English Versions 44. The Twa Magicians
According to Mike Yates:
On 8th August, 1904, the English song collector Cecil Sharp noted a set from a Mr Sparks, of Minehead in Somerset, while, in Scotland, both Gavin Greig and James M Carpenter were able to find later versions. In 1973 Gwilym Davies noted a version from an Annie Dodds of Steep in Hampshire and, three years later, Bob and Jacqueline Patten found it being sung by a gentleman called Austin Wookey, of East Harptree, Somerset, an area once covered by Cecil Sharp. Finally, in 2000, I was able to record a set from the Scottish Traveller, Duncan Williamson, then living in Fife. Duncan had first heard the piece told as a folktale, but later picked up, and possibly adapted, the song from singers that he met at folk clubs and festivals.
CONTENTS:
1. The Twa Magicians- Child Version A Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 24; Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 570.
2. The Twa Magicians- Bell Robertson (Aberdeenshire) early1800s
3. The Two Magicians- Sparks (Minehead) 1904
4. The Two Magicians- Bell Duncan (Aberdeenshire) c.1934
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[Here's a variant based on Buchan's version (child A) and published at the same time. Taken from Mudcat posts:]
"The Twa Magicians," From Noctes Ambrosianae, Volume 2 by John Wilson et al. (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood and Sons, 1827), page 137.
"The Twa Magicians," is the work of John Wilson (1785-1854) Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. It appeared as part of a comic sketch in the very prestigious, very widely read, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine for Dec., 1828, Number 40 in the long-running series of "Noctes Ambrosianae," by several authors. Wilson's text appears to bowdlerize that published by Peter Buchan in the very same year and reprinted by Child as his sole example. "Maidenhead" becomes "silken snood" and "virgin love."
A few other lines are revised. The Scots "dreel" ("a swift violent motion") given by the drake is also gone.
Wilson and his editors missed the "nail/tail" business because they lived in a pre-Freudian age when, in polite literature, a cigar was *always* a cigar.
The character "Timothy Tickler," who sings the song, was based on Wilson's uncle, Robert Sym (1750-1844). Sym was 78 in 1828, probably too old to have learned a new ballad from Buchan. But Wilson most likely thought it was the sort of song that Sym might have taken to in his youth.
Wilson is responsible for James Hogg's cognomen of "The Ettrick Shepherd." The character of that description in "Noctes" is based on Hogg.
THE TWA MAGICIANS.
The lady stands in her bower door,
As straight as willow wand;
The blacksmith stood a little forbye,
Wi' hammer in his hand.
Weel may ye dress ye, lady fair,
Into your robes o' red,
Before the morn at this same time,
I'll loose your silken snood.
Awa, awa, ye coal-black smith,
Wud ye do me the wrang,
To think to gain my virgin love,
That I hae kept sae lang?
Then she has hadden up her hand,
And she sware by the mold,
I wudna be a blacksmith's wife
For a' the warld's gold.
O! rather I were dead and gone,
And my body laid in grave,
Ere a rusty stock o' coal-black smith
My virgin love should have.
But he has hadden up his hand,
And he sware by the mass,
I'll cause ye be my light leman,
For the hauf o' that and less.
CHORUS: O bide, lady bide,
And aye he bade her bide;
The rusty smith your leman shall be,
For a' your meikle pride.
Then she became a turtle dow,
To fly up in the air;
And he became another dow.
And they flew pair and pair.
O bide, lady, bide, &c.
She turn'd herself into an eel,
To swim into yon burn;
And he became a speckled trout,
To give the eel a turn.
O bide, lady, bide, &c.
Then she became a duck, a duck,
Upon a reedy lake;
And the smith wi' her to soom or dive,
Became a rose-kamed drake.
O bide, lady, bide, &c.
She turned herself into a hare,
To rin ower hill and hollow;
And he became a gude greyhound,
And boldly he did follow.
O bide, lady, bide, &c.
Then she became a gay grey mare,
And stood in yonder slack;
And he became a gilt saddle,
And sat upon her back.
O bide, lady, bide, &c.
Then she became a het girdle,
And he became a cake;
And a' the ways she turned hersel,
The blacksmith was her make. [=match}
O bide, lady, bide, &c.
She turned herself into a ship,
To sail out-ower the flood;
He ca'd a nail intil her tail,
And syne the ship she stood.
O bide, lady, bide, &c.
Then she became a silken plaid,
And stretch'd upon a bed:
And he became a green covering,
And thus the twa were wed.
LAST CHORUS: Was she wae, he held her sae,
And still he bade her bide;
The rusty smith her leman was,
For a' her meikle pride.
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This song is a derivative of Child Ballad 44, with a tune by A. L. Lloyd. It was recorded by John Roberts & Tony Barrand on
Dark Ships in the Forest, Folk Legacy 65 in the key of C. also by Frankie Armstrong on Bird in the Bush and by Carthy
THE TWO MAGICIANS
The lady sits at her own front door
As straight as a willow wand
And by there come a lusty smith
With his hammer in his hand
Crying...
cho: Bide lady bide
For there's a nowhere you can hide
For the lusty smith will be your love
And he will lay your pride.
Why may you sit there lady fair
All in your robes of red?
Why, come tomorrow at this same time
I'll have you in me bed
Crying . . .
Away away you coal black smith
Would you do me this wrong
For to think to have me maiden head
That I have kept so long
I'd rather I was dead and cold
And me body laid in the grave
Than a husky, dusky, coal black smith
Me maidenhead should have
Crying . . .
So the lady, she curled up her hand
And swore upon the mold
That he'd not have her maidenhead
For all of a pot of gold.
But the blacksmith he curled up his hand
And he swore upon the mass
That he would have her maiden head
For the half of that or less
Crying . . .
So the lady she turned into a dove
And flew up into the air
Ah, but he became an old cock pigeon
And they flew pair and pair
Cooing . . .
So the lady she turned into a mare
As dark as the night was black
Ah, but he became a golden saddle
And he clumb upon to her back
Itching . . .
So the lady she turned into a hare
And ran all over the plain
Ah, but he became a greyhound dog
And ran her down again
Barking . . .
So the lady she turned into a fly
And fluttered up into the air
Ah, but he became a big, hairy spider
And dragged her into his lair
Spinning . . .
So the lady she turned into a sheep
Grazing on yon common
Ah, but he became a big horny ram
And soon he was upon her.
Bleating . . .
So she turned into a full dressed ship
And she sailed all over the sea
Ah, but he became a bold captain
And aboard of her went he
Ordering . . .
So the lady she turned into a cloud
A-floating away in the air
Ah, but he became a lightning flash
And zipped right into her
Shocking . . .
So she turned into a mulberry tree
A mulberry tree in the wood
Ah, but he came forth as the morning dew
And sprinkled her where she stood.
Dripping . . .
So the lady she ran into the bedroom
And she changed into a bed
Ah, but he became a green coverlet
And he gained her maidenhead
And once she woke he took her so
And still he bade her bide
And the lusty smith became her love
For all of her mighty pride.