Bluegrass Messengers

British and Other Versions: 6. Willie's Lady; Roud 220 ("Willie's Ladye," "Sweet Willy," "Sweet Willie of Liddesdale," "Simon's Lady")

A. Willy's Lady, Mrs. Brown of Falkirk (Willie has taen him oer the fame,) 1783
   a1. "Willy's Lady" Mrs. Brown of Falkirk, Fraser-Tytler Manuscript
   a2. "Willie's Ladye," Mrs. Brown of Falkirk, W. Scott based on Child Aa (William Tytler's  MS) version, 1802
   b1. "Sweet Willy," Mrs. Brown of Falkirk, Jamieson-Brown Manuscript, No 15, fol. 33.
   b2. "Sweet Willy," Mrs. Brown of Falkirk, Jamieson, Popular Ballads and Songs (Appendix), 1806.
   c1. "Willy's Lady"  recreation from Aa by Matthew Gregory Lewis in Tales of Wonder, 1801.
   c2. "Willy's Lady" an 1818 Dublin print issued in "Charms of Melody," a copy of Lewis, C1.
   d. "Sweet Willie of Liddesdale," recreation by Jamieson, 1806
   e1. "Sweet Willy" revival text of Child Aa by Ray Fisher of Scotland arranged by her in the early 1970s (recorded 1982, arr. Johnny Cunningham by Folk-Legacy) to the tune of the Breton "Son ar Chiste" (The Song of Cider, c. 1929).
   e2. "Sweet Willy" revival text of Child Ab by Martin Carthy, 1976, based on Ray Fisher's melody.

B. "Simon's Lady," fragment recited by Bell Robertson of New Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire, by Greig, 1906
   a. "Simon's Lady," recitation by Bell Robertson in "Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads" (Keith, 1925)
   b. "Simon's Lady," recitation by Bell Robertson "Greig Duncan Collection" by Pat Shuldham-Shaw and Emily B Lyle.

* * * *

[This ballad, about a curse placed by an evil mother on her pregnant daughter-in-law that prevents her daughter-in-law from giving birth, was popular in Denmark. Child gives extensive details of the foreign analogues in his headnotes. The British traditional record is two Scottish ballads, both dating back to the 1700s^[1]. The two MSS from Mrs. Brown (Child Aa and Ab), which date dating back to 1783, are slightly different. Mrs. Brown ballad was reworked by Matthew Gregory Lewis in "Tales of Wonder" (1801), in 1802 Sir Walter Scott published an "ancient copy, never before published" version titled "Willie's Ladye" which was Child Aa with some minor changes, then in 1806 Robert Jamieson published a copy of his MS (Jamieson-Brown MS of 1783, Child Ab) and a reworked recreation by his own hand ("Sweet Willie of Liddesdale"). In 1966 Helen Flanders published a version form the 1818 Dublin issued "Charms of Melody," which she failed to identify as a version of Matthew Gregory Lewis' "Tales of Wonder."

The significantly shorter traditional fragment from Bell Roberston was collected by Grieg about 1906. It appears in "Last Leaves of Traditional Ballads" (Greig-Keith, 1925) and also the "Greig-Duncan Collection" by Pat Shuldham-Shaw and Emily B. Lyle (1981-2002). Keith suggests the source is Bell Robertson's grandmother, Isobel Stephen of Strichen which would date the ballad back to the 1700s. Although the text is a fragment, there is at least one improvement which was probably a mishearing by Mrs. Brown that occurs in stanza 37 and again in stanza 42. The "master-kid" for "young kid" or "young goat" appears in Robertson's version as "ted" or "tead" for "toad." Since "the master kid" also "ran beneath that ladie's bed" it would seem to have been discovered and removed whereas a "toad" could have stayed under the bed unnoticed. The other two curses cast on Willie's lady are different in Robertson's version.

