No. 76: The Lass of Roch Royal
[Beginning perhaps with "Come Along, Come Along My Pretty Little Miss," a Virginia song that appeared in 1898 in The Folk-lore Journal (Great Britain) article The London Ballads by W. H. Babcock, versions of songs that include the "Who will shoe your pretty little feet?" verses have been categorized as Child No. 76. These songs do not tell the story of Lord Gregory and the Lass of Roch Royal and are not properly versions of Child No. 76. Since The Lass of Roch Royal has these verses (the questions are two verses and the responses are two verses), many ballad scholars have included unrelated songs as Child 76 when these two verses are present.
Come Along, Come Along My Pretty Little Miss also appeared in the "Additions and Corrections" volume of Child's "English and Scottish Popular Ballads" (see below) which was published after his death by Kittredge in 1898. It is one of many US songs associated with The Lass of Roch Royal. Versions from North America that tell the story of the ballad are rare. Of the 11 versions from North America only 5 of them are deemed authentic (see US/Canada versions) and one (Edwards) is too fragmented to be valuable.
R. Matteson 2012, 2015]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes (Found at the end of the Narrative)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-K (Four other versions in "Additions and Corrections"
Add 1. The Lass of Ocram;
Add 2. Come Along, Come along, my Pretty Little Miss;
Add 3. Who Will Shoe Your Feet?
Add 4. 'The Lass of Lochroyan,' "Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy," No 82, Abbotsford. Communicated to Scott by Major Henry Hutton, Royal Artillery, 24th December, 1802 (Letters I, No 77), as recollected by his father and the family.
5. Endnotes
6. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: The Lass of Roch Royal
A. Roud No. 49: The Lass of Roch Royal (161 Listings)
B. An Accused Queen in "The Lass of Roch Royal"
C. Mrs. Brown's "Lass of Roch Royal"
2. Sheet Music: The Lass of Roch Royal (Bronson's music examples and texts)
3. US & Canadian Versions
4. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-K with additional notes)]
From Illustrated British ballads, old and new: Selected and ed. by George Barnett
Child's Narrative
A. 'Fair Isabell of Rochroyall,' Elizabeth Cochrane's Song-Book, p. 151, No 114.
B. 'The Bonny Lass of Lochroyan, or Lochroyen,' Herd's Manuscripts, I, 144, II, 60; Herd's Scottish Songs, 1776, I, 149.
C. 'Lord Gregory,' Pitcairn's Manuscripts, III, 1.
D. 'Fair Anny,' Jamieson-Brown Manuscript, fol. 27; 'Fair Annie of Lochroyan,' Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 36.
E. a. 'Love Gregor,' Alexander Fraser Tytler's Brown Manuscript, No 2.
b. 'The Lass of Lochroyan,' Scott's Minstrelsy, II, 49, 1802.
F. Herd's Manuscripts, I, 31, II, 65.
G. 'Love Gregory,' Buchan's Manuscripts, II, 149; Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 198; Dixon, Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, Percy Society, vol. xvii, p. 60.
H. 'The Lass of Aughrim,' an Irish version, communicated by Mr. G. C. Mabon, of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
I. 'Oh open the door, Lord Gregory,' Johnson's Museum, I, 5, No 5, four stanzas.
J. Motherwell's Note-Book, p. 12, two stanzas.
K. Stenhouse's Johnson's Museum, IV, *107, one stanza.
A, never as yet published, is from a manuscript of the first half of the last century. B, the earliest printed copy, was given by Herd, from his manuscript, in 1776, with his usual fidelity. Scott followed, in 1802, with a copy obtained from Mrs. Brown by Alexander Fraser Tytler in 1800, introducing six stanzas from B and five from F, and a few readings from two recited copies. This compounded copy is the one that is most generally known. Jamieson printed, in 1806, D, a version written down from Mrs. Brown's recitation in 1783, giving it not quite verbatim, as he says (he changes, for instance, Rochroyal to Lochroyan), but in general adhering to his text. E a, the copy principally used by Scott, is, to a considerable extent, a repetition of D, but is by no means an imperfectly remembered version of its predecessor (which was written down seventeen years earlier), filled out by Mrs. Brown's improvised inventions. E a has stanzas not found in D, two of which occur in B, and is to be regarded as a blending of two independent versions known to Mrs. Brown, which no doubt had much in common, though not so much as D and E a. The whole of the fragment F has not been published hitherto, but five of the eight stanzas are interpolated into Scott's copy, including the two last, which are shown by the very style to be spurious. Fairy charms have been exercised on Lord Gregory, according to the final stanza of F, and Lord Gregory calls his dame "witch mother" in C 10. But there appears to be no call for magic or witchcraft in the case. A man who is asleep is simply not informed by an ill disposed mother that a woman whom he would like to see is at the door; that is all.[1]
A, the oldest copy, has a preliminary history wanting in the others. Isabel of Rochroyal has a dream about her lover. She orders her horse, to ride till she comes to some hold. She meets a company, who ask her questions about a first and a second young may, which she seems to understand, but which are not made intelligible to us. They then ask whether she be Isabel of Rochroyal, and she answers that she is that same lady, banished from kith and kin; why, we are not informed, but we might conjecture that it would be on account of her relations with Love Gregory. She is directed to Gregory's castle, tirls at the pin, and begs admission. Gregory's mother answers as and for her son, and demands proofs of her being the lass of Rochroyal. These are given, and the mother says that Gregory is gone to sea. Hereupon Isabel breaks out into exclamations as to her helpless condition; who will take care of her? who will be the bairn's father till Gregory come home? The mother replies that she will do all that is necessary for her, but there is none to be her bairn's father till Gregory return. This is in itself unnatural, since the mother is hostile to her son's love, and it is counter to what we read in the other versions. In B as in A, to be sure, the lass is said to be banished from her kin, but her kin nevertheless show a disposition to do all that is in their power in the way of kind attentions. The other copies say nothing of her family being alienated. The father in D even furnishes his daughter with a bonny ship, to go to her true-love. If we seek to reconcile these accounts, we must take the banishment as a separation for which only the fates are responsible, and suppose that verses are lost in A after 17 which narrated Annie's return to her own family. The lass says, st. 22, that she will set her foot on ship-board, having been told by the mother, st. 17, that Gregory is on the sea. Gregory, in turn, has his dream, that his love has been knocking at the door, and his mother tells him that she has not been gone half an hour, and gets his curses for not informing him. Gregory orders his swiftest horse, to ride till he comes to some hold, and presently meets a funeral train who are carrying his love to burial. This conclusion, found also in B, C, is that of 'Lord Lovel' and 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William,' and must perhaps be set aside as not the original one. In B Gregory kills himself, as Lord Lovel does in one copy, E.
