"Young Benjie was the first ae man "Sall we young Benjie, head, sister, Or sall we pike out his twa gray een, "Ye maunna Benjie head, brothers, But ye maun pike out his twa gray een, "Tie a green gravat round his neck, And the best ae servant about your house "And aye, at every seven years' end, LADY ANNE. THIS ballad was communicated to me by Mr. Kirkpatrick Sharpe of Hoddom, who mentions having copied it from an old magazine. Although it has probably received some modern corrections, the general turn seems to be ancient, and corresponds with that of a fragment, containing the following verses, which I have often heard sung in my childhood: "She set her back against a thorn, An ye smile sae sweet, ye'll smile me dead.' * An' when that lady went to the church. "O bonny boy, an ye were mine, LADY ANNE. FAIR Lady Anne sate in her bower, Down by the greenwood side, And the flowers did spring, and the birds did sing, But fair Lady Anne on Sir William call'd, "O though thou be fause, may Heaven thee guard, Out of the wood came three bonnie boys, And they did sing and play at the ba', "O seven lang years wad I sit here, A' to hae but ane o' these bonnie boys, Then up and spake the eldest boy, Now listen, thou fair ladie, "OI will hae the snaw-white boy, "And if I were thine, and in thy propine, ""Tis I wad clead thee in silk and gowd, "Beneath the turf, where now I stand, น LORD WILLIAM. Stories of this nature are very common in the annals of popular superstition. It is, for example, currently believed in Ettrick Forest, that a libertine, THIS ballad was communicated to me by Mr. who had destroyed fifty-six inhabited houses, in James Hogg; and, although it bears a strong reorder to throw the possessions of the cottagers into semblance to that of Earl Richard,† so strong, inhis estate, and who added, to this injury, that of se- deed, as to warrant a supposition that the one has ducing their daughters, was wont to commit to a been derived from the other, yet its intrinsic merit carrier in the neighbourhood the care of his illegiti- seems to warrant its insertion. Mr. Hogg has mate children, shortly after they were born. His added the following note, which, in the course of emissary regularly carried them away, but they were my inquiries, I have found amply corroborated:never again heard of. The unjust and cruel gains I am fully convinced of the antiquity of this of the profligate laird were dissipated by his extrava- song; for, although much of the language seems gance, and the ruins of his house seem to bear wit- somewhat modernized, this must be attributed to ness to the truth of the rhythmical prophecies de- its currency, being much liked, and very much sung nounced against it, and still current among the in this neighbourhood. I can trace it back several peasantry. He himself died an untimely death; generations, but cannot hear of its ever having been but the agent of his amours and crimes survived to in print. I have never heard it with any consideextreme old age. When on his death-bed, he seem-rable variation, save that one reciter called the ed much oppressed in mind, and sent for a clergyman dwelling of the feigned sweetheart, Castleswa.” to speak peace to his departing spirit: but, before the messenger returned, the man was in his last agony; and the terrified assistants had fled from his eottage, unanimously averring, that the wailing of murdered infants had ascended from behind his couch, and mingled with the groans of the departing sinner. • Scug-Shelter, or expiate. LORD WILLIAM. LORD WILLIAM was the bravest knight And though renown'd in France and Spain, See his second volume, p. 222. "The Cruel Mother." One verse (Mr. Motherwell has received, from recitation in the west of will show how the burden is introduced :-Scotland, a fuller, and less poetical, copy of this piece: "She leaned her back unto a thorn, And there she has her two babes born. She took fra 'bout her ribbon belt, She has ta'en out her wee penknife, But Mr. Buchan produces what he considers as a perfect edition. "She's howkit a hole anent the meen, Edinbro', Edinbro', She's howkit a hole anent the meen, Stirling for aye; She's howkit a hole anent the meen, There laid her sweet baby in; So proper Saint Johnstown stands fair upon Tay."-ED.] : Propine-Usually gift, but here the power of giving or be stowing. 5 [See this ballad, post.] As she was walking maid alone, "Come to my arms, my dear Willie, A fairer maid than me, Willie ! She pierced him to the heart. "Ride on, ride on, Lord William now, Out up then spake a bonny bird, you kill that noble lord? He came to marry thee." "Come down, come down, my bonny bird, And eat bread aff my hand! Your cage shall be of wiry goud, Keep ye your cage o' goud, lady, As ye hae done to Lord William, She set her foot on her door step, A bonny marble stane; And she has kept that good lord's corpse Then she cried on her waiting maid, 66 There is a knight into my bower, The ane has ta'en him by the head, THE BROOMFIELD HILL. THE Concluding verses of this ballad were inserted in the copy of Tamlane, given to the public in the first edition of this work. They are now restored to their proper place. Considering how very apt the most accurate reciters are to patch up one ballad with verses from another, the utmost caution cannot always avoid such errors. A more sanguine antiquary than the Editor might perhaps endeavour to identify this poem, which is of undoubted antiquity, with the "Broom Broom on Smit-Clashing noise, from smite-hence also (perhaps) Smith and Smithy. poem. + Charcoal red-This circumstance marks the antiquity of the While wood was plenty in Scotland, charcoal was the usual fuel in the chambers of the wealthy. 