In the early 1970s the ballad was revived in the UK through an arrangement by Ray Fisher, sister of Archie Fisher, of Scotland that was popularized by a 1976 recording by Martin Carthy^[2]. Her arrangement wed the text of Child Aa to the Breton tune, "Son ar Chiste" (The Song of Cider, c.1929). The revival texts and most published arrangements all come from Mrs. Anna Gordon Brown of Faukland who got her ballads from "her aunt, her mother and an old nurse of the family^[3]." In 1783 Mrs. Brown prepared manuscripts of twenty ballad for William Tytler (5Aa, Jamieson-Brown MSS) who later requested the tunes be added. Mrs Brown's nephew Bob Scott, a "mere novice in musick" wrote out fifteen tunes (5Ab, William Tytler-Brown MSS) which were sent to William Tytler and later copied by Joseph Ritson. The first MSS was given to Jamieson, while the MSS with tunes disappeared, leaving only Ritson's copy which is now at the Harvard Library. Child's Aa, 'Willie's Lady,' was "No 1 in the manuscript of fifteen ballads furnished William Tytler by Mrs. Brown in 1783, and having been written down a little later than b may be regarded as a revised copy^[4]." The identifier for Aa is stanza 6 which has "a cup" instead of "a girdle" which is found in the older Jameison MS. Here's the text:

Aa. 'Willie's Lady' (from a copy, by Miss Mary Fraser Tytler, of a transcript made by her grandfather from William Tytler's manuscript.)

1    Willie has taen him oer the fame,
He's woo'd a wife and brought her hame.

2    He's woo'd her for her yellow hair,
But his mother wrought her mickle care.

3    And mickle dolour gard her dree,
For lighter she can never be.

4    But in her bower she sits wi pain,
And Willie mourns oer her in vain.

5    And to his mother he has gone,
That vile rank witch of vilest kind.

6    He says: 'My ladie has a cup,
Wi gowd and silver set about.

7    'This goodlie gift shall be your ain,
And let her be lighter o her young bairn.'

8    'Of her young bairn she'll neer be lighter,
Nor in her bower to shine the brighter.

9    'But she shall die and turn to clay,
And you shall wed another may.'

10    'Another may I'll never wed,
Another may I'll neer bring home.'

11    But sighing says that weary wight,
'I wish my life were at an end.'

12    'Ye doe [ye] unto your mother again,
That vile rank witch of vilest kind.

13    'And say your ladie has a steed,
The like o'm's no in the lands of Leed.

14    'For he [i]s golden shod before,
And he [i]s golden shod behind.

15    'And at ilka tet of that horse's main,
There's a golden chess and a bell ringing.

16    'This goodlie gift shall be your ain,
And let me be lighter of my young bairn.'

17    'O her young bairn she'll neer be lighter,
Nor in her bower to shine the brighter.

18    'But she shall die and turn to clay,
And ye shall wed another may.'

19    'Another may I['ll] never wed,
Another may I['ll] neer bring hame.'

20    But sighing said that weary wight,
'I wish my life were at an end.'

21    'Ye doe [ye] unto your mother again,
That vile rank witch of vilest kind.

22    'And say your ladie has a girdle,
It's red gowd unto the middle.

23    'And ay at every silver hem,
Hangs fifty silver bells and ten.

24    'That goodlie gift has be her ain,
And let me be lighter of my young bairn.'

25    'O her young bairn she's neer be lighter,
Nor in her bower to shine the brighter.

26    'But she shall die and turn to clay,
And you shall wed another may.'

27    'Another may I'll never wed,
Another may I'll neer bring hame.'

28    But sighing says that weary wight,
'I wish my life were at an end.'

29    Then out and spake the Belly Blind;
He spake aye in good time.

30    'Ye doe ye to the market place,
And there ye buy a loaf o wax.

31    'Ye shape it bairn and bairnly like,
And in twa glassen een ye pit;

32    'And bid her come to your boy's christening;
Then notice weel what she shall do.

33    'And do you stand a little fore bye,
And listen weel what she shall say.'

34    'Oh wha has loosed the nine witch knots
That was amo that ladie's locks?

35    'And wha has taen out the kaims of care
That hangs amo that ladie's hair?

36    'And wha's taen down the bush o woodbine
That hang atween her bower and mine?

37    'And wha has killd the master kid
That ran beneath that ladie's bed?

38    'And wha has loosed her left-foot shee,
And lotten that ladie lighter be?'

