British & Other Versions, Child No. 3: False Knight (Roud 20); Headnotes
All Versions of Child 3: False Knight Upon the Road
A. Irish Versions; including versions from America from Irish/American informants (standard melody: "Uist Tramping Song" c. 1700s ref. Ulster Folklife)
a. "False Knight," my title, two stanzas sung by a madwoman in the Dublin area from the novel: "Women, Or, Pour Et Contre: A Tale," page 26 by Charles Robert Maturin, 1818.
b. "False Knight On The Road." Sung by Margaret Sullivan (Mrs. E.M. Sullivan) about 1865. From Flanders Ancient Ballads, 1966 and Ballads Migrant in New England, 1932. Sullivan was born in County Cork, Ireland about 1855. Learned in her childhood.
c. "Fol Fly on the Road." Sung before 1870, in Fort Kent, Me., by a French girl who could speak very little English, as learned from an illiterate Irish family. From "The False Knight upon the Road," A, Folk-Songs of the North Atlantic States recollected by M. L. F., Portland, Me., Oct. 16, 1907. Also published in The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 24, No. 93 (Jul. - Sep., 1911), pp. 344-349.
d. "Old False Knight," from Joseph J. MacSweeney of Sutton County Dublin, taken from his mother in 1912. From
The Modern Language Review, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Apr., 1917), pp. 203-205.
e. "Knight on the Road" Sung by Mrs. T. G. Coates of Flag Pond, Tennessee on Sept. 1, 1916. From Sharp MSS 3369/2466; Sharp & Karpeles, English Folksongs from the Southern Appalachians, 1932, I p. 3.
f. "Knight in the Road." Sung by Mrs. Jane (Hicks) Gentry, from Madison County, NC, was one of Cecil Sharp's main informants. Sharp & Karpeles, English Folksongs from the Southern Appalachians, 1932, I p. 4.
g. "False Knight Upon the Road." From Mr. William Morris, Brewer, Maine, August 20, 1934 as learned from the singing of his mother, Mrs. James Morris, daughter of Alexander and Ruth (Hosket) McPhail, native of Prince Edward Island. From Bulletin from the Folk Song Society of the Northeast, Volume 11, in British Ballads.
h. "The Smart Schoolboy." Sung by Preston Wolford of Virginia, 1935, collected by John Jacob Niles; from Niles, Ballad Book, 1966.
i. "The False Knight upon the Road" Sung by Mrs. Maud Long of Hot Springs, North Carolina, at Washington, D. C., 1947. Recorded by Duncan Emrich.
j. "The False Knight on the Road" sung by Frank Quinn of Coalisland, Co. Tyrone, Ireland in 1958 as recorded by Sean O' Boyle. Topic, The Folksongs of Britain IV, 'The Child Ballads'. Also in J. Taylor & Michael Yates, eds., Ballads and Songs, Vol 6.
B. Scottish Versions (standard melody: "Rose Tree" c. 1774)
a. "The Fause Knicht Upon the Road," Child A, from Mary Macqueen (Mrs Storie) before 1927. From Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Introduction, p. lxxiv. Also Child, ESPB, Volume 1, 1882. Alternate transcription from E. B. Lyle who edited "Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs," published in 1975.
b. "False Knight," Child B, no informant named, single stanza with music from West Scotland in 1827 from Motherwell's Minstrelsy, App. No.J2 and p.xxiv.
c. "The False Knight." Child C, obtained by Mr Macmath c. 1882 from the recitation of his aunt, Miss Jane Webster, formerly of Airds of Kells, now in Dairy, in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, Galloway, who learned it many years ago from the wife of Peter McGuire, then cotman at Airds. From English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "Additions and Corrections" Volume 1, 1882.
d. "The False Knight upon the Road," as- recited by James McPherson of Tulsa. From Moore's Ballads and Folksong of the Southwest; 1964, English and Scottish Ballads. According to the Moores, "Born in Inverness, Scotland, McPherson moved to Ohio in 1867 when he was six years old and he came to Tulsa in 1895." I've set a date of 1877 when he was 16 years old.
e. "The False Knight Upon the Road,' sung by Bella Higgins (b. circa 1890) of Perthshire when she was 65, learned when she was a little girl (st. 10 years old) about 1900. Recorded in 1955 and 1958 by Hamish Henderson. She sings the first strain of "Rose tree' as melody. from Collection at School of Scottish Studies; Original Track ID - SA1958.64.A3 from two recordings
f. "False Knicht and the Wee Boy," dated pre-1911 as sent in by Mrs. James McGill of Chamcook, New Brunswick, who was originally from Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland where she learned songs and ballads from her grandmother and family. She moved to New Brunswick about 1911 and still sang in Scots diction. She learned this ballad in Galloway. From British Ballads From Maine; Barry, Eckstrom and Smyth 1929.
g. "The False Knight." Secured by H. M. Belden in 1916 from Miss J. D. Johns of St. Charles, Missouri. She learned it from her uncle, Mr. Douglas Voss Martin, who learned it when a boy in Virginia from his grandmother, a Scotchwoman. Belden, "Ballads and Songs, 1940. Kittredge, "Ballads and Songs," Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. 30, p. 286; 1917.
h. "The False Knight on the Road." Sung by Mrs. Sarah Finchum, Elkton, Va., November 23, 1918. Collected by Martha M. Davis, as published in Davis, "Traditional Ballads of Virginia," 1929.
