They ye slain-the comeliest knight they've slain-- As she sped down yon high high hill, She kissed his cheek, she kaimed his hair, "Now haud your tongue, my daughter dear! I'll wed ye to a better lord, Than liim ye lost on Yarrow."— "O haud your tongue, my father dear! Than now lies cropp'd on Yarrow." THE GAY GOSS-HAWK. NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. This Ballad is published partly from one, under this title, in Mrs. BROWN's Collection, and partly from a MS. of some antiquity, penes Edit.-The stanzas appearing to possess most merit, have been selected from each copy. "O WALY, Waly, my gay goss-hawk, "O have ye tint, at tournament, "But weel's me on ye, my gay goss-hawk, I bear a tongue ne'er wi' her spake, "O weel sall ye my true love ken, For, of a' the flowers of fair England, "The red, that's on my true love's cheek, "And four-and-twenty fair ladyes This simile resembles a passage in a MS. translation of an Irish Fairy tale, called The Adventures of Faravla, Princess of Scotland, and Carral O'Daly, Son of Donogho More O'Daly, Chief Bard of Ireland. "Faravla, as she entered her bower. cast her looks upon the earth, which was tinged with the blood of a bird which a raven had newly killed: Like that snow,' said Faravla, was the complexion of my beloved; his cheeks like the sanguine traces thereon; whilst the raven recalls to my memory the colour of his beautiful locks." There is also some resemblance in the conduct of the story, betwixt the ballad and the tale just quoted. The Princess Faravla, being desperately in love Lord William has written a love-letter, And even at the ladye's bour And weel he kent that ladye fair For the flower, that springs in May morning, He lighted at the ladye's yate, And sang fu' sweet the notes o' love, And first he sang a low low note, "Sing on, sing on, my bonny bird, O first he sang a merry sang, And syne he pick'd his feathers gray, "Have there a letter from Lord William ; He says he's sent ye three; He canna wait your love langer, "Gae bid him bake his bridal bread, And I shall meet him at Mary's kirk, The lady's gane to her chamber, And a moanfu' woman was she; As gin she had ta'en a sudden brash,§ And were about to die. A boon, a boon, my father deir, A boon I beg of thee!" "Ask not that panghty Scottish lord, For him you ne'er shall see. 'But, for your honest asking else, Weel granted it shall be.""Then, gin I die in Southern land, In Scotland gar bury me. "And the first kirk that ye come to, "And when ye come to St. Mary's kirk, Ye's tarry there till night." And so her father pledg'd his word, She has ta'en her to her bigly bour And pale, pale grew her rosy cheek, Then spak her cruel step-minnie, They took a drap o' boiling lead, She's dead without the priest." She neither chatter'd with her teeth, Nor shiver'd with her chin; "Alas! alas!" her father cried, ་་ There is nae breath within." Then up arose her seven brethren, Then up and gat her seven sisters, The first Scots kirk that they cam to, "Set down, set down the bier," he said, But as soon as Lord William touch'd her hand, Her colour began to come. She brightened like the lily flower, Till her pale colour was gone; With rosy cheek, and ruby lip, She smiled her love upon. A morsel of your bread, my lord, And one glass of your wine; For I hae fasted these three lang days, All for your sake and mine. "Gae hame, gae hame, my seven bauld brothers, Gae hame and blaw your horn! I trow ye wad hae gi'en me the skaith, But I've gi'en you the scorn. Commend me to my grey father, That wished my saul gude rest; But wae be to my cruel step-dame, Garr'd burn me on the breast." "Ah! wo to you, you light woman! An ill death may ye die! For we left father and sisters at hame Breaking their hearts for thee." BROWN ADAM. There is a copy of this Ballad in Mrs. BROWN'S Collection. The Editor has seen one, printed on a single sheet. The epithet, "Smith," implies, probably, the sirname, not the profession, of the hero, who seems to have been an outlaw. There is, however, in Mrs. BROWN's copy, a verse of little merit, here omitted, alluding to the implements of that occupation. O WHA wad wish the wind to blaw, Or wha wad wish a lealer love Than Brown Adam the Smith? But they hae banished him, Brown Adam, And they hae banish'd him, Brown Adam, And they hae banish'd him, Brown Adam, And he's bigged a bour in gude green-wood It fell upon a summer's day, O he's shot up, and he's shot down, O he's shot up, and he's shot down, And sent it hame to his ladye. Said he'd be hame the morn. When he cam to his lady's bour door And there he heard a fou fause knight For he's ta'en out a gay goud ring, "I lo'e Brown Adam weel," she said; I wadna gie Brown Adam's love "O grant me love for love, ladye, "I lo'e Brown Adam weel," she says; "I wot sae does he me: I wadna be your light leman, For mair than ye could gie." Then out he drew his lang bright brand, "Now grant me love for love, ladye, JELLON GRAME. NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. THIS ballad is published from tradition, with some conjectural emendations. It is corrected by a copy in Mrs. Brown's MS., from which it differs in the concluding stanzas. Some verses are apparently modernized. 