English and Scottish Ballads Volume I Part 17

Thomas sayde than with heuy chere; 215 "Lufly lady, nowe late me bee; Ffor certis, lady, I hafe bene here Noghte bot the s.p.a.ce of dayes three.

"Ffor sothe, Thomas, als I the telle, Thou hase bene here thre yere and more; 220 Bot langere here thu may noghte dwelle; The skylle I sall the telle wherefore.

"To morne, of h.e.l.le the foulle fende Amange this folke will feche his fee; And thu arte mekill man and hende, 225 I trowe full wele he wolde chese the.

"Ffor all the gold that euer may bee, Ffro hethyn unto the worldis ende, Thou bese neuer betrayede for mee; Therefore with me I rede thou wende." 230

Scho broghte hym agayne to Eldone tree, Vndir nethe that grenewode spraye; In Huntlee bannkes es mery to bee, Whare fowles synges bothe nyght and daye.

"Fferre owtt in yone mountane graye, 235 Thomas, my fawkon byggis a neste;-- A fawcoun is an eglis praye; Fforthi in na place may he reste.

"Ffare well, Thomas; I wend my waye; Ffor me byhouys ouer thir benttis brown." 240 --Loo here a fytt: more es to saye, All of Thomas of Erselldown.--

22, Laing, by tene. [Transcriber's note: this refers to line 22 of the first part, which is missing between pages 97 and 98.]

5, Linc. MS. throstylle c.o.kke.

21, sette, Laing.

109, Lufly lady, i.e. Mary.

211, buse agayne.

THOMAS THE RHYMER.

TRADITIONAL VERSION.

_Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_, (iv. 117.) "Given from a copy obtained from a lady residing not far from Ercildoune, corrected and enlarged by one in Mrs. Brown's MSS."

True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank; A ferlie he spied wi' his ee; And there he saw a ladye bright, Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.

Her s.h.i.+rt was o' the gra.s.s-green silk, 5 Her mantle o' the velvet fyne; At ilka tett of her horse's mane, Hung fifty siller bells and nine.

True Thomas, he pull'd aff his cap, And louted low down to his knee: 10 "All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven!

For thy peer on earth I never did see."--

"O no, O no, Thomas," she said, "That name does not belang to me; I am but the Queen of fair Elfland, 15 That am hither come to visit thee.

"Harp and carp, Thomas," she said; "Harp and carp along wi' me; And if ye dare to kiss my lips, Sure of your bodie I will be."-- 20

"Betide me weal, betide me woe, That weird shall never daunton me."-- Syne he has kissed her rosy lips, All underneath the Eildon Tree.

"Now, ye maun go wi' me," she said; 25 "True Thomas, ye maun go wi' me; And ye maun serve me seven years, Thro' weal or woe as may chance to be."

She mounted on her milk-white steed; She's ta'en true Thomas up behind: 30 And aye, whene'er her bridle rung, The steed flew swifter than the wind.

O they rade on, and farther on; The steed gaed swifter than the wind; Until they reach'd a desert wide, 35 And living land was left behind.

"Light down, light down, now, true Thomas, And lean your head upon my knee; Abide and rest a little s.p.a.ce, And I will shew you ferlies three. 40

"O see ye not yon narrow road, So thick beset with thorns and briers?

That is the path of righteousness, Though after it but few enquires.

"And see ye not that braid braid road, 45 That lies across that lily leven?

That is the path of wickedness, Though some call it the road to heaven.

"And see not ye that bonny road, That winds about the fernie brae? 50 That is the road to fair Elfland, Where thou and I this night maun gae.

"But, Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue, Whatever ye may hear or see; For, if you speak word in Elfyn land, 55 Ye'll ne'er get back to your ain countrie."

O they rade on, and farther on, And they waded through rivers aboon the knee, And they saw neither sun nor moon, But they heard the roaring of the sea. 60

It was mirk mirk night, and there was nae stern light, And they waded through red blude to the knee; For a' the blude that's shed on earth Rins through the springs o' that countrie.

Syne they came on to a garden green, 65 And she pu'd an apple frae a tree-- "Take this for thy wages, true Thomas; It will give thee the tongue that can never lie."--

"My tongue is mine ain," true Thomas said; "A gudely gift ye wad gie to me![L70] 70 I neither dought to buy nor sell, At fair or tryst where I may be.

"I dought neither speak to prince or peer, Nor ask of grace from fair ladye."-- "Now hold thy peace!" the lady said, 75 "For as I say, so must it be."--

He has gotten a coat of the even cloth, And a pair of shoes of velvet green; And till seven years were gane and past, True Thomas on earth was never seen. 80

70. The traditional commentary upon this ballad informs us, that the apple was the produce of the fatal Tree of Knowledge, and that the garden was the terrestrial paradise. The repugnance of Thomas to be debarred the use of falsehood, when he might find it convenient, has a comic effect. SCOTT.

THE YOUNG TAMLANE.

The _Tayl of the Yong Tamlene_ is mentioned in the _Complaynt of Scotland_, (1548,) and the dance of _Thom of Lyn_ is noticed in the same work. A considerable fragment of this ballad was printed by Herd, (vol. i. 215,) under the t.i.tle of _Kertonha'_, a corruption of Carterhaugh; another is furnished in Maidment's _New Book of Old Ballads_, (p. 54,) and a nearly complete version in Johnson's _Museum_, (p. 423,) which, with some alterations, was inserted in the _Tales of Wonder_, (No. 58.) The present edition, prepared by Sir Walter Scott from a collation of various copies, is longer than any other, but was originally disfigured by several supposit.i.tious stanzas here omitted. Another version, with Maidment's fragment, will be found in the Appendix to this volume.

"Carterhaugh is a plain, at the conflux of the Ettrick and Yarrow in Selkirks.h.i.+re, about a mile above Selkirk, and two miles below Newark Castle; a romantic ruin which overhangs the Yarrow, and which is said to have been the habitation of our heroine's father, though others place his residence in the tower of Oakwood. The peasants point out, upon the plain, those electrical rings, which vulgar credulity supposes to be traces of the Fairy revels. Here, they say, were placed the stands of milk, and of water, in which _Tamlane_ was dipped, in order to effect the disenchantment; and upon these spots, according to their mode of expressing themselves, the gra.s.s will never grow. Miles Cross, (perhaps a corruption of Mary's Cross,) where fair Janet awaited the arrival of the Fairy train, is said to have stood near the Duke of Buccleuch's seat of Bow-hill, about half a mile from Carterhaugh."--(SCOTT'S _Minstrelsy_, ii. 334, at the end of a most interesting essay, introductory to this tale, on the Fairies of Popular Superst.i.tion.)

"O I forbid ye, maidens a', That wear gowd on your hair, To come or gae by Carterhaugh, For young Tamlane is there.

"There's nane that gaes by Carterhaugh, 5 But maun leave him a wad, Either gowd rings, or green mantles, Or else their maidenheid.

"Now gowd rings ye may buy, maidens, Green mantles ye may spin; 10 But, gin ye lose your maidenheid, Ye'll ne'er get that agen."--

But up then spak her, fair Janet, The fairest o' a' her kin; "I'll c.u.m and gang to Carterhaugh; 15 And ask nae leave o' him."--