No. 69: Clerk Saunders
[There are no known traditional US or Canadian versions of this ballad.]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes (Moved to the end of Child's Narrative)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-G. (With one additional text from Additions and Corrections titled 'Clerk Sandy,' "Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy," No 22 c; in the handwriting of Richard Heber.)
5. End-Notes
6. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: Clerk Saunders
A. Roud Number 3855: (23 Listings)
2. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-G with additional notes)]
3. Sheet Music: Clerk Saunders (Bronson's text and music)
Child's Narrative
A. 'Clerk Sanders,' Herd's Manuscripts, I, 177, II, 49.
B. 'Clerk Saunders,' Herd's Manuscripts, I, 163, II, 46.
C. 'Clerk Saunders,' Kinloch's Scottish Ballads, p. 233.
D. 'Lord Saunders,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 196.
E. 'The Seven Bluidy Brithers,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 199.
F. 'Clerk Saunders,' Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 83.
G. 'Clerk Sandy,' Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 160.
'Clerk Saunders' was first given to the world in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, II, 33, 1802, and was there said to be "taken from Mr. Herd's Manuscript, with several corrections from a shorter and more imperfect copy in the same volume, and one or two conjectural emendations in the arrangement of the stanzas." Sir Walter arranged his ballad with much good taste, but this account of his dealing with Herd's copies is very far from precisely accurate. A, the longer of these, does not end, as here printed, with Margret's refusal to be comforted, a rather unsufficing conclusion it must be owned. The story is continued by annexing the ballad of 'Sweet William's Ghost,' the lack of which in B makes Scott call that version imperfect. This sequel, found also in F, is omitted here, and will be given in the proper place.[1] Jamieson's, F, as well as Scott's, is a made-up copy, "the stanzas where the seven brothers are introduced" having been "enlarged from two fragments, which, although very defective in themselves, furnished lines which, when incorporated with the text, seemed to improve it." About one half of G is taken from Herd's Manuscripts, with trivial alterations. The ghostly visitation at the end blends 'Proud Lady Margaret' with 'Sweet William's Ghost,' and this conclusion, not being worth transferring, has been allowed to stand.[2] The dream in E 13 may be derived from 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William.'
The austerities vowed in D 13-15, E 17-20, found also in A 20-22, G 23-25, make a very satisfactory termination to the tragedy, and supply a want that may be felt in B, and in A as it stands here. The like are found in, 'The Clerk's Twa Sons o Owsenford,' 'Bonny Bee Ho'm,' 'Lord Livingston,' 'The Weary Coble o Cargill,' and 'The Lowlands of Holland.' Also in the French ballad of 'La Biche Blanche,' where a brother, having unwittingly been the death of his sister, who was maid by day but hind by night, vows himself to a seven years' penance:
J'en suis au désespoir, j'en ferai pénitence;
Serai pendant sept ans sans mettr' chemise blanche,
Et coucherai sept ans sous une épine blanche.
or,
Et j'aurai sous l'épin', pour toit, rien qu'une branche.
Vaugeois, Histoire des Antiquités de la Ville de l'Aigle, p. 585, repeated in Bosquet, La Normandie Romanesque, p. 83, Beaurepaire, Poésie p. en Normandie, p. 78; Haupt, Französische Volkslieder, p. 20, Souvestre, in Revue des Deux Mondes, 1849, Avril, p. 106, and Les Derniers Paysans, p. 36, ed. 1871.
The king, in 'Kong Valdemar og hans Søster,' Grundtvig, No 126, A, B, C, will live in a dark house where he shall never see fire nor light, nor shall the sun ever shine on him, till he has expiated his monstrous cruelty to his sister.
So the marquis, in the Romance del Marques de Mantua, swears, till he has avenged the death of Valdovinos,
de nunca peinar mis canas,
ni las mis barbas cortar,
de no vestir otras ropas,
ni renovar mi calzar, etc.
Wolf and Hofmann, Primavera, No 165, II, 192.
F, Jamieson's version, connects 'Clerk Saunders' with a Scandinavian ballad,[3] which seems to be preserved in abbreviated and sometimes perverted forms, also by other races. Full forms of this Northern ballad are:
Icelandic, 'Ólöfar kvaeði,' eigbt versions, A-H, Íslenzk Fornkvæði, No 34, I, 332.
Färöe, ' Faðir og dottir,' communicated by Hammershaimb to the Antiquarisk Tidsskrift, 1849-51, p. 88.
Norwegian, 'Far aa dótter,' Bugge, Gamle Norske Folkeviser, p. 15, A (with two fragments, B, C).
A father [king, Icelandic A-H] asks his daughter if she is ready to marry. She has no such thought.[4] [She swore by God, by man, that she had never had the thought, had no private connection, was as clear as a nun; but nobody knew what was in her mind: Färöe.] Who, then, he asks, is the fair knight that rode to your bower? No fair knight, but one of her knaves. Whose was that horse I saw at your door? It was no horse, but a hind from the fell. Who was that fair knight you kissed at the spring? It was no knight, but her maid that she kissed. Does her maid wear a sword at her side? It was no sword, but a bunch of keys. Does her maid wear spurs? It was no spurs, but gold on her shoes. Has her maid short hair? Her plaits were coiled on her head. Does she wear short clothes, like men? Maids hold up their coats when there is a dew. What babe was crying in her chamber? It was no babe, but her dog. What was that cradle standing by her bed? It was no cradle, but her little silk-loom.