The whole story as A actually stands, notwithstanding that the lass says she will take ship, seems to pass on land. Two different relations may have been confounded. In the other versions Love Gregory is somewhere over sea, and in B, F his lass is indebted for his direction, not to a company who are raking over the lea, but to a sea-rover, who shows a consideration not to be looked for from his class.[2] The maid, repulsed by Gregory's mother, and supposing herself to be cast off by Gregory himself, sails away from his castle, and in D, E encounters a storm, and is wrecked. In D Gregory rushes to the strand near which his castle lies, sees Annie sailing away, witnesses the wreck of her vessel, plunges into the sea and brings her body to land, and dies of heartbreak. So in E, with the difference that Annie's body is thrown ashore by the waves, and that the tale does not finish with the death of Gregory, which we know must have followed.
Why the lovers are parted, why Gregory winna come to the lass, and she must go to him, is not accounted for in C-G. We may deduce from A and B, though the story in these versions as we have it is not altogether consistent, that the lass was banished from kith and kin on account of her connection with Gregory (which in B 16 and H 9 is said to have been irregular) and flying to her lover, found no acceptance with his mother.
Cunningham has rewritten this ballad, Scottish Songs, I, 298, and several songs have been composed on the story: by Burns and Dr. Wolcott (Peter Pindar), Thomson's Select Melodies of Scotland, I, 37, ed. 1822; Jamieson, Popular Ballads, I, 46; and by an anonymous writer in a London periodical, cited by Dixon, Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, p. 99.
Roch- or Rough-royal, A, D, E, F, Ruchlawhill, C, I have not found, but there is a Rough castle in Stirlingshire. Loch Ryan runs up into the north-west corner of Wigtown, a shire at the south-west extremity of Scotland. Aughrim is in the county of Roscommon, Ireland.
As the mother in this ballad, feigning to be her son, requires the lady at the gate to legitimate herself by mentioning some of the tokens which have been exchanged between her and her lover, so in other ballads a wife demands conclusive proofs that a man claiming to be her long absent husband is what he pretends to be, E.g., some forms of the French ballad of 'Germaine:'
'Ouvre ta port', Germin', c'est moi qu'est ton mari.'
'Donnez-moi des indic's de la première nuit,
Et par là je croirai que vous êt's mon mari.'
'T'en souviens-tu, Germin', de la première nuit,
Où tu étais monté' sur un beau cheval gris,
Placée entre tes frèr's et moi ton favori?'
'Donnez-moi des indic's de la deuxième nuit,
Et par là je croirai que vous êt's mon mari,
Et par là je croirai que vous êt's mon mari.'
'T'en souviens-tu, Germin', de la deuxième nuit?
En te serrant les doigts ton anneau y cassa,
Tu en as la moitié, et l'autre la voilà.'
Champfleury, Chansons populaires des Provinces, p. 196.
Cf. Poésies pop. de la France, Manuscript, IV, fol. 189; Puymaigre, p. 11, 2d ed., I, 50 f; Beaurepaire, p. 76; Fleury, p. 267; Rathery, in Le Moniteur, Aug. 26, 1853, p. 945 f, 'Le Sire de Créqui;' Wolf, Volkslieder aus Venetien, No 81, p. 59; Ferraro, Canti p. monferrini, No 26, p. 33. And again in Romaic: 'Η Ἀναγνώρισις, etc.; Fauriel, II, 422-25; Tommaseo, III, 141-44, 148-50; Marcellus, Chants du Peuple en Grèce, I, 328; Schmidt, Griechische Märchen, u.s.w., p. 192, No 57; Chasiotis, p. 29, No 28; Zambelios, p. 718, No 5; Jeannaraki, p. 237, No 300; Arabantinos, pp 209, 211, Nos 347, 348; Passow, pp 321-28, Nos 441-446; Manousos, p. 103 = Fauriel, II, 423. Several of the ballads in Passow are of course repetitions.[3]
D is translated, after Jamieson, by Grundtvig, Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, No 16; E b, Scott's compounded version, by Schubart, p. 93, Doenniges, p. 33, Gerhard, p. 21, Wolff, Halle der Völker, I, 52, and by Rosa Warrens, Schottische Volkslieder der Vorzeit, No 39, with a change or two from Aytoun; Allingham's compounded version by Knortz, Lieder u. Romanzen Alt-Englands, No 63.
Footnotes:
1. Jamieson tells us, p. 44, that when a boy he had frequently heard the ballad chanted in Morayshire, and no mention was ever made of "fairy charms."
2. C 3, 4 are evidently misplaced, and belong in that part of the story where B 8, 9 occur.
3. Liebrecht has noted many of the above in his 'Volkskunde.' A man requires identification of a woman in a very ill preserved ballad in Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 320.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
A, the oldest copy, published for the first time in Child's English and Scottish Popular Ballads, is from a manuscript of the first half of the eighteenth century. A has a preliminary history wanting in all others, but the story is somewhat obscure and two different relations may have been confounded. The conclusion of A is that of 'Lord Lovel' (No. 75) and 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William' (No. 74), and must perhaps be set aside as not the original one.
Child's Ballad Texts A-K
'Fair Isabell of Rochroyall'- Version A; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76
E. Cochrane's Songbook, p. 151, No 114.
1 Fair Isabell of Rochroyall,
She dreamed where she lay,
She dreamd a dream of her love Gregory,
A litle before the day.
2 O huly, huly rose she up,
And huly she put on,
And huly, huly she put on
The silks of crimsion.
3 'Gar sadle me the black,' she sayes,
'Gar sadle me the broun;
Gar sadle me the swiftest steed
That ever rode the toun.
4 'Gar shoe him with the beat silver,
And grind him with the gold;
Gar put two bells on every side,
Till I come to some hold.'
5 She had not rode a mile, a mile,
A mile but barely three,
Till that she spyed a companie
Come rakeing oere the lee.
6 'O whether is this the first young may,
That lighted and gaed in;
Or is this the second young may,
That neer the sun shined on?
Or is this Fair Isabell of Roch Royall,
Banisht from kyth and kin.'
7 'O I am not the first young may,
That lighted and gaed in;
Nor neither am I the second young may,
That neer the sun shone on;
8 'But I'm Fair Isabell of Roch Royall
Banisht from kyth and kin;
I'm seeking my true-love Gregory,
And I woud I had him in.'
9 'O go your way to yon castle,
And ride it round about,
And there you'll find Love Gregory;
He's within, without any doubt.'
10 O she's away to yon castle,
She's tirled at the pin:
'O open, open, Love Gregory,
And let your true-love in.'
11 'If you be the lass of the Rochroyall,
As I trow not you be,
You will tell me some of our love-tokens,
That was betwixt you and me.'
12 'Have you not mind, Love Gregory,
Since we sat at the wine;
When we changed the rings off our fingers,
And ay the worst fell mine?
13 'Mine was of the massy gold,
And thine was of the tin;
Mine was true and trusty both,
And thine was false within.'
14 If you be [the] lass of the Roch Royall,
As I trow not you be,
You will tell me some other love-token
That was betwixt you and me.'
15 'Have you not mind, Love Gregory,
Since we sat at the wine,
We changed the smocks off our two backs,
And ay the worst fell mine?
