No. 46: Captain Wedderburn's Courtship
[Child provides version A-C with seven versions of B (B h was added in a later edition). Two other distinct lyric variant riddle songs noted by Child below: 1) "I have a ȝong suster" (c. 1430) known as "The Riddle Song (I gave My Love a Cherry)" which was collected in the US and 2) "Para-Mara, Dictum, Domine" or "Perrie Merrie Dixie Domine" in the US and British Isles, which was found in Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes. Both are included in Appendix 46. They have four of the riddles found in Captain Wedderburn's Courtship but not the story.
The other distinct lyric variant in Appendix 46 is 3) the old tune (appears in a Virginal book; early 1600s), later with lyrics "Go No More a-Rushing." The song was used in a Mummers' Play (Derbyshire, 1862) and is related to the tune, "Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree." Similar to "Perrie Merrie Dixie Domine," the old song "Go No More a-Rushing" also appears as the traditional nursery rhyme, "A Paradox" (Mason, 1877). A version with music was published by Barrett in 1891.
R. Matteson 2012]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes (added at the end of Child's Narrative)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-C (Changes in text for A b, and B b- B f found in End-Notes. Another version, B h. 'Captian Wederburn,' "The Old Lady's Collection," No 38, is found in Additions and Corrections.)
5. Endnotes
6. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: Captain Wedderburn's Courtship
A. Roud No. 36: Captain Wedderburn's Courtship (170 Listings)
2. Sheet Music: Captain Wedderburn's Courtship (Bronson's texts and some music examples)
3. US & Canadian Versions
4. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-C with additional notes)]
Child's Narrative
A. a. 'I'll no ly neist the wa,' Herd's Manuscript, I, 161.
b. 'She'll no ly neist [the] wa,' the same, II, 100.
B. a. 'The Earl of Rosslyn's Daughter,' Kinloch Manuscripts, I, 83.
b. 'Lord Roslin's Daughter,' Lord Roslin's Daughter's Garland, p. 4.
c. 'Lord Roslin's Daughter,' Buchan's Manuscripts, II, 34.
d. 'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship,' Jamieson's Popular Ballads, II, 159.
e. Harris Manuscript, fol. 19 b, No 14.
f. Notes and Queries, 2d S., IV, 170.
h. 'Captian Wederburn,' "The Old Lady's Collection," No 38.
C. 'The Laird of Roslin's Daughter,' Sheldon's Minstrelsy of the English Border, p. 232.
A copy of this ballad was printed in The New British Songster, a collection of Songs, Scots and English, with Toasts and Sentiments for the Bottle, Falkirk, 1785: see Motherwell, p. lxxiv.[1] Few were more popular, says Motherwell, and Jamieson remarks that 'Captain Wedderburn' was equally in vogue in the north and the south of Scotland.
Jamieson writes to the Scots Magazine, 1803, p. 701: "Of this ballad I have got one whole copy and part of another, and I remember a good deal of it as I have heard it sung in Morayshire when I was a child." In his Popular Ballads, II, 154, 1806, he says that the copy which he prints was furnished him from Mr. Herd's Manuscript by the editor of the Border Minstrelsy, and that he had himself supplied a few readings of small importance from his own recollection. There is some inaccuracy here. The version given by Jamieson is rather B, with readings from A.
We have had of the questions six, A 11, 12, What is greener than the grass? in No 1, A 15, C 13, D 5; [Child refers to Riddles Wisely Expounded here.] What's higher than the tree? in C 9, D 1; What's war than a woman's wiss? ("than a woman was") A 15, C 13, D 5; What's deeper than the sea? A 13, B 5, C 9, D 1. Of the three dishes, A 8, 9, we have the bird without a gall in Ein Spil von den Freiheit, Fastnachtspiele aus dem 15n Jhdt, II, 558, v. 23,[2] and the two others in the following song, from a manuscript assigned to the fifteenth century, and also preserved in several forms by oral tradition:[3] Sloane Manuscript, No 2593, British Museum; Wright's Songs and Carols, 1836, No 8; as printed for the Warton Club, No xxix, p. 33.
I have a ȝong suster fer beȝondyn the se,
Many be the drowryis that che sente me.
Che sente me the cherye, withoutyn ony ston,
And so che dede [the] dowe, withoutyn ony bon.
Sche sente me the brere, withoutyn ony rynde,
Sche bad me love my lemman withoute longgyng.
How xuld ony eherye be withoute ston?
And how xuld ony dowe ben withoute bon?
How xuld any brere ben withoute rynde?
How xuld y love myn lemman without longyng?
Quan the cherye was a flour, than hadde it non ston;
Quan the dowe was an ey, than had de it non bon.
Quan the brere was onbred, than hadde it non rynd;
Quan the mayden haȝt that che lovit, che is without longyng.
'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship,' or 'Lord Roslin's Daughter,'[4] is a counterpart of the ballad in which a maid wins a husband by guessing riddles. (See Nos 1 and 2, and also the following ballad, for a lady who gives riddles.) The ingenious suitor, though not so favorite a subject as the clever maid, may boast that he is of an old and celebrated family. We find him in the Gesta Romanorum, No 70; Oesterley, p. 383, Madden's English Versions, No 35, p. 384. A king had a beautiful daughter, whom he wished to dispose of in marriage; but she had made a vow that she would accept no husband who had not achieved three tasks: to tell her how many feet long, broad, and deep were the four elements; to change the wind from the north; to take fire into his bosom, next the flesh, without harm. The king issued a proclamation in accordance with these terms. Many tried and failed, but at last there came a soldier who succeeded. To answer the first question he made his servant lie down, and measured him from head to foot. Every living being is composed of the four elements, he said, and I find not more than seven feet in them. A very easy way was hit on for performing the second task: the soldier simply turned his horse's head to the east, and, since wind is the life of every animal, maintained that be had changed the wind. The king was evidently not inclined to be strict, and said, Clear enough. Let us go on to the third. Then, by the aid of a stone which he always carried about him, the soldier put handfuls of burning coals into his bosom without injury. The king gave his daughter to the soldier.
