89
The Glove
For the history of this story and its appearance as a ballad, see
Barry's note in NGMS 69-70. Originating in Spain, it had spread
by the sixteenth century to Italy and to France, and in the latter
country was incorporated in Brantome's Memoircs of the French
court. It was in this French form that it was known to Schiller,
Leigh Hunt, and Browning, and their rendering of it ('Der
Handschuh,' 'The Glove and the Lions,' 'The Glove') all keep the
sophisticated courtly moral of the original anecdote — Browning,
characteristically, with a further ethical analysis. In its street-
ballad form the moral of the tale is inevitably simpler: only the
brave deserve the fair. The earliest English ballad rendering of
the story is a long-winded afifair preserved in the Percy collection
of broadsides. The nineteenth-century prints — both Catnach and
Pitts printed it — are shorter, and it is from these that the texts
found in oral tradition derive. It has been reported from Scotland,
Somerset, Nova Scotia, Vermont, Virginia (FSV 38), Kentucky,
and Mississippi. Quite exceptionally, one of our two North Caro-
lina texts retains the more cynical moral of the original anecdote.
On that account, and because the two texts illustrate the vagaries
of oral tradition, both are given.
A
'The Squire's Sons.* Contributed by Thomas Smith of Zionville, Watauga
county, in 1915, with the notation: "The verses are part of a song which
has been sung for nearly 50 years in Caldwell and Watauga counties. The
above verses were sung by Mrs. Rebecca Icenham and Bennett Smith in
February, 191 5." As this note indicates, the version is not complete;
part of the action has been lost between the fifth and the sixth stanzas.
I In Oxford where there lived a lady,
She was beautiful and gay ;
She was of great resolution
No man of life could her betray.
' Should this be "good luck" or "alack" ?
OLDER BALLADS — MOSTLY BRITISH 297
2 The squire's sons, two loving brothers,
Came this fair lady for to see.
This young lady expressly to [Id] them
That how 'I can but one man's bride be.'
3 This young lady expressly told them :
'How can I be but one man's bride?
Come to me tomorrow morning
And the matter I'll decide.'
4 They went home, these loving brothers,
Not thinking of their dismal doom,
While she lie lisping on her pillow
Till the morning light did come.
5 She called for her coach and called for her horses.
On yonders mountain for to ride
Where the roaring lions doth abide.
6 Up and spoke the noble captain:
'Madam, your offer I do refuse.
For in that den there is great danger;
I'm sure a man his life would lose.'
7 Then up and spoke the noble captain,
He spoke like a man that was troubled in mind.
Saying, 'I'll wander off in some lone desert
Where neither man nor beast can find.
8 'There I'll spend my lonely hours.
Seeking of my dismal doom,
Till death shall come and me deliver
To my immortal home.'
9 Up and spoke the brave lieutenant :
'I would not have you for my wife.
I find by your actions
That you care nothing for my life.'
The Lion's Den.' Secured from Mrs. Julia Grogan, Silverstone, Wa-
tauga county, in 1926. Vagaries of spelling, pointing, and use of capitals
have not been preserved.
I In Noxford near there lived a lady
And she was beautiful and gay,
And she was of some resolution
No man of life can her betray.
290 NORTH CAROLINA FOLKLORE
2 Unless he be some man of honor,
Let him be by land or sea.
A esquire's sons, two loving brothers.
Came this fair lady for to see.
3 One of these men was a noble captain
Over a ship called Colonel Carr,
The other was a brave lieutenant,
A man of honor, a man of war.^
4 This lady she expressly told them,
'How can I be but one man's bride?
Come here to me tomorrow morning
And this matter I'll decide.'
5 These two loving brothers went home
Not thinking of their dismal doom.
While she lay lisping on her pillow
Until the morning light did come.
6 And then she called for coach and horses
Early attended and ready be
'While I ride on to yonder bowers-
These roaring lions for to see.'
7 She rode on to yonder bowers.
The lions they were fondling around,
And for the space of one half of a hour
She lay speechless on the ground.
8 But, alas!^ she did recover.
Down in the den she threw her fan,
Saying, 'Either of you to gain a lover
Can go and bring my fan again.'
9 And up bespake the noble captain,
Saying. 'Madam, your ofifer I do refuse.
For in that den there is great danger
And a man his life, I am sure, would lose.'
10 Then up bespoke this brave lieutenant.
He raised his voice both loud and high,
Saying, 'Madam, I am a man and a man of honor,
And I will bring your fan or die.'
' Catnach's text makes this stanza intelligible :
The one had a Captain's commission
Under the command of Colonel Carr
The other was a lieutenant
On board the Tiger man of war
* In Catnach's print she goes to the Tower (of London), where a
royal menagerie was maintained down to 1834.
* Probably misheard, or miswritten, for "at last."
OLDER BALLADS — MOSTLY BRITISH 299
1 1 Then down into the den he entered.
The lions looked both fierce and g^rim.
He Stamped and stamped all round among them
And looked as fierce at them again.
12 He stamped and stamped all round among them
Until the lions grew quite still.
Then low he stooped, the fan he gathered,
Returning to his love again.
13 And when she saw that he was coming
And unto him no harm was done.
Into his arms she flew a-running
For to enjoy the prize he had won.
14 Then up bespoke this noble captain,
He spoke like a man that was troubled in mind,
Saying, T wander oflf to some lonesome woods
Where me no man can ever find,
15 'And there I'll spend my lonesome hours,
A-rovering of my dismal doom,
Until death come to end my hours
And take me to eternal home.'
-------
89
The Glove
'The Lion's Den.' Sung by Mrs. J. Trivette. Recorded, but no date or place
given. The text is quite similar to, and the story the same as, that in SharpK
I 398, No. 67C.
For melodic relationship cf. ** SharpK i 398, No. 67C, general melodic line.
Scale: Mode II, plagal. Tonal Center: g. Structure: abb^c (2,2,2,2).