In the Färöe ballad the father then rides to the wood, meets a knight, cuts him in two, hangs his foot, hand, and bead to his saddle, and returns. Do you know this foot? he asks. It has often found the way to her chamber. Do you know this hand? Many a night it has lain on her arm. Do you know this head? Many a kiss have the lips had. In the other versions these bloody tokens are produced on the spot, with a more startling effect. The daughter wishes a fire in her father's house, him in it, and herself looking on. Instantly a blaze bursts forth, the king is burnt up, and all that belongs to him. The daughter sets the fire herself in the Färöe and the Norwegian ballad. She dies of grief in Icelandic C, takes to the wood in E, F,[5] goes into a cloister in D, G (cf. English C).
A briefer form of this same story is 'Den grymma Brodern,' Afzelius, No 86, III, 107. In this a brother takes the place of the father. After several questions be asks his sister if she knows the man's hand that hangs at his saddle. She bursts out into an exclamation of grief. 'Thore och hans Syster,' Arwidsson, No 55, I, 358,[6] has lost its proper conclusion, for we have not come to the conclusion when the brother says that his sister's false inventions will never give out till the sea wants water, a comment which we also find in the Färöe ballad (where, however, it is misplaced). This is the case, also, with 'Det hurtige Svar,' Danske Viser, No 204, IV, 228* and 362, but in the Danish ballad a perversion towards the comic has begun, the end being:
'Brother, would you question more,
I have answers still in store.'
'When women lack a quick reply,
The German Ocean shall be dry.'
In a Spanish and Portuguese romance a woman has received a lover in the absence of her husband. The husband returns before he is expected, and puts questions similar to those in the ballads already spoken of: whose horse, lance, sword, is this? whose spurs, whose arms are these? and is answered after the same fashion. There is considerable variety in the conclusion; the husband kills his wife, kills the paramour, kills both, both he and his rival lose their lives, the wife dies of fright, or is even pardoned. Spanish: 'De Blanca-Niña,' Wolf and Hofmann, Primavera, No 136, II, 52; 'Romance del Conde Lombardo,' the same, No 136 a, II, 53; 'La adúltera castigada,' Milá, Romancerillo, No 254, A-M, pp 241-45; 'Lo retorn soptat,' Briz, IV, 183; Fernan Caballero, La Gaviota, p. 82, ed. Leipzig, 1868.[7]
In an Illyrian ballad, husband, wife, and a young Clerk are the parties. Three watches are set to give notice of the husband's return, one in the field, one in the house-court, one before the chamber. They give due warning, but the woman, like Lady Barnard, in 'Little Musgrave,' will not heed. After some questions and evasions the husband strikes off her head: 'Nevérnost,' Vraz, Narodne Pésni Illirske, p. 72; 'Bestrafte Untreue,' A. Grun, Volkslieder aus Krain, p. 41.
Nothing could be easier than to give these questions, prevarications, and comments a humorous turn, and this is done in a large number of ballads: see 'Our Goodman came hame at een.'
The two ballads which immediately follow have connections with 'Clerk Saunders.'
Scott's copy is translated by Schubart, p. 79; Wolff, Halle der Völker, I, 45, Hausschatz, p. 202; Knortz, Lieder und Romanzen Alt-Englands, No 13. F, in Afzelius, III, 110.
Footnotes:
1. But it is, of course, not impossible that there may have been such a conclusion to 'Clerk Saunders.' It may be mentioned, though not as an argument, that there was a ballad in Boccaccio's time (of which he cites the first two lines), on the story of G. iv, N. 5, of the Decamerone; a tale in which three brothers kill their sister's lover, and bury the body in a solitary place, and his ghost appears and informs the sister of what had happened.
2. Buchan 1,2 = B 1,2; 3-9 = A 3-9; 11 = A 10; 12 = B 11; 15 is made from A 12; 16 = B 16; 17 = A 15; 23-25 = A 21, 22, 20; 26-29 are made from A 24-26. 23. The fatuity of 132, 142 is such as is found nowhere out of Buchan.
The stanza given in the Appendix to Motherwell's Minstrelsy, xix, XVI, is Scott's 13.
3. We may suppose that all the three versions, two of them fragmentary, which Jamieson combined, contained the passage which furnishes the link: but it would be much more satisfactory if Jamieson had given us all three as he received them.
4. Icelandic A-C have an introductory incident not found in E-H. There is a trace of this in D, and it occurs also in two other ballads, I, K, of the same series, which lack the feature that A-H and English F have in common. A king finds a young child that has been left on or in the cleft of a rock, takes it with him, and rides to his daughter's bower. He asks his daughter who the fair swain is that he has found, and how it comes to have her eyes. She feigns ignorance and indifference: many a man is like another. Then come the questions fonnd in the other versions.
5. "Goes brain," perhaps, as the editors suggest, like Lady Maisry in 'Lord Ingram,' and others in Scottish ballads.
6. These are translated by Jamieson; Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 424, Prior, II, 378; W. and M. Howitt, Literature and Romance of Northern Europe, I, 26 1.
