ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS

P. 1 a. Guess or die. A grim kemp, an unco knicht, asks nine riddles of a young man; all are guessed; wherefore the kemp says it shall go well with him. Kristensen, Skattegraveren, II, 97 ff., 154 f., Nos 457, 458, 724; V, 49, No 454.

P. 6. Nigra, No 118, p. 483, ‘Che mestiere è il vostro?’ A sempstress to make a shirt without stitch or seam; a mason to make a room without bricks and mortar.

7 b, second paragraph. Add: ‘Store Fordringer,’ Kristensen’s Skattegraveren, II, 8, No 6.

P. 20.‘Kall og svein ungi,’ Hammershaimb, Færøsk Anthologi, p. 283, No 36(three versions), is another piece of this kind. The boat is in all the copies, Scottish, Swedish, and Färöe.

M. Gaidoz, Mélusine, IV, 207, cites a passage from Plutarch’s life of Numa, c. 15, which is curiously like this ballad. The question being what is the proper expiatory sacrifice when divine displeasure has been indicated by thunderbolts, Zeus instructs Numa that it must be made with heads. Onions’? interposes Numa. Withmen’s—says Zeus. Hairs? suggests Numa. WithLIVE—says Zeus. Sardines? puts in Numa.

P. 22.Eis given from singing and recitation in Shropshire Folk-Lore, edited by Charlotte Sophia Burne, 1883–86, p. 548.

Mr W. H. Babcock has recently printed the following version, as sung in a Virginian family from “the corner between the Potomac and the Blue Ridge:” The Folk-Lore Journal, VII, 28.

WILSON.1Wilson, sitting in his room one day,With his true-love on his knee,Just as happy as happy could be, be, be,Just as happy as happy could be,2‘Do you want for fee?’ said she,‘Or do you want for gold?Or do you want a handsome ladye,More handsomer than me?’3‘I do want for fee,’ said he,‘And I do want for gold;But I don’t want a handsomer ladye,More handsomer than thee.4‘Go get some of your father’s fee,And some of your father’s gold,And two of the finest horses he has,And married we will be, be, be,And married we will be.’5She mounted on the milk-white steed,And he the iron-grey,And when they got to the broad watersideIt was six hours and a half till day.6‘Get down, get down! my pretty fair maid,Get down, get down!’ said he;‘For it’s nine of the king’s daughters I’ve drowned here,And the tenth one you shall be.7‘Take off, take off that costly silk,For it is a costly thing;It cost your father too much bright goldTo drown your fair body in.8‘In stooping down to cut the cords round,Sing, Turn your back on me;’And with all the strength this lady had,She pushed him right into the sea.9‘Help me out! my pretty fair miss,O help me out!’ said he,‘And we’ll go down to the Catholic church,And married we will be.’10‘Lie there, lie there! you false-hearted man,Lie there, lie there!’ said she,‘For it’s nine of the king’s daughters you’ve drowned here,But the tenth one’s drowned thee.’11She mounted on the milk-white steed,And led the iron-grey,And when she got to her own father’s houseIt was three hours and a half till day.12While she was walking in the room,Which caused the parrot to wake,Said he, What’s the matter, my pretty fair miss,That you’re up so long before day?13‘Hush up, hush up! my pretty little parrot,Don’t tell no tales on me;Your cage shall be lined with sweet may gold,And the doors of ivorie.’14While they were talking all of this,Which caused the old man to wake,Said, What’s the matter, my pretty little parrot,That you chatter so long before day?15‘The cat she sprung against my cage,And surely frightened me,And I called for the pretty fair missTo drive the cat away.’

WILSON.

1Wilson, sitting in his room one day,With his true-love on his knee,Just as happy as happy could be, be, be,Just as happy as happy could be,

Wilson, sitting in his room one day,

With his true-love on his knee,

Just as happy as happy could be, be, be,

Just as happy as happy could be,

2‘Do you want for fee?’ said she,‘Or do you want for gold?Or do you want a handsome ladye,More handsomer than me?’

‘Do you want for fee?’ said she,

‘Or do you want for gold?

Or do you want a handsome ladye,

More handsomer than me?’

3‘I do want for fee,’ said he,‘And I do want for gold;But I don’t want a handsomer ladye,More handsomer than thee.

‘I do want for fee,’ said he,

‘And I do want for gold;

But I don’t want a handsomer ladye,

More handsomer than thee.

4‘Go get some of your father’s fee,And some of your father’s gold,And two of the finest horses he has,And married we will be, be, be,And married we will be.’

‘Go get some of your father’s fee,

And some of your father’s gold,

And two of the finest horses he has,

And married we will be, be, be,

And married we will be.’

5She mounted on the milk-white steed,And he the iron-grey,And when they got to the broad watersideIt was six hours and a half till day.

She mounted on the milk-white steed,

And he the iron-grey,

And when they got to the broad waterside

It was six hours and a half till day.

6‘Get down, get down! my pretty fair maid,Get down, get down!’ said he;‘For it’s nine of the king’s daughters I’ve drowned here,And the tenth one you shall be.

‘Get down, get down! my pretty fair maid,

Get down, get down!’ said he;

‘For it’s nine of the king’s daughters I’ve drowned here,

And the tenth one you shall be.

7‘Take off, take off that costly silk,For it is a costly thing;It cost your father too much bright goldTo drown your fair body in.

‘Take off, take off that costly silk,

For it is a costly thing;

It cost your father too much bright gold

To drown your fair body in.

8‘In stooping down to cut the cords round,Sing, Turn your back on me;’And with all the strength this lady had,She pushed him right into the sea.

‘In stooping down to cut the cords round,

Sing, Turn your back on me;’

And with all the strength this lady had,

She pushed him right into the sea.

