Ballad Book Part 32

Yet there is scarcely less doubt as to the actual existence of a flesh-and-blood Robin Hood than there is as to the actual existence of a flesh-and-blood King Arthur. But let History look to her own; Literature need have no scruple in claiming both the archer-prince of outlaws and the blameless king of the Table Round. Robber chieftain or democratic agitator, romantic invention or Odin-myth, it is certain that by the fourteenth century Robin Hood was a familiar figure in English balladry. We have our first reference to this generous-hearted rogue of the greenwood, who is supposed by Ritson to have lived from 1160 to 1247, in Langlande's _Piers Ploughman_ (1362). There are brief notices of the popular bandit in Wyntoun's _Scottish Chronicle_ (1420), Fordun's _Scotichronicon_ (1450), and Mair's _Historia Majoris Brittaniae_ (1521). Famous literary allusions occur in Latimer's _Sixth Sermon before Edward VI_. (1548), in Drayton's _Polyolbion_ (1613), and Fuller's _Worthies of England_ (1662). The Robin Hood ballads ill.u.s.trate to the full the rough and heavy qualities, both of form and thought, that characterize all our English folk-songs as opposed to the Scottish. We feel the difference instantly when a minstrel from over the Border catches up the strain:

"There's mony ane sings o'gra.s.s, o'gra.s.s, And mony ane sings o'corn; And mony ane sings o'Robin Hood, Kens little whar' he was born.

"It was na' in the ha', the ha', Nor in the painted bower; But it was in the gude greenwood, Amang the lily flower."

Yet these rude English ballads have just claims on our regard. They stand our feet squarely upon the basal rock of Saxon ethics, they breathe a spirit of the st.u.r.diest independence, and they draw, in a few strong strokes, so fresh a picture of the joyous, fearless life led under the green shadows of the deer-haunted forest by that memorable band, bold Robin and Little John, Friar Tuck and George a Green, Will Scarlett, Midge the Miller's Son, Maid Marian and the rest, that we gladly succ.u.mb to a charm recognized by Shakespeare himself: "They say he is already in the forest of Arden, and a many merry men with him; and there they live like the old Robin Hood of England; they say many young gentlemen flock to him every day, and fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden world."--_As You Like It._

ROBIN HOOD AND ALLIN A DALE. After Ritson. This ballad is first found in broadside copies of the latter half of the seventeenth century. _Lin._, pause.

ROBIN HOOD'S DEATH AND BURIAL. After Ritson, who made his version from a collation of two copies given in a York garland.

ANNIE OF LOCHROYAN. After Aytoun, who improves on Jamieson's version. This beautiful ballad is given in varying forms by Herd, Scott, Buchan, and others. Lochroyan, or Loch Ryan, is a bay on the south-west coast of Scotland. _Jimp_, slender. _Gin_, if. _Greet_, cry. _Tirl'd_, rattled. _But and_, and also. _Warlock_, wizard.

_Sinsyne_, since then. _Hooly_, slowly. _Deid_, death. _Syne_, then.

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET. After Aytoun, who adds to the first twenty-four stanzas of the copy given in the _Reliques_ a concluding fourteen taken from Jamieson's _Sweet Willie and Fair Annie_. The unfortunate lady elsewhere figures as _The Nut-Brown Bride_ and _Fair Ellinor_. There are Norse ballads which relate something akin to the same story. _Gif_, if. _Rede_, counsel. _Owsen_, oxen. _Billie_, an affectionate term for brother. _Byre_, cow-house. _Fadge_, clumsy woman. _Sheen_, shoes. _Tift_, whiff. _Gin_, if. _Cleiding_, clothing. _Bruik_, enjoy. _Kist_, chest. _Lee_, lonesome. _Till_, to. _Dowie_, doleful. _Sark_, shroud. _But and_, and also. _Birk_, birch.

