"Mair meat, mair meat, ye King Henrie! Mair meat ye gie to me. And what meat's i' this house, ladye, O when he fell'd his gay goss-hawks, "Some drink, some drink, ye King Henrie! Some drink ye gie to me!" "And what drink's i' this house, ladye, O he has sew'd up the bluidy hide, "A bed, a bed, ye King Henrie! "And what's the bed i' this house, ladye, That ye're na wellcum tee?”— "O ye maun pu' the green heather, O pu'd has he the heather green,' And up he has ta'en his gay mantle, "Now swear, now swear, ye King Henrie, NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. THE following verses are the original words of the tune of "Allan Water," by which name the song is mentioned in Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellany. The ballad is given from tradition; and it is said that a bridge, over the Annan, was built in consequence of the melancholy catastrophe which it narrates. Two verses are added in this edition, from another copy of the ballad, in which the conclusion proves fortunate. By the Gatehope-Slack, is perhaps meant the Gate-Slack, a pass in Annandale. The Annan, and the Frith of Solway, into which it falls, are the frequent scenes of tragical accidents. The Editor trusts he will be pardoned for inserting the following awfully impressive account of such an event, contained in a letter from Dr. Currie, of Liverpool, by whose correspondence, while in the • Wadded-Wagered. course of preparing these volumes for the press, he has been alike honoured and instructed. After stating that he had some recollection of the ballad which follows, the biographer of Burns proceeds thus: "I once in my early days heard (for it was night, and I could not see) a traveller drowning; not in the Annan itself, but in the Frith of Solway, close by the mouth of that river. The influx of the tide had unhorsed him, in the night, as he was passing the sands from Cumberland. The west wind blew a tempest, and, according to the common expression, brought in the water three foot a-breast. The traveller got upon a standing net, a little way from the shore. There he lashed himself to the post, shouting for half an hour for assistance till the tide rose over his head! In the darkness of the night and amid the pauses of the hurricane, his voice heard at intervals, was exquisitely mournful. No one could go to his assistance-no one knew where he was the sound seemed to proceed from the spirit of the waters. But morning rose-the tide had ebbed-and the poor traveller was found lashed to the pole of the net, and bleaching in the wind." ANNAN WAter. ANNAN water's wading deep, And my love Annie's wondrous bonny, And I am laith she suld weet her feet, Because I love her best of ony. "Gar saddle me the bonny black, Gar saddle sune, and make him ready; He has loupen on the bonny black, I think the steed was wae and weary. He rade the right gate and the ready; "Now, bonny grey, now play your part! "O boatman, boatman, put off your boat! "OI was sworn sae late yestreen, I dare na take ye through to Annie."- Frae bank to brae the water pouring; He was sae full of melancholy. He has ta'en the ford at that stream tail; I wot he swam both strong and steady, But the stream was broad and his strength did fail, And he never saw his bonny ladye! Query-Cap-a-pee? THIS ballad differs essentially from that which has been published in various collections, under the title of Binnorie. It is compiled from a copy in Mrs. Brown's MSS., intermixed with a beautiful fragment, of fourteen verses, transmitted to the editor by J. C. Walker, Esq. the ingenious historian of the Irish bards. Mr. Walker, at the same time, favoured the editor with the following note:"I am indebted to my departed friend, Miss Brook, for the foregoing pathetic fragment. Her account of it was as follows:-This song was transcribed, several years ago, from the memory of an old woman, who had no recollection of the concluding verses probably the beginning may also be lost, as it seems to commence abruptly." The first verse and burden of the fragment ran thus: "O sister, sister, reach thy hand! Hey ho, my Nanny, O; And you shall be heir of all my land, The first part of this chorus seems to be corrupted from the common burden of Hey Nonny, Nonny, alluded to in the song, beginning, Sigh no more, ladyes." The chorus, retained in this edition, is the most common and popular; but Mrs. Brown's copyt bears a yet different burden, beginning thus; 'There were twa sisters sat in a bour, There were twa sisters sat in a bour, There were twa sisters sat in a bour, Bonny St. Johnston stands upon Tay." The ballad, being