No. 81: Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
[The moral compass of this ancient ballad seems to be: The wages of sin is death. The ballad dates back at least to 1611 where a stanza (see Child's narrative below) is quoted in Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle (about 1611), act V, scene 3.
Child supplies version A-N and gives two additional versions in later editions. One of the later versions ("Moss Groves," taken down in 1891 by Mr. John Sampson, Liverpool, from Philip Murray) is designated version O. The traditional ballad was popular in North America until the mid-1900s and versions have been found in Maritime Canada, New England and the Southern Appalachian Mountains. In North American the ballad was not printed until after the 1800s and was disseminated orally. Phillips Barry has postulated an early arrival for the ballad in North America (BBM, 1929; see his notes in US & Canada versions).
Barry reports in BBM, 1929: There is not space for the proof here, but the editors feel that in their detailed study of "Musgrave" they have proved that all Child's English texts, A, B, C, are mere personal lampoons, of the reign of James I, directed against a prominent personage.
The Reign of James I, first Stuart King, was from 1603 to 1625, he ruled as King of Scotland (as James VI) from 1567 to 1625. This cryptic assertion by Barry and all does not mention specifically the name of the "prominent personage" and I can only assume it's one of the names of Lord Barnard of which their are many (see following).
The British broadside ballad, The Lamentable Ditty Of The Little Mousgrove And The Lady Barnet, published by F. Coles (London); T. Vere (London); and W. Gilbertson (London) sometime between 1658 and 1664, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Wood 401(91) with a note on the reverse by Wood stating that the protagonists were alive in 1543 [ref. Peacock, NL].
* * * *
In the article Personal Names in Traditional Ballads: A Proposal for a Ballad Onomasticon (The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 94, No. 372 (Apr. - Jun., 1981), pp. 229-232) the author, W. F. H. Nicolaisen looks at the names. Not mentioned are locations of "Little Musgrave", "Great Musgrave" (located in Eden Valley in what was the county of Westmorland - now 'officially' Cumbria) and "Barnard Castle" (near the border in County Durham), which may have some bearing on the names found in Child A.
The gory consequences of adultery in Child 81 do not become less bloody if the adulterer who enjoys the supposedly cuckolded husband's sheets and wife is not called Little Musgrave but litil musgray[1], Little Matha Grove, Little Mossy Groves, Little Mathew Grew, young Magrove, little MacGroves, Little Ned Groves, Little Maddy Gross, Little M ushiegrove, Young Marshal Grones, Young McGrover, Young LaGrove, or one of the many other related names, and if the enraged husband, alerted by
the "little foot page," is not designated Lord Barnard, but Lord Daniel, Lord Arnold, Lord Orland, Lord Aulan, Lord Vanner, Lord Banner, Lord Thomas, Lord Donald, Lord Valley, Lord Bander, Lord Barnett, Lord Barnaby, lord birnibie, Lord Vanover, Lord Diner, Lord Allen, Lord Barnswell, Lord Barlibas, Lord Bengwill, or "Lord Something Else."
[Footnote 1.] This name form (also little missegray, litel musegray, and litel mussegray in the ms.) and lord birnibie (also lord birnibre) as an alternative for Lord Barnard are from a Scottish version of the ballad of about 1630, in Robert Edwards Commonplace Book, preserved in the Panmure Mss. (Helena M . Shire, The Ninth of May, 4 (1973), 24-26).
The reinterpretation of Musgrave.
Musgrove, Mousgrove, Mousgray, Mossgrey, etc., as a combination of first name and surname (Matthy Groves, Mathew Grove, Mathew Grew, and the like) seems to be exclusively North American and not unlike the conversion of the aristocratic Lord Randal in to the Jimmy Randal of the folk.
Within these broad distributional patterns in a spatial sense, it is, of course, important to determine the chronological sequence and direction of these name changes. If they can be said to hang together at all, they are, after all, not simply scattered variants of equal value and significance. In the case of comparatively late onomastich apaxlegomeniae, name forms occurring only once, these can usually be comfortably interpreted as the final, but unproductive, stages of a series of phonological developments. In the Little Musgrave tradition, for example, I am thinking of such names as little Ned Grove or little Mushiegroves or little Mose Groves or Musgrove or, especially, young Marshal Grones. All of these can ultimately be seen as somewhat eccentric distortions of an original such as Musgrave or Musgrove, although in the case of Marshal Grone as name like Matthy Groves has to be assumed as an intermediary for both the first name and the surname, the latter of which- Grones ; Groves-looks suspiciously like a misreading rather than a mishearing.
The multiplicity of names that function to identify Little Musgrave's aristocratic rival and slayer--from Lord Barnard to Lord Allen, Lord Arnold (another anagram of Ronald), and Lord Vanover--makes the establishment of persuasive phonological substitutions and therefore chronological sequences, a little more difficult, but the same basic principles still apply.
The Ballad Index reports: Simon Fury makes an interesting note about the names. In a post to the Ballad-L mailing list, he observes, "I think it likely that the idea of 'Little Musgrave' as being a small person is just a mis-association of part of a place name to a personal attibute. Little Musgrave and Great Musgrave both still exist in Cumbria, in what used to be Westmorland... and are about 20 miles from Barnard Castle in County Durham. So what we have in the song IMHO is a simple bit of hanky-panky between the wife of the lord of Barnard Castle (the ancient seat of the de Balliol family) and a landowner in Little Musgrave.... In other words, the standard stuff of border ballad plots."
* * * *
The ballad is about adultery and Mrs. Ramsey of Tulsa, Oklahoma called it a "very dirty song." (Randolph B) She would not sing some verses even if she could recall them. Mrs. McCord of Missouri said "Young Little Mathy Groves" was regarded as a vulgar song when she was a girl and her parents wouldn't allow her to sing it.
In Kenneth S. Goldstein's article, Bowdlerization and Expurgation: Academic and Folk (The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 80, No. 318 (Oct. - Dec., 1967), pp. 374-386) he presents a form of editing by an informant from Virginia:
In More Traditional Ballads from Virginia, Arthur Kyle Davis, Jr. published a version of "Little Musgrave and Lady Bernard" (Child 81) which he collected in 1932 from Miss Ruby Bowman of Laurel Fork, Virginia. The sixth stanza of that version runs:
So they went home a-laughin' and a-talkin',
And when they fell to sleep,
And when they awoke on the next day's morn,
Lord Darnell stood at their feet, feet,
Lord Darnell stood at their feet.
In 1962, Henry Glassie and Paul Clayton located Miss Bowman, now Ruby Bowman Plemmons, working in Washington, D .C., as a government secretary. They recorded her rendition of the same ballad in May of that year, and in checking her recording against the published text found a few minor differences. Only those in the first line of stanza six appeared worth checking. The singer had recorded:
So they went home a -huggin' and a -kissin'
When asked why this line differed from the published text, the singer stated that when Dr. Davis met her she was a student in a state normal college, and since they both were young, unmarried people she thought it advisable to change the "a-huggin' and a-kissin' " line to "a-laughin' and a-talkin'." The change may seem a minor one, but to a young unsophisticated female college student the embarrassment which could result from her verbalizing what she believed to be an erotic scene demanded that she soften the text in performing the ballad for the handsome young male collector.
[The "hugging and kissing" stanza is found in various US versions but not in the British versions. It's common from the Southern Appalachian versions to Canada and the stanza appears after Lord Dannel's wife tells Matty to go back to sleep-- that the horn he heard was nothing but "my father's shepherd driving his sheep to the fold." Besides "hugging and kissing" there is "cuddling"
Come huddle me come cuddle me
Just keep me from the cold [Dobbins NB, 1951]
and also from Canada we find this:
"So cuddle me high and cuddle me low
And keep me from the cold; [Walters, NL 1958]
as if 'cuddle" has other connotations.
* * * *
There are several types of opening stanzas. One of the two main openings found in Child D, E, H, K, L, and O begins with the ballad commonplace: There were four and twenty ladies/gentlemen; A- playin' at the ba'. Here are some of the examples:
Child D (Kinloch):
1 There were four and twenty gentlemen
A playing at the ba,
Child K (Robertson):
1 It's four and twenty bonny boys
Were playin at the ba,
Child L (Buchan):
1 Four and twenty handsome youths
Were a' playing at the ba,
Child E (Campbell) and Child H (Motherwell):
1 Four and twenty gay ladies
Were playing at the ba,
Child O (Sampson- from gypsy) dating to the early 1800s;
1 There was four-and-twenty ladies
Assembled at a ball,
Notice that in Child O "playing at the ball" has changed to "assembled at a ball." This change is found frequently in versions from North America that use this opening. It certainly makes more sense. However the original, had nothing to do with the dance.
* * * *
The villages of Great and Little Musgrave are in the pretty Eden Valley in what was (and still is for many people) the county of Westmorland - now 'officially' Cumbria. The following excerpt is from the Musgrave Family History by Mariann Musgrave Brownson:
Our Musgrave ancestors came from Cumbria, England, and our name means “a field of mice.” Around 900 A.D. Cumbria actually belonged to Scotland, but was later claimed into England. The villages of Little Musgrave and Great Musgrave are in Cumbria, as well as the Great Musgrave estate and manor of Edenhall. Cumbria lies on the extreme northwest Scottish border. During the 1600’s, this border, which consisted of governing areas called The Marches, was very fluid, so Musgrave’s could consider themselves either Scots or Englishmen, although their first loyalty was to their clan and lord.
Some Musgrave’s were famous “reivers” or raiders on both sides of the border. Other Musgrave’s were the King’s enforcers on the English side. A few Musgrave’s held titles.
