1‘And it’s where hast thou been all this night long, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I have been lying on yonder bull-rushes,Which lies beneath yond tree.’2‘And it’s what are the spots on this thy coat, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘They are the spots of my poor brother’s blood,Which lies beneath yonder tree.’3‘And it’s what didst thou kill thy poor brother for, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘Because he killed two pretty little birds,Which flew from tree to tree.’4‘And it’s what will the father say when he comes, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I will dress me up in sailor’s clothes,And my face he will never see.’5‘And it’s what wilt thou do with thy pretty little wife, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I will dress her up in lad[d]ie’s clothes,And she will sail along with me.’6‘And it’s what wilt thou do with thy children three, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I will leave them to my poor grandfather to rear,And comfort [to] him [to be].’7‘And it’s when shall we see thy face again, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘When the sun and moon shines both at once,And that shall never be.’
1‘And it’s where hast thou been all this night long, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I have been lying on yonder bull-rushes,Which lies beneath yond tree.’2‘And it’s what are the spots on this thy coat, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘They are the spots of my poor brother’s blood,Which lies beneath yonder tree.’3‘And it’s what didst thou kill thy poor brother for, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘Because he killed two pretty little birds,Which flew from tree to tree.’4‘And it’s what will the father say when he comes, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I will dress me up in sailor’s clothes,And my face he will never see.’5‘And it’s what wilt thou do with thy pretty little wife, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I will dress her up in lad[d]ie’s clothes,And she will sail along with me.’6‘And it’s what wilt thou do with thy children three, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I will leave them to my poor grandfather to rear,And comfort [to] him [to be].’7‘And it’s when shall we see thy face again, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘When the sun and moon shines both at once,And that shall never be.’
1‘And it’s where hast thou been all this night long, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I have been lying on yonder bull-rushes,Which lies beneath yond tree.’
1
‘And it’s where hast thou been all this night long, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘I have been lying on yonder bull-rushes,
Which lies beneath yond tree.’
2‘And it’s what are the spots on this thy coat, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘They are the spots of my poor brother’s blood,Which lies beneath yonder tree.’
2
‘And it’s what are the spots on this thy coat, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘They are the spots of my poor brother’s blood,
Which lies beneath yonder tree.’
3‘And it’s what didst thou kill thy poor brother for, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘Because he killed two pretty little birds,Which flew from tree to tree.’
3
‘And it’s what didst thou kill thy poor brother for, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘Because he killed two pretty little birds,
Which flew from tree to tree.’
4‘And it’s what will the father say when he comes, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I will dress me up in sailor’s clothes,And my face he will never see.’
4
‘And it’s what will the father say when he comes, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘I will dress me up in sailor’s clothes,
And my face he will never see.’
5‘And it’s what wilt thou do with thy pretty little wife, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I will dress her up in lad[d]ie’s clothes,And she will sail along with me.’
5
‘And it’s what wilt thou do with thy pretty little wife, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘I will dress her up in lad[d]ie’s clothes,
And she will sail along with me.’
6‘And it’s what wilt thou do with thy children three, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘I will leave them to my poor grandfather to rear,And comfort [to] him [to be].’
6
‘And it’s what wilt thou do with thy children three, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘I will leave them to my poor grandfather to rear,
And comfort [to] him [to be].’
7‘And it’s when shall we see thy face again, my son?Come tell it unto me.’‘When the sun and moon shines both at once,And that shall never be.’
7
‘And it’s when shall we see thy face again, my son?
Come tell it unto me.’
‘When the sun and moon shines both at once,
And that shall never be.’
P. 459 a. For a late German ballad on the Moringer story (‘von dem Markgrafen Backenweil’) see Bolte, Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde, III, 65-7, and for notes of dramas upon the theme, pp. 62-4. I do not observe that I have anywhere referred to the admirably comprehensive treatment of the subject by von Tettau, Ueber einige bis jetzt unbekannte Erfurter Drucke des 15. Jahrhunderts, Ritter Morgeners Wallfahrt, pp. 75-123. The book did not come into my hands till two years after my preface was written.