9‘Help me out! my pretty fair miss,O help me out!’ said he,‘And we’ll go down to the Catholic church,And married we will be.’

‘Help me out! my pretty fair miss,

O help me out!’ said he,

‘And we’ll go down to the Catholic church,

And married we will be.’

10‘Lie there, lie there! you false-hearted man,Lie there, lie there!’ said she,‘For it’s nine of the king’s daughters you’ve drowned here,But the tenth one’s drowned thee.’

‘Lie there, lie there! you false-hearted man,

Lie there, lie there!’ said she,

‘For it’s nine of the king’s daughters you’ve drowned here,

But the tenth one’s drowned thee.’

11She mounted on the milk-white steed,And led the iron-grey,And when she got to her own father’s houseIt was three hours and a half till day.

She mounted on the milk-white steed,

And led the iron-grey,

And when she got to her own father’s house

It was three hours and a half till day.

12While she was walking in the room,Which caused the parrot to wake,Said he, What’s the matter, my pretty fair miss,That you’re up so long before day?

While she was walking in the room,

Which caused the parrot to wake,

Said he, What’s the matter, my pretty fair miss,

That you’re up so long before day?

13‘Hush up, hush up! my pretty little parrot,Don’t tell no tales on me;Your cage shall be lined with sweet may gold,And the doors of ivorie.’

‘Hush up, hush up! my pretty little parrot,

Don’t tell no tales on me;

Your cage shall be lined with sweet may gold,

And the doors of ivorie.’

14While they were talking all of this,Which caused the old man to wake,Said, What’s the matter, my pretty little parrot,That you chatter so long before day?

While they were talking all of this,

Which caused the old man to wake,

Said, What’s the matter, my pretty little parrot,

That you chatter so long before day?

15‘The cat she sprung against my cage,And surely frightened me,And I called for the pretty fair missTo drive the cat away.’

‘The cat she sprung against my cage,

And surely frightened me,

And I called for the pretty fair miss

To drive the cat away.’

(1 lacks the third verse; in 21,2, 31,2, 41,2,feeandgoldshould be exchanged; in 122, 142,wakeshould perhaps besay.)

26 b. Add these Danish copies: Kristensen, Skattegraveren, I, 210 ff., Nos 1198, 1199. (Some stanzas of ‘Kvindemorderen’ are inserted in No 932, III, 177.)

29, 34 f.O,P.Ois repeated inLütolf, Sagen, Bräuche u. Legenden, u. s. w., p. 71, No 29, ‘Schön Anneli;’PinKurz, Aeltere Dichter, u. s. w., der Schweizer, I, 117. ‘Schön Anneli,’ Töbler, Schweizerische Volkslieder, II, 170, No 6, is an edited copy, mainlyO, with use ofP.

42. A variety ofAinRevue des Traditions populaires, II, 293, communicated by A. Gittée, Chanson wallonne, de Bliquy, environs d’Ath.

42 f. A robber has his hand cut off by a girl. Later he marries her. The day after the marriage they go on horseback to see his relations. On coming to a wood he says, Do you remember the night when you cut off my hand? It is now my turn. He orders her to strip, threatening her with his dagger. When she is in her shift, she begs him to turn away his eyes, seizes the dagger, and cuts his throat. ‘Le Voleur des Crêpes,’ Sébillot, Contes pop. de la Haute-Bretagne, I, 341, No 62. (G. L. K.)

43 b. ‘La Fille de Saint-Martin,’ etc. Add: Roland, II, 171, obtained by Nérée Quépat.

44 a. Nigra, Canti popolari del Piemonte, 1888, p. 90 ff., No 13, ‘Un’ Eroina,’ gives five unpublished versions (B-F), ‘La Monferrina,’D, beingAof this large and beautiful collection.

Add also: Giannini, Canti p. della Montagna Lucchese, 1889, p. 143, ‘La Liberatrice;’ Finamore, Storie p. abruzzesi, in Archivio, I, 207, ‘Lu Pringepe de Meláne.’

44 b. ‘Il Corsaro,’ in Nigra’s collection, No 14, p. 106 ff., with the addition of another version. For ‘La Monferrina incontaminata,’ see Nigra again, ‘La Fuga,’ No 15, pp. 111 ff.; Finamore, in Archivio, I, 87, ‘La Fandell’ e lu Cavaljiere’ (mixed).

Spanish, Nos 38–41, ‘Venganza de Honor,’ No 42, ‘La Hija de la Viudina,’ Pidal, Asturian Romances, have the incident of the girl’s killing with his own sword or dagger a caballero who offers her violence. The weapon is dropped in the course of a struggle in all but No 40; in this the damsel says, Give me your sword, and see how I would wear it.

It is a commonplace for a pair on horseback to go a long way without speaking. So Pidal, pp. 114, 115, 130, 133, 135, 159:

Siete leguas anduvieronsin hablar una palabra.

Siete leguas anduvieron

sin hablar una palabra.

60 a.A.Burden. The song in the Tea-Table Miscellany and the music are found in John Squair’s MS., fol. 22, Laing collection, library of the University of Edinburgh, handwriting about 1700. (W. Macmath.)