* * * *
In 1943 composer Benjamin Britten wrote The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard for male voices and piano. Here is a review by Kurt Stone from The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 51, No. 4 (Oct., 1965), pp. 722-724:
Nine years later, in The Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard (Anon.), set for men's voices and piano in 1943, Britten is again dealing with old England, but this time he delivers himself of a rousingly effective interpretation, entirely successful in its securely drawn moods of initial secretive tenderness, followed by an atmosphere of impending doom and subsequent sizzling drama, and ending in a stark and stern envoi. All the tricks of the trade have been drawn in: the unison ballad style of old sets the stage; hoofbeat rhythms, crescendo, lead to a walloping contrapuntal turmoil that parallels the confusion and the clashing swords of the duel between Lord Barnard and Little Musgrave (during which the former "waxes so wood" that he accidentally slaughters his unfaithful wife along with her lover). As in I Lov'd a Lass, here too are moments when things are in danger of slipping into gesturing and gimmickry, but luckily they never get completely out of hand. Besides, the poem can tolerate a strong dose of theatricality. And so the setting remains a consistently apt and entertaining showpiece.
* * * *
As similarity between "Little Musgrave" and "The Legends of King Arthur" has been pointed out by several sources. Mike Yeats in his notes to Cas Wallins version comments: "I wonder if other listeners have noticed the similarities in this story with those in the legends of King Arthur. Arthur, like Lord Daniel, carried two swords ( Excalibur and Caliburnus) and, again like Lord Daniel, discovered his wife Guinevere to be having an affair, in this case with Lancelot. Arthur did not, of course, kill Lancelot, but did, nevertheless, send other knights to kill him in what is now France. I am sure that this is coincidence... well, almost sure!"
In the notes from Ballad Index we also find: "It also occurs to me that there is a certain similarity in this tale to "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Not in plot, really, but in incident. Note that Lord Barnard kills Little Musgrave in a formal contest in which Musgrave is granted the first blow. This is obviously a variant on the Beheading Game of "Sir Gawain" -- though in fact the contest is older; the first instance of the Beheading Game appears to have been the Irish prose saga of "Fled Bricrend," "Bricriu's Feast" (cf. Tolkien/Gordon, p. xv); in this, Cuchulainn twice wins the Beheading Game (and others dodge the challenge -- O hogain, p. 49)."
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Another ballad-tune, " Melrose," here given, has a curious history in America. It is obviously a variant of "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard " [The Folk Element in Early Revival Hymns and Tunes by Anne G. Gilchrist; Journal of the Folk-Song Society, Vol. 8, No. 32 (Dec., 1928), pp. 61-95.
Bronson: There is an Illyrian ballad, in which we perceive a parallel with "Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard," (81) between husband, wife, and a young clerk, where in spite of warning signals the husband returns to surprise the lovers.
* * * *
See also my headnotes to US/Canadian/West Indies versions. At a later date I'll organize these random notes.
R. Matteson 2015]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-O (O was added in a later edition in Additions and Corrections. There is an additional unlettered version in Additions and Corrections supplied by James Hogg. Changes for A b, and C b-e found in End-Notes.)
5. Endnotes
6. From "Additions and Corrections"
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
A. Roud No. 52: Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard (251 Listings)
2. Sheet Music: Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard (Bronson's music examples and texts)
3. US & Canadian Versions
4. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-O with additional notes)]
Firth Broadside printed in the 1600s- See Child C
Child's Narrative
A. 'Little Musgrave and the Lady Barnard.'
a. Wit Restord, 1658, in the reprint " Facetiae," London, 1817, I, 293.
b. Wit and Drollery, 1682, p. 81.
B. Percy Manuscript, p. 53; Hales and Furnivall, I, 119.
C. a. 'Little Mousgrove and the Lady Barnet,' Pepys Ballads, I, 364.
b. Pepys Ballads, III, 314.
c. Roxburghe Ballads, III, 146.
d. Roxburghe Ballads, III, 340.
e. Bagford Ballads, I, 36.
D. 'Lord Barnard,' Kinloch Manuscripts, I, 287.
E. 'Young Musgrave,' Campbell Manuscripts, II, 43.
F. 'Lord Barnaby,' Jamieson's Popular Ballads, I, 170.
G. 'Wee Messgrove,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 643.
H. 'Little Musgrave,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 120.
I. 'Little Sir Grove,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 305.
J. 'Lord Barnabas' Lady,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 371.
K. Dr. Joseph Robertson's Journal of Excursions, No 5.
L. 'Lord Barnett and Little Munsgrove,' Buchan's Manuscripts, I, 27: Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, Percy Society, XVII, 21.
M. 'Little Mushiegrove,' Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xx, XXI, one stanza.
N. 'Little Massgrove,' communicated by Miss Reburn, as learned in County Meath, Ireland, two stanzas.
[O. 'Moss Groves,' taken down in 1891 by Mr. John Sampson, Liverpool, from Philip Murray, an old tinker, who learned the ballad in his boyhood from an old gypsy named Amos Rice.]
A copy of this ballad in Dryden's Miscellany, III, 312, 1716, agrees with the one in Wit and Drollery. That in Ritson's Select Collection of English Songs, II, 215, 1783, agrees with Dryden's save in two or three words. The broadside C a was printed for Henry Gosson, who is said by Chappell to have published from 1607 to 1641. If the lower limit be correct, this is the earliest impression known.[1] The other broadsides, C b-e, are later, but all of the seventeenth century. Percy inserted the ballad in his Reliques, III, 67, 1765, making a broadside in the British Museum his basis, and correcting as usual.
Percy remarks: This ballad is ancient, and has been popular; we find it quoted in many old plays. Cases cited by him are: Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle, V, 3, Dyce II, 223, of about 1611:
And some they whistled, and some they sung,
Hey down, down
And some did loudly say,
Ever as the lord Barnet's horn blew,
Away, Musgrave, away!
Again, Sir William Davenant's play 'The Wits,' where Sir Thwack boasts, "I sing Musgrove, and for the Chevy Chase no lark comes near me," Act III, p. 194, of ed. 1672; and 'The Varietie,' a comedy, Act IV, 1649. In Beaumont and Fletcher's 'Bonduca,' V, 2, Dyce, V, 88, dating before March, 1619, we find this stanza, which is perhaps A 26, loosely remembered:
She set the sword unto her breast,
Great pity it was to see
That three drops of her life-warm blood
Run trickling down her knee.
And two stanzas in Fletcher's 'Monsieur Thomas,' IV, 11, Dyce VII, 375, earlier than 1639, may well be A 11, 12 parodied:
If this be true, thou little tiny page,
This tale that thou tellst me,
Then on thy back will I presently hang
A handsome new livery.
But if this be false, thou little tiny page,
As false it well may be,
Then with a cudgel of four foot long
I'll beat thee from head to toe.
Jamieson says, in a prefatory note to F, that he had heard 'Little Musgrave' repeated, with very little variation, both in Morayshire and the southern counties of Scotland. All the Scottish versions are late, and to all seeming derived, indirectly or immediately, from print.[2] As a recompense we have a fine ballad upon the same theme, 'The Bonny Birdy,' which is not represented in England.
In the English broadside and most of the northern versions the lovers try a bribe, a threat, or both, to make the page keep counsel. In some of these Musgrave, when detected, ejaculates a craven imprecation of woe to the fair woman that lies in his arms asleep, G 23, H 16, I 14, J 20, L 37. In I the men are brothers; in E, F Musgrave has a wife of his own; in C, G Lord Barnard kills himself; in B he is hanged! None of these divergences from the story as we have it in A are improvements, but it is an improvement that the lady should die by stroke of steel as in C, E, H, J, K, L, in exchange for the barbarity of A. The penance in L is a natural and common way of ending such a tragedy. The collecting of the lady's heart's blood in a basin of pure silver, G 28-30, is probably borrowed from 'Lammikin,' where this trait is very effective.
The heathen child, B 131, is a child unchristened. An unbaptized child seems still to be called so in Norway, and so is a woman between childbirth and churching. In modern Icelandic usage a boy or girl before confirmation is called heathen, from confusion between baptism and confirmation: Ivar Aasen, at the word heiden; Vigfusson, at the word heiðinn. [3]
K 12 O he 's taen out a lang, lang brand,
And stripped it athwart the straw,
explains a corruption in E 182, where the manuscript reads, He 's struck her in the straw, and another in J 9. The sword is wiped or whetted on straw in 'Clerk Saunders,' A 15, C 13, D 8, G 17; 'Willie and Lady Maisry,' B 19; 'Lord Thomas and Fair Annet,' B 36; 'Lady Diamond,' Buchan, II, 206, st. 8. Child Maurice dries his sword on the grass, John Steward dries his on his sleeve, A 27, 28; Glasgerion dries his sword on his sleeve, A 22; Horn wipes his sword on his arm, King Horn, ed. Wissmann, 622 f.
Footnotes:
1. C a was most obligingly copied, and C b collated, for me by Professor Skeat with his own hand.
2. L, one of two copies in Buchan's Manuscripts, would certainly have been but the slightest loss if omitted, as another, Manuscripts II, 152, being a broadside made over for the stalls, has been.
3. Pagani appellati interdum infantes quorum certis ex causis differebatur baptismus; Ducange, s. v. Pagani, who cites, Infans infirmus et paganus commendatus presbytero, etc. Ethnicus was used in the same way.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
A broadside printed for Henry Gosson (C) appears to be the earliest impression known, but it has not so good a text as A. The ballad is quoted in Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle (about 1611), act v, scene 3, and in other old plays. 'Little Musgrave' is entered to Francis Coules in the Stationers' Registers, June 24, 1630.
Child's Ballad Texts A-O
'Little Musgrave and the Lady Barnard'- Version A a; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
a. Wit Restord, 1658, in the reprint ' Facetiae,' London, 1817, I, 293.
b. Wit and Drollery, 1682, p. 81.
