1Johnie rose up in a May morning,Called for water to wash his hands, handsAnd he is awa to Braidisbanks,To ding the dun deer down. downTo ding the dun deer down2Johnie lookit east, and Johnie lookit west,And it’s lang before the sun,And there he did spy the dun deer lie,Beneath a bush of brume.3Johnie shot, and the dun deer lap,And he’s woundit her in the side;Out then spake his sister’s son,‘And the neist will lay her pride.’* * * * *4They’ve eaten sae meikle o the gude venison,And they’ve drunken sae muckle o the blude,That they’ve fallen into as sound a sleepAs gif that they were dead.* * * * *5‘It’s doun, and it’s doun, and it’s doun, doun,And it’s doun amang the scrogs,And there ye’ll espy twa bonnie boys lie,Asleep amang their dogs.’* * * * *6They waukened Johnie out o his sleep,And he’s drawn to him his coat:‘My fingers five, save me alive,And a stout heart fail me not!’* * * * *
1Johnie rose up in a May morning,Called for water to wash his hands, handsAnd he is awa to Braidisbanks,To ding the dun deer down. downTo ding the dun deer down2Johnie lookit east, and Johnie lookit west,And it’s lang before the sun,And there he did spy the dun deer lie,Beneath a bush of brume.3Johnie shot, and the dun deer lap,And he’s woundit her in the side;Out then spake his sister’s son,‘And the neist will lay her pride.’* * * * *4They’ve eaten sae meikle o the gude venison,And they’ve drunken sae muckle o the blude,That they’ve fallen into as sound a sleepAs gif that they were dead.* * * * *5‘It’s doun, and it’s doun, and it’s doun, doun,And it’s doun amang the scrogs,And there ye’ll espy twa bonnie boys lie,Asleep amang their dogs.’* * * * *6They waukened Johnie out o his sleep,And he’s drawn to him his coat:‘My fingers five, save me alive,And a stout heart fail me not!’* * * * *
1Johnie rose up in a May morning,Called for water to wash his hands, handsAnd he is awa to Braidisbanks,To ding the dun deer down. downTo ding the dun deer down
1
Johnie rose up in a May morning,
Called for water to wash his hands, hands
And he is awa to Braidisbanks,
To ding the dun deer down. down
To ding the dun deer down
2Johnie lookit east, and Johnie lookit west,And it’s lang before the sun,And there he did spy the dun deer lie,Beneath a bush of brume.
2
Johnie lookit east, and Johnie lookit west,
And it’s lang before the sun,
And there he did spy the dun deer lie,
Beneath a bush of brume.
3Johnie shot, and the dun deer lap,And he’s woundit her in the side;Out then spake his sister’s son,‘And the neist will lay her pride.’
3
Johnie shot, and the dun deer lap,
And he’s woundit her in the side;
Out then spake his sister’s son,
‘And the neist will lay her pride.’
* * * * *
* * * * *
4They’ve eaten sae meikle o the gude venison,And they’ve drunken sae muckle o the blude,That they’ve fallen into as sound a sleepAs gif that they were dead.
4
They’ve eaten sae meikle o the gude venison,
And they’ve drunken sae muckle o the blude,
That they’ve fallen into as sound a sleep
As gif that they were dead.
* * * * *
* * * * *
5‘It’s doun, and it’s doun, and it’s doun, doun,And it’s doun amang the scrogs,And there ye’ll espy twa bonnie boys lie,Asleep amang their dogs.’
5
‘It’s doun, and it’s doun, and it’s doun, doun,
And it’s doun amang the scrogs,
And there ye’ll espy twa bonnie boys lie,
Asleep amang their dogs.’
* * * * *
* * * * *
6They waukened Johnie out o his sleep,And he’s drawn to him his coat:‘My fingers five, save me alive,And a stout heart fail me not!’
6
They waukened Johnie out o his sleep,
And he’s drawn to him his coat:
‘My fingers five, save me alive,
And a stout heart fail me not!’
* * * * *
* * * * *
J
Chambers’s Scottish Ballads, p. 181, stanzas 13, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 26: from the recitation of a lady resident at Peebles.