7. Fernan Caballero had another Andalusian version besides this.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
'Clerk Saunders' was first given to the world in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and was there said to be "taken from Herd's Manuscript, with several corrections from a shorter and more imperfect copy in the same volume, and one or two conjectural emendations in the arrangement of the stanzas." Sir Walter arranged his ballad with much good taste, but this account of his dealing with Herd's copies is far from precisely accurate. A, the longer of these, does not end, in Herd's Manuscript, with Margaret's refusal to be comforted, a rather unsufficing conclusion it must be owned. The story is continued by annexing the ballad of 'Sweet William's Ghost,' the lack of which in B makes Scott call that version imperfect. This sequel, found also in F, is omitted here, and will be given under No. 77. F (Jamieson's Ballads) is, like Scott's, a made-up copy, "the stanzas where the seven brothers are introduced" having been "enlarged from two fragments, which, though very defective... furnished lines which, when incorporated in the text, seemed to improve it." But F is important, since it connects 'Clerk Saunders' with a Scandinavian ballad (Grundtvig-Olrik, No. 304) which seems to be preserved, in abbreviated and sometimes perverted forms, by other races as well. Nos. 70 and 71 have connections with 'Clerk Saunders.'
Child's Ballad Texts A-G
'Clerk Sanders'- Version A; Child 69 Clerk Saunders
Herd's Manuscripts, a, I, 177; b. II, 419.
1 Clark Sanders and May Margret
Walkt ower yon graveld green,
And sad and heavy was the love,
I wat, it fell this twa between.
2 'A bed, a bed,' Clark Sanders said,
'A bed, a bed for you and I;'
'Fye no, fye no,' the lady said,
'Until the day we married be.
3 'For in it will come my seven brothers,
And a' their torches burning bright;
They'll say, We hae but ae sister,
And here her lying wi a knight.'
4 'Ye'l take the sourde fray my scabbord,
And lowly, lowly lift the gin,
And you may say, your oth to save,
You never let Clark Sanders in.
5 'Yele take a napken in your hand,
And ye'l ty up baith your een,
An ye may say, your oth to save,
That ye saw na Sandy sen late yestreen.
6 'Yele take me in your armes twa,
Yele carrey me ben into your bed,
And ye may say, your oth to save,
In your bower-floor I never tread.'
7 She has taen the sourde fray his scabbord,
And lowly, lowly lifted the gin;
She was to swear, her oth to save,
She never let Clerk Sanders in.
8 She has tain a napkin in her hand,
And she ty'd up baith her eeen;
She was to swear, her oth to save,
She saw na him sene late yestreen.
9 She has taen him in her armes twa,
And carried him ben into her bed;
She was to swear, her oth to save,
He never in her bower-floor tread.
10 In and came her seven brothers,
And all their torches burning bright;
Says thay, We hae but ae sister,
And see there her lying wi a knight.
11 Out and speaks the first of them,
'A wat they hay been lovers dear;'
Out and speaks the next of them,
'They hay been in love this many a year.'
12 Out an speaks the third of them,
'It wear great sin this twa to twain;'
Out an speaks the fourth of them,
'It wear a sin to kill a sleeping man.'
13 Out an speaks the fifth of them,
'A wat they'll near be twaind by me;'
Out an speaks the sixt of them,
'We'l tak our leave an gae our way.'
14 Out an speaks the seventh of them,
'Altho there wear no a man but me,
. . . . .
I bear the brand, I'le gar him die.'
15 Out he has taen a bright long brand,
And he has striped it throw the straw,
And throw and throw Clarke Sanders' body
A wat he has gard cold iron gae.
16 Sanders he started, an Margret she lapt,
Intill his arms whare she lay,
And well and wellsom was the night,
A wat it was between these twa.
17 And they lay still, and sleeped sound,
Untill the day began to daw;
And kindly till him she did say
'It's time, trew-love, ye wear awa.'
18 They lay still, and sleeped sound,
Untill the sun began to shine;
She lookt between her and the wa,
And dull and heavy was his eeen.
19 She thought it had been a loathsome sweat,
A wat it had fallen this twa between;
But it was the blood of his fair body,
A wat his life days wair na lang.
20 'O Sanders, I'le do for your sake
What other ladys would na thoule;
When seven years is come and gone,
There's near a shoe go on my sole.
21 'O Sanders, I'le do for your sake
What other ladies would think mare;
When seven years is come and gone,
Ther's nere a comb go in my hair.
22 'O Sanders, I'le do for your sake
What other ladies would think lack;
When seven years is come an gone,
I'le wear nought but dowy black.'
23 The bells gaed clinking throw the towne,
To carry the dead corps to the clay,
An sighing says her May Margret,
'A wat I bide a doulfou day.'
24 In an come her father dear,
Stout steping on the floor;
. . . . .
. . . . .
25 'Hold your toung, my doughter dear,
Let all your mourning a bee;
I'le carry the dead corps to the clay,
An I'le come back an comfort thee.'
26 'Comfort well your seven sons,
For comforted will I never bee;
For it was neither lord nor loune
That was in bower last night wi mee.'
--------------
'Clerk Saunders'- Version B; Child 69 Clerk Sanders
Herd's Manuscripts, a, I, 163; b. II, 46.
1 Clerk Saunders and a gay lady
Was walking in yonder green,
And heavy, heavy was the love
That fell this twa lovers between.
