English Versions 40. The Queen of Elfan Nourice
CONTENTS:
1) Skene MS
2) Child's Text A; Early 1800's
3) Sharpe's A ballad book (Text of Child A) edited David Laing
4) I Heard a Bonnie Cow- Collected in 1906, from Mrs. McLeod of Dumfries, Scotland, while she was in Wisconsin visiting relatives.)
5) Coffin- Traditional Ballads
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MS. described by Scott as the 'collection of an old lady's complete set of ballads.' In two portions, the first in 53 pages, on paper of 1805-6-7; the second in 10 pages, on paper of 1818. Contains thirty-two popular ballads and gives the titles of others known to tin compiler. Ohtained by Skene of Rnbislaw in the north of Scotland (but obviously not so early as 1802-3 as endorsed by Scott on the cover of the Skene MS.), turned over to Scott by Skene, and in 1823 by Scott to C. K. Sharpe. In the possession of Mr Macmath.
Skene MS., nine separate quires, amounting in all to 125 pages, and containing thirty-six pieces. Almost all of these are firand in the Old Lady's Collection, from which they appear to have been transcribed, bnt with misreadings and changes. 118 pages in the posession of Mr Alexander Allardyce of Edinburgh; the remainder in the possession of Mr Macmath.
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The Queen of Elfan's Nourice- Version A; Child 40
Skene Manuscripts, No 8, p. 25. Sharpe's Ballad Book, ed. Laing, p. 169.
1 I heard a cow low, a bonnie cow low,
An a cow low down in yon glen;
Lang, lang will my young son greet
Or his mither bid him come ben.
2 I heard a cow low, a bonnie cow low,
An a cow low down in yon fauld;
Lang, lang will my young son greet
Or his mither take him frae cauld.
* * * * *
3 . . . . .
. . . .
Waken, Queen of Elfan,
An hear your nourice moan.'
4 'O moan ye for your meat,
Or moan ye for your fee,
Or moan ye for the ither bounties
That ladies are wont to gie?'
5 'I moan na for my meat,
Nor moan I for my fee,
Nor moan I for the ither bounties
That ladies are wont to gie.
6 . . . . .
. . . . .
But I moan for my young son
I left in four nights auld.
7 'I moan na for my meat,
Nor yet for my fee,
But I mourn for Christen land,
It's there I fain would be.'
8 'O nurse my bairn, nourice,' she says,
'Till he stan at your knee,
An ye's win hame to Christen land,
Whar fain it's ye wad be.
9 'O keep my bairn, nourice,
Till he gang by the hauld,
An ye's win hame to your young son
Ye left in four nights auld.'
* * * * *
10 'O nourice lay your head
Upo my knee:
See ye na that narrow road
Up by yon tree?
11 . . . . . .
. . . . .
That's the road the righteous goes,
And that's the road to heaven.
12 'An see na ye that braid road,
Down by yon sunny fell?
Yon's the road the wicked gae,
An that's the road to hell.'
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Sharpe's; A ballad Book (Text of Child A) edited David Laing
169
I heard a cow low, a bonnie cow low,
An' a cow low down in yon glen,
Lang, lang will my young son greet,
Or his mither bid him come ben.
I heard a cow low, a bonnie cow low,
An' a cow low. down in yon fauld,
Lang, lang will my young son greet
Or his mither take him frae cauld.
Waken, Queen of Elfan,
An' hear your Nourice moan.
O moan ye for your meat,
Or moan ye for your fee,
Or moan ye for the ither bounties
That ladies are wont to gie?
I moan na for my meat,
Nor yet for my fee,
But I mourn, for Christened land—
It's there I fain would be.
O nurse my bairn, Nourice, she says,
Till he stan' at your knee,
An' ye's win hame to Christen land,
Whar fain it's ye wad be.
O keep my bairn, Nourice,
Till he gang by the hauld,
An' ye's win hame to your young son,
Ye left in four nights anld.
O Nourice, lay your head *
Upo' my knee;
See ye na that narrow road
Up by yon tree?
That's the road the righteous goes,
And that's the road to heaven.
*In the old version of " Thomas the Rhymer," as modernised by Sir Walter Scott in the ' Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,' we find the following verses near akin to those of the Ballad in the text :—
''O see you not yon narrow road,
So thick beset with thorns and briers;
That is the path of righteousness,
Though after it but few inquires.
"And see ye not that braid, braid road,
That lies across that lily leven;
That is the path of wickedness
Though some call it the road to heaven.
"And see ye not that bonnie road,
That winds about the fernie brae;
That is the road to fair Elfland,
Where thou and I this night maun gae.
"An' see na ye that braid road
Down by yon sunny fell:
Yon's the road the wicked gae,
An' that's the road to hell.
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Some New Ballad Variants
by Arthur Beatty
The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 20, No. 77 (Apr. - Jun., 1907), pp. 154-156
SOME NEW BALLAD VARIANTS
THE four ballad variants here printed for the first time were collected in the month of December, 19o6, from Mrs. McLeod of Dumfries, Scotland, when she was on a visit to her relatives at Lake Mills, Wisconsin. The versions are undoubtedly traditional, as the reciter could not read or write, nor could her parents before her. She said that she had learned the ballads from her parents, but that she was not always sure of the words in particular cases.
All four are readily classified as variants of ballads already printed in F. J. Child's " English and Scottish Popular Ballads." I is a new version of Child, No. 26 ("The Three Ravens," and "The Twa Corbies"); II is Child, No. 27 (" The Whummil Bore"); III is the first intelligible version known to me of Child, No. 40 ("The Queen of Elfan's Nourice"); and IV is a variant of Child, No. 181 ("The Bonny Earl of Murray").
The collector of these variants, Mr. Claude H. Eldred, an undergraduate of the University of Wisconsin, deserves great praise for the pains and tact necessary for the accomplishment of his task in so thorough a manner.
CHILD, NO. 40
I heard a bonnie cow low, cow low, cow low,
I heard a bonnie cow low,
Over the lea,
An' it was an elf call, elf call, elf call,
An' it was an elf call,
Calling unto me.
An' the little elf man, elf man, elf man,
An' the little elf man
Said unto me:
"Come, nurse an' elf child, elf child, elf child,
Come an' nurse an elf child,
Down 'neath the sea."
Then I fell a-moaning, a-moaning, a-moaning,
Then I fell a-moaning,
Down where he could see.
"What do you moan for, moan for, moan for,
What do you moan for?"
Elf-king said to me;
"Is it for your breakfast, breakfast, breakfast,
Is it for your breakfast,
Or for a fee?"
"'T is not for my breakfast, breakfast, breakfast,
'T is not for my breakfast,
Nor an' for a fee,
"'T is for my bonnie lad, bonnie lad, bonnie lad,
'T is for my bonnie lad
That I never more shall see."
40. THE QUEEN OF ELFAN'S NOURICE
Texts: JAFL, XX, 155.
Local Titles: None given.
Story Types: A: This text is almost a lyric and concerns a girl who hears, an elf-call in the form of a cow low telling her to come and nurse an elf-child under the sea. When asked by tlie elf-king why she moans, she says not for her breakfast, but for her lover whom she will never more see.
Examples: JAFL, XX, 155.
Discussion: The story and the speakers in this text do not become clear until one reads Child's discussion (I, 358). Here it is explained that the girl has been abducted by water-sprites a few days after she has had a baby in order that she may suckle an elf bairn. The girl is told she can expect to be returned to her Christian home as soon as the young elf is able to walk.
The American text is not far from Child's version, but it is not close either. It certainly is abbreviated.