1His coat was o the scarlet red,His vest was o the same;His stockings were o the worset lace,And buckles tied to the same.2Out then spoke one, out then spoke two,Out then spoke two or three;Out spoke the master forester,‘It’s Johnie o Braidislee.3‘If this be true, thou silly auld man,Which you tell unto me,Five hundred pounds of yearly rentIt shall not pay your fee.’* * * * *4‘O wae be to you seven foresters!I wonder ye dinna think shame,You being seven sturdy men,And I but a man my lane.5‘Now fail me not, my ten fingers,That are both long and small!Now fail me not, my noble heart!For in thee I trust for all.6‘Now fail me not, my good bend bow,That was in London coft!Now fail me not, my golden string,Which my true lover wrocht!’* * * * *7He has tossed him up, he has tossed him doun,He has broken his collar-bone;He has tied him to his bridle reins,Bade him carry the tidings home.
1His coat was o the scarlet red,His vest was o the same;His stockings were o the worset lace,And buckles tied to the same.2Out then spoke one, out then spoke two,Out then spoke two or three;Out spoke the master forester,‘It’s Johnie o Braidislee.3‘If this be true, thou silly auld man,Which you tell unto me,Five hundred pounds of yearly rentIt shall not pay your fee.’* * * * *4‘O wae be to you seven foresters!I wonder ye dinna think shame,You being seven sturdy men,And I but a man my lane.5‘Now fail me not, my ten fingers,That are both long and small!Now fail me not, my noble heart!For in thee I trust for all.6‘Now fail me not, my good bend bow,That was in London coft!Now fail me not, my golden string,Which my true lover wrocht!’* * * * *7He has tossed him up, he has tossed him doun,He has broken his collar-bone;He has tied him to his bridle reins,Bade him carry the tidings home.
1His coat was o the scarlet red,His vest was o the same;His stockings were o the worset lace,And buckles tied to the same.
1
His coat was o the scarlet red,
His vest was o the same;
His stockings were o the worset lace,
And buckles tied to the same.
2Out then spoke one, out then spoke two,Out then spoke two or three;Out spoke the master forester,‘It’s Johnie o Braidislee.
2
Out then spoke one, out then spoke two,
Out then spoke two or three;
Out spoke the master forester,
‘It’s Johnie o Braidislee.
3‘If this be true, thou silly auld man,Which you tell unto me,Five hundred pounds of yearly rentIt shall not pay your fee.’
3
‘If this be true, thou silly auld man,
Which you tell unto me,
Five hundred pounds of yearly rent
It shall not pay your fee.’
* * * * *
* * * * *
4‘O wae be to you seven foresters!I wonder ye dinna think shame,You being seven sturdy men,And I but a man my lane.
4
‘O wae be to you seven foresters!
I wonder ye dinna think shame,
You being seven sturdy men,
And I but a man my lane.
5‘Now fail me not, my ten fingers,That are both long and small!Now fail me not, my noble heart!For in thee I trust for all.
5
‘Now fail me not, my ten fingers,
That are both long and small!
Now fail me not, my noble heart!
For in thee I trust for all.
6‘Now fail me not, my good bend bow,That was in London coft!Now fail me not, my golden string,Which my true lover wrocht!’
6
‘Now fail me not, my good bend bow,
That was in London coft!
Now fail me not, my golden string,
Which my true lover wrocht!’
* * * * *
* * * * *
7He has tossed him up, he has tossed him doun,He has broken his collar-bone;He has tied him to his bridle reins,Bade him carry the tidings home.
7
He has tossed him up, he has tossed him doun,
He has broken his collar-bone;
He has tied him to his bridle reins,
Bade him carry the tidings home.
Finlay’s Scottish Ballads, I, xxxi.
‘There’s no a bird in a’ this foresteWill do as meikle for meAs dip its wing in the wan waterAn straik it on my ee-bree.’
‘There’s no a bird in a’ this foresteWill do as meikle for meAs dip its wing in the wan waterAn straik it on my ee-bree.’
‘There’s no a bird in a’ this foresteWill do as meikle for meAs dip its wing in the wan waterAn straik it on my ee-bree.’