P. 65 b. A ballad from Normandy, published by Legrand, Romania, X, 367, III, which I am surprised to find that I have not mentioned, is a very interesting variety of ‘Gil Brenton,’ more particularly of the Danish ‘Peder og Malfred.’ It has the attempt at substitution (a sister); the wife acknowledges that she had been forced (par ses laquais les bras il me bandit); the husband reveals, and proves, that he was the ravisher. The beginning of the Norman ballad, which is lost, would probably have had the feature of the information given the husband by the shepherdess. Another French ballad, corrupted (environs de Redon, Ille-et-Vilaine), has this and the attempt to pass off the sister; the husband kills his wife. Music is ordered in the last stanza. Rolland, IV, 70. An Italian and a Breton ballad which begin like the Danish, but proceed differently, are spoken of under ‘Fair Janet,’ No 64, II, 102 f.. See now Nigra’s ‘Fidanzata infedele’ in his collection, No 34, p. 197.

P. 82. ‘Hustru og mands moder,’ Kristensen, Skattegraveren, I, 73, No 436, VII, 97, No 651; ‘Barselkvinden,’ the same, II, 10, No 7. (The tale, p. 83 b, is reprinted by inadvertence, I, 73, No 234.)

P. 88 a.B.“The copy principally used in this edition of the ballad was supplied by Mr Sharpe.” Scott. “The Douglas Tragedy was taught me by a nurserymaid, and was so great a favorite that I committed it to paper as soon as I was able to write.” Sharpe’sLetters, ed. Allardyce, I, 135, August 5, 1802. Sharpe was born in 1781.

88 b. ‘Hr. Kibolt,’ Kristensen, Skattegraveren, VI, 17, No 257, is a good copy of ‘Ribold og Guldborg.’ It has the testaments at the end, like several others (see I, 144 b).

89–91 a. ‘Stolt Hedelil,’ Kristensen, Skattegraveren, I, 68, No 231, is another version of ‘Hildebrand og Hilde,’ closely resemblingG. So is ‘Den mislykkede flugt,’ the same, VIII, 17, No 24, with the proper tragic conclusion. Both are inferior copies.

92 a and 489 b. Add:K, ‘Kung Vallemo ock liten Kerstin,’ Bergström ock Nordlander, Nyare Bidrag, o. s. v., p. 101.

95 b, 96, 489. I have omitted to mention the effect ofnamingon ‘Clootie’ in No 1,C19, I, 5:

As sune as she the fiend did name,He flew awa in a blazing flame.

As sune as she the fiend did name,

He flew awa in a blazing flame.

The Alpthier loses its power to harm and appears in its proper shape, as this or that person, if called by name: Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube der Gegenwart, 2d ed., p. 257. Were-wolves appear in their proper human shape on being addressed by their name: Wilhelm Hertz, Der Werwolf, pp. 61, 84, Ulrich Jahn, Volkssagen aus Pommern u. Rügen, pp. 386–7. An enchanted prince is freed when his name is pronounced: Meier, No 53, p. 188 and n., p. 311. “There was in the engagement a man [on the side of Hades] who could not be vanquished unless his name could be discovered:” Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales, I, 167, as quoted by Rhys, Celtic Mythology, Hibbert Lectures, p. 244. (G. L. K.)

96 ff., 489, II, 498. Plants from lovers’ graves.

Add:Portuguese, Roméro, II, 157, two pines.

Italian, Nigra, No 18, ‘Le due Tombe,’ p. 125 ff.

A.The lovers are buried apart, one in the church, one outside, a pomegranate springs from the man’s grave, an almond-tree from the maid’s; they grow large enough to shade three cities!B.A pomegranate is planted on the man’s grave, a hazel on the maid’s; they shade the city, and interlock.C.An almond-tree is planted on the maid’s grave, and is cut down.D.The lovers are buried as inA(andC), an almond-tree grows from the grave of the man, a jessamine from the maid’s. See also No 19, ‘Fior di Tomba,’ where, however, there is but one grave, which is to contain the maid’s parents as well as her lover. The same phenomenon in the fragmentsE,F. ‘Il Castello d’Oviglio,’ Ferraro, Canti p. monferrini, No 45, p. 64, is another version of this ballad. A pomegranate springs up at the maid’s feet, and shades three cities. Cf. ‘La Mort des deux Amants,’ Rolland, I, 247, No 125.

Roumanian.‘Ring and Handkerchief’ also in Marienescu, Balade, p. 50: cited in Mélusine, IV. 142.

97 b and 489 f., II, 498 a.Bulgarian, Miladinof, Bùlgarski narodni pěsni, p. 455, No 497, translated by Krauss, Sagen u. Märchen der Südslaven, II, 427; the youth as rose-tree, the maid as grape-vine. Cited by G. Meyer in Mélusine, IV, 87.Little-Russian, plane-trees of the two sexes; cited by J. Karlowicz,ib., 87 f. Ruthenian (mother attempting to poison her son’s wife poisons both wife and son), Herrmann, Ethnologische Mittheilungen, 205 f.; buried on different sides of the church, plants meet over the roof of the church, the mother tries to cut them down, and while so engaged is turned into a pillar.

Servian.Vuk, I, No 342, II, No 30; youth, pine, maid, grape-vine. Krasić, p. 105, No 21, p. 114, No 26; vine and pine, vine twines round pine.Bulgarian, Miladinof, p. 375, No 288, rose and vine.Magyar-Croat, Kurelac, p. 147, No 444, grape-vine and rose; No 445, youth behind the church, maid before, grape-vine and rose; p. 154, No 454, rosemary and a white flower (aleluja?). (W. W.)

Breton.Mélusine, III, 453 f. A tree springs from over the young man’s heart (but this is an insertion, and not quite beyond suspicion), a rose from the maid’s. There is another version of the ballad at p. 182 f., in which une fleur dorée grows over the man’s grave, nothing being said of his mistress’s grave, or even of her death.

Italo-Albanian.Also in Vigo, Canti p. siciliani, 1857, p. 345, V, and the edition of 1870–74, p. 698: cited in Mélusine, IV, 87.

