No. 13: Edward
[For a more detailed account of this ballad see "British & other versions; Headnotes." The ending stanzas of Child 13 have been used in versions of Twa Brothers and Lizie Wan. Under Twa Brothers, Additions and Corrections appears the following:
I
P. 435, V, 217. Communicated by Mr. J.K. Hudson of Manchester. Sung after a St. George play regularly acted on All Souls' Day at a village a few miles from Chester, and written down for Mr. Hudson by one of the performers, a lad of sixteen. The play was introduced by a song called Souling (similar to a Stephening, see I, 234), and followed by two songs, of which this is the last, the whole dramatic company singing.
The text of the ballad follows this heading. Version I certainly could be considered (Gilchrist) a version of Edward, so I've changed it to Edward, version D. As you will see, some versions of Twa Brothers (Taylor) use the same or similar ending verses, such as "What will you say to your father?" I've included "What will you say--" (See: Hudson) and the article by Gilchrist, "Two Songs and a Dance," under English versions of Edward.
Besides 49-I, additional Child versions of Edward are suggested by Archer Taylor (Edward and Sven i Rosengard): stanzas 16-20 of Child 49- D (Twa Brothers); stanzas 12-18 of 49-E; stanzas 19-25 of 49-F; stanzas 6-10 of 49-G; stanzas 7-12 of Child 51-A (Lizie Wan) and stanzas 10-17 of 51-B. Clearly versions of Twa Brothers and Lizie Wan have intermingled with Edward. Calling them texts of Edward as Taylor does, is another matter.
It's important to note that Child A and B use the bequeath (testament) stanzas in a similar way as another Child ballad, "Lord Randal." In Child A and B, as in "Randal" the murderer is revealed in the last stanza-- in B "Edward," it is the Mother who has conspired with her son to kill her husband and the final stanza reveals her role as an accomplice in the murder. If Child B, known as Percy's "Edward," were traditional in the British Isles you would expect to find some US versions with Edward as the name of the son. You would also expect to find versions where the father is murdered. That is not the case, there are no traditional versions (only the ballad recreation by Gainer) where the son murders the father. There are two traditional versions that mention the Edward name: 1) in Sharp/Karpeles E, the informant mentioned that the murdered brother was named Edward and 2) Randolph C "When will you come home, Edward my son?" which is a clear attribution, however this may be from a print source. These statistical findings in US versions generally discount the absolute traditional validity of Child B, suggesting the text was altered.
In the introduction of Edward to Flanders' Ancient Ballads (also The Murder Motive in "Edward" by Tristram P. Coffin), Coffin comments: The definitive study of the ballad is Archer Taylor's monograph Edward and, Sven I Rosengard (Chicago, 1931). In it, he presents the following conclusions about the song:
1. The ballad originally told a story of fratricide. patricide (Child B, the famous Percy text) has entered the tale by purposeful or chance substitution.
2. The mother, common to most Anglo-American versions, is not originally an accomplice in the crime. Her presence is due to corruption by some similar tale.
3. "Edward" began as a British song which traveled to Scandinavia. The present British texts, which contain only vestiges of the old tale, and the modern Scandinavian texts are related through an extinct original.
4. Scandinavian texts preserve more of the original plot of the story than do British texts.
A motive for the murder is presented by Barry in his 1933 review (BFSSNE No. 5) of Taylor's book. According to Barry, "the American texts generally make the motive the breaking of a little bush, a kenning which Cecil Sharp said was interpreted by a singer to refer to a very young girl." Barry does not provide details (version, informant) that substantiate Sharp's statement and also comments on page 6 that "the motive is the love of a pre-nubile girl" (BFSSNE No. 5). Following Barry, Coffin uses Barry's quote and the similarities of Lizie Wan and the Twa Brothers to formulate an incest motive as a reason for the murder.
Let's look at the motive in Child A, stanza 7:
'What about did the plea begin,
Son Davie, son Davie?'
'It began about the cutting of a willow wand
That would never been a tree.'
And also the motive in Child C:
1 'O what did the fray begin about?
My son, come tell to me:'
'It began about the breaking o the bonny hazel wand,
And a penny wad hae bought the tree.'