2 'A bed, a bed,' Clerk Saunders said,
'And ay a bed for you and me;'
'Never a ane,' said the gay lady,
'Till ance we twa married be.
3 'There would come a' my seven brethern,
And a' their torches burning bright,
And say, We hae but ae sister,
And behad, she's lying wi you the night.'
4 'You'll take a napkain in your hand,
And then you will tie up your een;
Then you may swear, and safe your aith,
You sawna Sandy sin yestreen.
5 'You'll take me up upo your back,
And then you'll carry me to your bed;
Then you may swear, and save your aith,
Your board [-floor] Sandy never tred.'
6 She's taen him upo her back,
And she's carried him unto her bed,
That she might swear, and safe her aith,
Her board-floor Sandy never tread.
7 She's taen a napkin in her hand,
And lo she did tie up her een,
That she might swear, and safe her aith,
She sawna Sandy syne yestreen.
8 They were na weel into the room,
Nor yet laid weel into the bed,
. . . . .
. . . . .
9 When in came a' her seven brethern,
And a' their torches burning bright;
Says they, We hae but ae sister,
And behold, she's lying wi you this night.
10 'I,' bespake the first o them,
A wat an ill death mat he die!
'I bear a brand into my hand
Shall quickly gar Clerk Saunders die.'
11 'I,' bespake the second of them,
A wat a good death mat he die!
'We will gae back, let him alane,
His father has nae mair but he.'
12 'I,' bespake the third o them,
A wat an ill death mat he die!
'I bear the brand into my hand
Shall quickly help to gar him die.'
13 'I,' bespake the fourth o them,
A wat an ill death mat he die!
'I bear the brand into my hand
Shall never help to gar him die.'
14 'I,' bespake the fifth o them,
A wat a good death mat he die!
'Altho his father hae nae mair,
I'll quickly help to gar him die.'
15 'I,' bespake the sixth o them,
A wat a good death mat he die!
'He's a worthy earl's son,
I'll never help to gar him die.'
16 'I,' bespake the seventh of them,
A wat an ill death mat he die!
'I bear the brand into my hand
Shall quickly gar Clerk Saunders die.'
17 They baith lay still, and sleeped sound,
Untill the sun began to sheen;
She drew the curtains a wee bit,
And dull and drowsie was his een.
18 'This night,' said she, 'The sleepiest man
That ever my twa eyes did see
Hay lyen by me, and sweat the sheets;
A wite they're a great shame to see.'
19 She rowd the claiths a' to the foot,
And then she spied his deadly wounds:
'O wae be to my seven brethern,
A wat an ill death mat they die!
20 'I'm sure it was neither rogue nor loun
I had into my bed wi me;
'Twas Clerk Saunders, that good earl's son,
That pledgd his faith to marry me.'
-----------
'Clerk Saunders'- Version C; Child 69 Clerk Saunders
Kinloch's Scottish Ballads, p. 233, a North Country version.
1 It was a sad and a rainy nicht
As ever raind frae toun to toun;
Clerk Saunders and his lady gay
They were in the fields sae broun.
2 'A bed, a bed,' Clerk Saunders cried,
'A bed, a bed, let me lie doun;
For I am sae weet and sae wearie
That I canna gae nor ride frae toun.'
3 'A bed, a bed,' his lady cried,
'A bed, a bed, ye'll neer get nane;
. . . . . .
. . . . .
4 'For I hae seven bauld brethren,
Bauld are they, and very rude;
And if they find ye in bouer wi me,
They winna care to spill your blude.'
5 'Ye'll tak a lang claith in your hand,
Ye'll haud it up afore your een,
That ye may swear, and save your aith,
That ye saw na Sandy sin yestreen.
6 'And ye'll tak me in your arms twa,
Ye'll carry me into your bed,
That ye may swear, and save your aith,
That in your bour-floor I never gaed.'
7 She's taen a lang claith in her hand,
She's hauden't up afore her een,
That she might swear, and save her aith,
That she saw na Sandy sin yestreen.
8 She has taen him in her arms twa,
And carried him into her bed,
That she might swear, and save her aith,
That on her bour-floor he never gaed.
9 Then in there cam her firsten brother,
Bauldly he cam steppin in:
'Come here, come here, see what I see!
We hae only but ae sister alive,
And a knave is in bour her wi.'
10 Then in and cam her second brother,
Says, Twa lovers are ill to twin;
And in and cam her thirden brother,
'O brother dear, I say the same.'
11 Then in and cam her fourthen brother,
'It's a sin to kill a sleepin man;'
And in and cam her fifthen brother,
'O brother dear, I say the same.'
12 Then in and cam her sixthen brother,
'I wat he's neer be steerd by me;'
But in and cam her seventhen brother,
'I bear the hand that sall gar him dee.'
13 Then out he drew a nut-brown sword,
I wat he stript it to the stroe,
And thro and thro Clerk Saunder's body
I wat he garrd cauld iron go.
14 Then they lay there in ither's arms
Until the day began to daw;
Then kindly to him she did say,
'It's time, my dear, ye were awa.
15 'Ye are the sleepiest young man,' she said,
'That ever my twa een did see;
Ye've lain a' nicht into my arms,
I'm sure it is a shame to be.'