1. As it fell one holy-day,
Hay downe
As many be in the yeare,
When young men and maids together did goe,
Their mattins and masse to heare,
2 Little Musgrave came to the church-dore;
Hay downe
The preist was at private masse;
But he had more minde of the faire women
Then he had of our lady['s] grace.
3 The one of them was clad in green,
Hay downe
Another was clad in pall,
And then came in my lord Bernard's wife,
The fairest amonst them all.
4 She cast an eye on Little Musgrave,
Hay downe
As bright as the summer sun;
And then bethought this Little Musgrave,
This lady's heart have I woonn.
5 Quoth she, I have loved thee, Little Musgrave,
Hay downe
Full long and many a day;
'So have I loved you, fair lady,
Yet never word durst I say.'
6 'I have a bower at Buckelsfordbery,
Hay downe
Full daintyly it is deight;
If thou wilt wend thither, thou Little Musgrave,
Thou's lig in mine armes all night.'
7 Quoth he, I thank yee, faire lady,
Hay downe
This kindnes thou showest to me;
But whether it be to my weal or woe,
This night I will lig with thee.
8 With that he heard, a little tyn page,
Hay downe
By this ladye's coach as he ran:
'All though I am my ladye's foot-page,
Yet I am Lord Barnard's man.
9 'My lord Barnard shall knowe of this,
Hay downe
Whether I sink or swim;'
And ever where the bridges were broake
He laid him downe to swimme.
10 'A sleepe or wake, thou Lord Barnard,
Hay downe
As thou art a man of life,
For Little Musgrave is at Bucklesfordbery,
A bed with thy own wedded wife.'
11 'If this be true, thou little tinny page,
Hay downe
This thing thou tellest to me,
Then all the land in Bucklesfordbery
I freely will give to thee.
12 'But if it be a ly, thou little tinny page,
Hay downe
This thing thou tellest to me,
On the hyest tree in Bucklesfordbery
Then hanged shalt thou be.'
13 He called up his merry men all:
Hay downe
'Come saddle me my steed;
This night must I to Buckellsfordbery,
For I never had greater need.'
14 And some of them whistld, and some of them sung,
Hay downe
And some these words did say,
And ever when my lord Barnard's horn blew,
'Away, Musgrave, away!'
15 'Methinks I hear the thresel-cock,
Hay downe
Methinks I hear the jaye;
Methinks I hear my lord Barnard,
And I would I were away.'
16 'Lye still, lye still, thou Little Musgrave,
Hay downe
And huggell me from the cold;
'Tis nothing but a shephard's boy,
A driving his sheep to the fold.
17 'Is not thy hawke upon a perch?
Hay downe
Thy steed eats oats and hay;
And thou a fair lady in thine armes,
And wouldst thou bee away?'
18 With that my lord Barnard came to the dore,
Hay downe
And lit a stone upon;
He plucked out three silver keys,
And he opend the dores each one.
19 He lifted up the coverlett,
Hay downe
He lifted up the sheet:
'How now, how now, thou Littell Musgrave,
Doest thou find my lady sweet?'
20 'I find her sweet,' quoth Little Musgrave,
Hay downe
'The more 'tis to my paine;
I would gladly give three hundred pounds
That I were on yonder plaine.'
21 'Arise, arise, thou Littell Musgrave,
Hay downe
And put thy cloth s on;
It shall nere be said in my country
I have killed a naked man.
22 'I have two swords in one scabberd,
Hay downe
Full deere they cost my purse;
And thou shalt have the best of them,
And I will have the worse.'
23 The first stroke that Little Musgrave stroke,
Hay downe
He hurt Lord Barnard sore;
The next stroke that Lord Barnard stroke,
Little Musgrave nere struck more.
24 With that bespake this faire lady,
Hay downe
In bed whereas she lay:
'Although thou'rt dead, thou Little Musgrave,
Yet I for thee will pray.
25 'And wish well to thy soule will I,
Hay downe
So long as I have life;
So will I not for thee, Barnard,
Although I am thy wedded wife.'
26 He cut her paps from off her brest;
Hay downe
Great pitty it was to see
That some drops of this ladie's heart's blood
Ran trickling downe her knee.
27 'Woe worth you, woe worth, my mery men all
Hay downe
You were nere borne for my good;
Why did you not offer to stay my hand,
When you see me wax so wood?
28 'For I have slaine the bravest sir knight
Hay downe
That ever rode on steed;
So have I done the fairest lady
That ever did woman's deed.
29 'A grave, a grave,' Lord Barnard cryd,
Hay downe
'To put these lovers in;
But lay my lady on the upper hand,
For she came of the better kin.'
--------------
['Litle Musgreue']- Version B; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Percy Manuscript, p. 53, Hales and Furnivall, I, 119. [this text is incomplete]
* * * * *
1 . . . . .
. . . . .
'For this same night att [Bucklesfeildberry]
Litle Musgreue is in bed with thy wife.'
2 'If it be trew, thou litle foote-page,
This tale thou hast told to mee,
Then all my lands in Buckle[s]feildberry
I'le freely giue to thee.
3 'But if this be a lye, thou little foot-page,
This tale thou hast told to mee,
Then on the highest tree in Bucklesfeildberry
All hanged that thou shalt bee.'
4 Saies, Vpp and rise, my merrymen all,
And saddle me my good steede,
For I must ride to Bucklesfeildberry;
God wott I had neuer more need!
5 But some they whistled, and some th'z sunge,
And some they thus cold say,
When euer as Lord Barnetts horne blowes,
'Away, Musgreue, away!'
6 'Mie thinkes I heare the throstlecocke,
Me thinkes I heare the iay,
Me thinkes I heare Lord Barnetts horne,
Away, Musgreue, away!'
7 'But lie still, lie still, Litle Musgreue,
And huddle me from the cold,
For it is but some sheaperds boy,
Is whistling sheepe ore the mold.
8 'Is not thy hauke vpon a pearch,
Thy horsse eating corne and hay?
And thou, a gay lady in thine armes,
And yett thou wold goe away!'
9 By this time Lord Barnett was come to the dore,
And light vpon a stone,
And he pulled out three silver kayes,
And opened the dores euery one.
10 And first he puld the couering downe,
And then puld downe the sheete;
Saies, How now? How now, Litle Musgreue?
Dost find my gay lady sweet?
11 'I find her sweete,' saies Litle Musgreue,
'The more is my greefe and paine;'
. . . . . .
. . . . .
* * * * *
12 . . . .
. . . . .
'Soe haue I done the fairest lady
That euer wore womans weede.
13 'Soe haue I done a heathen child,
Which full sore greiueth mee,
For which Ile repent all the dayes of my life,
And god be with them all three!'
-----------------
'Little Mousgrove and the Lady Barnet'- Version C a.; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
a. Pepys Ballads, I, 364, No 187.
b. Pepys Ballads, III, 314, No 310.
c. Roxburghe Ballads, III, 146.
d. Roxburge Ballads, III, 340.
e. Bagford Ballads, I, 36.
1 As it fell on a light holyday,
As many more does in the yeere,
Little Mousgrove would to the church and pray,
To see the faire ladyes there.
2 Gallants there were of good degree,
For beauty exceeding faire,
Most wonderous lovely to the eie,
That did to that church repaire.
3 Some came downe in red velvet,
And others came downe in pall,
But next came downe my Lady Barnet,
The fairest amongst them all.
4 She cast a looke upon Little Mousgrove,
As bright as the summer's sunne;
Full well perceived then Little Mousgrove
Lady Barnet's love he had wonne.
5 Then Lady Barnet most meeke and mild
Saluted this Little Mousgrove,
Who did repay her kinde courtesie
With favour and gentle love.
6 'I have a bower in merry Barnet,
Bestrowed with cowslips sweet;
If that it please you, Little Mousgrove,
In love me there to meete,
7 'Within mine armes one night to sleepe,
For you my heart have wonne,
You need not feare my suspicious lord,
For he from home is gone.'
8 'Betide me life, betide me death,
This night I will sleepe with thee,
And for thy sake I'le hazzard my breath,
So deare is thy love to me.'
9 'What shall wee doe with our little foot-page,
Our counsell for to keepe,
And watch for feare Lord Barnet comes,
Whilest wee together doe sleepe?'
10 'Red gold shall be his hier,' quoth he,
'And silver shall be his fee,
If he our counsell safely doe keepe,
That I may sleepe with thee.'
11 'I will have non of your gold,' said he,
'Nor none of your silver fee;
If I should keepe your counsell, sir,
'Twere great disloyaltie.
12 'I will not be false unto my lord,
For house nor yet for land;
But if my lady doe prove untrue,
Lord Barnet shall understand.'
13 Then swiftly runnes the little foot-page,
Unto his lord with speed,
Who then was feasting with his deare friends,
Not dreaming of this ill deede.
14 Most speedily the page did haste,
Most swiftly did he runne,
And when he came to the broken bridge
He lay on his brest and swumme.
15 The page did make no stay at all,
But went to his lord with speed,
That he the truth might say to him
Concerning this wicked deed.
16 He found his lord at supper then,
Great merriment there they did keepe:
'My lord,' quoth he, 'This night, on my word,
Mousgrove with your lady does sleepe.'
17 'If this be true, my little foot-page,
And true as thou tellest to me,
My eldest daughter I'le give to thee,
And wedded thou shalt be.'
18 'If this be a lye, my little foot-page,
And a lye as thou tellest to mee,
A new paire of gallowes shall straight be set,
And hanged shalt thou be.'
19 'If this be a lye, my lord,' said he,
'A lye that you heare from me,
Then never stay a gallowes to make,
But hang me up on the next tree.'