16 'Mine was of the holland fine,
And thine was course and thin;
So many blocks have we two made,
And ay the worst was mine.'
17 'Love Gregory, he is not at home,
But he is to the sea;
If you have any word to him,
I pray you leave't with me.'
* * * * *
18 'O who will shoe my bony foot?
Or who will glove my hand?
Or who will bind my midle jimp
With the broad lilly band?
19 'Or who will comb my bony head
With the red river comb?
Or who will be my bairn's father
Ere Gregory he come home?'
20 'O I's gar shoe thy bony foot,
And I's gar glove thy hand,
And I's gar bind thy midle jimp
With the broad lilly band.
21 'And I's gar comb thy bony head
With the red river comb;
But there is none to be thy bairn's father
Till Love Gregory he come home.
22 'I'll set my foot on the ship-board,
God send me wind and more!
For there's never a woman shall bear a son
Shall make my heart so sore.'
23 'I dreamed a dream now since yestreen,
That I never dreamed before;
I dreamd that the lass of the Rochroyall
Was knocking at the door.'
24 'Ly still, ly still, my dear son,
Ly still, and take a sleep;
For it's neither ane hour, nor yet a half,
Since she went from the gate.'
25 'O wo be to you, ill woman,
And ane ill death mott you die!
For you might have come to my bed-side,
And then have wakened me.
26 'Gar sadle me the black,' he sayes,
'Gar sadle me the broun;
Gar sadle me the swiftest steed
That ever rode the toun.
27 'Gar shoe him with the beat silver,
Gar grind him with the gold;
Cause put two bells on every side,
Till I come to some hold.'
28 They sadled him the black, the black,
So did they him the broun;
So did they him the swiftest steed
That ever rode to toun.
29 They shoed him with the beat silver,
They grind him with the gold;
They put two bells on every side,
Till he came to some hold.
30 He had not rode a mile, a mile,
A mile but barely three,
Till that he spyed her comely corps
Come raking oere the lee.
31 'Set doun, set doun these comely corps,
Let me look on the dead:'
And out he's ta'en his little pen-knife,
And slitted her winding sheet.
32 And first he kist her cheek, her cheek,
And then he kist her chin;
And then he kist her rosy lips,
But there was no breath within.
33 'Gar deall, gar deall for my love sake
The spiced bread and the wine;
For ere the morn at this time
So shall you deall for mine.
34 'Gar deall, gar deall for my love sake
The pennys that are so small;
For ere the morn at this time,
So shall you deall for all.'
35 The one was buried in Mary kirk,
The other in Mary quire;
Out of the one there sprung a birk,
Out of the other a bryar;
So thus you may well know by that
They were two lovers dear.
-------------
'The Bonny Lass of Lochroyan, or Lochroyen'- Version B; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76
Herd's Manuscript, I, 144; II, 60, the first ten lines; Herd's Scottish Songs, 1776, 1, 149.
1 'O wha will shoe thy bonny feet?
Or wha will glove thy hand?
Or wha will lace thy midle jimp,
With a lang, lang London whang?
2 'And wha will kame thy bonny head,
With a tabean brirben kame?
And wha will be my bairn's father,
Till Love Gregory come hame?'
3 'Thy father'll shoe his bonny feet,
Thy mither'll glove his hand;
Thy brither will lace his middle jimp,
With a lang, lang London whang.
4 'Mysel will kame his bonny head,
With a tabean brirben kame;
And the Lord will be the bairn's father,
Till Love Gregory come hame.'
5 Then she's gart build a bonny ship,
It's a' cored oer with pearl,
And at every needle-tack was in't
There hang a siller bell.
6 And she's awa . . .
To sail upon the sea;
She's gane to seek Love Gregory,
In lands whereer he be.
7 She hadna saild a league but twa,
O scantly had she three,
Till she met with a rude rover,
Was sailing on the sea.
8 'O whether is thou the Queen hersel,
Or ane o her maries three?
Or is thou the lass of Lochroyan,
Seeking Love Gregory?'
9 'O I am not the Queen hersell,
Nor ane o her maries three;
But I am the lass o Lochroyan,
Seeking Love Gregory.
10 'O sees na thou yone bonny bower?
It's a' cored oer with tin;
When thou hast saild it round about,
Love Gregory is within.'
11 When she had saild it round about,
She tirled at the pin:
'O open, open, Love Gregory,
Open, and let me in!
For I am the lass of Lochroyan,
Banisht frae a' my kin.'
12 'If thou be the lass of Lochroyan,
As I know no thou be,
Tell me some of the true tokens
That past between me and thee.'
13 'Hast thou na mind, Love Gregory,
As we sat at the wine,
We changed the rings aff ither's hands,
And ay the best was mine?
14 'For mine was o the gude red gould,
But thine was o the tin;
And mine was true and trusty baith,
But thine was fa'se within.
15 'If thou be the lass of Lochroyan,
As I know na thou be,
Tell me some mair o the true tokens
Past between me and thee.'
16 'And has na thou na mind, Love Gregory,
As we sat on yon hill,
Thou twin'd me of my [maidenhead,]
Right sair against my will?
17 'Now open, open, Love Gregory,
Open, and let me in!
For the rain rains on my gude cleading,
And the dew stands on my chin.'
18 Then she has turnd her round about:
'Well, since that it be sae,
Let never woman that has born a son
Hae a heart sae full of wae.
19 'Take down, take down that mast o gould,
Set up a mast of tree;
For it dinna become a forsaken lady
To sail so royallie.'
20 'I dreamt a dream this night, mother,
I wish it may prove true,
That the bonny lass of Lochroyan
Was at the gate just now.'
21 'Lie still, lie still, my only son,
And sound sleep mayst thou get,
For it's but an hour or little mair
Since she was at the gate.'
22 Awa, awa, ye wicket woman,
And an ill dead may ye die!
Ye might have ither letten her in,
Or else have wakened me.
23 'Gar saddle to me the black,' he said,
'Gar saddle to me the brown;
Gar saddle to me the swiftest steed
That is in a' the town.'
24 Now the first town that he cam to,
The bells were ringing there;
And the neist toun that he cam to,
Her corps was coming there.
25 'Set down, set down that comely corp,
Set down, and let me see
Gin that be the lass of Lochroyan,
That died for love o me.'
26 And he took out the little penknife
That hang down by his gare,
And he's rippd up her winding-sheet,
A lang claith-yard and mair.
27 And first he kist her cherry cheek,
And syne he kist her chin,
And neist he kist her rosy lips;
There was nae breath within.
28 And he has taen his little penknife,
With a heart that was fou sair,
He has given himself a deadly wound,
And word spake never mair.
-------------
'Lord Gregory'- Version C; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76
Pitcairn's Manuscripts, III, 1, from the singing of Widow Stevenson.
1 * * * *
She sailed west, she sailed east,
She sailed mony a mile,
Until she cam to Lord Gregor's yett,
And she tirled at the pin.
