English Versions 81. Little Musgrave & Lady Barnard
[Versions upcoming]
CONTENTS:
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A Collection of Ancient and Modern Scottish Ballads, Tales, and Songs . 1815
LORD BARNABY.
[The story of this ballad is the same with that of " Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard," in Dr Percy's " Reliques," here altered by reciters to the meridian of Angus-shire.
Lady Barnaby, in the absence of her husband, makes an assignation with young Musgrave to "lodge wi' her a' night;" promises to reward her page if he keeps the secret, but threatens him with death if he reveals it; on their retiring to her chamber, the page, faithful to his master, hastens to give him information of the infidelity of his lady; Lord Barnaby speedily returns to his house, where he finds his lady with her paramour in bed; challenges him to single combat, in which the young man falls. The ballad closes with the death of Lady Barnaby, who, it appears, was in the last stage of pregnancy.]
"I Have a tower in Dalisberry,
Which now is dearly dight,
And I will gie it to young Musgrave
To lodge wi' me a' night."
"To lodge wi' thee a' night, fair lady,
Wad breed baith sorrow and strife;
For I see by the rings on your fingers,
You're good Lord Barnaby's wife."
"Lord Barnaby's wife although I be,
Yet what is that to thee?
For well beguile him for this ae night-
He's on to fair Dundee.
"Come here, come here, my little foot-page,
This gold I will give to thee,
If ye will keep thir secrets close
'Tween young Musgrave and me.
"But here I have a little penknife,
Hangs low down by my gare;
Gin ye winna keep thir secrets close,
Ye'll find it wonder sair."
Then she's ta'en him to her chamber,
And down in her arms lay he:—
The boy coost aff his hose and shoon,
And ran to fair Dundee.
When he cam to the wan water,
He slack'd his bow and swam;
And when he cam to growin grass,
Set down his feet and ran.
And when he cam to fair Dundee,
Wad neither chap nor ca';
But set his brent bow to his breast,
And merrily jump'd the wa'.
"O waken ye, waken ye, my good lord,
Waken, and come away!"
"What ails, what ails my wee foot-page,
He cries sae lang ere day.
"O, is my bowers brent,[1] my boy?
Or is my castle won?
Or has the lady that I lo'e best
Brought me a daughter or son?"
"Your ha's are safe, your bowers are safe,
And free frae all alarms;
But, oh! the lady that ye lo'e best
Lies sound in Musgrave's arms."
"Gae saddle to me the black," he cried;
"Gae saddle to me the gray;
Gae saddle to me the swiftest steed,
To hie me on my way."—
"O lady, I heard a wee horn toot,[2]
And it blew wonder clear;
And ay the turning o' the note,
Was ' Barnaby will be here!'
"I thought I heard a wee horn blaw,
And it blew loud and high;
And ay at ilka turn it said,
'Away, Musgrave, away!'
"Lie still, my dear; lie still, my dear;
Ye keep me frae the cold;
For it is but my father's shepherds
Driving their flocks to the fold."
Up they lookit, and down they lay,
And they're fa'en sound asleep;
Till up stood good Lord Barnaby,
Just close at their bed feet.
"How do you like my bed, Musgrave?
And how like ye my sheets?
And how like ye my fair lady,
Lies in your arms and sleeps?"
"Weel like I your bed, my lord,
And weel like I your sheets;
But ill like I your fair lady,
Lies in my arms and sleeps."
"You got your wale o' se'en sisters,
And I got mine o' five;
Sae tak ye mine, and I's tak thine,
And we nae mair .sail strive."
"O, my woman's the best woman
That ever brak world's bread;
And your woman's the worst woman
That ever drew coat o'er head."
" I hae twa swords in ae scabbert,
They are baith sharp and clear:
Tak ye the best, and I the warst,
And well end the matter here.
"But up, and arm thee, young Musgrave.
We'll try it han' to han';
It's ne'er be said o' Lord Barnaby,
He strack at a naked man."
The first straik that young Musgrave got,
It was baith deep and sair;
And down he fell at Barnaby's feet,
And word spak never mair.
******
"A grave, a grave!" Lord Barnaby cried,
"A grave to lay them in;
My lady shall lie on the sunny side,
Because of her noble kin."
But oh, how sorry was that good lord,
For a' his angry mood,
Whan he beheld his ain young son
All welt'ring in his blood!
1. Burnt.
2 Sound.
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Popular Ballads and Songs: From Tradition, Manuscripts and Scarce ..., Volume 1; 1805; edited by Robert Jamieson
Since transcribing the above for the press, the following copy of the popular ballad of " Little Musgrave and Lord Barnard" has been received from Scotland. The editor has heard it repeated, with very little variation, both in Morayshire and in the southern counties.
LORD BARNABY.
"I have a tower in Dalisberry,[1]
Which now is dearly (light,
And I will gie it to young Musgrave
To lodge wi' me a' night."
"To lodge wi' thee a' night, fair lady,
Wad breed baith sorrow and strife;
For I see by the rings on your fingers,
You're good lord Barnaby's wife."
"Lord Barnaby's wife although I be,
Yet what is that to thee?
For we'll beguile him for this ae night—
He's on to fair Dundee.
"Come here, come here, my little foot-page,
This gold I will give thee,
If ye will keep thir secrets close
Tween young Musgrave and me.
"But here I hae a little pen-knife,
Kings low down by my gare;
Gin ye winna keep thir secrets close,
Ye'll find it wonder sair."
Then she's ta'en him to her chamber,
And down in her arms lay he:
The boy coost aff his hose and shoon,
And ran to fair Dundee.