Gaelic.Of Naisi (Naois) and Deirdre. King Conor caused them to be buried far apart, but for some days the graves would be found open in the morning and the lovers found together. The king ordered stakes of yew to be driven through the bodies, so that they might be kept asunder. Yew trees grew from the stakes, and so high as to embrace each other over the cathedral of Armagh. Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Dublin, I, 133, 1808.

In a Scotch-Gaelic version recently obtained, after Naois is put into his grave, Deirdre jumps in, lies down by his side and dies. The bad king orders her body to be taken out and buried on the other side of a loch. Firs shoot out of the two graves and unite over the loch. The king has the trees cut down twice, but the third time his wife makes him desist from his vengeance on the dead. The original in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, XIII, 257; a translation in The Celtic Magazine, XIII, 138. (All of these cited by Gaidoz, Mélusine, IV, 12, and 62, note.)

107 b, and also No 53, ‘Young Beichan,’ I, 463 b. For the Magyar ballads of Szilágyi and Hagymási, see Herrmann, Ethnologische Mittheilungen, cols 65–66; also col. 215. (A Transylvanian-Saxon ballad, a Roumanian tale, and a Transylvanian-Gipsy ballad, which follow, are of more or less questionable authenticity: Herrmann, col. 216.)

109.C, as well as ‘Robin Hood and the Pedlars,’ III, 170, are found in a manuscript pretended to be of about 1650, but are written in a forged hand of this century. I do not feel certain that the ballads themselves, bad as they are, are forgeries, and accordingly give the variations of Gutch’s Robin Hood from the manuscript, not regarding spelling.

32. hold good.

34. thou will.

71. thus he.

101. Thorough: I run.

111. [kine?]

163. while.

191. Ile.

213. he lent.

243. be not.

253. eldest.

281. leant.

292. wield. No “Finis” at the end.

P. 113. The Servian hero Marko Kraljević is guilty of the same ingratitude. The daughter of the Moorish king releases him from a long captivity and makes him rich gifts. He promises to marry her and they go off together. During a halt the princess embraces him, and he finds her black face and white teeth so repulsive that he strikes off her head. He seeks to atone for his sin by pious foundations. Servian, Vuk, II, No 44 [Bowring, p. 86]; Croat, Bogišić, p. 16; Bulgarian, Miladinof, No 54, Kačanofskij, No 132. (W. W.)

P. 119. A Danish fragment of nine stanzas in Kristensen’s Skattegraveren, IV, 161, No 509.

119 b. Three copies of the Swedish ballad are printed by Wahlfisk, Bidrag till Södermanlands äldere Kulturhistoria, No VI, p. 33 f.

124 b, 493 b, II, 498 b.

Rudchenko, South Russian Popular Tales, I, No 55: murder of brother revealed by a flute made from a reed that grows from his grave (No 56, flute from a willow). II, No 14, murder of a boy killed and eaten by his parents revealed by a bird that rises from his bones. (W. W.)

In a Flemish tale reported in the Revue des Traditions populaires, II, 125, Janneken is killed by Milken for the sake of a golden basket. The murder is disclosed by a singing rose. In ‘Les Roseaux qui chantent’ a sister kills her brother in a dispute over a bush covered withpain-prunelle. Roses grow from his grave. A shepherd, hearing them sing, cuts a stem of the rose-bush and whistles in it. The usual words follow. Revue des Traditions populaires, II, 365 ff.; cf. Sébillot’s long note, p. 366 ff. Das Flötenrohr (two prose versions), U. Jahn, Volkssagen aus Pommern und Rügen, No 510, pp. 399–401. (G. L. K.)

Pp. 142 b, 496 a. ‘Rizzardo bello,’E, ‘Ruggiero,’ in Mazzatinti, Canti p. umbri, p. 286, Bologna, 1883.

143 b. ‘Hr. Adelbrant og jomfru Lindelil,’ with a testament, again in Skattegraveren, I, 5, No I, and V, 17, No 12.

144 a, 496 b. Testaments. A wife who has been gone from home in pursuit of her pleasure is so beaten by her husband on her return that she dies. She leaves valuable legacies to her children and a rope to him. Nigra, No 25, ‘Testamento della Moglie,’ p. 159.

144 b. ‘Rævens Arvegods,’Kristensen, Skattegraveren, II, 192 ff, Nos 774–78, and VIII, 209, No 810.

Pp. 152, 498.Italian.AddG,H,I, Nigra, No 26,A,B,C, ‘Testamento dell’ Avvelenato.’J.‘L’Amante avvelenato,’ Giannini, No 27, p. 199.K.‘Mamma e Figghiolo,’ Nerucci, in Archivio, II, 526.

154 b, 498 b. ‘A megetétt János’ in Arany and Gyulai, III, 7, Kriza.

156 a. ‘Donna Lombarda’ is now No 1 of Nigra’s collection, where it is given in sixteen versions.

156 b, 499 a, II, 499 a. Slavic ballads of the sister that poisons her brother, etc. Add: Servian, Rajkowić, No 251. Compare, Bulgarian, Miladinof, No 262; Croat, Mažuranić, p. 152, Sammlung der Zeitschrift ‘Naša Sloga,’ II, No 158; Slovenian, Koritko, IV, No 47.—In Golovatsky, II, 584, a mother asks her son whether he supped with the widow. He supped with her, the witch. What did she cook for him? A small fish. Where did she catch it, dress it? Did she eat any of it? No, her head ached. Did the children? No, they went to bed.—In Verković, No 317, p. 350, the fair Stana is poisoned by her husband’s parents with a snake given as a fish. (W. W.)