39    O Willie has loosed the nine witch knots
That was amo that ladie's locks.

40    And Willie's taen out the kaims o care
That hang amo that ladie's hair.

41    And Willie's taen down the bush o woodbine
That hang atween her bower and thine.

42    And Willie has killed the master kid
That ran beneath that ladie's bed.

43    And Willie has loosed her left-foot shee,
And letten his ladie lighter be.

44    And now he's gotten a bonny young son,
And mickle grace be him upon.

The text in parenthesis was added by Child to correct some obvious errors. As pointed out by Child and Scott^[5], a stanza is wanting after 33 that indicates the mother is speaking (stanza 33 goes from Billy Blin' speaking to 34 which is another scene where the mother tells of the curse). The 1801 version by Matthew Gregory Lewis solves the problem by adding this stanza:

Syne has he, stopped a little to see,
"When this she heard, what say might she.
 
Lewis added some rhymes and also removed the Scot dialect from the opening so it appears:

Willy's gone over the salt sea foam,
He has married a wife, and brought her home;

Child said this about the Lewis arrangement^[6]: "Lewis had access to William Tytler's copy, and, having regulated the rhymes, filled out a gap, dropped the passage about the girdle, and made other changes to his taste, printed the ballad in 1801 as No 56 of his Tales of Wonder." Here's the text from "Tales of Wonder" by Matthew Gregory Lewis, Sir Walter Scott, John Leyden, Robert Southey (1801):

WILLY'S LADY. [footnotes appear in print and are not part of main footnotes]

Willy's gone over the salt sea foam,
He has married a wife, and brought her home;
He wooed her for her yellow hair,
But his mither wrought her mickle care;
And mickle dolour suffers she,
For lighter[1] she can never be;
But in her bour she sits wi' pain,
And Willy mourns over her in vain.

Then to his mither he speaks his mind,
That vile rank witch of foulest kind;
He says— "my ladye has a cup,
With gold and silver all set up,
The handles are of the ivory bones,
"And all set round wi' sparkling stones;
"This gudely gift she'll give to thee,
"If of her young bairn she may lighter be."—

—"Of her young bairn shall she never be lighter,
"Nor in her bour to shine the brighter,
"But she shall die, and turn to clay,
"And you shall wed another may[2],
—"Another may I'll never wed,
"Another may I'll never bed!"—
Then sorely did that lady sigh,
—"I wish my hour of death were nigh!

"Yet speak ye again to your mither your mind,
"That foul rank witch of cruel kind,
"And say your lady has a steed,
"The like of him's not in the land of Leed:
"Of that horse's main at every tress,
"There's a silver bell and a golden jess,
"This gudely gift I'll give her with glee,
"If of my young bairn I may lighter be."—

—"Of her young bairn shall she never be lighten
"Nor in her bour to shine the brighter;
"But she shall die and turn to clay,
"And you shall wed another may."—
—"Another may I'll never wed,
"Another may I'll never bed !"—
Then evermore sigh'd that ladye bright,
—"I wish my day had reach'd its night." —

With that arose the Billy Blynde[3],
And in good tyme spake he his mind,
—"Yet gae ye to the market-place,
"And there buy ye a loaf of wace[4],
"Shape it bairnly-like, to view,
"Stick in't twa glassy een of blue,
"Then bid the witch the christening to,
"And notice well what she shall do."—

Then Willy has bought a loaf of wace,
And framed it to a bairn-like face,
And says to his mither, with seeming joy,
—-"My lady is lighter of a young boy;
And he'll in St. Mary's be christen'd to-night,
"And you to the christening I come to invite."-—
Syne has he, stopped a little to see,
"When this she heard, what say might she.

—" O who has the nine witch knots unty'd,
"That were among the locks of your bride;
"Or who has ta'en out the comb of care,
"Which fasten'd that ladye's yellow hair?
"And who has ta'en down the bush of woodbine,
"That hung between her bour and mine?
"And who has kill'd the master-kid,
"That ran below that ladye's bed?
"And who has her left shoe-string undone,
"And let that lady be light of her son?"—

Then Willy the nine witch knots unty'd,
That were among the locks of his bride;
And he has ta'en out the comb of care.
Which saften'd his ladye's yellow hair,
And he has ta'en down the woodbine flowers,
Which the witch had hung between the bowers
And he has slain the master-kid,
Which ran below that ladye's bed;
 And he has the left shoe-string undone,
 And letten his ladye be light of her son;
 But when she heard that his ladye was light,
 That foul rank witch, she burst for spite.