An extraordinary ballad in Sakellarios's Κυπριακά, III, 15, No 6, 'The Hundred Sayings,' subjects a lover to a severe probation of riddles. (Liebrecht has given a full abstract of the story in Gosche's Archiv, II, 29.) A youth is madly enamored of a king's daughter, but, though his devotion knows no bound, cannot for a long time get a word from her mouth, and then only disdain. She shuts her self up in a tower. He prays for a heat that may force her to come to the window, and that she may drop her spindle, and he be the only one to bring it to her. The heavens are kind: all this comes to pass, and she is fain to beg him to bring her the spindle. She asks, Can you do what I say? Shoulder a tower? make a stack of eggs? trim a date-tree, standing in a great river?[5] All this he can do. She sends him away once and again to learn various things; last of all, the hundred sayings that lovers use. He presents himself for examination. "One?" "There is one only God: may he help me!" "Two?" "Two doves with silver wings are sporting together: I saw how they kissed," etc. "Three?" "Holy Trinity, help me to love the maid!" "Four?" "There is a four-pointed cross on thy smock, and it implores God I may be thy mate:" and so he is catechised through all the units and tens.[6] Then the lady suddenly turns about, concedes everything, and proposes that they shall go to church: but the man says, If I am to marry all my loves, I have one in every town, and wife and children in Constantinople. They part with reciprocal scurrilities.
Usually when the hand of a princess is to be won by the performance of tasks, whether requiring wit, courage, the overcoming of magic arts, or what not, the loss of your head is the penalty of failure. (See the preface to the following ballad.) Apollonius of Tyre, of Greek original, but first found in a Latin form, is perhaps the oldest riddle-story of this description. Though its age has not been determined, the tale has been carried back even to the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century, was a great favorite with the Middle Ages, and is kept only too familiar by the play of Pericles.
More deserving of perpetuation is the charming Persian story of Prince Calaf, in Pétis de La Croix's 1001 Days (45e-82e jour), upon which Carlo Gozzi founded his play of "La Turandot," now best known through Schiller's translation. Tourandocte's riddles are such as we should call legitimate, and are three in number. "What is the being that is found in every land, is dear to all the world, and cannot endure a fellow?" Calaf answers, The sun. "What mother swallows the children she has given birth to, as soon as they have attained their growth?" The sea, says Calaf, for the rivers that flow into it all came from it. "What is the tree that has all its leaves white on one side and black on the other?" This tree, Calaf answers, is the year, which is made up of days and nights.[7]
A third example of this hazardous wooing is the story of The Fair One of the Castle, the fourth in the Persian poem of The Seven Figures (or Beauties), by Nisami of Gendsch († 1180). A Russian princess is shut up in a castle made inaccessible by a talisman, and every suitor must satisfy four conditions: he must be a man of honor, vanquish the enchanted guards, take away the talisman, and obtain the consent of her father. Many had essayed their fortune, and their heads were now arrayed on the pinnacles of the castle.[8] A young prince had fulfilled the first three conditions, but the father would not approve his suit until he had solved the princess's riddles. These are expressed symbolically, and answered in the same way. The princess sends the prince two pearls from her earring: he at once takes her meaning, — life is like two drops of water, — and returns the pearls with three diamonds, to signify that joy — faith, hope, and love — can prolong life. The princess now sends him three jewels in a box, with sugar. The prince seizes the idea, — life is blended with sensuous desire, — and pours milk on the sugar, to intimate that as milk dissolves sugar, so sensuous desire is quenched by true love. After four such interchanges, the princess seals her consent with a device not less elegant than the others.[9]
A popular tale of this class is current in Russia, with this variation: that the hard-hearted princess requires her lovers to give her riddles, and those who cannot pose her lose their heads. Foolish Iván, the youngest of three brothers, adventures after many have failed. On his way to the trial he sees a horse in a cornfield and drives it out with a whip, and further on kills a snake with a lance, saying in each case, Here's a riddle! Confronted with the princess, he says to her, As I came to you, I saw by the roadside what was good; and in the good was good; so I set to work, and with what was good I drove the good from the good. The good fled from the good out of the good. The princess pleads a headache, and puts off her answer till the next day, when Iván gives her his second enigma: As I came to you, I saw on the way what was bad, and I struck the bad with a bad thing, and of what was bad the bad died. The princess, unable to solve these puzzles, is obliged to accept foolish Iván. (Afanasief, Skazki, II, 225 ff, No 20, in Ralston's Songs of the Russian People, p. 354 f.) Closely related to this tale, and still nearer to one another, are the Grimms' No 22, 'Das Räthsel' (see, also, the note in their third volume), and the West Highland story, 'The Ridere (Knight) of Riddles,' Campbell, No 22, II, 27. In the former, as in the Russian tale, it is the princess that must be puzzled before she will yield her hand; in the latter, an unmatchable beauty is to be had by no man who does not put a question which her father cannot solve.