16 She turnd the blankets to the foot,
And turnd the sheets unto the wa,
And there she saw his bluidy wound,
. . . . .
17 'O wae be to my seventhen brother,
I wat an ill death mot he dee!
He's killd Clerk Saunders, an earl's son,
I wat he's killd him unto me.'
18 Then in and cam her father dear,
Cannie cam he steppin in;
Says, Haud your tongue, my dochter dear,
What need you mak sic heavy meane?
19 'We'll carry Clerk Saunders to his grave,
And syne come back and comfort thee:'
'O comfort weel your seven sons, father,
For man sall never comfort me;
Ye'll marrie me wi the Queen o Heaven,
For man sall never enjoy me.'
----------
'Lord Saunders'- Version D; Clerk Saunders Child 69
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 196, from the recitation of Mrs. Thomson.
1 'O I have seven bold brethren,
And they are all valiant men,
If they knew a man that would tread my bower
His life should not go along wi him.'
2 'Then take me up into your arms,
And lay me low down on your bed,
That ye may swear, and keep your oath clear,
That your bower-room I did na tread.
3 'Tie a handkerchief round your face,
And you must tye it wondrous keen,
That you may swear, and keep your oath clear,
Ye saw na me since late yestreen.'
4 But they were scarsley gone to bed,
Nor scarse fa'n owre asleep,
Till up and started her seven brethren,
Just at Lord Saunder's feet.
5 Out bespoke the first brither,
'Oh but love be wondrous keen!'
Out bespoke the second brither,
'It's ill done to kill a sleeping man.'
6 Out bespoke the third brither,
'We had better gae and let him be;'
Out bespoke the fourth brither,
'He'll no be killd this night for me:'
7 Out bespoke the fifth brother,
'This night Lord Saunders he shall die;
Tho there were not a man in all Scotland,
This night Lord Saunders he shall die.'
8 He took out a rousty rapier,
And he drew it three times thro the strae;
Between Lord Saunders' short rib and his side
He gard the rusty rapier gae.
9 'Awake, awake, Lord Saunders,' she said,
'Awake, awake, for sin and shame!
For the day is light, and the sun shines bricht,
'And I am afraid we will be taen.
10 'Awake, awake, Lord Saunders,' she said,
'Awake, awake, for sin and shame!
For the sheets they are asweat,' she said,
'And I am afraid we will be taen.
11 'I dreamed a dreary dream last night,
I wish it may be for our good,
That I was cutting my yellow hair,
And dipping it in the wells o blood.'
12 Aye she waukened at this dead man,
Aye she put on him to and fro;
Oh aye she waukend at this dead man,
But of his death she did not know.
* * * * *
13 'It's I will do for my love's sake
What many ladies would think lang;
Seven years shall come and go
Before a glove go on my hand.
14 'And I will do for my love's sake
What many ladies would not do;
Seven years shall come and go
Before I wear stocking or shoe.
15 'Ther'll neer a shirt go on my back,
There'll neer a kame go in my hair,
There'll never coal nor candle-light
Shine in my bower nae mair.'
-------------
'The Seven Bluidy Brithers'- Version E; Child 69 Clerk Saunders
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 199, from Widow Smith, George Street, Paisley.
1 An ensign and a lady gay,
As they were walking on a green,
The ensign said to the lady gay,
Will you tak me to your bower at een?
2 'I have seven bluidy brithers,
Och and to you they have nae good will;
And if they catch you in my bower,
They'll value not your bluid to spill.'
3 'O you may take me on your back,
And carry me to your chamber-bed,
That I may swear, and avow richt clear,
That your flowery bower I did never tread.
4 'O take a napkin from your pocket,
And with it blindfold my een,
That I may swear, and avow richt clear,
That your flowery bower I have never seen.'
5 O she's taen him upon her back,
And carried him to her chamber-bed,
That he might swear, and avow it clear,
That her flowery [bower] he did never tread.
6 O she's taen a napkin from her pocket,
And with it blinded baith his een,
That he might swear, and avow it clear,
That her flowery bower he had never seen.
7 They were not well into their bed,
Nor were they scarsely fallen asleep,
Till in there came her seven bluidy brithers,
And placed themselves at the ensign's feet.
8 Said the first one to the second,
'Och it is long since this love began;'
Said the second unto the third,
'It's a sin to kill a sleeping man.'
9 Said the third one to the fourth,
'I will go to yon tavern hie;'
Said [the] fourth one to the fifth,
'O if you will go, so will I.'
10 Said the fifth to the sixth,
'Och it's long since this love began;'
Said the sixth to the seventh,
'It's a sin to kill a sleeping man.'
11 Out then spoke the seventh bluidy brither,
Aye and an angry man was he:
'Altho there was no more men alive,
The ensign's butcher I will be.'
12 He's taen out his rusty broad-sword,
And ran it three times along his throat,
And thro and thro the ensign's body
The tempered steel it went thro and thro.
13 'O I have dreamed a dream,' she said,
'And such an dreams cannot be good;
I dreamed my bower was full of swine,
And the ensign's clothes all dipped in blood.
14 'I have dreamed another dream,
And such an dreams are never good;
That I was combing down my yellow hair,
And dipping it in the ensign's blood.'
15 'O hold your tongue, my sister dear,
And of your weeping let a be;
For I will get you a better match
Than eer the ensign, what was he?'
