No. 220: The Bonny Lass of Anglesey
[There are no known US or Canadian versions of this ballad.]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes (There are no footnotes for this ballad)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-B
5. End-notes
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: 220. The Bonny Lass of Anglesey
A. Roud No. 3931: The Bonny Lass of Anglesey (5 Listings)
2. Sheet Music: 220. The Bonny Lass of Anglesey (including Bronson's music examples and texts)
3. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-B and additional versions)
Child's Narrative: 220. The Bonny Lass of Anglesey
A. 'The Bonny Lass of Anglesey,' Herd's Manuscripts, I, 148; Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, 1776, II, 231.
B. 'The Bonny Lass o Englessie's Dance,' Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 63.
This little ballad might perhaps rightfully have come in earlier, if I had known what to make of it. There is a resemblance, remarkable as far as it goes, to 'Little Kirstin's Dance,' Grundtvig, V, 118, No 263. Here the dance is for a match; the lass asks what she is to have if she wins, and is promised fifteen (five) ploughs and a mill, and her choice of the king's knights for a husband. In the Danish ballad (A), a king's son, to induce Little Kirstin to dance before him, promises a succession of gifts, none of which avail until he plights his honor and troth. The remainder of the story is like the conclusion of 'Gil Brenton,' No 5: see especially I, 66. (Danish A is translated by Prior, III, 89, No 112.)
Kirstin tires out fifteen knights in Danish A 12, B 10, D 14 (in C 1 eleven); and a Kirstin tires out fifteen partners again in Grundtvig, No 126, P 32, No 245, A 16. In Norwegian versions of No 263, given by Grundtvig in an appendix, numbers are not specified; Kirstin in Norwegian A 6, D 18, tires out all the king's knights.
Buchan quite frightens one by what he says of his version, II, 314: "It is altogether a political piece, and I do not wish to interfere much with it."
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
There is a resemblance, remarkable as far as it goes, to the Scandinavian ballad of 'Little Kirstin's Dance' (Grundtvig, No, 263). In the Danish ballad (A), a king's son, to induce Little Kirstin to dance before him, promises a succession of gifts, none of which avail until he plights his honor and troth. The remainder of the story is like the conclusion of 'Gil Brenton' (No, 5).
Child's Ballad Texts
'The Bonny Lass of Anglesey'- Version A; Child 220 The Bonny Lass of Anglesley
Herd's Manuscripts, I, 148.
1 Our king he has a secret to tell,
And ay well keepit it must be:
The English lords are coming down
To dance and win the victory.
2 Our king has cry'd a noble cry,
And ay well keepit it must be:
'Gar saddle ye, and bring to me
The bonny lass of Anglesey.'
3 Up she starts, as white as the milk,
Between him and his company:
What is the thing I hae to ask,
If I sould win the victory?'
4 'Fifteen ploughs but and a mill
I gie thee till the day thou die,
And the fairest knight in a' my court
To chuse thy husband for to be.'
5 She's taen the fifteen lord[s] by the hand,
Saying, 'Will ye come dance with me?'
But on the morn at ten o'clock
They gave it oer most shamefully.
6 Up then rais the fifteenth lord —
I wat an angry man was he —
Laid by frae him his belt and sword,
And to the floor gaed manfully.
7 He said, 'My feet shall be my dead
Before she win the victory;'
But before 'twas ten o'clock at night
He gaed it oer as shamefully.
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'The Bonny Lass o Englessie's Dance'- Version B; Child 220 The Bonny Lass of Anglesley
Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 63.
1 Word has gane thro a' this land,
And O well noticed it maun be!
The English lords are coming down
To dance and gain the victorie.
2 The king has made a noble cry,
And well attended it maun be:
'Come saddle ye, and bring to me
The bonny lass o Englessie.'
3 She started up, a' dress'd in white,
Between him and his companie;
Said, What will ye gie, my royal liege,
If I will dance this dance for thee?
4 'Five good ploughs but and a mill
I'll give you till the day ye die;
The bravest knight in all my court,
I'll give, your husband for to be.'
5 She's taen the first lord by the hand,
Says, 'Ye'll rise up and dance wi me;'
But she made a' these lords fifeteen
To gie it up right shamefullie.
6 Then out it speaks a younger lord,
Says, 'Fye for shame! how can this be?'
He loosd his brand frae aff his side,
Likewise his buckler frae his knee.
7 He sware his feet should be his dead
Before he lost the victorie;
He danc'd full fast, but tired at last,
And gae it up as shamefullie.
End-Notes
A. 12, 22. we'll keep it must and be.