Here may be put three drolleries, all clearly of the same origin, in which a fool wins a princess by nonplussing her: 'The Three Questions,' Halliwell's Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales, p. 32; a "schwank" of the fourteenth century, by Heinz der Kellner, von der Hagen's Gesammtabenteuer, No 63, III, 179 (there very improperly called Turandot); 'Spurningen,' Asbjørnson og Moe, Norske Folkeeventyr, No 4, Dasent, Popular Tales from the Norse, p. 148. According to the first of these, the king of the East Angles promises his clever daughter to anyone who can answer three of her questions (in the other versions, more correctly, silence her). Three brothers, one of them a natural, set out for the court, and, on the way, Jack finds successively an egg, a crooked hazel-stick, and a nut, and each time explodes with laughter. When they are ushered into the presence, Jack bawls out, What a troop of fair ladies! "Yes," says the princess, "we are fair ladies, for we carry fire in our bosoms." "Then roast me an egg," says Jack, pulling out the egg from his pocket. "How will you get it out again?" asks the princess? "With a crooked stick," says Jack, producing the same. "Where did that come from?" says the princess. "From a nut," answers Jack, pulling out the nut. And so, as the princess is silenced, the fool gets her in marriage.[10]
Even nowadays riddles play a noteworthy part in the marriages of Russian peasants. In the government Pskof, as we are informed by Khudyakof, the bridegroom's party is not admitted into the bride's house until all the riddles given by the party of the bride have been answered; whence the saying or proverb, to the behoof of bridegrooms, Choose comrades that can guess riddles. In the village of Davshina, in the Yaroslav government, the bridegroom's best man presents himself at the bride's house on the wedding-day, and finding a man, called the-bride-seller, sitting by the bride, asks him to surrender the bride and vacate his place. "Fair and softly," answers the seller; "you will not get the bride for nothing; make us a bid, if you will. And how will you trade? will you pay in riddles or in gold?" If the best man is prepared for the emergency, as we must suppose he always would be, he answers, I will pay in riddles. Half a dozen or more riddles are now put by the seller, of which these are favorable specimens: Give me the sea, full to the brim, and with a bottom of silver. The best man makes no answer in words, but fills a bowl with beer and lays a coin at the bottom. Tell me the thing, naked itself, which has a shift over its bosom. The best man hands the seller a candle. Finally the seller says, Give me something which the master of this house lacks. The best man then brings in the bridegroom. The seller gives up his seat, and hands the best man a plate, saying, Put in this what all pretty girls like. The best man puts in what money he thinks proper, the bridesmaids take it and quit the house, and the bridegroom's friends carry off the bride.
So, apparently in some ballad, a maid gives riddles, and will marry only the man who will guess them.
By day like a hoop,
By night like a snake;
Who reads my riddle,
I take him for mate. (A belt.)
No 1103 of Khudyakof.[11]
In Radloff's Songs and Tales of the Turkish tribes in East Siberia, I, 60, a father, wanting a wife for his son, applies to another man, who has a marriageable daughter. The latter will not make a match unless the young man's father will come to him with pelt and sans pelt, by the road and not by the road, on a horse and yet not on a horse: see 8 ff of this volume. The young man gives his father proper instructions, and wins his wife.
A Lithuanian mother sends her daughter to the wood to fetch "winter May and summer snow." She meets a herdsman, and asks where she can find these. The herdsman offers to teach her these riddles in return for her love, and she complying with these terms, gives her the answers: The evergreen tree is winter May, and sea-foam is summer snow. Beiträge zur Kunde Preussens, 1,515 (Rhesa), and Ausland, 1839, p. 1230.
The European tales, excepting the three drolleries (and even they are perhaps to be regarded only as parodies of the others), must be of Oriental derivation; but the far north presents us with a similar story in the lay of Alvíss, in the elder Edda. The dwarf Alvíss comes to claim Freya for his bride by virtue of a promise from the gods. Thor[12] says that the bride is in his charge, and that he was from home when the promise was made: at any rate, Alvíss shall not have the maid unless he can answer all the questions that shall be put him. Thor then requires Alvíss to give him the names of earth, heaven, moon, sun, etc., ending with barley and the poor creature small beer, in all the worlds; that is, in the dialect of the gods, of mankind, giants, elves, dwarfs, etc. Alvíss does this with such completeness as to extort Thor's admiration, but is craftily detained in so doing till after sunrise, when Thor cries, You are taken in! Above ground at dawn! and the dwarf turns to stone.
Translated, in part, after Aytoun, by Knortz, Schottische Balladen, p. 107.
Footnotes:
1. This book has been pursued by me for years, with the coöperation of many friends and agents, but in vain.
2. Followed by Virgil's riddle, Ecl. iii, 104-5, Where is he sky but three spans broad?
3. Halliwell's Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales, p. 150; Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes, No 375; Notes and Queries, 3d Ser., IX, 401; 4th Ser., III, 501, 604; Macmillan's Magazine, V, 248, by T. Hughes. The first of these runs:
I have four sisters beyond the sea,
Para-mara, dictum, domine
And they did send four presents to me.
Partum. quartum, paradise, tempum,
Para-mara, dictum, domine
The first it was a bird without eer a bone,
The second was a cherry without eer a stone.
The third it was a blanket without eer a thread,
The fourth it was a book which no man could read.
How can there be a bird without eer a bone?
How can there be a cherry without eer a stone?
How can there be a blanket without eer a thread?
How can there be a book which no man can read?
When the bird's in the shell, there is no bone;
When the cherry's in the bud, there is no stone.
When the blanket's in the fleece, there is no thread;
When the book's in the press, no man can read.
The Minnesinger dames went far beyond our laird's daughter in the way of requiring "ferlies" from their lovers. Der Tanhuser and Boppe represent that their ladies would he satisfied with nothing short of their turning the course of rivers; bringing them the salamander, the basilisk, the graal, Paris's apple; giving them a sight of Enoch and Elijah in the body, a hearing of the sirens, etc. Von der Hagen, Minnesinger, II, 91 f, 385 f.