probably very popular, was the subject of a parody, which is to be found in D'Urfey's "Pills to purge Melancholy." THE CRUEL SISTER. THERE were two sisters sat in a bour; Binnorie, O Binnorie ;+ But he lo'ed the youngest abune a' thing; But he lo'ed the youngest abune his life; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. The eldest she was vexed sair, Binnorie, O Binnorie; And sore envied her sister fair; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. The eldest said to the youngest ane, Binnorie, O Binnorie; "Will ye go and see our father's ships come in?" By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. She's ta'en her by the lily hand, Binnorie, O Binnorie; And led her down to the river strand; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. * Frush-Brittle; without cohesion of parts. [Mr. Jamieson has printed Mrs. Brown's copy verbatim, under the title of "The Twa Sisters."-Popular Ballads, 1806, vol. i. p. 50.-ED.] The youngest stude upon a stane, Binnorie, O Binnorie; The eldest came and pushed her in; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. She took her by the middle sma', Binnorie, O Binnorie; And dash'd her bonny back to the jaw; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. "O sister, sister, reach your hand, Binnorie, O Binnorie; And ye shall be heir of half my land.". By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. "O sister, I'll not reach my hand, Binnorie, O Binnorie; And I'll be heir of all your land; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. "Shame fa' the hand that I should take, Binnorie, O Binnorie; It's twin'd me, and my world's make." By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. "O sister, reach me but your glove, Binnorie, O Binnorie; And sweet William shall be your love." By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. "Sink on, nor hope for hand or glove! Binnorie, O Binnorie: And sweet William shall better be my love, By the bonny milldams of Bin norie. "Your cherry cheeks and your yellow hair, Binnorie. O Binnorie; Garr'd me gang maiden evermair." By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. Sometimes she sunk, and sometimes she swam, Binnorie, O Binnorie; Until she cam to the miller's dam; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. "O father, father, draw your dam! Binnorie, O Binnorie; There's either a mermaid, or a milk-white swan.” By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. The miller hasted and drew his dam, Binnorie, O Binnorie; And there he found a drown'd woman; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. You could not see her yellow hair, Binnorie, O Binnorie; For gowd and pearls that were so rare; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. You could not see her middle sma', Binnorie, O Binnorie; Her gowden girdle was sae bra'; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. A famous harper passing by, Binnorie, O Binnorie: The sweet pale face he chanced to spy; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. And when he looked that lady on, Binnorie, O Binnorie; He sigh'd and made a heavy moan; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. He made a harp of her breast-bone, Binnorie, O Binnorie; Whose sounds would melt a heart of stone; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. The strings he framed of her yellow hair, Binnorie, O Binnorie; Whose notes made sad the listening ear; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. He brought it to her father's hall, Binnorie, O Binnorie; And there was the court assembled all; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. : [Pronounced Binn_rie.—ED.] He laid his harp upon a stone, Binnorie, O'Binnorie; And straight it began to play alone; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. "O yonder sits my father, the king, Binnorie, O Binnorie; And yonder sits my mother, the queen; By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. "And yonder stands my brother Hugh, Binnorie, O Binnorie; And by him my William, sweet and true.". By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. But the last tune that the harp play'd then, Binnorie, O Binnorie, Was-"Wo to my sister, false Helen!" By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. THE QUEEN'S MARIE. NEVER BEFORE published. "Is the very time of the General Assembly, there comes to public knowledge a haynous murther, committed in the court; yea, not far from the queen's lap; for a French woman, that served in the queen's chamber, had played the whore with the queen's own apothecary. The woman