Child ballads- Romainian Analogues
Percy's Reliques, Sir Walter Scott's Minstrelsy and the Roumanian Ballads
by M. Beza
The Slavonic Review, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jun., 1922), pp. 121-129
PERCY'S RELIQUES,
SIR WALTER SCOTT'S MINSTRELSY
AND THE ROUMANIAN BALLADS.
LECTURING lately on English literature at the University of Bucarest, I was brought to look more carefully into both Percy's
Reliques and Sir WalterS cott's Minstrelsy. I foundi n thema
number of poems which, either in plot or in characteristic
features, closely resemble certain Roumanian folk-products;
and the analogies between them seemed to me to be no mere
mattero f curiosityb,u t likelyt o interesstt udentso f comparative
literature.
I begin with Percy's Reliques. Eleventhi n order,w e find
the ballad of Child of Elle. A knightr eceivesf romh is love,
togetherw ith a silkens carfa nd a ringo f gold, tidingso f her
father's decision to marry her to another man. The knight
loses no time. He goes and induces her to run away. In their
flightt heya re chased and overtaken-firsbt y the rival knight,
who is slain,n extb y the father'sp ursuers; then,a s the minstrel
has it:
"Her lover he put his horne to his mouth,
And blew both loud and shrill,
And soone he saw his owne merrym en
Come rydingo ver the hill."
Thus all ends in a reconciliationto the advantage of the
lover. This ballad is much similar to the Roumanian Fata
Cadiului-The Daughtero f the Cadi-also a storyo f successful
elopement. But the subject is furtherd eveloped in many
Roumanian folk-tales,a nd the poet Eminescu gave it high
literarye xpressionin his Fairy Princeo f theL ime-Trees,u ffused
with all the magic of the moonlighta nd the sleepingf orests,
throughw hicht he loversr ide on, as in a dream:
" They pass the shadows, fade in the vales, while the horn full of
longings ounds sweetly,s ounds heavily."
In Fair Margareta nd SweetW illiama, s wella s in Lord Thomas
and Fair Annet,t he unfortunatceo uplesd ie of unrequitedl ove.
They are buriedi n a churcha nd, thougho n opposites ides, the
plants springingu p fromt heir graves intertwine,ju st as it
happens in a RoumanianB allad, Inelul si Naframa,w heret he
I22 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.
motive of the ring and the scarf is used, with somethingo f
miraculousf orebodingp ower attached to them. I give an
abbreviatedp rose translationo f it :-
" There was a Princey ounga nd stronga s the firt ree of the mountains.
He wedded a village maiden, with a fair beautiful face. In setting out for
the camp, the Prince one day spoke to her:
" My beloved, take this ring and put it on thy finger; when the ring
rusts, know that I am dead."
" And thou," she answered, " take thou my silken scarf, embroidered
with gold; when the gold wears away, know that I am dead."
Forth he went. On the way he halted by a spring in the woods.
There he gazed upon the scarf. His heart was broken.
" My valiant soldiers," says he, " wait here and enjoy yourselves.
I left my sword behind."
He turned homewards. Soon he met a rider:
" Good fortune,y oung brave! What news? Whence comest thou?"
" My lord,y our fatherh as cast your bridei nto a deep and wide lake."
" Take then my horse and lead it to my father. If he should ask
what became of me, tell him that I plunged into the water to seek my
beloved one."
The King dried up the lake and there he found them in each other's
arms, lying on the golden sand. They bore them to the church. The
Prince was buried by the altar, to the east; his bride in the aisle, to the
west. And fromh im, thereg rew up a firt ree, bendingo ver the church;
from her-a tender,f loweryv ine, which spread and mingled itselfw ith
the fir tree."
In the English Ballads, instead of the vine and the fir tree,
onef indsa briara nd a bircho r a briara nd a rose-as fori nstance
in Fair Margareta nd SweetW illiam
"Margaret was buryed in the lower chancel,
And William in the higher:
Out of her breast there sprang a rose,
And out of his a briar."
"They grew until they grew unto the church top,
And then they could grow no higher;
And there they tyed in a true lovers' knot,
Which made all the people admire."