2 'It's open, open, Lord Gregory,
Open, and let me in;
For the rain drops on my gouden hair,
And drops upon your son.'
3 'Are you the Queen of Queensberry?
Or one of the marys three?
Or are you the lass of Ruchlaw hill,
Seeking Lord Gregory?'
4 'I'm not the Queen of Queensberry,
Nor one of the marys three;
But I am the bonny lass of Ruchlawhill,
Seeking Lord Gregory.'
5 'Awa, awa, ye fause thief,
I will not open to thee
Till you tell me the first token
That was tween you and me.'
6 'Do not you mind, Lord Gregory,
When we birled at the wine,
We changed the rings of our fingers,
And ay the best was mine?
7 'For mine was true and trusty goud,
But yours it was of tin;
Mine was of the true and trusty goud,
But yours was fause within.'
8 She turned about her bonny ship,
Awa then did she sail:
'The sun shall never shine on man
That made my heart so sare.'
9 Then up the old mother she got,
And wakened Lord Gregory:
'Awa, awa, ye fause gudeson,
A limmer was seeking thee.'
10 'It's woe be to you, witch-mother,
An ill death may you die!
For you might hae set the yet open,
And then hae wakened me.'
11 It's up he got, and put on his clothes,
And to the yet he ran;
The first sight of the ship he saw,
He whistled and he sang.
12 But whan the bonny ship was out o sight,
He clapped his hands and ran,
. . . . .
. . . . .
13 The first kirktoun he cam to,
He heard the death-bell ring,
The second kirktoun he cam to,
He saw her corpse come in.
14 'Set down, set down this bonny corpse,
That I may look upon;
If she died late for me last night,
I'll die for her the morn.
15 'Be merry, merry, gentlemen,
Be merry at the bread and wine;
For by the morn at this time o day
You'll drink as much at mine.'
16 The one was buried in Mary's isle,
The other in Mary's quire;
Out of the one there grew a thorn,
And out of the other a brier.
17 And aye they grew, and aye they blew,
Till their twa taps did meet;
And every one that passed thereby
Might see they were lovers sweet.
------------
'Fair Anny'- Version D; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76
Jamieson-Brown Manuscript, fol. 27; Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 36.
1 'O wha will shoe my fu fair foot?
An wha will glove my han?
An wha will lace my middle gimp
Wi the new made London ban?
2 'Or wha will kemb my yallow hair,
Wi the new made silver kemb?
Or wha'll be father to my young bairn,
Till Love Gregor come hame?'
3 Her father shoed her fu fair foot,
Her mother glovd her han;
Her sister lac'd her middle gimp
Wi the new made London ban.
4 Her brother kembd her yallow hair,
Wi the new made silver kemb,
But the king o heaven maun father her bairn,
Till Love Gregor come hame.
5 'O gin I had a bony ship,
An men to sail wi me,
It's I would gang to my true-love,
Since he winna come to me.'
6 Her father's gien her a bonny ship,
An sent her to the stran;
She's tane her young son in her arms,
An turnd her back to the lan.
7 She had na been o the sea saillin
About a month or more,
Till landed has she her bonny ship
Near her true-love's door.
8 The night was dark, an the win blew caul,
An her love was fast asleep,
An the bairn that was in her twa arms
Fu sair began to weep.
9 Long stood she at her true-love's door,
An lang tirld at the pin;
At length up gat his fa'se mither,
Says, Wha's that woud be in?
10 'O it is Anny of Roch-royal,
Your love, come oer the sea,
But an your young son in her arms;
So open the door to me.'
11 'Awa, awa, you ill woman,
You've na come here for gude,
You're but a witch, or wile warlock,
Or mermaid o the flude.'
12 'I'm na a witch, or wile warlock,
Nor mermaiden,' said she;
'I'm but Fair Anny o Roch-royal;
O open the door to me.'
13 'O gin ye be Anny o Roch-royal,
As [I] trust not ye be,
What taiken can ye gie that ever
I kept your company?'
14 'O dinna ye mind, Love Gregor,' she says,
'Whan we sat at the wine,
How we changed the napkins frae our necks,
It's na sae lang sin syne?
15 'An yours was good, an good enough,
But nae sae good as mine;
For yours was o the cumbruk clear,
But mine was silk sae fine.
16 'An dinna ye mind, Love Gregor,' she says,
'As we twa sat at dine,
How we changed the rings frae our fingers,
But ay the best was mine?
17 'For yours was good, an good enough,
Yet nae sae good as mine;
For yours was of the good red gold,
But mine o the diamonds fine.
18 'Sae open the door now, Love Gregor,
An open it wi speed,
Or your young son that is in my arms
For cauld will soon be dead.'
19 'Awa, awa, you ill woman,
Gae frae my door for shame;
For I hae gotten another fair love,
Sae ye may hye you hame.'
20 'O hae you gotten another fair love,
For a' the oaths you sware?
Then fair you well now, fa'se Gregor,
For me you's never see mair.'
21 O heely, heely gi'd she back,
As the day began to peep;
She set her foot on good ship-board,
An sair, sair did she weep.
22 Love Gregor started frae his sleep,
An to his mither did say,
I dreamd a dream this night, mither,
That maks my heart right wae.
23 'I dreamd that Anny of Roch-royal,
The flowr o a' her kin,
Was standin mournin at my door,
But nane would lat her in.'
24 'O there was a woman stood at the door,
Wi a bairn intill her arms,
But I woud na lat her within the bowr,
For fear she had done you harm.'
25 O quickly, quickly raise he up,
An fast ran to the stran,
An there he saw her Fair Anny,
Was sailin frae the lan.
26 An 'Heigh, Anny!' an 'Hou, Anny!
O Anny, speak to me!'
But ay the louder that he cried Anny,
The louder roard the sea.
27 An 'Heigh, Anny!' an 'Hou, Anny!
O Anny, winna you bide?'
But ay the langer that he cried Anny,
The higher roard the tide.
28 The win grew loud, an the sea grew rough,
An the ship was rent in twain,
An soon he saw her Fair Anny
Come floating oer the main.
29 He saw his young son in her arms,
Baith tossd aboon the tide;
He wrang his hands, than fast he ran,
An plung'd i the sea sae wide.
30 He catchd her by the yallow hair,
An drew her to the strand,
But cauld an stiff was every limb
Before he reachd the land.
31 O first he kissd her cherry cheek,
An then he kissd her chin;
An sair he kissd her ruby lips,
But there was nae breath within.
32 O he has mournd oer Fair Anny
Till the sun was gaing down,
Then wi a sigh his heart it brast,
An his soul to heaven has flown.
-------------
'Love Gregor'- Version E a. ; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76 [second version from Mrs. Brown]
a. Alexander Fraser Tytler's Brown Manuscript, No 2, written down from Mrs. Brown's recitation in 1800.
b. Scott's Minstrelsy, II, 49, 1802.
1 'O wha will shoe my fu fair foot?
