Chapter 53

2. It’s open, etc.:not written in full.33, 43. Ruchley hill.53. give me.6. Do not you mind, etc.:not written in full.7wanting.81. turned round.101. It’s awa.103. have got the.131. that he.141. Let down, let down.143. latewanting.153. morrow.154. of mine.16, 17,wanting.

2. It’s open, etc.:not written in full.

33, 43. Ruchley hill.

53. give me.

6. Do not you mind, etc.:not written in full.

7wanting.

81. turned round.

101. It’s awa.

103. have got the.

131. that he.

141. Let down, let down.

143. latewanting.

153. morrow.

154. of mine.

16, 17,wanting.

P. 228, note †. Add: Zingerle, in Zeitschrift für Volkskunde, II, 147.

229.Cis translated by Pröhle, G. A. Bürger, Sein Leben u. seine Dichtungen, p. 106.

P. 236 b, last paragraph. See the preface to ‘The Suffolk Miracle’ in this volume, p. 58 ff.

This “fragment,” in a small MS. volume entirely in C. K. Sharpe’s handwriting (“Songs”), p. 21, “from the recitation of Miss Oliphant of Gask, now Mrs Nairn” (later Lady Nairne), evidently belongs here.

O wet and weary is the night,And evendown pours the rain, O,And he that was sae true to meLies in the greenwood slain, O. P. 21.

O wet and weary is the night,

And evendown pours the rain, O,

And he that was sae true to me

Lies in the greenwood slain, O. P. 21.

P. 240. ‘Sleep you, wake you.’ So, ‘Soldatenlohn,’ Zeitschrift für Volkskunde, II, 426, sts. 6, 7; Hruschka u. Toischer, Deutsche Volkslieder aus Böhmen, p. 183, No 147 a, 45, b 35, p. 195, No 171, 21, No 172, 4.

240, 513 a, III, 514, IV, 476. Two religious persons from India display to the Pope a cross burned on the breast in token of Christian faith, and also a baptismal mark on the right ear, “non flumine sed flamine:” Chronicon Adae de Usk ad ann. 1404, ed. E. M. Thompson, p. 90. See also the reference to York’s Marco Polo, 1875, II, 421, in Mr Thompson’s note, p. 219. (G. L. K.)

P. 242. ‘Little Musgrave’ is entered to Francis Coules in the Stationers’ Registers, 24 June, 1630: Arber, IV, 236.

P. 279.

Miss M. H. Mason’s Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs, p. 46, ‘Giles Collin.’

1Giles Collin he said to his mother one day,Oh, mother, come bind up my head!For tomorrow morning before it is dayI’m sure I shall be dead.2‘Oh, mother, oh, mother, if I should die,And I am sure I shall,I will not be buried in our churchyard,But under Lady Alice’s wall.’3His mother she made him some water-gruel,And stirred it up with a spoon;Giles Collin he ate but one spoonful,And died before it was noon.4Lady Alice was sitting in her window,All dressed in her night-coif;She saw as pretty a corpse go byAs ever she’d seen in her life.5‘What bear ye there, ye six tall men?What bear ye on your shourn?’‘We bear the body of Giles Collin,Who was a true lover of yourn.’6‘Down with him, down with him, upon the grass,The grass that grows so green;For tomorrow morning before it is dayMy body shall lie by him.’7Her mother she made her some plum-gruel,With spices all of the best;Lady Alice she ate but one spoonful,And the doctor he ate up the rest.8Giles Collin was laid in the lower chancel,Lady Alice all in the higher;There grew up a rose from Lady Alice’s breast,And from Giles Collin’s a briar.9And they grew, and they grew, to the very church-top,Until they could grow no higher,And twisted and twined in a true-lover’s knot,Which made all the parish admire.

1Giles Collin he said to his mother one day,Oh, mother, come bind up my head!For tomorrow morning before it is dayI’m sure I shall be dead.

Giles Collin he said to his mother one day,

Oh, mother, come bind up my head!

For tomorrow morning before it is day

I’m sure I shall be dead.

2‘Oh, mother, oh, mother, if I should die,And I am sure I shall,I will not be buried in our churchyard,But under Lady Alice’s wall.’

‘Oh, mother, oh, mother, if I should die,

And I am sure I shall,

I will not be buried in our churchyard,

But under Lady Alice’s wall.’

3His mother she made him some water-gruel,And stirred it up with a spoon;Giles Collin he ate but one spoonful,And died before it was noon.

His mother she made him some water-gruel,

And stirred it up with a spoon;

Giles Collin he ate but one spoonful,

And died before it was noon.

4Lady Alice was sitting in her window,All dressed in her night-coif;She saw as pretty a corpse go byAs ever she’d seen in her life.

Lady Alice was sitting in her window,

All dressed in her night-coif;

She saw as pretty a corpse go by

As ever she’d seen in her life.

5‘What bear ye there, ye six tall men?What bear ye on your shourn?’‘We bear the body of Giles Collin,Who was a true lover of yourn.’

‘What bear ye there, ye six tall men?

What bear ye on your shourn?’

‘We bear the body of Giles Collin,

Who was a true lover of yourn.’

6‘Down with him, down with him, upon the grass,The grass that grows so green;For tomorrow morning before it is dayMy body shall lie by him.’

‘Down with him, down with him, upon the grass,

The grass that grows so green;

For tomorrow morning before it is day

My body shall lie by him.’

7Her mother she made her some plum-gruel,With spices all of the best;Lady Alice she ate but one spoonful,And the doctor he ate up the rest.

Her mother she made her some plum-gruel,

With spices all of the best;

Lady Alice she ate but one spoonful,

And the doctor he ate up the rest.

8Giles Collin was laid in the lower chancel,Lady Alice all in the higher;There grew up a rose from Lady Alice’s breast,And from Giles Collin’s a briar.

Giles Collin was laid in the lower chancel,

Lady Alice all in the higher;

There grew up a rose from Lady Alice’s breast,

And from Giles Collin’s a briar.

9And they grew, and they grew, to the very church-top,Until they could grow no higher,And twisted and twined in a true-lover’s knot,Which made all the parish admire.

And they grew, and they grew, to the very church-top,

Until they could grow no higher,

And twisted and twined in a true-lover’s knot,

Which made all the parish admire.

