No. 274: Our Goodman
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes (The footnotes are found at the end of Child's Narrative)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A- B (Another version from Notes and Queries, First Series, VI, 118 ("Shropshire Ballad") is found in End-Notes. Appendix version is titled 'Twas on Christmas Day.' )
5. End-Notes
6. Appendix
7. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: 274. Our Goodman
A. Roud No. 114: Our Goodman (359 Listings)
2. Sheet Music: 274. Our Goodman (Bronson's music examples and texts)
3. US and Canadian Versions:
4. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A- B )
Child's Narrative: 274. Our Goodman
A. Herd's Manuscripts, I, 140; Herd's Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, 1776, II, 172.
B. 'The Merry Cuckold and Kind Wife,' a broadside: Printed and Sold at the Printing-Office in Bow Church-Yard, London.
The copy in Ritson's Scotish Song, I, 231, is from Herd, 1776; that in the Musical Museum, No 454, p. 466, is the same, with change of a few words. In Smith's Scotish Minstrel, IV, 66, the piece is turned into a Jacobite ballad. The good wife says she is hiding her cousin Mclntosh; 'Tories,' says the goodman.
B was reprinted by Dixon in Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England, p. 211, Percy Society, vol. xvii, 'Old Wichet and his Wife,' from a copy "obtained in Yorkshire" and "collated" with the Aldermary broadside. The fifth adventure (in the closet) is lacking. Two or three staves, with variations for the better, are given from memory in Notes and Queries, First Series, VI, 118, as communicated by Mr. R. O. Warde, of Kidderminster. (See the notes.)
Percy made B over in two shapes, whether for simple amusement or for the projected extension of the Reliques: 'Old Wichet's Discoveries,' 'Old Wichard's Mistakes,' among Percy's papers.
A. Our goodman, coming home, sees successively a saddle-horse, pair of jack-boots, sword, powdered wig, muckle coat, finally a man, where none such should be. He asks the goodwife how this came about without his leave. She responds contemptuously that the things he has supposed himself to see are, respectively, a sow (milch-cow), a pair of water-stoups, a porridge-spurtle, a clocken-hen, a pair of blankets, a milking-maid, which her mother has sent her. Far has he ridden, but a saddle on a sow's (cow's) back, siller spurs on water-stoups, etc., long-bearded maidens, has he never seen.
B. In B Old Wichet comes upon three horses, swords, cloaks, pairs of boots, pairs of breeches, hats, and in the end three men in bed. Blind cuckold, says the wife, they are three milking-cows, roasting-spits, mantuas, pudding-bags, petticoats, skimming-dishes, milking-maids, all presents from her mother. The like was never known, exclaims Old Wichet; cows with bridles and saddles, roasting-spits with scabbards, etc., milking-maids with beards!
A song founded on this ballad was introduced into the play of "Auld Robin Gray," produced, according to Guest's History of the Stage, at the Haymarket, July 29, 1794. This song is a neat résumé of the ballad, with a satisfactory catastrophe.[1] See an appendix.
A Gaelic copy, taken down by Rev. Alexander Stewart, of Ballachulish, from the recitation of an old man in his parish whose father had been in the way of singing it sixty years before, is plainly based upon A. The goodman, coming home unexpectedly, finds a boat on the beach, a horse at the door, etc. These and other things are explained by his wife as gifts from her mother. Far has he wandered, but never saw a saddle on a cow, etc. Alexander Stewart, 'Twixt Ben Nevis and Glencoe, 1885, p. 76 ff.
