No. 18: Sir Lionel
[In Bertrand H. Bronson's article, The Interdependence of Ballad Tunes and Texts (California Folklore Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3 dated Jul., 1944, pp. 185-207) he states:
"It is plain, then, that both in spirit, in narrative, and in melodic tradition, the recent forms of 'Sir Lionel' are primarily descendants of the 'Eglamore' ballad, and only secondarily of the ancient romance ballad. Any who wish for that reason to exclude it from the authentic traditional canon may do so: not I."
US and Canada titles include "Bangum and the Boar," "Old Bangum" and "Wild Boar in the Woods." It is my contention that in North America some versions of "Sir Lionel" cross fertilized with another old ballad, known in the Appalachian region as, "Froggie Went Courtin'." Belden believed (1940) "Froggie" to be the most widely known folk song in the English language and it first appears in print in the British Isles in Wedderburn's "Complaynt of Scotland" (1549) where it is called "The frog cam to the myl dur." Another early version is found in a broadside text of 1580, called "A moste Strange weddinge of the ffrogge and the mowse" (Rollins). The air is first given in Thomas Ravenscroft's "Melismata" (1611). Apparently Child felt the "Wedding of the Frog and the Mouse" to be a children's song and would not dignify it a place in his 305 ballads- a mistake I believe, since he did include "Popular" in his title.
R. Matteson 2012, 2014]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnote (added at the end of Child's Narration)
3. Brief by Kittredge (1905 edition)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-F; (Changes for C b and E b found in End-Notes)
5. Endnotes
6. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: Sir Lionel
A. Roud Number 29: Sir Lionel (128 Listings)
B. Bangum the Boar- Slayer and His Weapon
2. Sheet Music: Sir Lionel (Bronson's texts and some music examples)
3. US & Canadian Versions
4. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-I with additional notes)]
Child's Narrative
A. 'Sir Lionell,' Percy Manuscript, p. 32, Hales and Furnivall, I, 75.
B. 'Isaac-a-Bell and Hugh the Graeme,' Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 110.
C. a. 'The Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove,' Allies, The British, Roman and Saxon Antiquities and Folk-Lore of Worcestershire, 2d ed.,p. 116.
b. Bell's Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England, p. 124.
D. Allies, as above, p. 118.
E. a. 'The Old Man and his Three Sons,' Bell, as above, p. 250.
b. Mr. Robert White's papers.
F. Allies, as above, p. 120.
B can be traced in Banffshire, according to Christie, for more than a hundred years, through the old woman that sang it, and her forbears. C a, D were originally published by Allies in the year 1845, in a pamphlet bearing the title The Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove, Home the Hunter, and Robin Hood. No intimation as to the source of his copy, C b, is given by Bell, i.e., Dixon. Apparently all the variations from Allies, C a, are of the nature of editorial improvements. E a is said (1857) to be current in the north of England as a nursery song.
One half of A, the oldest and fullest copy of this ballad (the second and fourth quarters), is wanting in the Percy Manuscript. What we can gather of the story is this. A knight finds a lady sitting in a tree, A, C, D [under a tree, E] , who tells him that a wild boar has slain Sir Broning, A [killed her lord and thirty of his men, C; worried her lord and wounded thirty, B]. The knight kills the boar, B-D, and seems to have received bad wounds in the process, A, B; the boar belonged to a giant, B; or a wild woman, C, D. The knight is required to forfeit his hawks and leash, and the little finger of his right hand, A [his horse, his hound, and his lady, C]. He refuses to submit to such disgrace, though in no condition to resist, A; the giant allows him time to heal his wounds, forty days, A; thirty-three, B; and he is to leave his lady as security for his return, A. At the end of this time the knight comes back sound and well, A, B, and kills the giant as he had killed the boar, B. C and D say nothing of the knight having been wounded. The wild woman, to revenge her "pretty spotted pig," flies fiercely at him, and he cleaves her in two. The last quarter of the Percy copy would, no doubt, reveal what became of the lady who was sitting in the tree, as to which the traditional copies give no light.