1 Louted-Stooped. § Tryst-Assignation. Hill," mentioned by Lane, in his Progress of Queen Elizabeth into Warwickshire, as forming part of Captain Cox's collection, so much envied by the black-letter antiquaries of the present day.-DUGDALE'S Warwickshire, p. 166. The same ballad is quoted by one of the personages, in a very merry and pythie comedie," called,, The longer thou livest, the more Fool thou art." See Ritson's Dissertation prefixed to Ancient Songs, p. lx. "Brume brume on hill" is also mentioned in the Complaynt of Scotland. See Leyden's edition, p. 100. THE BROOMFIELD HILL. THERE was a knight and a lady bright And aye she sat in her mother's bower door, O whether should I gang to the Broomfield hill, "For if I gang to the Broomfield hill, And if I chance to stay at hame, Up then spake a witch woman, Aye from the room aboon; 'O, ye may gang to Broomfield hill, "For when ye come to the Broomfield hill, Ye'll find your love asleep, With a silver belt about his head, "Take ye the blossom of the broom; And strew it at your true love's head, "Take ye the rings off your fingers, She pu'd the broom flower on Hive-hill, "O where were ye, my milk-white steed, "I stamped wi' my foot, master, "And wae betide ye, my gay goss hawk, That wadna watch and waken me, "I clapped wi' my wings, master, "But haste and haste, my gude white steed, Of your flesh shall have their fill.""Ye needna burst your gude white steed, Wi' racing o'er the howm;tt Nae bird flies faster through the wood, Than she fled through the broom." A broom cow-A bush of broom. T Hals-Neck. (German.) cheap, i. e. market; German, Kauffman, i. e. merchant; Ko **Coft-Bought. From the same root, are the old English penhagen, the merchant's haven, &c. &c. +1 Howm, or holm-a flat ground by a river. PROUD LADY MARGARET. This ballad was communicated to the Editor by Mr. HAMILTON, Music-seller, Edinburgh, with whose mother it had been a favourite. Two verses and one line were wanting, which are here supplied from a different Ballad, having a plot somewhat similar. These verses are the 6th and 9th. TWAS on a night, an evening bright, Lady Margaret was walking up and down, She looked east, and she looked west, "You seem to be no gentleman, But you seem to be some cunning hunter, "I am no cunning hunter," he said, "It you should die for me, sir knight, "Now what is the flower, the ae first flower, "But what's the little coin," she said, Or hey, how many small fishes I think ye maun be my match," she said, "And round about a' thae castles, "O hald your tongue, Lady Margaret," he said, "For loud I hear you lie! Your father was lord of nine castles, Your mother was lady of three; Your father was lord of nine castles, But ye fa' heir to but three. And round about a' thae castles, You may baith plow and saw, But on the fifteenth day of May The meadows will not maw. * Syde-Long or low. "I am your brother Willie," he said, I came to humble your haughty heart, 'If ye be my brother Willie," she said, "As I trow weel ye be, This night I'll neither eat nor drink, But gae alang with thee.". "O hald your tongue, Lady Margaret," he said, Again I hear you lie; For ye've unwashen hands, and ye've unwasher feet, t To gae to clay wi' me. "For the wee worms are my bedfellows, And cauld clay is my sheets; And when the stormy winds do blow, My body lies and sleeps."+ THE ORIGINAL BALLAD OF THE BROOM OF COWDENKNOWS. The beautiful air of Cowdenknows is well known and popular. In Ettrick Forest the following words are uniformly adapted to the tune, and seem to be the original ballad. An edition of this pastoral tale, differing considerably from the present copy, was published by Mr. HERD, in 1772. Cowdenknows is situated upon the Leader, about four miles from Melrose, and is now the property of Dr. HOME. O THE broom, and the bonny bonny broom, The hills were high on ilka side, An' the bought i' the lirks o' the hill, There was a troop o' gentlemen And one o' them has rode out o' the way, "Weel may ye save an' see, bonny lass, "An' sae wi' you, ye weel-bred knight, And what's your will wi' me ?" "The night is misty and mirk, fair may, And I have ridden astray, And will you be so kind, fair may, As come out and point my way?" "Ride out, ride out, ye ramp rider! Your steed's baith stout and strang; For out of the bought I dare na come, For fear 'at ye do me wrang.' "O winna ye pity me, bonny lass, An' winna ye pity my poor steed, + Unwashen hands and unwashen feet-Alluding to the custom of