36 Jellon seems to be the same name with Jyllian or Julian. Jyl of Brentford's Testament" is mentioned in Wharton's History of Poetry, vol. ii. p. 40. The name repeatedly occurs in old ballads, sometimes as that of a man, at other times as that of a woman. Of the former is an instance in the ballad of " The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter.”Reliques of Ancient Poetry, vol. iii. p. 72: "Some do call me Jack, sweetheart, Witton Gilbert, a village four miles west of Durham, is, throughout the bishopric, pronounced Witton Jilbert. We have also the common name of Giles, always in Scotland pronounced Jill. For Gille, or Juliana, as a female name, we have Fair Gillian of Croyden, and a thousand authorities. Such being the case, the Editor must enter his protest against the conversion of Gil Morrice into Child Maurice, an epithet of chivalry. All the circumstances in that ballad argue, that the unfortunate hero was an obscure and very young man, who had never received the honour of knighthood. At any rate, there can be no reason, even were internal evidence totally wanting, for altering a well-known proper name, which, till of late years, has been the uniform title of the ballad. O sleep ye, wake ye, Lillie Flower? She hadna ridden a mile, a mile, Ere she came to a new-made grave, O then up started Jellon Grame, Out of a bush thereby; "Light down, light down, now, Lillie Flower, For it's here that ye maun lye." She lighted aff her milk-white steed, "O mercy, mercy, Jellon Grame, "Your bairn, that stirs between my sides, "O should I spare your life," he says, He took no pity on Lillie Flower, He felt nae pity for Lillie Flower, * Silverwood, mentioned in this ballad, occurs in a medley MS. song, which seems to have been copied from the first edition of the Aberdeen cantus, penes John G. Dalyell, Esq. advocate. One line only is cited, apparently the beginning of some song :Silverwood, gin ye were mine." And he bred up that bonny boy, O so it fell upon a day, When hunting they might be,, They rested them in Silverwood, Beneath that green aik tree. And many were the green-wood flowers And marvell'd much that bonny boy "What's paler than the prymrose wan? O out and answer'd Jellon Grame, Your mother was a fairer flower, "More pale she was, when she sought my grace, Than prymrose pale and wan; And redder than rose her ruddy heart's blood, Wi' that the boy has bent his bow, And thro' and thro' him, Jellon Grame, Says, "Lie ye there, now, Jellon Grame! The place that my mother lies buried in WILLIE'S LADYE. ANCIENT COPY. NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. MR. LEWIS, in his Tales of Wonder, has presented the public with a copy of this ballad, with additions and alterations. The Editor has also seen a copy, containing some modern stanzas, intended by Mr. Jamieson, of Macclesfield, for publication in his Collection of Scottish Poetry. Yet, under these disadvantages, the Editor cannot relinquish his purpose of publishing the old ballad, in its native simplicity, as taken from Mrs. Brown of Falkland's MS. Those who wish to know how an incantation, or charm, of the distressing nature here described, was performed in classic days, may consult the story of Galanthis's Metamorphosis, in Ovid, or the following passage in Apuleius: Eadem (Saga scilicet quædam,) amatoris uxorem, quod in eam dicacule probrum dixerat, jam in sarcinam prægnationis, obsepto utero, et repigrato fortu, perpetua prægnatione damnarit. Et ut cuncti numerant, octo annorum onere, misella illa, velut elephantum paritura, distenditur."-APUL. Metam. lib. 1. There is also a curious tale about a Count of Westeravia, whom a deserted concubine bewitched upon his marriage, so as to preclude all hopes of his becoming a father. The spell continued to operate for three years, till one day, the Count happening to meet with his former mistress, she maliciously asked him about the increase of his family. The Count, conceiving some suspicion from her manner, craftily answered, that God had blessed him with three fine children; on which she exclaimed, like Willie's mother in the ballad, "May Heaven confound the old hag, by whose counsel I threw an enchanted pitcher into the draw-well of your palace!" The spell being found, and destroyed, the Count became the father of a numerous family.-Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels, p. 474. WILLIE'S LADYE. WILLIE's ta en him o'er the faem,* And let her be lighter o' her young bairn."- "Another may I'll never wed, "6 Yet The like o' him's no in the land o' Leed.t "For he is silver shod before, And let me be lighter o' my young bairn."- 86 Yet "And aye, at ilka siller hem And let me be lighter o' my young bairn."- Yet gae ye to the market-place, *Facm-The sea foam. + Lando' Leed-Perhaps Lydia. Chess-Should probably be jess, the name of a hawk's bell. § Billy Blind-A familiar genius, or propitious spirit, somewhat similar to the Brownie. He is mentioned repeatedly in Mrs. Brown's Ballads, but I have not met with him anywhere else, although he is alluded to in the rustic game of Bogle (i. e. goblin) Billy Blind. The word is, indeed, used in Sir David Lindsay's plays, but apparently in a different sense Priests sall lead you like ane Billy Blinde." Wace-Wax. T[Mr. Kinloch has again separated the parts in his edition.See his Ballads, 1927, p. 240.