Our ballad has much in common with the romance of 'Sir Eglamour of Artois,' Percy Manuscript, Hales and Furnivall, II, 338; Thornton Romances, Camden Society, ed. Halliwell, p. 121; Ellis, Metrical Romances, from an early printed copy, Bohn's ed., p. 527. Eglamour, simple knight, loving Christabel, an earl's daughter, is required by the father, who does not wish him well, to do three deeds of arms, the second being to kill a boar in the kingdom of Sattin or Sydon, which had been known to slay forty armed knights in one day (Percy, st. 37). This Eglamour does, after a very severe fight. The boar belonged to a giant, who had kept him fifteen years to slay Christian men (Thornton, st. 42, Percy, 40). This giant had demanded the king of Sy don's daughter's hand, and comes to carry her off, by force, if necessary, the day following the boar-fight. Eglamour, who had been found by the king in the forest, in a state of exhaustion, after a contest which had lasted to the third or fourth day, and had been taken home by him and kindly cared for, is now ready for action again. He goes to the castle walls with a squire, who carries the boar's head on a spear. The giant, seeing the head, exclaims,
'Alas, art thou dead!
My trust was all in thee!
Now by the law that I lieve in,
My little speckled hoglin,
Dear bought shall thy death be.'
Percy, st. 44.
Eglamour kills the giant, and returns to Artois with both heads. The earl has another adventure ready for him, and hopes the third chance may quit all. Eglamour asks for twelve weeks to rest his weary body.
B comes nearest the romance, and possibly even the wood of Tore is a reminiscence of Artois. The colloquy with the giant in B is also, perhaps, suggested by one which had previously taken place between Eglamour and another giant, brother of this, after the knight had killed one of his harts (Percy, st. 25). C 11, D 9 strikingly resemble the passage of the romance cited above (Percy, 44, Thornton, 47).
The ballad has also taken up something from the romance of 'Eger and Grime,' Percy Manuscript, Hales and Furnivall, I, 341; Laing, Early Metrical Tales, p. 1; 'Sir Eger, Sir Grahame, and Sir Gray-Steel,' Ellis's Specimens, p. 546. Sir Egrabell (Rackabello, Isaac-a-Bell), Lionel's father, recalls Sir Eger, and Hugh the Graeme in B is of course the Grahame or Grime of the romance, the Hugh being derived from a later ballad. Gray-Steel, a man of proof, although not quite a giant, cuts off the little finger of Eger's right hand, as the giant proposes to do to Lionel in A 21.
The friar in E 13, 41, may be a corruption of Ryalas, or some like name, as the first line of the burden of E, 'Wind well, Lion, good hunter,' seems to be a perversion of 'Wind well thy horn, good hunter,' in C, D.[1] This part of the burden, especially as it occurs in A, is found, nearly, in a fragment of a song of the time of Henry VIII, given by Mr. Chappell in his Popular Music of the Olden Time, I, 58, as copied from "Manuscripts Reg., Append. 58."
'Blow thy home, hunter,
Cum, blow thy home on hye!
In yonder wode there lyeth a doo,
In fayth she woll not dye.
Cum, blow thy home, hunter,
Cum, blow thy borne, joly hunter!'
A terrible swine is a somewhat favorite figure in romantic tales. A worthy peer of the boar of Sydon is killed by King Arthur in 'The Avowynge of King Arthur,' etc., Robson, Three Early English Metrical Romances (see st. xii). But both of these, and even the Erymanthian, must lower their bristles before the boar in 'Kilhwch and Olwen,' Mabinogion, Part iv, pp. 309-16. Compared with any of these, the "felon sow" presented by Ralph Rokeby to the friars of Richmond (Evans, Old Ballads, II, 270, ed. 1810, Scott, Appendix to Rokeby, note M) is a tame villatic pig: the old mettle is bred out.