A Ruthenian ballad of a mother attempting to poison her son’s wife, and poisoning the pair, Herrmann, in Ethnologische Mittheilungen, col. 205 f.

A Slovak ballad of this sort in Kollár, Narodnie Zpiewanky, II, 32, translated by Herrmann, 91 f., No 3; and another version of the same col. 204 f., No 7. Roumanian versions, cols 206, 207 f., 209 f., Nos 9, 10, 12, the last with another story prefixed. See also Herrmann, col. 90, No 1, 92 f., Nos 4, 5, 208 f., No 11, for poisoning-ballads, and his references at the top of col. 211.

Pp. 167 b, 501 b. Another copy of ‘Sven i Rosengård,’F, is printed by Aminson in Bidrag till Södermanlands äldere Kulturhistoria, No V, p. 12, eleven stanzas. The swain has killed his sister.

168 b.Danish.Four concluding stanzas (When?) in Kristensen’s Skattegraveren, II, 100, No 459.

P. 170. Add:

“In Gipsy Tents,” by Francis Hindes Groome, p. 143.

1There were three sisters going from home,All in a lea and alony, ohThey met a man, and he made them stand,Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.2He took the first one by the hand,He turned her round, and he made her stand.3Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?Or will you die by my penknife?4‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,But I will die by your penknife.’5Then he took the second by her hand,He turned her round, and he made her stand.6Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?Or will you die by my penknife?7‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,But I will die by your penknife.’8He took the third one by the hand,He turned her round, and he made her stand.9Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?Or will you die by my penknife?10‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,And I wont die by your penknife.11‘If my two brothers had been here,You would not have killed my sisters two.’12‘What was your two brothers’ names?’‘One was John, and the other was James.’13‘Oh, what did your two brothers do?’‘One was a minister, the other such as you.’14‘Oh, what is this that I have done?I have killed my sisters, all but one.15‘And now I’ll take out my penknife,And here I’ll end my own sweet life.’

1There were three sisters going from home,All in a lea and alony, ohThey met a man, and he made them stand,Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.

There were three sisters going from home,

All in a lea and alony, oh

They met a man, and he made them stand,

Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.

2He took the first one by the hand,He turned her round, and he made her stand.

He took the first one by the hand,

He turned her round, and he made her stand.

3Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?Or will you die by my penknife?

Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?

Or will you die by my penknife?

4‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,But I will die by your penknife.’

‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,

But I will die by your penknife.’

5Then he took the second by her hand,He turned her round, and he made her stand.

Then he took the second by her hand,

He turned her round, and he made her stand.

6Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?Or will you die by my penknife?

Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?

Or will you die by my penknife?

7‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,But I will die by your penknife.’

‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,

But I will die by your penknife.’

8He took the third one by the hand,He turned her round, and he made her stand.

He took the third one by the hand,

He turned her round, and he made her stand.

9Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?Or will you die by my penknife?

Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?

Or will you die by my penknife?

10‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,And I wont die by your penknife.

‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,

And I wont die by your penknife.

11‘If my two brothers had been here,You would not have killed my sisters two.’

‘If my two brothers had been here,

You would not have killed my sisters two.’

12‘What was your two brothers’ names?’‘One was John, and the other was James.’

‘What was your two brothers’ names?’

‘One was John, and the other was James.’

13‘Oh, what did your two brothers do?’‘One was a minister, the other such as you.’

‘Oh, what did your two brothers do?’

‘One was a minister, the other such as you.’

14‘Oh, what is this that I have done?I have killed my sisters, all but one.

‘Oh, what is this that I have done?

I have killed my sisters, all but one.

15‘And now I’ll take out my penknife,And here I’ll end my own sweet life.’

‘And now I’ll take out my penknife,

And here I’ll end my own sweet life.’

P. 173, II, 499. Add to the French ballad: ‘Le Passage du Bois,’ V. Smith, Chants p. du Velay et du Forez, Romania, X, 205; ‘La Doulento,’ Arbaud, I, 120; Poésies p. de la France, MS., IV, fol. 442, printed in Rolland, III, 55. With these belong ‘La Ragazza assassinata,’ Nigra, No 12, three versions, p. 85 ff.; ‘La Vergine uccisa,’ Ferraro, Canti p. monferrini, p. 17.

P. 179 a.Danish, II. ‘Rosenelle og hr. Agervold,’ Kristensen, Skattegraveren, I, 65, No 230, is an important variety of Redselille og Medelvold. Another version, III, 82, No 260, ‘Rosenelle og hr. Medervold.’ In both of these the knight is the lady’s brother.

Swedish, II. A copy of ‘Lilla Lisa och Herr Nedervall’ is printed by Aminson, Bidrag, o. s. v., No 5, p. 17.

P. 185. Mr Macmath has found the following ballad in Motherwell’s handwriting, on a half-sheet of paper. It is not completely intelligible (why should Lady Ann be left in the death-throe, to bury herself?), but undoubtedly belongs here. The first stanza agrees withD.

1One king’s daughter said to anither,Brume blumes bonnie and grows sae fair‘We’ll gae ride like sister and brither.’And we’ll neer gae down to the brume nae mair2‘We’ll ride doun into yonder valley,Whare the greene green trees are budding sae gaily.3‘Wi hawke and hounde we will hunt sae rarely,And we’ll come back in the morning early.’4They rade on like sister and brither,And they hunted and hawket in the valley thegether.5‘Now, lady, hauld my horse and my hawk,For I maun na ride, and I downa walk.6‘But set me doun be the rute o this tree,For there hae I dreamt that my bed sall be.’7The ae king’s dochter did lift doun the ither,And she was licht in her armis like ony fether.8Bonnie Lady Ann sat doun be the tree,And a wide grave was houkit whare nane suld be.9The hawk had nae lure, and the horse had nae master,And the faithless hounds thro the woods ran faster.10The one king’s dochter has ridden awa,But bonnie Lady Ann lay in the deed-thraw.