20 Lord Barnet then cald up his merry men,
Away with speed he would goe;
His heart was so perplext with griefe,
The truth of this he must know.
21 'Saddle your horses with speed,' quoth he,
'And saddle me my white steed;
If this be true as the page hath said,
Mousgrove shall repent this deed.'
22 He charg'd his men no noise to make,
As they rode all along on the way;
'Nor winde no hornes,' quoth he,'on your life,
Lest our comming it should betray.'
23 But one of the men, that Mousgrove did love,
And respected his friendship most deare,
To give him knowledge Lord Barnet was neere,
Did winde his bugle most cleere.
24 And evermore as he did blow,
'Away, Mousgrove, and away;
For if I take thee with my lady,
Then slaine thou shalt be this day.'
25 'O harke, fair lady, your lord is neere,
I heare his little horne blow;
And if he finde me in your armes thus,
Then slaine I shall be, I know.'
26 'O lye still, lye still, Little Mousgrove,
And keepe my backe from the cold;
I know it is my father's shepheard,
Driving sheepe to the pinfold.'
27 Mousgrove did turne him round about,
Sweete slumber his eyes did greet;
When he did wake, he then espied
Lord Barnet at his bed's feete.
28 'O rise up, rise up, Little Mousgrove,
And put thy cloth s on;
It shall never be said in faire England
I slew a naked man.
29 'Here's two good swords,' Lord Barnet said,
'Thy choice, Mousgrove, thou shalt make;
The best of them thy selfe shalt have,
And I the worst will take.'
30 The first good blow that Mousgrove did strike,
He wounded Lord Barnet sore;
The second blow that Lord Barnet gave,
Mousgrove could strike no more.
31 He tooke his lady by the white hand,
All love to rage did convert,
That with his sword, in most furious sort,
He pierst her tender heart.
32 'A grave, a grave,' Lord Barnet cryde,
'Prepare to lay us in;
My lady shall lie on the upper side,
Cause she's of the better kin.'
33 Then suddenly he slue himselfe,
Which grieves his friends full sore;
The deaths of these thra worthy wights
With teares they did deplore.
34 This sad mischance by lust was wrought;
Then let us call for grace,
That we may shun this wicked vice,
And mend our lives apace.
-----------
'Lord Barnard'- Version D; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Kinloch Manuscripts, I, 287.
1 There were four and twenty gentlemen
A playing at the ba,
And lusty Lady Livingstone
Cuist her ee out oure them a'.
2 She cuist her ee on Lord Barnard,
He was baith black and broun;
She cuist her ee on Little Musgrave,
As bricht as the morning sun.
3 . . . . . .
. . . . .
'What'll I gie ye, my Little Musgrave,
Ae nicht wi me to sleep?'
4 'Ae nicht wi you to sleep,' he says,
'O that wad breed meikle strife;
For the ring on your white finger
Shows you Lord Barnard's wife.'
5 'O Lord Barnard he is gane frae hame,
He'll na return the day;
He has tane wi him a purse o goud,
For he's gane hind away.'
6 Up startit then the wylie foot-page,
. . . . .
'What will ye gie to me,' he said,
'Your council for to keep?'
7 'O goud sall be my little boy's fee,
And silver sall be his hire;
But an I hear a word mair o this,
He sall burn in charcoal fire.'
8 But the wylie foot-page to the stable went,
Took out a milk-white steed,
And away, away, and away he rade,
Away wi meikle speed.
9 It's whan he cam to the water-side,
He smoothd his breist and swam,
And whan he cam to gerss growing,
He set down his feet and ran.
10 'Whan he cam to Lord Barnard's towr
Lord Barnard was at meat;
He said, 'If ye kend as meikle as me,
It's little wad ye eat.'
11 'Are onie o my castles brunt?' he says,
'Or onie my towrs won?
Or is my gay ladie broucht to bed,
Of a dochter or a son?'
12 'There is nane o your castles brunt,
Nor nane o your towrs won;
Nor is your gay ladie broucht to bed,
Of a dochter or a son.
13 'But Little Musgrave, that gay young man,
Is in bed wi your ladie,
. . . . .
. . . . .
14 'If this be true ye tell to me,
It's goud sall be your fee;
But if it be fause ye tell to me,
I'se hang ye on a tree.'
* * * * *
15 Whan they cam to yon water-side,
They smoothd their breists and swam;
And whan they cam to gerss growing,
They sat doun their feet and ran.
* * * * *
16 'How do ye like my sheets?' he said,
'How do ye like my bed?
And how do ye like my gay ladie,
Wha's lying at your side?'
17 'O I do like your sheets,' he said,
'Sae do I like your bed;
But mair do I like your gay ladie,
Wha's lying at my side.'
18 'Get up, get up, young man,' he said,
'Get up as swith's ye can;
Let it never be said that Lord Barnard
Slew in bed a nakit man.'
* * * * *
19 'How do ye like his bluidy cheeks?
Or how do ye like me?'
'It's weill do I like his bluidy cheeks,
Mair than your haill bodie.'
20 Then she has kissd his bluidy cheeks,
It's oure and oure again,'
. . . .
. . . .
----------
'Young Musgrave'- Version E; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Campbell Manuscripts, II, 43.
1 Four and twenty gay ladies
Were playing at the ba,
And [out] came Lord Barnaby's lady,
The fairest o them a'.
2 She coost her eyes on Little Musgrave,
And he on her again;
She coost her eyes on Little Musgrave,
As they twa lovers had been.
3 'I have a hall in Mulberry,
It stands baith strong and tight;
If you will go to there with me,
I'll lye with you all night.'
4 'To lye with you, madam,' he says,
'Will breed both sturt and strife;
I see by the rings on your fingers
You are Lord Barnaby's wife.'
5 'Lord Barnaby's to the hunting gone,
And far out oer the hill,
And he will not return again
Till the evening tide untill.'
6 They were not well lain down,
Nor yet well fallen asleep,
Till up started Lord Barnaby's boy,
Just up at their bed-feet.
7 She took out a little penknife,
Which hung down low by her gair:
'If you do not my secret keep,
A word ye's neer speak mair.'
8 The laddie gae a blythe leer look,
A blythe leer look gave he,
And he's away to Lord Barnaby,
As fast as he can hie.
* * * * *
9 'If these tidings binna true,
These tidings ye tell to me,
A gallows-tree I'll gar be made
And hanged ye shall be.
10 'But if these tidings are true,
These tidings ye tell me,
The fairest lady in a' my court
I'll gar her marry thee.'
11 He's taen out a little horn,
He blew baith loue and sma,
And aye the turning o the tune
'Away, Musgrave, awa!'
12 They were not well lain down,
Nor yet well fallen asleep,
Till up started Lord Barnaby,
Just up at their bed-feet.
13 'O how like ye my blankets, Musgrave?
And how like ye my sheets?
And how like ye my gay lady,
So sound in your arms that sleeps?'
14 'Weel I like your blankets, Sir,
And far better yere sheets;
And better far yere gay lady,
So sound in my arms that sleeps.'
15 'Get up, get up, now, Little Musgrave,
And draw to hose and sheen;
It's neer be said in my country
I'd fight a naked man.
16 'There is two swords into my house,
And they cost me right dear;
Take you the best, and I the worst,
I'll fight the battle here.'
17 The first stroke that Lord Barnaby gave,
It was baith deep and sore;
The next stroke that Lord Barnaby gave,
A word he never spoke more.
18 He's taen out a rappier then,
He's struck it in the straw,
And thro and thro his lady's sides
He gard the cauld steel gae.
19 'I am not sae wae for Little Musgrave,
As he lys cauld and dead;
But I'm right wae for his lady,
For she'll gae witless wud.
20 'I'm not sae wae for my lady,
For she lies cauld and dead;
But I'm right wae for my young son,
Lies sprawling in her blood.'
21 First crew the black cock,
And next crew the sparrow;
And what the better was Lord Barnaby?
He was hanged on the morrow.
---------------
'Lord Barnaby'- Version F; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Jamieson's Popular Ballads and Songs, I, 170.
1 'I have a tower in Dalisberry,
Which now is dearly dight,
And I will gie it to Young Musgrave,
To lodge wi me a' night.'
2 'To lodge wi thee a' night, fair lady,
Wad breed baith sorrow and strife;
For I see by the rings on your fingers
You're good Lord Barnaby's wife.'
3 'Lord Barnaby's wife although I be,
Yet what is that to thee?
For we'll beguile him for this ae night,
He's on to fair Dundee.
4 'Come here, come here, my little foot-page,
This gold I will give thee,
If ye will keep thir secrets close
'Tween Young Musgrave and me.
5 'But here I hae a little pen-knife,
Hings low down by my gare;
Gin ye winna keep thir secrets close,
Ye'll find it wonder sair.'
6 Then she's taen him to her chamber,
And down in her arms lay he;
The boy coost aff his hose and shoon,
And ran to fair Dundee.
7 When he cam to the wan water,
He slackd his bow and swam,
And when he cam to growin grass,
Set down his feet and ran.
8 And when he cam to fair Dundee,
Wad neither chap nor ca,
But set his braid bow to his breast,
And merrily jumpd the wa.
9 'O waken ye, waken ye, my good lord,
Waken, and come away!'
'What ails, what ails my wee foot-page,
He cries sae lang ere day?
10 'O is my bowers brent, my boy?
Or is my castle won?
Or has the lady that I loe best
Brought me a daughter or son?'
11 'Your ha's are safe, your bowers are safe,
And free frae all alarms,
But, oh! the lady that ye loe best
Lies sound in Musgrave's arms.'
12 'Gae saddle to me the black,' he cried,
'Gae saddle to me the gray;
Gae saddle to me the swiftest steed,
To hie me on my way.'
