ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH BALLADS.

EDITED BY FRANCIS JAMES CHILD.

VOLUME IV.

BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY. M.DCCC.LX.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857 by Little, Brown and Company, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.

RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.

BOOK IV.

CONTINUED.

[Pg iii]

BOOK IV. (continued.)

APPENDIX.

[Pg 1]

YOUNG BEICHAN AND SUSIE PYE.

An inspection of the first hundred lines of Robert of Gloucester's Life and Martyrdom of Thomas Beket, (edited for the Percy Society by W. H. Black, vol. xix,) will leave no doubt that the hero of this ancient and beautiful tale is veritably Gilbert Becket, father of the renowned Saint Thomas of Canterbury. Robert of Gloucester's story coincides in all essential particulars with the traditionary legend, but Susie Pye is, unfortunately, spoken of in the chronicle by no other name than the daughter of the Saracen Prince Admiraud.

We have thought it well to present the three best versions of so popular and interesting a ballad. The two which are given in the body of this work are Jamieson's, from Popular Ballads, ii. 117, and ii. 127. In the Appendix is Kinloch's, from Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 260. Other printed copies are Lord Beichan, in Richardson's Borderer's Table Book, vii. 20, communicated by J. H. Dixon, who has inserted the same in Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs, Percy Society, vol. xvii. p. 85; Lord Bateman, the common[Pg 2] English broadside (at p. 95 of the collection just cited); and Young Bondwell, published from Buchan's MS. in Scottish Traditionary Versions of Ancient Ballads, p. 1, (Percy Soc. vol. xvii.) identical, we suppose, with the copy referred to by Motherwell in Scarce Ancient Ballads, Peterhead, 1819. There is a well-known burlesque of the ordinary English ballad, called The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman, with comical illustrations by Cruikshank. On this was founded a burlesque drama, produced some years ago at the Strand Theatre, London, with great applause.

"This ballad, and that which succeeds it in this collection, (both on the same subject,) are given from copies taken from Mrs. Brown's recitation, collated with two other copies procured from Scotland, one in MS., another very good one printed for the stalls; a third, in the possession of the late Reverend Jonathan Boucher of Epsom, taken from recitation in the North of England; and a fourth, about one third as long as the others, which the Editor picked off an old wall in Piccadilly."

Jamieson's interpolations have been omitted.

109-112.

The Lovers' Quarrel, v. 133-136.

[Pg 10]

YOUNG BEKIE.

3. Court o' France. "And first, here to omit the programe of him and his mother, named Rose, whom Polyd. Virgilius falsely nameth to be a Saracen, when indeed she came out of the parts bordering neere to Normandy." Fox, Acts and Monuments, cited by Motherwell, p. xvi.

[Pg 17]

HYND HORN.

Those metrical romances, which in the chivalrous ages, constituted the most refined pastime of a rude nobility, are known in many cases to have been adapted for the entertainment of humbler hearers, by abridgment in the form of ballads. Such was the case with the ancient gest of King Horn. Preserved in several MSS., both French and English, in something of its original proportions, an epitome of it has also descended to us through the mouths of the people.

An imperfect copy of the following piece was inserted by Cromek in his Select Scottish Songs, (London, 1810, vol. ii. p. 204-210.) Better editions have since been furnished by Kinloch, Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 138; Motherwell, Minstrelsy, p. 95; and Buchan, Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 268. Of these, we reprint the last two.

All the poems relating to Horn, in French and English, including the Scottish ballads above mentioned, are collected by Michel in a beautiful volume of the Bannatyne Club, Horn et Rimenhild, Paris, 1845.[Pg 18]

From Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 35.

[Pg 25]

HYND HORN.

From Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 268.

[Pg 29]

KATHARINE JANFARIE.

A story similar to this occurs in various forms both in Scotland and the Scandinavian kingdoms. Scott inserted the ballad in his first edition under the title of The Laird of Laminton; the present copy is an improved one obtained by him from several recitations. (Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, iii. 122.) Other versions are Motherwell's, printed with this, Maidment's, in his North Countrie Garland, p. 34, (Catharine Jaffery), and Buchan's, in his Gleanings, p. 74, (Loch-in-var.) Sweet William, in Motherwell's collection, (see Appendix,) is still another variety.

Jamieson has translated a Danish ballad which, though not cognate with these, exhibits nearly the same incidents, and we have inserted it in the Appendix.

It need hardly be remarked that the spirited ballad of Lochinvar in Marmion is founded on this ancient legend.

[Pg 34]

CATHERINE JOHNSTONE.

Obtained from recitation, in the West of Scotland. Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 225.