THE BANKS OF YARROW. After Allingham's collated version. There are many renderings of this ballad, which Scott declares to be a great favorite among the peasantry of the Ettrick forest, who firmly believe it founded on fact. The river Yarrow, so favored of the poets, flows through a valley in Selkirks.h.i.+re and joins the Tweed above the town of Selkirk. The _Tennies_ is a farm below the Yarrow kirk. _Lawing_, reckoning. _Dawing_, dawn. _Marrow_, mate. _Dowie_, doleful.

_Leafu'_, lawful. _Binna_, be not.

THE DOUGLAS TRAGEDY. After Scott. This ballad is likewise known under t.i.tles of _Earl Brand, Lady Margaret_ and _The Child of Ell_. Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic ballads relate a kindred story, and the incident of the intertwining plants that spring from the graves of hapless lovers, occurs in the folk-lore of almost all peoples.

_Bugelet_, a small bugle. _Dighted_, strove to stanch. _Plat_, intertwined.

FINE FLOWERS I' THE VALLEY. After Aytoun, his version, though taken down from recitation, being in reality a compound of Herd's and Jamieson's. Aytoun claims that "this is perhaps the most popular of all the Scottish ballads, being commonly recited and sung even at the present day." Different refrains are often employed, and the ballad is frequently given under t.i.tle of _The Cruel Brother_. Stories similar to this are found in the balladry of both northern and southern Europe. _Marrow_, mate. _Close_, avenue leading from the door to the street. _Loutiny_, bowing. _Its lane_, alone.

THE GAY GOSS-HAWK. Mainly after Motherwell, although his version is ent.i.tled _The Jolly Goshawk_. The epithet _Gay_ has the sanction of Scott and Jamieson. Buchan gives a rendering of this ballad under t.i.tle of _The Scottish Squire_. _Whin_, furze. _Bigly_, s.p.a.cious. _Sark_, shroud. _Claith_, cloth. _Steeking_, st.i.tching. _Gar'd_, made. _Chive_, morsel. _Skaith_, harm.

YOUNG REDIN. After Allingham's collated copy. There are many versions of this ballad, the hero being variously known as Young Hunting, Earl Richard, Lord William, Lord John and Young Redin. _Birl'd_, plied. _Douk_, dive. _Weil-head_, eddy. _Linn_, the pool beneath a cataract. _Brin_, burn.

_Balefire_, bonfire.

WILLIE AND MAY MARGARET. After Allingham's copy framed by collating Jamieson's fragmentary version with Buchan's ballad of _The Drowned Lovers_. _Stour_, wild. _Pot_, a pool in a river. _Dowie den_, doleful hollow. _Tirled_, rattled. _Sleeked_, fastened. _Brae_, hillside. _Sowm, swim. _Minnie_, affectionate term for mother.

YOUNG BEICHAN. Mainly after Jamieson, his version being based upon a copy taken down from the recitation of the indefatigable Mrs. Brown and collated with a ma.n.u.script and stall copy, both from Scotland, a recited copy from the North of England, and a short version "picked off an old wall in Piccadilly." Of this ballad of _Young Beichan_ there are numerous renderings, the name of the hero undergoing many variations,--b.i.+.c.ham, Brechin, Beachen, Bekie, Bateman, Bondwell--and the heroine, although Susie Pye or Susan Pye in ten of the fourteen versions, figuring also as Isbel, Essels, and Sophia. It was probably an English ballad at the start, but bears the traces of the Scottish minstrels who were doubtless prompt to borrow it. There is likelihood enough that the ballad was originally suggested by the legend of Gilbert Becket, father of the great archbishop; the story running that Becket, while a captive in Holy Land, plighted his troth to the daughter of a Saracenic prince. When the crusader had made good his escape, the lady followed him, inquiring her way to "England" and to "London," where she wandered up and down the streets, constantly repeating her lover's name, "Gilbert," the third and last word of English that she knew, until finally she found him, and all her woes were put to flight by the peal of wedding bells. _Termagant_, the name given in the old romances to the G.o.d of the Saracens. _Pine_, pain.

_Sheave_, slice. _But and_, and also. _Dreed_, endured.

