did fa;And you man lye in my bed, between me and the wa.'

18Little kent Grizey Sinclair, that morning when she raise,'T was to be the hindermost of a' her single days;For now she's Captain Wetherburn's wife, a man she never saw,And she man lye in his bed, but she'll not lye neist the wa.

a.Kinloch MSS, I, 83, from Mary Barr's recitation.b.Lord Roslin's Daughter's Garland.c.Buchan's MSS, II, 34.d.Jamieson's Popular Ballads, II, 159.e.Harris MS., fol. 19 b, No 14, from Mrs Harris's recitation.f.Notes and Queries, 2d S., IV, 170, "as sung among the peasantry of the Mearns," 1857.

1The Lord of Rosslyn's daughter gaed through the wud her lane,And there she met Captain Wedderburn, a servant to the king.He said unto his livery-man, Were 't na agen the law,I wad tak her to my ain bed, and lay her at the wa.2'I'm walking here my lane,' she says, 'amang my father's trees;And ye may lat me walk my lane, kind sir, now gin ye please.The supper-bell it will be rung, and I'll be missd awa;Sae I'll na lie in your bed, at neither stock nor wa.'3He said, My pretty lady, I pray lend me your hand,And ye'll hae drums and trumpets always at your command;And fifty men to guard ye wi, that weel their swords can draw;Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'll lie at the wa.4'Haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray let go my hand;The supper-bell it will be rung, nae langer maun I stand.My father he'll na supper tak, gif I be missd awa;Sae I'll na lie in your bed, at neither stock nor wa.'5'O my name is Captain Wedderburn, my name I'll neer deny,And I command ten thousand men, upo yon mountains high.Tho your father and his men were here, of them I'd stand na awe,But should tak ye to my ain bed, and lay ye neist the wa.'6Then he lap aff his milk-white steed, and set the lady on,And a' the way he walkd on foot, he held her by the hand;He held her by the middle jimp, for fear that she should fa;Saying, I'll tak ye to my ain bed, and lay thee at the wa.7He took her to his quartering-house, his landlady looked ben,Saying, Monie a pretty ladie in Edinbruch I've seen;But sic 'na pretty ladie is not into it a':Gae, mak for her a fine down-bed, and lay her at the wa.8'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray ye lat me be,For I'll na lie in your bed till I get dishes three;Dishes three maun be dressd for me, gif I should eat them a',Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.9''T is I maun hae to my supper a chicken without a bane;And I maun hae to my supper a cherry without a stane;And I maun hae to my supper a bird without a gaw,Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'10'Whan the chicken's in the shell, I am sure it has na bane;And whan the cherry's in the bloom, I wat it has na stane;The dove she is a genty bird, she flees without a gaw;Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'll be at the wa.'11'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray ye give me owre,For I'll na lie in your bed, till I get presents four;Presents four ye maun gie me, and that is twa and twa,Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.12''T is I maun hae some winter fruit that in December grew;And I maun hae a silk mantil that waft gaed never through;A sparrow's horn, a priest unborn, this nicht to join us twa,Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'13'My father has some winter fruit that in December grew;My mither has a silk mantil the waft gaed never through;A sparrow's horn ye soon may find, there's ane on evry claw,And twa upo the gab o it, and ye shall get them a'.14'The priest he stands without the yett, just ready to come in;Nae man can say he eer was born, nae man without he sin;He was haill cut frae his mither's side, and frae the same let fa;Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'se lie at the wa.'15'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray don't me perplex,For I'll na lie in your bed till ye answer questions six:Questions six ye maun answer me, and that is four and twa,Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.16'O what is greener than the gress, what's higher than thae trees?O what is worse than women's wish, what's deeper than the seas?What bird craws first, what tree buds first, what first does on them fa?Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'17'Death is greener than the gress, heaven higher than thae trees;The devil's waur than women's wish, hell's deeper than the seas;The cock craws first, the cedar buds first, dew first on them does fa;Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'se lie at the wa.'18Little did this lady think, that morning whan she raise,That this was for to be the last o a' her maiden days.But there's na into the king's realm to be found a blither twa,And now she's Mrs. Wedderburn, and she lies at the wa.

2'I'm walking here my lane,' she says, 'amang my father's trees;And ye may lat me walk my lane, kind sir, now gin ye please.The supper-bell it will be rung, and I'll be missd awa;Sae I'll na lie in your bed, at neither stock nor wa.'

3He said, My pretty lady, I pray lend me your hand,And ye'll hae drums and trumpets always at your command;And fifty men to guard ye wi, that weel their swords can draw;Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'll lie at the wa.

4'Haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray let go my hand;The supper-bell it will be rung, nae langer maun I stand.My father he'll na supper tak, gif I be missd awa;Sae I'll na lie in your bed, at neither stock nor wa.'

5'O my name is Captain Wedderburn, my name I'll neer deny,And I command ten thousand men, upo yon mountains high.Tho your father and his men were here, of them I'd stand na awe,But should tak ye to my ain bed, and lay ye neist the wa.'

6Then he lap aff his milk-white steed, and set the lady on,And a' the way he walkd on foot, he held her by the hand;He held her by the middle jimp, for fear that she should fa;Saying, I'll tak ye to my ain bed, and lay thee at the wa.

7He took her to his quartering-house, his landlady looked ben,Saying, Monie a pretty ladie in Edinbruch I've seen;But sic 'na pretty ladie is not into it a':Gae, mak for her a fine down-bed, and lay her at the wa.

8'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray ye lat me be,For I'll na lie in your bed till I get dishes three;Dishes three maun be dressd for me, gif I should eat them a',Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.

9''T is I maun hae to my supper a chicken without a bane;And I maun hae to my supper a cherry without a stane;And I maun hae to my supper a bird without a gaw,Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'

10'Whan the chicken's in the shell, I am sure it has na bane;And whan the cherry's in the bloom, I wat it has na stane;The dove she is a genty bird, she flees without a gaw;Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'll be at the wa.'

11'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray ye give me owre,For I'll na lie in your bed, till I get presents four;Presents four ye maun gie me, and that is twa and twa,Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.

12''T is I maun hae some winter fruit that in December grew;And I maun hae a silk mantil that waft gaed never through;A sparrow's horn, a priest unborn, this nicht to join us twa,Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'

13'My father has some winter fruit that in December grew;My mither has a silk mantil the waft gaed never through;A sparrow's horn ye soon may find, there's ane on evry claw,And twa upo the gab o it, and ye shall get them a'.

14'The priest he stands without the yett, just ready to come in;Nae man can say he eer was born, nae man without he sin;He was haill cut frae his mither's side, and frae the same let fa;Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'se lie at the wa.'

15'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray don't me perplex,For I'll na lie in your bed till ye answer questions six:Questions six ye maun answer me, and that is four and twa,Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.

16'O what is greener than the gress, what's higher than thae trees?O what is worse than women's wish, what's deeper than the seas?What bird craws first, what tree buds first, what first does on them fa?Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'

17'Death is greener than the gress, heaven higher than thae trees;The devil's waur than women's wish, hell's deeper than the seas;The cock craws first, the cedar buds first, dew first on them does fa;Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'se lie at the wa.'

18Little did this lady think, that morning whan she raise,That this was for to be the last o a' her maiden days.But there's na into the king's realm to be found a blither twa,And now she's Mrs. Wedderburn, and she lies at the wa.

Back to Index Next