P. 303 b, 513 b, III, 515 b, IV, 479 b. Precocious growth.

The French romance of Alexander. Albéric de Besançon: Alexander had more strength when three days old than other children of four months; he walked and ran better from his first year than any other child from its seventh. (The same, nearly, in Lamprecht, vv. 142-4: he throve better in three days than any other child of three months; 178-80, in his first year his strength and body waxed more than another’s in three.) MS. de l’Arsenal: the child grew in vitality and knowledge more in seven years than others do in a hundred. MS. de Venise: he grew more in body and knowledge in eight years than others in a hundred. P. Meyer, Alexandre le Grand, I, 5, v. 56 f., 6, v. 74 f., 27, v. 39 f., 240, v. 53 f. ‘Plus sot en x jors que i. autres en c:’ Michelant, p. 8, v. 20. A similar precocity is recorded of the Chinese Emperor Schimong: Gützlaff, Geschichte der Chinesen, hrsgg. v. Neumann, S. 19, cited by Weismann, Lamprecht’s Alexander, I, 432.

In the romance of Mélusine it is related how, after her disappearance in serpent-form, she was seen by the nurses to return at night and care for her two infant sons, who, according to the earliest version, the prose of Jehan d’Arras, grew more in a week than other children in a month: ed. Brunet, 1854, p. 361. The same in the French romance, l. 4347 f., the English metrical version, l. 4035-37, and in the German Volksbuch. (H. L. Koopman.)

Tom Hickathrift “was in length, when he was but ten years of age, about eight foot, and in thickness five foot, and his hand was like unto a shoulder of mutton, and in all parts from top to toe he was like a monster.” The History of Thomas Hickathrift, ed. by G. L. Gomme, Villon Society, 1885, p. 2. (G. L. K.)

305.B.The following, a variety ofB, is from the papers of Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, “second collection,” p. 6.

1Word has come to May Young Ro,In her bower where she sat,‘You’r bidden come to good green woodAnd sew your love a shirt.’2‘I wonder much,’ said May Young Roe,‘Such word is come to me;Ther’s not a month throwout this yearBut I have sewed him three.’3Then out it spake her mother,And a wise word spoke she;Said, Stay at home, my daughter,They want to murder thee.4‘I will cast off my gloves, mother,And hing them on a pin;If I come never back again,You’l mind on your daugh[t]er young.5‘Come here, my boy,’ she cried,‘And bring my horse to me,That I may ride to good green wood,The flowers in it to see.’6When she was got to good green wood,No further did she rideTill up did start him Hind Henry,Just at the ladie’s side.7‘O stop, O stop there, May,’ he cried,‘O stop, I say to thee;The boy who holds your bridle-reinsShall see your body wea.’8Then out he drew a large long brand,And struck it ower a str[ow],And throw and throw that ladie’s sideHe made the cold steel go.9Said, Take you that now, May Young Roe,Just take you that from me,Because you loved Brown Robin,And never would love me.10The boy was in a dreadful fright,And in great haste rode home,Lamenting sadly all the way,And made a piteous moan.11And when her mother heard his taleShe took the bed of care;Her sister ran to good green wood,A tearing of her hair.12There was small pity for that lady,Where she was lying dead,Compared with for the pretty babe,Weltring among the blood.13‘I will take up this babe,’ she said,‘And lull him on my sleeve;Altho his father should wish me woe,His mother was to me live.’14Now she has taken the boy up,And she has brought him hame,And she has called him Brown Robin,It was his father’s name.15And she has nursed him carefuly,And put him to the school,And any who affronted himHe soon did make cry dule.16And it fell ance upon a timeIt was a haly day,And all the boys at that schoolOn it they got the play.17He hied him unto good green wood,And leap from tree to tree,And there did pull some hollin wands,To play his own self we.18And aft he looked on a spot,And at it marvelled sair,That all the wood was clad with leaves,And that one spot was bare.19And he said unto Hind Henry,‘I wonder very sairThat all the wood is clad with leaves,And this one spot is bare.’20‘You need not wonder, boy,’ he said,‘You need not wonder none,For it is just the very spotI killed your mother on.’21The boy’s pulled out his daggar then,And struck it ower a strow,And even to Hind Henry’s heartHe made the cold steel go.22Says, Take you that, you vile Henry,Just take you that from me,For killing of my mother dear,And she not harming thee.

1Word has come to May Young Ro,In her bower where she sat,‘You’r bidden come to good green woodAnd sew your love a shirt.’

Word has come to May Young Ro,

In her bower where she sat,

‘You’r bidden come to good green wood

And sew your love a shirt.’

2‘I wonder much,’ said May Young Roe,‘Such word is come to me;Ther’s not a month throwout this yearBut I have sewed him three.’

‘I wonder much,’ said May Young Roe,

‘Such word is come to me;

Ther’s not a month throwout this year

But I have sewed him three.’

3Then out it spake her mother,And a wise word spoke she;Said, Stay at home, my daughter,They want to murder thee.

Then out it spake her mother,

And a wise word spoke she;

Said, Stay at home, my daughter,

They want to murder thee.

4‘I will cast off my gloves, mother,And hing them on a pin;If I come never back again,You’l mind on your daugh[t]er young.

‘I will cast off my gloves, mother,

And hing them on a pin;

If I come never back again,

You’l mind on your daugh[t]er young.

5‘Come here, my boy,’ she cried,‘And bring my horse to me,That I may ride to good green wood,The flowers in it to see.’

‘Come here, my boy,’ she cried,

‘And bring my horse to me,

That I may ride to good green wood,

The flowers in it to see.’

6When she was got to good green wood,No further did she rideTill up did start him Hind Henry,Just at the ladie’s side.

When she was got to good green wood,

No further did she ride

Till up did start him Hind Henry,

Just at the ladie’s side.

7‘O stop, O stop there, May,’ he cried,‘O stop, I say to thee;The boy who holds your bridle-reinsShall see your body wea.’

‘O stop, O stop there, May,’ he cried,

‘O stop, I say to thee;

The boy who holds your bridle-reins

Shall see your body wea.’

8Then out he drew a large long brand,And struck it ower a str[ow],And throw and throw that ladie’s sideHe made the cold steel go.

Then out he drew a large long brand,

And struck it ower a str[ow],

And throw and throw that ladie’s side

He made the cold steel go.

9Said, Take you that now, May Young Roe,Just take you that from me,Because you loved Brown Robin,And never would love me.

Said, Take you that now, May Young Roe,

Just take you that from me,

Because you loved Brown Robin,

And never would love me.

10The boy was in a dreadful fright,And in great haste rode home,Lamenting sadly all the way,And made a piteous moan.

The boy was in a dreadful fright,

And in great haste rode home,

Lamenting sadly all the way,

And made a piteous moan.

11And when her mother heard his taleShe took the bed of care;Her sister ran to good green wood,A tearing of her hair.

And when her mother heard his tale

She took the bed of care;

Her sister ran to good green wood,

A tearing of her hair.

12There was small pity for that lady,Where she was lying dead,Compared with for the pretty babe,Weltring among the blood.

There was small pity for that lady,

Where she was lying dead,

Compared with for the pretty babe,

Weltring among the blood.