And wha will glove my hand?
And wha will lace my middle jimp,
Wi the new made London band?
2 'And wha will kaim my yellow hair,
Wi the new made silver kaim?
And wha will father my young son,
Till Love Gregor come hame?'
3 'Your father will shoe your fu fair foot,
Your mother will glove your hand;
Your sister will lace your middle jimp
Wi the new made London band.
4 'Your brother will kaim your yellow hair,
Wi the new made silver kaim;
And the king of heaven will father your bairn,
Till Love Gregor come haim.'
5 'But I will get a bonny boat,
And I will sail the sea,
For I maun gang to Love Gregor,
Since he canno come hame to me.'
6 O she has gotten a bonny boat,
And sailld the sa't sea fame;
She langd to see her ain true-love,
Since he could no come hame.
7 'O row your boat, my mariners,
And bring me to the land,
For yonder I see my love's castle,
Closs by the sa't sea strand.'
8 She has taen her young son in her arms,
And to the door she's gone,
And lang she's knocked and sair she ca'd,
But answer got she none.
9 'O open the door, Love Gregor,' she says,
'O open, and let me in;
For the wind blaws thro my yellow hair,
And the rain draps oer my chin.'
10 'Awa, awa, ye ill woman,
You'r nae come here for good;
You'r but some witch, or wile warlock,
Or mer-maid of the flood.'
11 'I am neither a witch nor a wile warlock,
Nor mer-maid of the sea,
I am Fair Annie of Rough Royal;
O open the door to me.'
12 'Gin ye be Annie of Rough Royal,
And I trust ye are not she;
Now tell me some of the love-tokens
That past between you and me.'
13 'O dinna you mind now, Love Gregor,
When we sat at the wine,
How we changed the rings frae our fingers?
And I can show thee thine.
14 'O yours was good, and good enneugh,
But ay the best was mine;
For yours was o the good red goud,
But mine o the dimonds fine.
15 'But open the door now, Love Gregor,
O open the door I pray,
For your young son that is in my arms
Will be dead ere it be day.'
16 'Awa, awa, ye ill woman,
For here ye shanno win in;
Gae drown ye in the raging sea,
Or hang on the gallows-pin.'
17 When the cock had crawn, and day did dawn,
And the sun began to peep,
Then it raise him Love Gregor,
And sair, sair did he weep.
18 'O I dreamd a dream, my mother dear,
The thoughts o it gars me greet,
That Fair Annie of Rough Royal
Lay cauld dead at my feet.'
19 'Gin it be for Annie of Rough Royal
That ye make a' this din,
She stood a' last night at this door,
But I trow she was no in.'
20 'O wae betide ye, ill woman,
An ill dead may ye die!
That ye woudno open the door to her,
Nor yet woud waken me.'
21 O he has gone down to yon shore-side,
As fast as he could fare;
He saw Fair Annie in her boat,
But the wind it tossd her sair.
22 'Hey, Annie!' and 'How, Annie!
O Annie, winna ye bide?'
But ay the mair that he cried Annie,
The braider grew the tide.
23 And 'Hey, Annie!' and 'How, Annie!
Dear Annie, speak to me!'
But ay the louder he cried Annie,
The louder roard the sea.
24 The wind blew loud, the sea grew rough,
And dashd the boat on shore;
Fair Annie floats on the raging sea,
But her young son raise no more.
25 Love Gregor tare his yellow hair,
And made a heavy moan;
Fair Annie's corpse lay at his feet,
But his bonny young son was gone.
26 O cherry, cherry was her cheek,
And gowden was her hair,
But clay cold were her rosey lips,
Nae spark of life was there.
27 And first he's kissd her cherry cheek,
And neist he's kissed her chin;
And saftly pressd her rosey lips,
But there was nae breath within.
28 'O wae betide my cruel mother,
And an ill dead may she die!
For she turnd my true-love frae my door,
When she came sae far to me.'
-------------
['The Lass of Ruch Royal']- Version F; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76
Herd Manuscript, I, 31, II, 65.
1 'O wha will lace my steys, mother?
O wha will gluve my hand?
O wha will be my bairn's father,
While my luve cums to land?'
2 'O sall I lace your steys, dochter,
O sall I gluve your hand;
And God will be your bairn's father,
While your luve cums to land.'
3 Now she's gard build a bonie schip,
Forbidden she wad nae be;
She's gane wi four score mariners,
Sailand the salt, salt sea.
4 They had nae saild but twenty legues,
Bot twenty legues and three,
When they met wi the ranke robers,
And a' their companie.
5 'Now whether are ye the Queen hersell?
For so ye weel micht bee,
Or are ye the lass o the Ruch Royal,
Seekand Lord Gregorie?'
6 'O I am neither the Queen,' she sed,
'Nor sick I seem to be;
But I am the lass o the Ruch Royal,
Seekand Lord Gregorie.'
* * * * *
7 And when she saw the stately tower,
Shynand sae cleere and bricht,
Whilk proud defies the jawing wave,
Built on a rock a hicht,
8 Sche sailed it round, and sailed it sound,
And loud, loud cried she,
'Now break, now break, ye fairy charms,
And let the prisoner free.'
----------
'Love Gregory'- Version G; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76
Buchan's Manuscripts II, 149; Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 198.
1 It fell on a Wodensday,
Love Gregory's taen the sea,
And he has left his lady Janet,
And a weary woman was she.
2 But she had na been in child-bed
A day but barely three,
Till word has come to Lady Janet
Love Gregory she would never see.
3 She's taen her mantle her middle about,
Her cane into her hand,
And she's awa to the salt-sea side,
As fast as she could gang.
4 'Whare will I get a curious carpenter,
Will make a boat to me?
I'm going to seek him Love Gregory,
In's lands where eer he be.'
5 'Here am I, a curious carpenter,
Will make a boat for thee,
And ye may seek him Love Gregory,
But him ye'll never see.'
6 She sailed up, she sailed down,
Thro many a pretty stream,
Till she came to that stately castle,
Where Love Gregory lay in.
7 'Open, open, Love Gregory,
O open, and lat me in;
Your young son is in my arms,
And shivering cheek and chin.'
8 'Had awa, ye ill woman,
Had far awa frae me;
Ye're but some witch, or some warlock,
Or the mermaid, troubling me.
9 'My lady she's in Lochranline,
Down by Lochlearn's green;
This day she wadna sail the sea,
For goud nor warld's gain.
10 'But if ye be my lady Janet,
As I trust not well ye be,
Come tell me oer some love-token
That past 'tween thee an me.'
11 'Mind on, mind on now, Love Gregory,
Since we sat at the wine;
The rings that were on your fingers,
I gied thee mine for thine.
12 'And mine was o the good red goud,
Yours o the silly tin,
And mine's been true, and very true,
But yours had a fause lynin.
13 'But open, open, Love Gregory,
Open, and let me in;
Your young son is in my arms,
He'll be dead ere I win in.'
