No. 68: Young Hunting
[This ballad remained active in Southern Appalachians and regions Southwest in the 1900s while it all but disappeared in the British Isles. I can only assume that it landed on the shores of the James River with the early settlers until it spread inland to the mountains by the late 1700s. Known primarily as "Love Henry" or "Loving Henry," the ballad moved inland with the settlers. Once again, the Brown Cove area (Albemarle County) of Virginia was a primary repository for this ballad. Although it wasn't transmitted by some of the usual informants (The Shiffetts and Morrises), George Foss did collect an excellent version from Marybird McAllister in 1958. This Virginia region has been immoralized by Foss in his short online book From White Hall to Bacon Hollow written about the ballad people he met there. Here's an excerpt:
"From White Hall to Bacon Hollow is about a place and about its culture and people. I have granted myself the author's indulgence of selecting a title significant in its double meaning. White Hall to Bacon Hollow is a stretch of twisting country road, Virginia route 810, crossing the line between Albemarle and Greene Counties. Heading west from Charlottesville toward Staunton across the mountains in the valley of Virginia and the Shenandoah River, turn north through the small industrial town of Crozet past orchards of apples and peaches and fields of corn and rye to a small country store in the fork of the road which is White Hall. From there the road winds ever closer to the mountains northward some twenty miles to Bacon Hollow. This region is bounded on the west by the southernmost section of the Skyline Drive and nestles into the gaps and coves which reach up to the Shenandoah National Park line near the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The main road is met by many dirt and rocky roads which reach up into the climbing crevices of the Great Blue Ridge on the left and down into the lesser mountains and foot hills back to the east. This is the place and the home of the people I have come to know so well. Whitehall also has a second meaning for me, as the great palace of the Tudor kings and queens of England. It was the cultural center of the English Renaissance at the time the very ballads and songs which I was seeking in the Virginia Blue Ridge originated or were in popular currency. Whitehall is still mentioned in some of the classic ballads sung in that region."(George Foss)
Besides McAllister's ancient ballad, other versions were collected in the region by Sharp, Kyle Davis Jr., Scarborough and Wilkinson. Davis and the Virginia Folklore Society published 12 variants from the state of Virginia in his 1929 and 1960 books.
From Virginia, the ballad spread to the mountains of North Carolina and on into Kentucky. Love Henry eventually made its way to the Ozarks (Missouri, Arkansas) and Southwest (Texas and Oklahoma).
The comparison to Child 4 is obvious although the murderess kills for very different reasons. A parrot plays the tattletale role as found in Child 4, "Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight." Certain parallels can be drawn between the murderess and the parrot in each ballad. The parrot appears at the end of each ballad but in "Young Hunting" the defiant parrot reinforces the diabolical inner nature of the murderess. The victim proves the old adage, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!" For parrot lovers, be sure to read Barre Toelken's "What the Parrots Tell Us That Child Did Not: Further Considerations of Ballad Metaphor", in The Folklore Historian, Volume 14.
An amusing arrival of the parrot is found in Barner Scarlee, taken in 1924 from a singer living in a remote tidal area called Chapanoke NC. After murdering Barney and throwing him in "yonders deep well," we find:
She was sitting out on her porch,
A-playing on her piano;
There came up a pretty little bird
All in the green willow tree.
It has been said (Wimberly, 1928, p. 44-52; Bronson 1962) that the parrot has acquired the soul of the dead man and that he speaking through the parrot threatens to reveal the murder.
R. Matteson 2014]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes (Found at the end of the Narrative)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-K
5. Endnotes
6. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: Young Hunting
A. Roud No. 47 Young Hunting (235 Listings)
2. Sheet Music: Young Hunting (Bronson's music examples and texts)
3. US & Canadian Versions
4. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-K with additional notes)]
Child's Narrative
A. 'Young Hunting,'
a. Herd's Manuscripts, I, 182.
b. The same, II, 67. 148.
B. 'Young Redin,' Kinloch Manuscripts, VII, 7, Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 1.
C. 'Young Riedan,' Harris Manuscript, fol. 8.
D. Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 377.
E. 'Lord William,' Scott's Minstrelsy, III, 265, 1803.
F. 'Earl Richard.'
a. Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 61, Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 218.
b. Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xvii, one stanza.
G. Herd's Manuscripts, I, 34; Herd's Scottish Songs, 1776, I, 148.
H. 'Clyde's Water,' Dr. Joseph Robertson's Journnal of Excursions, No 1, 1829.
I. 'Lord John,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 189.
J. 'Earl Richard,' Scott's Minstrelsy, II, 42, 1802, and III, 184, 1833.
K. 'Young Hunting,' Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 118.
J, Scott's version, and naturally the best known, is described by the editor as made up from the best verses of Herd's copies, A, G, with some trivial alterations adopted from tradition. This account is far from being exact, for there are many lines in the edition of 1802 which are not found in Herd's copies, and in the edition of 1833 four additional stanzas, 11, 12, 13, 28. Such portions of Scott's version as are not found in Herd are here distinguished by a larger type. K is perhaps a stall copy, and certainly, where it is not taken from other versions, is to a considerable degree a modern manufacture by a very silly pen.[1]
The copy in Pinkerton's Tragic Ballads, p. 84, is only the first five stanzas of G, a little altered.