13 'O lady, I heard a wee horn toot,
And it blew wonder clear;
And ay the turning o the note,
Was, Barnaby will be here!
14 'I thought I heard a wee horn blaw,
And it blew loud and high;
And ay at ilka turn it said,
Away, Musgrave, away!'
15 'Lie still, my dear, lie still, my dear,
Ye keep me frae the cold;
For it is but my father's shepherds,
Driving their flocks to the fold.'
16 Up they lookit, and down they lay,
And they're fa'en sound asleep;
Till up stood good Lord Barnaby,
Just close at their bed-feet.
17 'How do you like my bed, Musgrave?
And how like ye my sheets?
And how like ye my fair lady,
Lies in your arms and sleeps?'
18 'Weel like I your bed, my lord,
And weel like I your sheets,
But ill like I your fair lady,
Lies in my arms and sleeps.
19 'You got your wale o se'en sisters,
And I got mine o five;
Sae tak ye mine, and I's tak thine,
And we nae mair sall strive.'
20 'O my woman's the best woman
That ever brak world's bread,
And your woman's the worst woman
That ever drew coat oer head.
21 'I hae twa swords in ae scabbert,
They are baith sharp and clear;
Tak ye the best, and I the warst,
And we'll end the matter here.
22 'But up, and arm thee, Young Musgrave,
We'll try it han to han;
It's neer be said o Lord Barnaby,
He strack at a naked man.'
23 The first straik that Young Musgrave got,
It was baith deep and sair,
And down he fell at Barnaby's feet,
And word spak never mair.
* * * * *
24 'A grave, a grave,' Lord Barnaby cried,
'A grave to lay them in;
My lady shall lie on the sunny side,
Because of her noble kin.'
25 But oh, how sorry was that good lord,
For a' his angry mood,
Whan he beheld his ain young son
All weltring in his blood!
-----------
'Wee Messgrove'-Version G; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 643, from the recitation of Mrs. McConechie, Kilmarnock.
1 Lord Barnard's awa to the green wood,
To hunt the fallow deer;
His vassals a' are gane wi him,
His companies to bear.
2 His lady wrate a braid letter,
And seald it wi her hand,
And sent if aff to Wee Messgrove,
To come at her command.
3 When Messgrove lookt the letter on,
A waefu man was he;
Sayin, Gin I'm gript wi Lord Barnard's wife,
Sure hanged I will be.
4 When he came to Lord Barnard's castel
He tinklit at the ring,
And nane was so ready as the lady hersell
To let Wee Messgrove in.
5 'Welcome, welcome, Messgrove,' she said,
'You're welcome here to me;
Lang hae I loed your bonnie face,
And lang hae ye loed me.
6 'Lord Barnard is a hunting gane,
I hope he'll neer return,
And ye sall sleep into his bed,
And keep his lady warm.'
7 'It cannot be,' Messgrove he said,
'I ween it cannot be;
Gin Lord Barnard suld come hame this nicht,
What would he do to me?'
8 'Ye naething hae to fear, Messgrove,
Ye naething hae to fear;
I'll set my page without the gate,
To watch till morning clear.'
9 But wae be to the wee fut-page,
And an ill death mat he die!
For he's awa to the green wood,
As hard as he can flee.
10 And whan he to the green wood cam,
'Twas dark as dark could bee,
And he fand his maister and his men
Asleep aneth a tree.
11 'Rise up, rise up, maister,' he said,
'Rise up, and speak to me;
Your wife's in bed wi Wee Messgrove,
Rise up richt speedilie.'
12 'Gin that be true ye tell to me,
A lord I will mak thee;
But gin it chance to be a lie,
Sure hanged ye sall be.'
13 'It is as true, my lord,' he said,
'As ever ye were born;
Messgrove's asleep in your lady's bed,
All for to keep her warm.'
14 He mounted on his milk-white steed,
He was ane angry man;
And he reachd his stately castell gate
Just as the day did dawn.
15 He put his horn unto his mouth,
And he blew strong blasts three;
Sayin, He that's in bed with anither man's wife,
He suld be gaun awa.
16 Syne out and spak the Wee Messgrove,
A frichtit man was he;
'I hear Lord Barnard's horn,' he said,
'It blaws baith loud and hie.'
17 'Lye still, lye still, my Wee Messgrove,
And keep me frae the cauld;
'Tis but my father's shepherd's horn,
A sounding in the fauld.'
18 He put his horn unto his mouth,
And he blew loud blasts three;
Saying, He that's in bed wi anither man's wife,
'Tis time he was awa.
19 Syne out and spak the Wee Messgrove,
A frichtit man was he:
'Yon surely is Lord Barnard's horn,
And I maun een gae flee.'
20 'Lye still, lye still, Messgrove,' she said,
'And keep me frae the cauld;
'Tis but my father's shepherd's horn,
A sounding in the fauld.'
21 And ay Lord Barnard blew and blew,
Till he was quite wearie;
Syne he threw down his bugle horn,
And up the stair ran he.
22 'How do you like my blankets, Sir?
How do you like my sheets?
How do ye like my gay ladie,
That lies in your arms asleep?'
23 'Oh weel I like your blankets, Sir,
And weel I like your sheet;
But wae be to your gay ladie,
That lyes in my arms asleep!'
24 'I'll gie you ae sword, Messgrove,
And I will take anither;
What fairer can I do, Messgrove,
Altho ye war my brither?'
25 The firsten wound that Messgrove gat,
It woundit him richt sair;
And the second wound that Messgrove gat,
A word he neer spak mair.
26 'Oh how do ye like his cheeks, ladie?
Or how do ye like his chin?
Or how do ye like his fair bodie,
That there's nae life within?'
27 'Oh weel I like his cheeks,' she said,
'And weel I like his chin;
And weel I like his fair bodie,
That there's nae life within.'
28 'Repeat these words, my fair ladie,
Repeat them ower agane,
And into a basin of pure silver
I'll gar your heart's bluid rin.'
29 'Oh weel I like his cheeks,' she said,
'And weel I like his chin;
And better I like his fair bodie
Than a' your kith and kin.'
30 Syne he took up his gude braid sword,
That was baith sharp and fine,
And into a basin of pure silver
Her heart's bluid he gart rin.
31 'O wae be to my merrie men,
And wae be to my page,
That they didna hald my cursed hands
When I was in a rage!'
32 He leand the halbert on the ground,
The point o't to his breast,
Saying, Here are three sauls gaun to heaven,
I hope they'll a' get rest
--------------
'Little Musgrave'- Version H; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 120.
1 Little Musgrove is to the church gone,
Some ladies for to sply;
Doun came one drest in black,
And one came drest in brown,
And down and came Lord Barlibas' lady,
The fairest in a' the town.
2 'I know by the ring that's on your finger
That you'r my Lord Barlibas' lady:'
'Indeed I am the Lord Barlibas' lady,
And what altho I bee?'
* * * * *
3 'Money shall be your hire, foot-page,
And gold shall be your fee;
You must not tell the secrets
That's between Musgrove and me.'
4 'Money shall not be hire,' he said,
'Nor gold shall be my fee;
But I'll awa to my own liege lord,
With the tidings you've told to me.'
5 When he cam to the broken brig,
He coost aff his clothes and he swimd,
And when he cam to Lord Barlibas' yett,
He tirled at the pin.
6 'What news, what news, my little foot-page?
What news have ye brocht to me?
Is my castle burnt?' he said,
'Or is my tower tane?
Or is my lady lighter yet,
Of a daughter or son?'
7 'Your castle is not burnt,' he says,
'Nor yet is your tower tane,
Nor yet is your lady brocht to bed,
Of a daughter or a son;
But Little Musgrove is lying wi her,
Till he thinks it is time to be gane.'
8 'O if the news be a lie,' he says,
'That you do tell unto me,
I'll ca up a gallows to my yard-yett,
And hangd on it thou shalt be.
9 'But if the news be true,' he says,
'That you do tell unto me,
I have a young fair dochter at hame,
Weel wedded on her you shall be.'
10 He called upon his merry men,
By thirties and by three:
'Put aff the warst, put on the best,
And come along with me.'
11 He put a horn to his mouth,
And this he gard it say:
'The man that's in bed wi Lord Barlibas' lady,
It's time he were up and away.'
12 'What does yon trumpet mean?' he sayd,
'Or what does yon trumpet say?
I think it says, the man that's in bed wi Lord Barlibas' lady,
It's time he were up and away.'
13 'O lie you still, my Little Musgrove,
And cover me from the cold,
For it is but my father's sheepherd,
That's driving his sheep to the fold.'
14 . . . . . .
In a little while after that,
Up started good Lord Barlibas,
At Little Musgrove his feet.
15 'How do you like my blankets?' he says,
'Or how do you like my sheets?
Or how do you like mine own fair lady,
That lies in your arms and sleeps?'
16 'I like your blankets very well,
And far better your sheets;
But woe be to this wicked woman,
That lies in my arms and sleeps!'
17 'Rise up, rise up, my Little Musgrove,
Rise up, and put your clothes on;
It's neer be said on no other day
That I killed a naked man.
18 'There is two swords in my chamber,
I wot they cost me dear;
Take you the best, give me the warst,
We'll red the question here.'
19 The first stroke that Lord Barlibas struck,
He dang Little Musgrove to the ground;
The second stroke that Lord Barlibas gave
Dang his lady in a deadly swound.
20 'Gar mak, gar mak a coffin,' he says,
'Gar mak it wide and long,
And lay my lady at the right hand,
For she's come of the noblest kin.'
----------
'Little Sir Grove'- Version I; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 305, from the recitation of Rebecca Dunse, 4th May, 1825: one of her mother's songs, an old woman.
1 'It's gold shall be your hire,' she says,
'And silver shall be your fee,
If you will keep the secrets
Between Little Sir Grove and me.'