13‘I will take up this babe,’ she said,‘And lull him on my sleeve;Altho his father should wish me woe,His mother was to me live.’

‘I will take up this babe,’ she said,

‘And lull him on my sleeve;

Altho his father should wish me woe,

His mother was to me live.’

14Now she has taken the boy up,And she has brought him hame,And she has called him Brown Robin,It was his father’s name.

Now she has taken the boy up,

And she has brought him hame,

And she has called him Brown Robin,

It was his father’s name.

15And she has nursed him carefuly,And put him to the school,And any who affronted himHe soon did make cry dule.

And she has nursed him carefuly,

And put him to the school,

And any who affronted him

He soon did make cry dule.

16And it fell ance upon a timeIt was a haly day,And all the boys at that schoolOn it they got the play.

And it fell ance upon a time

It was a haly day,

And all the boys at that school

On it they got the play.

17He hied him unto good green wood,And leap from tree to tree,And there did pull some hollin wands,To play his own self we.

He hied him unto good green wood,

And leap from tree to tree,

And there did pull some hollin wands,

To play his own self we.

18And aft he looked on a spot,And at it marvelled sair,That all the wood was clad with leaves,And that one spot was bare.

And aft he looked on a spot,

And at it marvelled sair,

That all the wood was clad with leaves,

And that one spot was bare.

19And he said unto Hind Henry,‘I wonder very sairThat all the wood is clad with leaves,And this one spot is bare.’

And he said unto Hind Henry,

‘I wonder very sair

That all the wood is clad with leaves,

And this one spot is bare.’

20‘You need not wonder, boy,’ he said,‘You need not wonder none,For it is just the very spotI killed your mother on.’

‘You need not wonder, boy,’ he said,

‘You need not wonder none,

For it is just the very spot

I killed your mother on.’

21The boy’s pulled out his daggar then,And struck it ower a strow,And even to Hind Henry’s heartHe made the cold steel go.

The boy’s pulled out his daggar then,

And struck it ower a strow,

And even to Hind Henry’s heart

He made the cold steel go.

22Says, Take you that, you vile Henry,Just take you that from me,For killing of my mother dear,And she not harming thee.

Says, Take you that, you vile Henry,

Just take you that from me,

For killing of my mother dear,

And she not harming thee.

P. 314, IV, 480 a.D.103in Kinloch MSS, V, 363, reads, I hear this babe now from her side; but in Mr Macmath’s transcript of Burton’s MS., No 2, I bear ... my side.316. ‘The Lady of Livenston,’ from “The Old Lady’s Collection,” No 32.

P. 314, IV, 480 a.D.103in Kinloch MSS, V, 363, reads, I hear this babe now from her side; but in Mr Macmath’s transcript of Burton’s MS., No 2, I bear ... my side.

316. ‘The Lady of Livenston,’ from “The Old Lady’s Collection,” No 32.

1‘We was sisters, we was seven,Five of us dayed we child,An you an me, Burd Ellen,Sall live maidens mild.’2Ther came leards, an ther came lords,An knights of high degree,A’courting Lady Messry,Bat it widne deei.3Bat the bonny lord of Livenston,He was flour of them a’,The bonny lord of Livenston,He stole the lady awaa.4Broad was the horses hovesThat dumped the water of Clide,An a’ was for honor of that gay ladyThat day she was Livenston’s bride.5Fan she came to LivenstonMukell mirth was ther;The knights knaked ther whit fingersThe ladys curled ther hear.6She had no ben in LivenstonA tuall-month an a day,Till she was as big we bearnAs a lady coud gaa.7She had ne ben in LivenstonA tuall-month an a hour,Till for the morning of the mayThe couldne ane come near her bour.8‘Far will I gett a bonny boyThat will rean my earend shoun,That will goo to leve London,To my mother, the quin?’9‘Hear am I, a bonny boyWill rin yer earend sune,That will rin on to fair London,To yer mother, the quin.’10‘Hear is the bruch fra my breast-bane,The garlands fra my hear;Ye ge that to my mider,Fra me she’ll never gett mare.11‘Hear is the rosses fra my shoun,The ribbons fra my hear;Ye gee that to my mider,Fra me she’ll never gett mare.12‘Hear is my briddel-stand,It is a’ goud to the heam;Ye gie that to Burd Ellen,Forbed her to marry men.13‘Ye bid them and ye pray them bath,If they will dou it for my sake,If they be not att my death,To be att my leak-wake.14‘Ye bid them and ye pray them baith,If they will dou it for my name,If they be not att my leak-wake,To be att my birrien.’15Fan he came to grass grouen,He strated his bou an rane,An fan he came to brigs brokenHe slaked his bou an swam.16An fan he came to yon castell,He bad nether to chap nor caa,But sait his bent bou to his breastAn lightly lap the waa;Or the porter was att the gate,The boy was in the haa.17‘Mukell meatt is on yer table, lady,An littil of it is eaten,Bat the bonny lady of LivenstonYe have her clean forgotten.’18‘Ye lie, ye lie, ye bonny boy,Sae loud as I hear ye lie;Mukell ha I sold the [meatt],An littel hae I bought,Batt the bonny lady of LivenstonGaas never out of my thought.19‘Mukell have I bought, bonny boy,An littel haa I sale,Bat the bonny lady of LivenstonShe couls my heart fue cale.’20‘Hear is the ribbings fra her hear,The roses fra her shoun;I was bidden gie that to her midder,To her midder, the quin.21‘Hear is the bruch fra her breast-bean,The garlands frae her hear;I was bidden gee that to her mother,Fra her she’ll never gett mare.22‘Hear is her bridell-stand,The’r a’ goud to the heam;I was bidden ga that to Burd Ellen,Forbid her to marry man.23‘She bids ye an she prays ye bath,Gin yee’ll di et for her sake,If ye be not att her death,To be att her leak-wake.24‘She bidds yee an she prays ye bath,Gine ye’ll dou et for her name,If ye be not att her leak-wake,To be at her burrien.’25‘Garr saddell to me the blak,Saddle to me the broun,Gar saddel to me the suiftest steadThat ever read fraa a toun,Till I gaa to LivenstonAn see hou Measry fairs.’26The first stead was saddled to her,It was the bonny black;She spured him aftt and she spared him na,An she tayened him at a slap.27The neast stead that was saddled to herWas the berrey-broun;She spured him aftt an she spared him not,An she tayned him att a toun.28The neast an steed that was saddled to her,It was the milk-white:‘Fair faa the mear that folled the follHad me to Meassry’s leak!’29Fan she came to Livenston,Mukel dolle was ther;The knights wrang ther whit fingers,The ladys tore ther hear.30The knights they wrang ther whit fingers,The rings they flue in four:‘Latt haas an tours an a’ doun fan!My dear thing has gine it our.’31Out spak him Livenston,An a sorry man was he;‘I had rader lost the lands of Livenston,Afor my gay lady.’32‘Had yer toung nou, Livenston,An latt yer folly be;I bare the burd in my bosom,I man thole to see her diee.’33Fan she came to her doughter’s boure,Ther was littel pride;The scoups was in her doughter’s mouth,An the sharp shirrs in her side.34Out spake her Burd Ellen,An she spake ay threu pride;The wife sall never bear the sinSall lay doun by my side.35‘Had your toung nou, Burd Ellen,Ye latt yer folly a be;Dinnë ye mind that ye promised yer loveTo him that is ayond the seaa?’36‘Hold yer toung, my mother,Ye speak just leak a fooll;Tho I wer marred att Martimes,I wad be dead or Yeull.’37‘I have five bonny oyes att heam,Ther was never ane of them born,Bat every are of themOut of ther midder’s sides shorn.’