A Scandinavian ballad begins somewhat like 'Young Hunting,' but ends like 'Elveskud' or 'Clerk Colvil.' A young man who has made up his mind to marry is warned by his mother against the wiles of a former mistress. He rides to his old love's honse and is welcomed to beer and wine. He tells her that he is on the way to his bride. She wants a word with him, or a kiss, and as he leans over to her on his horse, stabs him to the heart. He rides home bleeding, pretends that he has hurt himself by running against a tree, asks that his bed may be made and a priest sent for, and dies. Danish, 'Frillens Hævn,' Grundtvig, IV, 203 f, No 208, A-D, A from a manuscript of the 17th century. Swedish, A, 'Herr Magnus,' Afzelius, No 13, I, 67, an imperfect copy; B, from Cavallius and Stephens' manuscript collection, C-H, fragments in the same collection, Grundtvig, IV, 203; I, 'Herr Samsing,' Eva Wigström, in Hazelius, Ur de nordiska Folkens Lif, p. 124. Norwegian, 'Herre Per og Gjöðalin,' a mixed form, Landstad, p. 564, No 68, and the first stanza in Lindeman, No 132, No 178.
The place where the dead body of the knight lies at the bottom of the river is discovered by candles burning bright, A 22 f, C 19 f, H 8, K 31, 35. Sir Walter Scott supposed these candles to mean "the corpse-lights ... which are sometimes seen to illuminate the spot where a dead body is concealed." He had been informed that the body of a man drowned in the Ettrick had been discovered by means of these candles. Though the language in the ballad is not quite explicit, owing perhaps to the fact that the method of detection practised was more familiar formerly than now, the meaning is as likely to be that a candle, floated on the water, would burn brighter when it came to the spot where the body lay. A candle (a consecrated one in Catholic countries) stuck in a loaf of bread, or supported by cork, is still believed to be efficient for indicating the place of a drowned body; in England, Henderson, Notes on the Folk Lore of the Northern Counties, ed. 1879, p. 60; in Bohemia, Wuttke, Deutscher Volksaberglaube der Gegenwart, ed. 1869, p. 239, No 371; in Brittany, Blätter für literarische Unterhaltung, 1837, p. 892; in Portugal, Vasconcellos, Tradições Populares, p. 80, No 178.[2]
That the body of a murdered man will emit blood upon being touched, or even approached, by the murderer is a belief of ancient standing, and evidence of this character was formerly admitted in judicial investigations. See especially Grimm, Rechtsalterthümer, 1854, p, 930 f, Bahrgericht, who cites from literature the Nibelungenlied (1043-45, Bartsch) Hartmann's Iwein, 1355-64, Shakespeare's Richard III, I, 2, besides instances of legal or historical description; to which may be added others furnished by Sir W. Scott, Minstrelsy III, 190-83, ed. 1833, and Kinloch, Ancient Scottish Ballads, pp 10-12. See further Schmidt, Die Märchen des Straparola, pp 229, 346 ff, Holinshed's Chronicle of Scotland, p. 235, ed. 1808, Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, ed. Luard, II, 344 f, Brand's Antiquities, ed. Ellis, II, 542-44.[3]
There is a sort of judicium ignis in A 26-28, B 23 f, C 24, K 37 f: the fire which does not burn the innocent bower-woman consumes her guilty mistress.
For the oath by corn, A 16, D 21, grass and corn, G 7, thorn, K 26, see 'Glasgerion.'
E is translated by Schubart, p. 173; F by Wolff, Halle der Völker, I, 24, Hausschatz, p. 204; J by Schubart, p. 86, Gerhard, p. 134; Aytoun's copy by Rosa Warrens, Schottische Volkslieder, p. 46; Allingham's copy by Knortz, Lieder und Romanzen Alt-Englands, p. 42.
Footnotes:
1. For utter ineptness 7-9 even go beyond the ordinary Buchan mark.
2. Other expedients are, a loaf of bread weighted with quicksilver, or without candle or quicksilver, or a chip of wood; Henderson, as above, p. 59, Gregor, Notes on the Folk Lore of the North East of Scotland, p. 208, Choice Notes from Notes and Queries, pp 40-43, and Liebrecht, Volkskunde, p. 344 f, who cites nearly all these places. J. S. C. observes in Notes and Queries: As there are in all running streama deep pools formed by eddies, in which drowned bodies would be likely to be caught and retained, any light substance thrown into the current would consequently be drawn to that part of the surface over the centre of the eddy hole.
3. Also (not seen by me) Danske Samlingar, 11, 274-76, 1867, Norsk Magazin, I, 401, 1860, cited by somebody (probably Grundtvig) whom I have neglected to note.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
Scott's 'Earl Richard' is mainly from Herd's copies A and G, here given, but partly from independent tradition (Minstrelsy, 1802, n, 42; ed. 1803, 11, 44).
A Scandinavian ballad (Grundtvig, No. 208), begins somewhat like 'Young Hunting,' but ends like 'Elveskud,' or 'Clerk Colvill' (No. 42). A young man who has made up his mind to marry is warned by his mother against the wiles of a former mistress. He rides to his old love's house and is welcomed to beer and wine. He tells her that he is on the way to his bride. She wants a word with him, or a kiss, and as he leans over to her on the horse, stabs him to the heart. He rides home bleeding, pretends that he has hurt himself by running against a tree, asks that his bed may be made and a priest sent for, and dies.
Child's Ballad Texts A-K
'Young Hunting'- Version A; Child 68 Young Hunting
a. Herd's Manuscripts, I, 182.
b. the same, II, 67.
1 O lady, rock never your young son young
One hour longer for me,
For I have a sweetheart in Garlick's Wells
I love thrice better than thee.
2 'The very sols of my love's feet
Is whiter then thy face:'
'But nevertheless na, Young Hunting,
Ye'l stay wi me all night.'
3 She has birld in him Young Hunting
The good ale and the beer,
Till he was as fou drunken
As any wild-wood steer.
4 She has birld in him Young Hunting
The good ale and the wine,
Till he was as fou drunken
As any wild-wood swine.