The motive in Child A is cutting down a small tree to make a "willow wand." Although this would be a petty reason for murder-- an argument could has escalated over cutting the branch and the knife would be in use already. In Child C it's a "bonny hazel wand" that was broken, of no real value and a penny would have bought the whole tree. Now let's look at an ancient version from the US, Little Sister Mary as sung by Nora Hick from North Carolina:
Oh, what did you kill her own (over)?
Oh, tell me son, I pray.
I killer her own (over) a willow bush
That will never make a tree.
In this case, it's his sister he's killed. The parallel is well defined with Child A. It is possible that this version was brought to this country by a member of the Hicks family, the oldest documented relative Samuel Hicks was born in Virginia about 1695. Two members of the Hicks family , David and his son Samuel (Big Sammy) moved to a remote area near Beech Mountain, NC about the time of the Revolutionary War (1760s). Samuel was the father of Fannie Hicks, who we believe taught Nora her version. The other Hicks version, which is closer to the standard version, was from Jane Hicks Gentry and was probably derived from another member of the Big Sammy clan, possibly old Couce Harmon who was Jane's grandfather. When these versions of Child 13 came into the Southern mountains is not known. Are the Hicks' versions older than Child A or B? We simply don't know.
* * * *
Back to the willow, which after the branch was cut off "will never make a tree." It means he (or she) killed the willow by cutting the main branch because now it will never be a tree. That is a senseless act and certainly could provoke someone to stop this killing of the tree. The point is--this is murder over a trivial event. The cutting of a willow branch does not warrant the taking of a human life- but murders are often committed over trivial events.
As Barry has pointed out the "willow bush or "holly tree" could be symbolic of a "pre-nubile girl," perhaps representing their sister being raped or killed before she could become grown. Coffin may entertain a theory that this is about incest, but I don't. Sharp's collected versions don't elaborate and there's nothing in them that indicate the holly bush represents a girl. Although it's more likely that they would fight over a girl (see foreign analogues) it's not present in the English and American versions. Here's Sharp A from Jane Gentry- another old version:
What did you fall out about?
Pray son, now tell me.
Because he cut a holly bush
Which might have made a tree.
That's it, nothing more-- nothing less. Sure the Motherwell version's "willow wand" could cast magic spells and the name of the son in Child B could be Oedipus-- sometimes there are unseen poetic and dramatic forces (not talking sub-atomic particles) at play.
If we consider the foreign analogues like Lonnrot's Finnish version, Velisurmaaja (No. 4), Helsinki, 1906. The translated (Taylor, 1931) motive in "The Brother Murderer" is:
Why did you stab your brother?
Because he put my wife to shame.
You can hear Velisurmaaja sung by John Soininen in Finnish at the LOC (recorded by Cowell in California, 1939). Consider also a line from the version collected in Kalvola in 1884 by Krohn, which a similar motive, it is translated:
Why did he seduce your wife?
These reasons are obvious-- no holly bush here. Until there's more evidence, "saving a tree" is the motive and I recommend- going paperless, unless you want to look over your shoulder.
As important as Child B is to the "Edward" ballad, there is every reason to believe it has been edited or recreated. The changes include the name (Edward), the father being murdered and the last stanza implicating the mother as well as the archaic wording. Child validates (see Bronson's article) the B version with Motherwell's version but certainly he is validating the ballad itself and not necessarily some of the details of the Percy ballad.
It is likely, by tracing the ballad back through generations, that US versions have been passed down from versions that predate the publication of Percy version (1765). The number of US/Canada versions that have been collected in a variety of locations are validation of this ballad by themselves, Child A no longer solely fulfills this role. The Scandinavia versions predate the British and it must be assumed that the British versions were formed and changed to fit the courtly environs of the standard British ballad of the early 1700s.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014, 2018]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes (added at the end of Child's Narration)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-C; [additional text (designated D) in Twa Brother as Child's I]
5. Endnotes
6. "Additions and Corrections"
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: Edward
A. Roud Number 200: Edward (244 Listings)
B. The Oldest (?) Text of "Edward"- Wilgus 1966
C. The Murder Motive in "Edward"- Coffin 1949
D. The Texts of "Edward" in Percy's Reliques and Motherwell's Minstrelsy- Taylor
E. The Incest Theme and the Authenticity of the Percy Version of "Edward" by James Twitchell
F. Brahms's "Edward" Ballade, Op. 10, No. 1
G. Edward, Edward: A Scottish Ballad and a Footnote
H. Jeannie Robertson's My Son David- Porter 1976
I. "My Son David" and "O Gin I Were Where Gadie rins"- Porter
2. Sheet Music: Edward (Bronson's texts and some music examples)
3. US & Canadian Versions
4. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-C and D listed under Twa Brothers with additional notes)