4. There were, no doubt, Grissels enough in the very distinguished family of the Sinclairs of Roslin to furnish one for this ballad. I see two mentioned among the Sinclairs of Herdmanstoun. Even a Wedderburn connection, as I am informed, is not absolutely lacking. George Home of Wedderburn († 1497), married the eldest daughter of John Sinclair of Herdmanstoun: Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, ed. Wood, 1813, II, 174.
5. The difficulty here is the want of a ποῦ στῶ, from which to climb the tree.
6. These number-riddles or songs are known to every nation of Europe. E. g., Chambers' Popular Rhymes of Scotland, p. 44, ed. 1870, from Buchon's MSS, I, 280:
O what will be our ane, boys?
0 what will be our ane, boys?
My only ane, she walks alane,
And evennair has dune, boys, etc.
7. Gozzi retains the first and third riddles. Schiller only the third. By a happy idea, new riddles were introduced at the successive performances of Schiller's play. Turandot appears as a traditional tale in Schneller's Märchen u. Sagen aus Wälschtirol, No 49, p. 132, "I tre Indovinelli."
8. The castle with walls and gate thus equipped, or a palisade of stakes each crowned with a head, is all but a commonplace in such adventures. This grim stroke of fancy is best in 'La mule sanz frain,' where there are four hundred stakes, all but one surmounted with a bloody head: Méon, Nouveau Recueil, I, 15, vv 429-37. For these parlous princesses, of all sorts, see Grundtvig, 'Den farlige Jomfru,' IV, 43 ff, No 184
9. Von Hammer, Geschichte der schönen Redekünste Persiens, p. 116, previously cited by von der Hagen, Gesammtabenteuer, III, lxii.
10. The German schwank affixes the forfeit of the head to failure. In the Norwegian the unsuccessful brothers get off with a thrashing. The fire in the English, found also in the German, recalls the third task in the Gesta Romanorum.
11. Khudyakof, in the Ethnographical Collection of the Russian Geographical Society, Etnografitcheskiy Sbornit, etc., VI, 9, 10, 8. Ralston, The Songs of the Russian People. p. 353.
12. Vigfusson objects to Thor being the interlocutor, though that is the name in the Manuscript, because cunning does not suit Thor's blunt character, and proposes Odin instead. "May be the dwarf first met Thor (Willgthor), whereupon Woden (Wingi) came up." Corpus Poeticum Boreale, I, 81.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship' is a counterpart of the ballad in which a maid wins a husband by guessing riddles (cf. Nos. 1 and 2). The ingenious suitor, though not so favorite a subject as the clever maid, is of an old and celebrated family. We find him in the Gesta Romanorum (cap. 70, Oesterley, p. 383), in Apollonius of Tyre (which has been carried back to the third or fourth century), in a Persian poem by Nisami (died 1180), and in the Persian story of Prince Calaf in Pétis de La Croix's Thousand and One Days. On Prince Calaf is founded Carlo Gozzi's play of La Turandot, now best known through Schiller's translation. There are also parallels in European popular tales. The Elder Edda presents us with a similar story in the lay of Alvíss.
Child's Ballad Texts A-C
'Captain Wedderburn's Courtship'- Version A a; Child 46
a. Herd's Manuscript, I, 161.
b. The same, II, 100.
1 The laird of Bristoll's daughter was in the woods walking,
And by came Captain Wetherbourn, a servant to the king;
And he said to his livery man, Wer't not against the law,
I would tak her to mine ain bed, and lay her neist the wa'.
2 'I'm into my father's woods, amongst my father's trees,
O kind sir, let mee walk alane, O kind sir, if you please;
The butler's bell it will be rung, and I'll be mist awa;
I'll lye into mine ain bed, neither at stock nor wa.'
3 'O my bonny lady, the bed it's not be mine,
For I'll command my servants for to call it thine;
The hangings are silk satin, the sheets are holland sma,
And we's baith lye in ae bed, but you's lye neist the wa.
4 'And so, my bonny lady, I do not know your name,
But my name's Captain Wetherburn, and I'm a man of fame;
Tho your father and a' his men were here, I would na stand in awe
To tak you to mine ain bed, and lay you neist the wa.
5 'Oh my bonny, bonny lady, if you'll gie me your hand,
You shall hae drums and trumpets to sound at your command;
Wi fifty men to guard you, sae weel their swords can dra,
And wee's baith lye in ae bed, but you's lye neist the wa.'
6 He's mounted her upon a steid, behind his gentleman,
And he himself did walk afoot, to had his lady on,
With his hand about her midle sae jimp, for fear that she should fa;
She man lye in his bed, but she'll not lye neist the wa.
7 He's taen her into Edinburgh, his landlady cam ben:
'And monny bonny ladys in Edinburgh hae I seen,
But the like of this fine creature my eyes they never sa;'
'O dame bring ben a down-bed, for she's lye neist the wa.'
8 'Hold your tongue, young man,' she said, a-end dinna trouble me,
Unless you get to my supper, and that is dishes three;
Dishes three to my supper, tho I eat nane at a',
Before I lye in your bed, but I winna lye neist the wa.
9 'You maun get to my supper a cherry but a stane,
And you man get to my supper a capon but a bane,
And you man get a gentle bird that flies wanting the ga,
Before I lye in your bed, but I'll not lye neist the wa.'
10 'A cherry whan in blossom is a cherry but a stane;
A capon when he's in the egg canna hae a bane;
The dow it is a gentle bird that flies wanting the ga;
And ye man lye in my bed, between me and the wa.'