1‘We was sisters, we was seven,Five of us dayed we child,An you an me, Burd Ellen,Sall live maidens mild.’

‘We was sisters, we was seven,

Five of us dayed we child,

An you an me, Burd Ellen,

Sall live maidens mild.’

2Ther came leards, an ther came lords,An knights of high degree,A’courting Lady Messry,Bat it widne deei.

Ther came leards, an ther came lords,

An knights of high degree,

A’courting Lady Messry,

Bat it widne deei.

3Bat the bonny lord of Livenston,He was flour of them a’,The bonny lord of Livenston,He stole the lady awaa.

Bat the bonny lord of Livenston,

He was flour of them a’,

The bonny lord of Livenston,

He stole the lady awaa.

4Broad was the horses hovesThat dumped the water of Clide,An a’ was for honor of that gay ladyThat day she was Livenston’s bride.

Broad was the horses hoves

That dumped the water of Clide,

An a’ was for honor of that gay lady

That day she was Livenston’s bride.

5Fan she came to LivenstonMukell mirth was ther;The knights knaked ther whit fingersThe ladys curled ther hear.

Fan she came to Livenston

Mukell mirth was ther;

The knights knaked ther whit fingers

The ladys curled ther hear.

6She had no ben in LivenstonA tuall-month an a day,Till she was as big we bearnAs a lady coud gaa.

She had no ben in Livenston

A tuall-month an a day,

Till she was as big we bearn

As a lady coud gaa.

7She had ne ben in LivenstonA tuall-month an a hour,Till for the morning of the mayThe couldne ane come near her bour.

She had ne ben in Livenston

A tuall-month an a hour,

Till for the morning of the may

The couldne ane come near her bour.

8‘Far will I gett a bonny boyThat will rean my earend shoun,That will goo to leve London,To my mother, the quin?’

‘Far will I gett a bonny boy

That will rean my earend shoun,

That will goo to leve London,

To my mother, the quin?’

9‘Hear am I, a bonny boyWill rin yer earend sune,That will rin on to fair London,To yer mother, the quin.’

‘Hear am I, a bonny boy

Will rin yer earend sune,

That will rin on to fair London,

To yer mother, the quin.’

10‘Hear is the bruch fra my breast-bane,The garlands fra my hear;Ye ge that to my mider,Fra me she’ll never gett mare.

‘Hear is the bruch fra my breast-bane,

The garlands fra my hear;

Ye ge that to my mider,

Fra me she’ll never gett mare.

11‘Hear is the rosses fra my shoun,The ribbons fra my hear;Ye gee that to my mider,Fra me she’ll never gett mare.

‘Hear is the rosses fra my shoun,

The ribbons fra my hear;

Ye gee that to my mider,

Fra me she’ll never gett mare.

12‘Hear is my briddel-stand,It is a’ goud to the heam;Ye gie that to Burd Ellen,Forbed her to marry men.

‘Hear is my briddel-stand,

It is a’ goud to the heam;

Ye gie that to Burd Ellen,

Forbed her to marry men.

13‘Ye bid them and ye pray them bath,If they will dou it for my sake,If they be not att my death,To be att my leak-wake.

‘Ye bid them and ye pray them bath,

If they will dou it for my sake,

If they be not att my death,

To be att my leak-wake.

14‘Ye bid them and ye pray them baith,If they will dou it for my name,If they be not att my leak-wake,To be att my birrien.’

‘Ye bid them and ye pray them baith,

If they will dou it for my name,

If they be not att my leak-wake,

To be att my birrien.’

15Fan he came to grass grouen,He strated his bou an rane,An fan he came to brigs brokenHe slaked his bou an swam.

Fan he came to grass grouen,

He strated his bou an rane,

An fan he came to brigs broken

He slaked his bou an swam.

16An fan he came to yon castell,He bad nether to chap nor caa,But sait his bent bou to his breastAn lightly lap the waa;Or the porter was att the gate,The boy was in the haa.

An fan he came to yon castell,

He bad nether to chap nor caa,

But sait his bent bou to his breast

An lightly lap the waa;

Or the porter was att the gate,

The boy was in the haa.

17‘Mukell meatt is on yer table, lady,An littil of it is eaten,Bat the bonny lady of LivenstonYe have her clean forgotten.’

‘Mukell meatt is on yer table, lady,

An littil of it is eaten,

Bat the bonny lady of Livenston

Ye have her clean forgotten.’

18‘Ye lie, ye lie, ye bonny boy,Sae loud as I hear ye lie;Mukell ha I sold the [meatt],An littel hae I bought,Batt the bonny lady of LivenstonGaas never out of my thought.

‘Ye lie, ye lie, ye bonny boy,

Sae loud as I hear ye lie;

Mukell ha I sold the [meatt],

An littel hae I bought,

Batt the bonny lady of Livenston

Gaas never out of my thought.

19‘Mukell have I bought, bonny boy,An littel haa I sale,Bat the bonny lady of LivenstonShe couls my heart fue cale.’

‘Mukell have I bought, bonny boy,

An littel haa I sale,

Bat the bonny lady of Livenston

She couls my heart fue cale.’

20‘Hear is the ribbings fra her hear,The roses fra her shoun;I was bidden gie that to her midder,To her midder, the quin.

‘Hear is the ribbings fra her hear,

The roses fra her shoun;

I was bidden gie that to her midder,

To her midder, the quin.

21‘Hear is the bruch fra her breast-bean,The garlands frae her hear;I was bidden gee that to her mother,Fra her she’ll never gett mare.

‘Hear is the bruch fra her breast-bean,

The garlands frae her hear;

I was bidden gee that to her mother,

Fra her she’ll never gett mare.

22‘Hear is her bridell-stand,The’r a’ goud to the heam;I was bidden ga that to Burd Ellen,Forbid her to marry man.