conceived and bare a childe, whom, with common consent, the father and mother murthered; yet were the cries of a newborne childe hearde, searche was made, the childe and the mother were both apprehended, and so were the man and the woman condemned to be hanged in the publicke street of Edinburgh. The punishment was suitable, because the crime was haynous. But yet was not the court purged of whores and whoredoms, which was the fountaine of such enormities; for it was well known that shame hasted marriage betwixt John Sempill, called the Dancer, and Mary Levingston, sirnamed the Lusty. What bruit the Maries, and the rest of the dancers of the court had, the ballads of that age doe witnesse, which we for modestie's sake omit: but this was the common complaint of all godly and wise men, that if they thought such a court could long continue, and if they looked for no better life to come, they would have wished their sonnes and daughters rather to have been brought up with fiddlers and dancers, and to have been exercised with flinging upon a floore, and in the rest that thereof followes, than to have been exercised in the company of the godly, and exercised in virtue, which in that court was hated, and filthenesse not only maintained, but also rewarded: witnesse the Abbey of Abercorne, the Barony of Auchtermuchtie, and divers others, pertaining to the patrimony of the crown, given in heritage to skippers and dancers, and dalliers with “John Semple, son of Robert, Lord Semple, (by Elizabeth Carlisle, a daughter of the Lord Torthorald,) was ancestor of the Semples of Beltrees. He was married to Mary, sister to William Livingston, and one of the maids of honour to Queen Mary; by whom he had Sir James Semple of Beltrees, his son and heir," &c.; afterwards ambassador to England, for King James VI., in 1599-CRAWFORD'S History of Renfrew, p. 101. + One copy bears," Mary Miles. A very odd coincidence in name, crime, and catastrophe, occurred at the Court of Czar Peter the Great. It is thus detailed by the obliging correspondent who recommended it to my notice : "Miss Hambleton, a maid of honour to the Emperess Catherine, had an amour, which, at different times, produced three children. She bad always pleaded sickness, but Peter, being suspicious, ordered his physician to attend her, who soon made the discovery. It also appeared, that a sense of shame had triumphed over her humanity, and that the children had been put to death as soon as born. Peter inquired if the father of them was privy to the murder; the lady insisted that he was innocent; for she had always deceived him, by pretending that they were sent to nurse. Justice now called upon the Emperor to punish the offence. The lady was much beloved by the Emperess, who pleaded for her; the amour was pardonable, but not the murder. Peter sent her to the castle, and went himself to visit her; and the fact being confessed, he pronounced her sentence with tears; telling her, that his duty as a prince, and God's vicegerent, called on him for that justice which her crime had rendered indispensably necessary; and that she must therefore prepare for death. He attended her also on the scaffold, where he embraced her with the utmost tenderness, mixed with sorrow; and some say, when the head dames. This was the beginning of the regiment of Mary, Queen of Scots, and these were the fruits that she brought forth of France.-Lord! look on our miseries! and deliver us from the wickedness of this corrupt court!"-KNOX's History of the Reformation, p. 373-4. Such seems to be the subject of the following ballad, as narrated by the stern apostle of Presbytery. It will readily strike the reader, that the tale has suffered great alterations, as handed down by tra dition; the French waiting-woman being changed into Mary Hamilton,† and the queen's apothecary into Henry Darnley. Yet this is less surprising, when we recollect, that one of the heaviest of the queen's complaints against her ill-fated husband, was his infidelity, and that even with her personal attendants. I have been enabled to publish the following complete edition of the ballad, by copies from various quarters; that principally used was communicated to me, in the most polite manner, by Mr. Kirkpatricke Sharpe, of Hoddom, to whom I am indebted for many similar favours. THE QUEEN'S MARIE. MARIE HAMILTON's to the kirk gane, The King thought mair o' Marie Hamilton, Marie Hamilton's to the kirk gane, The King thought mair o' Marie Hamilton, The King thought mair o' Marie Hamilton, She hadna been about the King's court Till she was beloved by a' the King's court, She