A ballad known and sung throughout Flemish Belgium, 'Mijn man komt thuis,' is formed upon the pattern of A, and must have been derived from A, unless the two have a common source. Two copies are given in Volkskunde (Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche Folklore), II, 49-58, by the editors, Messrs A. Gittée and Pol de Mont, a third by Pol de Mont, V, 20. A man comes home late, and sees in his bedroom a strange hat, overcoat, and other articles of clothing, and asks whose they are. His wife answers that they are a water-pot, a straw mattress, etc., which her mother has sent her. Travel the world round, he has never seen a water-pot with a band about it, a straw mattress with two sleeves, etc. In the last adventure of the first copy, the husband finds a man in the room, and his wife flatly answers, it is a lover my mother has sent me. The second copy ends a little better, but not well. The man is explained to be a foster-child sent by his wife's mother, and so in the third. The husband has travelled the world round, but a foster-child with whiskers has he never seen. The wife packs out of the house. He has travelled the world round, but a wife like his he wishes never to see again.
Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer, in 1789, turned B into German in very happy style, furnishing a denoûment in which the man gives his wife a beating and explains his cuffs as caresses which her mother has sent her. Meyer's ballad was printed in 1790, in the Göttingen Musenalmanach, p. 61 ff., and the same year in Lieder für fröhliche Gesellschaften, p. 37 (Hamburg). It had great and immediate success, was circulated as a broadside, and was taken up by the people, in whose mouth it underwent the usual treatment of ballads traditionally propagated.[2] From Germany it spread into Scandinavia and Hungary, and perhaps elsewhere. German varieties are: 'Des Mannes Heimkehr,' Hoffmann u. Richter, p. 225, No 195; 'Wind über Wind,' Simrock, p. 375, No 241; 'Des Ehemannes Heimkehr,' Ditfurth, Fränkische Volkslieder, IIr Theil, p. 61, No 61; Firmenich, Germaniens Völkerstimmen, III, 66; 'Der Bauer u. sein Weib,' Erlach, IV, 90; 'Der betrogene Ehemann,' Pröhle, p. 143; Walter, p. 97; 'O Wind, O Wind, O Wind!' Zurmühlen (Dülkener Fiedler), p. 101. (The last four lack the beating.)
The only Scandinavian, copy that I have seen is the Swedish 'Husarerna,' in Bergström och Nordlander, Sagor, Sägner och Visor, 1885, p. 93. For indication of others, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish (including a broadside as early as 1799), see, particularly, Olrik, Danmarks gamle Folkeviser, V, II, 211 f., and note***; also, Dybeck's Runa, 1a Samlingen, 1865, I, 89 (where the beginnings of two stanzas are cited); Afzelius, ed. 1880, II, 285.
Magyar (Szekler), Kríza, Vadrózsák, p. 242, No 483; Aigner, p. 149.
French. A similar ballad is common in France, especially in the south.
Poésies pop. de la France, Manuscripts: II, fol. 54, 'Marion;' III, 60 (printed in Revue des Traditions pop., II, 66), 62, 64, Puy-de-Dôme; 68, Auvergne; 69, 'Zjean et Mariou,' Bourbonnais; 71, Pays de Caux; 72, 'Le jaloux,' environs de Toulouse; 74, Gascogne (Rolland, II, 211); 75, Languedoc; 76, 'Lo surprero,' Limousin (Rolland, II, 212); 78, 'Le mari de Marion,' Normandie; 80, 66, 'Le mari jaloux,' Bouches-du-Rhône; 82, 'Marion,' Provence; 83, Loiret; 84, 'La rusade,' Limousin; ' 87, 'Lou jolous' (Rolland, II, 213, Revue des Trad, pop., I, 71), Limoges; VI, 381 vo, 'Jeannetoun' (Rolland, II, 214), Quercy. 'Lou jalous,' Arbaud, Chants pop. de la Provence, II, 152. 'Lou galant,' Atger, Revue des Langues romanes, VI, 261, and Poésies pop. en Langue d'oc, p. 53. 'Las finesses de la Marioun,' Moncaut, Littérature pop. de la Gascogne, p. 316 = Bladé, Poésies pop. de la Gascogne, II, 116 f. Revue des Traditions pop., II, 64, Cévennes. Daudet, Numa Roumestan, ed. 1881, p. 178, Provence = Revue des Tr. pop., II, 65, Quest de la France. 'Lou Tsalous, Daymard, Bulletin de la Société des Études,' etc., du Lot, IV, 100, 1878, Vieux chants pop. rec. en Quercy, 1889, p. 92. 'Las rebirados de Marioun,' Soleville, Chants pop. du Bas-Quercy, p. 22; partly, in Pouvillon, Nouvelles réalistes, ed. 1878, p. 151. Victor Smith in Romania, IX, 566-68, three copies, Forez, Velay, bas-limousin. 'Le mari soupçonneux,' Tarbé, Romancero de Champagne, II, 98, Ardennes. 'La chanson de la bergère,' Puymaigre, Chants pop. rec. dans le Pays messin, 1865, p. 215, 1881, 1, 263. 'Les répliques de Marioun,' Almanach des Traditions pop., 1882, p. 86, in Rolland, II, 208, No 162 a, environs de Lorient. 'Las respounsos de Marioun,' Laroche, Folklore du Lauraguais, p. 211. "Le Chroniqueur du Périgord et du Limousin, Périgueux, 1853, p. 109." "Le Pélerinage de Mireille, p. 173." (The last two I have not seen.)