_________________
Child's Narrative
A. a. Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 139.
b. "Son Davie, Son Davie" Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 339. From recitation.
B. Percy's Reliques, 1765, i, 53. Communicated by Sir David Dalrymple.
C. Manuscript of A. Laing, one stanza.
[D. Communicated by Mr. J. K. Hudson of Manchester. Sung after a St. George play regularly acted on All Souls' Day at a village a few miles from Chester, and written down for Mr. Hudson by one of the performers, a lad of sixteen. ]
A b, "given from the recitation of an old woman," is evidently A as slightly regulated by Motherwell. B, we are informed in the 4th edition of the Reliques, p. 61, was sent Percy by Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes. Motherwell thought there was reason to believe "that his lordship made a few slight verbal improvements on the copy he transmitted, and altered the hero's name to Edward, a name which, by the bye, never occurs in a Scottish ballad, except where allusion is made to an English king."[1] Dalrymple, at least, would not be likely to change a Scotch for an English name. The Bishop might doubtless prefer Edward to Wat, or Jock, or even Davie. But as there is no evidence that any change of name was made, the point need not be discussed. As for other changes, the word "brand," in the first stanza, is possibly more literary than popular; further than this the language is entirely fit. The affectedly antique spelling[2] in Percy's copy has given rise to vague suspicions concerning the authenticity of the ballad, or of the language: but as spelling will not make an old ballad, so it will not unmake one. We have, but do not need, the later traditional copy to prove the other genuine. 'Edward' is not only unimpeachable, but has ever been regarded as one of the noblest and most sterling specimens of the popular ballad.
Motherwell seems to incline to regard 'Edward' rather as a detached portion of a ballad than as complete in itself. "The verses of which it consists," he says, "generally conclude the ballad of 'The Twa Brothers,' and also some versions of 'Lizie Wan:'" Minstrelsy, LXVII, 12. The Finnish parallel which Motherwell refers to, might have convinced him that the ballad is complete as it is; and he knew as well as anybody that one ballad is often appended to another by reciters, to lengthen the story or improve the conclusion.[3] More or less of 'Edward' will be found in four versions of 'The Twa Brothers' and two of 'Lizie Wan,' further on in this volume.
This ballad has been familiarly known to have an exact counterpart in Swedish. There are four versions, differing only as to length: 'Sven i Rosengard,' A, Afzelius, No 67, III, 4, eleven two-line stanzas, with three more lines of burden; B, in, 3, six stanzas (Bergström's ed., No 54, 1,2); C, Arwidsson, No 87 A, II, 83, eighteen stanzas; D, No 87 B, II, 86, sixteen stanzas. The same in Danish: A, Grundtvig, Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, p. 175, nine stanzas; B, Boisen, Nye og gamle Viser, 10th ed., No 95, p. 185, 'Brodermordet.' And in Finnish, probably derived from the Swedish, but with traits of its own: A, Schroter's Finnische Runen, p. 124, 'Werinen Pojka,' The Bloodstained Son, fifteen two-line stanzas, with two lines of refrain; B, 'Velisurmaaja,' Brother-Murderer, Kanteletar, p. x, twenty stanzas.