hadna been about the King's court Till frae the King's court Marie Hamilton, The King is to the Abbey gane, To scale the babe frae Marie's heart; O she has row'd it in her apron, "Gae sink ye, or swim ye, bonny babe, Word is to the kitchen gane, was struck off, he took it up by the ear, whilst the lips were still trembling, and kissed them; a circumstance of an extraordinary nature, and yet not incredible, considering the peculiarities of his character." [Mr. Kinloch has printed a north country version of this ballad, differing considerably from that in the text. See his Ballads, 1827, p. 252. He also gives a fragment of a third version, viz. :-"My father is the Duke of Argyle, My mother's a lady gay; And I, mysell, am a dainty dame, And the King desired me. "He shaw'd me up, he shaw'd me down, He shaw'd me to the ha'; He shaw'd me to the low cellars, And that was warst of a'." Mr. Motherwell has also given a west country version of this ballad, under the title of " Mary Hamilton," p. 316; and we shall have occasion to quote some of its variations."-ED.] ["The Prince's bed it was sae saft, MOTHERWELL, p. 317.] Scarcely had she lain down again, When up then started our gude Queen,* Saying "Marie Hamilton, where's your babe? "O no, O no, my noble Queen! For I am going to Edinburgh town, O slowly, slowly raise she up, Her merry maids all in green; *["Queen Mary cam tripping down the stair. ["There is na babe within my bouer, "But they looked up, they looked doun, KINLOCI'S Version.] [ What need ye hech! and how t ladies, Ye never saw grace at a graceless face,- "Gae forward, gae forward,' the Queen she said, 'Gae forward, that ye may see; For the very same words that ye hae said KINLOCH'S Version.] The Netherbow port was the gate which divided the city of Edinburgh from the suburb, called the Canongate. It had towers and a spire, which formed a fine termination to the view from the Cross. The gate was pulled down in one of those fits of rage for indiscriminate destruction, with which the magistrates of a corporation are sometimes visited. (At Balfour House, in Fifeshire, there is a full-length portrait of Mary Beaton.-C. K. SHARPE.] The Queen's Maries were four young ladies of the highest families in Scotland, who were sent to France in her train, and returned with her to Scotland. They are mentioned by Knox, in the quotation introductory to this ballad. Keith gives us their names, p. 55. "The young Queen, Mary, embarked at Dumbarton for France,. .., and with her went ....., and four young virgins, all of the name of Mary, viz. Livingston, Fleming, Seatoun, and Beatoun." The Queen's Maries are mentioned again by the same author, p. 258 and 291, in the note. Neither Mary Livingston, nor Mary Fleming, are mentioned in the ballad; nor are the Mary Hamilton, and Mary Carmichael, of the ballad, mentioned by Keith. But if this corps continued to consist of young virgins, as when originally raised, it could hardly have sub; sisted without occasional recruits; especially if we trust our old bard, and John Knox. The following additional notices of the Queen's Maries, occur in MONTEITH'S Translation of Bucha nan's Epigrams, &c. Page 60. Pomp of the Gods at the Marriage of Queen Mary, 29th July, 1565, a Dialogue. DIANA.-" Great father, Marics* five late served me, The Queen asems to be included in this number. But little wist Marie Hamilton, When she rade on the brown, That she was ga'en to Edinburgh town, And a' to be put down. "Why weep ye so, ye burgess wives, O, I am going to Edinburgh town, When she gaed up the tolbooth stairs, When she cam to the Netherbow port,§ "Yestreen the Queen had four Maries, There was Marie Seaton, and Marie Beaton," "O, often have I dress'd my Queen, "Often have I dress'd my Queen, But now I've gotten for my reward P. 61. APOLLO.-" Fear not, Diana, I good tidings bring, Juno commands your Maries to be married, P. 62. JUPITER-" Five Maries thine: P. 64. 