When he cam to the wan water,
He slack'd [2] his bow and swam;
And when he cam to growin grass,
Set down his feet and ran.
And when he cam to fair Dundee,
Wad neither chap nor ca';
But set his brent bow to his breast,
And merrily jumped the wa".
"O waken ye, waken ye, my good lord,
Waken, and come away !"—
"What ails, what mis my wee foot page,
He cries sae lang ere day.
" O, is my bowers brent, my boy?
Or is my castle won?
Or has the lady that I lo'e best
Brought me a daughter or son?"
"Your ha's are safe, your bowers are safe,
And free frae all alarms;
But, oh! the lady that ye lo'e best
Lies sound in Musgrave's arms."
"Gae saddle to me the black," he cried;
"Gae saddle to me the gray;
Gae saddle to me the swiftest steed,
To hie me on my way."
"O lady, I heard a wee horn toot,
And it blew wonder clear;
And ay the turning o' the note,
Was,' Barnaby will be here!'
"I thought I heard a wee horn blaw,
And it blew loud and high;
And ay at ilka turn it said,
'Away, Musgrave, away!'
"Lie still, my dear; lie still, my dear;
Ye keep me frae the cold;
For it is but my father's shepherds
Driving their flocks to the fold."
Up they lookit, and down they lay,
And they're fa'en sound asleep;
Till up stood good lord Barnaby,
Just close at their bed feet.
"How do you like my bed, Musgrave?
And how like ye my sheets?
And how like ye my fair lady,
Lies in your arms and sleeps?"
"Weel like I your bed, my lord,
And weel like 1 your sheets;
But ill like I your fair lady,
Lies in my arms and sleeps.
"You got your wale o' se'en sisters,
And I got mine o' five;
Sae tak ye mine, and I's tak thine,
And we nae mair sail strive."
"O, my woman's the best woman
That ever brak world's bread;
Aud your woman's the worst woman
That ever drew coat o'er head.
"I hae twa swords in ae scabbert,
They are baith sharp and clear;
Tak ye the best, and I the warst,
And we'll end the matter here.
"But up, and arm thee, young Musgrave,
We'll try it han' to han';
It's ne'er be said o' lord Barnaby,
He struck at a naked man."
The first straik that young Musgrave got,
It was baith deep and sair;
And down he fell at Barnaby's feet,
And word spak never mair.
"A grave, a grave!" lord Barnaby cried,
"A grave to lay them in;
My lady shall lie on the sunny side,
Because of her noble kin."
But oh, how sorry was that good lord,
For a' his angry mood,
Whan he beheld his ain young son
All welt'ring in his blood!
1. Bucklesfordbury.
2 For slack'd read bent.
Of all the editions, both black-letter and modern, of this piece, which the editor has met with, the best (with the exception of a few typographical errors) seems to be that which is found in " Wit Restored," p. 174, where it is called, " The Old Ballad of Little Musgrave," &c. In that collection, which was printed in 1658, it begins thus:
"As it fell, one holy day, hay downe,
As many be in the yeare,
When young men and maids together did goe,
Their luattius and masses to heare," &c.
From that Miscellany it seems to have been adopted, along with one or two others, but without much scrupulous exactness, into Dryden's Miscellanies.
In the Scotish copy, the stanza that describes the manner of the lady's deatli seems to have been left out through mistake by the transcriber; as it is hardly probable that the reciter had forgot so material a part of the tragedy, the effect of which is very much heightened by the pitiable circumstance alluded to in the last stanza, and which the reader is prepared to expect by the question of lord Barnaby, in stanza 10.:
'' Or has the lady that I love best.
Brought me a daughter or son l"
In stanza 8. line 3. the term " braid bow" has been altered by the editor into " brent bow," i. e. straight, or unbent bow. In most of the old ballads, where a page is employed as the bearer of a message, we are told, that,
"When he came to wan water,
He bent his bow and swam;"
And
"He set his bent bow to his breast,
And lightly lap the wa'," &c.
The application of the term bent, in the latter instance, does not seem correct, and is probably substituted for brent.
In the establishment of a feudal baron, every thing wore a military aspect; he was a warrior by profession; every man attached to him, particularly those employed about his person, was a soldier; and his little foot-page was very appropriately equipped in the light accoutrements of an archer. His bow, in the old ballad, seems as inseparable from his character as the bow of Cupid or of Apollo, or the caduceus of his celestial prototype Mercury. This bow, which he carried unbent, he seems to have bent when he had occasion to swim, in order that he might the more easily carry it in his teeth, to prevent the string from being injured, by getting wet. At other times, he availed himself of its length and elasticity in the brent, or straight state, and used it (as hunters do a leaping pole) in vaulting over the wall of the outer court of a castle, when his business would not admit of the tedious formality of blowing a horn, or ringing a bell, and holding a long parley with the porter at the gate, before he could gain admission. This at least, appears to the editor to be the meaning of these passages in the old ballads.
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"Bucklesfordbery" is a radius of about 5 miles around Hertford (20 miles north of London).
"Bucklesfordbury" into a search engine) I found the following:
There appear to be only two surviving placenames with the -fordbury ending (the *ford* bit seems to have been lost from some placenames which originally had it). These are Bayfordbury and Hertingfordbury, both within a few miles of Hertford (Hertfordshire, England). Names which have the Buckle- prefix are also fairly rare, the only three I know are Bucklesbury (a district of Hitchin, Herts) and Upper Bucklebury / Bucklebury in Berkshire.