"O is there nae a bonnie bird, Can sing as I can say ; Could flee away to my mother's bower, The starling flew to his mother's window stane, They made a rod o' the hazel bush, Then out and spak his auld mother, And fast her tears did fa' "Ye wad nae be warn'd, my son Johnie, "Aft hae I brought to Breadislee, Now Johnie's gude bend bow is broke, KATHARINE JANFARIE. The Ballad was published in the first edition of this work, under the title of "The Laird of Laminton." It is now given in a more perfect state, from several recited copies. The residence of the lady, and the scene of the affray at her bridal, is said, by old people, to have been upon the banks of the Cadden, near to where it joins the Tweed.-Others say the skirmish was fought near Traquair, and KATHARINE JANFARIE's dwelling was in the glen about three miles above Traquair House.§ THERE was a may, and a weel-far'd may, Her name was Katharine Janfarie, She was courted by mony men. Up then came Lord Lauderdale, And he has come to court this may, He told na her father, he told na her mother, But he whisper'd the bonnie lassie hersell, * [Perhaps here should be inserted the beautiful stanza preserved by Finlay, so descriptive, as he remarks, of the languor of death:- There's no a bird in a' this forest Will do as meikle for me, As dip its wing in the wan water, And straik it on my ee-bree." MOTHERWELL, p. 22.] Gear-Usually signifies goods, but here spoil. I [Mr. Motherwell has printed some stanzas of perhaps a more ancient set of this ballad-e. g. V. 2.-" Johnie lookit east, and Johnie lookit west, And there did he spy the dun deer lie V. 5. It's down, and it's down, and it's down, down, [At page 225 of Motherwell, the reader will find another version of this ballad, in which the heroine bears not the name of Janfarie, but Johnstone, and her lover is, as in the first edition of the Minstrelsy, the Laird of Lamington-i. e. Baillie of Lamington, in Clydesdale, the head of that ancient name.-ED.] [Gordon of Lochinvar, head of a powerful branch of that name, afterwards Viscounts of Lochinvar. But out then cam Lord Lochinvar, Weel mounted, and in order. He told her father, he told her mother, But he told na the bonnie may hersell, She sent to the Lord o' Lauderdale, The bride looked out at a high window, And she was aware of her first true love, She scoffed him, and scorned him, And said "It was the Fairy court "O come ye here to fight, young lord, Or come ye here to drink good wine "I come na here to fight," he said, It is a glass of the blood-red wine At her kinsmen speir'd na leave.‡‡ There were four-and-twenty bonnie boys, They said they would take the bride again, Some o' them were right willing men, And four-and-twenty Leader lads Bid them mount and ride awa'. "Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword, (For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word,) 'O come ye in peace here, or come ye in war, Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar ?'" Lady Heron's Songs. Marmion, Canto V.] ** ["I long woo'd your daughter my suit ye denied:Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tideAnd now am I come, with this lost love of mine, To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine.'" Ibid.1 ["One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear, When they reach'd the hall door, and the charger stood near; So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung, So light to the saddle before her he sprung! 'She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur; They'll have fleet steeds that follow,' quoth young Lochinvar." Ibid.] $ Johnstone Grey-The livery of the ancient family of Johnstone. This circumstance appears to support the Clydesdale copy, which gives Katharine the surname of Johnstone. I incline to suspect that she was a Johnstone of Wamphray, and that Katharine o' Wamphray had been blundered, by the Ettrick reciters, into Katharine Jeffrey, vulgarly pronounced Janfray.Ep.1 Then whingers flew frae gentles' sides, The blood ran down by Caddon bank, My blessing on your heart, sweet thing! And that dwell by the English Border, Come never here to seek a wife, For fear of sic disorder. They'll haik ye up, and settle ye bye, THE LAIRD O' LOGIE. As edition of this ballad is current, under the title of "The Laird of Ochiltree;" but the Editor, since the first publication of this work, has been fortunate enough to recover the following more correct and ancient