2 'Tho gold should be my hire,' he says,
'And silver should be my fee,
It's I'll not keep the secret
Betwixt Little Sir Grove and thee.'
3 Up he rose, and away he goes,
And along the plain he ran,
And when he came to Lord Bengwill's castle,
He tinkled at the pin;
And who was sae ready as Lord Bengwill himsell
To let his little page in.
4 'Is any of my towers burnt?' he said,
'Or any of my castles taen?
Or is Lady Bengwill brought to bed,
Of a daughter or a son?'
5 'It's nane of your towers are burnt,' he said,
'Nor nane of your castles taen;
But Lady Bengwill and Little Sir Grove
To merry bed they are gane.'
6 'If this be true that you tell me,
Rewarded you shall be;
And if it's a lie that you tell me,
You shall be hanged before your ladie's een.
7 'Get saddled to me the black,' he says,
'Get saddled to me the brown;
Get saddled to me the swiftest steed
That ever man rode on.'
8 The firsten town that he cam to,
He blew baith loud and schill,
And aye the owre-word o the tune
Was, 'Sir Grove, I wish you well.'
9 The nexten town that he came to,
He blew baith loud and long,
And aye the owre-word of the tune
Was 'Sir Grove, it is time to be gone.'
10 'Is yon the sound of the hounds?' he says,
'Or is yon the sound of the deer?
But I think it's the sound of my brother's horn,
That sound sae schill in my ear.'
11 'Lye still, lye still, Sir Grove,' she says,
'And keep a fair lady from cold;
It's but the sound of my father's herd-boys,
As they're driving the sheep to the fold.'
12 They lay down in each other's arms,
And they fell fast asleep,
And neer a one of them did wake
Till Lord Bengwill stood at their feet.
13 'How do you love my soft pillow?
Or how do you love my sheets?
Or how do you love my fair lady,
That lies in your arms and sleeps?'
14 'Full well I love your soft pillow,
Far better I love your sheets;
But woe be to your fair lady,
That lies in my arms and sleeps!'
15 'Rise up, rise up, Sir Grove,' he says,
'Some clothes there put you upon;
Let it never be said in fair England
I fought with a naked man.'
16 'Oh where shall I go, or where shall I fly,
Or where shall I run for my life?
For you've got two broadswords into your hand,
And I have never a knife.'
17 'You shall take the one sword,' he says,
'And I shall take the other,
And that is as fair I'm sure to day
As that you are my born brother.'
18 'Hold your hand, hold your hand, my brother dear,
You've wounded me full sore;
You may get a mistress in every town,
But a brother you'll never get more.'
19 The very first stroke that Lord Bengwill gave him,
He wounded him full sore;
The very next stroke that Lord Bengwill gave him,
A word he never spoke more.
20 He's lifted up Lady Bengwill,
And set her on his knee,
Saying, Whether do you love Little Sir Grove
Better than you do me?
21 'Full well I love your cherry cheeks,
Full well I love your chin,
But better I love Little Sir Grove, where he lies,
Than you and all your kin.'
* * * * *
-----------
'Lord Barnabas' Lady'- Version J; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 371, from the recitation of Agnes Lyle, Kilbarchan.
1 Four and twenty ladies fair
Was playing at the ba,
And out cam the lady, Barnabas' lady,
The flower amang them a'.
2 She coost an ee on Little Mossgrey,
As brisk as any sun,
And he coost anither on her again,
And they thocht the play was won.
3 'What would you think, Little Mossgrey,
To lye wi me this nicht?
Good beds I hae in Barnabey,
If they were ordered richt.'
4 'Hold thy tongue, fair lady,' he says,
'For that would cause much strife;
For I see by the rings on your fingers
That you're Lord Barnabas' wife.'
5 'Lord Barnabas' lady indeed I am,
And that I'll let you ken,
But he's awa to the king's court,
And I hope he'll neer come hame.'
6 Wi wrapped arms in bed they lay
Till they fell both asleep,
When up and starts Barnabas' boy,
And stood at their bed-feet.
7 'How likes thou the bed, Mossgrey?
Or how likes thou the sheets?
Or how likes thou my master's lady,
Lyes in thy arms and sleeps?'
8 'Weel I love the bed,' he said,
'And far better the sheets;
But foul may fa your master's lady,
Lies in my arms and sleeps!'
9 She pulled out a rusty sword,
Was sticking by the stroe;
Says, Tell no tidings of me, my boy,
Or thou'll neer tell no moe.
10 He's awa to the king's court,
As fast as he can dree;
He's awa to the king's court,
For to tell Barnaby.
11 'Are there any of my biggins brunt?
Or any of my young men slain?
Or is my lady brocht to bed,
Of a dochter or a son?'
12 'There is none of your biggings brunt,
There's none of your young men slain;
But Little Mossgrey and your lady
They are both in a bed within.'
13 'If that be true, my bonnie boy,
Thou tellest unto me,
I have not a dochter but only one,
And married ye shall be.
14 'But if it be a lie, my bonnie boy,
You're telling unto me,
On the highest tree of Balisberry,
Thereon I'll gar hang thee.'
15 There was a man in the king's court
Had a love to Little Mossgrey;
He took a horn out of his pocket,
And blew both loud and hie:
'He that's in bed wi Barnabas' lady,
It's time he were away!'
16 'Oh am I not the maddest man
Ere lay in a woman's bed!
I think I hear his bridle ring,
But and his horse feet tread.'
17 'Lye still, lye still, Little Mossgrey,
And keep me from the cold;
It's but my father's small sheep-herd,
Calling his sheep to the fold.'
18 With wrapped arms in bed they lay
Till they fell both asleep,
Till up and darts Barnabas himsell,
And stood at their bed-fit.
19 'How likest thou the bed, Mossgrey?
And how loves thou the sheets?
And how loves thou my lady fair,
Lyes in your arms and sleeps?'
20 'Well I love your bed,' he says,
'And far better your sheets;
But foul may fa your lady fair,
Lyes in my arms and sleeps!'
21 'Rise, O rise, Little Mossgrey,
Put on your hose and shoon;
I'll neer hae't said in a far countrie
I killed a naked man.'
22 Slowly, slowly rose he up,
And slowly put he on,
And slowly down the stairs he goes,
And thinking to be slain.
23 'Here's two swords,' Barnabas said,
'I wad they cost me dear;
Tak thou the best, I'll tak the warst,
We'll try the battle here.'
24 The first stroke that Mossgrey got,
It was baith sharp and sore;
And the next stroke his lady got,
One word she neer spak more.
25 'Ye'll mak a coffin large and wide,
And lay this couple in;
And lay her head on his right hand,
She's come o the highest kin.'
-------------
['Little Mousgray'] Version K; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Dr. Joseph Robertson's Journal of Excursions, No 5, taken down from a man in the parish of Leochel, Aberdeenshire, February 12, 1829.
1 It's four and twenty bonny boys
Were playin at the ba,
And out it cums Lord Barnet's ladie,
And playit out ower them a'.
2 And aye she shot it's Little Mousgray,
As clear as any sun:
'O what wad ye gie, it's Little Mousgray,
It's in O my arms to won?'
3 'For no, for no, my gay ladie,
For no, that maunna be;
For well ken I by the rings on your fingers,
Lord Barnet's ladie are ye.'
4 When supper was over, and mass was sung,
And a' man boun for bed,
It's Little Mousgray and that lady
In ae chamber was laid.
5 It's up and starts her little foot-page,
Just up at her bed-feet:
'Hail weel, hail weel, my little foot-page,
Hail well this deed on me,
An ever I lee my life to brook,
I'se pay you well your fee.'
6 Out it spaks it's Little Mousgray:
'I think I hear a horn blaw;
She blaws baith loud and shill at ilka turning of the tune,
Mousgray, gae ye your wa!'
7 'Lie still, lie still, it's Little Mousgray,
Had the caul win frae my back;
It's bat my father's proud shepherds,
The're huntin their hogs to the fauld.'
8 O up it starts the bold Barnet:
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .
9 'Win up, win up, it's Little Mousgray,
Draw ti your stockins and sheen;
I winna have it for to be said
I killed a naked man.
10 'There is two swords in my scabbart,
They cost me many a pun;
Tak ye the best, and I the warst,
And we sall to the green.'
11 'The firsten strok Lord Barnet strak,
He wound Mousgray very sore;
The nexten stroke Lord Barnet strak,
Mousgray spak never more.
12 O he's taen out a lang, lang brand,
And stripped it athwart the straw,
And throch and throu his ain ladie
And he's gart it cum and ga.
13 There was nae main made for that ladie,
In bower whar she lay dead!
But a' was for her bonny young son,
Lay blobberin amang the bluid.
--------------
'Lord Barnett and Little Munsgrove'- Version L; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Buchan's Manuscripts, I, 27; Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads, Percy Society, XVII, 21.
1 Four and twenty handsome youths
Were a' playing at the ba,
When forth it came him Little Munsgrove,
The flower out ower them a'.
2 At times he lost, at times he wan,
Till the noon-tide o the day,
And four an twenty gay ladies
Went out to view the play.
3 Some came down in white velvet,
And other some in green;
Lord Burnett's lady in red scarlet,
And shin'd like ony queen.
4 Some came down in white velvet,
And other some in pale;
Lord Burnett's lady in red scarlet,
Whose beauty did excell.
5 She gae a glance out ower them a',
As beams dart frae the sun;
She fixed her eyes on Little Munsgrove,
For him her love lay on.
6 'Gude day, gude day, ye handsome youth,
God make ye safe and free;
What woud ye gie this day, Munsgrove,
For ae night in bower wi me?'