11 'Hold your tongue, young man,' she said, a+end dinna me perplex,
Unless you tell me questions, and that is questions six;
Tell me them as I shall ask them, and that is twa by twa,
Before I lye in your bed, but I'll not lye neist the wa.
12 'What is greener than the grass, what's higher than the tree?
What's war than a woman's wiss, what's deeper than the sea?
What bird sings first, and whereupon the dew down first does fa?
Before I lye in your bed, but I'll lye neist the wa.'
13 'Virgus is greener than the grass, heaven's higher than the tree;
The deil's war than a woman's wish, hell's deeper than the sea;
The cock sings first, on the Sugar Loaf the dew down first does fa;
And ye man lye in my bed, betweest me and the wa.'
14 'Hold your tongue, young man,' she said, 'I pray you give it oer,
Unless you tell me questions, and that is questions four;
Tell me them as I shall ask them, and that is twa by twa,
Before I lye in your bed, but I winna lye neist the wa.
15 'You man get to me a plumb that does in winter grow;
And likewise a silk mantle that never waft gaed thro;
A sparrow's horn, a priest unborn, this night to join us twa,
Before I lye in your bed, but I winna lye neist the wa.'
16 'There is a plumb in my father's yeard that does in winter grow;
Likewise he has a silk mantle that never waft gaed thro;
A sparrow's horn, it may be found, there's ane in every tae,
There's ane upo the mouth of him, perhaps there may be twa.
17 'The priest is standing at the door, just ready to come in;
Nae man could sae that he was born, to lie it is a sin;
For a wild boar bored him mother's side, he out of it did fa;
And you man lye in my bed, between me and the wa.'
18 Little kent Grizey Sinclair, that morning when she raise,
'Twas to be the hindermost of a' her single days;
For now she's Captain Wetherburn's wife, a man she never saw,
And she man lye in his bed, but she'll not lye neist the wa.
---------
'The Earl of Rosslyn's Daughter'- Version B a; Captain Wedderburn's Courtship- Child 46
a. Kinloch Manuscripts, I, 83, from Mary Barr's recitation.
b. Lord Roslin's Daughter's Garland
c. Buchan's Manuscripts, II, 34
d. Jamieson's Popular Ballads, II, 159.
e. Harris Manuscript, fol. 19 b, No 14, from Mrs. Harris's recitation
f. Notes and Queries, 2d S., IV, 170, "as sung among the peasantry of the Mearns," 1857.
1 The Lord of Rosslyn's daughter gaed through the wud her lane,
And there she met Captain Wedderburn, a servant to the king.
He said unto his livery-man, Were't na agen the law,
I wad tak her to my ain bed, and lay her at the wa.
2 'I'm walking here my lane,' she says, 'amang my father's trees;
And ye may lat me walk my lane, kind sir, now gin ye please.
The supper-bell it will be rung, and I'll be missd awa;
Sae I'll na lie in your bed, at neither stock nor wa.'
3 He said, My pretty lady, I pray lend me your hand,
And ye'll hae drums and trumpets always at your command;
And fifty men to guard ye wi, that weel their swords can draw;
Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'll lie at the wa.
4 'Haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray let go my hand;
The supper-bell it will be rung, nae langer maun I stand.
My father he'll na supper tak, gif I be missd awa;
Sae I'll na lie in your bed, at neither stock nor wa.'
5 'O my name is Captain Wedderburn, my name I'll neer deny,
And I command ten thousand men, upo yon mountains high.
Tho your father and his men were here, of them I'd stand na awe,
But should tak ye to my ain bed, and lay ye neist the wa.'
6 Then he lap aff his milk-white steed, and set the lady on,
And a' the way he walkd on foot, he held her by the hand;
He held her by the middle jimp, for fear that she should fa;
Saying, I'll tak ye to my ain bed, and lay thee at the wa.
7 He took her to his quartering-house, his landlady looked ben,
Saying, Monie a pretty ladie in Edinbruch I've seen;
But sic 'na pretty ladie is not into it a':
Gae, mak for her a fine down-bed, and lay her at the wa.
8 'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray ye lat me be,
For I'll na lie in your bed till I get dishes three;
Dishes three maun be dressd for me, gif I should eat them a',
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.
9 ''Tis I maun hae to my supper a chicken without a bane;
And I maun hae to my supper a cherry without a stane;
And I maun hae to my supper a bird without a gaw,
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'
10 'Whan the chicken's in the shell, I am sure it has na bane;
And whan the cherry's in the bloom, I wat it has na stane;
The dove she is a genty bird, she flees without a gaw;
Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'll be at the wa.'
11 'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray ye give me owre,
For I'll na lie in your bed, till I get presents four;
Presents four ye maun gie me, and that is twa and twa,
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.
12 ''Tis I maun hae some winter fruit that in December grew;
And I maun hae a silk mantil that waft gaed never through;
A sparrow's horn, a priest unborn, this nicht to join us twa,
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'
13 'My father has some winter fruit that in December grew;
My mither has a silk mantil the waft gaed never through;
A sparrow's horn ye soon may find, there's ane on evry claw,
And twa upo the gab o it, and ye shall get them a'.
14 'The priest he stands without the yett, just ready to come in;
Nae man can say he eer was born, nae man without he sin;
He was haill cut frae his mither's side, and frae the same let fa;
Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'se lie at the wa.'
15 'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray don't me perplex,
For I'll na lie in your bed till ye answer questions six:
Questions six ye maun answer me, and that is four and twa,
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.
16 'O what is greener than the gress, what's higher than thae trees?
O what is worse than women's wish, what's deeper than the seas?
What bird craws first, what tree buds first, what first does on them fa?
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'
17 'Death is greener than the gress, heaven higher than thae trees;
The devil's waur than women's wish, hell's deeper than the seas;
The cock craws first, the cedar buds first, dew first on them does fa;
Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'se lie at the wa.'