copy, as recited by a gentleman residing near Biggar. It agrees more nearly, both in the name and in the circumstances, with the real fact, than the printed ballad of Ochiltree. In the year 1592, Francis Stuart, Earl of Bothwell, was agitating his frantic and ill-concerted attempts against the person of James VI., whom he endeavoured to surprise in the Palace of Falkland. Through the emulation and private rancour of the courtiers, he found adherents even about the King's person; among whom, it seems, was the hero of our ballad, whose history is thus narrated in that curious and valuable chronicle, of which the first part has been published under the title of "The Historie of King James the Sext." "In this close tyme it fortunit, that a gentleman, callit Weymis of Logye, being also in credence at court, was delatit as a traffekker with Frances Erle Bothwell; and he, being examinat before King and counsall, confessit his accusation to be of veritie, that sundry tymes he had spokin with him, expresslie aganis the King's inhibitioun proclamit in the contrare, whilk confession he subscryvit with his hand; and because the event of this mater had sik a success, it sall also be praysit be my pen, as a worthie turne, proceiding from honest chest love and charitie, whilk suld on na wayis be obscurit from the posteritie, for the gude example; and therefore I have thought gude to insert the same for a perpetual memorie. "Queen Anne, our noble princess, was servit with dyvers gentilwemen of hir awin cuntrie, and naymelie with ane callit Mres Margaret Twynstoun,† to whome this gentilman, Weymes of Logye, bure great honest affection, tending to the godlie band of marriage, the whilk was honestlie requytet be the sad gentil woman, yea even in his greatest mister ; for howsone she understude the said gentilman to be in distress, and apperantlie be his confession to be puneist to the death, and she having prevelege to ly in the Queynis chalmer that same verie night of his accusation, whare the King was also reposing that same night, she came furth of the dure prevelie, bayth the prencis being then at quyet rest, and past to the chalmer, whare the said gentilman was put in custodie to certayne of the garde, and commandit thayme that immediatelie he sould be broght to the King and Queyne, whareunto they geving sure credence, obeyit. But howsone she was cum bak to the chalmer dur, she desyrit the watches to stay till he sould cum furth agayne, and so she closit the dur, and convoyit the gentilman to a windo', whare she ministrat a long corde unto him to convoy himself doun upon; and sa, be hir gude cheritable help, he happelíe escapit be the subteltie of love." THE LAIRD O' LOGIE. I WILL sing, if ye will hearken, Young Logie's laid in Edinburgh chapel: May Margaret has kilted her green cleiding, Farewell to Scotland for everшair." When she came before the King, She knelit lowly on her knee- "A boon, a boon, my noble liege, A boon, a boon, I beg o' thee! Forsooth, and so it manna be; Shall not save the life of young Logie." To cause young Logie get his life. She sent him a pistol for each hand, When he came to the tolbooth stair, (I wot the tear blinded his ee,) Has ta'en away the laird frae me."— called the Raid of the Reidswire, was appointed captain of the king's guard in 1588, and usually had the keeping of state criminals of rank. [After stanza 2d, Mr. Motherwell inserts, from recitation, the following: "May Margaret sits in the Queen's bouir Cursing the day that she ere was born, Or that ere she heard o' Logie's name.-P. 56.-ED.] Redding kaim-Comb for the hair. 146 "Hast thou play'd me that, Carmichael? Tell him to come and speak with me!" May Margaret turn'd her round about, The tane is shipped at the pier of Leith, A LYKE-WAKE DIRGE. THIS is a sort of charm sung by the lower ranks of Roman Catholics in some parts of the north of England, while watching a dead body, previous to interment. The tune is doleful and monotonous, and, joined to the mysterious import of the words, has a solemn effect. The word sleet, in the chorus, seems to be corrupted from selt, or salt; a quantity of which, in compliance with a popular superstition, is frequently placed on the breast of the corpse. The late Mr. Ritson found an illustration of this dirge in a MS. of the Cotton Library, containing an account of Cleveland, in Yorkshire, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It was kindly communicated to the