washing and dressing dead bodies. [In Mr. Buchan's Collection, vol. i. p. 31. there is a northcountry edition of this ballad, under the title of "The Courteous Knight." His is, as usual, a coarse and vulgar version; but it contains many more stanzas than that in the text; and the knight's farewell speech runs into an edifying lecture on his sister's vanity of dress: e. g. "My body's buried in Dumfermline, And far beyont the sea, But day nor night nae rest could get All for the pride o' thee: "When ye are in the gude kirk set, The gowd pins in your hair, Ye tak mair delight in your feckless dress § Lirk-Hollow. "I wadna pity your poor steed, "For I ken you by your weel-busket hat, And your merry twinkling ee, That ye're the Laird o' the Oakland hills, "But I am not the Laird o' the Oakland hills, Ye're far mista'en o' me; But I'm ane o' the men about his house, O he's ta'en out a purse o' gowd, O he's leap'd on his berry-brown steed, "O master, ye've tarry'd lang!"- OI hae been east, and I hae been west, O where hae ye been, my ae daughter? O naebody was wi' me, father, Ye may gang to the door and see. He bugt the bought at the back o' the knowe, And a todt has frighted me. "There came a tod to the bought door, And e'er he had ta'en the lamb he did, O whan fifteen weeks was come and gane, That lassie began to look thin and pale, "Weel may ye save an' see, bonny may, For never a ane could she blame, That ye're the bonny lass i' the Cowdenknow, 1 Tod-Fox. "I am the Laird of the Oakland hills, LORD RANDAL THERE is a beautiful air to this old ballad. The hero is more generally termed Lord Ronald; but I willingly follow the authority of an Ettrick Forest copy for calling him Randal; because, though the circumstances are so very different, I think it not impossible, that the ballad may have originally regarded the death of Thomas Randolph, or Randal, Earl of Murray, nephew to Robert Bruce, and go vernor of Scotland. This great warrior died at Musselburgh, 1332, at the moment when his services were most necessary to his country, already threatened by an English army. For this sole reason, perhaps, our historians obstinately impute his death to poison. See The Bruce, Book xx. Fordun repeats, and Boece echoes, this story, both of whom charge the murder on Edward III. But it is combated successfully by Lord Hailes, in his Remarks on the History of Scotland. The substitution of some venomous reptile for food, or putting it into liquor, was anciently supposed to be a common mode of administering poisons as appears from the following curious account of the death of King John, extracted from a MS. Chronicle of England, penes John Clerk, Esq. advocate. And, in the same tyme, the pope sente into Englond a legate, that men cald Swals, and he was prest cardinal of Rome, for to mayntene King Johnes cause agens the barons of Englond; but the barons had so much pte [poustie, i. e. power] through Lewys, the kinges sone of Fraunce, that Kinge Johne wist not wher for to wend ne gone: and so hitt fell, that he wold have gone to Suchold, and as he went thedurward, he come by the abbey of Swinshed, and ther he abode 11 dayes. And, as he sate at meat, he askyd a monke of the house, how moche a lofe was worth, that was before hym sete at the table? and the monke sayd that loffe was worthe bot ane halfpenny. O!' quod the Kyng, 'this is a grette cheppe of brede; now,' said the king, and yff I may, such a loffe shall be worth xxd. or half a yer be gone:' and when he said the word, muche he thought, and ofte tymes sighed, and nome and ete of the bred, and said, "By Gode, the word that I have spokyn shall be sothe.' The monke, that stode before the kyng, was ful sory in his hert; and thought rather he wold himself suffer peteous deth; and thought yff he myght ordeyn therefore sum remedy. And anon the monke went unto his abbott, and was schryvyd of him, and told the abbott all that the kyng said, and prayed his abbott to assoyl him, for he wold gyffe the kyng such a wassayle, that all Englond shuld be glad and joyful therof. Tho went the monke into a gardene, and fonde a tode therin: and toke her upp, and put hyr in a cuppe, and filled it with good ale, and pryked hyr in every place, in the cuppe, till the venome come out in every place: an brought hitt before the kyng, and knelyd, and said, 'Sir, wassayle; for never in your lyfe drancke ye of such a cuppe.'-' Begyne, monke,' quod the king; and the monke dranke a gret draute, and toke the kyng the cuppe, and the kyng also drank a grett draute, and set downe the cuppe. The monke anon went to the Farmarye, and ther dyed anone, on whose soule God have mercy, Amen. And v monkes syng for his soule especially, and shall while the abbey stondith. The kyng was anon ful evil at ese, and comaunded to remove the table, and askyd aftur the monke; and men told him that he was ded, for his wombe was broke in sondur. When the king herd this tidyng, he comaundyd for to trusse; but all hit was for nought, for his bely began to swelle for the drink that he dranke, that he dyed within 11 days, the moro aftur Seynt Luke's day." A different account of the poisoning of King John is given in a MS. Chronicle of England, written in [Mr. Clerk became a judge of the Court of Session by the title of Lord Eldin, and died in 1831.