7 'I darena for my lands, lady,
I darena for my life;
I ken by the rings on your fingers
Ye are Lord Burnett's wife.'
8 'It woud na touch my heart, Munsgrove,
Nae mair than 'twoud my tae,
To see as much o his heart's blood
As twa brands coud let gae.
9 'I hae a bower in fair Strathdon,
And pictures round it sett,
And I hae ordered thee, Munsgrove,
In fair Strathdon to sleep.'
10 Her flattering words and fair speeches,
They were for him too strong,
And she's prevailed on Little Munsgrove
With her to gang along.
11 When mass was sung, and bells were rung,
And a' man bound for bed,
Little Munsgrove and that lady
In ae chamber were laid.
12 'O what hire will ye gie your page,
If he the watch will keep,
In case that your gude lord come hame
When we're fair fast asleep?'
13 'Siller, siller's be his wage,
And gowd shall be his hire;
But if he speak ae word o this,
He'll die in a burning fire.'
14 'The promise that I make, Madam,
I will stand to the same;
I winna heal it an hour langer
Than any master comes hame.'
15 She's taen a sharp brand in her hand,
Being in the tidive hour;
He ran between her and the door,
She never saw him more.
16 Where he found the grass grow green,
He slacked his shoes an ran,
And where he found the brigs broken,
He bent his bow an swam.
17 Lord Burnett ower a window lay,
Beheld baith dale and down;
And he beheld his ain foot-page
Come hastening to the town.
18 'What news, what news, my little wee boy,
Ye bring sae hastilie?'
'Bad news, bad news, my master,' he says,
'As ye will plainly see.'
19 'Are any of my biggins brunt, my boy?
Or are my woods hewed down?
Or is my dear lady lighter yet,
O dear daughter or son?'
20 'There are nane o your biggins brunt, master,
Nor are your woods hewn down;
Nor is your lady lighter yet,
O dear daughter nor son.
21 'But ye've a bower in fair Strathdon,
And pictures round it sett,
Where your lady and Little Munsgrove
In fair Strathdon do sleep.'
22 'O had your tongue! why talk you so
About my gay ladye?
She is a gude and chaste woman
As in the North Countrie.'
23 'A word I dinna lie, my lord,
A word I dinna lie;
And if ye winna believe my word,
Your ain twa een shall see.'
24 'Gin this be a true tale ye tell,
That ye have tauld to me,
I'll wed you to my eldest daughter,
And married you shall be.
25 'But if it be a fause story
That ye hae tauld to me,
A high gallows I'll gar be built,
And hanged shall ye be.'
26 He's called upon his landlady,
The reckoning for to pay,
And pulled out twa hands fou o gowd;
Says, We'll reckon anither day.
27 He called upon his stable-groom,
To saddle for him his steed,
And trampled ower yon rocky hills
Till his horse hoofs did bleed.
28 There was a man in Lord Burnett's train
Was ane o Munsgrove's kin,
And aye as fast as the horsemen rade,
Sae nimbly's he did rin.
29 He set a horn to his mouth,
And he blew loud and sma,
And aye at every sounding's end,
'Awa, Munsgrove, awa!'
30 Then up it raise him Little Munsgrove,
And drew to him his sheen;
'Lye still, lye still,' the lady she cried,
'Why get ye up sae seen?'
31 'I think I hear a horn blaw,
And it blaws loud and sma;
And aye at every sounding's end,
Awa, Munsgrove, awa!'
32 'Lye still, lye still, ye Little Munsgrove,
Had my back frae the wind;
It's but my father's proud shepherd,
Caing his hogs to town.'
33 'I think I hear a horn blaw,
And it blaws loud and shrill,
And aye at every sounding's end
Bids Munsgrove take the hill.'
34 'Lye still, my boy, lye still, my sweet,
Had my back frae the cauld;
It's but the sugh o the westlin wind,
Blawing ower the birks sae bauld.'
35 He turned him right and round about,
And he fell fast asleep;
When up it started Lord Burnett,
And stood at their bed-feet.
36 'Is't for love o my blankets, Munsgrove?
Or is't for love o my sheets?
Or is't for love o my gay lady?
Sae soun in your arms she sleeps!'
37 'It's nae for love o your blankets, my lord,
Nor yet for love o your sheets;
But wae be to your gay ladye,
Sae soun in my arms she sleeps!'
38 'Win up, win up, ye Little Munsgrove,
Put all your armour an;
It's never be said anither day
I killed a naked man.
39 'I hae twa brands in ae scabbard,
Cost me merks twenty-nine;
Take ye the best, gie me the warst,
For ye're the weakest man.'
40 The firs an stroke that Munsgrove drew
Wounded Lord Burnett sair;
The next an stroke Lord Burnett drew,
Munsgrove he spake nae mair.
41 He turned him to his ladye then,
And thus to her said he:
'All the time we've led our life
I neer thought this o thee.
42 'How like ye now this well-faird face,
That stands straight by your side?
Or will ye hate this ill-faird face,
Lyes weltering in his blude?'
43 'O better love I this well-faird face,
Lyes weltering in his blude,
Then eer I'll do this ill-faird face,
That stands straight by my side.'
44 Then he's taen out a sharp dagger,
It was baith keen and smart,
And he has wounded that gay ladye
A deep wound to the heart.
45 'A grave, a grave,' cried Lord Burnett,
'To bury these two in;
And lay my ladye in the highest flat,
She's chiefest o the kin.
46 'A grave, a grave,' said Lord Burnett,
'To bury these two in;
Lay Munsgrove in the lowest flat,
He's deepest in the sin.
47 'Ye'll darken my windows up secure,
Wi staunchions round about,
And there is not a living man
Shall eer see me walk out.
48 'Nae mair fine clothes my body deck,
Nor kame gang in my hair,
Nor burning coal nor candle light
Shine in my bower mair.'
----------
'Little Mushiegrove'- Version M; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xx, XXI.
1 It fell upon a Martinmas time,
When the nobles were a' drinking wine,
That Little Mushiegrove to the kirk he did go,
For to see the ladies come in.
-----------
'Little Massgrove'- Version N; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
Communicated by Miss Margaret Reburn, as heard in County Meath, Ireland, about 1860.
1 'How do you like my rug?' he said,
'And how do you like my sheets?
And how do you like my false ladie,
That lies in your arms asleep?'
2 'Well I like your rug my lord,
And well I like your sheets;
But better than all your fair ladie,
That lies in my arms asleep.'
-------------
['Moss Groves'] Version O; Child 81 Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
1 There was four-and-twenty ladies
Assembled at a ball,
And who being there but the king's wife,
The fairest of them all.
2 She put her eye on the Moss Groves,
Moss Groves put his eye upon she:
'How would you like, my little Moss Groves,
One night to tarry with me?'
3 'To sleep one night with you, fair lady,
It would cause a wonderful sight;
For I know by the ring upon your hand
You are the king's wife.'
4 'If I am the king's wife,
I mean him to beguile;
For he has gone on a long distance,
And won't be back for a while.'
5 Up spoke his brother,
An angry man was he;
'Another night I'll not stop in the castle
Till my brother I'll go see.'
6 When he come to his brother,
He was in a hell of a fright:
'Get up, get up, brother dear!
There's a man in bed with your wife.'
7 'If it's true you tell unto me,
A man I'll make of thee;
If it's a lie you tell unto me,
It's slain thou shalt be.'
8 When he came to his hall,
The bells begun to ring,
And all the birds upon the bush
They begun to sing.
9 'How do you like my covering-cloths?
And how do you like my sheets?
How do you like my lady fair,
All night in her arms to sleep?'
10 'Your covering-cloths I like right well,
Far better than your sheets;
Far better than all your lady fair,
All night in her arms to sleep.'
11 'Get up, get up now, little Moss Groves,
Your clothing do put on;
It shall never be said in all England
That I drew on a naked man.
12 'There is two swords all in the castle
That cost me very dear;
You take the best, and I the worst,
And let's decide it here.'
13 The very first blow Moss Groves he gave,
He wounded the king most sore;
The very first blow the king gave him,
Moss Groves he struck no more.
14 She lifted up his dying head
And kissed his cheek and chin:
'I'd sooner have you now, little Moss Groves,
Than all their castles or kings.'
End-Notes
A. a. 32. in pale.
62. geight.
63. wilt wed.
92. or sinn.
173. thou fair.
294. on upper.
b. 14. Their masses and mattins.
22. omits private.
32. pale.
34. among.
44. I have.
54. Yet word I never durst.
62. daintily bedight.
71. lady fair.
72. you shew.
74. will I.
81. All this was heard by.
83. Quo he, though I am my ladies page.
84. my lord.
92. Although I lose a limb.
93. whereas.
104. thy none.
114. omits will.
143. when as the.
144. Away, thou little Musgrave.
153. Bernards horn.
164. to fold.
171. the perch.
173. thy fair.
182. lighted upon a stone.
194. Doest find my lady so sweet.
203. hunder'd pound.
214. That I killed.
253. not do.
254. Though I.
261. omits That: heart.
272. ne're were.
282. on a.
B. 54. Musgerue.
6 is written in the Manuscript after 8, but a marginal note by the scribe directs this stanza to be put two higher than it is written. Furnivall.
84. awaw.
93. out 3.
112. Between here and 123 half a page is gone.
134. all 3.
C. a. The lamentable Ditty of Little Mousgrove and the Lady Barnet ... London, printed for H. Gosson. Stanzas of eight lines.
b. London: printed for J. Clark, W. Thackeray, and T. Passenger.
c. A Lamentable Ballad of the Little Musgrove and the Lady Barnet ... London, printed for F. Coles, T. Vere, J. Wright, and J. Clarke.
d. Printed and sold in Aldermary Church-yard, Bow Lane, London.
e. London: printed by and for W.O., and are to be sold by the Booksellers.
a. 153. might lay.