18 Little did this lady think, that morning whan she raise,
That this was for to be the last o a' her maiden days.
But there's na into the king's realm to be found a blither twa,
And now she's Mrs. Wedderburn, and she lies at the wa.
-----------
'The Laird of Roslin's Daughter'- Version C; Child 46 Captain Wedderburn's Courtship
Sheldon's Minstrelsy of the English Border, p. 232, as recited "by a lady of Berwick on Tweed, who used to sing it in her childhood, and had learnt it from her nurse."
1 The laird of Roslin's daughter walked thro the wood her lane,
And by came Captain Wedderburn, a servant to the Queen;
He said unto his serving man, Wer't not agaynst the law,
I would tak her to my ain house as lady o my ha.
2 He said, My pretty ladye, I pray give me your hand;
You shall have drums and trumpets always at your command;
With fifty men to guard you, that well their swords can draw,
And I'll tak ye to my ain bed, and lay you next the wa.
3 'I'm walking in my feyther's shaws:' quo he, My charming maid,
I am much better than I look, so be you not afraid;
For I serve the queen of a' Scotland, and a gentil dame is she;
So we'se be married ere the morn, gin ye can fancy me.
4 . . . . . .
. . . . .
'The sparrow shall toot on his horn, gif naething us befa,
And I'll mak you up a down-bed, and lay you next the wa.
5 'Now hold away from me, kind sir, I pray you let me be;
I wont be lady of your ha till you answer questions three;
Questions three you must answer me, and that is one and twa,
Before I gae to Woodland's house, and be lady o your ha.
6 'You must get me to my supper a chicken without a bone;
You must get me to my supper a cherry without a stone;
You must get me to my supper a bird without a ga,
Before I go to Woodland's house and be lady of your ha.'
7 'When the cherry is in the bloom, I'm sure it has no stone;
When the chicken's in the shell, I'm sure it has nae bone;
The dove she is a gentil bird, and flies without a ga;
So I've answered you your questions three, and you're lady of my ha.'
* * * * *
8 'Questions three you must answer me: What's higher than the trees?
And what is worse than woman's voice? What's deeper than the seas?'
. . . . . .
. . . . .
9 He answered then so readily: Heaven's higher than the trees;
The devil's worse than woman's voice; hell's deeper than the seas;
. . . . . .
. . . . .
10 'One question still you must answer me, or you I laugh to scorn;
Go seek me out an English priest, of woman never born;'
. . . . . .
. . . . .
11 'Oh then,' quo he, 'My young brother from mother's side was torn,
And he's a gentil English priest, of woman never born;'
. . . . . .
. . . . .
12 Little did his lady think, that morning when she raise,
It was to be the very last of all her mayden days;
. . . .
. . . .
End-Notes
A. a. 24. I lye.
43,4 and 53,4 have been interchanged.
54. lye you. b. lay.
71. teen.
171. priest was.
172. it was.
173. boned (?) b has bored.
b is a copy of a, but with the long lines broken up into two, and some slight variations.
b. 34. And we'll.
51. Omits if.
63. Omits sae jimp.
112. and they are questions.
122. wish.
134. betwixt.
B. In stanzas of four short lines.
a. 162, 172. Var. women's vice.
171. Var. Poison is greener.
172. Var. There's nathing waur.
b. Lord Roslin's Daughter's Garland. Containing three excellent new songs.
I. The Drunkard Reformed.
II. The Devil and the Grinder.
III. Lord Roslin's Daughter.
Licensed and entered according to order.
11. walks throw.
12. And by came.
13. servant man.
14, 34, 64, 74, 104, 144, 184. next the wa.
174. neist.
23, 43. missd you know.
34. Aud we'll ... and thou's ly next.
42. will I.
44. So I not.
51,2. Then said the pretty lady, I pray tell me your name.
My name is Captain Wedderburn, a servant to the king.
53. of him I'd not stand in aw.
61. He lighted off.
62. And held her by the milk-white hand
even as they rode along.
63. so jimp.
64. So I'll take.
71. lodging house.
73. But such a pretty face as thine in it I never saw.
74. make her up a down-bed.
82. will not go to your bed till you dress me.
83. three you must do to me.
91, O I must have ... a cherry without a stone.
92. a chicken without a bone.
101,2. When the cherry is into the bloom I am sure it hath no stone,
And when the chicken's in the shell I 'm sure it hath no bone.
103. it is a gentle.
112. I will not go till ... till you answer me questions.
113. Questions four you must tell me.
121. You must get to me.
122. That the wraft was neer ca,'d.
123,4 and 163,4 (and consequently 133,4, 173,4) are wrongly interchanged in b mixing up ferlies and questions.
a 123,4, 133,4, 14, 15, 161,2, 163,4, 171,2, 173,4 = b 153,4, 163,4, 17, 14, 151,2, 123,4, 161,2, 133,4.
132. the wraft was neer ca'd throw.
133,4. A sparrow's horn you well may get, there's one on ilka pa.
141. standing at the door.
143. A hole cut in his mother's side, he from the same did fa.
162. And what ... women's voice.
163. What bird sings best, and wood buds first, that dew does on them fa.
171. sky is higher.
172. worse than women's voice.
173. the dew does on them fa.
182. the last night.
183. now they both lie in one bed.
c closely resembling b, the variations from b are given.
c. 1. came omitted, v. 2; unto, v. 3.
2. into your bed, v. 4.
3. guard you ... who well, v. 3; into ... thou'lt, v. 4.
51,2. Then says; v. 1.
6. lighted from ... this lady, v. 1; middle jimp, v. 3.