-ED.] the minority of Edward III., and contained in the Auchinleck MS. of Edinburgh. Though not exactly to our present purpose, the passage is curious, and I shall quote it without apology. The author has mentioned the interdict laid on John's kingdom by the Pope, and continues thus: He was ful wroth and grim, Therefore I hope he was God-loth "His brethren him graunt alle his bone, "Dansimond zede and gndred frut, That the gile schuld nought be sen. On knes he him sett, The king full fair he grett; 'Sir,' he said, by Seynt Austin, This is frout of our garden, And gif that you wil be, Dansimond ete frut, on and on, He dede, it is nouther for mirthe ne ond, "The King Jon sate at mete, His wombe to wex grete; He swore his oath, per la croyde, His wombe wald brest a thre; He wald have risen fram the bord Y wis he had an evel fine." Shakspeare, from such old Chronicles, has drawn his authority for the last fine scene in King John. But he probably had it from Caxton, who uses nearly the words of the prose chronicle. Hemingford tells the same tale with the metrical historian. It is certain, that John increased the flux, of which he died, by the intemperate use of peaches and of ale, which may have given rise to the story of the poison. -See MATTHEW PARIS. To return to the ballad; there is a very similar song, in which, apparently to excite greater interest in the nursery, the handsome young hunter is exchanged for a little child, poisoned by a false stepmother. LORD RANDAL. "O WHERE hae ye been, Lord Randal, my son? O where hae ye been, my handsome young man ?"Hope, for think. + Steles-Stalks. ! [This nursery song is probably that inserted in Buchan's Collection, 1828, vol. ii. p. 179" Willie Doo," 1. c. dove: "Where hae ye been a' day, Willie Doo, Willie Doo? Whare hae ye been a' day, Willie, my doo? "I've been to see my stepmother. Mak my bed, lay me down; Mak my bed, lay me down, Die shall I now " &c.-ED.} For I'm weary wi' hunting, and fain wald lie down." "What became of your bloodhounds, Lord Randal, my son? What became of your bloodhounds, my handsome young man ?" "O they swell'd and they died; mother, make my bed soon, For I'm weary wi' hunting, and fain wald lie down." "OI fear ye are poison'd, Lord Randal, my son! OI fear ye are poison'd, my handsome young man!". "O yes! I am poison'd; mother, make my bed soon, For I'am sick at the heart, and I fain wad fie down's. SIR HUGH LE BLOND. Tars ballad is a northern composition, and seems to have been the original of the legend called Sir Aldingar, which is printed in the Reliques of Ancient Poetry. The incidents are nearly the same in both ballads, excepting that, in Aldingar, an angel combats for the queen, instead of a mortal champion. The names of Aldingar and Rodingham approach near to each other in sound, though not in orthography, and the one might, by reciters, be easily substituted for the other. I think I have seen both the name and the story in an ancient prose chronicle, but am unable to make any reference in support of my belief. The tradition, upon which the ballad is founded, is universally current in the Mearns; and the Editor is informed, that, till very lately, the sword, with which Sir Hugh le Blond was believed to have defended the life and honour of the Queen, was carefully preserved by his descendants, the Viscounts of Arbuthnot. That Sir Hugh of Arbuthnot lived in the thirteenth century, is proved by his having, 1282, bestowed the patronage of the church of Garvoch upon the Monks of Aberbrothwick, for the safety of his soul.-Register of Aberbrothwick, quoted by Crawford in Peerage. But I find no instance in history, in which the honour of a Queen of Scotland was committed to the chance of a duel. It is true, that Mary, wife of Alexander II., was, about 1242, somewhat implicated in a dark story, concerning the murder of Patrick, Earl of Athole, burned in his lodging at Haddington, where he had gone to attend a great tournament. The relations of the deceased baron accused of the murder Sir William Bisat, a powerful nobleman, who appears to have been in such high favour with the young Queen, that she offered her oath, as a compurgator, to prove his innocence. Bisat himself stood upon his defence, and proffered the combat to his accusers; but he was [In the edition of this ballad published by Mr. Kinloch in 1847, the name of the hero is Lord Donald-very natural in a north country version. The youth is poisoned by a dish of toads, served up as fish, to which the Editor thinks we owe the Scottish phrase, of "getting frogs for fish"-i, e. foul play-introduced in the subsequent ballad of Katharine Janfarie. The last verse is "What will ye leave to your true love, Lord Donald, my son? What will ye leave to your true love, my jollie young man ?"— "The tow and the halter for to hang on yon tree, And let her hang there for the poysoning o' me."-P. 113.-ED.] |