65. One Marie now remains of Delia's five. "To Mary Fleming, the King's valentyn-" The Queen's Maries are mentioned in many ballads, and the name seems to have passed into a general denomination for female attendants : "Now bear a hand, my Martes a', And busk me brave, and make me fine." ["The Lament of the Queen's Marie, connected with its tale, bears so strong a stamp of nature, that we cannot resist quoting it; hoping, at the same time, that Mr. Scott will spare no pains to recover the remainder, if there be any." STODDART, Edinburgh Review, January, 1803. (The reviewer had then only three stanzas to quote, and these, in the order they are now given, were stanza 23, 18, 19.) It is evident that Burns bad known more of this exquisite old ballad than Mr. Scott gave in his first edition of the Minstrelsy. In a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, conveying some information about poor Falconer's fate, and dated 25th January, 1795, he introduces the following: the sweet little leech at her bosom, where the poor fellow may "Little does the fond mother think, as she hangs delighted over hereafter wander, and what may be his fate. remember a stanza in an old Scottish ballad, which, notwithstanding its rude simplicity, speaks feelingly to the heart:- 'Little did my mother think, That day she cradled me, What land I was to travel in, Or what death I should die.' "Old Scotch songs are, you know, a favourite study and pursuit of mine; and now I am on that subject allow me to give you two stanzas of another old simple ballad, which, I am sure, will please you. The catastrophe of the piece is a poor ruined female, lamenting her fate. She concludes with the pathetic wish O that my father had ne'er on me smil'd ; O that the grave it were my bed: "I do not remember, in all my reading, to have met with any thing more truly the language of misery, than the exclamation in the last line. Misery is like love; to speak its language truly. the author must have felt it." BURNS, 8vo. vol. II. p. 289 —ED.1 "I charge ye all, ye mariners, When ye sail ower the faem, Let neither my father nor mother get wit, But that I'm coming hame. ́"I charge ye all, ye mariners, That sail upon the sea, Let neither my father nor mother get wit This dog's death I'm to die. "For if my father and mother got wit, O mickle wad be the gude red blude "O little did my mother ken, THE BONNY HYND. From Mr. HERD'S MS., where the following Note is prefired to it-"Copied from the mouth of a milkmaid, 1771, by W. L." It was originally my intention to have omitted this ballad, on account of the disagreeable nature of the subject. Upon consideration, however, it seemed a fair sample of a certain class of songs and tales, turning upon incidents the most horrible and unnatural, with which the vulgar in Scotland are greatly delighted, and of which they have current amongst them an ample store. Such, indeed, are the subjects of composition in most nations, during the early period of society; when the feelings, rude and callous, can only be affected by the strongest samuli, and where the mind does not, as in a more refined age, recoil, disgusted, from the means by which interest has been excited. Hence incest, parricide-crimes, in fine, the foulest and most enormous, were the early themes of the Grecian muse. Whether that delicacy, which precludes the modern bard from the choice of such impressive and dreadful themes, be favourable to the higher classes of poetic composition, may perhaps be questioned; but there can be little doubt that the more important cause of virtue and morality is advanced by this exelusion. The knowledge, that enormities are not without precedent, may promote, and even suggest them. Hence, the publication of the Newgate Register has been prohibited by the wisdom of the legislature, having been found to encourage those very crimes of which it recorded the punishment. Hence, too, the wise maxim of the Romans, Facinora ostendi dum puniantur, flagitia autem abecondi debent. The ballad has a high degree of poetical merit. "Perhaps there may be bairns, kind sir; Perhaps there may be nane; But if you be a courtier, You'll tell me soon your name." "I am nae courtier, fair maid, They call me Jack, when I'm abroad; "Ye lee, ye lee, ye bonny lad! For I'm Lord Randal's ae daughter, "Ye lee, ye lee, ye bonny May! She's putten her hand down by her gare, And she has put it in her heart's bleed, And he has ta'en up his bonny sister, And he has buried his bonny sister And syne he's hied him o'er the dale, "Sing, Oh! and Oh! for my bonny hynd, Beneath yon hollin tree!" "What needs you care for your bonny hynd? For it you needna care; Take you the best, gie me the warst "I carena for your hynds, my lord, "O were ye at your sister's bower, You'll think nae mair o' your bonny hynd, O GIN MY LOVE WERE YON RED ROSE. FROM MR. HERD'S MS. O GIN my love were yon red rose, O my love's bonny, bonny, bonny; O gin my love were a pickle of wheat, And I mysell a bonny wee bird, O gin my love were a coffer o' gowd, I wad open the kist whene'er I list, 1 [V. R. "She's soak'd it in her red heart's blood, $ [For the originals of all these lover's wishes, see the Greek Anthology, passim, or the English translations of Bland and Merivale, 2 vols. 12mo. 1533.--ED.] |