Earl Bran- fiddler (Northum) 1818 James Telfer - Child Aa
[Version Aa from Mr. Robert White's papers. Both Aa and Ab are from Mr. Robert White's papers. Child gives the changes from Aa for Ab in his end notes (see changes for Ab at the bottom of this page). Ac is given in full by Robert Bell. Ad is a fragment from Mrs. Andrews, Mr. White's sister and only one change and the refrain are given-- so Ad will be impossible to reconstruct without the MS. Child's notes follow,
R. Matteson 2011, 2018]
a. 'Earl Bran,' Mr. Robert White's papers.
A. a, b. Obtained from recitation "many years ago" wrote Mr. White in 1873, by James Telfer, of Laughtree Liddesdale, in some part of the neighboring country: the copy has the date 1818. c is said by the editor to have been taken down from the recitation of an old fiddler in Northumberland, but when and by whom he does not tell us. The three are clearly more or less "corrected" copies of the same original, c having suffered most from arbitrary changes.
Child narrative for A: 'Earl Brand,' first given to the world by Mr. Robert Bell in 1857, has preserved most of the incidents of a very ancient story with a faithfulness unequalled by any ballad that has been recovered from English oral tradition. Before the publication of 'Earl Brand,' A c, our known inheritance in this particular was limited to the beautiful but very imperfect fragment called by Scott 'The Douglas Tragedy,'
EARL BRAN- from fiddle (Northumbria) collected by James Telfer 1818- Child Aa
1 Oh did ye ever hear o brave Earl Bran?
Ay lally, o lilly lally
He courted the king's daughter[1] of fair England.
All i the night sae early
2 She was scarcely fifteen years of age
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Till sae boldly she came to his bedside.
All i the night sae early
3 'O Earl Bran, fain wad I see
Ay lally, o lilly lally
A pack of hounds let loose on the lea.'
All i the night sae early
4 'O lady, I have no steeds but one,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
And thou shalt ride, and I will run.'
All i the night sae early
5 'O Earl Bran, my father has two,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
And thou shall have the best o them a.'
All i the night sae early
6 They have ridden oer moss and moor,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
And they met neither rich nor poor.
All i the night sae early
7 Until they met with old Carl Hood;
Ay lally, o lilly lally
He comes for ill, but never for good.
All i the night sae early
8 'Earl Bran, if ye love me,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Seize this old carl, and gar him die.'
All i the night sae early
9 'O lady fair, it wad be sair,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
To slay an old man that has grey hair.
All i the night sae early
10 'O lady fair, I'll no do sae;
Ay lally, o lilly lally
I'll gie him a pound, and let him gae.'
All i the night sae early
11 'O where hae ye ridden this lee lang day?
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Or where hae ye stolen this lady away?'
All i the night sae early
12 'I have not ridden this lee lang day.
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Nor yet have I stolen this lady away.
All i the night sae early
13 'She is my only, my sick sister,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Whom I have brought from Winchester.'
All i the night sae early
14 'If she be sick, and like to dead,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Why wears she the ribbon sae red?
All i the night sae early
15 'If she be sick, and like to die,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Then why wears she the gold on high?'
All i the night sae early
16 When he came to his lady's gate,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Sae rudely as he rapped at it.
All i the night sae early
17 'O where's the lady o this ha?'
Ay lally, o lilly lally
'She's out with her maids to play at the ba.
All i the night sae early
18 'Ha, ha, ha! ye are a' mistaen:
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Gae count your maidens oer again.
All i the night sae early
19 'I saw her far beyond the moor,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Away to be the Earl o Bran's whore.'
All i the night sae early
20 The father armed fifteen of his best men,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
To bring his daughter back again.
All i the night sae early
21 Oer her left shoulder the lady looked then:
Ay lally, o lilly lally
'O Earl Bran, we both are tane.'
All i the night sae early
22 'If they come on me ane by ane,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Ye may stand by and see them slain.
All i the night sae early
23 'But if they come on me one and all,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
Ye may stand by and see me fall.'
