No. 89: Fause Foodrage
[There are no known traditional US or Canadian versions of this ballad.]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnote (Added at the end of Child's narrative)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-C.
5. End-Notes
6. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: 89. Fause Foodrage
A. Roud No. 54: Fause Foodrage (15 Listings)
2. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-C with additional notes)]
3. Sheet Music: 89. Fause Foodrage (Bronson texts- music)
Child's Narrative: Fause Foodrage
A. 'Fa'se Footrage,' Alexander Fraser Tytler's Brown Manuscript, No 3.
B. 'The Eastmure King and the Westmure King,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 341.
C. 'Eastmuir King,' Harris Manuscript, No 18, fol. 22.
A was printed in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, II, 73, 1802, "chiefly" from Mrs. Brown's Manuscript; in fact, with not quite forty petty alterations. Scott remarks that the ballad has been popular in many parts of Scotland. Christie, I, 172, had heard it sung by an old Banffshire woman, who died in 1866, at the age of nearly eighty, with very little difference from Scott's copy.[1]
The resemblance of the verse in A 31, 'The boy stared wild like a gray gose-hawke,' to one in 'Hardyknute,' 'Norse een like gray gosshawk stared wild,' struck Sir Walter Scott as suspicious, and led him "to make the strictest inquiry into the authenticity of the song. But every doubt was removed by the evidence of a lady of high rank [Lady Douglas of Douglas, sister to Henry, Duke of Buccleuch, as we are informed in the edition of 1833], who not only recollected the ballad as having amused her infancy, but could repeat many of the verses." It is quite possible that Mrs. Brown may unconsciously have adopted this verse from the tiresome and affected Hardyknute, so much esteemed in her day. One would be only too glad were this the only corruption which the ballad had undergone. On the contrary, while not calling in question the substantial genuineness of the ballad, we must admit that the form in which we have received it is an enfeebled one, without much flavor or color; and some such feeling no doubt affected Sir Walter's mind, more than the reminiscence of 'Hardyknute,' which, of itself, is of slight account.
A tale 'How the king of Estmure Land married the king's daughter of Westmure Land' is mentioned in "The Complaint of Scotland," and there has been considerable speculation as to what this tale might be, and also as to what localities Estmure Land and Westmure Land might signify. Seeing no clue to a settlement of these questions, I pass them by, with the simple comment that no king of Estmure Land marries the king of Westmure Land's daughter in this ballad or any other.
Three kings (King Easter and King Wester, A, the Eastmure king and the Westmure king, B, C, and King Honor, A, the king of Onorie, B, King Luve, C), court a lady, and the third, who woos for womanhood and beauty, B, wins her. The Eastmure king, B, the Westmure, C, kills his successful rival on his wedding-day. According to the prosaic, not at all ballad-like, and evidently corrupted account in A, there is a rebellion of nobles four months after the marriage, and a certain False Foodrage takes it upon himself to kill the king. The murderer spares the queen, and if she gives birth to a girl will spare her child also, but if she bears a boy the boy is to die.
In A the queen escapes from custody before her time comes, and gives birth to a boy in the swines' sty. Lots are cast to see who shall go find the queen (the narrative is very vague here), and the lot falls on Wise William, who sends his wife in his stead. The queen induces this woman to exchange children with her, Wise William's wife having a girl. After some years Wise William reveals to the boy that he is rightful lord of the castle (and we may suppose royal dignity) which False Foodrage has usurped. The boy kills False Foodrage and marries Wise William's daughter. Some of these incidents are wanting in B. For Wise William's wife we have simply a poor woman in the town.
'Fause Foodrage' is closely related to a Scandinavian ballad, especially popular in Denmark, where it is found in not less than twenty-three manuscripts:
Danish. A, 'Ung Villum,' Danske Viser, No 126, III, 135, 66 stanzas; B, 'Vold og Mord,' Levninger, II, 64, No 12, 64 stanzas; C, 'Lille Villum,' Kristensen, I, 305, No 111, 15 stanzas; also, Tragica, No 18, not seen.
Icelandic. 'Kvæði af Loga í Vallarhlíð,' Íslenzk fornkvæði, I, 235, No 28, 55 stanzas.
Swedish. 'Helleman Unge,' Arwidsson, I, 132, No 15, 13 stanzas (imperfect).
Färöe, in imprinted copies. There are more incidents in the Danish ballad, and too many, but something, without doubt, has been lost from the English, which, however, preserves these essential points: A man that has wedded a woman who had another lover is killed by his competitor shortly after his marriage; a boy is born, who is passed off as a girl; this boy, before he has attained manhood, slays his father's murderer.