14 'Had awa, ye ill woman,
Had far awa frae me;
Ye're but some witch, or some warlock,
Or the mermaid, troubling me.
15 'But if ye be my lady Janet,
As I trust not well ye be;
Come tell me o'er some love-token
That past tween thee and me.'
16 'Mind on, mind on, Love Gregory,
Since we sat at the wine;
The shifts that were upon your back,
I gave thee mine for thine.
17 'And mine was o the good holland,
And yours o the silly twine,
And mine's been true, and very true,
But yours had fause lynin.'
* * * * *
--------------
'The Lass of Aughrim'- Version H; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76
Communicated by Mr. G.C. Mahon, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, as sung by a laborer, at Tyrrelspass, West Meath, Ireland, about 1830.
1 'Oh who'll comb my yellow locks,
With the brown berry comb?
And who'll be the child's father,
Until Gregory comes home?'
2 'Oh . . . . .
And God will be the child's father,
Until Gregory comes home.'
* * * * *
3 'The dew wets my yellow locks,
The rain wets my skin,
The babe's cold in my arms,
Oh Gregory, let me in!'
4 'Oh if you be the lass of Aughrim,
As I suppose you not to be,
Come tell me the last token
Between you and me.'
The dew wets my skin.
5 'Oh Gregory, don't you remember
One night on the hill,
When we swapped rings off each other's hands,
Sorely against my will?'
Mine was of the beaten gold,
Yours was but black tin.'
The dew wets my skin.
6 'Oh if you be the lass of aughrim,
As I suppose you not to be,
Come tell me the last token
Between you and me.'
The dew wets my skin.
7 'Oh Gregory don't you remember
One night on the hill,
When we swapped smocks off each other's backs,
Sorely against my will?
Mine was of the holland fine,
Yours was but Scotch cloth.'
The dew wets my skin.
8 'Oh if you be the lass of Aughrim,
As I suppose you not to be,
Come tell me the last token
Between you and me.'
The dew wets my skin.
9 'Oh Gregory, don't you remember,
In my father's hall,
When you had your will of me?
And that was worse than all.'
. . . . .
. . . . .
The dew wets my skin.
-----------
'Oh open the door, Lord Gregory'- Version I; The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76
Johnson's Museum, I, 5, No 5, 1787.
1 'Oh open the door, Lord Gregory,
Oh open, and let me in;
The rain rains on my scarlet robes,
The dew drops oer my chin.'
2 'If you are the lass that I lovd once,
As I true you are not she,
Come give me some of the tokens
That past between you and me.'
3 'Ah wae be to you, Gregory,
An ill death may you die!
You will not be the death of one,
But you'll be the death of three.
4 'Oh don't you mind, Lord Gregory,
'Twas down at yon burn-side
We changed the ring of our fingers,
And I put mine on thine?'
------------
'Lord Gregory'- Version J The Lass of Roch Royal Child 76
Motherwell's Note-Book, p. 12.
1 'O wha will shoe my pretty little foot?
And wha will glove my hand?
And who will lace my middle jimp
Wi this lang London whang?
2 'And wha will comb my yellow, yellow hair,
Wi this fine rispen kame?
And wha will be my bairn's father,
Till Lord Gregory come hame?'
----------
['Love Gregory'] Version K ; The Lass of Roch RoyalChild 76
Stenhouse's Johnson's Museum, IV, *107, communicated by Kirkpatrick Sharpe, "as generally sung by the people of Galloway and Dumfriesshire."
1 'O open the door, Love Gregory,
O open, and let me in;
The wind blows through my yellow hair,
And the dew draps oer my chin.'
-------------
End Notes: The Lass of Roch Royal
A. 82. kine.
11. His mother: margin of the Manuscript
20. Mother: margin.
22. Lady.
23. Gregory: margin.
24. Mother: margin.
B. 13. who.
22, 42. Herd prints Tabean birben.
12. His mother speaks to her from the house and she thinks it him: margin of the Manuscript.
141. has (?).
15 follows 17 in the Manuscript.
163. Herd prints maidenhead.
20. The son speaks: margin.
251. corp(?).
C. After 2. Then Lord Gregory's mother answers, counterfeiting her son.
After 4. The mother, still counterfeiting her son, says.
The old woman who sang the ballad, says Pitcairn, murmured over these words as a sort of recitative, and then resumed the song, with a slight variation of voice.
D. 34. linnen; probably a way of pronouncing London.
Jamieson adopts several readings from E a, besides making some slight alterations of his own, and inserts these two stanzas, "from memory," between 21 and 22:
Tak down, tak down the mast o goud,
Set up the mast o tree;
Ill sets it a forsaken lady
To sail sae gallantlie.
Tak down, tak down the sails o silk,
Set up the sails o skin;
Ill sets the outside to be gay
Whan there 's sic grief within.
For the first of these see B 19.
E. a. quha, ze, etc., of the Manuscript are printed wha, ye, etc.
b. Scott's version, described as composed from B, B a, F, and two recited copies, is rather E a, excepting 63,4 and 16, interpolated with six stanzas from B, five from F, and two lines from other sources, with a few verbal changes. It is, neglecting these verbal changes (also in part derived from B, E a, F), made up thus:
1-5= E a 1-5; 6= F 31 + F 34 + two lines from other sources; 7-9 = F 4-6; 10 = B 10; 11 = F 7; 12 = E a 7; 13 = F 8; 14-20 = E a 8-14; 21 = B 16; 22 = E a 15; 23-25 = B 15, 18, 19; 26 = E a 17; 27 = B 20; 28-38 = B a 18-28; 39 = E a 281-3 + B 254. Scott has Lord Gregory for Love Gregor, or Love Gregory, throughout, and Lochroyan for Rough (Roch) Royal.
34. Till Lord Gregory come to land.
63,4. The sails were o the light-green silk,
The tows o taffety.
243,4. Fair Annie floated through the faem,
But the babie raise no more.
G. 44. Ands lands: Buchan prints In 's.
62. For mony: Buchan prints Thro mony.
124. fause reason: Buchan prints fause lynin.
143. Buchan prints or vile warlock.
H. "I find myself quite unable to arrange the fragments of the 'Lass of Aughrim' in anything like decent symmetry. The idea that I have of the arrangement is that the Lass begins with a sort of soliloquy, lamenting her condition; that she sings this at the door of a castle, shut against her; that she hears Gregory's voice within, and then appeals to him for admittance; and then comes the dialogue between them.
"The [third] stanza, as I heard the thing sung, was repeated as a burden after all the succeeding stanzas, even when the Lad and not the Lass speaks; but I do not think it followed the [first two] stanzas; they were a sort of introduction." Mr. Mahon, December, 1884, May, 1885.
Additions and Corrections
II, 213. There is a version of this ballad in the Roxburghe collection, III, 488, a folio slip without imprint, dated in the Museum Catalogue 1740. I was not aware of the existence of this copy till it was printed by Mr. Ebsworth in the Roxburghe Ballads, VI, 609. He puts the date of issue circa 1765. It is here given from the original. Compare H.