‘Hear is her bridell-stand,

The’r a’ goud to the heam;

I was bidden ga that to Burd Ellen,

Forbid her to marry man.

23‘She bids ye an she prays ye bath,Gin yee’ll di et for her sake,If ye be not att her death,To be att her leak-wake.

‘She bids ye an she prays ye bath,

Gin yee’ll di et for her sake,

If ye be not att her death,

To be att her leak-wake.

24‘She bidds yee an she prays ye bath,Gine ye’ll dou et for her name,If ye be not att her leak-wake,To be at her burrien.’

‘She bidds yee an she prays ye bath,

Gine ye’ll dou et for her name,

If ye be not att her leak-wake,

To be at her burrien.’

25‘Garr saddell to me the blak,Saddle to me the broun,Gar saddel to me the suiftest steadThat ever read fraa a toun,Till I gaa to LivenstonAn see hou Measry fairs.’

‘Garr saddell to me the blak,

Saddle to me the broun,

Gar saddel to me the suiftest stead

That ever read fraa a toun,

Till I gaa to Livenston

An see hou Measry fairs.’

26The first stead was saddled to her,It was the bonny black;She spured him aftt and she spared him na,An she tayened him at a slap.

The first stead was saddled to her,

It was the bonny black;

She spured him aftt and she spared him na,

An she tayened him at a slap.

27The neast stead that was saddled to herWas the berrey-broun;She spured him aftt an she spared him not,An she tayned him att a toun.

The neast stead that was saddled to her

Was the berrey-broun;

She spured him aftt an she spared him not,

An she tayned him att a toun.

28The neast an steed that was saddled to her,It was the milk-white:‘Fair faa the mear that folled the follHad me to Meassry’s leak!’

The neast an steed that was saddled to her,

It was the milk-white:

‘Fair faa the mear that folled the foll

Had me to Meassry’s leak!’

29Fan she came to Livenston,Mukel dolle was ther;The knights wrang ther whit fingers,The ladys tore ther hear.

Fan she came to Livenston,

Mukel dolle was ther;

The knights wrang ther whit fingers,

The ladys tore ther hear.

30The knights they wrang ther whit fingers,The rings they flue in four:‘Latt haas an tours an a’ doun fan!My dear thing has gine it our.’

The knights they wrang ther whit fingers,

The rings they flue in four:

‘Latt haas an tours an a’ doun fan!

My dear thing has gine it our.’

31Out spak him Livenston,An a sorry man was he;‘I had rader lost the lands of Livenston,Afor my gay lady.’

Out spak him Livenston,

An a sorry man was he;

‘I had rader lost the lands of Livenston,

Afor my gay lady.’

32‘Had yer toung nou, Livenston,An latt yer folly be;I bare the burd in my bosom,I man thole to see her diee.’

‘Had yer toung nou, Livenston,

An latt yer folly be;

I bare the burd in my bosom,

I man thole to see her diee.’

33Fan she came to her doughter’s boure,Ther was littel pride;The scoups was in her doughter’s mouth,An the sharp shirrs in her side.

Fan she came to her doughter’s boure,

Ther was littel pride;

The scoups was in her doughter’s mouth,

An the sharp shirrs in her side.

34Out spake her Burd Ellen,An she spake ay threu pride;The wife sall never bear the sinSall lay doun by my side.

Out spake her Burd Ellen,

An she spake ay threu pride;

The wife sall never bear the sin

Sall lay doun by my side.

35‘Had your toung nou, Burd Ellen,Ye latt yer folly a be;Dinnë ye mind that ye promised yer loveTo him that is ayond the seaa?’

‘Had your toung nou, Burd Ellen,

Ye latt yer folly a be;

Dinnë ye mind that ye promised yer love

To him that is ayond the seaa?’

36‘Hold yer toung, my mother,Ye speak just leak a fooll;Tho I wer marred att Martimes,I wad be dead or Yeull.’

‘Hold yer toung, my mother,

Ye speak just leak a fooll;

Tho I wer marred att Martimes,

I wad be dead or Yeull.’

37‘I have five bonny oyes att heam,Ther was never ane of them born,Bat every are of themOut of ther midder’s sides shorn.’

‘I have five bonny oyes att heam,

Ther was never ane of them born,

Bat every are of them

Out of ther midder’s sides shorn.’

52. The knights knaked ther whit fingersis certainly an anticipation.This is always done for anguish: see293,4, 301,2.73,4. Till ther couldne ane come near her bour For the morning of they may.Perhapsmoaning.162. he had.183.Perhapsthe meat.192,4. sale, cale (forsold, cold).222. hean.223. bidden ga.353. Didde.

52. The knights knaked ther whit fingersis certainly an anticipation.This is always done for anguish: see293,4, 301,2.

73,4. Till ther couldne ane come near her bour For the morning of they may.Perhapsmoaning.

162. he had.

183.Perhapsthe meat.

192,4. sale, cale (forsold, cold).

222. hean.

223. bidden ga.

353. Didde.

P. 317. ‘The Lowlands of Holland.’ In ‘The Sorrowful Lover’s Regrate, or, The Low-Lands of Holland,’ British Museum 1346. m. 7(40), dated May the 5th, 1776, a threnody in eleven double stanzas. 1, 2 of the copy in Johnson’s Museum are 1, 2; Johnson, 3==7, 4==4, 5==6, 6==3, and the stanza added by Stenhouse is 9 (with verbal divergences). ‘The Maid’s Lamentation for the loss of her true love,’ Museum 11621. c. 3(39), “Newcastle, 1768?,” the fifth piece in The Complaining Lover’s Garland, has five stanzas: 1 corresponding to 2 of Johnson, 2 to 5, 5 to 6, 3 to 5 of the Regrate, and 4 to 9, with considerable differences. ‘The Seaman’s Sorrowful Bride,’ Roxburghe, IV, 73, Ebsworth, VI, 444, begins with two stanzas which resemble Johnson, 2, 1. This last was printed for J. Deacon, in Guilt-spur-street, and the date, according to Chappell, would be 1684-95.