i. "The Boy and the Devil." collected by Miss Alfreda M. Peel, of Salem, Va. Sung by Mrs. Ninninger, of Roanoke, Va., Roanoke county. November 6, 1941. "Am trying to get rest of song," writes Miss Peel on the manuscript, but no addition seems to have been forthcoming. From Davis; More Traditional Ballads, 1960. This fragment is related to the last two stanzas of Child A.
j. "Devil and the School Child," sung by Jim Couch, Harlan county, KY in 1953. From Roberts: In the Pines, 1971. The proud porter gay is the devil. Verses 6 and 7 conform loosely to Child A last two verses.
k. "False Knight," sung by Nellie MacGregor of Perthshire in 1954. Pentatonic V. A two-phrase tune, Form AA. Collected by Hamlish Henderson; from Scottish Studies - Volumes 9-10 - page 12, 1965.
l. "False Knight." Sung by Duncan MacPhee, recorded in the Hamlish Henderson in the berryfields of Blairgowrie, Perthshire in the summer of 1955. He uses the tune - "The Rose Tree." Published with music in Scottish Studies - Volumes 9-10 - Page 10, 1965.
m. "The False Knight upon the Road." As sung by Belle Stewart, Blairgowrie, Perthshire. Recorded 1955 with her brother Andra and August, 1964 by MacColl. Learned from Ruby Kelby's mother, Christina MacKenzie; from "Till Doomsday in the Afternoon: The Folklore of a Family of Scots Travelers" by Ewan McColl, Peggy Seeger; See also Bronson IV.
n. "The False Knight upon the Road," fragment sung by Charlotte Higgins (1895-1971) of Perthshire, Blairgowrie. Born on the moss between Torphins and Lumphanan, and travelled in Aberdeenshire before settling in Blairgowrie. Recorded by Hamish Henderson, 1958. Fragment from: Collection - School of Scottish Studies; Original Track ID - SA1958.64.A5
o. "False Knight," sung by Willie Whyte of Hayton, Aberdeen (Pentatonic I Form AABA.) before 1965 (1962?). His melody was "The Rose Tree." From Scottish Studies - Volumes 9-10 - page 12, 1965.
p. The Fause Knight Upon the Road- sung by Norman Kennedy of Aberdeenshire. From Norman Kennedy's 1968 Folk-Legacy album "Ballads & Songs of Scotland." Kennedy a native of from Aberdeen came to the US about 1965. Sung to the traditional Scottish tune, "Rose Tree."
q. "The False Knight Upon the Road," sung by Johnnie Whyte of Perthshire Recorded in 1975 and 1978 by Mrs. Williamson; He learned the song when she was small from his mother; from Mrs. Linda Williamsons (wife of Duncan Williamson) 1985 thesis on Scottish Travellers (Narrative Singing Among Scots Travellers
C. The Composites (Child 3 opening with riddles from Child 1; Minton Type 4)
a. "The False Knight On The Road," c. 1929 as sung by Mr. Faulkner completed by Ben Henneberry both from Devil's Island, Nova Scotia; published in 1932 in Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia by Helen Creighton.
b. "The False Knight" Sung by Alan Kelly, New Castle, New Brunwick August, 1960. Collected by Lee B. Haggerty and Henry Felt and sent by them to Bronson. In 1963 an eight stanza version similar to Henneberry text was included L. Manny & J. R. Wilson, Songs of Miramichi, pp. 199-200.
c. "The Child On The Road" From "Archie Fisher," of Glasgow on his self-titled 1968 album on Translantic XTRA 1070 LP. Fisher says his version is "a reconstruction of a similar version sung and played by the late Ted Furey". Furey's version may not be traditional-- possibly an arrangement of Henneberry's or Kelly's arrangements which combines Child 3 with Child 1.
d. "False False Fly" sung by Barry Gleeson; Collected by Angela Bourke in 1775/76 & her source was Brid an Gamha, Carna, Co. Galway. Barry Gleeson on his CD "Path across the Ocean."
e. False Knight- from Bridge[t] McGowan for Connemara, sung by Len Graham of Northern Ireland on his CD "The One Tradition: traditional Ulster songs for all the family." (Cranagh Music CMCD 4450, 2004).
D. English and Other Versions (unclassified as to Scottish or Irish origin)
a. "The False Fidee," Sung by Lucile Wilkin, Connersville, Ind., 1935; learned from Mrs. Chester A. Porter. published Ballads and Songs from Indiana- Brewster, 1940, pp. 29-30.
b. "False Knight upon the Road," from the singing of Evelyn Richardson and Anne Wickens; pre1950; Nova Scotia. Melody transcribed by Margaret Sargent. From Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia; Senior and Creighton, 1950.
c. "The Knightman." As sung by Maxine Hight, Fayetteville, Arkansas on November 18, 1959; from Max Hunter collection.
d. "The False Knight in the Wood." Single stanza remembered by Miss Margaret Eyre of Glouchestershire. Learned from her nurse in Huntingdonshire, England, 1962; collected by Francis Collinson. From JFDSS IX 3 (1962) 156-7; 55 IX Pt.1 (1965) 13(E). This version dates back to 1860s.
e. "False Knight," sung by Mrs Stanley of New Ferry, 1967. From Seven Cheshire Folk-Songs, by Dorothy Dearnley, Arranged by Freda Brislee, London, Oxford University Press, 1967, 6, 1967.