Editor by Mr. Frank, Mr. Ritson's executor, and runs thus:-" When any dieth, certaine women sing a song to the dead bodie, recyting the journey that the partye deceased must goe; and they are of beliefe (such is their fondnesse) that once in their lives, it is good to give a pair of new shoes to a poor man, for as much as, after this life, they are to pass barefoot through a greate launde, full of thornes and furzen, except by the meryte of the almes aforesaid they have redemed the forfeyte; for, at the edge of the launde, an oulde man shall meet them with the same shoes that were given by the partie when he was lyving; and, after he hath shodde them, dismisseth them to go through thick and thin, without scratch or scalle."-Julius, F. VI. 459. The mythologic ideas of the dirge are common to various creeds. The Mahometan believes, that, in advancing to the final judgment-seat, he must traverse a bar of red-hot iron, stretched across a bottomless gulf. The good works of each true believer, assuming a substantial form, will then interpose betwixt his feet and this "Bridge of Dread;" but the wicked having no such protection, must fall headlong into the abyss.-D'HERBELOT, Bibliotheque Orientale. Passages, similar to this dirge, are also to be found in Lady Culross's Dream, as quoted in the second Dissertation prefixed by Mr. Pinkerton to his Select Scottish Ballads, 2 vols. The dreamer journeys towards heaven, accompanied and assisted by a celestial guide: "Through dreadful dens, which made my heart aghast, Sometimes we clamb o'er craggy mountains high, They were so stay that wonder was to see: But, when I fear'd, he held me by the hand. Through great deserts we wandered on our way- Forward we passed on narrow bridge of tric, O'er waters great, which hediously did roar." Again, she supposes herself suspended over an' infernal gulf: "Ere I was ware, one gripp'd me at the last, The fire was great; the heat did pierce me sore; I trembled fast; my fear grew more and more." * Ynome-took. Tho-then. + Seigh never er-saw never before. 6 Sestor see'st thou. THer-their. * Yeme-aim; notice. Fewes-probably contracted for fellows. ** Othing-one thing. A horrible picture of the same kind, dictated probably by the author's unhappy state of mind, is to be found in Brooke's Fool of Quality. The dreamer, a ruined female, is suspended over the gulf of perdition by a single hair, which is severed by a demon, who, in the form of her seducer, springs upwards from the flames. The Russian funeral service, without any allegorical imagery, expresses the sentiment of the dirge in language alike simple and noble. "Hast thou pitied the afflicted, O'man? In death shalt thou be pitied. Hast thou consoled the orphan? The orphan will deliver thee. Hast thou clothed the naked? The naked will procure thee protection."-RICHARDSON'S Anecdotes of Russia. But the most minute description of the Brig o' "The fendes han the knight ynome,* Here over thou must go. "And we thee schal with stones prowe, "And when thou art ndown yfalle, And with her hokes thee hede; And into helle thee lede.- Thicker than the fendes yede.11 And naru it was also; And the water that ther ran under, "Ther nis no clerk may write with ynke, No no maister deuine; So the dominical ous telle. Noither more nor lesse. "The fendes seyd to the knight tho, Flee peril, sorwe, and wo, And to that stede¶ ther thou com fro, "Owain anon began bithenche, He sett his fot upon the brigge, 11 Yede-went. $$ The reader will probably search St. Paul in vain for the evidence here referred to. No kind of necessity. TT Stede-dwelling. "When the fendes yseigh tho, Out of our bayle.'"* minute detail as unnecessary, as it is always tedious and unpoetical. The hero of the ballad was a knight of great bravery, called Scott, who is said to have resided at Kirkhope, or Oakwood Castle, and is, in tradition, The estate of The author of the Legend of Sir Owain, though termed the Baron of Oakwood. a zealous Catholic, has embraced, in the fullest ex- Kirkhope belonged anciently to the Scotts of Hartent, the Talmudic doctrine of an earthly paradise, den: Oakwood is still their property, and has been distinct from the celestial abode of the just, and so from time immemorial. The Editor was thereserving as a place of initiation, preparatory to per-fore led to suppose, that the hero of the ballad might fect bliss, and to the beatific vision.