P. 331,I, as it stands in “The Old Lady’s Collection,” No 15.

1Lamken was as gued a massonas ever did hue ston;He bigged Lord Weary’s house,an pament never got non.2It fell ance on a dayLord Weary went from home,An Lamkin came to the fause nirice,. . . . . . .* * * * * *3‘O still my bairn, nirice,still him we the kniff:’‘He winnë still, lady,tho I sud lay doun my life.’4‘O still my bairn, nirice,still him we the bell:’‘He winnë still, lady,till ye come doun yersell.’5The first step she came on,it was the stane;The nest stepshe mett him Lamkin.6‘O spare my life, Lamkin,an I ell gee ye a peak of goud well laid on;An that dinnë pleas ye,I ell heap it we my hand.’7‘O will I kill the lady, nirice,or will I lat her gang?’‘O kill her, Lanken,she was never gued to me.’8‘O wanted ye yer meatt, nirice?or wanted ye yer fiee?Or wanted ye the other bountyslady’s are wont to gee?’9. . . . . .. . . . . .‘Kill her, Lanken,she was never gued to me.’10‘Ye wash a bason, nirice,an ye wash it clean,To cape this lady’s blode;she is come of high kine.’11‘I winnë wash a bason,nor wash it clean,To cap this lady’s blod,tho she be come of high kine.’12Bonny sang yon burdas he satt on the tree,Bat sare grat Lamkinfan he was hanged hie.13Bonny sang the burdthat satt on the hill,Bat sare grat the niricefan the caldron began to boill.14Lankin was hanged,. . . . . high,An the faus niricewas burnt in the cadron was she.

1Lamken was as gued a massonas ever did hue ston;He bigged Lord Weary’s house,an pament never got non.

Lamken was as gued a masson

as ever did hue ston;

He bigged Lord Weary’s house,

an pament never got non.

2It fell ance on a dayLord Weary went from home,An Lamkin came to the fause nirice,. . . . . . .

It fell ance on a day

Lord Weary went from home,

An Lamkin came to the fause nirice,

. . . . . . .

* * * * * *

3‘O still my bairn, nirice,still him we the kniff:’‘He winnë still, lady,tho I sud lay doun my life.’

‘O still my bairn, nirice,

still him we the kniff:’

‘He winnë still, lady,

tho I sud lay doun my life.’

4‘O still my bairn, nirice,still him we the bell:’‘He winnë still, lady,till ye come doun yersell.’

‘O still my bairn, nirice,

still him we the bell:’

‘He winnë still, lady,

till ye come doun yersell.’

5The first step she came on,it was the stane;The nest stepshe mett him Lamkin.

The first step she came on,

it was the stane;

The nest step

she mett him Lamkin.

6‘O spare my life, Lamkin,an I ell gee ye a peak of goud well laid on;An that dinnë pleas ye,I ell heap it we my hand.’

‘O spare my life, Lamkin,

an I ell gee ye a peak of goud well laid on;

An that dinnë pleas ye,

I ell heap it we my hand.’

7‘O will I kill the lady, nirice,or will I lat her gang?’‘O kill her, Lanken,she was never gued to me.’

‘O will I kill the lady, nirice,

or will I lat her gang?’

‘O kill her, Lanken,

she was never gued to me.’

8‘O wanted ye yer meatt, nirice?or wanted ye yer fiee?Or wanted ye the other bountyslady’s are wont to gee?’

‘O wanted ye yer meatt, nirice?

or wanted ye yer fiee?

Or wanted ye the other bountys

lady’s are wont to gee?’

9. . . . . .. . . . . .‘Kill her, Lanken,she was never gued to me.’

. . . . . .

‘Kill her, Lanken,

she was never gued to me.’

10‘Ye wash a bason, nirice,an ye wash it clean,To cape this lady’s blode;she is come of high kine.’

‘Ye wash a bason, nirice,

an ye wash it clean,

To cape this lady’s blode;

she is come of high kine.’

11‘I winnë wash a bason,nor wash it clean,To cap this lady’s blod,tho she be come of high kine.’

‘I winnë wash a bason,

nor wash it clean,

To cap this lady’s blod,

tho she be come of high kine.’

12Bonny sang yon burdas he satt on the tree,Bat sare grat Lamkinfan he was hanged hie.

Bonny sang yon burd

as he satt on the tree,

Bat sare grat Lamkin

fan he was hanged hie.

13Bonny sang the burdthat satt on the hill,Bat sare grat the niricefan the caldron began to boill.

Bonny sang the burd

that satt on the hill,

Bat sare grat the nirice

fan the caldron began to boill.

14Lankin was hanged,. . . . . high,An the faus niricewas burnt in the cadron was she.

Lankin was hanged,

. . . . . high,

An the faus nirice

was burnt in the cadron was she.

339 ff., 513, IV, 480.

‘Lammikin,’ Findlay’s MSS, I, 173, “from J. Milne, who wrote it down from recitation by John Duncan.”

1Lie in your room, my wife,. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .2‘You’ll fasten doors and windows,you’ll fasten them out an in,For if you leave ae window openLammikin will come in.’3They’ve fastened doors an windows,they’ve fastened them out an in,But they have left ae window open,an Lammikin cam in.4‘O where are a’ the womenthat dwell here within?’‘They’re at the well washin,and they will not come in.’5‘O where are a’ the menthat dwell here within?’‘They’re at the . . . .,and they will not come in.’6‘O where is the ladythat dwells here within?’‘She’s up the stair dressin,an she will not come doun.’7‘It’s what will we doto mak her come doun?We’ll rock the cradle, nourrice,an mak her come doun.’8They [hae] rocked the cradleto mak her come doun,. . . . . .the red bluid out sprung.9‘O still the bairn, nourrice,O still him wi the bell:’‘He winna still, my lady,till ye come doun yersel.’10The first step she steppit,it was upon a stane;The next step she steppit,she keppit Lammikin.11‘O mercy, mercy, Lammikin,hae mercy upo me!Tho ye hae killed my young son,ye may lat mysel abee.’12‘O it’s will I kill her, nourrice,or will I lat her be?’‘O kill her, kill her, Lammikin,she neer was gude to me.’13‘O it’s wanted ye your meat?or wanted ye your fee?’. . . . . .. . . . . .14‘I wanted not my meat,I wanted not my fee,But I wanted some bountiesthat ladies can gie.’

1Lie in your room, my wife,. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .

Lie in your room, my wife,

. . . . . .

2‘You’ll fasten doors and windows,you’ll fasten them out an in,For if you leave ae window openLammikin will come in.’

‘You’ll fasten doors and windows,

you’ll fasten them out an in,

For if you leave ae window open

Lammikin will come in.’

3They’ve fastened doors an windows,they’ve fastened them out an in,But they have left ae window open,an Lammikin cam in.

They’ve fastened doors an windows,

they’ve fastened them out an in,

But they have left ae window open,

an Lammikin cam in.

4‘O where are a’ the womenthat dwell here within?’‘They’re at the well washin,and they will not come in.’

‘O where are a’ the women

that dwell here within?’

‘They’re at the well washin,

and they will not come in.’

5‘O where are a’ the menthat dwell here within?’‘They’re at the . . . .,and they will not come in.’

‘O where are a’ the men

that dwell here within?’

‘They’re at the . . . .,

and they will not come in.’

6‘O where is the ladythat dwells here within?’‘She’s up the stair dressin,an she will not come doun.’

‘O where is the lady

that dwells here within?’