5 Up she has tain him Young Hunting,
And she has had him to her bed,
. . . . .
. . . . .
6 And she has minded her on a little penknife,
That hangs low down by her gare,
And she has gin him Young Hunting
A deep wound and a sare.
7 Out an spake the bonny bird,
That flew abon her head:
'Lady, keep well thy green clothing
Fra that good lord's blood.'
8 'O better I'll keep my green clothing
Fra that good lord's blood
Nor thou can keep thy flattering toung,
That flatters in thy head.
9 'Light down, light down, my bonny bird,
Light down upon my hand,
. . . . . .
. . . . .
10 'O siller, O siller shall be thy hire,
An goud shall be thy fee,
An every month into the year,
Thy cage shall changed be.'
11 'I winna light down, I shanna light down,
I winna light on thy hand;
For soon, soon wad ye do to me
As ye done to Young Hunting.'
12 She has booted an spird him Young Hunting
As he had been gan to ride,
A hunting-horn about his neck,
An the sharp sourd by his side.
13 And she has had him to yon wan water,
For a' man calls it Clyde,
. . . . .
. . . . .
14 The deepest pot intill it all
She has puten Young Hunting in;
A green truff upon his breast,
To hold that good lord down.
15 It fell once upon a day
The king was going to ride,
And he sent for him Young Hunting,
To ride on his right side.
16 She has turnd her right and round about,
She sware now by the corn,
'I saw na thy son, Young Hunting,
Sen yesterday at morn.'
17 She has turnd her right and round about,
She swear now by the moon,
'I saw na thy son, Young Hunting,
Sen yesterday at noon.
18 'It fears me sair in Clyde Water
That he is drownd therein:'
O thay ha sent for the king's duckers,
To duck for Young Hunting.
19 They ducked in at the tae water-bank,
Thay ducked out at the tither:
'We'll duck no more for Young Hunting,
All tho he wear our brother.'
20 Out an spake the bonny bird,
That flew abon their heads,
. . . . .
. . . . .
21 'O he's na drownd in Clyde Water,
He is slain and put therein;
The lady that lives in yon castil
Slew him and put him in.
22 'Leave aff your ducking on the day,
And duck upon the night;
Whear ever that sakeless knight lys slain,
The candels will shine bright.'
23 Thay left off their ducking o the day,
And ducked upon the night,
And where that sakeless knight lay slain,
The candles shone full bright.
24 The deepest pot intill it a'
Thay got Young Hunting in;
A green turff upon his brest,
To hold that good lord down.
25 O thay ha sent aff men to the wood
To hew down baith thorn an fern,
That they might get a great bonefire
To burn that lady in.
'Put na the wyte on me,' she says,
'It was her May Catheren.'
26 Whan thay had tane her May Catheren,
In the bonefire set her in;
It wad na take upon her cheeks,
Nor take upon her chin,
Nor yet upon her yallow hair,
To healle the deadly sin.
27 Out they hae tain her May Catheren,
And they hay put that lady in;
O it took upon her cheek, her cheek,
An it took upon her chin,
An it took on her fair body,
She burnt like hoky-gren.
----------
'Young Redin'- Version B; Child 68 Young Hunting
Kinloch's Manuscripts, VII, p. 7, Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 1; "from the recitation of Miss E. Beattie, of Edinburgh, a native of Mearnshire, who sings it to a plaintive and melancholy, though somewhat monotonous, air of one measure."
1 Young Redin's til the huntin gane,
Wi therty lords and three;
And he has til his true-love gane,
As fast as he could hie.
2 'Ye're welcome here, my Young Redin,
For coal and candle-licht;
And sae are ye, my Young Redin,
To bide wi me the nicht.'
3 'I thank ye for your licht, ladie,
Sae do I for your coal;
But there's thrice as fair a ladie as thee
Meets me at Brandie's Well.'
4 Whan they war at their supper set,
And merrily drinking wine,
This ladie has tane a sair sickness,
And til her bed has gane.
5 Young Redin he has followed her,
And a dowie man was he;
He fund his true-love in her bouer,
And the tear was in her ee.
6 Whan he was in her arms laid,
And gieing her kisses sweet,
Then out she's tane a little penknife,
And woundid him sae deep.
7 'O lang, lang is the winter nicht,
And slawly daws the day;
There is a slain knicht in my bouer,
And I wish he war away.'
8 Then up bespak her bouer-woman,
And she spak ae wi spite:
'An there be a slain knicht in your bouer,
It's yoursell that has the wyte.'
9 'O heal this deed on me, Meggy,
O heal this deed on me;
The silks that war shapen for me gen Pasche,
They sall be sewed for thee.'
10 'O I hae heald on my mistress
A twalmonth and a day,
And I hae heald on my mistress
Mair than I can say.'
* * * * *
11 They've booted him, and they've spurred him,
As he was wont to ride,
A huntin-horn round his neck,
And a sharp sword by his side;
In the deepest place o Clyde's Water,
It's there they've made his bed.
12 Sine up bespak the wylie parrot,
As he sat on the tree:
'And hae ye killd him Young Redin,
Wha neer had love but thee?'
13 'Come doun, come doun, ye wylie parrot,
Come doun into my hand;
Your cage sall be o the beaten gowd,
Whan now it's but the wand.'
14 'I winna come doun, I canna come doun,
I winna come doun to thee;
For as ye've dune to Young Redin,
Ye'll do the like to me;
Ye'll thraw my head aff my hause-bane,
And throw me in the sea.'
15 O there cam seekin Young Redin
Mony a lord and knicht,
And there cam seekin Young Redin
Mony a ladie bricht.
16 And they've til his true-love gane,
Thinking he was wi her;
. . . . . .