E. "Où Vas-Tu, Mon P'tit Garçon? (Where Are You Going My Little Boy?)," Acadian Versions
a. "Where [You] Be Going, Little Boy" recorded from the Reverend. P. Arsenault of Prince Edward Island about 1924, learned from his mother. From Jongleur Songs of Old Quebec - Page 10, Marius Barbeau- 1962.
b. "Où Vas-Tu, Mon Petit Garçon?" Sung by Alan Mills and Hélène Baillargeon; 1956 French-Canadian versions of Child Ballads, Arcadian Songs; Record Label Folkways Records, 1956.
The child meets the false knight
[Child says, "This singular ballad is known only through Motherwell. The opening stanza of a second version is given by the editor of the music, Mr. Blaikie, in the Appendix to the Minstrelsy. The idea at the bottom of the piece is that the devil will carry off the wee boy if he can nonplus him."
Child's A text follows after a brief description of the same text as found in Child's source Motherwell's Minstrelsy. Curiously "The False Knight Upon the Road [hereafter"False Knight"]" appears in Motherwell's notes for another riddling song, Captain Wedderburn's Courtship:
This [False Knight] is also inserted in Mr. Jamieson's "Popular Ballads and Songs." Few are more popular; it occurs in every assortment of stall literature. Winton is copious in his details of an attempt made by the Devil to puzzle, by curious questioning, that singularly holy and wise man, Saint Serf; but, as usual, the saint prevails in this combat of wit and learning. Of a similar nature is that recorded in a Gallwegian tale, named "The Fause Knight upon the road," wherein the fiend is baffled by the pertinent answers of a "wee boy," who must have been a very saint in miniature. As this ballad has never been printed, and is briefer than these compositions generally are, it is now given:
'O whare are ye gaun?'
Quo' the fause knicht upon the road:
'I'm gaun to the scule.'
Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.
'What is that upon your back?'
Quo' the fause knicht upon the road:
'Atweel is my bukes,'
Quo' the wee boy, and still he stude.
'What's that ye've got in your arm?'
Quo' the fause knicht &c.
'Atweel it is my peit.'
Quo' the wee boy &c
'What's aucht they sheep?'
Quo' the fause knicht &c
'They are mine and my mither's.'
Quo' the wee boy &c
'How monie o them are min?'
Quo' the fause knicht &c
'A' they that hae blue tails.'
Quo' the wee boy &c
'I wiss ye were on yon tree:'
Quo' the fause knicht &c
'And a gude ladder under me.'
Quo' the wee boy &c
'And the ladder for to break:'
Quo' the fause knicht &c
'And you for to fa down.'
Quo' the wee boy &c
'I wiss ye were in yon sie:'
Quo' the fause knicht &c
'And a gude bottom under me.'
Quo' the wee boy &c
'And the bottom for to break:'
Quo' the fause knicht &c
'And ye to be drowned.'
Quo' the wee boy &c
No credit is given by Motherwell in 1827 or Child in 1882 to the informant of this "singular ballad"-- Mary Macqueen, who was perhaps better known as Mrs. Storie of Lochwinnoch[1]. Mary supplied ballads for Andrew Crawfurd a disabled doctor who collected ballads and her brother Thomas, a poet who supplied ballad to both Crawfurd and Motherwell. E. B. Lyle who edited "Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs," which he published in 1975, explains[2]:
Motherwell does not credit Mrs Storie (Mary MacQueen) with the text of The Fause Knight upon the Road that he printed in his introduction but the Crawfurd MSS indicate that it was derived from her. The ten detached verses linked with the music were also, it seems, from Mrs Storie. As three of these are the same as full texts, this gives seven additional items from this singer. The fourteen items from Mrs Storie which were included by Motherwell in his Minstrelsy and Ballad Book were available to Child who printed all of them apart from The Deil's Wowing (41 The Deil's Courtship in the present collection) which fell outside his compass.
Mary Ann Macqueen (also MacQueen, McQueen) was born in Kilbirnie (Aryshire) Scotland in 1803. Her Mother, Elizabeth (Copeland) Macqueen was from Kilbirnie but her father, Osbourne, son of James and Janet (Stevens) McQueen, was born about 1781 in County Down, Ireland[3]. Since Mary learned her ballads at a relatively young age one of her sources was probably her parents. Could some of her presumably Scottish ballads be from Ireland? Miss Macqueen married Willie Storie in 1821 at the age of 18 and besides raising a family helped her brother Thomas with ballad collecting. Crawfurd wrote, "The same Mary Macqueen has a great number of auld ballads which I had fished out of her for Mr. William Motherwell" (Lyle 1975, 1: xxx).
Although she was an important informant for Crawfurd, Motherwell and later Child, Mary and her husband moved to a remote section of eastern Ontario, Canada in 1829. Her brother Thomas MacQueen later relocated to Ontario with his sister and he became the founder and publisher of The Huron Signal newspaper until death in 1861[4]. That area is now known as Renfrew County after the Macqueen's home county of Renfrewshire in Scotland. For a time Mary Macqueen Storie moved to Utah (US) with her daughter, Elizabeth. Mary died in Renfrew County, Ontario in 1877. What's curious is: no ballads have been reported from the Macqueen's family in Ontario or Utah-- their ballads were not known to have been disseminated in North America and their interest in balladry seems to have ended when they left Scotland. Here is Crawfurd's transcription of Mary's ballad:
The Fause Knicht Upon the Road- from Mary Macqueen (Mrs Storie) before 1927.