For the most part, the colloquy runs in this wise: 'Where were you last evening, Marion?' 'In the garden, picking a salad.' 'Who was it you were talking with?' 'A gossip of mine' (camarade, voisine, cousine, sœur, servante, etc.). 'Do women wear a sword?' 'It was no sword, but a distaff.' 'Do women wear breeches?' 'She was kilted up.' 'Have women a moustache?' 'She had been eating mulberries.' 'It is too late for mulberries.' 'They were last year's' (an autumn branch, etc.). 'I will cut off your head.' 'And what will you do with the rest?' 'Throw it out of the window.' 'Les corbeaux (cochons, chiens, chats, mouches, couteliers, capucins, anges, etc.) en feront fête.' In a few instances, to end the more smartly, the husband is made to promise (or the wife to ask) forgiveness for this time, and the wife adds, aside, 'and many more.' 'You will play off no more tricks on me.' 'Forgive this, and I will, a good many.' (Rolland.) 'Pardon this fault; to-morrow I will commit another.' (Victor Smith.) 'Get up: I pardon you.' 'What dolts men are! What can't we make them believe!' (Manuscripts, III, 78.) Etc.
In some half dozen copies, Marion has been at the spring (not in the garden), and has stayed suspiciously long, which she accounts for by her having found the water muddied. After this, and in a few copies which have no garden or spring, the matter is much the same as in the English ballad; there is a sword on the mantel-shelf (a gun on the table), boots (cane) behind the door, a man where nae man should be. Nearest of all to the English is one of Victor Smith's ballads, Romania, IX, 566: 'Whose horse was that in the stable last night?' 'No horse, but our black cow.' 'A cow with a saddle?' 'No saddle; it was the shadow of her horns.' 'Whose breeches, boots, sabre, hat?' 'qui était couché à ma place?' The mulberries are nearly a constant feature in the French ballad.
There is an approach to a serious termination in Manuscripts, III, 87: 'Say your prayers, without so much noise.' 'At least put my bones in the ground.' And in Puymaigre: 'I will take you to Flanders and have you hanged.' 'Leave the gallows for the great robbers of France.' The copies, Manuscripts, III, 62, 71, end, prosaically, 'Jamais je n'ai vu ni fille ni femme qui sent la putain comme toi;' 'Femme qui m'a trompé la mort a méritée!'
The lace-makers of Vorey are wont to recite or sing this ballad winter evenings as a little drama: V. Smith, Romania, IX, 568, note. So the young girls in Lorraine during carnival, Puymaigre, I, 263; and the young fellows in Provence, Arbaud, II, 155 f.