. . . . .
17 'I hae na seen him Young Redin
Sin yesterday at noon;
He turnd his stately steed about,
And hied him throw the toun.
18 'But ye'll seek Clyde's Water up and doun,
Ye'll seek it out and in;
I hae na seen him Young Redin
Sin yesterday at noon.'
19 Then up bespak Young Redin's mither,
And a dowie woman was scho:
'There's na a place in Clyde's Water
But my son wad gae throw.'
20 They've sought Clyde's Water up and doun,
They've sought it out and in,
And the deepest place in Clyde's Water
They've fund Young Redin in.
21 O white, white war his wounds washen,
As white as a linen clout;
But as the traitor she cam near,
His wounds they gushit out.
22 'It's surely been my bouer-woman,
O ill may her betide!
I neer wad slain him Young Redin,
And thrown him in the Clyde.'
23 Then they've made a big bane-fire,
The bouer-woman to brin;
It tuke not on her cheek, her cheek,
It tuke not on her chin,
But it tuke on the cruel hands
That pat Young Redin in.
24 Then They've tane out the bouer-woman,
And pat the ladie in;
It tuke na on her cheek, her cheek,
It tuke na on her chin,
But it tuke on the fause, fause arms
That Young Redin lay in.
----------
'Young Riedan'- Version C; Child 68 Young Hunting
Harris Manuscript, fol. 8, from Mrs. Harris, Perthshire.
1 The ladie stude in her bour-door,
In her bour-door as she stude,
She thocht she heard a bridle ring,
That did her bodie gude.
2 She thocht it had been her father dear,
Come ridin owre the sand;
But it was her true-love Riedan,
Come hiean to her hand.
3 'You're welcome, you're welcome, Young Riedan,' she said,
'To coal an cannel-licht;
You're welcome, you're welcome, Young Riedan,
To sleep in my bour this nicht.'
4 'I thank you for your coal, madame,
An for your cannel tae;
There's a fairer maid at Clyde's Water,
I love better than you.'
5 'A fairer maid than me, Riedan?
A fairer maid than me?
A fairer maid than ten o me
You shurely neer did see.'
6 He leant him owre his saddle-bow,
To gie her a kiss sae sweet;
She keppit him on a little penknife,
An gae him a wound sae deep.
7 'O hide! oh hide! my bourswoman,
Oh hide this deed on me!
An the silks that waur shappit for me at Yule
At Pasch sall be sewed for thee.'
8 They saidled Young Riedan, they bridled Young Riedan,
The way he was wont to ride;
Wi a huntin-horn aboot his neck,
An a sharp sword by his side.
9 An they are on to Clyde's Water,
An they rade it up an doon,
An the deepest linn in a' Clyde's Water
They flang him Young Riedan [in].
10 'Lie you there, you Young Riedan,
Your bed it is fu wan;
The [maid] you hae at Clyde's Water,
For you she will think lang.'
11 Up it spak the wily bird,
As it sat on the tree:
'Oh wae betide you, ill woman,
An an ill death may you dee!
For he had neer anither love,
Anither love but thee.'
12 'Come doon, come doon, my pretty parrot,
An pickle wheat aff my glue;
An your cage sall be o the beaten goud,
Whan it's of the willow tree.'
13 'I winna come doon, I sanna come doon,
To siccan a traitor as thee:
For as you did to Young Riedan,
Sae wald you do to mee.'
14 Come doon, come doon, my pretty parrot,
An pickle wheat aff my hand;
An your cage sall be o the beaten goud,
Whan it's o the willow wand.'
15 'I winna come doon, I sanna come doon,
To siccan a traitor as thee;
You wald thraw my head aff my hase-bane,
An fling it in the sea.'
16 It fell upon a Lammas-tide
The king's court cam ridin bye:
'Oh whare is it him Young Riedan?
It's fain I wald him see.'
17 'Oh I hae no seen Young Riedan
Sin three lang weeks the morn;
It bodes me sair, and drieds me mair,
Clyde's Water's him forlorn.'
18 Up it spak the wily bird,
As it sat on the tree;
. . . . .
. . . . .
19 'Leave aff, leave aff your day-seekin,
An ye maun seek by nicht;
Aboon the place Young Riedan lies,
The cannels burn bricht.'
20 They gae up their day-seekin,
An they did seek by nicht;
An ower the place Young Riedan lay,
The cannels burnt bricht.
21 The firsten grip his mother got
Was o his yellow hair;
An was na that a dowie grip,
To get her ae son there!
22 The nexten grip his mother got
Was o his milk-white hand;
An wasna that a dowie grip,
To bring sae far to land!
23 White, white waur his wounds washen,
As white as ony lawn;
But sune's the traitor stude afore,
Then oot the red blude sprang.
* * * * *
24 Fire wadna tak on her bourswoman,
Niether on cheek nor chin;
But it took fast on thae twa hands
That flang young Riedan in.
25 'Come oot, come oot, my bourswoman,
Come oot, lat me win in;
For as I did the deed mysell,
Sae man I drie the pine.'
-------
['Earl Richard'] Version D; Child 68 Young Hunting
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 377; from Agnes Lyle, Kilbarchan.
1 Earl Richard has a hunting gone,
As fast as he can ride;
He's a hunting-horn about his neck,
And a broadsword by his side.
2 'Licht down, licht down, Earl Richard,' she says,
'O licht down and come in,
And thou'll get cheer and charcoal clear,
And torches for to burn.'
3 'I winna licht, I canna licht,
I winna licht at all;
A fairer lady then ten of thee
Meets me at Richard's Wall.'
4 He louted owre his saddle-bow,
And for to kiss her sweet,
But little thocht o that penknife
Wherewith she wound him deep.