This kind of story,w hich often occurs in folk-loren, o
doubt impliesa n old superstitioubse liefi n the soul embodying
itselfi n a treeo vero ne's grave,a nd it is also expressiveo f a high
conceptiono f passionatel ove, enduringb eyondm ortalb oundslove
instinctw ith a sense of eternity.
That physicall ove is strongert han any other,i s the theme
of a ballad entitledT he Maid Freedf romt he Gallows,w hich,
thoughn ot comprisedi n the Reliques,w as communicatedt o
Percy afterwards. One meets in it with a girl who, being
ROUMANIAN BALLADS. 123
sentencedt o death, at the last momentb egs the judge to wait
awhile,a s she sees her fathera pproaching. Then she addresses
the latter:-
"0 father,0 father,a little of your gola,
And likewise of your fee !
To keep my body fromy onderg rave,
And my neck from the gallows-tree."
The fatherr efusest o redeemh er; so do all her kindredi n
turn-mother,b rothera nd sister; only when it comes to the
loverh e is readyt o pay any amount,f linchinfgr omn o sacrifice,
for, says he :
f"I am come to see you saved,
And saved you shall be."
The theme of this ballad is almost identical with the Roumanian
Giurgiu,e xcept fort wo points: It is a youth in the
lattern, ota girl,t hati s in danger; and thisi s due to the circumstance
that, as he slept under a tree, a serpent fell from the
branchesa nd enteredh is breast. The youthm akest rialo f all his
nearestp eople,c alls to thema loud to take out the serpent; no
one but his sweetheardt ares: she thrustsh erb are handi nto his
breast,a nd lo ! insteado f a serpentt, herei s a beautifugl irdleo f
gold-which is meantt o be the rewardo f truea nd faithfullo ve.
In the collectiono f RoumanianF olk Poems by Alexandri,
thea ppearanceo fw hichw as mainlyd ue to thei nterestaw akened
throughouEt urope by Percy's Reliques,o ne findsa littlep iece
called Blestemul-TheM alediction. I translatei t in prose
"A youth and a maiden pass on yonder hill. The youth sings and
fondles his horse; but the maiden sighs wearily and speaks to him:
"Let me ride, beloved, for I am tired; the road is rough and I can
go no farthero n foot."
" I would take thee gladly, sweet one, but my horse is small and weak
in the legs. He can hardly bear my own body-the body withits sins, the
belt with its weapons."
" Hast thou no pity and fear of sin? Thou hast taken me from my
parents and brought me into the wild woods. God grant that it may be
according to my wish: mayest thou go on and on till thou fallest into
slavery among the Turks, with thy feet in the stocks and thine arms in
chains; may the longing for me fill thy heart whenever the road is at its
worst; may thy horse stumble and throw thee on thy head, may thy right
hand withera nd thyl efth and be shattered; mayestt hou marryn ine times
and have nine sons, marry again and have only one daughter; may they
pass thee whistling,a nd may she bring thee handfuls of muddy bitter
water, so that thou wouldst drink and drink and think of my curse."
The poems trikesm e as beingo nlyf ragmentariyn Roumanian.
There is no plot in it; and when you have read it, you are left
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I24 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.
somewhatp uzzled. Why are the two foundt ogether? Where
are they going to, and what did the man think of that simpleminded,
q uaint imprecation? Did he smilea nd proceedo n his
way, as thoughn othingh ad happened-he on horsebacka nd
she walking by his side ? All these gaps become quite clear
if one turnst o the Englishp aralleli n the Reliques,c alled Child
Waters. The sin to which the Roumanian verses allude is explained
by the words of Fair Ellen, when she says fhat her gown,
too wide beforei,s now too straight. He tells hern ot to worry,
but takes two shireso f land. She would ratherh ave the man.
Next day Child Waters is bound northwards. Ellen wishes to
accompanyh im as a footp age. He agrees,o n conditiont hat
she shall shortenh er gowna nd clip her yellowl ocks. And thus
they proceed:
"She, all the long day Child Waters rode,
Ran barefooteb y his side;
Yett was he never soe courteous a knighte,
To say, Ellen, will you ryde ? "
A situationv ery similart o that of the Roumanianb allad;
but Child Waters himselfi s far more heartless,f orh e makes
the poor girl follow him even across a broad piece of water.