1One king’s daughter said to anither,Brume blumes bonnie and grows sae fair‘We’ll gae ride like sister and brither.’And we’ll neer gae down to the brume nae mair

One king’s daughter said to anither,

Brume blumes bonnie and grows sae fair

‘We’ll gae ride like sister and brither.’

And we’ll neer gae down to the brume nae mair

2‘We’ll ride doun into yonder valley,Whare the greene green trees are budding sae gaily.

‘We’ll ride doun into yonder valley,

Whare the greene green trees are budding sae gaily.

3‘Wi hawke and hounde we will hunt sae rarely,And we’ll come back in the morning early.’

‘Wi hawke and hounde we will hunt sae rarely,

And we’ll come back in the morning early.’

4They rade on like sister and brither,And they hunted and hawket in the valley thegether.

They rade on like sister and brither,

And they hunted and hawket in the valley thegether.

5‘Now, lady, hauld my horse and my hawk,For I maun na ride, and I downa walk.

‘Now, lady, hauld my horse and my hawk,

For I maun na ride, and I downa walk.

6‘But set me doun be the rute o this tree,For there hae I dreamt that my bed sall be.’

‘But set me doun be the rute o this tree,

For there hae I dreamt that my bed sall be.’

7The ae king’s dochter did lift doun the ither,And she was licht in her armis like ony fether.

The ae king’s dochter did lift doun the ither,

And she was licht in her armis like ony fether.

8Bonnie Lady Ann sat doun be the tree,And a wide grave was houkit whare nane suld be.

Bonnie Lady Ann sat doun be the tree,

And a wide grave was houkit whare nane suld be.

9The hawk had nae lure, and the horse had nae master,And the faithless hounds thro the woods ran faster.

The hawk had nae lure, and the horse had nae master,

And the faithless hounds thro the woods ran faster.

10The one king’s dochter has ridden awa,But bonnie Lady Ann lay in the deed-thraw.

The one king’s dochter has ridden awa,

But bonnie Lady Ann lay in the deed-thraw.

Some words are difficult to read.

2. saewanting in burden1.

31. hunt? growis fairin burden1.

51.OriginallyOh hauld my bridle and stirrup. Ann,orcome,is written overOh.

92. faithless?

The lost knife here inA8–10,B5, and in ‘Leesome Brand,’ No 15, 36–41, appears in ‘The Squire of Low Degree,’ Percy Folio, III, 267, vv. 117–126 (not in the version printed by Ritson and by Hazlitt).

‘Daughter,’ he sais, ‘ffor whose sakeIsthat sorrowthat still thou makes?’‘Ffather,’ shee sais, ’as I doe see,Itt is ffor no man in Christentye;Ffather,’ shee sayes, ’as I doe thriue,Itt is ffor noe man this day aliue.Ffor yesterday I lost my kniffe;Much rather had I haue lost my liffe!’‘My daughter,’ he sayes, ‘if itt be but a blade,I can gett another as good made.’‘Ffather,’ shee sais, ‘there is neuer a smith but oneThat [can] smith you such a one.’(G. L. K.)

‘Daughter,’ he sais, ‘ffor whose sake

Isthat sorrowthat still thou makes?’

‘Ffather,’ shee sais, ’as I doe see,

Itt is ffor no man in Christentye;

Ffather,’ shee sayes, ’as I doe thriue,

Itt is ffor noe man this day aliue.

Ffor yesterday I lost my kniffe;

Much rather had I haue lost my liffe!’

‘My daughter,’ he sayes, ‘if itt be but a blade,

I can gett another as good made.’

‘Ffather,’ shee sais, ‘there is neuer a smith but one

That [can] smith you such a one.’

(G. L. K.)

P. 193 (2). ‘Hr. Lovmand’ in Kristensen’s Skattegraveren, VIII, 49, No 115.

194 ff., 502 f., II, 499 b.

According to a Devonshire tradition given by Mrs Bray, Traditions of Devonshire, II, 172 (II, 32, of the new ed. of 1879, which has a fresh title, The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy), Sir Francis Drake, having been abroad seven years, was apprised by one of his devils that his wife was about to marry again. He immediately discharged one of his great guns up through the earth. The cannon-ball “fell with a loud explosion between the lady and her intended bridegroom,” who were before the altar. In another version, known to Southey and communicated by him to Mrs Bray (as above, II, 174; new ed., II, 33, 34), the marriage is broken off by a large stone (no doubt a gun-stone) which falls on the lady’s train as she is on her way to church. Drake, in this version, returns in disguise, but is recognized by his smile. See for various stories of the same kind, ‘Iouenn Kerménou,’ Luzel, Contes pop. de Basse-Bretagne, I, 416; ‘Der todte Schuldner,’ Zingerle, Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie, II, 367; ‘De witte Swâne,’ Woeste, the same, III, 46, translated from the Markish dialect by Simrock, ‘Der gute Gerhard,’ u. s. w., p. 75; Vernaleken, Mythen u. Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich, p. 372; Vernaleken, Kinder- u. Hausmärchen, No 54, p. 315 f.; J. H. Knowles, Folk-Tales of Kashmir, p. 184 f.; Prym u. Socin, Syrische Sagen u. Märchen, No 20, II, 72. (G. L. K.)

Pp. 198 b, 502 b, II, 499 b. An Italian form of ‘Le Retour du Mari’ is ‘Il Ritorno del Soldato,’ Nigra, No 28b, p. 174.