Italian. 'Le repliche di Marion,' Nigra, Canti popolari del Piemonte, p. 422, No 85, A, B, C. The Piedmontese copies follow the French closely, beginning with picking salad in the garden, and ending with 'your peace is made,' as in Poésies p. de la France, Manuscripts, III, 64. 'Il marito geloso' (incomplete), Ferraro, Canti p. moriferrini, p. 93, No 70. 'La sposa colta in fallo,' Bernoni, Canti p. veneziani, puntata ix, No 8, p. 12. (Mariù goes on her knees and asks pardon, and is told to get up, for pardoned she is.) 'Bombarion,' Ferrari, first in Giornale di Filologia romanza, III, No 7, p. 74, 1880, and then in Archivio per le Tradizioni popolari, Canti p. in San Pietro Capofiume, VII, 398, 1888 (peace is made). All the Italian versions keep near to the French, having nothing original but an unimportant insertion, 'Chi ti fara la minestra?' etc., just before the end.[3]
Catalan. 'La Trapassera,' Briz y Saltó, Cants pop. Catalans, II, 69. Father hears daughter talking with lover in the garden; the usual questions and replies; improved, or corrupted, at the end.
For serious ballads, Scandinavian, Spanish, etc., exhibiting similar questions and evasions, see 'Clerk Saunders,' No 69 P, and the remarks at II, 157 f., 512 a, III, 509 a, IV, 468 a. The romance 'De Blanca-Niña' occurs in the Cancionero de Romances of 1550. The oldest Scandinavian ballad of the class is one of Syv's, printed in 1695.
Herd, 1776, is translated by Wolff, Halle der Völker, I, 96, Hausschatz, p. 230; by Fiedler, Geschichte der schottischen Liederdichtung, I, 32; by Knortz, Schottische Balladen, p. 82.
Footnotes:
1. I am indebted for information concerning this song, and for a copy, to Mr. F.Z. Bound.
2. Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Unsere Volksthümlichen Lieder, No 478. It begins:
Ich ging in meinen Stall, da sah ich, ei! ei!
An Krippen standen Pferde, eins, zwei, drei.
3. 'Violina, tu hai le gote rosse,' a very pretty little contrasto bundled by Tigri with his rispetti (Canti p. toscani, p. 284, No 1023, ed. 1856), is a skirmish between father and daughter, after the fashion of our ballad. ('My cheeks are stained with mulberries.' 'Show me the mulberries.' 'They are on the hedges.' 'Show me the hedges.' 'The goats have eaten them.' 'Show me the goats,' etc.) Ferrari, in an excellent paper in the journal referred to above, tries to make out some historical relation between the two. He seems to me to take 'La Violina' quite too seriously.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
B is a broadside version which has had an interesting history on the Continent. It was translated into German by Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer, in 1789, in very happy style, with a denoUment in which the man gives his wife a beating and explains his cuffs as caresses which her mother has sent her. Meyer's ballad was printed in 1790. It had great and immediate success, was circulated as a broadside, and was taken up by the people, in whose mouth it underwent the usual treatment of ballads traditionally propagated. From Germany it spread into Scandinavia and Hungary, and perhaps elsewhere.
A similar ballad, 'Marion' or 'Le Jaloux,' is common in France, especially in the south. For a serious ballad exhibiting similar questions and evasions, see 'Clerk Saunders' (No, 69 F).
Child's Ballad Texts
['Our Goodman']- Version A; Child 274 Our Goodman
Herd's Manuscripts, I, 140.
1 Hame came our goodman,
And hame came he,
And then he saw a saddle-horse,
Where nae horse should be.
2 'What's this now, goodwife?
What's this I see?
How came this horse here,
Without the leave o me?'
'A horse?' quo she.
'Ay, a horse,' quo he.
3 'Shame fa your cuckold face,
Ill mat ye see!
'Tis naething but a broad sow,
My minnie sent to me.'
'A broad sow?' quo he.
'Ay, a sow,' quo shee.
4 'Far hae I ridden,
And farrer hae I gane,
But a sadle on a sow's back
I never saw nane.'
5 Hame came our goodman,
And hame came he;
He spy'd a pair of jack-boots,
Hwere nae boots should be.