5 'Why wounds thou me so deep, lady?
Why stabs thou me so sore?
There's not a lord like Earl Richard
Could love false woman more.'
6 She called upon her waiting-maid,
Long before it was day:
'I have a dead man in my bower,
I wish he were away.'
7 'Keep ye your bower, my lily-flower,
Keep it free of all men's blood;'
'Oh I will keep it een as weel
As you or any maid.
8 'But siller will be thy wage,' she says,
'And gold will be thy fee,
And I mysell will gang alang
And bear thee companye.'
9 They booted him, and spurred him,
As he was wont to ride,
And they're awa to Lorn's Water,
To Lorn's Water so wide.
10 They turned down his yellow hair,
Turnd up his milk-white feet:
'Lye thou there, Earl Richard,' she said,
'Till the blood seep from thy bane;
That fairer maid than ten of me
Will look lang or thou come hame.'
11 As they were coming hame again,
Upon the road so hie,
There they spy'd a small pyet,
Was sitting on a tree.
12 'Where has thou been, fair lady?' it says,
'Whare has thou been so soon?
Or what did thou wi Earl Richard,
Was late wi thee yestreen?'
13 'Come down, come down, my wee pyet;
An thou'll come to my knee,
I have a cage of beaten gold,
And I'll bestow 't on thee.'
14 'Keep thou thy cage of beaten gold,
And I will keep my tree;
For as thou did wi Earl Richard,
So wad thou do wi me;
Thou wad thraw the wee head aff my bouk,
And drown me in the sea.'
15 'Come down, come down, my wee pyet;
An thou'll come to my hand,
I have a cage of beaten gold,
And thou's be put therein.'
16 'Keep thou thy cage o beaten gold,
And I will keep my tree;
For as thou did wi Earl Richard,
So would thou do wi me.'
17 'Oh an I had my bow bendit,
And set unto my knee,
I wad shoot this wee pyet
Sits gabbling on the tree.'
18 'Before thou get thy bow bendit,
And set unto thy knee,
I'll be at Earl Richard's father,
Telling ill tales on thee.'
19 As they were coming hame again,
Upon the road so bricht,
There they saw Earl Richard's father,
Coming marching in their sicht.
20 'Whare has thou been, fair lady?' he says,
'Whare has thou been back sae sune?
O what did thou wi my auld son,
Was late wi thee yestreen?'
21 She did swear by stars o licht,
And grass-green growing corn,
That she had not seen Earl Richard's face
Since Saturday at morn;
'But in Lorn's Water, indeed,' she says,
'I fear his days are done.'
22 'There was not a ford in Lorn's Water
But he could ride it weel;
And what did thou wi my auld son,
That went with thee afield?'
* * * * *
-----------
'Lord William'- Version E; Child 68 Young Hunting
Scott's Minstrelsy, III, 265, 1803, communicated by James Hogg, from the recitation of his mother (Motherwell).
1 Lord William was the bravest knight
That dwalt in fair Scotland,
And, though renowned in France and Spain,
Fell by a ladie's hand.
2 As she was walking maid alone,
Down by yon shady wood,
She heard a smit o bridle reins,
She wishd might be for good.
3 'Come to my arms, my dear Willie,
You're welcome hame to me;
To best o chear and charcoal red,
And candle burnin free.'
4 'I winna light, I darena light,
Nor come to your arms at a';
A fairer maid than ten o you
I'll meet at Castle-law.'
5 'A fairer maid than me, Willie?
A fairer maid than me?
A fairer maid than ten o me
Your eyes did never see.'
6 He louted owr his saddle-lap
To kiss here ere they part,
And wi a little keen bodkin,
She pierced him to the heart.
7 'Ride on, ride on, Lord William now,
As fast as ye can dree;
Your bonny lass at Castle-law
Will weary you to see.'
8 Out up then spake a bonny bird,
Sat high upon a tree:
'How could you kill that noble lord?
He came to marry thee.'
9 'Come down, come down, my bonny bird,
And eat bread aff my hand;
Your cage shall be of wiry goud,
Whar now it's but the wand.'
10 'Keep ye your cage o goud, lady,
And I will keep my tree;
As ye hae done to Lord William,
Sae wad ye do to me.'
11 She set her foot on her door-step,
A bonny marble stane,
And carried him to her chamber,
Oer him to make her mane.
12 And she has kept that good lord's corpse
Three quarters of a year,
Until that word began to spread;
Then she began to fear.
13 Then she cryed on her waiting-maid,
Ay ready at her ca:
'There is a knight into my bower,
'Tis time he were awa.'
14 The ane has taen him by the head,
The ither by the feet,
And thrown him in the wan water,
That ran baith wide and deep.
15 'Look back, look back, now, lady fair,
On him that loed ye weel;
A better man than that blue corpse
Neer drew a sword of steel.'
----------
'Earl Richard'- Version F; Child 68 Young Hunting
a. Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 41, from the recitation of Miss Stevenson of Glasgow, January 22, 1825; Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 218.
b. Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xvii, VIII, one stanza.
1 Earl Richard is a hunting gone,
As fast as he can ride,
His hunting-horn hung about his neck,
And a small sword by his side.
2 When he came to my lady's gate
He tirled at the pin,
And wha was sae ready as the lady hersell
To open and let him in.
3 'O light, O light, Earl Richard,' she says,
'O light and stay a' night;
You shall have cheer wi charcoal clear,
And candles burning bright.'
4 'I will not light, I cannot light,
I cannot light at all;
A fairer lady than ten of thee
Is waiting at Richard's Wall.'
5 He stooped from his milk-white steed,
To kiss her rosy cheek;
She had a pen-knife in her hand,
And wounded him so deep.