1 O whar are ye gaun quo[said] the fause knicht upon the road
I'm gawn to the skeul quo the wee boy and still he stood
2 What is that upon your back quo the fause knicht upon the rade
Atweel[Sure], it is my books quo the wee boy and still he stood
3 What's that ye hae gotten in your arm quo the fause knicht upon
Atweel it is my peat[5] quo the wee boy and still he stood the road
4 Wha's aught they sheep[6] quo the fause knicht upon the road
They are mine an my mother's quo the wee boy and still he stood
5 How money of them are mine quo the fause knicht upon the road
Aw them that hae blue tails quo the wee boy and still he stood
6 O I wish ye were on yon tree quo the fause knicht upon the road
And a guid ladder under me quo the wee boy and still he stood
7 And the ladder for to break quo the fause knicht upon the road
And you for to faw down quo the wee boy and still he stood
8 I wish ye were in yon sea quo the fause knicht upon the road
And a gude [boat] bottom under me quo the wee boy and still he stood
9 And the bottom for to break quo the fause knicht upon the road
And you for to be drowned quo the wee boy and still he stood
Unknown to Child, two stanzas of the "False Knight" had already been published in 1818 by an Irish clergyman and writer of gothic plays and novels who lived in Dublin. The stanzas, as sung by a madwoman, were inserted into a novel by Charles Robert Maturin (1782-1824) of Dublin titled "Women, Or, Pour Et Contre: A Tale." Here is an excerpt from page 26:
The woman loitered some time after the rest, and with the inconsistency of madness, was singing a fragment of an Irish ballad evidently of monkish composition, and of which the air has all the monotonous melancholy of the chaunt of the cloister:—
“Oh, I wish you were along with me,
Said the false knight, as he rode;
And our Lord in company,
Said the child, and he stood.”
“Where's the next,” she muttered; “ay —gone far off, like all I remembered once —far off.”
“Oh, I wish you were in yonder well,
Said the false knight, as he rode;
And you in the pit of hell,
Said the child, and he stood.”
And her voice died away in indistinct mutterings.
The ballad was popular enough in Ireland to be parodied in "Poems and Ballads of Young Ireland," 1888 by William Butler Yeats. Only the opening of the poem (which follows) used the text of "False Knight":
THE FALSE BARON OF BRAY written by T. W. Rolleston,
“AND where are we going?” said the fair young child
To the false false Baron of Bray, -
As mounted before him, she prattled and she smiled,
And looked in his face with her blue eyes mild,
As she rode on his charger away.
In his article (see Modern Language Review, Vol. 12, No. 2, Apr., 1917, pp. 203-205), "The Fause Knight upon the Road," Joseph J. MacSweeney gives a version of "False Knight" that he learned in 1912 from his mother in County Dublin. He gives some background then the text:
The version of 'The Fause Knight upon the Road' which I record is, like all the known versions of this ballad, incomplete, for the last stanzas were not remembered, as is so very often the case. The traditional account of the climax is that the little child outwitted the false Knight, and forced him to reveal himself in his true character as the fiend. It is therefore possible that the latter was forced, on being known to the little child, to go away in a flame after the manner of his departure in some other cases. I here record the ballad as I heard it, though it would appear probable that the last two lines I quote belong to the fifth stanza, and that it is the last two lines of the latter stanza which should be left isolated.
1. 'Where are you going?' says the old false knight,
To the pretty little child on the road;
'I am going to the school,' says the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.
2. 'What have you on your back?' says the old false knight,
To the pretty little child on the road;
'I have my books on my back,' says the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.
3. 'What have you in your hand?' says the old false knight,
To the pretty little child on the road;
'A cut of bread and butter,' says the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.
4. 'Will you give me a bite?' says the old false knight,
To the pretty little child on the road;
'No not a crumb,' says the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.
5. 'Are you going down to Hell?' said the old false knight,
To the pretty little child on the road;
'Who'll ring the bell?' said the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.
6. . . . .
. . . .
'You may go there yourself,' said the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.
In a volume of Ulster Folklife (Volumes 1-8 - page 50, 1955) a similar homiletic opening stanza is given-- which the editor claims dates back to the circa 1750s:
In fact, the traditions so overlap and intertwine that it's impossible to dogmatize about the origins of some songs either in words or in music. But here is a Scots Ballad which, although it must be over two hundred years in these parts, is still sung to the air of The Uist Tramping Song:
THE KNIGHT ON THE ROAD.
“What brings you here so late?” said the Knight on the road:
“I go to meet my God,” said the Child as he stood,
And he stood and he stood and 'twere well he stood;
“I go to meet my God,” said the Child as he stood.
This is the same opening stanza[7] sung by Frank Quinn, of County Tyrone on the 1961 Topic compilation recording of Child ballads. And, Quinn's melody is similar to the melody to Sir Hugh Roberton's Scottish melody in his 1939 "Uist Tramping Song" (Listen on youtube: The Corries: Uist Tramping Song). Quinn's version became popular and has been recorded a number of times by UK traditional groups and solo artists such as Richard Thompson, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior, Oysterband, Fleet Foxes, and Outside Track to name a few. Since several versions with Irish sources were collected in North America, the question is raised: Does Ireland have a claim on this "singular ballad"? Not only has the first evidence of the ballad been found in Ireland (1818) but it's also possible that the source of Child A could be Mary MacQueen's Irish father. Yes, the ballad was known both Ireland and Scotland but its dialogue form harkens back to an earlier Scottish form of poetry known as flyting.
