291
CHILD OWLET
‘Childe Owlet,’ Buchan’s Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 27; Motherwell’s MS., p. 572.
‘Childe Owlet,’ Buchan’s Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 27; Motherwell’s MS., p. 572.
Lady Erskine invites Child Owlet to be her paramour. Child Owlet revolts at the suggestion; he is sister’s son to Lord Ronald. The lady cuts herself with a penknife sufficiently to draw blood; Lord Ronald hears her moaning, comes in, and asks what blood this is; his wife gives him to understand that Child Owlet has offered her violence. A council is held upon the case, and the youth is condemned to be torn by four horses. There was not a twig or a rush on the moor that was not dropping with his blood.
The chain of gold in the first stanza and the penknife below the bed in the fourth havea false ring, and the story is of the tritest. The ballad seems at best to be a late one, and is perhaps mere imitation, but, for an imitation, the last two stanzas are unusually successful.
1Lady Erskine sits in her chamber,Sewing at her silken seam,A chain of gold for Childe Owlet,As he goes out and in.2But it fell ance upon a dayShe unto him did say,Ye must cuckold Lord Ronald,For a’ his lands and ley.3‘O cease! forbid, madam,’ he says,‘That this shoud eer be done!How would I cuckold Lord Ronald,And me his sister’s son?’4Then she’s ta’en out a little penknife,That lay below her bed,Put it below her green stay’s cord,Which made her body bleed.5Then in it came him Lord Ronald,Hearing his lady’s moan;‘What blood is this, my dear,’ he says,‘That sparks on the fire-stone?’6‘Young Childe Owlet, your sister’s son,Is now gane frae my bower;If I hadna been a good woman,I’d been Childe Owlet’s whore.’7Then he has taen him Childe Owlet,Laid him in prison strong,And all his men a council heldHow they woud work him wrong.8Some said they woud Childe Owlet hang,Some said they woud him burn;Some said they woud have Childe OwletBetween wild horses torn.9‘There are horses in your stables standCan run right speedilie,And ye will to your stable go,And wile out four for me.’10They put a foal to ilka foot,And are to ilka hand,And sent them down to Darling muir,As fast as they coud gang.11There was not a kow in Darling muir,Nor ae piece o a rind,But drappit o Childe Owlet’s bludeAnd pieces o his skin.12There was not a kow in Darling muir,Nor ae piece o a rash,But drappit o Childe Owlet’s bludeAnd pieces o his flesh.
1Lady Erskine sits in her chamber,Sewing at her silken seam,A chain of gold for Childe Owlet,As he goes out and in.2But it fell ance upon a dayShe unto him did say,Ye must cuckold Lord Ronald,For a’ his lands and ley.3‘O cease! forbid, madam,’ he says,‘That this shoud eer be done!How would I cuckold Lord Ronald,And me his sister’s son?’4Then she’s ta’en out a little penknife,That lay below her bed,Put it below her green stay’s cord,Which made her body bleed.5Then in it came him Lord Ronald,Hearing his lady’s moan;‘What blood is this, my dear,’ he says,‘That sparks on the fire-stone?’6‘Young Childe Owlet, your sister’s son,Is now gane frae my bower;If I hadna been a good woman,I’d been Childe Owlet’s whore.’7Then he has taen him Childe Owlet,Laid him in prison strong,And all his men a council heldHow they woud work him wrong.8Some said they woud Childe Owlet hang,Some said they woud him burn;Some said they woud have Childe OwletBetween wild horses torn.9‘There are horses in your stables standCan run right speedilie,And ye will to your stable go,And wile out four for me.’10They put a foal to ilka foot,And are to ilka hand,And sent them down to Darling muir,As fast as they coud gang.11There was not a kow in Darling muir,Nor ae piece o a rind,But drappit o Childe Owlet’s bludeAnd pieces o his skin.12There was not a kow in Darling muir,Nor ae piece o a rash,But drappit o Childe Owlet’s bludeAnd pieces o his flesh.
1Lady Erskine sits in her chamber,Sewing at her silken seam,A chain of gold for Childe Owlet,As he goes out and in.
1
Lady Erskine sits in her chamber,
Sewing at her silken seam,
A chain of gold for Childe Owlet,
As he goes out and in.
2But it fell ance upon a dayShe unto him did say,Ye must cuckold Lord Ronald,For a’ his lands and ley.
2
But it fell ance upon a day
She unto him did say,
Ye must cuckold Lord Ronald,
For a’ his lands and ley.
3‘O cease! forbid, madam,’ he says,‘That this shoud eer be done!How would I cuckold Lord Ronald,And me his sister’s son?’
3
‘O cease! forbid, madam,’ he says,
‘That this shoud eer be done!
How would I cuckold Lord Ronald,
And me his sister’s son?’
4Then she’s ta’en out a little penknife,That lay below her bed,Put it below her green stay’s cord,Which made her body bleed.
4
Then she’s ta’en out a little penknife,
That lay below her bed,
Put it below her green stay’s cord,
Which made her body bleed.
5Then in it came him Lord Ronald,Hearing his lady’s moan;‘What blood is this, my dear,’ he says,‘That sparks on the fire-stone?’
5
Then in it came him Lord Ronald,
Hearing his lady’s moan;
‘What blood is this, my dear,’ he says,
‘That sparks on the fire-stone?’
6‘Young Childe Owlet, your sister’s son,Is now gane frae my bower;If I hadna been a good woman,I’d been Childe Owlet’s whore.’
6
‘Young Childe Owlet, your sister’s son,
Is now gane frae my bower;
If I hadna been a good woman,
I’d been Childe Owlet’s whore.’
7Then he has taen him Childe Owlet,Laid him in prison strong,And all his men a council heldHow they woud work him wrong.
7
Then he has taen him Childe Owlet,
Laid him in prison strong,
And all his men a council held
How they woud work him wrong.
8Some said they woud Childe Owlet hang,Some said they woud him burn;Some said they woud have Childe OwletBetween wild horses torn.
8
Some said they woud Childe Owlet hang,
Some said they woud him burn;
Some said they woud have Childe Owlet
Between wild horses torn.
9‘There are horses in your stables standCan run right speedilie,And ye will to your stable go,And wile out four for me.’
9
‘There are horses in your stables stand
Can run right speedilie,
And ye will to your stable go,
And wile out four for me.’
10They put a foal to ilka foot,And are to ilka hand,And sent them down to Darling muir,As fast as they coud gang.
10
They put a foal to ilka foot,
And are to ilka hand,
And sent them down to Darling muir,
As fast as they coud gang.
11There was not a kow in Darling muir,Nor ae piece o a rind,But drappit o Childe Owlet’s bludeAnd pieces o his skin.
11
There was not a kow in Darling muir,
Nor ae piece o a rind,
But drappit o Childe Owlet’s blude
And pieces o his skin.
12There was not a kow in Darling muir,Nor ae piece o a rash,But drappit o Childe Owlet’s bludeAnd pieces o his flesh.
12
There was not a kow in Darling muir,
Nor ae piece o a rash,
But drappit o Childe Owlet’s blude
And pieces o his flesh.