The Deil's Courting- John McWhinnie (Ary) 1825 Motherwell MS, Child I
[From Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 103. Reprinted in Child's ESPB, Volume 1, 1882. The first two stanzas are from another informant about 1827 (see Kloss's report, bottom of this page).
R. Matteson 2011/2018]
Cazden: "Possibly a more archaic meaning of the courting-game plot is found in a text from the Crawford Collection of about 1827 (Lyle), called The Deil's Courtship. Its conversational interchange is much like that in A Paper of Pins, the suitor is the Devil and he wins out after offering a purse of gold."
The Deil's Courting- From the recitation of John McWhinnie, collier, Newtown Green, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1825.
1 A lady wonned on yonder hill,
Hee ba and balou ba
And she had musick at her will.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
2 Up and cam an auld, auld man,
Hee ba and balou ba
Wi his blue bonnet in his han.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
3 'I will ask ye questions three;
Hee ba and balou ba
Resolve them, or ye'll gang wi me.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
4 'Ye maun mak to me a sark,
Hee ba and balou ba
It maun be free o woman's wark.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
5 'Ye maun shape it knife- sheerless,
Hee ba and balou ba
And ye maun sew it needle- threedless.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
6 'Ye maun wash it in yonder well,
Hee ba and balou ba
Whare rain nor dew has ever fell.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
7 'Ye maun dry it on yonder thorn,
Hee ba and balou ba
Where leaf neer grew since man was born.'
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
8 'I will ask ye questions three;
Hee ba and balou ba
Resolve them, or ye'll neer get me.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
9 'I hae a rig o bonnie land
Hee ba and balou ba
Atween the saut sea and the sand.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
10 'Ye maun plow it wi ae horse bane,
Hee ba and balou ba
And harrow it wi ae harrow pin.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
11 'Ye maun shear't wi a whang o leather,
Hee ba and balou ba
And ye maun bind 't bot strap or tether.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
12 'Ye maun stack it in the sea,
Hee ba and balou ba
And bring the stale hame dry to me.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
13 'Ye maun mak a cart o stane,
Hee ba and balou ba
And yoke the wren and bring it hame.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
14 'Ye maun thresh't atween your lufes,
Hee ba and balou ba
And ye maun sack 't atween your thies.'
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
15 'My curse on those wha learnëd thee;
Hee ba and balou ba
This night I weend ye'd gane wi me.'
And the wind has blown my plaid awa
__________________________________
Kloss:
Also notable is another text from Motherwell's manuscripts. According to Child (I, 2I, pp. 18-9) it was from "the recitation of John McWhinnie, collier, Newton Green, Ayr" . The refrain is a little bit different from the broadside but in no way more meaningful: "He ba and balou ba". More important is the background story. Here the protagonists are a lady "on yonder hill" who had "musick at her will" and an "auld, auld man/With his blue bonnet in his han", the latter maybe the devil:
A Lady wonned on yonder hill,
Hee ba and balou ba
And she had musick at her will.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
Up and cam an auld, auld man,
Hee ba and balou ba,
Wi his blue bonnet in his ban.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'I will ask ye questions three ;
Hee ba and balou ba
Resolve them, or ye'll gang wi me.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'Ye maun mak to me a sark,
Hee ba and balou ba
It maun be free o woman's wark.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'Ye maun shape it knife- sheerless,
Hee ba and balou ba
And ye maun sew it needle- threedless.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'Ye maun wash it in yonder well,
Hee ba and balou ba
T' whare rain nor dew has ever fell.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'Ye maun dry it on yonder thorn,
Hee ba and balou ba
Where leaf neer grew since man was born.'
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'I will ask ye questions three;
Hee ba and balou ba
Resolve them, or ye'll neer get me.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'I hae a rig o bonnie land
Hee ba and balou ba
Atween the saut sea and the sand.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'Ye maun plow it wi ae horse bane,
Hee ba and balou ba
And harrow it wi ae harrow pin.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'Ye maun shear 't wi a whang o leather,
Hee ba and balou ba
And ye maun bind 't hot strap or tether.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'Ye maun stack it in the sea,
Hee ba and balou ba
And bring the stale hame dry to me.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'Ye maun mak a cart o stane,
Hee ba and balou ba
And yoke the wren and bring it hame.
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'Ye maun thresh 't atween your lufes,
Hee ba and balou ba
And ye maun sack 't atween your thies.'
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
'My curse on those wha learned thee;
Hee ba and balou ba
This night I weend ye 'd gane wi me.'
And the wind has blown my plaid awa.
In fact this is a composite version. Only stanzas 3 - 15 were from Mr. McWhinnie. Thomas Macqueen wrote them down in 1827 and this text is now available in Emily Lyle's edition of the Andrew Crawfurd's collection of ballads. Both Crawfurd and Macqueen collected songs for William Motherwell (see Lyle 1995, pp. xxii-xxiii; No.84, pp. 6-7; Lyle 2007). Macqueen found the first two verses two years later, his source was Mary O'Meally from Kilbirnie (Lyle 1995, pp. xxxvi-xxxvii). Motherwell then combined these two parts in his manuscript. If they really belonged together is not clear.