6 'What's this now, goodwife?
What's this I see?
How came these boots here,
Without the leave o me?'
'Boots?' quo she.
'Ay, boots,' quo he.
7 'Shame fa your cuckold face,
And ill mat ye see!
It's but a pair of water-stoups,
My minnie sent to me.'
'Water-stoups?' quo he.
'Ay, water-stoups,' quo she.
8 'Far hae I ridden,
And farer hae I gane,
But siller spurs on water-stoups
I saw never nane.'
9 Hame came our goodman,
And hame came he,
And he saw a sword,
Whare a sword should na be.
10 'What's this now, goodwife?
What's this I see?
How came this sword here,
Without the leave o me?'
'A sword?' quo she.
'Ay, a sword,' quo he.
11 'Shame fa your cuckold face,
Ill mat ye see!
It's but a porridge-spurtle,
My minnie sent to me.'
'A spurtle?' quo he.
'Ay, a spurtle,' quo she.
12 'Far hae I ridden,
And farer hae I gane,
But siller-handed spurtles
I saw never nane.'
13 Hame came our goodman,
And hame came he;
There he spy'd a powderd wig,
Where nae wig shoud be.
14 'What's this now, goodwife?
What's this I see?
How came this wig here,
Without the leave o me?'
'A wig?' quo she.
'Ay, a wig,' quo he.
15 'Shame fa your cuckold face,
And ill mat you see!
'Tis naething but a clocken-hen,
My minnie sent to me.'
'Clocken hen?' quo he.
'Ay, clocken hen,' quo she.
16 'Far hae I ridden,
And farer hae I gane,
But powder on a clocken-hen
I saw never nane.'
17 Hame came our goodman,
And hame came he,
And there he saw a muckle coat,
Where nae coat shoud be.
18 'What's this now, goodwife?
What's this I see?
How came this coat here,
Without the leave o me?'
'A coat?' quo she.
'Ay, a coat,' quo he.
19 'Shame fa your cuckold face,
Ill mat ye see!
It's but a pair o blankets,
My minnie sent to me.'
'Blankets?' quo he.
'Ay, blankets,' quo she.
20 'Far hae I ridden,
And farer hae I gane,
But buttons upon blankets
I saw never nane.'
21 'Ben went our goodman,
And ben went he,
And there he spy'd a study man,
Where nae man shoud be.
22 'What's this now, goodwife?
What's this I see?
How came this man here,
Without the leave o me?'
'A man?' quo she.
'Ay, a man,' quo he.
23 'Poor blind body,
And blinder mat ye be!
It's a new milking-maid,
My mither sent to me.'
'A maid?' quo he.
'Ay, a maid,' quo she.
24 'Far hae I ridden,
And farer hae I gane,
But lang-bearded maidens
I saw never nane.
----------
'The Merry Cuckold and Kind Wife'- Version B; Child 274 Our Goodman
A broadside: Printed and Sold at the Printing-office in Bow Church-Yard, London.
1 O I went into the stable,
and there for to see,
And there I saw three horses stand,
by one, by two, and by three.
2 O I calld to my loving wife,
and 'Anon, kind sir!' quoth she:
'O what do these three horses here,
without the leave of me?'
3 'Why, you old cuckold, blind cuckold,
can't you very well see?
These are three milking-cows,
my mother sent O me.'
4 'Heyday! Godzounds! Milking-cows with bridles and saddles on!
the like was never known!'
Old Wichet a cuckold went out,
and a cuckold he came home.
5 O I went into the kitchen,
and there for to see,
And there I saw three swords hang,
by one, by two, and by three.
6 O I calld to my loving wife,
and 'Anon, kind sir!' quoth she:
'O what do these three swords do here,
without the leave of me?'
7 'Why, you old cuckold, blind cuckold,
can't you very well see?
They are three roasting-spits,
my mother sent to me.'
8 'Heyday! Godzounds! Roasting spits with scabbards on!
the like was never known!'