Still he is at last overcomein to marryingh er,w henh e listenst o
Fair Ellen's affectingli ttle song, aftert he child's birthi n the
stable
"Lullabye, mine owne deere child,
Lullabye, dere child, dere;
I wold thy fatherw ere a king,
Thy mother layd on a biere."
In The Bailiff's Daughtero f Islington,a young wanderer
throughL ondon chancest o meet his old sweetheartw, homh e
does not recogniseh, avingl efth erd owna t Islingtons eveny ears
ago and not having seen her since. He enquires: where was
she born ?
"At Islington," she says. The youth gets more interested.
"Tell me whethery ou know the Bailiff'sd aughter."
"She died, Sir, long ago."
To this comes the answer:-
"If she be dead, then take my horse,
My saddle and bridle, also;
For I will into some farr countrye,
Where noe man shall me knowe."
The girlt henc onfessets hat sheh erselfis theb ailiff'ds aughter
and quite ready to marryh im.
ROUMANIAN BALLADS. 125
In his large collection of English and Scottish Ballads,
Professor Child gives eleven variants of this ballad. What
appears in all of them to be only a faint echo of some bygone
incident,h as in the correspondinRg oumanianb allad the deep,
tearfulp athos of reality. The ballad I refert o belongst o the
Vlach population of Epirus and Macedonia. In these parts a
man afterg ettingm arriedg oes abroad to seek a living. It
happens sometimest hat he returnsa fterm any years' absence,
and drops in unexpectedlyli ke a wandererf roms trangel ands.
Both his arrivala nd what followsa re sung in a ballad of which
I know three versionsi n the Vlach dialect; but it exists also
among the Greeksa nd the Slavs, being inspiredb y conditions
whicha re similari n all the countryl yings outh of the Danube.
The wifeo f the wayfarerm, eetingh im at the fountaino r on the
road, stands astonisheda nd asks fore vidence:
" If thou art in truth my husband, tell me the fashion of my house."
" An apple tree grows in the garden and a vine at the gate."
" That's known of all the neighboursa nd everyonem ay know it; tell
me what signs my body bears, that I may be assured."
" Thou hast a mole on the chest, another in the armpit."1
Then, of course, she gives him the welcome of a husband.
Thee ntires cener emindos neo ft hati n theO dyssey;whePne nelope,
altogetherlo st in bewildermenstp, eaks to her son Telemachus
EL 8ETEOl/81
&rT 'O-vcEVS KaL OLKO? 'KaVTLL 1 fLcLaX c L
yVO)O-O/EO aLXXI)cXKva\ l XwC)ovE* O-T yap ?/Lkcv
or77/v , 'a 8or Ka\c vi/LtK EKpVULUEVaL ?8/LEv a5rL aXXWcov.
"If in very truth he is Odysseus, and has come home, we two shall
surely know one another more certainly; for we have signs which we two
alone know, signs hidden from others." 2
And indeed,O dysseusp roceedst o give a clear,m anifesto ken
of his identity.
I come now to Sir Walter Scott's Minstrelsyo f the Scottish
Border. One's attention is drawn here first of all to that
admirable ballad of Lord Randal, which was already known in
Italy some two centuriesa go. It begins:
"0 where hae ye been, Lord Randal, my son?
O where hae ye been, my handsome young man?"
"I hae been to the wild wood; mother make my bed soon.
For I'm weary wi' hunting,a nd fain wad lie down."
1 The Greek version of the whole poem has been translated into
English by Lucy M. J. Garnett in her Greek Folk Poesy, Vol. I., p. i9i.
2 A. T. Murray's trans. (Loeb Classical Library), Odyssev xxiii., IQ7-
IIO.
126 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.
And in thisw ay, by means of questionsa nd answers,t he
storyi s verys kilfullyw orkedu p to a climax; the motherw, ho
has but a suspicion,g raduallya rrivesa t the dramatic conclusion:
"0 I fear ye are poison'd, Lord Randal, my son !
0 I fear ye are poison'd, my handsome young man!"
"0 yes, I am poison'd; mother make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wad lie down."
No doubt, his sweetheart is responsible for the foul deed,
but one is not toldt her easono fi t. If we turnt o the Roumanian
versiono f the ballad, foundi n Transylvaniau ndert he name of
Negula, instead of an accomplishedf act, we are introduced
somehow into the secret cause and preparation of the murder.