‘There’s no a bird in a’ this foreste
Will do as meikle for me
As dip its wing in the wan water
An straik it on my ee-bree.’
Harris MS., fol. 25 b.
But aye at ilka ae mile’s endShe fand a cat o clay,An written upon the back o it‘Tak your son Johnnie Brod away.’
But aye at ilka ae mile’s endShe fand a cat o clay,An written upon the back o it‘Tak your son Johnnie Brod away.’
But aye at ilka ae mile’s endShe fand a cat o clay,An written upon the back o it‘Tak your son Johnnie Brod away.’
But aye at ilka ae mile’s end
She fand a cat o clay,
An written upon the back o it
‘Tak your son Johnnie Brod away.’
Froude’s Life of Carlyle, 1795–1875, II, 335, New York, 1882, completed by a communication of Mr Macmath: as sung by Carlyle’s mother.
‘O Busk ye, O busk ye, my three bluidy hounds,O busk ye, and go with me,For there’s seven foresters in yon forest,And them I want to see.’ seeAnd them I want to see
‘O Busk ye, O busk ye, my three bluidy hounds,O busk ye, and go with me,For there’s seven foresters in yon forest,And them I want to see.’ seeAnd them I want to see
‘O Busk ye, O busk ye, my three bluidy hounds,O busk ye, and go with me,For there’s seven foresters in yon forest,And them I want to see.’ seeAnd them I want to see
‘O Busk ye, O busk ye, my three bluidy hounds,
O busk ye, and go with me,
For there’s seven foresters in yon forest,
And them I want to see.’ see
And them I want to see
A.
‘The Seven Forsters at Pickeram Side’is a title supplied by Percy.
62. I wunis added by Percy, at the end.
73, 173. one water.
151. Oh.
194. bord words, or bood words.
BfollowsCin Fry without a break. Words distinguished by ’ ’ inB,Care emendations or additions of Fry. 4, 5 come between 12 and 13.
11. braid alow.
101. the word.
105. would have.
112. hearted.
133. bows.
43. Out-shot.
D.
“There is a West-Country version of this ballad, under the title of Johnie of Cockerslee,differing very little from the present. The variations in the reading I have marked at their respective places.”Kinloch. Assuming that Kinloch has given all the variations (which include six entire stanzas), the West-Country version is reproduced by combining these readings with so much of the other copy, Kinloch’s Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 38, as did not vary.
153.Kinloch neglected to alterCocklesmuir here.
E.
63. lyingis struck through, probably to improve the metre. Kinloch made two slight changes in printing.
H.
51. Mony ane. (?)
91. Johnnie lap:probably an error of the copyist.
92, 182. wound:cf.202.
214. bidding.
Dixon has changedstane-auldtosilly-auldin 111, 121, 203;CockistoCockl’sin 174; and has Scotticised the spelling.
I.
Motherwell notes a stanza as wanting after 3, some stanzas as wanting after 4, 5.
J.
“The version of the ballad here given is partly copied from those printed in the Border Minstrelsy and in the publications of Messrs Kinloch and Motherwell, and is partly taken from the recitation of a lady resident at Peebles and from a manuscript copy submitted to me by Mr Kinloch. The twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-sixth, and twenty-seventh stanzas are here printed for the first time.”Chambers. The 14th stanza had been printed by Scott,F12; the 23d, repeated here (6), by Pinkerton; the 27th isD20. The first half of the 12th isD131,2, and the remainder Chambers’s own: compare his 11 andF11, from which it seems to have been made.
L.
“I have heard another version, where Johnnie is slain and thrown ‘owre a milk-white steed.’ News is sent to Johnnie’s mother, who flies to her son; But aye at ilka ae mile’s end, etc.”
M.
“While she [Carlyle’s mother] was at Craigenputtock, I made her train me to two song-tunes; and we often sang them together, and tried them often again in coming down into Annandale.”The last half of the stanza is cited. Letter of T. Carlyle, May 18, 1834, in Froude’s Life, 1795–1835, II,335.
“Mrs Aitken, sister of T. Carlyle, sent me [January 15, 1884] the first two lines to complete the stanza of this Johny Cock, but can call up no more of the ballad.”Letter of Mr Macmath.