In the Danish 'Young William,' A, Svend of Voldeslav, rich in gold, woos Lisbet, who prefers William for his good qualities. Svend shuts himself up in his room, sick with grief. His mother and sister come and go. The mother will get him a fairer maid, and gives him the good rede not to distress himself about a girl that is plighted to another man. The sister gives a bad rede, to kill William, and so get the bride. The mother remarks that a son is coming into being who would revenge his father's death. The business can be done, says Svend, before that son is born, and immediately after takes occasion to meet William as he is passing through a wood, and kills him. Forty weeks gone, Lisbet gives birth to a son, but Svend is told that she has borne a daughter. Young William attains to the age of eighteen, and is a stalwart youth, given to games of strength. One day when he is putting the stone with a peasant, the two fall out, and the peasant, being roughly treated, calls out, You had better avenge your father's death. Young William hastens to his mother, and asks whether his father's death had been by violence, and, if so, who killed him. The mother thinks him too young to wield a sword: he must summon Svend to a court. This is done. Svend informs his uncle that he is summoned to court by William, and asks what he is to do. The uncle had always been told that Lisbet's child was a girl. I shall never live to see the day, says Svend, when I shall beat a woman at tricks. Svend goes to the court, attended by many of his uncle's men. William charges him with the murder of his father, for which no compensation has been offered. Svend says not a penny will be paid, and William draws his sword and cuts him down. For killing Svend William is summoned to court by Svend's brother, Nilus. Nilus demands amends. William says they are quit, with brother against father, and he will marry Nilus's sister (whom he has already carried off). Never, says Nilus, for which William finds it necessary to kill him. He then rides to his mother, who asks what amends have been offered for his father's death, and, on hearing that William has killed both the murderer and his brother, clasps him to her heart, for all her grief is now over.
No other Scandinavian copy besides Danish A has the killing of Nilus, which may be regarded as an aftergrowth. In the Icelandic version, the sister, so far from putting her brother up to the murder, bursts into tears when her brother tells what he has done, be cause she knows that revenge will follow. The murderer offers himself to his former love in place of her husband, at the very moment when she is bowed in anguish over the dead body. She replies significantly, He is not far from me that shall revenge him. All the Scandinavian copies have the three chief points of the story except the Swedish, which lacks the first half.
Another Scandinavian ballad has many of the features of 'Young William:' Danish, 'Liden Engel,' A, Danske Viser, No 127, III, 147; B, Levninger, II, 82, No 13; C, Kristensen, I, 254, No 97, a fragment. Norwegian, 'Unge Ingelbrett,' Bugge, p. 110, No 23, derived from the Danish. According to Danish A, and for the most part B, Liden Engel (who, by the way, is of Westerris) carries off a bride by force. Her brother burns him and all his people in a church in which they have taken refuge, the lady being saved by lifting her on shields up to a window, whence she is taken by her natural friends. It is the mother that suggests the setting of the church on fire, and the first act of the daughter, after getting out of the church with singed hair, is to fall on her bare knees and pray that she may have a son who will take vengeance on her brother. A son is born, and called after his father, but his existence is as far as possible kept secret. As he grows up his mother is always saying to him, Thine uncle was the death of thy father. The boy wishes to serve the king; the mother says, Go, but remember thy father's death. The king observes that the youth has always a weight on his mind, and on his asking the cause Little Engel answers that his uncle had slain his father and paid no boot. The king says, If you wish to revenge his death, as it is quite proper you should, I will lend you three hundred men. When the uncle is in formed that Little Engel is coming against him he declares that he had never heard of such a person before: so the secret has been well kept. Little Engel burns his uncle and all his people in a stone chamber in which they had shut themselves up.
In the Norwegian-Danish ballad Engel, or Ingelbrett, the second simply kills his uncle with a sword. The offence given in this case is not the carrying off a bride by force, but the omitting to ask the brother's consent to the marriage, though that of all the rest of the family had been obtained: another instance of the danger of such neglect in addition to those already mentioned in the preface to 'The Cruel Brother,' I, 142.
'Fause Foodrage ' has some affinity with 'Jellon Grame.'
Scott's copy is translated by Schubart, p. 102; Wolff, Halle der Völker, I, 33, and Hausschatz, p. 211; Doenniges, p. 51; Knortz, Schottische Balladen, No 28.
'Ung Villum' is translated by Prior, III, 422, No 170; 'Liden Engel ' by the same, III, 379, No 164.
Footnote: 1. "As far as he can remember, the old woman gave the story in fewer verses." Christie gives the ballad from Scott (omitting stanzas 10-18), "with slight alterations from the way she sung it." These alterations are: 11, has omitted. 41, Then some for some. 263, fair castle for bonny castle (bonny in Scott, 1833; fair in Scott, 1802). 292, is right for was right. 294, Ere ever you for Or ever ye. Dean Christie's memory, it seems, retains the most inconsiderable variations, while it is not so good for larger things. See the note at Christie, I, 128, 'Willie and Earl Richard's Daughter,' in this volume, and other ballads.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
This ballad, though substantially genuine, has come down to us in an enfeebled form. The rebellion of the nobles in A is evidently a corruption; it is a prosaic touch, and not at all ballad-like. 'Fause Foodrage' is closely related to the Scandinavian ballad of 'Svend of Voldesbv' (Grundtvig-Olrik, No. 298).