A girl,f orsakenb y her lover,w ho is inclinedt owardsa nother
woman, takes counsel with her mother. The latter advises
her to try to win back the lover, either by a curse or a spell or by
presents:
"Then, my mother,w hat shall I take him?
What gifts hall I make him? "
"A handkerchieff ine,l ittle daughter,
Bread of white wheat for thy loved one to eat,
And a glass of wine, my daughter."
And what shall I take her,l ittle mother,
What gift shall I make her? "
"A kerchiefo f thorns,l ittle daughter;
A loaf of black bread for her whom he weds,
And a cup of poison, my daughter." 1
Here we see that in opposition to Lord Randal,t he poison is
intended here not for the lover, but for the woman who lured
him away.
In ClerkS aunders,a nother Scottish ballad, we meet with
the deviceo f the hostileb rethrenw, ho,s eveno r ninei n number,
play such a large part in folklore. They kill here the lover of
their sister; as they do in a Roumanian ballad, Mogos Vornicul.
Intermixedw ith the brethrent here enters also in ClerkS aunders
the supernatural element of the spectre-the same ghastly form,
whicho ut of the populard omainw as to be seen glidingw itha
shadowyp resenceo f terrora nd mysteryth roughm anya literary
production; beginning with Burger's Lenore, rendered into
English by Sir Walter Scott himself. It is an old widespread
belief that one is liable to becomea revenantu nder certain
1 Countess Martinengo Cesaresco, Essays in the Study of Folk Songs,
lu Everyman's Library, p. I79.
ROUMANIANB ALLADS. 127
circumstancesf,o r instance,a sudden and violentd eath,a s in
ClerkS aunders; or a stronga ttachmentt o personss till living,
to whom one is drawn by the simple power of love -as is the
case in Proud Lady Margaret. Here the dead returnsa t night
to a lady, in the guise of a gallantk night. She wondersa t the
apparitiona nd he disclosesh imselft o be her own brother; then
she wishest o go along withh im,w hicho f coursei s impossible,
for,s ays the spirit:-
"The wee worms are my bedfellows
And cauld clay is my sheets,
And when the stormyw inds do blow
My body lies and sleeps."
In a Roumanianv ersionf romM acedoniat he storyr uns as
follows: A motherh ad nine sons and only one daughter,b y
the name of Giamfichea. At the instance of the younger
brother,C onstantines, he consentedt o marryt he latter to a
distantc ountry. No soonerh ad she departedt han a pestilence
brokeo ut and them otherw ithh ern ines ons all perishedl,e aving
behind a desolate house. When Giamfichea returned, her
brotherC onstantines tood in the doorwayt o greet her. In
amazement she looked at him. She spoke: " My brother,
what is it ? A smell as of damp earth is about thee . . . Art
thou alive or dead ? And tell me, where are all the othersmy
mothera nd my brothers? "
" Down they lie in the ground; I only rose from the grave; with
deep longing I hastened and came here to meet thee."
In the Vlach text:
"Cu dor mare fmni-al'agai,
Viniiua ua di ti-astiptai."
The storyf ormsa lso the subject of other ballads, in which
the spirith urriest o fetchh is sister,d rivenb y the curse of the
mother. This may be compared with the curse that brought
about the visit of the three dead sailors in the Wife of Usher's
Well:
"I wish the wind may never cease,
No fish be in the flood,
Till my three sons come home to me,
In earthly flesh and blood ! "
The spectre-balladi s very diffusedth roughouEt urope and
especiallyi n the Balkans. ProfessorP olitis,w ho wrotea special
monographT, he Popular Song aboutt hed ead Brotherg, ives no
less than seventeenv ersionso f it. Very impressivein some of
I28 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.
these,a s well as in a Roumaniano ne,i s thee pisodeo f thes pectre
riding with his sister, when the birds hover about and utter
a]oud in a human tongue their astonishment:-
" Who has ever seen a fair maiden and a dead man riding together?"