Old Wichet a cuckold went out,
and a cuckold he came home.
9 O I went into the parlour,
and there for to see,
And there I saw three cloaks hang,
by one, by two, and by three.
10 O I calld to my loving wife,
and 'Anon, kind sir!' quoth she:
'O what do these three cloaks do here,
without the leave of me?'
11 Why, you old cuckold, blind cuckold,
can't you very well see?
These are three mantuas,
my mother sent to me.'
12 'Heyday! Godzounds! Mantuas with capes on!
the like was never known!'
Old Wichet a cuckold went out,
and a cuckold he came home.
13 I went into the pantry,
and there for to see,
And there I saw three pair of boots hang,
by one, by two, and by three.
14 O I called to my loving wife,
and 'Anon, kind sir!' quoth she
'O what do these three pair of boots do here,
without the leave of me?'
15 'Why, you old cuckold, blind cuckold,
can't you very well see?
These are three pudding-bags,
my mother sent to me.'
16 'Heyday! Godzounds! Pudding-bags with spurs on!
the like was never known!'
Old Wichet a cuckold went out,
and a cuckold he came home.
17 I went into my closet,
and there for to see,
And there I saw three pair of breeches lie,
by one, by two, and by three.
18 O I calld to my loving wife,
and 'Anon, kind sir!' quoth she:
'O what do these three pair of breeches do here,
without the leave of me?'
19 'Why, you old cuckold, blind cuckold,
can't you very well see?
These are three petticoats,
my mother sent to me.'
20 'Heyday! Godzounds! Petticoats with waistbands on!
the like was never known!'
Old Wichet a cuckold went out,
and a cuckold he came home.
21 I went into the dairy,
and there for to see,
And there I saw three hats hang,
by one, by two, and by three.
22 I calld to my loving wife,
and 'Anon, kind sir!' quoth she:
'Pray what do these three hats do here,
without the leave of me?'
23 'Why, you old cuckold, blind cuckold,
can't you very well see?
They are three skimming-dishes,
my mother sent to me.'
24 'Heyday! Godzounds! Skimming-dishes with hat-bands on!
the like was never known!'
Old Wichet a cuckold went out,
and a cuckold he came home.
25 I went into the chamber,
and there for to see,
And there I saw three men in bed lie,
by one, by two, and by three.
26 I called to my loving wife,
and 'Anon, kind sir!' quoth she:
'O what do these three men in bed,
without the leave of me?'
27 'Why, you old cuckold, blind cuckold,
don't you very well see?
They are three milking-maids,
my mother sent to me.'
28 'Heyday! Godzounds! Milking-maids with beards on!
the like was never known!'
Old Wichet a cuckold went out,
and a cuckold he came home.
End-Notes
A. 11. Or, Our goodman came hame at een.
21. Or, How came this horse here?
22. Or, How can this be?
31. Or, Ye aid blind dottled carl.
32. Or, Blind mat ye be!
33. Or, a bonny milk-cow.
34. My minny is an alternative and necessary reading for The miller.
41. Or, travelld.
42. Or, And meikle hae I seen.
44. [Or,] Saw I.
51. Or, Our goodman came hame.
74. The cooper sent.
9-12. At the end, with a direction as to place: not completely written out.
91. Hame, etc.
103. O how.
121,2. Weel far hae I travelled,
And muckle hae I seen.
124. Saw I never nane.
The regular readings have been inserted or substituted. In printing, Herd gave sometimes the alternative readings, sometimes not.
B. Printed in seven staves, or stanzas, of eight long lines.
11, 21. Oh.
153, 193. the three.
Notes and Queries, First Series, VI, 118 ("Shropshire Ballad").
I went into the stable,
To see what I could see;
I saw three gentlemen's horses,
By one, by two, by three.
I called to my loving wife,
'Coming, sir!' says she:
'What meaneth these three horses here,
Without the leave of me?'
'You old fool! you blind fool!