Professor Grundtvig has communicated to me a curious Danish ballad of this class, 'Limgrises Vise,' from a manuscript of the latter part of the 16th century. A very intractable damsel, after rejecting a multitude of aspirants, at last marries, with the boast that her progeny shall be fairer than Christ in heaven. She has a litter of nine pups, a pig, and a boy. The pig grows to be a monster, and a scourge to the whole region.
He drank up the water from dike and from dam,
And ate up, besides, both goose, gris and lamb.
The beast is at last disposed of by baiting him with the nine congenerate dogs, who jump down his throat, rend liver and lights, and find their death there, too. This ballad smacks of the broadside, and is assigned to the 16th century. A fragment of a Swedish swine-ballad, in the popular tone, is given by Dybeck, Runa, 1845, p. 23; another, very similar, in Axelson's Vesterdalarne, p. 179, 'Koloregris,' and Professor Sophus Bugge has recovered some Norwegian verses. The Danish story of the monstrous birth of the pig has become localized: the Liimfiord is related to have been made by the grubbing of the Limgris: Thiele, Danmarks Folkesagn, n. 19, two forms.
There can hardly be anything but the name in common between the Lionel of this ballad and Lancelot's cousin-german.
Footnote:
1. The friar might also be borrowed from 'The Felon Sow and the Friars of Richmond,' but this piece does not appear to have been extensively known.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
One half of A (the second and fourth quarters) is wanting in the Percy Manuscript. B can be traced in Banffshire for more than a hundred years, through the old woman that sang it, and her forbears. What we can gather of the story is this. A knight finds a lady sitting in (or under) a tree, who tells him that a wild boar has slain (or worried) her lord and killed (or wounded) thirty of his men. The knight kills the boar, and seems to have received bad wounds in the process. The boar belonged to a giant, or to a wild woman. The knight is required to forfeit his hawks and leash and the little finger of his right hand (or his horse, his hound, and his lady). He refuses to submit to such disgrace, though in no condition to resist; the giant allows him time to heal his wounds, and he is to leave his lady as security for his return. At the end of the time the knight comes back sound and well, and kills the giant as he had killed the boar. C and D say nothing of the knight having been wounded. The wild woman, to revenge her "pretty spotted pig," flies fiercely at him, and he cleaves her in two. The last quarter of the Percy copy would, no doubt, reveal what became of the lady who was sitting in the tree, as to which traditional copies give no light.
The ballad has much in common with the romance of 'Sir Eglamour of Artois' (Percy Manuscript, Hales and Furnivall, n, 338; Thornton Romances, ed. Halliwell, p. 121). It has also taken up something from the romance of 'Eger and Grime' (Percy Manuscript, I, 341; Laing, Early Metrical Tales, p. 1).
Child's Ballad Texts A-F
'Sir Lyonell'- Version A: Child 18, Sir Lionel
Percy Manuscript, p. 32, Hales and Furnivall, I, 75.
1. Sir Egrabell had sonnes three,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Sir Lyonell was one of these.
As I am a gentle hunter
2. Sir Lyonell wold on hunting ryde,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Vntill the forrest him beside.
As I am a gentle hunter
3. And as he rode thorrow the wood,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Where trees and harts and all were good,
As I am a gentle hunter
4 And as he rode over the plaine,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
There he saw a knight lay slaine.
As I am a gentle hunter
5 And as he rode still on the plaine,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
He saw a lady sitt in a graine.
As I am a gentle hunter
6 'Say thou, lady, and tell thou me,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
What blood shedd heere has bee.'
As I am a gentle hunter
7 'Of this blood shedd we may all rew,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Both wife and childe and man alsoe.
As I am a gentle hunter
8 'For it is not past 3 days right
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Since Sir Broninge was mad a knight.
As I am a gentle hunter
9 'Nor it is not more than 3 dayes agoe
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Since the wild bore did him sloe.'