" Didst hear, my brotherC onstantine,w hat the birds are saying? "
In the Roumanianc ollectiono f Alexandria lreadym entioned
therei s the well-knownC ucul si Turturica-TheC uckooa nd the
Turtledoveb,e ginning:-
"Dulce turturica,
Dalba pasgrica !
Hai sa ne in iubim
Sa ne dragostim
I translatei t in prose:-
" Sweet turtle-dove,li ttle white bird,l et us love together!
" I should like to, but I fear your mother. She is a witch, and she
would scold and scold
" Dear littlet urtle-dove,li ttlew hite bird,d o come and be my love !"
" No, cuckoo, no! Ask me no more; for to be left alone, I will turn
in o a reed."
" If you turni nto a reed, I will change myselfi nto a shepherd. I will
findy ou and make a fluteo f the reed, that I may play on it, and kiss it."
" No, cuckoo, no! I cannot listen to you ! Ah ! if it were not for
your mother! But rather than be with her, I would become a saint's
image in church."
" Even then I will follow you. I will change into a deacon. And
there, in the church, I will bow to you and worship you, saying, 'Little
saint's image, turni nto a bird again, and let us love and be together.'"
Therea re numerousv ariationso f thisp oem,i n someo fw hich
humanb eingst ake thep lace ofb irds. Theym ighta ll be reduced
to a simple,c ommont ype,s ymbolisingth e conflictb etweena
temptingan d an innocents pirit. In this,o ne is temptedt o see
a concretee xample of the old Zoroastrian doctrine,w hich,
togetherw ith other influences,e ntered Roumanian folklore,
owingc hieflyt o the proselytisinmg ovemento f the Bogomils.
The poem found its way into many countries. In Provence
Mistralu sed it with much literarys kill in Mire'io. Thence,i t
was introducedb y colonistsin toC anada. I finda similarv ersion
amongS ir WalterS cott's collectionw, hich,l ike the Vlach one I
collectedi n Macedonia,1s eems to be devoid of any dualistic
tendencies.
""0 gin my love were yon red rose,
That grows upon the castle wa',
And I myselfa drap of dew,
Down on that red rose I would fa'.
1 See my Papers on theR umanian People and LiteratureL, ondon, 1920.
P. 49.
ROUMANIAN BALLADS. I29
O my love's bonny, bonny, bonny;
My love's bonny and fair to see;
Whene'er I look on her weel-faur'df ace,
She looks and smiles again to me."
O gin my love were a pickle of wheat,
And growingu pon yon lily lee,
And I myselfa bonny wee bird,
Awa' wi' that pickle o' wheat I wad flee.
O my love's bonny, etc.
O gin my love were a coffero ' gowd,
And I the keeper of the key,
I wad open the kist whene'er I list,
And in that cofferI wad be.
O my love's bonny, etc."
Such parallelismsa mong the ballads could be pursueds till
further. The questiona rises,h ow we are to accountf ort hem?
First,t he ballads I quoted are mostlyS cottish; the lifeo f yore
in Scotland,i ts clan organisationb, eing similart o that of the
Roumaniansi n communitieks nowna s Calnicatea nd Voivodatea,
certainl ikenessi s bound to be reflectedal so in the popularp roductions.
On the otherh and, a large numbero f theseb allads
are distributedt hroughouEt urope. Having in each countrya
peculiarn ativef reshnesosf theiro wn,t heyn one the less display
essentialr esemblancesw, hichw ould point to a commono rigin.
This it is hardlyp ossiblef oru s to trace; for,l ike the old coins
whose effigieasr e wom out, so the ballads do not show who
put them firsti n currency. However, by strikinga deep,
emotionalc hord,b eyond transitoryf ashionsa nd conventions,
they can be understoodb y everyonea nd in everya ge. As a
Roumanianp roverbp uts it: " We are all made of the same
paste," and in spite of our many divisions and differences,
we have the same joys and the same sorrowsa, nd therei s the
same endingf ora ll of us. This sin-xplev, erydayt ruth,w hich
we very oftenf orgett, he ballads throught heirg enerala ppeal
bringh omet o us in a strikingw ay, as it werea revelation. And
here,a s in any high literaturel,i es theirh umanisingp owera
powert hat makes fort he crumblingo f the walls of mistrust
and opposition,a s did the old prophetics ong for the walls of
Jericho.
M. BEZA.