All these are a dialogue between mother and son, with a question and answer in each stanza. The mother asks, Where have you been? The son replies that he has been in the stable [Danish, grove, fields; Finnish A, on the sea-strand]. "How is it that your foot is bloody?"[4] [clothes, shirt; Finnish, "How came your jerkin muddy?" etc.] A horse has kicked or trod on him. "How came your sword so bloody?" He then confesses that he has killed his brother. [Swedish D and the Danish copies have no question about the foot, etc.] Then follows a series of questions as to what the son will do with himself, and what shall become of his wife, children, etc., which are answered much as in the English ballad. Finally, in all, the mother asks when he will come back, and he replies (with some variations), When crows are white. And that will be? When swans are black. And that? When stones float. And that? When feathers sink, etc. This last feature, stupidly exaggerated in some copies, and even approaching burlesque, is one of the commonplaces of ballad poetry, and may or may not have been, from the beginning, a part of the ballads in which it occurs. Such a conclusion could not be made to adhere to 'Edward,' the last stanza of which is peculiar in implicating the mother in the guilt of the murder. Several versions of 'The Twa Brothers' preserve this trait, and 'Lizie Wan' also.
The stanza of this ballad was originally, in all probability, one of two lines a question and an answer with refrains, as we find it in A 10, 11, 12, and the corresponding Swedish and Finnish ballad; and in 'Lord Randal,' J, K, etc., and also the corresponding Swedish and German ballad. A 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 are now essentially stanzas of one line, with refrains; that is, the story advances in these at that rate. A 4, 7 (= C) are entirely irregular, substituting narrative or descriptive circumstances for the last line of the refrain, and so far forth departing from primitive simplicity.[5] The stanza in B embraces always a question and a reply, but for what is refrain in other forms of the ballad we have epical matter in many cases. A 1, 2, substantially, = B 1; A 3, 4 = B 2; A 5, 6 = B 3; A 8, 9 = B 4; A 11 = 6; A 12 =7.
Testaments such as this ballad ends with have been spoken of under No 11.
A is translated by Grundtvig, Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, No 26, p. 172; by Rosa Warrens, Schottische V. L., No 21, p. 96; by Wolff, Halle des Völker, I, 22,' and Hausschatz, p. 223. B, in Afzelius, in, 10; "often in Danish," Grundtvig; by Herder, Volkslieder, II, 207; by Doring, p. 217; Gerhard, p. 88; Knortz, Schottische Balladen, No 27. Swedish A, by W. and M. Howitt, Literature and Romance of Northern Europe, I, 263.[6]
Footnotes:
1. An eager "Englishman" might turn Motherwell's objection to the name into an argument for 'Edward' being an "English" ballad.
2. That is to say, initial quh and z for modern wh and y, for nothing else would have excited attention. Perhaps a transcriber thought he ought to give the language a look at least as old as Gavin Douglas, who spells quhy, dois, ȝour. The quh would serve a purpose, if understood as in dicating that the aspirate was not to be dropped, as it often is in English why. The z is the successor of ȝ, and was meant to be pronounced y, as z is, or was, pronounced in gaberlunzie and other Scottish words. See Dr. J.A.H. Murray's Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland, pp. 118, 129. Since quh and z serve rather as rocks of offence than landmarks, I have thought it best to use wh and y.
3. Motherwell also speaks of a ballad of the same nature as quoted in Werner's 'Twenty-Fourth of February.' The stanza cited (in Act I, Scene 1) seems to be Herder's translation of 'Edward' given from memory.
4. We have a similar passage in most of the copies of the third class of the German ballads corresponding to No 4. A brother asks the man who has killed his sister why his shoes [sword, hands] are bloody. See p. 36, p. 38. So in 'Herr Axel,' Arwidsson, No 46, I, 308.
5. These have perhaps been adapted to the stanza of 'The Twa Brothers,' with some versions of which, as already remarked, the present ballad is blended.
6. With regard to translations, I may say now, what I might well have said earlier, that I do not aim at making a complete list, but give such as have fallen under my notice.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
The affectedly antique spelling in Percy's copy (B) has given rise to vague suspicions concerning the authenticity of the ballad or of the language: but as spelling will not make an old ballad, so it will not unmake one. We have, but do not need, the later traditional copy (A) to prove the other genuine. 'Edward' is not only unimpeachable, but has ever been regarded as one of the noblest and most sterling specimens of the popular ballad. It has an exact counterpart in Swedish and Danish; also in Finnish, probably from the Swedish, but with traits of its own. The last stanza of 'Edward' is peculiar in implicating the mother in the guilt of the murder.