7. pretty fair, v. 2; as this, v. 3.
8. dress me, v. 3.
9. unto, vv 1, 2; O I must, v. 2.
10. in the bloom, v. 1; we both shall ly in, v. 4.
11. will give oer, v. 1; to your ... you tell me, v. 2.
12. You must get to me .. . that waft, v. 2; bird sings first ... on them does, v. 3.
13. sings first, v. 3.
14. in your ... you tell me, v. 2; I'll ly in, v. 4.
15. What is ... woman's, v. 2; I 'Illy in, v. 4.
16. Death's greener than the grass, hell's deeper than the seas,
The devil's worse than woman's voice, sky's higher than the trees, vv 1, 2; every paw, v. 3; thou shalt, v. 4.
18. the lady ... rose, v. 1; It was to be the very last, v. 2; they ly in ae, v. 4.
d. Follows the broadside (b, c) through the first nine stanzas, with changes from Jamieson's "own recollection," or invention, and one from A. 10 has certainly arbitrary alterations. The remaining eight stanzas are the corresponding ones of A treated freely. The comparison here is with b, readings from A in 11-18 not being noticed.
13. serving men.
23. mist awa, from A; so in 43, a stanza not in A.
53. I 'd have nae awe.
61. He lighted aff ... this lady.
63. middle jimp.
64. To tak her to his ain.
73. sic a lovely face as thine.
74. Gae mak her down.
83. maun dress to me.
91. It's ye maun get.
92,3. And ye maun get.
101. It's whan the cherry is in the flirry.
102. in the egg.
103. And sin the flood o Noah the dow she had nae ga.
A, B d, 11, 121,2, 131,2, 14, 151,2 161,2 = B b, c, 14, 151,2, 161,2, 11, 121,2, 131,2.
111. and gie your fleechin oer.
112. Unless you'll find me ferlies, and that is ferlies four.
113. Ferlies four ye maun find me.
114. or I'll never lie.
122. And get to me.
123. doth first down.
124. Ye sall tell afore I lay me down between you and the wa.
132. has an Indian gown that waft.
133. on cedar top the dew.
142. that gait me perplex.
143. three times twa.
151. the greenest grass.
152. war nor an ill woman's wish.
163. horn is quickly found ... on every claw.
164. There's ane upon the neb of him.
173. A wild bore tore his mither's side.
183. now there's nae within the realm, I think.
e. e has stanzas 1, 5 (?), 9, 12, 10, 13, 14 of a, the first two imperfect. The last line of each stanza is changed, no doubt for delicacy's sake, to I will tak you wi me, I tell you, aye or na, or the like.
1. The Earl o Roslin's dochter gaed out to tak the air;
She met a gallant gentleman, as hame she did repair;
...
I will tak you wi me, I tell you, aye or no.
5(?). I am Captain Wedderburn, a servant to the king.
...
I will tak you wi me, I tell you, aye or no.
91. I maun hae to my supper a bird without a bone.
93. An I maun hae a gentle bird that flies.
94. Before that I gae with you, I tell you, aye or na.
101. When the bird is in the egg.
102. in the bud ... I 'm sure.
103. it is a gentle bird.
122, 132. a gey mantle ... neer ca'ed.
133. sune sail get.
141. is standing at.
142. say that he was ... a sin.
f. Stanzas 9, 10 only.
91. 'T is I maun hae to my supper a bird without a bone.
92. withouten stone.
93. withonten ga.
101. When the bird is in the shell, I'm sure.
102. I 'm sure.
103. a gentle ... withouten ga.
C. Printed in stanzas of four short lines
Additions and Corrections
P. 415 a. Ein taub hat kein lungen: R. Köhler, in Weimarisches Jahrbuch, V, 344, 22.
416 a, second paragraph. Liebrecht's Abstract of Sakellarios's ballad is repeated in Liebrecht, Zur Volkskunde, p. 162ff.
416, note †. See R. Köhler, Die Pehlevi-Erzählung von Gôsht-i Fryânô, etc., in Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft, XXIX, 634-36.
417, note †. The one stake with no head on it occurs in the Kalevala. Lemminkainen, going to the Northland, is warned by his mother that he will find a court yard planted with stakes, with a head on every stake but one, on which his head will be stuck. Schiefner, Rune 26, vv. 315-22, p. 163. G.L.K.
417 b. Similar are 'Las tres adivinanzas,' Marin, Cantos pop. españoles, I, 395; 'Soldatino,' Archivio per Tradizioni popolari, I, 57.
418 a. Drolleries. See R. Köhler's article on Hagen, No 63, in Germania, XIV, 269, written in 1868, to which, Dr. K. informs me, he could now make numerous additions.
P. 415, note †. A version from Scotland has been printed in the Folk-Lore Journal, III, 272, 'I had six lovers over the sea.' (G.L.K.)
417, note †, II, 507 b.
The one stake with no head on it occurs also in Wolfdietrich B. The heathen, whom Wolfdietrich afterwards overcomes at knife-throwing, threatens him thus:
"Sihstu dort an den zinnen fünf hundert houbet stân,
Diu ich mit minen henden alle verderbet han?
Noch stât ein zinne lære an mînem türnlin:
Dâ muoz dîn werdez houbet ze einem phande sîn."
(St. 595, Jänicke, Deutsches Heldenbuch, III, 256.)