-ED.] **[ Two different copies of this pathetic and deeply interest ing ballad have been published: the one by the author of the Border Minstrelsy, and the other by Mr. Jamieson, which, though of inferior beauty, is not the less valuable, as illustrating the trans Do shape it bairn and bairnly like, To notice weel what she may say." [A stanza seems to be wanting. Willie is supposed to follow the advice of the spirit.-His mother speaks.] "O wha has loosed the nine witch knots, "And wha has ta'en down that bush o' wood- That hung between her bour and mine? Syne, Willy's loosed the nine witch knots, And he's ta'en down the bush o' woodbine, CLERK SAUNDERS. NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. THIS romantic ballad is taken from Mr. Herd's MSS., with several corrections from a shorter and more imperfect copy, in the same volume, and one or two conjectural emendations in the arrangement of the stanzas. The resemblance of the conclusion to the ballad, beginning, "There came a ghost to Margaret's door," will strike every reader. tale is uncommonly wild and beautiful, and apparently very ancient. The custom of the passing bell is still kept up in many villages in Scotland. The sexton goes through the town, ringing a small bell, and announcing the death of the departed, and the time of the funeral. The "Clerk Saunders was an earl's son, "Clerk Saunders was an earl's son, because they supply information as to the rank in society respectively held by these ill fated lovers-and, by hinting at the scholastic acquirements of Clerk Saunders, they prepare us for the casuistry by which he seeks to reconcile May Margaret's con And sad and heavy was the love "A bed, a bed," Clerk Saunders said, A bed for you and me !" "Fye na, fye na," said may Margaret, "For in may come my seven bauld brothers, "Then take the sword from my scabbard, And you may swear, and safe your aith, When in and came her seven brothers, And behold her lying with a knight!" 'They hae been in love this mony a year!" Then out and spake the fifth o' them, "It were great sin true love to twain!" And out and spake the sixth of them, "It were shame to slay a sleeping man!" Then up and gat the seventh o' them, But he has stripedt his bright brown brand Clerk Saunders he started, and Margaret she turn'dt And they lay still and sleeped sound, "It is time, true love, you were awa." But he lay still, and sleeped sound, science to a most jesuitical oath."-MOTHERWELL's Minstrelay, p. 147-8. A third copy has since been published by Buchan, under the title of Clerk Sandy;" but his various readings are mere housemaid's corruptions. A fourth and more valuable set has also been given by Mr. Kinloch-ED.] [In the north-country version of this ballad, published by Mr. Kinloch, we have an additional stanza here. -- -"Ye'll tak me in your arms twa, Ye'll carry me into your bed, And ye may swear, and save your aith, Striped-Thrust. KINLOCH, p. 235.-ED. I Nothing could have been better imagined," says Mr. Jamieson, "than the circumstance, in Mr. Scott's copy, of killing Clerk Saunders while his mistress was asleep; nor can any thing be more natural or pathetic than the three stanzas that follow, beginning with,. Clerk Saunders he started, and Margaret she turned,' &c. They might have charmed a whole volume of bad poetry against the ravages of time. In Mr. Scott's work, they shine but like pearls among diamonds."--Jamieson's Ballads, vol. i. p. 81.] Traivelling-Child-birth. From whatever source the popular ideas of heaven be derived, T Then in and came her father dear, Said-"Let a' your mourning be: For comforted will I never be: I ween 'twas neither knave nor loon I wot, an hour before the day. "My mouth it is full cold, Margaret, It has the smell now of the ground; Thy days of life will not be lang. And let me fare me on my way."- I wot, who die in strong traivelling?"§ Their beds are made in the heavens high, Down at the foot of our good Lord's knee. Weel set about wi' gillyflowers ;ll I wot sweet company for to see. Then she has ta'en a crystal wand, And she has stroken her troth thereon; She has given it him out at the shot-window, Wi' mony a sad sigh, and heavy groan. "I thank ye, Margret; I thank ye, Marg❜ret: And aye I thank ye heartilie; Gin ever the dead come for the quick, Be sure, Marg' ret, I'll come for thee."It's hosen and shoon, and gown alone, She climb'd the wall, and follow'd him, Until she came to the green forest, 86 And there she lost the sight o' him. Is there ony room at your head, Saunders? the mention of gillyflowers is not uncommon. Thus, in the Dead Men's Song "The fields about this city faire RITSON'S Ancient Songs, p. 283. The description given in the legend of Sir Owain, of the ter restrial paradise, at which the blessed arrive after passing through purgatory, omits gilly flowers, though it mentions many others.As the passage is curious, and the legend has never been published, many persons may not be displeased to see it extracted "Fair were her erbers with flowres, Primros and parvink: Than ani man mai bithenke. |