In her thesis, "The English Riddle Ballads (1985)," Susan Edmunds divides the texts of "False Knight" into two main sources, Irish and Scottish with Quinn's text listed as the most recent Irish text. According to collector Sean O'Boyle, Quinn learned it from his father who in turn learned it from his father, who moved from Scotland to Coalisland as a boy[8]. Here's Quinn's text from the his 1958 recording which was featured on the 1961 Topic compilation, "The Child Ballads I":
"The False Knight on the Road" from the singing of Frank Quinn, Coalisland, Ireland, 1958.
“What brings you here so late?” said the Knight on the road:
“I go to meet my God,” said the Child as he stood,
And he stood and he stood and 'twere well he stood;
“I go to meet my God,” said the Child as he stood.
“How will you go by land? said the knight on the road.
"With a strong staff in my hand," said the child as he stood.
And he stood, and he stood, and 'twere well he stood.
"With a strong staff in my hand," said the child as he stood.
"How will you go by sea?" said the knight on the road.
"With a good ship under me,' said the child as he stood.
And he stood, and he stood, and 'twere well he stood,
"With a good ship under me," said the child as he stood.
“Methinks I hear a bell,” said the knight on the road.
“It's ringing you to hell,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood and he stood, and 'twere well that he stood.
“It's ringing you to hell,” said the child as he stood.
About the ballad Quinn remarked[9], "Sure everybody knows that if you stand in the one place without moving when the devil meets you, he'll do you no harm. And the wee fellow had the faith of a Christian, you see, the staff for the land and the boat for the sea."
The only way to validate the Ulster Folklife claim that "False Knight" was sung for two hundred years is to look earlier Irish ballads. Since none, except Maturin's (see above) are known to exist in Ireland at that time, the only solution is to look at the US versions brought over from the UK by Irish immigrants or learned from Irish immigrants in North America. Luckily, Sharp A which was collected in 1916 (Tennessee) has the same text and form. The melody however, is in mixolydian mode and although it has a similar melodic contour, it has a much different sound than Quninn's ionian song:
THE FALSE KNIGHT UPON THE ROAD- from Mrs. T.G. Coates, TN 1916; collected by Cecil Sharp.
O where are you going to?
Said the knight on the road
I'm a-going to my school,
Said the Child as he stood.
He stood and he stood,
And it's well because he stood
I'm a-going to my school
Said the child as he stood.
O what are you going there for?
For to learn the word of God.
O what have you got there?
I have got my bread and cheese.
O won't you give me some?
No, ne'er a bit nor crumb.
I wish you was on the sands.
Yes, and a good staff in my hands.
I wish you was on the sea
Yes, and a good boat under me.
I think I hear a bell.
Yes, and it's ringing you to hell.
Mrs. Coates' version has a brief narrative introduction not found in other versions: "The knight met a child on the road..." If we look at Mike Yates article on the Coates family (The Greatest Prize[10]) we find this: 'According to Coates' family tradition, the first members of the family had arrived in America as 'Irish missionaries' and had settled originally in South Carolina. . ."
Yes, the Coates believe they were originally Irish and after checking I found they settled in Cheraw, SC in the late 1700s before heading to NC. Mrs Coates however, was the daughter of Nathan O. Allen and Martha Lucinda Allen. Was her version from her family or did she learn it from her husband? If the version was brought over by the Coates relatives, this would generally corroborate the Ulster Folklife claim and date. Also found in Coates' text are the stanzas with the staff and the boat. Cotes' 2nd stanza corresponds to Quinn's opening and the staff reference is rare.
Both of Sharps versions from Coates and Jane Hicks Gentry use the same form as Quinn's version. Although the melodies vary it's an indication that they come from the same stock. John Jacob Niles version which he claims he collected in Tennessee also has a similar form and melody.
* * * *
Child C was collected by McMath in 1882 from his aunt Jane Webster. Her version dates back before 1836 when she lives at Airds of Kells, Scotland. Bronson has dated her ballads c.1830 so this is the same time period of Mary MacQueen's version (Child A) and the single stanza from Motherwell with music (Child B). By the mid-1800s, the ballad disappeared in Scotland. It clearly wasn't completely gone for in 1954 Hamish Henderson discovered a Scottish traveller named Nellie MacGregor who sang a one stanza fragment of False Knight[11]:
This fragment, which was recorded in Aberdeen in 1954 from a city-dwelling tinker woman, was the first indication we received that this rare ballad was still in circulation in Scotland.
After that, Hamish discovered a number of short versions among the travelers in the berry fields of Perthshire during the summer months. The next year Henderson recorded a fragment version sung by Duncan MacPhee, recorded in the berryfields of Blairgowrie, Perthshire in the summer of 1955. MacPhee used the tune, "The Rose Tree," which has been the tune for a number of Scottish versions and could be considered the standard Scottish tune[12]:
False Knight- from Duncan MacPhee, sung to the tune of "The Rose Tree."
1. "O what's that on your back?" cries the false knight upon the road.
"Sure it's the bundles and my books," cried the wee lad and still he stood.