GILDEROY. After the current version adapted from the original by Sir Alexander Halket or his sister, Lady Elizabeth Wardlaw, the composer of _Hardyknute_. There is extant a black-letter broadside printed in England as early as 1650, and the ballad appears in several miscellanies of later date. The reviser added the sixth, seventh, and eighth stanzas. It is mortifying to learn that this "winsome Gilderoy "--the name, properly Gillie roy, signifying in Gaelic "the red-haired lad"--was in reality one Patrick Mac-Gregor, who was hanged at the cross of Edinburgh, 1638, as a common cateran or free-booter. That the romantic element in the ballad so outweighs the historical, must account for its cla.s.sification here. _Soy_, silk. _Cess_, black-mail. _Gear_, property.

BONNY BARBARA ALLAN. After the version given in Ramsay's _Tea-Table Miscellany_ and followed by Herd, Ritson, and others. Percy prints with this in the _Reliques_ a longer, but poorer copy. In Pepys's _Diary_, Jan. 2,1666, occurs an allusion to the "little Scotch song of Barbary Alien." _Gin_, if. _Hooly_, slowly. _Jow_, knell.

THE GARDENER. After Kinloch. Buchan gives a longer, but less valuable version. _Jimp_, slender. _Weed_, dress. _Camorine_, camomile.

_Kail-blade_, cabbage-leaf. _Cute_, ankle. _Brawn_, calf.

_Blaewort_, witch bells.

ETIN THE FORESTER. Collated. No single version of this ballad is satisfactory, not Kinloch's fine fragment, _Hynde Etin_, nor Buchan's complete but inferior version, _Young Akin_, nor the modernized copy, _Young Hastings_, communicated by Buchan to Motherwell. Earlier and better renderings of the ballad have doubtless been lost. In the old Scottish speech, an Etin signified an ogre or giant, and although the existing versions show but faint traces of a supernatural element, it is probable that the original character of the story has been changed by the accidents of tradition, and that the Etin was at the outset in line with such personages as Arnold's Forsaken Merman. In the beautiful kindred ballads which abound in the Norse and German literatures, the Etin is sometimes represented by a merman, though usually by an elf-king, dwarf-king, or hill-king. _Hind chiel_, young stripling. _Spier_, ask. _Bigg_, build. _Their lane_, alone. _Brae_, hillside. _Gars_, makes. _Greet_, weep. _Stown_, stolen. _Laverock_, lark. _Lift_, air. _Buntin'_, blackbird. _Christendame_, christening.

_Ben_, in. _Shaw_, forest. _Louted_, bowed. _Boun'_, go.

LAMKIN. After Jamieson. The many versions of this ballad show an unusually small number of variations. The name, though occurring in the several forms of Lambert Linkin, Lamerlinkin, Rankin, Belinkin, Lankyn, Lonkin, Balcanqual, most often appears as Lamkin or Lammikin or Lambkin, being perhaps a nick-name given to the mason for the meekness with which he had borne his injuries. This would explain the resentful tone of his inquiries on entering the house. _Nourice_, nurse. _Limmer_, wretch. _Shot-window_, projecting window. _Gaire_, edge of frock. _Ilka_, each. _Bore_, crevice. _Greeting_, crying.

_Dowie_, doleful. _Chamer_, chamber. _Lamer_, amber. _Ava'_, of all.

HUGH OF LINCOLN. Mainly after Jamieson. Percy gives a version of this famous ballad under t.i.tle of _The Jew's Daughter_, and Herd and Motherwell, as well as Jamieson, have secured copies from recitation.

The general view that this ballad rests upon an historical basis has but slender authority behind it. Matthew Paris, never too reliable as a chronicler, says that in 1255 the Jews of Lincoln, after their yearly custom, stole a little Christian boy, tortured and crucified him, and flung him into a pit, where his mother found the body. This is in all probability one of the many cruel slanders circulated against the Jews during the Middle Ages, to reconcile the Christian conscience to the Christian maltreatment of that long-suffering race. Such stories are related of various mediaeval innocents, in various lands and centuries, and may be cla.s.sed together, until better evidence to the contrary presents itself, as malicious falsehood. This ballad should be compared, of course, with Chaucer's _Prioresses Tale_. _Keppit_, caught. _Gart_, made. _Twinn'd_, deprived. _Row'd_, rolled. _Ilka_, each. _Gin_, it.