As I am a gentle hunter
10 'Say thou, lady, and tell thou mee,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
How long thou wilt sitt in that tree.'
As I am a gentle hunter
11 She said, 'I will sitt in this tree
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Till my friends doe feitch me.'
As I am a gentle hunter
12 'Tell me, lady, and doe not misse,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Where that your friends dwellings is.'
As I am a gentle hunter
13 'Downe,' shee said, 'in yonder towne,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
There dwells my freinds of great renowne.'
As I am a gentle hunter
14 Says, 'Lady, Ile ryde into yonder towne
Blow thy horne, good hunter
And see wether your friends beene bowne.
As I am a gentle hunter
15 'I my self wilbe the formost man
Blow thy horne, good hunter
That shall come, lady, to feitch you home.'
As I am a gentle hunter
16 But as he rode then by the way,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
He thought it shame to goe away;
As I am a gentle hunter
17 And vmbethought him of a wile,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
How he might that wilde bore beguile.
As I am a gentle hunter
18 'Sir Egrabell,' he said, 'My father was;
Blow thy horne, good hunter
He neuer left lady in such a case;
As I am a gentle hunter
19 'Noe more will I' . . .
Blow thy horne, good hunter
* * * * *
As I am a gentle hunter
20 'And a[fter] that thou shalt doe mee
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Thy hawkes and thy lease alsoe.
As I am a gentle hunter
21 'Soe shalt thou doe at my command
Blow thy horne, good hunter
The litle fingar on thy right hand.'
As I am a gentle hunter
22 'Ere I wold leaue all this with thee,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Vpoon this ground I rather dyee.'
As I am a gentle hunter
23 The gyant gaue Sir Lyonell such a blow,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
The fyer out of his eyen did throw.
As I am a gentle hunter
24 He said then, 'if I were saffe and sound,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
As with-in this hower I was in the ground,
As I am a gentle hunter
25 'It shold be in the next towne told
Blow thy horne, good hunter
How deare thy buffett it was sold;
As I am a gentle hunter
26 'And it shold haue beene in the next towne said
Blow thy horne, good hunter
How well thy buffett it were paid.'
As I am a gentle hunter
27 'Take 40 daies into spite,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
To heale thy wounds that beene soe wide.
As I am a gentle hunter
28 'When 40 dayes beene at an end,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Heere meete thou me both safe and sound.
As I am a gentle hunter
29 And till thou come to me againe,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
With me thoust leaue thy lady alone.'
As I am a gentle hunter
30 When 40 dayes was at an end,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Sir Lyonell of his wounds was healed sound.
As I am a gentle hunter
31 He tooke with him a litle page,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
He gaue to him good yeomans wage.
As I am a gentle hunter
32 And as he rode by one hawthorne,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Even there did hang his hunting horne.
As I am a gentle hunter
33 He sett his bugle to his mouth,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
And blew his bugle still full south.
As I am a gentle hunter
34 He blew his bugle lowde and shrill;
Blow thy horne, good hunter
The lady heard, and came him till.
As I am a gentle hunter
35 Sayes, 'The gyant lyes vnder yond low,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
And well he heares your bugle blow.
As I am a gentle hunter
36 'And bidds me of good cheere be,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
This night heele supp with you and me.'
As I am a gentle hunter
37 Hee sett that lady vppon a steede,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
And a litle boy before her yeede.
As I am a gentle hunter
38 And said, 'lady, if you see that I must dye,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
As euer you loued me, from me flye.
As I am a gentle hunter
39 'But, lady, if you see that I must liue,'
Blow thy horne, good hunter
* * * * *
As I am a gentle hunter
----------------
'Isaac-a-Bell and Hugh the Graeme'- Version B; Child 18, Sir Lionel
Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, I, 110. From the singing of an old woman in Buckie, Enzie, Banffshire.
1. A knight had two sons o sma fame,
Hey nien nanny
Isaac-a-Bell and Hugh the Graeme.