2. "O will you give me share?" cries the false knight upon the road.
"O I canna gie ye share," cried the wee boy and still he stood.
3. "O whatna sheep and cattle's that?" cries the false knight upon the road.
"Sure it's my father's noo, an' mine" cried the wee boy and still he stood.
The same year Henderson recorded a version from Bella Higgins (b. circa 1890) of Perthshire. Bella, who was then 65, learned the ballad when she was a little girl which would date her version about 1900. She recorded her version twice for Henderson (in 1955 and 1958). Bella sings the first strain of "The Rose Tree" as her melody: http://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/en/fullrecord/11389/3:
The False Knight Upon the Road- sung by Bella Higgins
1 O whar are ye goin' said the false knight on the road,
I'm goin' to the school said the wee boy and still he stood.
2 What's that upon your back said the false knight upon the road
My bannock and my books said the wee boy and still he stood
3 Oh will gie me a share said the false knight upon the road,
Oh that's a deal a crumb[13] said the wee boy and still he stood the road.
4. If I had you at the sea said the false knight upon the road
And a gude ship under me said the wee boy and still he stood[14].
5 If had you at the well said the false knight upon the road
And you'd be bund in hell[15] said the wee boy and still he stood.
The later Scottish versions are fragments-- no more than 4 stanzas. They use the Old Scottish melody called “The Old Lea Rigg” or “The Rose Tree” that dates back to at least 1774. Henderson's 1962 version from William Whyte of Aberdeenshire also had the melody. One of the better traditional versions that clearly has the complete "Rose Tree" melody (both strains) is sung by Norman Kennedy of Aberdeenshire in 1968: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW0U1WEoEks
* * * *
Only two extant versions have been collected in England and they are fairly recent-- from the 1960s. The first a one stanza fragment title "The False Knight in the Wood" which was collected by Francis Collinson in 1962 from Miss Margaret Eyre of Glouchestershire who learned from her aunt who got it from her nurse in Huntingdonshire. The second English version, "False Knight," was sung by Mrs Stanley of New Ferry in 1967 and was published in Seven Cheshire Folk-Songs, by Dorothy Dearnley in 1967.
In 1928 Helen Creighton first collected ballads from Ben Henneberry(1863-1951), a fisherman and sea captain, on Devil's Island, Newfoundland, Canada. Creighton recalls their first meeting, "Of course I asked him to sing, which he did very gladly, and here I heard folk singing as I have heard it neither before nor since[16]." Henneberry's unique version of False Knight includes the riddle stanzas of Child 1 and a chorus of nonsense syllables sung to the Flowers of Edinburgh tune. A New Brunswick version sung by Alan Kelly, Chaplin Island Road, Miramichi, also was a compilation of Child 3 with later stanzas of Child 1.
Curiously, similar versions titled False False Fly (for "false, false, fiend") have been found in Northern Ireland which have stanzas of Child 1 attached. Two Irish composites include "False, False, Fly" sung by Barry Gleeson on his CD "Path across the Ocean" as collected by Angela Bourke in 1775/76 from Brid an Gamha, Carna, Co. Galway. and "False Knight (Fly)" from Bridge[t] McGowan of Connemara as sung by Len Graham of Northern Ireland n his CD "The One Tradition: traditional Ulster songs for all the family." "The Child On The Road" is a composite recording made by "Archie Fisher," of Glasgow on his self-titled 1968 album on Translantic XTRA 1070 LP. Fisher says his version is "a reconstruction of a similar version sung and played by the late Ted Furey," who's source is unknown.
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The confrontation of a young child going to school by the Devil is unique in annals of balladry. The motive for such a confrontation and the origin of the confrontation remain a mystery today. Child simply says in ESPB that "The idea at the bottom of the piece is that the devil will carry off the wee boy if he can nonplus him." He also mentions that the "Harpkin" analogue sounds more like a "flyting." This description of this archaic form Scottish verbal jousting is from the Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica:
Flyting, (Scots: “quarreling,” or “contention”), poetic competition of the Scottish makaris (poets) of the 15th and 16th centuries, in which two highly skilled rivals engaged in a contest of verbal abuse, remarkable for its fierceness and extravagance. Although contestants attacked each other spiritedly, they actually had a professional respect for their rival’s vocabulary of invective. The tradition seems to have derived from the Gaelic filid (class of professional poets), who composed savage tirades against persons who slighted them.
Why one of the combatants is a child is unknown. Certainly, the response in the following stanza collected in Perthshire in 1976 is not one you would expect from a child:
3. If I had you on the moor, said the false knight upon the road
And you wis a damn good hoor, said the wee boy and still he stood[17].
The confrontation between the false knight and child is not so much a contest of riddles but a series of verbal attacks and clever responses. Whether the informants recognize these verbal attacks and counters as a form of "flyting" is not known. What is clear is that the singers of this ballad realize that the "false knight" is the "Devil" and that the encounter is more than a child who meets a strange adult on his way to school. An old fisherman who had listened to Frank Quinn's Irish version said this about his ballad[18], "the knight was some kind of emissary of the devil, some sort of a spectre or ghost like, that inhabited a certain part of the road. It was fatal for a person to move confrontin' this thing and this dialogue was a test of the child, to see if he was well fortified for the ultimate end."