In the footnotes above (given by Lewis): 1. "lighter" is "i. e. Brought to bed" which means delivered of child; 2. "May" is slang for maiden"; 3.  "Billy Blynde (Billy Bind)" is "a familiar spirit, or good genius" some editions call him a "sprite"; while 4. "wace" is "wax." The Brown MS line "There's a golden chess and a bell ringing" has been rewritten for "chess" should be "jess^[7]," the name of a hawk’s bell. The same text was printed in Helen Flander's 1966 Ancient Ballads which she copied from an 1818 Dublin issue, "Charms of Melody." Flanders, however, did not mention the source as "Tales of Wonder."

The curses that Willie's mother put on his lady were described by Ray Fisher^[8]. They are:

1. "nine witch knots" tied in her hair. The knots symbolize the constricting elements—holding back the free-flowing birth of the child.
2. "kaims o care" or the "combs of care." The combs were pressed through the long, golden hair, accompanied by a curse each time, and then left in the hair to hold in the curse.
3. "master kid" or "a young goat" was the link between the forces of evil and the witch—the catalyst or carrier. This invariably is an animal—the witch's cat being the most widely-known example.
4. "bush o woodbine," the woodbine is a clinging, constricting plant that holds on and winds around other plants and branches—holding in again is symbolised here.
5. "left-side shoe (leften shee) again has evil influence (i.e., Latin: sinister). This was tightly knotted to strengthen the curse.

The second traditional version, "Simon's Lady" was a fragment collected by Gavin Grieg from Miss Bell Roberston of New Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire around 1906. It was first published in "Last leaves of traditional ballads and ballad airs" (page 4) by Alexander Keith, 1925. Here are his notes: 

"This fragment is exceedingly interesting, for it is independent of, though parallel to, the only hitherto known British version of a ballad common in Scandinavia. The sole British source (also Aberdeenshire) was Mrs. Brown of Falkland, from whose dictation about 1783 two not greatly differing copies were derived (Child, "Wilie's Lady," Aa and Ab).These two copies were published, with unauthorized changes, by Scott and Jamieson respectively, under the titles of "Willie's Lady" and " Sweet Willy." The fragment here given was learnt by Miss Robertson from her mother, and she had good reason to believe it came from her grandmother, before the collections of Scott and Jamieson could have had any effect on ballad-singers. Miss Robertson could not recall having heard it sung by any other person. From these circumstances, and from internal evidence, our fragment can be accepted as independent. Mrs. Brown's tune is not accessible, and, as already noted, Miss Robertson did not sing."

III. Simon's Lady (Child 6) as recited by Miss Bell Robertson, New Pitsligo

[A young man had married against his mother's wishes, who employed spells to prevent the birth of his first child. The lady was ill, but nobody could do anything for her. She sends a message to her mother-in-law]

1. "How good a gift to her I'll gie,
Gin she will lat me lichter be."

[To the young man his mother replied]

2. "Your lady shall never be lichter
An' her bower shall never be brichter.

3. "But marry ye yon bonnie may
An' her bower's be brichter an' she shall ride."

[The young man went home and reported his failure]

4. Then oot it spak the Billy blin'
That sat upon the binkie en'.

5. " O Simon, hinna ye a wile
That ill woman for to beguile?

6. "Ye mak an image o the clay,
A face o wax to it ye'll gie,

7. "Then ye on to your mother gang,
An' ye seek christening for your young son."

[He took the advice, and his mother in a fury cried:]

8. "Wae worth the han's that brak the ban's
That I had on his lady's arms,

9. "Wae worth the key that opened the lock
That I had on his lady's bed-stock;

10. "Wae worth the knife that killed the ted (tead or toad)
That I'd aneath his lady's bed! "

* * * *

11. Wi his han's he brak the ban's
That she had on his lady's arms;

12. An' wi his key he opened the lock
That she had on his lady's bed-stock;

13. An' wi his knife he killed the ted
That she'd aneath his lady's bed.

14. An' afore he had a' that weel done,
His lady was lichter o' a braw young son.

The "ride" is perhaps for "bride," while Billy Blin' appears at the "binkie en' " or the "foot of" the bed. The spells of Robertson's version are different and the only comparison is to Mrs. Brown's "master kid" which in Robertson's version is 'ted" or toad. Since "kid" and "ted" are similar there's a chance that Mrs. Brown's stanza is a miss-hearing because a "young goat" would not normally be found running under the bed.