‘She’s up the stair dressin,

an she will not come doun.’

7‘It’s what will we doto mak her come doun?We’ll rock the cradle, nourrice,an mak her come doun.’

‘It’s what will we do

to mak her come doun?

We’ll rock the cradle, nourrice,

an mak her come doun.’

8They [hae] rocked the cradleto mak her come doun,. . . . . .the red bluid out sprung.

They [hae] rocked the cradle

to mak her come doun,

. . . . . .

the red bluid out sprung.

9‘O still the bairn, nourrice,O still him wi the bell:’‘He winna still, my lady,till ye come doun yersel.’

‘O still the bairn, nourrice,

O still him wi the bell:’

‘He winna still, my lady,

till ye come doun yersel.’

10The first step she steppit,it was upon a stane;The next step she steppit,she keppit Lammikin.

The first step she steppit,

it was upon a stane;

The next step she steppit,

she keppit Lammikin.

11‘O mercy, mercy, Lammikin,hae mercy upo me!Tho ye hae killed my young son,ye may lat mysel abee.’

‘O mercy, mercy, Lammikin,

hae mercy upo me!

Tho ye hae killed my young son,

ye may lat mysel abee.’

12‘O it’s will I kill her, nourrice,or will I lat her be?’‘O kill her, kill her, Lammikin,she neer was gude to me.’

‘O it’s will I kill her, nourrice,

or will I lat her be?’

‘O kill her, kill her, Lammikin,

she neer was gude to me.’

13‘O it’s wanted ye your meat?or wanted ye your fee?’. . . . . .. . . . . .

‘O it’s wanted ye your meat?

or wanted ye your fee?’

. . . . . .

14‘I wanted not my meat,I wanted not my fee,But I wanted some bountiesthat ladies can gie.’

‘I wanted not my meat,

I wanted not my fee,

But I wanted some bounties

that ladies can gie.’

P. 346, III, 516 a, IV, 481 b.Italian.Maria Carmi, Canti pop. Emiliani, Archivio, XII, 189. Brunetina, after she has been rescued by her lover, is informed, while she is dancing at a ball, that her mother is dead. Bury her, she replies, I will dress in complete red, and she goes on dancing. So of her father. But when told that her lover is dead, she says she will dress in complete black, and bids the music stop, for she wishes to dance no more. ‘La Ballerina,’ Nigra, No 107, p. 469, is no doubt the last half of this ballad corrupted at the conclusion. The woman will not stop dancing for the reported death of father, mother, brother, sister, husband, but when told that her boy is dead asks the players to cease, her legs are broken, she can dance no more.

In ‘Leggenda Marinesca’ (di Catanzaro), La Calabria, October, 1893, VI, 16, a wife (or perhaps an affianced young woman) is ransomed from pirates by her husband (or betrothed), after father, mother, and brother have refused. If her father, mother, brother, should die, she would deck her hair, dress in red, yellow, or white, bid the guitar strike up, and dance; but if her true-love died, she would put on black, cut her hair, and throw the guitar into the sea.

349. Mr Kaarle Krohn, of the University of Helsingfors, has favored me with the following study of the very numerous Finnish and Esthonian versions of this ballad, incorporating therein the researches of his father, Julius Krohn, already referred to at IV, 482 a. (Estlander’s discussion, which I had not seen, “Sången om den friköpta,” occupies pp. 331-356 of the tenth volume of Finsk Tidskrift.)

I. The West Finnish versions, dispersed over West and East Finland and Ingria. These are in the modern metre, which came into use hardly before the end of the seventeenth century, and it is in the highest degree probable that they were learned from the Swedes. About thirty copies known. Specimen, Reinholm’s collection, H 12, No 76, from the Nystad district northward from Åbo, in Southwest Finland; J. K., p. 11[120].

Prevailing traits: 1. The maid is sitting in a little room, less frequently in a ship’s cabin or a boat. 2. The father has three horses. 3. The mother has three cows. 4. The brother has three swords. 5. The sister has three crowns, or, in copies from further east, where crowns are not used for head-gear, three silk kerchiefs. 6. The lover has three ships, or almost as often three castles (mansions). There are variations, but rarely, as to the objects possessed, and sometimes exchanges, but only two cases are of importance. In one copy from the extreme of Southeast Finland, the father has three oxen, which seems to be the original disposition, the change to horses coming about from the circumstance that oxen are seldom employed for ploughing in Finland. In four copies from the most eastern part of Finland the sister has three sheep, perhaps owing to the influence of the East Finnish versions. 7. The imprecations and benedictions at the end occur regularly. May the horses be knocked up or die at ploughing-time; may the cows die, dry up, etc., at milking-time; the swords shiver in war-time; the crowns fall off or melt at wedding or dance (the silk kerchiefs tear, fade, spoil with wet); and on the other hand, may the ships sail well, do well, make money at trading-time; the castles rise, flourish in time of destitution, of bad crops. Etc.

II. The later Esthonian versions, Esthonia and Livonia, in modern metre, of more recent origin, probably, than in Finland. About twenty copies known. Specimen, J. Hurt, Vana Kannel, II, 365, No 367. Lilla is sitting in the little room in weary expectation. She sees her father walking on the sea-beach. ‘Dear father, beloved father, ransom me!’ ‘Wherewith ransom you, when I have no money?’ ‘You have three horses at home, and can pawn one.’ ‘I can do better without my Lilla than without my three horses; the horses are mine for all my life, Lilla for a short time.’ In like fashion, the mother is not willing to sacrifice one of her three cows, the brother one of his three swords, the sister one of her three rings. But the lover, who has three ships, says, I can better give up a ship than give up my dear Lilla; my ships are mine for a short time, but Lilla for all my life. Lilla breaks out in execrations: may her father’s horses fall dead when they are ploughing in summer, may her mother’s cows dry up in milking, her brother’s swords shiver in war, her sister’s rings break in the very act of marrying; but may her true-love’s ships long bring home precious wares.

Prevailing traits: 1. Lilla; in some copies from East Livonia, Roosi. 2. Little room; quite as often prison-tower. 3. The father has horses, the mother cows, the brother swords, as in the West Finnish versions. The independency of the Esthonian ballad is exhibited in the sister’s three rings. It must, as far as I can at present see, have been borrowed directly from the Swedish, not through the medium of the Finnish. The lover has always three ships, and it is often wished that these ships may sail well in storm and in winter. The maledictions occur regularly, as in the example cited. There are some divergences as to the items of property, mostly occasioned by the older Esthonian version: thus, the father has sometimes oxen or corn-lofts, the brother horses, the sister brooches.