FAIR ANNIE. Mainly after Jamieson's version ent.i.tled _Lady Jane_.

Jamieson gives another copy, where the heroic lady is known as _Burd Helen_, but Scott, Motherwell, Kinloch, Buchan, and others agree on the name _Fair Annie_. The pathetic beauty of the ballad has secured it a wide popularity. There are Danish, Swedish, Dutch, and German versions. "But Fair Annie's fortunes have not only been charmingly sung," says Professor Child. "They have also been exquisitely _told_ in a favorite lay of Marie de France, 'Le Lai del Freisne.' This tale of Breton origin is three hundred years older than any ma.n.u.script of the ballad. Comparison will, however, quickly show that it is not the source either of the English or of the Low German and Scandinavian ballad. The tale and the ballads have a common source, which lies further back, and too far for us to find." _Your lane_, alone. _Braw_, finely dressed. _Gear_, goods. _But and_, and also. _Stown_, stolen.

_Leugh_, laughed. _Loot_, let. _Gars_, makes. _Greet_, weep.

THE LAIRD O' DRUM. After Aytoun's collated version. Copies obtained from recitation are given by Kinloch and Buchan. The eccentric Laird o' Drum was an actual personage, who, in the seventeenth century, mortified his aristocratic relatives and delighted the commons by marrying a certain Margaret Coutts, a woman of lowly rank, his first wife having been a daughter of the Marquis of Huntly. The old shepherd speaks in the Aberdeen dialect. _Weel-faur'd_, well-favored. _Gin_, if. _Speer_, ask. _Kebbuck_, cheese. _Yetts_, gates. _Gawsy_, portly.

_But the pearlin' abune her bree_, without the lace above her brow.

LIZIE LINDSAY. After Jamieson. Complete copies are given by Buchan and Whitelaw, also. _Till_, to. _Braes_, hills. _Fit_, foot. _Gin_, if.

_Tocher_, dowry. _Gait_, way. _Wale_, choice. _Dey_, dairy-woman.

_Laverock_, lark. _Liltin'_, carolling. _Shealin'_, sheep-shed. _Gaits and kye_, goats and cows.

KATHARINE JANFARIE. Mainly after Motherwell's version ent.i.tled _Catherine Johnstone_. Other renderings are given by Scott, Maidment, and Buchan. In Scott's version the name of the English suitor is Lord Lochinvar, and both name and story the thieving poet has turned, as everybody knows, to excellent account. The two closing stanzas here seem to betray the hand of an English balladist. _Weel-faur'd_, well-favored. _Lave_, rest. _Spier'd_, asked. _Brae_, hill.

GLENLOGIE. After Smith's version in the _Scottish Minstrel_,--a book wherein "great liberties," Motherwell claims, have been taken with ancient lays. A rough but spirited version is given by Sharpe, and a third by Buchan. _Gar_, make. _His lane_, alone.

GET UP AND BAR THE DOOR. After Herd. This ballad appears, too, in Johnson's _Museum_ and Ritson's _Scottish Songs_. _Martinmas_, the eleventh of November. _Intil_, into. _Hussyskep_, house-keeping.

_Bree_, broth. _Scaud_, scald.

THE LAWLANDS O' HOLLAND. After Herd. Another version, longer and poorer, occurs in Johnson's _Museum_. _Withers.h.i.+ns_, the wrong way. _Twinned_, parted.

THE TWA CORBIES. After Scott, who received it from Mr. C. K. Sharpe, "as written down, from tradition, by a lady." This seems to be the Scottish equivalent of an old English poem, _The Three Ravens_, given by Ritson in his _Ancient Songs_. _Corbies_, ravens. _Fail_, turf.

_Kens_, knows. _Hause_, neck. _Pyke_, pick. _Theek_, thatch.