In Bb from Greig's MS as transcribed by Lyle from Robertson there are two additional stanzas (from text given in stanzas 5 and 6) which follow 6, plus the last line of 6 is reworded. Although the changes add two measures (16 total), the content is virtually the same. Here are the changes from Bb:

6. "Ye mak' an image o the clay,
[And gie't a face o' the wax]

7. "Then ye on to your mother gang,
An' ye seek christening for your young son."

8. He got an image o' the clay,
And gae it a face o' the wax.

Sometime in the early 1970s Archie Fisher's sister, Ray Fisher, a Scottish traditional singer originally from Glasgow, wed the text from Mrs. Brown to the Breton drinking song "Son ar Chiste^[9]" (The Song of Cider, c. 1929). Her 1982 version was recorded on Sandy Paton's Folk Legacy label. In 1976 Martin Carthy used the tune from Fisher's arrangement and his own arrangement of text from Mrs. Brown's words to create the popular revival version of the ballad^[10].

R. Matteson 2018]

____________________________________

Footnotes:
 
1. Keith suggests in "last Leaves" that the source is Bell Robertson's grandmother, Isobel Stephen of Strichen which would date the ballad back to the 1700s.
2. Martin Carthy sang Willie's Lady on his 1976 album Crown of Horn; this recording was also included in 1993 on his anthology The Collection. A live recording from the Sunflower Folk Club, Belfast, on October 20, 1978
3. From Bronson's article in "Ballad As Song."
4. Quoted from Child's Headnotes, No. 6 Willy's Lady, from English and Scottish Popular Ballads by F.J. Child, 1882, volume 1.
5. Child notes the abrupt change while Scott says in parenthesis: "A stanza seems to be wanting. Willie is supposed to follow the advice of the spirit-His mother speaks." In Ab the scene has changed;
And he did stand a little forbye,
And noticed well what she did say.
6. Quoted from Child's Headnotes, No. 6 Willy's Lady, from English and Scottish Popular Ballads by F.J. Child, 1882, volume 1.
7. From W. Scott's notes on "Willie's Ladye," 1802.
8. The details about the curses that follow are from the song notes by Ray Fisher (Willie's Lady, 1982 Folk Legacy Records, The Orchard Enterprises). Johnny Cunningham is listed as an arranger for the song, Ray Fisher used the tune earlier.
9. The tune was date 1930 by Carthy. Here are details from Wiki: "This folk song comes from Brittany, and its title translates to "Song of Cider" in English. The origins of the song are mysterious. Often claimed to be a traditional tune, some sources claim this song was written by an unknown Breton piper in the late 1920s. Most likely, it was written by Jean-Bernard and Jean-Marie Prima in 1929. Breton singer Alan Stivell was the first to popularize this song, releasing it in 1970 as the B-side of his single “Brocéliande”. A big success, as his first professional album Reflets of the same year, which also included the song. The tune was also played by The Chieftains, as “Ev Chistr 'ta, laou!”, in their 1986 album Celtic Wedding: Music of Brittany."
10. Martin Carthy commented in the first album's sleeve notes: "It was a particularly happy stroke of genius on Ray Fisher's part to marry the song Willie's Lady to the tune of the Breton song Son Ar Chistr (The Song of Cider), and it is with her permission that I have recorded it. I was informed by a young Breton that the tune was written in 1930 by a piper who became a tramp on the streets of Paris. The story of the song is very close to that of the birth of Hercules, although there the timing of the trickery is, if anything, even more critical."
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CONTENTS (To access individual versions click on titles attached to this page on left hand column or on the blue highlighted tiles below):

    1) Willy's Lady- Brown (Aber) 1783 Fraser-Tytler MS, Child Aa
    2) Sweet Willy- Brown (Aber) 1783 Jamieson-Brown MS, Child Ab
    3) Willy's Lady- (Lon) 1801 arr Matthew Gregory Lewis
    4) Willie's Ladye- Mrs. Brown (Aber) 1802 W. Scott
    5) Sweet Willie of Liddesdale- Jamieson (Mor) 1806
    6) Simon's Lady- Bell Robinson (Aber) 1906 Greig
    7) Willie's Lady- Ray Fisher (Edin) c.1972; REC 1982
    8) Willie's Lady- Martin Carthy (Herts) 1976 REC