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
2. And to the youngest he did say,
Hey nien nanny
'What occupation will you hae?
When the norlan flowers spring bonny
3. 'Will you gae fee to pick a mill?
Hey nien nanny
Or will you keep hogs on yon hill?'
While the norlan flowers spring bonny
4 'I winna fee to pick a mill,
Hey nien nanny
Nor will I keep hogs on yon hill.
While the norlan flowers spring bonny
5 'But it is said, as I do hear,
Hey nien nanny
That war will last for seven year,
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
6 'With a giant and a boar
Hey nien nanny
That range into the wood o Tore.
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
7 'You'll horse and armour to me provide,
Hey nien nanny
That through Tore wood I may safely ride.'
When the norlan flowers spring bonny
8 The knicht did horse and armour provide,
Hey nien nanny
That through Tore wood Graeme micht safely ride.
When the norlan flowers spring bonny
9 Then he rode through the wood o Tore,
Hey nien nanny
And up it started the grisly boar.
When the norlan flowers spring bonny
10 The firsten bout that he did ride,
Hey nien nanny
The boar he wounded in the left side.
When the norlan flowers spring bonny
11 The nexten bout at the boar he gaed,
Hey nien nanny
He from the boar took aff his head.
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
12 As he rode back through the wood o Tore,
Hey nien nanny
Up started the giant him before.
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
13 'O cam you through the wood o Tore,
Hey nien nanny
Or did you see my good wild boar?'
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
14 'I cam now through the wood o Tore,
Hey nien nanny
But woe be to your grisly boar.
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
15 'The firsten bout that I did ride,
Hey nien nanny
I wounded your wild boar in the side.
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
16 'The nexten bout at him I gaed,
Hey nien nanny
From your wild boar I took aff his head.'
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
17 'Gin you have cut aff the head o my boar,
Hey nien nanny
It's your head shall be taen therfore.
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
18 'I'll gie you thirty days and three,
Hey nien nanny
To heal your wounds, then come to me.'
While the norlan flowers spring bonny
19 'It's after thirty days and three,
Hey nien nanny
When my wounds heal, I'll come to thee.'
When the norlan flowers spring bonny
20 So Graeme is back to the wood o Tore,
Hey nien nanny
And he's killd the giant, as he killd the boar.
And the norlan flowers spring bonny
---------------------
'The Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove'- Version C a; Child 18; Sir Lionel
a. Allies, The British, Roman, and Saxon Antiquities and Folk-Lore of Worcestershire, 2d ed., p. 116. From the recitation of Benjamin Brown, of Upper Wick, about 1845.
b. Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England, edited by Robert Bell, p. 124.
1 Sir Robert Bolton had three sons,
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
And one of them was called Sir Ryalas.
For he was a jovial hunter
2 He rang'd all round down by the woodside,
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
Till up in the top of a tree a gay lady he spy'd.
For he was a jovial hunter
3 'O what dost thou mean, fair lady?' said he;
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
'O the wild boar has killed my lord and his men thirty.'
As thou beest a jovial hunter
4 'O what shall I do this wild boar to see?'
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
'O thee blow a blast, and he'll come unto thee.'
As thou beest a jovial hunter
5 [Then he put his horn unto his mouth],
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
Then he blowd a blast full north, east, west and south.
As he was a jovial hunter
6 And the wild boar heard him full into his den;
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
Then he made the best of his speed unto him.
To Sir Ryalas, a jovial hunter
7 Then the wild boar, being so stout and so strong,
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
He thrashd down the trees as he came along.
To Sir Ryalas, a jovial hunter
8 'O what dost thou want of me?' the wild boar said he;
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
'O I think in my heart I can do enough for thee.'
For I am a jovial hunter
9 Then they fought four hours in a long summer's day,
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
Till the wild boar fain would have gotten away.
From Sir Ryalas, a jovial hunter
10 Then Sir Ryalas drawd his broad sword with might,
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
And he fairly cut his head off quite.