Child's Ballad Texts
'Fa'se Footrage'- Version A; Child 89 Fause Foodrage
Alexander Fraser Tytler's Brown Manuscript, No 3.
1 King Easter has courted her for her gowd,
King Wester for her fee,
King Honor for her lands sae braid,
And for her fair body.
2 They had not been four months married,
As I have heard them tell,
Until the nobles of the land
Against them did rebel.
3 And they cast kaivles them amang,
And kaivles them between,
And they cast kaivles them amang
Wha shoud gae kill the king.
4 O some said yea, and some said nay,
Their words did not agree;
Till up it gat him Fa'se Footrage,
And sware it shoud be he.
5 When bells were rung, and mass was sung,
And a' man boon to bed,
King Honor and his gay ladie
In a hie chamer were laid.
6 Then up it raise him Fa'se Footrage,
While a' were fast asleep,
And slew the porter in his lodge,
That watch and ward did keep.
7 O four and twenty silver keys
Hang hie upon a pin,
And ay as a door he did unlock,
He has fastend it him behind.
8 Then up it raise him King Honor,
Says, What means a' this din!
Now what's the matter, Fa'se Footrage?
O wha was't loot you in?
9 'O ye my errand well shall learn
Before that I depart;'
Then drew a knife baith lang and sharp
And pierced him thro the heart.
10 Then up it got the Queen hersell,
And fell low down on her knee:
'O spare my life now, Fa'se Footrage!
For I never injured thee.
11 'O spare my life now, Fa'se Footrage!
Until I lighter be,
And see gin it be lad or lass
King Honor has left me wi.'
12 'O gin it be a lass,' he says,
'Well nursed she shall be;
But gin it be a lad-bairn,
He shall be hanged hie.
13 'I winna spare his tender age,
Nor yet his hie, hie kin;
But as soon as eer he born is,
He shall mount the gallows-pin.'
14 O four and twenty valiant knights
Were set the Queen to guard,
And four stood ay at her bower-door,
To keep baith watch and ward.
15 But when the time drew till an end
That she should lighter be,
She cast about to find a wile
To set her body free.
16 O she has birled these merry young men
Wi strong beer and wi wine,
Until she made them a' as drunk
As any wallwood swine.
17 'O narrow, narrow is this window,
And big, big am I grown!'
Yet thro the might of Our Ladie
Out at it she has won.
18 She wanderd up, she wanderd down,
She wanderd out and in,
And at last, into the very swines' stye,
The Queen brought forth a son.
19 Then they cast kaivles them amang
Wha should gae seek the Queen,
And the kaivle fell upon Wise William,
And he's sent his wife for him.
20 O when she saw Wise William's wife,
The Queen fell on her knee;
'Win up, win up, madame,' she says,
'What means this courtesie?'
21 'O out of this I winna rise
Till a boon ye grant to me,
To change your lass for this lad-bairn
King Honor left me wi.
22 'And ye maun learn my gay gose-hawke
Well how to breast a steed,
And I shall learn your turtle-dow
As well to write and read.
23 'And ye maun learn my gay gose-hawke
To wield baith bow and brand,
And I shall learn your turtle-dow
To lay gowd wi her hand.
24 'At kirk or market where we meet,
We dare nae mair avow
But, Dame how does my gay gose-hawk?
Madame, how does my dow?'
25 When days were gane, and years came on,
Wise William he thought long;
Out has he taen King Honor's son,
A hunting for to gang.
26 It sae fell out at their hunting,
Upon a summer's day,
That they cam by a fair castle,
Stood on a sunny brae.
27 'O dinna ye see that bonny castle,
Wi wa's and towers sae fair?
Gin ilka man had back his ain,
Of it you shoud be heir.'
28 'How I shoud be heir of that castle
In sooth I canna see,
When it belongs to Fa'se Footrage,
And he's nae kin to me.'
29 'O gin ye shoud kill him Fa'se Footrage,
You woud do what is right;
For I wot he killd your father dear,
Ere ever you saw the light.
30 'Gin you should kill him Fa'se Footrage,
There is nae man durst you blame;
For he keeps your mother a prisoner,
And she dares no take you hame.'
31 The boy stared wild like a gray gose-hawke,
Says, What may a' this mean!
'My boy, you are King Honor's son,
And your mother's our lawful queen.'
32 'O gin I be King Honor's son,
By Our Ladie I swear,
This day I will that traytour slay,
And relieve my mother dear.'