-----------------------------

[Walter Scott, 1802]

WILLIE’S LADYE.
ANCIENT COPY.
NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

Mr. Lewis, in his Tales of Wonder, has presented the public with a copy of this ballad, with additions and alterations. The Editor has also seen a copy, containing some modern stanzas, intended by Mr Jamieson, of Macclesfield, for publication in his Collection of Scottish Poetry.1 Yet, under these disadvantages, the Editor cannot relinquish his purpose of publishing the old ballad, in its native simplicity, as taken from Mrs Brown of Falkland’s MS.

Those who wish to know how an incantation, or charm, of the distressing nature here described, was performed in classic days, may consult the story of Galanthis’s Metamorphosis, in Ovid, or the following passage in Apuleius: “Eadem (Saga scilicet qua

1Edit. 1802. Mr Jamiesou’s interesting Collection has since been published. 1810.

clam,) am/ztoris uxorem, quod in eam dicacule probrum dixerat, jam in sarcinam prcegnationis, obsepto utero, et repigrato fwtu, perpetua prwgnatione dammwit. Et ut cuncti numerant, octo annorum onere, misella illa, 'velut elephantum paritura, distenditur.”—APUL. Metam. lib. 1.

There is also a curious tale about a Count of Westeravia, whom a deserted concubine bewitched upon his marriage, so as to preclude all hopes of his becoming a father. The spell continued to operate for three years, till one day, the Count happening to meet with his former mistress, she maliciously asked about the increase of his family. The Count, conceiving some suspicion from her manner, craftily answered, that God had blessed him with three fine children ; on which she exclaimed, like Willie’s mother in the ballad, “ May Heaven confound the old hag, by whose counsel I threw an enchanted pitcher into the draw-well of your palace l” The spell being found, and destroyed, the Count became the father of a numerous family.—Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels, p. 474.

WILLIE’S LADYE.

WILLIE’s ta’en him 0’er the faem[1],
He’s wooed a wife, and brought her hame;
He’s wooed her for her yellow hair,
But his mother wrought her meikle care;

And meikle dolour gar’d her dree,
For lighter she can never be;
But in her bower she sits‘wi’ pain,
And Willie mourns 0’er her in vain.

And to his mother he has gane,
That vile rank witch, 0’ vilest kind!
He says— “My ladie has a cup,
Wi’ gowd and silver set about;
This gudely gift sall be your ain,
And let her be lighter 0’ her young bairn."—

“Of her young‘ bairn she’s never be lighter,
Nor in her bour to shine the brighter:
But she sall die, and turn to clay,
And you sall wed another may.”—

“ Another may I’ll never wed,
Another may I’ll never bring hame.
”But, sighing, said that weary wight—
“I wish my life were at an end!

"Yet gae ye to your mother again,
That vile rank witch o' vilest kind!
And say your ladye has a steed,
The like o' him's no in the land o' Leed[2].

“For he is silver shod before,
And he is gowden shod behind ;
At every tuft of that horse mane,
There’s a golden chess,[3] and a bell to ring.
This gudely gift sall be her ain,
And let me be lighter 0’ my young bairn.”—

“ Of her young bairn she's ne'er be lighter,
Nor in her bour to shine the brighter;
But she sall die, and turn to clay,
And ye sall wed another may.”—

“Another may I’ll never wed,
Another may I’ll never bring hame.”—
But, sighing, said that weary wight-
“I wish my life were at an end!”—

“Yet gae ye to your mother again,
 That vile rank witch, 0’ rankest kind!
And say your ladye has a girdle,
It’s a’ red gowd to the middle ;

“And aye, at ilka siller hem
Hang fifty siller bells and ten;
This gudely gift sall be her ain,
And let me be lighter 0’ my young bairn.”—

“Of her young bairn she’s ne’er be lighter,
Nor in your bour to shine the brighter,
For she sall die, and turn to clay,
And thou sall wed another may.”—

“ Another may I’ll never wed,
Another may I’ll never bring hame.”—
But, sighing, said that weary wight—
“I wish my days were at an end i ”—-

Then out and spak the Billy Blind[4],
(He spak aye in good time :)


“ Yet gae ye to the market-place,
And there do buy a loaf of wace[5];
Do shape it belm and bairnly like,
And in it twa glassen een you’ll put ;

“ And bid her your boy’s christening to,
Then notice weel what she shall do ;
And do you stand a little away,
To notice weel what she may say.”