_________________
Child's Ballad Texts
'Son Davie'- Version A a: Edward- Child 13
a. Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 139. From Mrs. King, Kilbarchan.
b. Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 339.
1 'What bluid's that on thy coat lap,
Son Davie, son Davie?
What bluid's that on thy coat lap?
And the truth come tell to me.'
2 'It is the bluid of my great hawk,
Mother lady, mother lady:
It is the bluid of my great hawk,
And the truth I have told to thee.'
3 'Hawk's bluid was neer sae red,
Son Davie, son Davie:
Hawk's bluid was neer sae red,
And the truth come tell to me.'
4 'It is the bluid of my greyhound,
Mother lady, mother lady:
It is the bluid of my greyhound,
And it wadna rin for me.'
5 'Hound's bluid was neer sae red,
Son Davie, son Davie:
Hound's bluid was neer sae red,
And the truth come tell to me.'
6 'It is the bluid o my brither John,
Mother lady, mother lady:
It is the bluid o my brither John,
And the truth I have told to thee.'
7 'What about did the plea begin,
Son Davie, son Davie?'
'It began about the cutting of a willow wand
That would never been a tree.'
8 'What death dost thou desire to die,
Son Davie, son Davie?
What death dost thou desire to die?
And the truth come tell to me.'
9 'I'll set my foot in a bottomless ship,
Mother lady, mother lady:
I'll set my foot in a bottomless ship,
And ye'll never see mair o me.'
10 'What wilt thou leave to thy poor wife,
Son Davie, son Davie?'
'Grief and sorrow all her life,
And she'll never see mair o me.'
11 'What wilt thou leave to thy old son,
Son Davie, son Davie?'
'I'll leave him the weary world to wander up and down,
And he'll never get mair o me.'
12 'What wilt thou leave to thy mother dear,
Son Davie, son Davie?'
'A fire o coals to burn her, wi hearty cheer,
And she'll never get mair o me.'
_____________
'Edward'- Version B: Child 13 Edward
B. Percy's Reliques, 1765, I, 53. Communicated by Sir David Dalrymple.
1 'Why dois your brand sae drap wi bluid,
Edward, Edward,
Why dois your brand sae drap wi bluid,
And why sae sad gang yee O?'
'O I hae killed my hauke sae guid,
Mither, mither,
O I hae killed my hauke sae guid,
And I had nae mair bot hee O.'
2 'Your haukis bluid was nevir sae reid,
Edward, Edward,
Your haukis bluid was nevir sae reid,
My deir son I tell thee O.'
'O I hae killed my reid-roan steid,
Mither, mither,
O I hae killed my reid-roan steid,
That erst was sae fair and frie O.'
3 'Your steid was auld, and ye hae gat mair,
Edward, Edward,
Your steid was auld, and ye hae gat mair,
Sum other dule ye drie O.'
'O I hae killed my fadir deir,
Mither, mither,
O I hae killed my fadir deir,
Alas, and wae is mee O!'
4 'And whatten penance wul ye drie, for that,
Edward, Edward?
And whatten penance will ye drie for that?
My deir son, now tell me O.'
'Ile set my feit in yonder boat,
Mither, mither,
Ile set my feit in yonder boat,
And Ile fare ovir the sea O.'
5 'And what wul ye doe wi your towirs and your ha,
Edward, Edward?
And what wul ye doe wi your towirs and your ha,
That were sae fair to see O?'
'Ile let thame stand tul they doun fa,
Mither, mither,
Ile let thame stand tul they doun fa,
For here nevir mair maun I bee O.'
6 'And what wul ye leive to your bairns and your wife,
Edward, Edward?
And what wul ye leive to your bairns and your wife,
Whan ye gang ovir the sea O?'
'The warldis room, late them beg thrae life,
Mither, mither,
The warldis room, late them beg thrae life,
For thame nevir mair wul I see O.'
7 'And what wul ye leive to your ain mither deir,
Edward, Edward?
And what wul ye leive to your ain mither deir?
My deir son, now tell me O.'
'The curse of hell frae me sall ye beir,
Mither, mither,
The curse of hell frae me sall ye beir,
Sic counseils ye gave to me O.'