33 He has sent his bent bow till his breast,
And lap the castle-wa,
And soon he's siesed on Fa'se Footrage,
Wha loud for help gan ca.
34 'O hold your tongue now, Fa'se Footrage,
Frae me you shanno flee;'
Syne pierced him through the foul fa'se heart,
And set his mother free.
35 And he has rewarded Wise William
Wi the best half of his land,
And sae has he the turtle-dow
Wi the truth of his right hand.
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'The Eastmure King and the Westmure King'- Version B; Child 89 Fause Foodrage
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 341.
1 The Eastmure king, and the Westmure king,
And the king of Onorie,
They have all courted a pretty maid,
And guess wha she micht be.
2 The Eastmure king courted her for gold,
And the Westmure king for fee,
The king of Onore for womanheid,
And for her fair beautie.
3 The Eastmure king swore a solemn oath,
He would keep it till May,
That he would murder the king of Onore,
Upon his wedding day.
4 When bells was rung, and psalms was sung,
And all men boune for sleep,
Up and started the Eastmure king
At the king of Onore's head.
5 He has drawn the curtains by
Their sheets was made of dorn;
And he has murdered the king of Onore,
As innocent as he was born.
6 This maid she awak'd in the middle of the night,
Was in a drowsy dream;
She found her bride's-bed swim with blood,
Bot and her good lord slain.
7 'What will the court and council say
What will they say to me?
What will the court and council say
But this night I've murderd thee?'
8 Out and speaks the Eastmure king:
'Hold your tongue, my pretty may,
And come along with me, my dear,
And that court ye'll never see.'
9 He mounted her on a milk-white steed,
Himself upon a gray;
She turnd her back against the court,
And weeping rode away.
10 'Now if you be with child,' he says,
'As I trew well you be,
If it be of a lassie-bairn,
I'll give her nurses three.
11 'If it be a lassie-bairn,
If you please she'll get five;
But if it be a bonnie boy,
I will not let him live.'
12 Word is to the city gone,
And word is to the town,
And word is to the city gone,
She's delivered of a son.
13 But a poor woman in the town
In the same case does lye,
Wha gived to her her woman-child,
Took awa her bonnie boy.
14 At kirk or market, whereer they met,
They never durst avow,
But 'Thou be kind to my boy,' she says,
'I'll be kind to your bonnie dow.'
15 This boy was sixteen years of age,
But he was nae seventeen,
When he is to the garden gone,
To slay that Eastmure king.
16 'Be aware, be aware, thou Eastmure king,
Be aware this day of me;
For I do swear and do declare
Thy botcher I will be.'
17 'What aileth thee, my bonnie boy?
What aileth thee at me?
I'm sure I never did thee wrang;
Thy face I neer did see.'
18 'Thou murdered my father dear,
When scarse conceived was I;
Thou murdered my father dear,
When scarse conceived was me:'
So then he slew that Eastmure king,
Beneath that garden tree.
---------
'Eastmuir King'- Version C; Child 89 Fause Foodrage
Harris Manuscript, No 18, fol. 22: derived from Jannie Scott, an old Perthshire nurse, about 1790.
1 Eastmure king, and Westmuir king,
And king o Luve, a' three,
It's they coost kevils them amang,
Aboot a gay ladie.
2 Eastmuir king he wan the gowd,
An Wastmuir king the fee,
But king o Luve, wi his lands sae broad,
He's won the fair ladie.
3 Thae twa kings, they made an aith,
That, be it as it may,
They wad slay him king o Luve,
Upon his waddin day.
4 Eastmuir king he brak his aith,
An sair penance did he;
But Wastmuir king he made it oot,
An an ill deid mat he dee!
End-Notes
B. 44. Onore's feet originally.
52. Onores.
Additions and Corrections
P. 297 a, third paragraph. A Færœ version, 'Sveinur í Vallaíð,' one of five known, is printed by Hammershaimb, Færøsk Anthologi, No 19, p. 124
P. 298 a. Add, 'Sonnens hævn,' Kristensen, Skattegraveren, IV, 113, No 284; a fragment.
P. 297. Danish. Now printed as No 298 of Danmarks gamle Folkeviser, by Axel Olrik, the continuator of that noble collection, with the title 'Svend af Vollersløv.' There are fifteen old versions besides Tragica 18 (which is a compounded and partly ungenuine text) and the one recently printed by Kristensen, the basis of which is the copy in Tragica. 'Ung Villum' is Tragica 18 with two stanzas omitted.
298, III, 515 b. 'Liden Engel' is No 297 of Danmarks gamle Folkeviser. There are eight old copies, and Kristensen has added five from recent tradition: the two here noted and three in Jyske Folkeminder, No 49, A-C, 201 ff. There is also a Swedish copy of 1693, printed in Dybeck's Runa, 1844, p. 93, which I had not observed.