The Lass of Ocram
1 I built my love a gallant ship,
And a ship of Northern fame,
And such a ship as I did build,
Sure there never was seen.
2 For her sides were of the beaten gold,
And the doors were of block-tin,
And sure such a ship as I built
There sure never was seen.
3 And as she was a sailing,
By herself all alone,
She spied a proud merchant-man,
Come plowing oer the main.
4 'Thou fairest of all creatures
Under the heavens,' said she,
'I am the Lass of Ocram,
Seeking for Lord Gregory.'
5 'If you are the Lass of Ocram,
As I take you for to he,
You must go to yonder island,
There Lord Gregory you'll see.'
6 'It rains upon my yellow locks,
And the dew falls on my skin;
Open the gates, Lord Gregory,
And let your true-love in!'
7 'If you're the Lass of Ocram,
As I take you not to he,
You must mention the three tokens
Which passd between you and me.'
8 'Don't you remember, Lord Gregory,
One night on my father's hill,
With you I swaf t my linen fine?
It was sore against my will.
9 'For mine was of the Holland fine,
And yours but Scotch cloth;
For mine cost a guinea a yard,
And yours but five groats.'
10 'If you are the Lass of Ocram,
As I think you not to be,
You must mention the second token
That passd between you and me.'
11 'Don't you remember, Lord Gregory,
One night in my father's park,
We swaffed our two rings?
It was all in the dark.
12 'For mine was of the beaten gold,
And yours was of block-tin;
And mine was true love without,
And yours all false within.'
13 'If you are the Lass of Ocram,
As I take you not to be,
You must mention the third token
Which past between you and me.'
14 'Don't you remember, Lord Gregory,
One night in my father's hall,
Where you stole my maidenhead?
Which was the worst of all.'
15 'Begone, you base creature!
Begone from out of the hall!
Or else in the deep seas
You and your babe shall fall.'
16 'Then who will shoe my bonny feet?
And who will close my hands?
And who will lace my waste so small,
Into a landen span?
17 'And who will comb my yellow locks,
With a brown berry comb?
And who's to be father of my child
If Lord Gregory is none?'
18 'Let your brother shoe your bonny feet,
Let your sister close your hands,
Let your mother lace your waist so small,
Into a landen span.
19 'Let your father comb your yellow locks,
With a brown berry comb,
And let God be father of your child,
For Lord Gregory is none.'
20 'I dreamt a dream, dear mother,
I could wish to have it read;
I saw the Lass of Ocram
A floating on the flood.'
21 'Lie still, my dearest son,
And take thy sweet rest;
It is not half an hour ago,
The maid passd this place.'
22 'Ah! cursed be you, mother!
And cursed may you be,
That you did not awake me,
When the maid passd this way!
23 'I will go down into some silent grove,
My sad moan for to make;
It is for the Lass of Ocram
My poor heart now will break.'
(41. Perhaps the reading was: The fairest, etc.)
Mr. W. H. Babcock has printed a little ballad as sung in Virginia, in which are two stanzas that belong to "The Lass of Roch Royal:' The Folk-Lore Journal, VII, 31.
'Come along, come along, my pretty little miss,
Come along, come along,' said he,
'And seat yourself by me.'
'Neither will I come, and neither sit down,
For I have not a moment's time;
For I heard that you had a new sweetheart,
And your heart is no more mine.'
It never was, and it never shall be,
And it never was any such a thing;
For yonder she stands, in her own father's garden,
The garden of the vine,
Mourning for her own true love
Just like I 've mourned for mine.'
I laid my head in a little closet-door,
To hear what my true love had to say,
So that I might know a little of his mind
Before he went away.
I laid my head on the side of his bed,
My arms across his breast;
I made him believe, for the fall of the year,
The sun rose in the west.
'I'm going away, I 'm coming back again,
If it is ten thousand miles;
It's who will shoe your pretty little feet?
And who will glove your hand?
And who will kiss your red, rosy lips,
While I'm in a foreign land?'
'My father will shoe my pretty little feet,
My mother glove my hand,
My babe will kiss my red, rosy lips,
While you 're in a foreign land.'
Mr. James Mooney, of the Bureau of Ethnology, obtained two very similar stanzas in the 'Carolina Mountains.'
'Who will shoe your feet, my dear?
Or who will glove your hands?
Or who will kiss your red rosy cheeks,
When I 'm in the foreign lands?'
'My father will shoe my feet, my dear,
My mother will glove my hands,
And you may kiss my red rosy cheeks
When you come from the foreign lands.'
213 a. Title of B. Not Lochroyan in Herd, I, 144, but, both in title and text, Lochvoyan. In Herd, II, 60, the title has Lochroyan; the word does not occur in so much of the text as remains. Printed Lochroyan by Herd, and probably Lochroyan was intended in I, 144, as the alternative, though the last letter but one is indistinctly written, and may be read e. B came to Herd "by post from a lady in Ayrshire (?), name unknown." Also, No 38, A a, No 51, A a; No 161, B a; No 220, A. Note (in pencil, and indistinct as to the place), Herd's Manuscripts, I, 143.
215 a. A part of this ballad is introduced into two versions of 'The Mother's Malison,' No 216; see IV, 186. See also 'Fair Janet,' No 64, A 13, D 5, G 5.
217. B. Lochvoyan everywhere, not Lochroyan.
221. E 22. Finlay, in a letter to Scott, March 27, 1803 (Letters, I, No 87), says, "in a copy which I have seen, with the music, it is a birchen, instead of a silver, kame."
'The Lass of Lochroyan,' "Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy," No 82, Abbotsford. Communicated to Scott by Major Henry Hutton, Royal Artillery, 24th December, 1802 (Letters I, No 77), as recollected by his father and the family.
Some ten stanzas of this version (16-19, 25-27, 30, 32, 34) appear to have been used by Scott in compiling the copy printed in his Minstrelsy, E b. (The note on E b, p. 226, requires correction.) There is much in common with B, E a, F.
1 'O wha will shoe my bonny foot?
And wha will glove my hand?
And wha will bind my middle jimp
Wi a lang, lang linen band?
2 'O wha will kame my yellow hair,
With a haw bayberry kame?
And wha will be my babe's father
Till Gregory come hame?'
3 'Thy father, he will shoe thy foot,
Thy brother will glove thy hand,
Thy mither will bind thy middle jimp
Wi a lang, lang linen band.
4 'Thy sister will kame thy yellow hair,
Wi a haw bayberry kame;
The Almighty will be thy babe's father
Till Gregory come hame.'
5 'And wha will build a bonny ship,
And set it on the sea?
For I will go to seek my love,
My ain love Gregory.'
6 Up then spak her father dear,
A wafu man was he;
'And I will build a bonny ship,
And set her on the sea.
7 'And I will build a bonny ship,
And set her on the sea,
And ye sal gae and seek your love,
Your ain love Gregory.'
