"And 'tis written," he added, "that proofs were beheld Of Heaven's dread vengeance and ire; That it rained mighty showers, and blew mighty winds, And the sun and the moon were like fire! "That Finella's fine castle was razed to the ground, And left, as is yet to be seen, A mass of extensive, but unshapely ruins, On the top of a hillock so green. * "But this tragic story thou surely had'st known, And of our Apostle heard tell; For many more tales, unsung and unwrote, The Wife o' Auchtermuchty. This is one of the very best of our old Scottish humorous ballads, and comes down to us in an uncorrupted state in consequence of its preservation in the manuscript collection made by Mr. George Bannatyne in 1568. It is supposed to be the composition of a Sir John Moffat, a priest (one of the Pope's knights), who flourished in the early part of the sixteenth century, and was the author of a fine serious poem beginning "Brother, be wise, I rede you now," which has been printed in Lord Hailes's collection. "The Wife o' Auchtermuchty was first printed by Allan Ramsay in his Evergreen, with some alterations and additions_by_the editor; and this version has been often reprinted. The present copy is from the Bannatyne manuscript, modernised وو * Ruins of Greencairn Castle, the reputed residence of Lady Finella, are still to be seen upon a knoll, about a mile to the west of the village of Fettercairn. The hill of Strathfinla, or Finella, between Fordoun and Fettercairn, is said to have its name from Lady Finella. only as respects spelling, and supplemented by twenty-four lines which do not occur in Mr. Bannatyne's version. The story is so humorous, and the troubles the unfortunate gudeman gets into on turning housewife are described with such graphic detail, that one could have wished to believe that it chronicled an actual experience in an Auchtermuchty household over three hundred years ago, but, as Mr. David Laing pointed out, the story is not original; a tale strongly resembling it in incident and turn of humour occurring in Silva Sermonum Jucundissimorum," published at Basle in 1568, and into which, in all probability, it was copied from some earlier collection of kindred native matter. 66 It is scarcely necessary to add that the popular song of "John Grumlie" is based on "The Wife o' Auchtermuchty." IN Auchtermuchty there dwelt ane man, Ane husband, as I heard it tauld, And neither loved hunger nor cauld. He yokit his pleugh upon the plain, The day was foul for wind and rain. He lows't the pleugh at the land's end, And saw his wife baith trig and clean, Quoth he "Where is my horses' corn? The seed time it proves cauld and bad, And syne ye'll ken what husbands dree." "Husband," quoth she, "content am I And now sin' ye hae made the law, We'll see gif naething ye neglect. "But sin' that ye will hoose-life ken, First ye sall sift, and syne sall kneed; And aye as ye gang but and ben, Look that the bairns fyle not the bed. Ye'se lay ane saft wisp to the kiln, (We have ane dear farm on our head), And aye as ye gang furth and till, Keep weel the goslings frae the gled." The wife was up right late at e'en, And on her heart laid her disjune; Syne put as muckle in her lap, As micht hae served them baith at noon. Says, "Jock, be thou the maister of wark, I'se promise thee ane gude new sark K She lows't the oxen aucht or nine, And saw the wife had done command; He ca'd the goslings forth to feed, There was but sevensome o' them a'; And by there comes the greedy gled, And lickt up five, left him but twa, Then oot he ran in all his mane, How soon he heard the goslings cry; But than, or he cam' in again, The calves brak lowse and sookit the kye. The calves and kye met in the loan, The man ran with ane rung to redd, When by there comes an ill-willy cow, And brodit his buttock so that it bled. Then hame he ran to ane rock of tow, And he sat down to try the spinning; I trow he loutit ower near the lowe, Quoth he "This wark has ane ill beginning.” Hynd to the kirn then did he stour, Yet he was cummerit with the kirn, And sorrow a spark of it would yirn. Then ben there cam' ane greedy sow, And aye she winkit and aye she drank. He cleikit up ane crookit club, And thought to hit the sow ane rout, The twa goslings the gled had left, That straik dang baith their harns out. He gat his foot upon the spyre, To get the bawcon for the pat; He backwards fell into the fire, And brak' his head on the kaiming stock On the fire he set the meikle pat, And gat twa cans and ran to the spout, Ere he cam' in, what think ye o' that? The fire had burnt the bottom oot. The leam up through the lum did flow, Wi' whilk he slocken'd out the fire; Then he bore kindling to the kiln, ; Thought to have found them fair and clean, The first that he gat in his arms, Was all bedirten to the een. The first that he gat in his arms, "The deil cut off her hands," quoth he, 'That filled ye a' sae fou' yestreen!" |