-See the Rabbi have been identified with John Scott, sixth son of Menasse ben Israel, in a treatise called Nishmath the Laird of Harden, murdered in Ettrick Forest by Chajim, i. e. The Breath of Life.t his kinsmen, the Scotts of Gilmanscleugh. (See notes to Jamie Telfer, ante.) This appeared the more probable, as the common people always affirm that this young man was treacherously slain, and that, in evidence thereof, his body remained uncorrupted for many years; so that even the roses on his shoes seemed as fresh as when he was first laid in the family vault at Hassendean. But from a passage in Nisbet's Heraldry, he now believes the ballad refers to a duel fought at Deucharswyre, of which Annan's Treat is a part, betwixt John Scott of Tushielaw and his brother-in-law, Walter Scott, third son of Robert of Thirlestane, in which the latter was slain. A LYKE-WAKE DIRGE. THIS ae nighte, this ae nighte, Fire and sleete, and candle lighte, When thou from hence away are paste, To Whinny-muir thou comest at laste; If ever thou gavest hosen and shoon, Sit thee down and put them on: If hosen and shoon thou ne'er gavest nane, The whinnes shall pricke thee to the bare bane: From Whinny-muir when thou mayst passe, To Brigg of Dread thou comest at laste; (A stanza wanting.) From Brigg o' Dread when thou mayst passe, To purgatory fire thou comest at laste; If ever thou gavest meat or drink, The fire shall never make thee shrinke; If meate or drink thou never gavest nane, The fire will burn thee to the bare bane; This ae nighte, this ae nighte, Fire and sleete and candle lighte, THE DOWIE DENS OF YARROW. NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. THIS ballad, which is a very great favourite among the inhabitants of Ettrick Forest, is universally believed to be founded in fact. I found it easy to collect a variety of copies; but very difficulti indeed to select from them such a collated edition, as might, in any degree, suit the taste of "these more fight and giddy-paced times." Tradition places the event, recorded in the song, very early; and it is probable that the ballad was composed soon afterwards, although the language has been gradually modernized, in the course of its transmission to us, through the inaccurate channel of oral tradition. The bard does not relate particulars, but barely the striking outlines of a fact, apparently so well known when he wrote, as to render * Baylie-jurisdiction. [The reader is requested to compare this "Lyke-wake Dirge," with the chant to the parting spirit in Guy Mannering.-ED.] In ploughing Annan's Treat, a huge monumental stone, with an inscription, was discovered; but being rather scratched than engraved, and the lines being run through each other, it is only possible to read one or two Latin words. It probably records the event of the combat. The person slain was the male ancestor of the present Lord Napier. Tradition affirms, that the hero of the song (be he who he may) was murdered by the brother, either of his wife or betrothed bride. The alleged cause of malice was the lady's father having proposed to endow her with half of his property, upon her marriage with a warrior of such renown. The name of the murderer is said to have been Annan, and the place of combat is still called Annan's Treat. It is a low muir, on the banks of the Yarrow, lying to the west of Yarrow Kirk. Two tall unhewn masses of stone are erected, about eighty yards distant from each other; and the least child that can herd a cow, will tell the passenger, that there lie "the two lords, who were slain in single combat." It will be, with many readers, the greatest recommendation of these verses, that they are supposed to have suggested to Mr. Hamilton of Bangour, the modern ballad, beginning, "Busk ye, busk ye, my bonny bonny bride."1 A fragment, apparently regarding the story of the following ballad, but in a different measure, occurs in Mr. Herd's MS., and runs thus: "When I look east, my heart is sair, But when I look west, it's mair and mair; 3 Late at e'en, drinking the wine, And 2 [It may now be added, that Hamilton's ballad, and the scenery of the tragic tale, have inspired Mr. Wordsworth to two of his most exquisite poems- Yarrow Unvisited," and "Yarrow Visited;" and that he has more lately immortalized an excursion to the Yarrow, in which he was accompanied by Sir Walter Scott, only two days before Sir Walter left Scotland in September, 1831, in a most affecting piece, not yet published, entitled, "Yarrow Revisited."-ED.] |