6 'O lie ye there, Earl Richard,' she says,
'O lie ye there till morn;
A fairer lady than ten of me
Will think lang of your coming home.'
7 She called her servants ane by ane,
She called them twa by twa:
'I have got a dead man in my bower,
I wish he were awa.'
8 The one has taen [him] by the hand,
And the other by the feet,
And they've thrown him in a deep draw-well,
Full fifty fathom deep.
9 Then up bespake a little bird,
That sat upon a tree:
'Gae hame, gae hame, ye false lady,
And pay your maids their fee.'
10 'Come down, come down, my pretty bird,
That sits upon the tree;
I have a cage of beaten gold,
I'll gie it unto thee.'
11 'Gae hame, gae hame, ye fause lady,
And pay your maids their fee;
As ye have done to Earl Richard,
Sae wud ye do to me.'
12 'If I had an arrow in my hand,
And a bow bent on a string,
I'd shoot a dart at thy proud heart,
Amang the leaves sae green.'
-----------
['Earl Richard']- Version G; Child 68 Young Hunting
Herd's Manuscripts, I, 34; Herd's Scottish Songs, 1776, I, 148.
1 She has calld to her her bower-maidens,
She has calld them one by one:
'There is a dead man in my bower,
I wish that he was gone.'
2 They have booted him, and spurred him,
As he was wont to ride,
A hunting-horn around his waist,
A sharp sword by his side.
3 Then up and spake a bonie bird,
That sat upon the tree:
'What hae ye done wi Earl Richard?
Ye was his gay lady.'
4 'Cum down, cum down, my bonie bird,
Cum sit upon my hand;
And ye sall hae a cage o the gowd,
Where ye hae but the wand.'
5 'Awa, awa, ye ill woman,
Nae ill woman for me;
What ye hae done to Earl Richard,
Sae wad ye do to mee.'
* * * * *
6 'O there's a bird intill your bowir
That sings sae sad and sweet;
O there's a bird intill your bour
Kept me frae my nicht's sleep.'
* * * * *
7 And she sware by the grass sae greene,
Sae did she by the corn,
That she had not seen Earl Richard
Sen yesterday at morn.
* * * * *
-----------
'Clyde's Water'- Version H; Child 68 Young Hunting
Dr. Joseph Robertson's "Journal of Excursions," No 1, 1829.
1 'Hail well, hail well, my little foot-page,
Hail well this deed on me,
And ever I live my life to brook,
I'se pay thee well thy fee.'
2 'It's we'l beet him, and we'l spur him,
As gin he had been gain to ride,
Put a huntin-horn about his neck,
And a small sword by his side.
3 'And we'll carry him to Clyde's Water,
And there we'll fling him in,
That we may have it to be said
In Clyde's Water he drownd.'
4 O they bet him, and they spurrd him,
As gin he had been gain to ride,
Pat a huntin-horn about his neck,
But the sword on his wrang side.
5 And they hae carried him to Clyde's Water,
And there they flang him in,
That they might have it to be said
In Clyde's Water he drowned.
* * * * *
6 'It's we'll sen for the king's doukers,
And douk it up and doun;
It's we'll sen for the king's doukers,
And douk it out and in.'
7 Out it spak a little wee birdie,
As it sat on yon burn-brae:
. . . . .
. . . . .
8 'Ye may lay by your day doukers,
And turn you to the night,
And where the innocent blood lies slain,
The candles will burn fou bricht.'
9 O they hae brunt that gay ladie,
And blawn her in the air,
And nothing o that bower-man would burn
But the hands that buskd him rare.
-----------
'Lord John'- Version I; Child 68 Young Hunting
Motherwell Manuscript, p. 189.
1 'Come down, come down, thou bonnie bird,
Sit low upon my hand,
And thy cage shall be o the beaten gowd,
And not of hazel wand.'
2 'O woe, O woe be to thee, lady,
And an ill death may thou die!
For the way thou guided good Lord John,
Soon, soon would thou guide me.'
3 'Go bend to me my bow,' she said,
'And set it to my ee,
And I will gar that bonnie bird
Come quickly down to me.'
4 'Before thou bend thy bow, lady,
And set it to thy ee,
O I will be at yon far forest,
Telling ill tales on thee.'
* * * * *
----------
'Earl Richard'- Version J; Child 68 Young Hunting
Scott's Minstrelsy, II, 42, 1802, and III, 184, 1833, from Herd's copies (A, G, and from tradition.
1 'O lady, rock never your young son young
One hour langer for me;
For I have a sweetheart in Garlioch Wells
I love far better than thee.
2 'The very sole o that ladye's foot
Than thy face is far mair white:'
'But, nevertheless, now, Erl Richard,
Ye will bide in my bower a' night?'
3 She birled him wi the ale and wine,
As they sat down to sup:
A living man he laid him down,
But I wot he neer rose up.
4 Then up and spake the popinjay,
That flew aboun her head:
'Lady, keep weel your green cleiding
Frae gude Erl Richard's bleid.'
5 'O better I'll keep my green cleiding
Frae gude Erl Richard's bleid,
Than thou canst keep thy clattering toung,
That trattles in thy head.'
6 She has calld upon her bower-maidens,
She has calld them ane by ane:
'There lies a deid man in my bowr,
I wish that he were gane.'
7 They hae booted him, and spurred him,
As he was wont to ride,
A hunting-horn tied round his waist,
A sharp sword by his side;
And they hae had him to the wan water,
For a' men call it Clyde.
8 Then up and spake the popinjay,
That sat upon the tree:
'What hae ye down wi Erl Richard?
Ye were his gaye ladye.'