Can't you, won't you, see?
They are three milking-cows,
That my mother sent to me.'
'Odds bobs, here's fun! Milking-cows with saddles on!
The likes I never see!
I cannot go a mile from home
But a cuckold I must be.'
I went into the parlour,
To see what I could see;
I saw there three gentlemen,
By one, by two, by three.
I called to my loving wife,
'Coming, sir!' said she:
'What bringeth these three gentlemen here,
Without the leave of me?'
'You old fool! you blind fool!
Can't you, won't you, see?
They are three milking-maids,
That my mother sent to me.'
'Odds bobs, here's fun!
Milking-maids with breeches on!
The likes I never see!
I cannot go a mile from home
But a cuckold I must be.'
The unhappy husband next wanders into the pantry, and discovers ' three pairs of hunting-boots,' which his spouse declares are
' ... milking-churns,
Which my mother sent to me.'
'Odds bobs, here's fun!
Milking-churns with spurs on!
The likes I never see!
I cannot go a mile from home
But a cuckold I must be.'
The gentleman's coats, discovered in the kitchen, are next disposed of, but here my memory fails me.
Appendix
'T was on Christmas Day,' found on a slip, "Sold at No 42 Long Lane," in a volume in the British Museum, 1876. e (not paged, but at what would be p. 57), and again in The New Covent Garden Concert, London, Printed and sold by J. Evans, No 41 Long-Lane, West Smithfield, Br. Mus. 1077. g. 47 (4), dated in the catalogue "1805?"
'Twas on Christmas Day
Father he did wed;
Three months after that
My mother was brought to bed.
My father he came home,
His head with liquor stord,
And found in mother's room
A silver-hilted sword.
Fiddle de dum de de, etc.
'How came this sword here?'
My mother says, says she,
'Lovee, 't is a poker
Antee sent to me.'
Father he stumbld and star'd;
'Twas the first, I ween,
Silver-headed poker
He had ever seen.
Father grumbled on,
But getting into bed
Egad! as luck fell out,
A man popd up his head;
'That's my milk-maid,' says she;
Says dad, I never heard
In all my travels yet
A milk-maid with a beard.'
My father found a whip,
And very glad was he;
'And how came this whip here,
Without the leave of me?'
'Oh! that's a nice strap-lace
My antee sent to me;'
Egad I he lac'd her stays,
And out of doors went she.
Additions and Corrections
P. 89 f. French. Add: La Tradition, VII, 145, Le Quercy.
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P. 88 a. [A version similar to that in Smith's Scotish Minstrel, but not absolutely identical, is mentioned in Blätter f. literarische Unterhaltung, 1855, p. 236, as contained, with a German translation, in " Ten Scottish Songs rendered into German. By W. B. Macdonald of Rammerscales. Scottish and German. Edinburgh, 1854." Professor Child refers to this version in a Manuscript note. A specimen of the translation is given in the journal just cited, as well as enough of the Scotch to show that the copy is not exactly like Smith's. "Vetter Macintosh" and "der Fürst Karl" are mentioned. Macdonald's book is not at this moment accessible. G. L. K.]
89 f., 281 a. 'Le Jaloux, ou Les Répliques de Marion;' add version from Normandy (prose), Revue des Traditions populaires, X, 136; Hautes-Pyrenees, p. 515.
The copy in Le chroniqueur du Périgord et de Limousin is 'La rusade,' Poésies pop. de la France, Manuscripts, III, fol. 84. The copy in Le Pèlerinage de Mireille (A. Lexandre), is from Provence, and closely resembles that in Daudet's Numa Roumestan.
Italian. Add 'Marion,' Rivista delle Tradizioni pop. italiane, II, 34-37. 'O Violina ' is repeated, very nearly, in a Tuscan Filastrocca, Rivista delle Tradizioni pop. italiane, II, 474 f.; see also Archivio, III, 43, No 18. A Polish ballad has some little similarity: Kolberg, Lud, XXI, 54, No 112.