After 16: The second part.
b, c. Musgrove throughout.
11, light wanting.
12, more be.
24. which did to the.
32. some came. c. pale.
33. The next: the lady.
34. c. among.
41. upon.
43. well thou perceived.
51. The: most wanting.
53. b. reply.
63. that you please.
72. my love.
81. b. my life: my death.
82. will lye.
84. c. my love to thee.
93. come.
94. While: doe wanting.
103. So he: doe wanting.
111. he said.
131. ran this.
133. b. He then.
133. his own.
142. c. he did.
144. bent his.
152. to the.
153. b. my say. c. may say.
162. there wanting, c. did make.
163. upon.
164. doth.
172. that thou. b. telst.
173. to wanting.
182. as wanting, b. to wanting.
183. shall be set up.
184. thou shalt.
192. thou hearest of c. And a.
193. Never stay a pair of gallows to make. b. to wanting.
194. me on.
201. Lord Barnet calld his merry men all.
203. was so.
211. he said.
214. b. his deed.
221. to make no noise.
222. all ... on wanting.
223. horn.
231. c. of them that.
233. him notice: was come.
234. wind the.
241. did sound.
243. if he.
264. into the.
273. awake: did espy. b. then he.
274. the beds.
282. cloathing.
283. c. never shall.
283. England fair.
284. That I.
291. b. Here is two swords.
292. c. The choice: Musgrove shall.
293. shall.
301. good wanting.
301,3. that wanting.
312. did wanting.
313. And with: furious wise.
324. she 's the better skin: c. she is.
332. b. grieved, c. grievd.
333. c. death of these worthy.
341. c. mischief.
343. b. shun the.
344. And fly from sin.
d. 11. a high.
91. with this.
113. counsel, Madam.
212. my milk-white.
234. wind his bugle horn clear.
333. these three lovely.
e. 11, a high.
13. Little wanting.
33. Then next.
81. my life: my death.
133. He then.
153. might tell to.
193. that wanting.
264. unto the.
282. an for on.
291. Here is two.
292. Musgrove thy choice now make.
313. most wanting.
343. shun the.
E. 101. this tidings.
123. Banburry.
153. It neer.
182. struck her.
194. wud: (with it) in margin.
G. 101. (cam) to the green wood cam.
H. 131. Oh.
I. 93. old word.
K. 21. Corrupt: cf. A 4, C 4, D 2, etc.
132. lay slain.
L. 94. On.
481. decks.
Additions and Corrections
P. 243 b, third paragraph. Heathen child: so Sir Beues of Hamtoun, v. 3558, p. 136 (Maitland Club).
244. For wiping or whetting the sword, see further under No 99, p. 378.
P. 242 ff. F, which Jamieson says he received from Scotland, happens to have been preserved at Abbotsford. Since Jamieson made a considerable number of small changes, the original text is now given here.
"Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy," No 133 c, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of James Hogg.
1 'I have a towr in Dalesberry,
Whilk now is dearly dight,
And I will gie it to young Musgrave,
To lodge wi me a night.'
2 'To lodge wi thee a night, fair lady,
Wad breed baith sorrow and strife;
For I see by the rings on your fingers
Ye're good Lord Barnaby's wife.'
3 'Lord Barnaby's wife although I be,
Yet what is that to thee?
For we'l beguile him for this ae night;
He's on to fair Dundee.
4 'Come here, come here, my little foot-page,
This guinea I will give thee,
If ye will keep thir secrets closs
Tween young Musgrave an me.
5 'But here hae I a little pen-knife,
Hings low down by my gare;
If ye dinna keep thir secrets closs,
Ye'l find it wonder sair.'
6 Then she's taen him to her chamber,
An down in her arms lay he;
The boy koost off his hose an shoon
An ran for fair Dundee.
7 When he came to the wan water,
He slackd his bow an swam,
An when he wan to growan gress
Set down his feet an ran.
8 And whan he came to fair Dundee,
Could nouther rap nor ca,
But set his braid bow to his breast
An merrily jumpd the wa.
9 O waken ye, waken ye, my good lord,
Waken, an come away!'
'What ails, what ails my wee foot-page
He cry's sae lang or day?
10 'O is my towers burnt, my boy?
Or is my castle won?
Or has the lady that I loe best
Brought me a daughter or son?'
11 'Your halls are safe, your towers are safe
An free frae all alarms;
But oh, the lady that ye loe best
Lyes sound i Musgrave' s arms.'
12 'Gae saddle me the black,' he cry'd,
'Gae saddle me the gray;
Gae saddle me the milk-white steed,
To hie me out the way.'
13 'O lady, I heard a wee horn tout,
An it blew wonder clear,
An ay the turnin o the note
Was, Barnaby will be here!
14 I thought I heard a wee horn blaw,
An it blew loud an hie,
An ay at ilka turn it said,
Away, Musgrave, away!'
15 'Lye still, my dear, lye still, my dear,
Ye keep me frae the cold!
For it is but my father's shepherds,
Drivin there flocks to the fold.'
16 Up they lookit, an down they lay,
An they 're fa'n sound asleep;
Till up start good Lord Barnaby,
Just closs at their bed-feet.
17 How do ye like my bed, Musgrave?
An how like ye my sheets?
An how like ye my fair lady,
Lyes in your arms an sleeps?'
18 Weel I like your bed, my lord,
An weel I like your sheets;
But ill like I your fair lady,
Lyes in my arms an sleeps.
19 'You got your wale o se'en sisters,
An I got mine o five;
So take ye mine, an I's take thine,
An we nae mair shall strive.'
20 'O my woman's the best woman
That ever brake world's bread,
But your woman's the worst woman
That ever drew coat oer head.
21 'I have two swords in my scabbart,
They are baith sharp an clear;
Take ye the best, and I the worst,
An we'l end the matter here.
22 'But up an arm thee, young Musgrave,
We'l try it hand to hand;
It's neer be said o Lord Barnaby
He struck at a naked man.'
23 The first stroke that young Musgrave got,
It was baith deep an sair,
An down he fell at Barnaby's feet,
An word spak never mair.
24 'A grave! a grave!' Lord Barnaby cry'd,
'A grave to lay them in!
My lady shall lye on the sunny side,
Because of her noble kin.'
25 But O how sorry was that good lord,
For a' his angry mood,
When he espy'd his ain young son
All weltering in his blood!
The following copy was kindly communicated to me by Mr. David MacRitchie, Honorary Secretary of the Gypsy Lore Society, in advance of its publication in the Journal of the society. While it preserves the framework of the story, it differs very considerably in details from all the printed copies. It is evidently of the same origin as some of the Scottish versions (all of which seem to derive from print), though it has no marked resemblance to the actual form of any particular one of these. Some peculiarities are plausibly attributable to dim or imperfect recollection. Thus, the ball-play of D, E, etc., is turned into a ball. Lord Barnard is made a king, and the page the king's brother (neither of which -changes is an improvement). We may observe that in J Lord Barnabas is at the king's court, and in I Sir Grove is Lord Bengwill's brother; but these points are not decisive, and the changes may be purely arbitrary. 4 shows traces of E 5 and F 3; 8 may have been suggested by something like G 4; and the last line of 14 looks like a corruption of G 29. This involves the supposition that the source of the ballad was a version somewhat different from any hitherto recovered; but 'Little Musgrave' is one of the best known of all ballads, and the variants must have been innumerable. On the whole, 1-8, 14, present a free treatment of ill-remembered matter; 9-13 are fairly well preserved; compare E 13-17.
[Version] O
'Moss Groves,' taken down in 1891 by Mr. John Sampson, Liverpool, from Philip Murray, an old tinker, who learned the ballad in his boyhood from an old gypsy named Amos Rice.
1 There was four-and-twenty ladies
Assembled at a ball,
And who being there but the king's wife,
The fairest of them all.
2 She put her eye on the Moss Groves,
Moss Groves put his eye upon she:
'How would you like, my little Moss Groves,
One night to tarry with me?'
3 'To sleep one night with you, fair lady,
It would cause a wonderful sight;
For I know by the ring upon your hand
You are the king's wife.'
4 'If I am the king's wife,
I mean him to beguile;
For he has gone on a long distance,
And won't be back for a while.'
5 Up spoke his brother,
An angry man was he;
'Another night I'll not stop in the castle
Till my brother I'll go see.'
6 When he come to his brother,
He was in a hell of a fright:
'Get up, get up, brother dear!
There's a man in bed with your wife.'
7 'If it's true you tell unto me,
A man I'll make of thee;
If it's a lie you tell unto me,
It's slain thou shalt be.'
8 When he came to his hall,
The bells begun to ring,
And all the birds upon the bush
They begun to sing.
9 'How do you like my covering-cloths?
And how do you like my sheets?
How do you like my lady fair,
All night in her arms to sleep?'
10 'Your covering-cloths I like right well,
Far better than your sheets;
Far better than all your lady fair,
All night in her arms to sleep.'
11 'Get up, get up now, little Moss Grovee,
Your clothing do put on;
It shall never be said in all England
That I drew on a naked man.
12 'There is two swords all in the castle
That cost me very dear;
You take the best, and I the worst,
And let 'a decide it here.'
13 The very first blow Moss Groves he gave,
He wounded the king most sore;
The very first blow the king gave him,
Moss Groves Le struck no more.
14 She lifted up his dying head
And kissed his cheek and chin:
'I'd sooner have you now, little Moss Groves,
Than all their castles or kings.'
259 a. Insert under C: d. Printed and sold in Aldermary Church-yard, Bow Lane, London.
P. 242. 'Little Musgrave' is entered to Francis Coules in the Stationers' Registers, 24 June, 1630: Arber, IV, 236.