Another Italian ballad has some of the points in the story of Horn. A man goes off for seven years immediately after marriage; the woman looking out towards the sea perceives a pilgrim approaching; he asks for charity, and makes what seems an impudent suggestion, for which she threatens him with punishment. But how if I were your husband? Then you would give me some token. He pulls out his wedding-ring from under his cloak. ‘Il finto [falso] Pellegrino,’ Bernoni, ix, no 7, Ferraro, C. p. monferrini, p. 33, Giannini, p. 151 (nearly the same in Archivio, VI, 361); ‘La Moglie fedele,’ Wolf, p. 59, No 81, Ive, p. 334; ‘Bennardo,’ Nerucci, in Archivio, III, 44.

To the Portuguese ballads, I, 502 b, add ‘A bella Infanta,’ Bellermann, p. 100.

Add to the Polish ballads, p. 502 b: Roger, p. 13, Nos 25, 26.

With the Slavic ballads belong: Servian, Vuk, III, No 25; Bulgarian, Miladinof, Nos 65, 66, 111, 573, Kačanovskiy, Nos 68–73, 112. (W. W.)

202 a. The three singing laverocks inB3,F4, (cf.A3,) are to be taken as curiosities of art. Artificial singing-birds are often mentioned in the earlier times, (by Sir John Mandeville for instance): see Liebrecht, Volkskunde, p. 89 f., No 5. Such birds, and artificially hissing snakes, occur in the Great-Russian bylina of Djuk Stepanović; cf. Wollner, Untersuchungen ü. d. grossr. Volksepik, p. 134 f. (W. W.)

205.Gwould have been printed as it stands in Kinloch MSS VII, 117, had the volume been in my possession. The copy principally used in Kinloch’s Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 138, was derived from the editor’s niece, M. Kinnear. Readings of another copy are written in pencil over the transcript of the first in places, and as the name “Christy Smith” is also written at the beginning in pencil, it may be supposed that these readings were furnished by this Christy Smith. Kinloch adopted some of these readings into the copy which appears in his book, and he introduced others which seem to be his own. The readings of the Kinnear copy not retained by Kinloch will now be given undera, and those supplied (as may be supposed) by Christy Smith underb.

12. Whare was ye born? or frae what cuntrie?

31. a gay gowd wand.

41. a silver ring.

51. Whan that ring.

61. Whan that ring.

72. Till he cam.

81. Whan he lookit to.

82. Says, I wish.

92. Until he cam till.

101. met with.

102. It was with.

111. my puir auld man.

131. to me.

132. I’ll lend you.

151. He has changed wi the puir auld.

161. What is the way that ye use.

162. words that.

181, 221. to yon town end.

192. your Hynde (yourstruck out).

232. his Hynde (hisstruck out).

241. he took na frae ane.

271. But he drank his glass.

272. Into it he dropt.

302. to your.

342. him evermair.

361. The red: oure them aw.

12. in what.

21. greenwud’s.

22. have left.

31. a silver wand.

41. And my love gave me a gay gowd ring.

51. As lang as that ring.

72. Till that he cam.

92. Until that.

102. a jolly beggar man.

151.struck out in pencil.

181. And whan: yonder down.

202. Unless it be frae.

221. yonder down.

241. But he wad tak frae nane.

342. for evermair.

P. 217. The first half of the Norse burden is more likely to have been, originally, what would correspond to the Danish Skoven [er] herlig grön, or, Skoven herlig grönnes. In the other half, grün forbids us to look for hjort in giorten, where we are rather to see Danish urt (English wort), Icelandic jurt: so that this would be, in Danish, Hvor urten hun grönnes herlig. (Note of Mr. Axel Olrik.)

P. 218 b.Danish.‘I dølgsmål,’ Kristensen, Skattegraveren, V, 98, No 644; corrupted.

(N,Oshould beO,P, II, 500: see I, 504.)

‘The Cruel Mother,’ Shropshire Folk-Lore, edited by Charlotte Sophia Burne, 1883–86, p. 540; “sung by Eliza Wharton and brothers, children of gipsies, habitually travelling in North Shropshire and Staffordshire, 13th July, 1885.”

1There was a lady, a lady of York,Ri fol i diddle i gee woShe fell a-courting in her own father’s park.Down by the greenwood side, O2She leaned her back against the stile,There she had two pretty babes born.3And she had nothing to lap ’em in,But she had a penknife sharp and keen.4. . . . . . . .There she stabbed them right through the heart.5She wiped the penknife in the sludge;The more she wiped it, the more the blood showed.6As she was walking in her own father’s park,She saw two pretty babes playing with a ball.7‘Pretty babes, pretty babes, if you were mine,I’d dress you up in silks so fine.’8‘Dear mother, dear mother, [when we were thine,]You dressed us not in silks so fine.9‘Here we go to the heavens so high,You’ll go to bad when you do die.’

1There was a lady, a lady of York,Ri fol i diddle i gee woShe fell a-courting in her own father’s park.Down by the greenwood side, O

There was a lady, a lady of York,

Ri fol i diddle i gee wo

She fell a-courting in her own father’s park.

Down by the greenwood side, O

2She leaned her back against the stile,There she had two pretty babes born.

She leaned her back against the stile,

There she had two pretty babes born.

3And she had nothing to lap ’em in,But she had a penknife sharp and keen.

And she had nothing to lap ’em in,

But she had a penknife sharp and keen.

4. . . . . . . .There she stabbed them right through the heart.

. . . . . . . .

There she stabbed them right through the heart.

5She wiped the penknife in the sludge;The more she wiped it, the more the blood showed.

She wiped the penknife in the sludge;

The more she wiped it, the more the blood showed.

6As she was walking in her own father’s park,She saw two pretty babes playing with a ball.