The Summary description at the School of Scottish Studies has this to say about the ballad: "In this ballad, a boy on his way to school encounters a knight [the Devil in disguise] and they enter a dialogue in which they try to outwit each other by trading insults. The boy succeeds in matching the knight's cunning, and ends by willing him to Hell, showing that he is aware of the true identity of his interlocutor."
In 1999 Sandy Paton reported this about a New Brunswick version[19]: At one point, Alan Kelly told Lee Haggerty, who was recording Alan Kelly on our first trip to the Miramichi (I was busy recording Marie Hare at the same time), "Well, that's all of the English language songs I'm going to sing. Now, I'll give you some songs in my mother's language, French." But Lee, who had always joked with us about finding a version of this ballad someday, said "Wait a minute. Do you happen to know a song about a knight meeting a boy on the road?" Without hesitation, Alan replied, "That wasn't a knight! That was the devil!" He then proceeded to sing his "Fol, fol, folly" version, which he later tried to change[20]."
Phillips Barry describes the ballad "as a striking homiletic drama in two acts" and gives the following two acts[21]:
Act I: The Temptation
The Devil tempts the child 1) to tell a lie, but is thwarted by the child's unfaltering truthfulness; 2) to "break bread" with him, in which he is again thwarted by the flat refusal of the child, who, being seven years old, is by Canon Law declared able to make a moral decision.
Act II: The Flyting.
Actually, this is a trial of wits, rather than an exchange of satirical invective. The child comes off victorious, through his innocence against the guile of the Devil: emphasized particularly in the Vermont version (originally from Co. Cork, Ireland):
"Bad luck to your teacher that taught you so well,"
Said the false, false knight to the child on the road;
"Good luck to the teacher that kept me from you and from your wicked Hell,"
Said the pretty boy, seven years old.
Notice that Barry uses the term "flyting" rather than a form of riddling. There is some debate about whether Child 3 is even a "riddle" ballad, but none question that it's certainly a battle of wits. In his 1985 article "The Fause Knight upon the Road: A Reappraisal" (The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 98, No. 390) John Minton rejects the supernatural and homiletic aspects of the text and compares the opening questions (stanzas 1 and 2) to those of an interaction between parent or adult and a child. The Child's answers are simple and to the point-- an adult/child dialogue. When the questions become threatening, the child elevates the answers and defends against obvious aggression. About whether Child 3 is a riddling ballad Milton says,
"while I believe that the kinds of speech behavior represented in this ballad are very closely related to riddling- and I think it is this relationship that has caused both singers and scholars intuitively to associate this ballad with riddling- I feel that it is a serious misnomer simply to label this a 'riddle ballad'."
Milton categorizes the False Knight ballads not by "region" or nationality (Scottish/Irish) but by similar stanza development. His oldest ballads are Type 1. Following are Minton's types (in italics) with some comments (in brackets):
(Narrative) Type 1 [These are older Scottish texts except for Brwester, however Moffat (No. 5 below) gives no source and is taken from Motherwell (melody) and McGill, his No. 2 (text)]
1. Child A [MacQueen, Scottish]
2. Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth (1929:11-13); [McGill, Scottish]
3. Brewster (1940:29-30); ["The False Fidee," Lucile Wilkin, Indiana 1935]
4. Child C, [obtained by Mr Macmath; from aunt Jane Webster, Scottish]
5. Moffat (1933:24); [text apparently from McGill]
6. Moore and Moore (1964:11-12). [James McPherson of Tulsa; born in Inverness, Scotland]
(Narrative) Type 2: [Both Sharp A, B, Niles and Maud Long, Minton's 1,2 and 4 have a distinct form which is Quinn's form]
1. Sharp A. [Coates]
2. Sharp B [Gentry]
3. Belden (1955:4);
4. Bronson (1959:37 [7]; [Maud Long- Gentry's daughter]
5. Bronson 1972:442 19.11); Bell Stewart
6. Davis (1929:61); [Finchum]
7. Henderson and Collinson (1965:11 [B]);
8. Roberts (1974:89-90);
(Narrative) Type 3 sub-type A [Qunin's form is related to Type II] Type III, a lyric type represented by 11 variants divided into two sub-types. The first sub-type is epitomized by Frank Quinn's text:
Creighton and Senior (1950:1[ B]);
Flanders and Olney (1953:46-47);
Henderson and Collinson (1965:10 [A],
Henderson and Collinson 12 [D]);
Kennedy and Lomax (1961:2); [Quinn, Irish]
MacSweeney (1917:204). [Irish, 1912]
The second sub-type of (Narrative) Type III is an admittedly residual category, accounting for the various one and two stanza fragments, which could conceivably derive from any of the previous categories. Either the song has devolved because of inactivity in the singer's repertory or it has possibly been transformed into a nursery rhyme.
(Lyrical) Type IV consists of two texts from maritime Canada (Ben Henneberry; Alan Kelly), which actually contain wisdom questions that appear in some riddle ballads, notably "Riddles Wisely Expounded" [Child 1], and a third related text (Allan Kelly's first version from 1960).
Unfortunately the narratives found in Type I-III are not always clearly different from each other and lumping them into groups and sub-types is difficult. Minton doesn't carefully explain why each texts is related or the exact parameters of each group. An example is the Frank Quinn form of Type III, sub-tyoe I which is the same form found in Type II ballads. Including the Moffat version (1933) which was published without attribution is giving the Moffat version - a manufactured arrangement-- equal weight as the traditional versions. However, he excludes Niles version without comment.