For he was a jovial hunter
11 Then out of the wood the wild woman flew:
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
'Oh thou hast killed my pretty spotted pig!
As thou beest a jovial hunter
12 'There are three things I do demand of thee,
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
It's thy horn, and thy hound, and thy gay lady.'
As thou beest a jovial hunter
13 'If these three things thou dost demand of me,
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
It's just as my sword and thy neck can agree.'
For I am a jovial hunter
14 Then into his locks the wild woman flew,
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
Till she thought in her heart she had torn him through.
As he was a jovial hunter
15 Then Sir Ryalas drawd his broad sword again,
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
And he fairly split her head in twain.
For he was a jovial hunter
16 In Bromsgrove church they both do lie;
Wind well thy horn, good hunter
There the wild boar's head is picturd by
Sir Ryalas, a jovial hunter
--------------------------
'Jovial Hunter'- Version D; Oseman (Hartlebury) c.1850; Child 18 Sir Lionell
Allies: Antiquities and Folk-Lore of Worcestershire, p. 118. From the recitation of Oseman, Hartlebury.
1 As I went up one brook, one brook,
Well wind the horn, good hunter
I saw a fair maiden sit on a tree top.
As thou art the jovial hunter
2 I said, 'Fair maiden, what brings you here?'
Well wind the horn, good hunter
'It is the wild boar that has drove me here.'
As thou art the jovial hunter
3 'I wish I could that wild boar see;'
Well wind the horn, good hunter,
And the wild boar soon will come to thee.'
As thou art the jovial hunter
4 Then he put his horn unto his mouth,
Well wind the horn, good hunter,
And he blowd both east, west, north and south.
As he was the jovial hunter
5 The wild boar hearing it into his den,
Well wind the horn, good hunter,
[Then he made the best of his speed unto him].
As he was the jovial hunter
6 He whetted his tusks for to make them strong,
Well wind the horn, good hunter,
And he cut down the oak and the ash as he came along.
For to meet with the jovial hunter
7 They fought five hours one long summer's day,
Well wind the horn, good hunter,
Till the wild boar he yelld, and he'd fain run away.
And away from the jovial hunter
8 O then he cut his head clean off,
Well wind the horn, good hunter,
. . . . .
As he was the jovial hunter
9 Then there came an old lady running out of the wood,
Well wind the horn, good hunter,
Saying, 'You have killed my pretty, my pretty spotted pig.'
As thou art the jovial hunter
10 Then at him this old lady she did go,
Well wind the horn, good hunter,
And he clove her from the top of her head to her toe.
As he was the jovial hunter
11 In Bromsgrove churchyard this old lady lies,
Well wind the horn, good hunter,
And the face of the boar's head there is drawn by,
That was killed by the jovial hunter
----------------
'Jovial Hunter'-Version E; Child 18; Sir Lionel
a. Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England, edited by Robert Bell, p. 250.
b. Mr. Robert White's papers. [In Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England, Robert Bell, p. 250, he adds: "This traditional ditty founded on the old ballad inserted ante p. 124, is currently a nursery song in the North of England."]
1 There was an old man and sons he had three;
Wind well, Lion, good hunter
A friar he being one of the three,
With pleasure he ranged the north country.
For he was a jovial hunter
2 As he went to the woods some pastime to see,
Wind well, Lion, good hunter
He spied a fair lady under a tree,
Sighing and moaning mournfully.
He was a jovial hunter
3 'What are you doing, my fair lady?'
Wind well, Lion, good hunter
'I'm fightened the wild boar he will kill me;
He has worried my lord and wounded thirty.'
As thou art a jovial hunter
4 Then the friar he put his horn to his mouth,
Wind well, Lion, good hunter
And he blew a blast, east, west, north and south,
And the wild boar from his den he came forth.