As she was walking in her own father’s park,

She saw two pretty babes playing with a ball.

7‘Pretty babes, pretty babes, if you were mine,I’d dress you up in silks so fine.’

‘Pretty babes, pretty babes, if you were mine,

I’d dress you up in silks so fine.’

8‘Dear mother, dear mother, [when we were thine,]You dressed us not in silks so fine.

‘Dear mother, dear mother, [when we were thine,]

You dressed us not in silks so fine.

9‘Here we go to the heavens so high,You’ll go to bad when you do die.’

‘Here we go to the heavens so high,

You’ll go to bad when you do die.’

219 b, 504 a, II, 500 a. (Mat this last place should beO.) Add:P, ‘Die Schäferstochter,’ as sung in the neighborhood of Köslin, Ulrich Jahn, Volkssagen aus Pommern u. Rügen, No 393, p. 310 f. (G. L. K.)

A Magyar-Croat ballad of the same tenor as the German, Kurelac, p. 150, No 451. (W. W.)

P. 228 a.Danish.Another copy of ‘Synderinden ’ in Kristensen’s Skattegraveren, VII, 81, No 505.

230 b.Slavic.Sušil, No 3, p. 2, closely resembles MoravianA; the woman is turned to stone. In a variant, p. 3, she has had fifty paramours, and again in a Little-Russian ballad, Golovatsky, I, 235, No 68, seventy. In this last, after shrift, the sinner is dissipated in dust. (W. W.)

231.French.Add: Victor Smith, Chants du Velay et du Forez, Romania IV, 439 (the conversion, p. 438); Chabaneau, Revue des Langues Romanes, XXIX, 265, 267, 268.

Catalan.‘Santa Magdalena,’ conversion and penance, Miscelánea Folk-Lórica, 1887, p. 119, No 8. The Samaritan Woman, simply, p. 118, No 7.

P. 234 a. ‘Rudisar vísa’ is now No 11 ofHammershaimb’s Færøsk Anthologi, p. 39. There are two other copies.

237. ‘Skuin over de groenelands heide,’ Dykstra en van der Meulen, p. 121, resembles the Breton stories, but lacks the miracle of the capon.

239. Miracle of the roasted cock. Jesus visits a Jew on Easter Sunday and reproaches him with not believing in the resurrection. The Jew replies that Jesushaving been put to death it was as impossible for him to come to life again as it would be for a roast chicken which lies before them. Faith can do anything, says Jesus. The fowl comes to life and lays eggs; the Jew has himself baptized. Kostomarof, Monuments of the older Russian Literature, I, 217. In a note, a Red-Russian ballad is mentioned which seems to be identical with Golovatsky, II, 6, No 8. A young Jewess, who was carrying water, was the first to see Jesus after his resurrection. She tells her father, as he sits at meat, that the God of the Russians is risen from the dead. “If you were not my daughter, I would have you drowned,” says the father. “The God of the Russians will not rise again till that capon flies up and crows.” The capon does both; the Jew is turned to stone. (W. W.)

Pp. 247–49 a.Danish.Add: ‘Vågestuen,’ in Kristensen’s Skattegraveren, II, 17, No 17; IV, 17, 115, Nos 26, 285.

249 b and 506 a.Swedish.Bröms Gyllenmärs’ visbok has been printed in Nyare Bidrag, o. s. v., 1887, and the ballad of Herr Carl is No 77, p. 252. There is an imperfect copy in Bergström ock Nordlander, Nyare Bidrag, p. 102, No 9.

250. ‘Il Genovese’ is given in eight versions, one a fragment, by Nigra, No 41, p. 257.

250, 506 a, II, 502 a.Bulgarian.Stojan, who wants to carry off Bojana, does, at his mother’s advice, everything to bring her within his reach. He builds a church, digs a well, plants a garden. All the maids come but her. He then feigns death; she comes with flowers and mourns over him; he seizes her; the priest blesses their union. Miladinof, p. 294, No 185. An old woman, in a like case, advises a young man to feign death, and brings Bojana to see the body. “Why,” asks Bojana, “do his eyes look as if they had sight, his arms as if they would lay hold of me, his feet as if ready to jump up?” “That is because he died so suddenly,” says the beldam. The youth springs up and embraces Bojana. Verković, p. 334, No 304. A Magyar-Croat version begins like this last, but has suffered corruption: Kurelac, p. 148, No. 447. (W. W.)

P. 256. The first paragraph was occasioned by a misprint in Motherwell (corrected at p. cv of his Introduction), and may be dropped. In Pitcairn’s MS. it is noted that this fragment was obtained from Mrs Gammell.

Pp. 268 ff., 507, II, 502.

On going to war a king gives each of his two daughters a rose. “Si vous tombez en faute, quoi que ce soit,” says he, “vos roses flétriront.” Both princesses yield to the solicitations of their lovers, so that the king, on returning, finds both roses withered, and is grieved thereat. Vinson, Folk-Lore du Pays Basque, p. 102.

Wer ein ausgelöschtes Licht wieder anblasen kann ist noch Jungfrau oder Junggeselle. Wer ein ganz volles Glas zum Munde führen kann, ohne einen Tropfen su verschütten, ist Junggeselle. Zingerle, Sitten der Tiroler, p. 35.

There is a shield in Perceval le Gallois which no knight can wear with safety in a tournament if he is not all that a knight should be, and if he has not, also, “bele amie qui soit loiaus sans trecerie.” Several of Arthur’s knights try the shield with disastrous results; Perceval is more fortunate. (See 31805–31, 31865, 32023–48, 32410 ff., Potvin, IV, 45 ff..)

Back to Index Next