16 'So woe be to you, my seven bluidy brithers,
Aye and an ill death may you die!
For you durst not fight him in battle-field,
But you killed him sleeping in bed wi me.
17 'I'll do more for my love's sake
That other lovers would not incline;
Seven years shall come and go
Before I wash this face of mine.
18 'I will do for my love's sake
What other lovers would not repair;
Seven years shall come and go
Before I comb down my yellow hair.
19 'I'll do more for my love's sake,
What other lovers will not do;
Seven years shall come and go
Before I cast off stocking and shoe.
20 'I will do for my love's sake
What other lovers they will be slack;
Seven years shall come and go
Before I cast off my robes of black.
21 'Go make to me a high, high tower,
Be sure you make it stout and strong,
And on the top put an honour's gate,
That my love's ghost may go out and in.'
----------
'Clerk Saunders'- Version F; Child 69 Clerk Sanders
Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 83, communicated by Mrs. Arrot, of Aberbrothnick, but enlarged from two fragments.
1 Clerk Saunders was an earl's son,
He livd upon sea-sand;
May Margaret was a king's daughter,
She livd in upper land.
2 Clerk Saunders was an earl's son,
Weel learned at the scheel;
May Margaret was a king's daughter,
They baith loed ither weel.
3 He's throw the dark, and throw the mark,
And throw the leaves o green,
Till he came to May Margaret's door,
And tirled at the pin.
4 'O sleep ye, wake ye, May Margaret,
Or are ye the bower within?'
O wha is that at my bower-door,
Sae weel my name does ken?'
'It's I, Clerk Saunders, your true-love,
You'll open and lat me in.
5 'O will ye to the cards, Margaret,
Or to the table to dine?
Or to the bed, that's weel down spread,
And sleep when we get time?'
6 'I'll no go to the cards,' she says,
'Nor to the table to dine;
But I'll go to a bed, that's weel down spread,
And sleep when we get time.'
7 They were not weel lyen down,
And no weel fa'en asleep,
When up and stood May Margaret's brethren,
Just up at their bed-feet.
8 'O tell us, tell us, May Margaret,
And dinna to us len,
O wha is aught yon noble steed,
That stands your stable in?'
9 'The steed is mine, and it may be thine,
To ride whan ye ride in hie;
. . . . .
. . . . .
10 'But awa, awa, my bald brethren,
Awa, and mak nae din;
For I am as sick a lady the nicht
As eer lay a bower within.'
11 'O tell us, tell us, May Margaret,
And dinna to us len,
O wha is aught yon noble hawk,
That stands your kitchen in?'
12 'The hawk is mine, and it may be thine,
To hawk whan ye hawk in hie;
. . . . .
. . . . .
13 'But awa, awa, my bald brethren,
Awa, and mak nae din;
For I'm ane o the sickest ladies this nicht
That eer lay a bower within.'
14 'O tell us, tell us, May Margaret,
And dinna to us len,
O wha is that, May Margaret,
You and the wa between?'
15 'O it is my bower-maiden,' she says,
'As sick as sick can be;
O it is my bower-maiden,' she says,
'And she's thrice as sick as me.'
16 'We hae been east, and we've been west,
And low beneath the moon;
But a' the bower-women eer we saw
Hadna goud buckles in their shoon.'
17 Then up and spak her eldest brither,
Ay in ill time spak he:
'It is Clerk Saunders, your true-love,
And never mat I the
But for this scorn that he has done
This moment he sall die.'
18 But up and spak her youngest brother,
Ay in good time spak he:
'O but they are a gudelie pair!
True lovers an ye be,
The sword that hangs at my sword-belt
Sall never sinder ye.'
19 Syne up and spak her nexten brother,
And the tear stood in his ee:
'You've loed her lang, and loed her weel,
And pity it wad be
The sword that hangs at my sword-belt
Shoud ever sinder ye.'
20 But up and spak her fifthen brother:
'Sleep on your sleep for me;
But we baith sall never sleep again,
For the tane o us sall die.'
21 And up and spak her thirden brother,
Ay in ill time spak he:
'Curse on his love and comeliness!
Dishonourd as ye be,
The sword that hangs at my sword-belt
Sall quickly sinder ye.'
22 The eldest brother has drawn his sword,
The second has drawn anither,
Between Clerk Saunders' hause and collarbane
The cald iron met thegither.
23 'O wae be to you, my fause brethren,
And an ill death mat ye die!
Ye mith slain Clerk Saunders in open field,
And no in bed wi me.'
-------------
'Clerk Sandy'-Version G; Child 69 Clerk Saunders
Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 160.
1 Clerk Sandy and a lady gay
Where walking in the garden green,
And great and heavy was the love
That hae befa'en these twa between.
2 'A bed, a bed,' said Clerk Sandy,
'A bed, my love, for you and me;'
'O never a foot,' said the lady gay,
'Till ance that we twa married be.
3 'My seven brithers will come in,
And a' their torches burning bright;
They'll say, We hae but ae sister,
And here she's lying wi a knight.'
4 'Ye'll take my brand I bear in hand,
And wi the same ye'll lift the gin;
Then ye may swear, and save your oath,
That ye neer let Clerk Sandy in.