_____________
['O what did the fray begin about?']- Version C: Child 13- Edward
Manuscript of Alexander Laing, 1829, p. 25.
1 'O what did the fray begin about?
My son, come tell to me:'
'It began about the breaking o the bonny hazel wand,
And a penny wad hae bought the tree.'
______________
['And it's where hast thou been all this night long, my son?'- Version D; Child 13- Edward
Communicated by Mr. J.K. Hudson of Manchester. Sung after a St. George play regularly acted on All Souls' Day at a village a few miles from Chester, and written down for Mr. Hudson by one of the performers, a lad of sixteen. The play was introduced by a song called Souling (similar to a Stephening, see I, 234), and followed by two songs, of which this is the last, the whole dramatic company singing.
1 'And it's where hast thou been all this night long, my son?
Come tell it unto me.'
'I have been lying on yonder bull-rushes,
Which lies beneath yond tree.'
2 'And it's what are the spots on this thy coat, my son?
Come tell it unto me.'
'They are the spots of my poor brother's blood,
Which lies beneath yonder tree.'
3 'And it's what didst thou kill thy poor brother for, my son?
Come tell it unto me.'
'Because he killed two pretty little birds,
Which flew from tree to tree.'
4 'And it's what will the father say when he comes, my son?
Come tell it unto me.'
'I will dress me up in sailor's clothes,
And my face he will never see.'
5 'And it's what wilt thou do with thy pretty little wife, my son?
Come tell it unto me.'
'I will dress her up in lad[d]ie's clothes,
And she will sail along with me.'
6 'And it's what wilt thou do with thy children three, my son?
Come tell it unto me.'
'I will leave them to my poor grandfather to rear,
And comfort [to] him [to be].'
7 'And it's when shall we see thy face again, my son?
Come tell it unto me.'
'When the sun and moon shines both at once,
And that shall never be.' ]
End-Notes
A. b. 14. tell ne O, And so every fourth line.
74. That would never have been a tree O.
104. And she'll never get mair frae me O.
113. The weary warld to wander up and down.
B. Initial qa for w and z for y have been changed throughout by w and y.
67. let.
Additions and Corrections:
P. 168 a, first paragraph. Add: Swedish E, Aminson, Bidrag till Södermanlands Kulturhistoria, III, 37, eight stanzas. Nine stanzas of Finnish B are translated by Schott, Acta Comparationis, 1878, IV, cols 132, 133. The murder here is for wife-seduction, a peculiar and assuredly not original variation.
168 b. B is translated by Adolph von Marées, p. 27; by Graf von Platen, II, 329, Stuttgart, 1847; after Herder into Magyar, by Dr. Karl von Szász
P. 168 b. B is translated also in Seckendorf's Musenalmanach für das Jahr 1808, p. 7, and by Du Merit, Histoire de la Poésie scandinave, p. 467.
Pp. 167 b, 501 b. Another copy of 'Sven i Rosengard,' F, is printed by Aminson in Bidrag till Södermanlands äldere Kulturhistoria, No V, p. 12, eleven stanzas. The swain has killed his sister.
168 b. Danish. Four concluding stanzas (When?) in Kristensen's Skattegraveren, II, 100, No 459.
P. 167 b, 501 b, III 499 b. Swedish. Sven i Rosengård ' in Thomasson, Visor från Bleking, Nyare Bidrag, etc., VII, No 6, p. 16, No 9.
168 a, second paragraph, 'when stones float,' etc. Compare Sir John Mandeville, as to the Dead Sea, ch. 9 (of the Cotton Manuscript): "And zif a man caste iren therein, it wole flete aboven, and zif men caste a fedre therein, it wol synke to the botme."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P. 167, 501 b, III, 499 b, V, 209 b. ' Svend i Rosensgaard ' is No 340 in the Grundtvig-Olrik collection of Danish ballads, Ridderviser, I, 142. Danish versions are limited to three, of which the second is a fragment and the third a copy from Norway in all but pure Danish. Of Swedish versions eleven are enumerated, besides a half-comic copy from a manuscript of 1640, or older, which is spun out to 33 stanzas. As before remarked, a palpable tendency to parody is visible in some of the Scandinavian specimens.