Unto the jovial hunter
----------------
'Sir Rackabello'; Version F- Child 18; Sir Lionel
Allies: Antiquities of Worcestershire, p. 120.
1 Sir Rackabello had three sons,
Wind well your horn, brave hunter
Sir Ryalash was one of these.
And he was a jovial hunter
End-Notes
A. 31. Manuscript And as thé.
62. Manuscript had bee.
111. Manuscript I wilt.
121. Manuscript miste.
162. Manuscript awaw.
171. Manuscript vnbethought ... while.
19. Between 19 and 20 half a page of the manuscript is wanting.
201. a[fter]: Manuscript blotted.
361. Manuscript bidds eue.
39. Half a page of the Manuscript is wanting.
B. The stanzas are doubled in Christie, to suit the air.
C. a. 31, 42, 72. D. 21, 32, 6. John Cole, who had heard an old man sing the ballad fifty years before (Allies, p. 115), could recollect only so much:
'Oh! lady, Oh! lady, what bringst thou here?'
Wind went his horn, as a hunter
'Thee blow another blast, and he'll soon come to thee.'
As thou art a jovial hunter
He whetted his tusks as he came along,
Wind went his horn, as a hunter
a. 5, 6 stand thus in Allies:
v Then he blowd a blast full north, east, west and south,
For he was, etc.
And the wild boar heard him full into his den,
As he was, etc.
vi Then he made the best of his speed unto him.
(Two lines wrongly supplied from another source.)
To Sir Ryalas, etc.
5 has been completed from the corresponding stanza in D, and the two verses of 6, separated above, are put together.
b. 11. Old Sir Robert.
12, was Sir Ryalas.
22. Till in a tree-top.
31. dost thee.
32. The wild boar 's killed my lord and has thirty men gored.
Burden2. And thou beest.
41. for to see.
51. As in Allies (see above), except full in his den.
52. then heard him full in his den.
61. As in Allies (see above), but 62 supplied by Bell.
72. Thrashed down the trees as he ramped him along.
81. 'Oh, what dost thee want of me, wild boar.'
Burden2, the jovial.
91. summer.
92. have got him.
102. cut the boar's head off quite.
112. Oh, my pretty spotted pig thou hast slew.
Burden2, for thou beest.
121. I demand them of thee.
131. dost ask.
141. long locks.
142. to tear him through.
Burden2. Though he was.
152. into twain,
161. the knight he doth lie.
162. And the wild boar's head is pictured thereby.
D. 5, 6. In Allies thus:
V The wild boar hearing it into his den,
Well wind, etc.
He whetted his tusks, for to make them strong,
And he cut down the oak and the ash as he came along.
For to meet with, etc.
Stanza 5 has been completed from stanza vi of Allies' other ballad, and 6 duly separated from the first line of 5.
82, 9. In Allies' copy thus:
VII Oh ! then he cut his head clean off!
Well wind, etc.
Then there came an old lady running out of the wood
Saying, ' You have killed my pretty, my pretty spotted pig.'
As thou art, etc.
What stanza 8 should be is easily seen from C 10.
C 16, D 11. As imperfectly remembered by Allies (p. 114):
In Bromsgrove church his corpse doth lie,
Why winded his horn the hunter?
Because there was a wild boar nigh,
And as he was a jovial hunter.
E. b. "Fragment found on the fly-leaf of an old book." Mr. H. White's papers.
12, one of these three.
18, wide countrie.
Burden2. He was.
21. was in woods.
28. With a bloody river running near she.
31. He said, 'Fair lady what are you doing there?'
38. killed my lord.
4. wanting.
Additions and Corrections
P. 209 a. A king's daughter is to be given to the man that rids the country of a boar: Diarmaid and the Magic Boar, Campbell, Tales of the West Highlands, 111,81.
P. 209 b. 'Blow thy home, hunter.' Found, with slight variations, in Add. Manuscript 31922, British Museum, 39, b (Henry VIII): Ewald, in Anglia, XII, 238.