[A stanza seems to be wanting. Willie is supposed to follow the advice of the spirit-His mother speaks]

“O wha has loosed the nine witch knots,
That were amang that ladye’s looks ?
And wha’s ta’en out the kaims 0’ care,
That were amang that ladye’s hair‘!

“And wha has ta’en down that bush 0’ Woodbine,
That hung between her bour and mine ?

And wha has kill’d the master kid,

That ran beneath that ladye’s bed ?
And wha has loosed her left foot shee,
And let that ladye lighter be !”

Syne, Willy’s loosed the nine witch knots,
That were amang that ladye’s locks ;
And Willie’s ta’en out the kaims 0’ care,
That were into that ladye’s hair ;

And he’s ta’en down the bush o' woodbine,
Hung atween her bour and the witch carline ,
And he has kill’d the master kid,
That ran beneath that ladye’s bed;
And he has loosed her left foot shee,
And latten that ladye lighter be ;
And now he has gotten a bonny son,
And meikle grace be him upon.

1 Faem-The sea-foam.
2 Land 0’ Leed— Perhaps Lydia.
3 Chess-Should probably be jess, the name of a hawk’s bell.
4 Billy Blind-A familiar genius, or propitious spirit, somewhat similar to the Brownie. He is mentioned repeatedly in Mrs Brown’s Ballads, but I have not met with him anywhere else, although he is alluded to in the rustic game of Bogle (i. e. goblin) Billy Blind. The word is, indeed, used in Sir David Lindsay’s plays, but apparently in a different sense— “ Priests sall leid you like nne Billy Blinds."

Pmxam'ou’s Scottish Poems, 1792, vol. ii. p. 232.
1 Wace—Wax.

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Ray Fisher bio

Ray Fisher, who has died of cancer aged 70, was one of Britain's great singers of traditional songs. Martin Carthy, another widely known folk musician, once referred to her and Norma Waterson as the country's leading performers in their field.

Ray was born in Glasgow into a musical family of seven children in which everyone sang. Her father was a soloist with the City of Glasgow police choir; her mother sang in Scots Gaelic. Her brother, Archie, became a singer and broadcaster, and her sister Cilla a singer and children's performer with the Singing Kettle. Ray and Archie initially played skiffle but then took up traditional American songs. While in her teens, Ray was greatly impressed by the singing of Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers, a woman with a big voice, quite unlike the reedy sopranos that were expected at that time.
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In the late 1950s, Norman Buchan, a teacher and folklorist who later became a Labour MP, started the Ballads Club in Glasgow, attracting many young singers and musicians who were eager to learn more about traditional songs, among them Ray and Archie. Through him and his wife Janie, Ray met the great Scots traditional singer Jeannie Robertson, who, after hearing her sing, invited Ray to stay with her in Aberdeen for six weeks to learn about her songs.

While at Jordanhill teacher-training college in the late 1950s, Ray started a folk club and joined her brother and Bobby Campbell, a singer and fiddler, in a trio called the Wayfarers. Ray and Archie were then asked to make regular appearances on Here and Now, an early-evening magazine programme on Scottish Television.

Ray was now being booked to sing all over Britain. On one trip, to Newcastle upon Tyne, she met the fiddler and Northumbrian piper Colin Ross, whom she married in 1962. That year, she was also part of Arnold Wesker's Centre 42 project, touring the country with other singers, and was subsequently asked by AL Lloyd to sing on his album of industrial folk songs, The Iron Muse (1963).

The move to Tyneside put paid to the duo with her brother, and she began to give more solo performances, concentrating in particular on the big, traditional ballads. She loved finding different versions of those songs and, where necessary, reconstructing the stories, making versions that were entirely her own. She also taught on courses run by Folkworks, a sort of forerunner of the folk degree course now run at Newcastle University.