8 Then he's gard build a bonny ship,
And set it on the sea,
Wi four-and-twenty mariners,
To bear her company.
9 O he's gart build a bonny ship,
To sail on the salt sea;
The mast was o the beaten gold,
The sails [o] cramoisie.
10 The sides were o the gude stout aik,
The deck o mountain pine,
The anchor o the silver shene,
The ropes o silken twine.
11 She had na saild but twenty leagues,
But twenty leagues and three,
When she met wi a rank rever,
And a' his companie.
12 'Now are ye queen of heaven hie,
Come to pardon a' our sin?
Or are ye Mary Magdalane,
Was born at Bethlam?'
13 'I'm no the queen of heaven hie,
Come to pardon ye your sin,
Nor am I Mary Magdalane,
Was born in Bethlam.
14 'But I'm the lass of Lochroyan,
That's sailing on the sea
To see if I can find my love,
My ain love Gregory.'
15 'O see na ye yon bonny bower?
It's a' covered oer wi tin;
When thou hast saild it round about,
Lord Gregory is within.'
16 And when she saw the stately tower,
Shining both clear and bright,
Whilk stood aboon the jawing wave,
Built on a rock of height.
17 Says, Row the boat, my mariners,
And bring me to the land,
For yonder I see my love's castle,
Close by the salt sea strand.
18 She saild it round, and saild it round,
And loud and loud cried she
'Now break, now break your fairy charms,
And set my true-love free.'
19 She's taen her young son in her arms
And to the door she's gane,
And long she knockd, and sair she ca'd,
But answer got she nane.
20 'O open, open, Gregory!
O open! if ye be within;
For here's the lass of Lochroyan,
Come far fra kith and kin.
21 'O open the door, Lord Gregory!
O open and let me in!
The wind blows loud and cauld, Gregory,
The rain drops fra my chin.
22 'The shoe is frozen to my foot,
The glove unto my hand,
The wet drops fra my yellow hair,
Na langer dow I stand.'
23 'O up then spak his ill mither,
An ill death may she die!
'Y're no the lass of Lochroyan,
She's far out-our the sea.
24 'Awa, awa. ye ill woman,
Ye're no come here for gude;
Ye're but some witch or wil warlock.
Or mermaid o the flood.'
25 'I am neither witch, nor wil warlock,
Nor mermaid o the sea,
But I am Annie of Lochroyan,
O open the door to me!'
26 'Gin ye be Annie of Lochroyan,
As I trow thou binna she,
Now tell me of some love-tokens
That past tween thee and me.'
27 'O dinna ye mind, love Gregory,
As we sat at the wine,
We chang'd the rings frae our fingers?
And I can shew thee thine.
28 'O yours was gude, and gude enough,
But ay the best was mine,
For yours was o the gude red gowd,
But mine o the diamond fine.
29 'Yours was o the gude red gowd,
Mine o the diamond fine;
Mine was o the purest troth,
But thine was false within.'
30 'If ye be the lass of Lochroyan,
As I kenna thou be,
Tell me some mair o the love-tokens
Past between thee and me.'
31 'And dinna ye mind, love Gregory,
As we sat on the hill,
Thou twin'd me o my maidenheid,
Right sair against my will?
32 'Now open the door, love Gregory!
Open the door! I pray;
For thy young son is in my arms,
And will be dead ere day.'
33 'Ye lie, ye lie, ye ill woman,
So loud I hear ye lie;
For Annie of the Lochroyan
Is far out-our the sea.'
34 Fair Annie turnd her round about:
'Weel, sine that it be sae,
May neer woman that has borne a son
Hae a heart sae fu o wae!
35 'Take down, take down that mast o gowd,
Set up a mast of tree;
It disna become a forsaken lady
To sail sae royallie.'
36 When the cock had crawn, and the day did dawn,
And the sun began to peep,
Up then raise Lord Gregory,
And sair, sair did he weep.
37 'O I hae dreamd a dream, mither,
I wish it may bring good!
That the bonny lass of Lochroyan
At my bower-window stood.
38 'I hae dreamd a dream, mither,
The thought o 't gars me greet!
That fair Annie of Lochroyan
Lay dead at my bed-feet.'
39 'Gin it be for Annie of Lochroyan
That ye make a' this main,
She stood last night at your bower-door,
But I hae sent her hame.'
40 'O wae betide ye, ill woman,
An ill death may ye die!
That wadna open the door yoursell
Nor yet wad waken me.'
41 O he's gane down to you shore-side,
As fast as he coud dree,
And there he saw fair Annie's bark
A rowing our the sea.
42 'Annie, Annie,' loud he cried,
'O Annie, O Annie, bide!'
But ay the mair he cried Annie
The braider grew the tide.
43 'O Annie, Annie, dear Annie,
Dear Annie, speak to me!'
But ay the louder he gan call
The louder roard the sea.
44 The wind blew loud, the waves rose hie
And dashd the boat on shore;
Fair Annie's corpse was in the feume,
The babe rose never more.
45 Lord Gregory tore his gowden locks
And made a wafu moan;
Fair Annie's corpse lay at his feet,
His bonny son was gone.
46 'O cherry, cherry was her cheek,
And gowden was her hair,
And coral, coral was her lips,
Nane might with her compare.'
47 Then first he kissd her pale, pale cheek,
And syne he kissd her chin,
And syne he kissd her wane, wane lips,
There was na breath within.
48 'O wae hetide my ill mither,
An ill death may she die!
She turnd my true-love frae my door,
Who came so far to me.
49 'O wae betide my ill mither,
An ill death may she die!
She has no been the deid o ane,
But she's been the deid of three.'
50 Then he's taen out a little dart,
Hung low down by his gore,
He thrust it through and through his heart,
And words spak never more.
11, 431. Oh.
To be Corrected in the Print.
510 b. The note to p. 215 belongs under No 76.
P. 213. B was received by Herd, with several other ballads, "by post, from a lady in Ayrshire (?), name unknown:" Herd's Manuscripts, I, 143.
215 b, 2d paragraph, tokens. Add: Ζωγραφεῖος Ἀγών, p. 90, No 67, p. 91, No 69, p. 95, No 81.
The lady demands love-tokens of Clerk Saunders' ghost, No 69, G, 33, II, 166.
219. C occurs in C. K. Sharpe's small Manuscript volume "Songs," p. 40, and must have been communicated to Sharpe by Pitcairn. Collation:
2. It's open, etc.: not written in full.
33, 43. Ruchley hill.
53. give me.
6. Do not you mind, etc.: not written in full.
7 wanting.
81. turned round.
101. It's awa.
103. have got the.
131. that he.
141. Let down, let down.
143. late wanting.
153. morrow.
154. of mine.
16, 17, wanting.
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P. 215. 'Germaine': see Daymard, p. 170; Revue des Traditions populaires, III, 364; Beauquier, Chansons pop. recueillies en Franche-Comté, p. 259.