Certainly, grouping the ballads by like-texts, as Minton has done, is important. Grouping the ballads by date (see: Edmunds), doesn't show source, likeness, or nationally origins. Grouping the ballads by nationality (Scottish/Irish) as I've done is also impractical because some versions from the US and Canada are of unknown origin.
Minton's versions can be expanded especially considering new Scottish version's and several new versions of his Type IV ballads discovered in Newfoundland, Edinburgh and Northern Ireland. Considering that this is the "information age" and that many informants also know many of the earlier ballads and recreate new versions from the old- the modern form of recreation and dissemination.
In 1954 the False Knight was resurrected from its ancient ashes and fragmentary versions were collected from the Scottish travelers in Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. These travellers version had a new signature melody, that of "The Rose Tree," a tune that date back at least to 1774. Ireland, at least for now, appears to be progenitor of the "False Knight" ur-ballad with the discovery of two Dublin stanzas sung by a "madwoman" in the novel, "Women, Or, Pour Et Contre: A Tale," by Charles Robert Maturin, 1818. The Irish versions represented today by Frank Quinn's melody and form appears to have been disseminated in America probably in the 1700s, where they eventually found their way to the Appalachians and were collected by Cecil Sharp and John Niles[22].
This brief study has been one step backward and two forward. Thanks to all who have contributed,
R. Matteson 2018]
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Footnotes:
1. See Child 1C where she's named, Mrs. Storie.
2. Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: Scottish Text Society, 1975; edited by Emily B. Lyle.
3. From "Find a grave' website online.
4. Ibid, Macqueen's occupation has also been mentioned by Mary Ellen Brown.
5. Peat, as in a clump of peat moss, which was used to start or burn in the school fireplace to keep the children warm.
6 As "Whose are these sheep. . ."
7. Since I only have partial access to that edition of Ulster Folklife, not sure of the attribution if there is one.
8. From Sean O'Boyle liner notes (see also quoted by Atkinson and Edmunds).
9. Ibid.
10. "The Greatest Prize," by Mike Yates at mustrad.org.uk see online: www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/coates.htm
11. From "Scottish Studies" Volumes 9-10 - page 12, 1965.
12. Both Child B and C have tunes. While the melody of C resembles "Rose Tree" 1st strain, it's not known if this tune was used for earlier Scottish versions. Bella Higgins version, learned around 1900, uses the first strain of the tune.
13. As best I could decipher (he gives the Devil a crumb :)
14. This stanza is from the 1955 recording
15. bund=bound (could be "down"). "And you down in hell" (1955 recording) Scottish studies transcription has, "And you into Hell"
16. From: Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1988) "Retrospective Repertoire Analysis: The Case Study of Ben Henneberry, Ballad Singer of Devil's Island, Nova Scotia" by Diane Tye.
17. The False Knight Upon the Road- sung by Johnnie Whyte of Perthshire Recorded in 1975 and 1978 by Mrs. Linda Williamson.
18. From Sean O'Boyle liner notes (see also quoted by Atkinson and Edmunds).
19. From the Mudcat Discussion Form, 1999.
20. This change" refers to Kelly's 1962 recording with additional stanzas from Child 1, that Kelly claimed he got from his father. Although they resemble the stanzas from Henneberry, there's no indication that this isn't a second traditional version.
21. Taken from Bulletin from the Folk Song Society of the Northeast, Volume 11, 1934 in British Ballads section.
22. Although Niles versions are disregarded as his personal recreations, some of them are collected and modified while some are collected and original (unedited). Edmunds points out the Niles version is closest to Quinn's in melody - even though it could have been and possibly was based on the versions collected by Sharp in Appalachia.
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CONTENTS: (To access British versions--click on the title on the left hand column attached to this page or the highlighted blue title below-- for American versions see: US & Canada Versions)
1) False Knight- madwoman (Dublin) 1818 Maturin
2) Fause Knicht upon the Road- Mrs Storie (Renf) 1827 Child A
3) The False Knight- Motherwell (Scot) 1827 Child B
4) False Knight- Jane Webster (Gall) c1835 Child C Mcmath
5) False Knight- Bella Higgins (Perth) 1900 Henderson;
6) Old False Knight- Joseph J. MacSweeney (Dub) 1912
False Knight & the Wee Boy- (Scot) 1933 MacColl
False Knight- Nellie MacGregor (Perth) 1954 Henderson
False Knight- Duncan MacPhee (Pert) 1955 Henderson
False Knight- Bell & Andra Stewart (Perth) 1955 Henderson; MacColl
False Knight on the Road- Frank Quinn (Tyr) 1958 Sean O'Boyle
False Knight- Charlotte Higgins (Perth) 1958 Henderson
False Knight in the Wood- M. Eyre (Hunt) 1962 Collinson
False Knight- Willie Whyte (Aber) 1965 Henderson
False Knight- Mrs Stanley (Ches) 1967 Dearnley
The Child On The Road- Archie Fisher (Glas) 1968 REC
Fause Knight Upon the Road- N. Kennedy (Aber) 1968 REC
False Knight On The Road- (Lon) Steeleye Span 1971 REC
False Knight- Johnnie Whyte (Perth)1975 Linda Williamson
False, False Fly- Brid an Gamha (Gal) 1976 Gleeson
False Knight- B. McGowan (Ulster) c.1990s Graham
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