9 'Come down, come down, my bonny bird,
And sit upon my hand;
And thou sall hae a cage o gowd,
Where thou hast but the wand.'
10 'Awa, awa, ye ill woman,
Nae cage o gowd for me;
As ye hae dune to Erl Richard,
Sae wad ye do to me.'
11 She hadna crossd a rigg o land,
A rigg but barely ane,
When she met wi his auld father,
Came riding all alane.
12 'Where hae ye been, now, ladye fair,
Where hae ye been sae late?
We hae been seeking Erl Richard,
But him we canna get.'
13 'Erl Richard kens a' the fords in Clyde,
He'll ride them ane by ane;
And though the night was neer sae mirk,
Erl Richard will be hame.'
14 O it fell anes upon a day
The king was boun to ride,
And he has mist him Erl Richard,
Should hae ridden on his right side.
15 The ladye turnd her round about,
Wi mickle mournfu din:
'It fears me sair o Clyde water,
That he is drownd therein.'
16 'Gar douk, gar douk,' the king he cried,
'Gar douk for gold and fee;
O wha will douk for Erl Richard's sake,
Or wha will douk for me?'
17 They douked in at ae weil-heid,
And out aye at the other:
'We can douk nae mair for Erl Richard,
Altho he were our brother.'
18 It fell that in that ladye's castle
The king was boun to bed,
And up and spake the popinjay,
That flew abune his head.
19 'Leave aff your douking on the day,
And douk upon the night;
And wherever that sackless knight lies slain,
The candles will burn bright.'
20 'O there's a bird within this bower,
That sings baith sad and sweet;
O there's a bird within your bower
Keeps me frae my night's sleep.'
21 They left the douking on the day,
And douked upon the night,
And where that sackless knight lay slain,
The candles burned bright.
22 The deepest pot in a' the linn
They fand Erl Richard in;
A green turf tyed across his breast,
To keep that gude lord down.
23 Then up and spake the king himsell,
When he saw the deadly wound,
'O wha has slain my right-hand man,
That held my hawk and hound?'
24 Then up and spake the popinjay,
Says, What needs a' this din?
It was his light lemman took his life,
And hided him in the linn.
25 She swore her by the grass sae grene,
Sae did she by the corn,
She had na seen him Erl Richard
Since Moninday at morn.
26 'Put na the wyte on me,' she said,
'It was my may, Catherine:'
Then they hae cut baith fern and thorn,
To burn that maiden in.
27 It wadna take upon her cheik,
Nor yet upon her chin,
Nor yet upon her yellow hair,
To cleanse the deadly sin.
28 The maiden touchd the clay-cauld corpse,
A drap it never bled;
The ladye laid her hand on him,
And soon the ground was red.
29 Out they hae ta'en her May Catherine,
And put her mistress in;
The flame tuik fast upon her cheik,
Tuik fast upon her chin,
Tuik fast upon her fair bodye,
She burnd like hollins grene
-----------
'Young Hunting'- Version K; Child 68 Young Hunting
Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 118.
1 Lady Maisry forth from her bower came,
And stood on her tower-head;
She thought she heard a bridle ring,
The sound did her heart guid.
2 She thought it was her first true-love,
Whom she loved ance in time;
But it was her new love, Hunting,
Come frae the hunting o the hyn.
3 'Gude morrow, gude morrow, Lady Maisry,
God make you safe and free;
I'm come to take my last farewell,
And pay my last visit to thee.'
4 'O stay, O stay then, Young Hunting,
O stay with me this night;
Ye shall hae cheer, an charcoal clear,
And candles burning bright.'
5 'Have no more cheer, you lady fair,
An hour langer for me;
I have a lady in Garmouth town
I love better than thee.'
6 'O if your love be changed, my love,
Since better canno be,
Nevertheless, for auld lang syne,
Ye'll stay this night wi me.
7 'Silver, silver shall be your wage,
And gowd shall be your fee,
And nine times nine into the year
Your weed shall changed be.
8 'Will ye gae to the cards or dice,
Or to a tavern fine?
Or will ye gae to a table forebye,
And birl baith beer and wine?'
9 'I winna gang to the cards nor dice,
Nor to a tavern fine;
But I will gang to a table forebye,
And birl baith beer and wine.'
10 Then she has drawn for Young Hunting
The beer but and the wine,
Till she got him as deadly drunk
As ony unhallowed swine.
11 Then she's taen out a trusty brand,
That hang below her gare,
Then she's wounded him Young Hunting,
A deep wound and a sair.
12 Then out it speaks her comrade,
Being in the companie:
'Alas! this deed that ye hae done
Will ruin baith you and me.'
13 'Heal well, heal well, you Lady Katharine,
Heal well this deed on me,
The robes that were shapen for my bodie,
They shall be sewed for thee.'
14 'Tho I woud heal it never sae well,
And never sae well,' said she,
'There is a God above us baith
That can baith hear and see.'
15 They booted him, and spurred him,
As he'd been gaun to ride,
A hunting-horn about his neck,
A sharp sword by his side.
16 And they rode on, and farther on,
All the lang summer's tide,
Until they came to wan water,
Where a' man ca's it Clyde.
17 And the deepest pot in Clyde's water,
And there they flang him in,
And put a turf on his breast-bane,
To had Young Hunting down.
18 O out it speaks a little wee bird,
As she sat on the brier:
'Gae hame, gae hame, ye Lady Maisry,
And pay your maiden's hire.'
19 'O I will pay my maiden's hire,
And hire I'll gie to thee;
If ye'll conceal this fatal deed,
Ye's hae gowd for your fee.'
20 Then out it speaks a bonny bird,
That flew aboon their head:
'Keep well, keep well your green claithing
Frae ae drap o his bluid.'