All i the night sae early
24 They have come on him ane by ane,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
And he has killed them all but ane.
All i the night sae early
25 And that ane came behind his back,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
And he's gien him a deadly whack.
All i the night sae early
26 But for a' sae wounded as Earl Bran was,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
He has set his lady on her horse.
All i the night sae early
27 They rode till they came to the water o Doune,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
And then he alighted to wash his wounds.
All i the night sae early
28 'O Earl Bran, I see your heart's blood!'
Ay lally, o lilly lally
'Tis but the gleat o my scarlet hood.'
All i the night sae early
29 They rode till they came to his mother's gate,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
And sae rudely as he rapped at it.
All i the night sae early
30 'O my son's slain, my son's put down,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
And a' for the sake of an English loun.'
All i the night sae early
31 'O say not sae, my dear mother,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
But marry her to my youngest brother.
All i the night sae early
32 'This has not been the death o ane,
Ay lally, o lilly lally
But it's been that of fair seventeen.'
All i the night sae early
1. original MS "daughters"
____________________________
Changes to construct Ab;
Burden, b. I the brave night sae early: c. I the brave nights so early: d. I (or O) the life o the one, the randy.
11, c. Brand, and always in c.
12, a. daughters, b. He 's courted.
21. c. years that tide; that tide is written over of age in a.
22. c. When sae.
42. c. But thou.
52. b. best o these, c. best of tho. of tho is written over o them a in a.
62. b, c. have met.
71. c. Till at last they met.
72. c. He 's aye for ill and never.
81. b. O Earl Bran. c. Now Earl Brand. Now in the margin of a.
82. b, c. Slay this.
92. b. man that wears, c. carl that wears, carl . . wears written over man . . has in a.
10. b. O lady fair, I'll no do that,
I'll pay him penny, let him be jobbing at.
c. My own lady fair, I'll not do that,
I'll pay him his fee
112. b. where have stoln this fair. c. And where have ye stown this fair.
13. b. She is my sick sister,
Which I newly brought from Winchester.
c. For she is, I trow, my sick sister,
Whom I have been bringing fra Winchester.
141. c. nigh to dead. 2. b, c. What makes her wear.
151. c. If she's been. 2. b, c. What makes her wear the gold sae high.
161. c. When came the carl to the lady's yett. 2. b. rapped at. c. He rudely, rudely rapped thereat.
172. b. maids playen. c. a playing, d. She 's out with the fair maids playing at the ball.
181. b. mistkane (?): 2. b, c. Ye may count. b 2. young Earl.
19. c. I met her far beyond the lea
With the young Earl Brand, his leman to be:
In a lea is written over moor, and With the young, etc., stands as a "correction."
20. b. Her father, etc.,
And they have riden after them.
c. Her father of his best men armed fifteen,
And they 're ridden after them bidene.
211. b, c. The lady looket [looked]
over [owre] her left shoulder then.
221. b, c. If they come on me one by one, 2. b. Ye may stand by and see them fall. c. You may stand by till the fights be done.
d. Then I will slay them every one.
231. b. all in all. d. all and all. 2. d. Then you will see me the sooner fall.
242. b. has slain.
24. c. They came upon him one by one,
Till fourteen battles he has won.
And fourteen men he has them slain,
Each after each upon the plain.
25. c. But the fifteenth man behind stole round,
And dealt him a deep and a deadly wound.
26. c. Though he was wounded to the deid,
He set his lady on her steed.
271. c. river Doune: 2. b. And he lighted down. c. And there they lighted to wash his wound.
282. b. It 's but the glent. c. It 's nothing but the glent and my scar let hood.
291. c. yett.
292. b. Sae ruddly as he rappet at. c. So faint and feebly he rapped thereat.
301. b. O my son 's slain and cut down.
c. O my son 's slain, he is falling to swoon.
32. b. ... death of only one,
But it 's been the death of fair seventeen.
Instead of 32, c has:
To a maiden true he'll give his hand,
To the king's daughter o fair England,
To a prize that was won by a slain brother's brand.