[Pg 38]

BONNY BABY LIVINGSTON.

Jamieson's Popular Ballads, ii. 135, from Mrs. Brown's recitation. Barbara Livingston, a shorter piece, with a different catastrophe, is given in the Appendix, from Motherwell's collection.

[Pg 45]

THE BROOM OF COWDENKNOWS.

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, iii. 37. For other versions, see Bonny May, Herd's Scottish Songs, i. 159, and Johnson's Museum, p. 113; Broom o' the Cowdenknowes, Buchan, i. 172; Laird of Ochiltree, Kinloch, 160; Laird of Lochnie, Kinloch, 167.

[Pg 50]

JOHNIE SCOT.

The edition of this ballad here printed was prepared by Motherwell from three copies obtained from recitation, (Minstrelsy, p. 204.) Other versions have been published in Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 78, Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, i. 248, and his Gleanings, p. 122. The proper names which occur in the course of the piece vary considerably in the different copies. In two of Motherwell's, the hero's designation was Johnie Scot, in a third, Johnie M'Nauchton. In one of Buchan's he is styled Love John, in the other, Lang Johnny Moir. In Kinloch's copy, "Buneftan is his name," and he is also called "Jack that little Scot," which seems to have been the title of the ballad in an unpublished collection quoted by Ritson in his Dissertation on Scottish Song, p. lxxxi. In like manner, for the King of Aulsberry, (v. 111,) we have the various readings, Duke of Marlborough, Duke of Mulberry, Duke of York, and Duke of Winesberrie, and in the following verse, James the Scottish King, for the King of Spain.[Pg 51]

The following passage, illustrative of the feat of arms accomplished by Johnie Scot, was pointed out to Motherwell by Mr. Sharpe:—James Macgill, of Lindores, having killed Sir Robert Balfour, of Denmiln, in a duel, "immediately went up to London in order to procure his pardon, which, it seems, the King (Charles the Second) offered to grant him, upon condition of his fighting an Italian gladiator, or bravo, or, as he was called, a bully, which, it is said, none could be found to do. Accordingly, a large stage was erected for the exhibition before the King and court. Sir James, it is said, stood on the defensive till the bully had spent himself a little; being a taller man than Sir James, in his mighty gasconading and bravadoing, he actually leapt over the knight as if he would swallow him alive; but, in attempting to do this a second time, Sir James ran his sword up through him, and then called out, 'I have spitted him, let them roast him who will.' This not only procured his pardon, but he was also knighted on the spot."—Small's Account of Roman Antiquities recently discovered

in Fife, p. 217.

From Buchan's Lang Johnny Moir, printed in the Appendix, it will be seen that the title of Little Scot is not to be taken literally, but that the doughty champion was a man of huge stature.

137, 140, 143, Taillant.

161, 166 Taillant.

[Pg 60]

BROWN ADAM.

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, iii. 159.

"There is a copy of this ballad in Mrs. Brown's collection. The editor has seen one, printed on a single sheet. The epithet, "Smith," implies, probably, the sirname, not the profession, of the hero, who seems to have been an outlaw. There is, however, in Mrs. Brown's copy, a verse of little merit, here omitted, alluding to the implements of that occupation." Scott.

[Pg 63]

LIZIE LINDSAY.

Complete copies of this pretty ballad are given in Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 102, and in Whitelaw's Book of Scottish Ballads, p. 51. The latter we have printed with the present version, which, though lacking a stanza or two, is better in some respects than either of the others.—Robert Allan has made a song out of this ballad, Smith's Scottish Minstrel, ii. 100.

"Transmitted to the Editor by Professor Scott of Aberdeen, as it was taken down from the recitation of an old woman. It is very popular in the north-east of Scotland, and was familiar to the editor in his early youth; and from the imperfect recollection which he still retains of it, he has corrected the text in two or three unimportant passages." Jamieson's Popular Ballads, ii. 149.

[Pg 68]

LIZZIE LINDSAY.

"This version of Lizzie Lindsay is given from the recitation of a lady in Glasgow, and is a faithful transcript of the ballad as it used to be sung in the West of Scotland." Whitelaw's Book of Scottish Ballads, p. 51.—A very good copy, from Mr. Kinloch's MS., is printed in Aytoun's Ballads of Scotland, i. 269, (Donald of the Isles.)

[Pg 73]

LIZAE BAILLIE.

From Herd's Scottish Songs, ii. 50. A longer version, from Buchan's larger collection, is in the Appendix. Mr. Chambers, assuming that the foregoing ballad of Lizie Lindsay was originally the same as Lizie Baillie, has made out of various copies of both one story in two parts: The Scottish Ballads, p. 158. Smith has somewhat altered the language of this ballad: Scottish Minstrel, iv. 90.