21 'O I'll keep well my green claithing
Frae ae drop o his bluid,
Better than I'll do your flattering tongue,
That flutters in your head.
22 'Come down, come down, my bonny bird,
Light down upon my hand;
For ae gowd feather that's in your wing,
I woud gie a' my land.'
23 'How shall I come down, how can I come down,
How shall I come down to thee?
The things ye said to Young Hunting,
The same ye're saying to me.'
24 But it fell out on that same day
The king was going to ride,
And he calld for him Young Hunting,
For to ride by his side.
25 Then out it speaks the little young son,
Sat on the nurse's knee:
'It fears me sair,' said that young babe,
'He's in bower wi yon ladie.'
26 Then they hae calld her Lady Katharine,
And she sware by the thorn
That she saw not him Young Hunting
Sin yesterday at morn.
27 Then they hae calld her Lady Maisry,
And she sware by the moon
That she saw not him Young Hunting
Sin yesterday at noon.
28 'He was playing him at the Clyde's Water,
Perhaps he has fa'en in:'
The king he calld his divers all,
To dive for his young son.
29 They div'd in thro the wan burn-bank,
Sae did they outthro the other:
'We'll dive nae mair,' said these young men,
'Suppose he were our brother.'
30 Then out it spake a little bird,
That flew aboon their head:
'Dive on, dive on, ye divers all,
For there he lies indeed.
31 'But ye'll leave aff your day diving,
And ye'll dive in the night;
The pot where Young Hunting lies in,
The candles they'll burn bright.
32 'There are twa ladies in yon bower,
And even in yon ha,
And they hae killd him Young Hunting,
And casten him awa.
33 'They booted him, and spurred him,
As he'd been gaun to ride,
A hunting-horn tied round his neck,
A sharp sword by his side
34 'The deepest pot o Clyde's Water,
There they flang him in,
Laid a turf on his breast-bane,
To had Young Hunting down.'
35 Now they left aff their day diving,
And they dived on the night;
The pot that Young Hunting lay in,
The candles were burning bright.
36 The king he calld his hewers all,
To hew down wood and thorn,
For to put up a strong bale-fire,
These ladies for to burn.
37 And they hae taen her Lady Katharine,
And they hae pitten her in;
But it wadna light upon her cheek,
Nor woud it on her chin,
But sang the points o her yellow hair,
For healing the deadly sin.
38 Then they hae taen her Lady Maisry,
And they hae put her in:
First it lighted on her cheek,
And syne upon her chin,
And sang the points o her yellow hair,
And she burnt like keckle-pin.
End-Notes
A. a. 11. than he.
21. lover's.
33. drucken.
73. the green.
101. higher.
103. On every.
122. Or he.
201,2 and 21 in one stanza.
211. Clyd's. (?)
233. lackless.
255,6 and 26 in one stanza.
b. is a revised copy, in which most of the above readings are corrected, with other changes.
11. second young omitted.
33. love drucken.
43. love drunken.
61. her of.
131. wan omitted.
141, 241. pit.
152. gan.
181, 211. Clyde's.
191. tae omitted.
271,2. hae omitted.
276. hoky gren wanting.
B. 6, 7. These stanzas, with the trivial variation in 63 of she's taen out, are given by Chambers, Scottish Ballads, p. 259, note, from his recollection of a recited fragment.
D. "The catastrophe wanting, but the lady's treachery was discovered, and she was burned." Motherwell's Manuscript.
94. so deep.
201. hast.
E. "Although much of the language seems somewhat modernized, this must be attributed to its currency, being much liked, and very much sung, in this neighborhood. I can trace it back several generations, bnt cannot hear of its ever having been in print. I have never heard it with any considerable variation, save that one reciter called the dwelling of the feigned sweetheart Castleswa," Hogg.
G. "To a wild melancholy tune." Herd.
Quhat, ze, etc., are printed what, ye, as usual.
H. 71,2 and 8 one stanza.
Additions and Corrections
P. 143, note ‡. Danske Samlinger, Norske Magasin, are cited by Grundtvig, IV, 151.
143. Discovery of drowned bodies. See, further, Dennys, The Folk-Lore of China, p. 64; Liebrecht, Volkskunde, p. 332, No 169, and Englische Studien, IX, 447; Mélusine, II, cols 252, 253.
P. 142. A copy in A. Nimmo's Songs and Ballads of Clydesdale, 'Young Hyndford,' p. 155, is made up (with changes) from Scott, Kinloch, Buchan, Motherwell and Herd, E, J, B, K, F, G.
143, 512 a. Discovery of drowned bodies. See Revue des Traditions populaires, I, 56; Mélusine, III, 141.
The following are mostly trivial variations from the spelling of the text.
152 a, 43, 51. Read grene.
153 b, 223. Read grene.
P. 142 b. The four additional stanzas in J first appeared in the second edition of the Minstrelsy, 1803, II, 44.
143 b, 512 a, III, 509 a. Discovery of drowned bodies. Add: La Tradition, IV, 236.
143 b, second paragraph. Many cases in Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, III, 182-99.
P. 145. A 22. Findlay's Manuscripts, I, 146, gives a corresponding stanza, from Miss Butchart, Arbroath:
'Ye'll gie ower your day's doukin
An douk upon the nicht,
An the place Young Redin he lies in
The torches will brin bricht.'
148. C 21, 22. At the same place in Findlay's Manuscripts we find these stanzas, from Miss Bower:
The firsten grasp that she got o him,
It was o his yellow hair;
O wasna that a dowie grasp,
For her that did him bear!
The nexten grasp that she got o him,
It was o his lillie hand;
O was na that a dowie grasp,
For her brocht him to land!