Ballads of Mystery and Miracle and Fyttes of Mirth Part 37

21.

'For thirty pence our Saviour was sold Amonge the false Jewes, as I have bin told; And twenty nine is the worth of thee, For I thinke, thou art one penny worser than he.'

22.

The king he laughed, and swore by St. Bittel, 'I did not think I had been worth so littel!

--Now secondly tell me, without any doubt, How soone I may ride this whole world about.'

23.

'You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same, Until the next morning he riseth againe; And then your grace need not make any doubt, But in twenty-four hours you'll ride it about.'

24.

The king he laughed, and swore by St. Jone, 'I did not think it could be gone so soone!

--Now from the third question thou must not shrinke, But tell me here truly what I do thinke.'

25.

'Yea, that I shall do, and make your grace merry: You thinke I'm the abbot of Canterburye; But I'm his poor shepheard, as plain you may see, That am come to beg pardon for him and for me.'

26.

The king he laughed, and swore by the ma.s.se, 'Ile make thee lord abbot this day in his place!'

'Now naye, my liege, be not in such speede, For alacke I can neither write, ne reade.'

27.

'Four n.o.bles a weeke, then I will give thee, For this merry jest thou hast showne unto mee; And tell the old abbot when thou comest home, Thou hast brought him a pardon from good king John.'

[Annotations: 5.3: 'deere,' harm.

5.3: 'deere,' harm.

22.1: 'Meaning probably St. Botolph.' --_Percy's note._ But the Folio gives St. Andrew, so that it is Percy's own emendation.]

THE FAUSE KNIGHT UPON THE ROAD

+The Text+ is taken from the Introduction to Motherwell's _Minstrelsy_, p. lxxiv.

+The Story+ appears to be a conversation between a wee boy and the devil, the latter under the guise of a knight. The boy will be carried off unless he can 'have the last word,' a charm of great power against all evil spirits.

A very similar ballad, of repartees between an old crone and a wee boy, was found at the Lappfiord, Finland.

THE FAUSE KNIGHT UPON THE ROAD

1.

'O whare are ye gaun?'

_Quo the fause knicht upon the road:_ 'I'm gaun to the scule,'

_Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude._

2.

'What is that upon your back?'

'Atweel it is my bukes.'

3.

'What's that ye've got in your arm?'

'Atweel it is my peit.'

4.

'Wha's aucht they sheep?'

'They're mine and my mither's.'

5.

'How monie o' them are mine?'

'A' they that hae blue tails.'

6.

'I wiss ye were on yon tree:'

'And a gude ladder under me.'

7.

'And the ladder for to break:'

'And you for to fa' down.'

8.

'I wiss ye were in yon sie:'

'And a gude bottom under me.'

9.

'And the bottom for to break:'

'And ye to be drowned.'

[Annotations: 2.2: 'Atweel,' = I wot well, truly.

3.2: 'peit,' peat, carried to school to contribute to the fire.

4.1: 'Wha's aucht,' who owns.]

THE LORD OF LEARNE

+The Text+ is from the Percy Folio MS., with the spelling modernised, except in two or three instances for the sake of the rhyme (13.4) or metre (102.2). Other alterations, as suggested by Child, are noted.

Apart from the irregularities of metre, this ballad is remarkable for the large proportion of 'e' rhymes, which are found in 71 stanzas, or two-thirds of the whole. The redundant 'that,' which is a feature of the Percy Folio, also occurs frequently--in eleven places, three of which are in optative sentences (8.2, 14.4, 91.4).

The ballad is more commonly known as _The Lord of Lorne_, under which t.i.tle we find it registered in the Stationers' Company on October 6, 1580. Guilpin refers to it in his _Skialethia_ (1598), Satire 1, ll.

107-108:--