[Pg 76]

GLASGOW PEGGY.

From recitation, in Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 174. Other copies are printed in Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 155, (Donald of the Isles,) Sharpe's Ballad Book, p. 40, (and Chambers's Popular Rhymes, p. 27,) Smith's Scottish Minstrel, iv. 78.

[Pg 80]

GLENLOGIE.

First published in the fourth volume of Smith's Scottish Minstrel. Great liberties, says Motherwell, have been taken with the songs in that work. Other versions are given in Sharpe's Ballad Book, and in Buchan's larger collection, i. 188, (Jean o' Bethelnie's Love for Sir G. Gordon.)

10, 12 shun again.

[Pg 83]

JOHN O' HAZELGREEN.

Neither the present version of this ballad, (taken from Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 253,) nor that furnished by Kinloch, (Jock o' Hazelgreen, p. 206,) is at all satisfactory. Another, much superior in point of taste, but made up from four different copies, is given in Chambers's Scottish Ballads, p. 319.

Sir W. Scott's song of Jock o' Hazeldean was suggested by a single stanza of this ballad, which he had heard as a fragment, thus:

[Pg 89]

THE FAUSE LOVER.

From Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, i. 268. The fourth and fifth stanzas are found as a fragment in Herd's Scottish Songs, ii. 6, (ed. 1776,) thus:

Sir Walter Scott, also, as Chambers has pointed out, has, in Waverley, put two similar stanzas into the mouth of Davie Gellatley.

[Pg 92]

THE GARDENER.

From Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 74. The last stanza but one is found in the preceding ballad. Another copy is given by Buchan, Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 187.

[Pg 94]

THE DUKE OF ATHOL.

"Taken down from the recitation of an idiot boy in Wishaw." Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 170.

[Pg 97]

THE RANTIN' LADDIE.

An imperfect copy of this ballad was printed in Johnson's Museum, (p. 474,) contributed, Mr. Stenhouse informs us, by Burns. The present copy is from the Thistle of Scotland, p. 7. Another, shorter than either, is given in Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 66, Lord Aboyne. (Also in Smith's Scottish Minstrel, iv. 6.)

[Pg 102]

THE DUKE OF GORDON'S DAUGHTER.

Ritson's Scottish Songs, ii. 169.

"Alexander, third Earl of Huntly, was succeeded, in 1523, by his grandson Alexander, Lord Gordon, who actually had three daughters. I. Lady Elizabeth, the eldest, married to John, Earl of Athol. II. Lady Margaret, married to John, Lord Forbes. III. Lady Jean, the youngest, married first, to James, Earl of Bothwell, from whom she was divorced in 1568; she married, secondly, Alexander, Earl of Southerland, who died in 1594; and surviving him, she married, thirdly, Captain Alexander Ogilvie, son and successor of Sir Walter Ogilvie of Boym, who died in 1606 without issue." Stenhouse, Musical Museum, iv. 378.

The dukedom of Gordon was not created until 1684, and therefore the first line should probably run as quoted by Burns,—

[Pg 109]

THE LAIRD O'LOGIE.

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, iii. 131.

An edition of this ballad was published in Herd's Scottish Songs, (i. 54,) and there is styled The Young Laird of Ochiltrie. Scott recovered the following copy from recitation, which is to be preferred to the other, as agreeing more closely with the real fact, both in the name and the circumstances.

The incident here celebrated occurred in the year 1592. Francis, Earl Bothwell, being then engaged in a wild conspiracy against James VI., succeeded in obtaining some followers even among the king's personal attendants. Among these was a gentleman named Weymis of Logie. Accused of treasonable converse with Bothwell, he confessed to the charge, and was, of course, in danger of expiating his crime by death. But he was rescued through the address and courage of Margaret Twynstoun, a lady of the court, to whom he was attached. It being her duty to wait on the queen the night of Logie's accusation, she left the royal chamber while the king and queen were asleep, passed to the room where he was kept in custody, and ordered the guard to bring the prisoner into the presence of their majesties. She received her lover at the cham[Pg 110]ber door, commanding the guard to wait there, and conveyed him to a window, from which he escaped by a long cord. This is the story as related in The Historie of King James the Sext, quoted by Scott.

v. 9-12. This stanza was obtained by Motherwell from recitation.

[Pg 114]

THE GYPSIE LADDIE.