Ray made several albums, though fewer than would be expected of a singer who was so widely admired. She said in one interview: "I don't feel the need to put things on tape. I don't feel the urge to record anything. I'm amazed by the number of albums that people have made in the time that they've been singing … I'm not interested in what posterity has to say about what contribution I've made to folk music." She never pushed herself forward or sought bookings, being content to take the gigs that were offered.

Alongside the passion of her singing, Ray also had a gift for making people laugh, with witty comments and the odd silly song. She was a committed anti-nuclear campaigner, taking part in the marches in protest at the presence of US nuclear submarines at Holy Loch.

She fell ill in 2005 but was eventually able to resume her singing, her voice as strong, fine and passionate as ever, and she was greeted warmly at festivals and clubs. In 2008, the English Folk Dance and Song Society awarded Ray its gold badge, its highest honour, for her services to traditional song.

Ray is survived by Colin and their children, Fiona, Andrew and Duncan.
  Ray Fisher, folk singer, born 26 November 1940; died 31 August 201

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Breton "Son ar Chiste" (The Song of Cider).

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Folklore in the English and Scottish ballads - Page 65
Lowry Charles Wimberly 1959


In our ballad the "master kid," which plays a part in the witch's spell, is, to all appearances, not to be taken as a form of the witch herself. Are we to understand, then, that the goat is here a form of the devil? That the "master kid" is slain would not, of course, invalidate this interpretation. Slaying the kid serves, among other counter
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Folk Tradition and Folk Medicine in Scotland: The Writings of David ...
David Rorie, ‎David Buchan - 1994 - ‎Snippet view - ‎More editions

'The master kid' has long been a difficulty for commentators, but the late Gavin Greig, our greatest authority on Scots folk-song, secured from the recitation of an old woman a hitherto unpublished variant, of which he sent me a note shortly before his death. In it the spells go thus: Wae worth the han's that In it the spells go thus: Wae worth the han's that brak the ban's That I had on his lady's arms! Wae worth the key that opened the lock That I had on his lady's bed stock! Wae worth the knife that killed the tead That I'd aneath his lady's bed! The kid here becomes the toad, the well-known friend and ally of the witch. We all know the popular objection to the toad as 'a poisonous creature.' In Fife the ploughman believes to this day that the blood of a toad sprinkled across the road will prevent

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For immediate understanding, the plot is as follows: Willie marries a young and beautiful girl. His mother, a witch, disapproves of the girl and curses her. The girl will never produce a child; she and the child will die in childbirth. Offers of gifts to the mother to lift the curse prove fruitless. Willie seeks and gets help from the servant, the Billy Blind. Willie follows the Billy Blind's instructions and foils his mother's scheme and eventually fathers a son.

The Billy Blind: Some Scottish households retained a non-working servant who possesses some disability, e.g. deaf, dumb, hare-lipped or blind. The belief was held that they had second-sight, wisdom, or some supernatural power to compensate for their disability. They were feared by many, mainly due to ignorance. A blind man may well develop an extra keen hearing capacity and a refined sense of touch, so the belief was reasonably well-founded. Thus, as a means of protection or insurance against evil, a household would shelter such a person. In this ballad he was blind.

A brief clarification of the curses:
The knots in the girl's hair (note the magic number, nine; 3 × 3 = powerful) symbolise the constricting elements—holding back the free-flowing birth of the child. Even today, in some parts of Scotland, during childbirth a girl's garments are loose, unbuttoned, without pins or fastenings.
The combs (kaims o' care) of care were pressed through the long, golden hair, accompanied by a curse each time, and then left in the hair to hold in the curse. The hair is a powerful vehicle for curse-making.
The master kid (a young goat) was the link between the forces of evil and the witch—the catalyst or carrier. This invariably is an animal—the witch's cat being the most widely-known example.
The woodbine is a clinging, constricting plant that holds on and winds around other plants and branches—holding in again is symbolised here.
Lastly, the left-side shoe (leften shee) again has evil influence (i.e., Latin: sinister). This was tightly knotted to strengthen the curse.
Finally, the advice from the Billy Blind to make a wax baby and invite the mother to the christening is a master stroke indeed. This results in the eventual birth of a son.

The mother really laid it on pretty heavily with the curses—any one would have done the trick! She must either have doubted her own skills or have feared the power of the love bond between her son and the girl.
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