5 'Ye'll take that kurchie on your head,
And wi the same tie up your een;
And ye will swear, and save your oath,
Ye saw not Sandy sin yestreen.
6 'Ye'll lift me in your arms twa,
And carry me unto your bed;
Then ye may swear, and save your oath,
Clerk Sandy in your bower neer tread.'
7 She's taen the brand he bare in hand,
And wi the same lifted the gin;
It was to swear, and save her oath,
She never loot Clerk Sandy in.
8 She's taen the kurchie frae her head,
And wi the same tied up her een;
It was to swear, and save her oath,
She saw not Sandy sin yestreen.
9 She's taen him in her arms twa,
And she's carried him to her bed;
It was to swear, and save her oath,
Clerk Sandie in her bower neer tread.
10 They hadna kissd, nor love clapped,
Like other lovers when they meet,
Till in a quarter's space and less
These two lovers fell sound asleep.
11 Then in it came her seven brothers,
And a' their torches burning bright;
They said, We hae but ae sister,
And here she's lying wi a knight.
12 O out it speaks the first o them,
'We will awa and lat them be;'
Then out it speaks the second o them,
'His father has nae mair but he.'
13 Out it speaks the third o them,
For he was standing on the birk:
'Nae sweeter coud twa lovers lye,
Tho they'd been married in a kirk.'
14 Then out it speaks the fourth o them,
Mair fair and lovely is his buke:
'Our sister dear we cannot blame,
Altho in him she pleasure took.'
15 Then out it speaks the fifth o them,
'It were a sin to do them ill;'
Then out it spake the sixth o them,
'It's hard a sleeping man to kill.'
16 But out it speaks the seventh o them,
I wish an ill death mat he dee!
'I wear the sharp brand by my side
That soon shall gar Clerk Sandy die.'
17 Then he's taen out his trusty brand,
And he has stroakd it ower a strae;
And thro and thro Clerk Sandy's middle
I wat he's gart it come and gae.
18 The lady slept by her love's side
Until the dawning o the day,
But what was dune she naething knew,
For when she wak'd these words did say:
19 'Awake, awake, now Clerk Sandy,
Awake, and turn you unto me;
Ye're nae sae keen's ye were at night,
When you and I met on the lee.'
20 O then she calld her chamber-maid
To bring her coal and candle seen:
'I fear Clerk Sandy's dead eneuch,
I had a living man yestreen.'
21 They hae lifted his body up,
They hae searched it round and round,
And even anent his bonny heart
Discovered the deadly wound.
22 She wrung her hands, and tore her hair,
And wrung her hands most bitterlie:
'This is my fause brothers, I fear,
This night hae used this crueltie.
23 'But I will do for my love's sake
Woud nae be done by ladies rare;
For seven years shall hae an end
Or eer a kame gang in my hair.
24 'O I will do for my love's sake
What other ladies woud think lack;
For seven years shall hae an end
Or eer I wear but dowie black.
25 'And I will do for my love's sake
What other ladies woudna thole;
Seven years shall hae an end
Or eer a shoe gang on my sole.'
26 In it came her father dear,
And he was belted in a brand;
Sae softly as he trad the floor,
And in her bower did stately stand.
27 Says, Hold your tongue, my daughter dear,
And ye'll lat a' your mourning be;
I'll wed you to a higher match
Or eer his father's son coud be.
28 'Wed well, wed well your seven sons;
I wish ill wedded they may be,
Sin they hae killd him Clerk Sandy!
For wedded shall I never be.'
29 His corpse was laid in the cauld clay,
The bells went tinkling thro the town;
'Alas! alas!' said the lady gay,
'That eer I heard that waefu soun!'
30 When she had sitten intill her bower
A twalmonth lang and weary day,
Even below her bower-window
She heard a ghaist to knock an cry.
31 She says, Ye're thief or bauld robber,
Or biggin come to burn or brake;
Or are you ony masterfu man,
That is come seeking ony make?
32 'I am not thief nor bauld robber,
Nor bigging come to burn nor brake;
Nor am I ony masterfu man,
That is come seeking ony make;
But I'm Clerk Sandy, your first love,
And wants wi you again to speak.
33 'Gin ye're Clerk Sandy, my first love,
And wants wi me to speak again,
Tell me some o' the love tokens
That you and I had last between.'
34 'O mind not ye, ye gay lady,
Sin last I was in bower wi thee,
That in it came your seven brethren,
The youngest gart me sairly dree?'
Then sighd and said the gay lady,
'Sae true a tale as ye tell me.'
35 Sae painfully she clam the wa,
She clam the wa up after him;
'Twas not for want of stockings nor sheen,
But hadna time to put them on;
And in the midst o gude greenwood,
'Twas there she lost the sight o him.
36 The lady sat, and mourning there,
Until she coudna weep nae mair;
At length the cloks and wanton flies
They biggit in her yellow hair.
37 'O had your peace, my dearest dear,
For I am come to mak you wise;
Or this night nine nights come and gang,
We baith shall be in Paradise.
-----------
End-Notes
A. b.
B. b. Herd II, seem to be revisions, and to possess no authority.
A. a. 31. For an.
42. gin has been altered to pin, according to a marginal suggestion, and pin stands at 72 in my copy.
61. taw. (?)
144. Perhaps we should read brand 'll.
152. throi. (?)
183. and awa.