III. The older Esthonian versions, disseminated in Esthonia and Livonia, and also among the orthodox Esthonians beyond Pskov. These are in the old eight-syllablemeasure of the runes (and of Kalevala). More than a hundred copies have been obtained.

a. Best preserved and of most frequent occurrence in the island of Ösel. Twenty copies. Specimen from J. Hurt’s manuscript collections. Anne goes into the cow-house and soils her cap. She proceeds to the sea-beach to wash her cap. Ships come from Russia, from Courland. Anne is made captive. She weeps, and begs that the ship may be stopped; she wishes to take a look homewards. Her father has three oxen, one of which has silver horns, another copper, the third golden, but he will give none of them for her. Her mother has three cows, with silver, copper, golden udders; her brother, three horses, with the same variety of manes; her sister, three sheep, with wool of the three sorts; a neighbor’s son, three lofts full of wheat, rye, barley. She wishes that the oxen may die in ploughing-time, the cows in milk-time, the horses at wooing-time, the sheep at wool-time; but may the corn-lofts of the neighbor’s son grow fuller in the direst famine-time.

Prevailing traits: 1. The maid’s name is Anne. 2. The pirates are Russians (10 times), Poles (6), Courlanders (2), Swedes (1), Germans (1), English (1). 3. The father has commonly oxen; the mother, cows always; the brother, almost always horses; the sister, sheep, six times, oftener than anything else; the lover, ordinarily corn-lofts. 4. The cursing occurs ten times. There are in a few cases exchanges of the sorts of property (thus, the father has corn-lofts, the sister has brooches, each four times), and in two instances the lover is omitted. The ballad has perhaps been affected by another (see II, 347 f.) in which a girl receives information that she has been sold by her relations: by her father for a pair of oxen (25 cases) or for a horse (18), by her mother for a cow, by her brother for a horse (24) or for a pair of oxen (14), by her sister for a brooch; and she curses all that they have got by the sale.

b. Less perfect and not so well preserved on the Esthonian mainland. About 100 copies, more or fewer. Specimens, Neus, p. 109, No 34, Hurt, Vana Kannel, I, 166, No 103, II, 310, No 442.

Prevailing traits: 1. The name of the maid, Anne, and the introduction linked to it, are often dropped, especially in the southeast of the Esthonian district, and a passage about a young conscript who wishes to be bought off from serving is substituted. The maid, whose brothers have hidden away, is pressed instead of them, and sent into service. As she is driven by the house of her parents in the military wagon she entreats her guards not to make sail! 2. The kidnapper is most frequently a Russian, then Pole, Swede, less commonly German, Courlander. In the northeast of the Esthonian district, on the border of Ingria, Karelian, four times. 3. The father often keeps the oxen, but almost as often has horses; the brother, in these last cases, has seldom oxen, generally horses as well as the father. The alteration is in part owing to the same material occasion as in the West Finnish versions; sometimes an influence from the ballad of the maiden who has been sold by her relatives may be suspected (in which ballad it is not easy to say whether the oxen belong originally to father or brother). Frequently the father has corn-lofts, the lover, to whom these would belong, having dropped out. The mother has almost always cows; in the northeast, on the Ingrian border, three times, aprons. The brother has generally horses, five times oxen, with other individual variations. The sister has preserved the sheep only four times; eight times she has brooches, and in one of these cases the ballad of the maid sold by her relatives is blended with ours, while in the remainder the influence of that ballad is observable. In six cases she has rings, perhaps under the influence of the later Esthonian versions. In the southeast she has chests seven times, and in most of these cases the lover has the rings. Other variations occur from one to four times. The lover has his corn-lofts nine times. Eight times he has horses, and in half of these instances he has exchanged with the brother, or both have horses. Twice he has ships, through the influence of the later Esthonian versions; or rings, in which cases the father ordinarily has the corn-lofts. 4. The imprecation in the conclusion is but rarely preserved.

IV. The East Finnish versions. Diffused in Ingria, East Finland, and Russian Karelia. In the old rune-measure, about forty copies. Specimen, Ahlqvist’s collection, from East Finland, No 351: see J. K., p. 11.

Prevailing traits: 1. The maid is in a boat on the Neva. 2. The kidnapper is a Russian. 3. The father has a horse, the mother a cow, the brother a horse, the sister a sheep (each with an epithet). 4. The imprecation is almost without exception preserved. This version arose from a blending of the West Finnish, I, the older Esthonian, III, and the ballad of the maid sold by her relatives. This latter occurs in West Ingria in the following shape: The maid gets tidings that she has been sold. The father has received for her a gold-horse (may it founder when on the way to earn gold!), the mother a portly cow (may it spill its milk on the ground!), the brother a war-horse (may the horse founder on the war-path!), the sister a bluish sheep (may wolf and bear rend it!). In some copies the father or the brother has oxen (may they fall dead in ploughing!), as in the Esthonian ballad, from which the Ingrian is borrowed. The sister’s sheep instead of brooch shows perhaps the influence of the older Esthonian ballad of the maid begging to be ransomed, or it may be an innovation.

The ballad of the maid sold by her family occurs in West Ingria independently, and also as an introduction to the other, and has been the occasion for the changes in the possessions of the relatives. North of St Petersburg the combination is not found, though it has left its traces in the course of the spreading of the ballad from Narva to St Petersburg.

The maid’s sitting in a boat may come as well from the older Esthonian as from the West Finnish version, although it is more common in the latter for her to be sitting in the “little room.” The Russian as the kidnapper is a constant feature in the older Esthonian version, but occurs also three times in the West Finnish (once it is the red-headed Dane, in the copy in which the oxen are preserved). Besides Russian, the kidnapper is once called Karelian in West Ingria, often in East Finland, and this denomination also occurs in Northeast Esthonia. The influence of the older Esthonian versions is shown again in some copies preserved in West Ingria which are not mixed up with the ballad of the maid that has been sold; the mother having three aprons in two instances, as in some Northeast Esthonian copies.

The river Neva as a local designation is preserved in East Finland, and shows that the version in which it occurs migrated from Ingria northwards. In the course of its migration (which ends in Russian Karelia) this version has become mixed with the West Finnish in multiform ways. The prelude of the East Finnish has attached itself to the West Finnish, notwithstanding the different metre. The trilogy of the latter has made its way into the former, and has spoiled the measure. It is no doubt owing to the influence of the Western version that, in North Ingria and Karelia, the brother, more frequently the lover, has a war-sword, the lover once a sea-ship, or the brother a red boat or war-boat.

Finally it may be noted that in those West Ingrian copies in which the ballads of the maid sold and the maid ransomed are blended the ransomer is a son-in-law, and possesses “a willow castle” (wooden strong-house?), the relation of which to the castle in the West Finnish version is not clear.

If we denote the West Finnish versions bya, the older Esthonian byb, the ballad of the maid sold by her family byc, the status of the East-Finnish versions may be exhibited thus:

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