Two cases in Campbell's Pop. T. of the West Highlands. "Many a leech has come, said the porter. There is not a spike on the town without a leech's head but one, and may be it is for thy head that one is." (The Ceabharnach, I, 312.) Conall "saw the very finest castle that ever was seen from the beginning of the universe till the end of eternity, and a great wall at the back of the fortress, and iron spikes within a foot of each other, about and around it; and a man's head upon every spike but the one spike. Fear struck him and he fell a-shaking. He thought that it was his own head that would go on the headless spike." (The Story of Conall Gulban, III, 202.) In Crestien's Erec et Enide, Erec overcomes a knight in an orchard. There are many stakes crowned with heads, but one stake is empty. Erec is informed that this is for his head, and that it is customary thus to keep a stake waiting for a new-comer, a fresh one being set up as often as a head is taken. Ed. by Bekker in Haupt's Ztschr., X, 520, 521, vv. 5732-66. (G. L. K.)
P. 41 7 a, II, 507 b, III, 507 a. Heads on spikes; only one spike without a head: Curtin, Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland, 1890, pp. 37, 114 f, 193; Mac Innes, Folk and Hero Tales, Folk-Lore Society, 1890, pp. 79, 453
P. 414. Rev. J. Baring-Gould informs me that there is an Irish version of this piece in Ulster Ballads, British Museum, 1 162. k. 6, entitled 'The Lover's Riddle.' The lady, who in B, C is walking through the wood 'her lane,' is in the Ulster copy walking 'down a narrow lane,' and she meets 'with William Dicken, a keeper of the game.' The only important difference as to the riddles and the answers is that the young lady remembers her Bible to good purpose, and gives Melchisedec as an example of a priest unborn (Hebrews vii, 3).
415, note †. Miss M.H. Mason gives two copies in her Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs, pp. 23, 24, 'A Paradox.'
417, note †, II, 507 b, III, 507 a, IV, 459 b. "They were told that in front of the king's house there were twenty-score poles, with a head on each pole with the exception of three." 'The Lad with the Skin Coverings,' J.G. Campbell, The Fians, p. 261. (There are three adventurers in this case.) (G. L. K.)
421. B. h. 'Captian Wederburn,' "The Old Lady's Collection," No 38.
B. a. 1 The lard of Roslie's doughter was walking on the green,
An by came Captain Wederburn, a servant to our king,
An he said to his livery-man, Wer it no agenst our laa,
I wad take her to my ain bed an lay her neast the waa.
a. 2 I am in my father's garden, walken among my father's trees,
An ye dou latt me walk a whill nou, kind sir, if ye pleas;
For the supper-beals they will be rung an I will be mised awa,
a. 43. An my father will ate nae supper gine I be mised awa.'
a. 6. He lighted off his hors an sett the lady one,
A. a. 61,3. He sett her ahind his livery-man, was leath to latt her faa:
A. a. 54. 'We's baith lay in ae bed, an ye's lay neast the wa.'
B. a. 7 Fan they came to his quarter-house, his land-l[ad]y came ben:
'Ther is mony bonny lady in Edenbrugh toun,
Bat sick a bonny lady is no in it aa;'
Says, 'Lass, mak up a doun-bed, we will lay her nist the waa.'
a. 8 'Hold yer toung, young man,' she says, 'an latt yer folly be;
I winne come to my bed till ye gett to me things three.
. . .
. . .
a. 9 'Ye gett to my supper a cherrey without a ston,
An ye gett to my suppeer a chiken without a bone,
An ye gett to my super a burd that flayes without a gaa,
Or I winne lay in your bed, nether att stok nor waa.'
a. 10 'The cherry when it is in the bloum, it is without a ston;
The chiken when it is in the egg is without a bon;
The dove she is a harmless burd, she flays without a gaa;
An we's baith lay in ae bed, an ye's lay nist the waa.'
. 15 'Hold off yer hands, young man,' she says, 'an dou not me perplex;
I winne gae to my bed till ye tell me qustens six;
. . .
. . .
a. 16 'What is greaner nor the grass? what is hig[h]er the[n] the tree?
What is war nor woman's wish? what is deaper nor the sea?
What burd sings first? what life buds first, an what dos on it faa?
I winne lay in your bed, nether att stok nor waa.'
a. 17 'Death is greaner nor the grass; heaven is higher nor the tree;
The devill is war nor woman's wish; hell is deaper nor the sea;
The coke crous first; the suderen wood springs first, the due dos on it faa;
An we's baith lay in ae bed, an ye's lay neast the waa.'
a. 11 'Hold off yer hands, young man,' she says, 'an yer folly gie our,
I winne come to your bed till ye gett to me things four;
. . .
. . .
a. 12 'Ye gett to me a cherry that in December grou;
Leguays a fine silk man tell that waft gad never throu;
A sparrou's horn, a prist unborn, this night to join us tua;
Or I winne lay in your bed, nether att stok nor waa.'
a. 13 'Ther is a hote-bed in my father's garden wher winter chirrys grou,
Lequays a fine silk mantell in his closet which waft never gaid throu;
. . .
. . .
a. 14 'Ther is a prist nou att the dore, just ready to come in,
An never one could say he was born,
For ther was a holl cut out of his mother's side, an out of it he did faa;
An we's baith lay in ae bed, an ye's lay nist the waa.'
a. 18 Littel kent the lassie in the morning fan she raise
That wad be the last of a' her maiden days;
For nou she is marred to Captian Wederburn, that afore she never saa,
An they baith lay in ae bed, an she lays nest the waa.
74. Lays, Lass.
101. bloun.
121. grous.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[P. 417 a, II, 507 b, III, 507 a, IV, 459 b, V, 216 a. Heads on stakes. See W.H. Schofield, in the (Harvard) Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, IV, 175ff.]
418 a, II, 507 b. See Stiefel, Ueber die Quelle der Turandot-Dichtung Heinz des Kellners, in Zeitschr. f. vergleichende Litteraturgeschichte, N.F., VIII, 257ff