233. his. (?)
After 184 is written, but struck out:
O Sandie, ye are the sleepiest man
That ever I saw wi mine eeen.
And above the first verse of 19, also struck out:
Ye hae spoyled my sheets wi sweat, she said.
14 3,4. stand thus in the second copy:
I'se bear the brand into my hand
Shall quickly gar Clark Sanders die.
20 is wanting.
Stanzas 27-41 are transferred to 'Sweet William's Ghost.'
B. a is written in long lines, two to a stanza.
D. 24. my bower-room ye.
E. 12. "Recited as here written, but it was not thought to be right."
152. And if.
173. shall I come.
F. After 20 Jamieson introduced these two stanzas of his own, "the idea of the rose being suggested by the gentleman who recited, but who could not recollect the language in which it was expressed:"
But up and spak her midmaist brother,
And an angry laugh leugh he:,
The thorn that dabs, I'll cut it down,
Though fair the rose may be.
'The flower that smelld sae sweet yestreen
Has lost its bloom wi thee;
And though I'm wae it should be sae,
Clerk Saunders, ye maun die.'
After 23 follow ten stanzas, which are transferred to 'Sweet William's Ghost.'
G. 326. you to speak again.
Additions and Corrections
P. 158 b, at the end of the first paragraph. Supply the Portuguese versions, accidentally omitted: 'Dona Branca,' Braga, Cantos pop. do Archipelago açoriano, p. 233; 'Dom Alberto,' p. 286, 'Flor de Marilia,' p. 237.
P. 157. There are four copies of the Färöe 'Faðir og dóttir,' and Hammershaimb has printed a second (with but slight variations) in his Færøsk Anthologi: p. 253, No 31.
158. Spanish. Add: 'La Esposa infiel,' Pidal, Asturian Romances, No 33, p. 154.
The following are mostly trivial variations from the spelling of the text.
161 a, 71, 81. Read tane.
P. 157 f. Scandinavian ballads. See Danmarks gamle Folkeviser, now edited by Axel Olrik, V, u, 210, No 304, 'De hurtige Svar.' There are two Färöe versions, A a, A b, B, now No 124 of the Manuscript Foslash; royjakvæði. Hammershaimb's ballad is a compound of A a, B. There is a Norwegian copy, which I failed to note, in Danske Viser, IV, 363 f, and there are others in the hands of Professor Bugge. There are two Swedish unprinted copies in Arwidsson's collection, and others are referred to by Afzelius. Danish, A-D: A a and B c are the copies referred to at p. 158, C, D were published in 1889, in Kristensen's Jyske Folkeminder, X, 210 ff., No 51. For the Icelandic ballads see Olrik, No 294, p. 69 ff. A tendency to the comic is to be remarked in the Swedish and Danish group, in which (with one exception) a brother takes the place of the father.
158 a, III, 509 a. Spanish, add: 'Mañanita, mañanita,' El Folk-Lore Frexnense y Bético-Extremeño, Fregenal, 1883-84, p. 171.
158 ff. 'Clerk Sandy,' "Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy," No 22 c; in the handwriting of Richard Heber.
1 Clerk Sandy an his true-love
Came oer the bent so brown,
There was never sic a word between them tua
Till the bells rang in the toun.
2 'Ye maun take out your pocket-napkin
An put it on my een,
That safely I may say the morn
I saw na yow yestreen.
3 'Take me on your back, lady,
An carry me to your bed,
That safely I may say the morn
Yere bouer's floor I never tread.'
4 She's taen him in her armeys tua,
An carried him to her bed,
That safely he may say the morn
Her bouer's floor he never tread.
5 'I have seven brethren,' she says,
'An bold young men they be;
If they see me an you thegether,
Yere butcher they will be.'
6 They had na sutten as lang, as lang
As other lovers when they meet,
Till Clerk Sandy an his true-love
They fell baith sound asleep.
7 In an came her seven brethren,
An bold young men they've been:
'We have only ae sister in a' the world,
An wi Clerk Sandy she's lein.'
8 Out an spake her second brother:
'I'm sure it's nae injury;
If there was na another man in a' the world,
His butcher I will be.'
9 He's taen out a little pen-knife,
Hang low doun by his gaer,
An thro an thro Clerk Sandy's middle;
A word spake he never mair.
10 They lay lang, an lang they lay,
Till the bird in its cage did sing;
She softly unto him did say,
I wonder ye sleep sae soun.
11 They lay lang, an lang they lay,
Till the sun shane on their feet;
She softly unto him did say,
Ye ly too sound asleep.
12 She softly turnd her round about,
An wondred he slept sae soun;
An she lookd ovr her left shoulder,
An the blood about them ran.
12. bents o Broun.
P. 156 b, 2d paragraph. Austerities. 'Mijn haer sel onghevlochten staen,' etc. 'Brennenberg,' Hoffmann, Niederländische Volkslieder, p. 33, No 6, st. 17.
IV, 468 a, 3d line. Add: also four versions of Karl Hittebarn, No 294.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P. 166. Stanzas 30-37 are inserted in Buchan's first Manuscript on a separate slip of paper, and at 29, where the ballad originally ended, there is this note: "See the additional stanzas on the annexed leaf." W. Walker.
Trivial Corrections of Spelling.
468 b, 53. Read yow.