This ballad first appeared in print in the Tea-Table Miscellany, (ii. 282,) from which it was adopted into Herd's and Pinkerton's collections, Johnson's Museum, and Ritson's Scottish Songs. The version here selected, that of Finlay, (Scottish Ballads, ii. 39,) is nearly the same, but has two more stanzas, the third and the fourth. Different copies are given in Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 360, Smith's Scottish Minstrel, iii. 90, The Songs of England and Scotland, (by Peter Cunningham,) ii. 346, and Sheldon's Minstrelsy of the English Border, p. 329, (see our Appendix;) others, which we have not seen, in Mactaggart's Gallovidian Dictionary, Chambers's Scottish Gypsies, and The Scot's Magazine for November, 1817.

There is a popular tradition, possessing, we believe, no foundation in fact, that the incidents of this ballad belong to the history of the noble family of Cassilis. The Lady Jean Hamilton, daughter of the Earl of Waddington, is said to have been constrained to marry a grim Covenanter, John, Earl of Cassilis, though her affections were already engaged to Sir John Faa of[Pg 115] Dunbar. In 1643, several years after their union, when the Countess had given birth to two or three children, her husband being absent from home on a mission to the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, Sir John presented himself at Cassilis Castle, attended by a small band of gypsies, and himself disguised as one. The recollection of her early passion proved stronger than the marriage vow, and the lady eloped with her former lover. But before she had got far from home, the Earl happened to return. Learning what had occurred, he set out in pursuit with a considerable body of followers, and, arresting the fugitives, brought them back to his castle, where he hanged Sir John and his companions on a great tree

before the gate. The Countess was obliged to witness the execution from a chamber window, and after a short confinement in the castle, was shut up for the rest of her life in a house at Maybole, four miles distant, which had been fitted up for her, with a staircase on which were carved a set of heads representing her lover and his troop.

Unfortunately for the truth of the story, letters are in existence, written by the Earl of Cassilis to the Lady Jean after the date of these events, which prove the subsistence of a high degree of mutual affection and confidence; and Finlay assures us that after a diligent search, he had been able to discern nothing that in the slightest confirmed the popular tale. The whole story is perhaps the malicious invention of an enemy of the house of Cassilis, and as such would not be unparalleled in the history of ballad poetry. See Dauney's Ancient Scottish Melodies, p. 269, and Chambers's Scottish Ballads, p. 143.[Pg 116]

[Pg 118]

LAIRD OF DRUM.

From Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 200, obtained from recitation. Another copy is furnished by Buchan, Ballads of the North of Scotland, ii. 194, which, with some variations, is printed again in Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, Percy Society, vol. xvii. p. 53.

"This ballad," says Kinloch, was composed on the marriage of Alexander Irvine of Drum to his second wife, Margaret Coutts, a woman of inferior birth and manners, which step gave great offence to his relations. He had previously, in 1643, married Mary, fourth daughter of George, second Marquis of Huntly.

[Pg 123]

LADY ANNE BOTHWELL'S LAMENT.

The unhappy lady into whose mouth some unknown poet has put this lament, is now ascertained to have been Anne, daughter to Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney. Her faithless lover was her cousin, Alexander Erskine, son to the Earl of Mar. Lady Anne is said to have possessed great beauty, and Sir Alexander was reputed the handsomest man of his age. He was first a colonel in the French army, but afterwards engaged in the service of the Covenanters, and came to his death by being blown up, with many other persons of rank, in Douglass Castle, on the 30th of August, 1640. The events which occasioned the ballad seem to have taken place early in the seventeenth century. Of the fate of the lady subsequent to this period nothing is known. See Chambers, Scottish Ballads, p. 150, and The Scots Musical Museum, (1853,) iv. 203*.

In Brome's comedy of The Northern Lass, or the Nest of Fools, acted in 1632, occur the two following stanzas. They are, perhaps, a part of the original Lament, which certainly has undergone great alterations in its progress down to our times.[Pg 124]

The first professed edition of this piece is in the Third Part of Watson's Collection of Comic and Serious Scots Poems, p. 79; the next in the Tea-Table Miscellany, i. 161. Both of these copies have been modernized, but Ramsay's is the better of the two, and equally authentic. We therefore select Ramsay's, and add to it Percy's, which contains three stanzas not found in the others, and preserves somewhat more of the air of antiquity. There is a version extending to fifteen stanzas, arranged in a very different order, in Evans's Old Ballads, i. 259. Herd, Ritson, &c., have followed Ramsay.

[Pg 129]

LADY ANNE BOTHWELL'S LAMENT.

From Percy's Reliques, ii. 207.

"From a copy in the Editor's folio MS., corrected by another in Allan Ramsay's Miscellany."

[Pg 132]

WALY, WALY, BUT LOVE BE BONNY.