Fair Margaret and Sweet William- A.E.H. Swaen 1917
[This article was published in 1917 in a German publication, "Archiv fur das Stadium der Neueren Sprachen und Literaturen." There aren't a lot of new insights about this ballad given by Swaen. He re-published Chappell's article in Roxburghe Ballads in it's entirety- over 3 pages. He gives some new information about Mallet's "William and Margaret" which was either written by Mallet or more likely copied from a recent broadside. Either way, the authorship question is not solved-- and, in my opinion it doesn't matter. Clearly, this is written based on a stanza of Beaumont and Fletcher's The Knight of the Burning Pestle, and clearly, this is not traditional but written in florid 18th century style. It's simply a variation of the theme missing the beginning 4 stanzas.
Swean's failure to include recently collected versions of the ballad "Fair Margaret and Sweet William" from Britain and North America is regrettable and inexcusable. He prints only Child A-C and makes almost no comment about "Fair Margaret and Sweet William," the broadside, preferring instead to deal with David Mallet's claim of authorship of "William and Margaret."
I've left the pages as they appeared with footnotes at the bottom on each page. Proofed once and quickly.
R. Matteson 2014]
Fair Margaret and Sweet William.
Of all the ballads that appeared in the 18th Century collections, few have enjoyed such popularity or exerted such influence as Fair Margaret and Sweet William, both in England and on the continent, it was translated[1], imitated[2], parodied[3] and repeatedly set to music[4]. In addition it has given rise to a long controversy. David Mallet claimed it as his work, but this claim has again and again been contested.
In the following pages I have reprinted all the important editions of the poem with the principal variants added, traced the history of the ballad, and weighed the pros and cons with absolute objectivity. I have drawn conclusions, but hasten to add that my conclusions may be proved incorrect by further discoveries. As a matter of fact my purpose has been as much to incite research as to publish new facts.
In the second act of Beaumont and Fletcher's The Knight of the Burning Pestle, 11. 476—479 (H. S. Murch's edition in Yale Studies in English), occur the following lines:
'When it was growne to darke midnight,
And all were fast asleepe,
In came Margarets grimely Ghost,
And stood at Williams feete.'
This is the text of the first quarto (1613). A. R. Waller, in Vol. VI of his edition of Beaumont and Fletcher (Cambridge English Classics), based on the second folio, prints:
'When it was grown to dark midnight.
And all were fast asleep,
In came Margarets grimly Ghost,
And stood at William's feet.'
These lines are sung by old Merrie-Thought as he enters. In Act III he says to his wife: 'Good woman if you wil sing Il' e giue you something, if not . . .
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1. E. g. into Latin (Thyrsis et Chloe) by Vincent Bourne; into Gennan (Wilhelm und Greteken) by O. L. H., into Dutch (Margarethaas Geest) by Bilderdijk.
2 George and Dorothy. 1743; Robert and Margaret, 1775; Damon and Chloe, 1784; etc.
3 Wally and Madge, by Allan Ramsay; Dr. .Johnson s Ghost; Thom. Hood's Mary's Ghost; Lord Lovel.
4 Thomson's Ortheus Caledonius, 1725, 1733; Scots Musical Museum, J803; Rimbault's illustrations to Percy's Reliques, 1850; etc.
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 41
Song.
You are no laue for me Margret, I am no loue for you.' (11. 616 — 619, first quarto; the second folio has: You are no love for me Marget, I am no love for you.) In a note to this passage Murch observes: 'we have here two lines from some ballad now lost. The editors of 1778 erroneously state that they are to be found in Fair Margaret and Sweet William, the ballad from which there is a quotation in the text, 2. 476. Mallet's Margarets Ghost is founded upon the lines there found, and upon the present quotation.' The title of Mallet's ballad is incorrect; it is 'William and Margaret.' Margarets Ghost is the title of the poem in Percy's Reliques.
Let us trace the two quotations in the old play. As a clear insight into this complicated matter can only be arrived at by a constant comparison of existing texts, and some of these are not easily accessible, I shall print all the songs in full, except in those cases where the only differences between two forms of the ballad are unimportant verbal ones.
Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballad, Nr. 74, pp. 199 — 203 of Vol. II, divides the ballads of Fair Margaret and Sweet William into three groups:
A. a. 'Fair Margaret's Misfortune,' etc., Douce Ballads, I, fol. 72.
b. 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William', Kitson, A Select Collection of English Songs, 1783, 11, 190.
c. 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William', Percy's Reliques. 1765, III, 121. d. Percv's Reliques. 1767, III, 119.
B. Percy Papers; communicated by the Dean of Derry, February, 1776.
C. Percy Papers; communicated by Rev. P. Parsons, April 7, 1770.
To avoid confusion, it should be stated that in Percy's Reliques 'Fair Margaret and Sweet "William' is the title of the poem beginning:
'As it fell out on a long summer's day
Two lovers they sat on a hill',
and 'Margaret's Ghost' that of Mallet's ballad beginning:
'Twas at the silent solemn hour,
When night and morning meet."
As representative of the A-groups Child prints the song from the Douce Ballads; it differs little from 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William' as printed by Percy (Wheatley's ed., Vol. II, p. 124 ff.) and from a ballad quoted in the notes as: -Fair Margaret's Misfortune, or, Sweet William's Frightful Dreams on his Wedding
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42 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
Night. With the Sudden Death and Burial of those Noble Lovers . . . Printed for S. Bates, at the Sun and Bible, in Gilt-Spur Street. Sarah Bates published about 1685. Chappell.'[1]
A. 1 As it fell out on a long summer's day,
Two lovers they sat on a hill;
They sat together that long summer's day,
And could not talk their fill.
2 'I see no harm by you, Margaret,
Nor you see none by me;
Before tomorrow eight a clock
A rich wedding shall you see.'
3 Fair Margaret sat in her bower-window,
A com hing of her hair,
And there she spy'd Sweet William and his bride,
As they were riding near.
4 Down she layd her ivory comb,
And up she bound her hair;
She went her way forth of her bower,
But never more did come there.
5 When day was gone, and night was come,
And all men fast asleep,
'Then came the spirit of Fair Margaret,
And stood at William's feet.
6 'God give you joy, you two true lovers,
In bride-bed fast asleep;
Loe I am going to my green grass grave,
And am in my winding-sheet.'
7 When day was come, and night was gone,
And all men wak'd from sleep,
Sweet William to his lady said,
'My dear, I have cause to weep.'
8 'I dreamd a dream, my dear lady;
Such dreams are never good;
I dreamd my bower was full of red swine,
And my bride-bed full of blood.'
b. 1[1] out upon a day. 1[3] a long. — b, c.
2[4] you shall. — d. 2[2] And you. 2[3] at eight o' the. '— Chappell
3[1] set. — b. 3[4] a riding. — d. 3[3] combing her yellow hair; There she. 3[4] a riding. — Chappell
4[1] lay. — b. 4[3] went away first from the. — b. 4[4] more came. — c. 4[4] more came. —
Then down she layd her ivory combe,
And braided her hair in twain;
She went alive out of her bower,
But neer came alive in 't again.
b. 5[4] And stood at W's bed-feet — c. 5[3] There came. — b.
6[1] you true. 6[3] grass green. 6[4] I am. — c. You lovers true. 6[4] I'm. — d. 6
'Are you awake, Sweet William?' she said,
'Or, Sweet William, are you asleep?
God give you Joy of your gay bride-bed,
And me of my winding-sheet.'
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1 Variations of spelling are not indicated.
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 43
9 'Such dreams, such dreams, my honoured lord,
They never do prove good,
To dream thy bower was full of swine,
And [thy] bride-bed full of blood.'
10 He called up his merry men all,
By one, by two, and by three,
Saying, I'll away to Fair Margaret's bower,
By the leave of my lady.
11 And when he came to Fair Margaret's bower,
He knocked at the ring;
So ready was her seven brethren
To let Sweet William in.
12 He turned up the covering-sheet:
'Pray let me see the dead;
Methinks she does look pale and wan,
She has lost her cherry red.
13 I'll do more for thee, Margaret,
Than any of thy kin;
For I will kiss thy pale wan lips,
Tho a smile I cannot win.'
14 With that bespeak her seven brethren,
Making most pitious moan:
'You may go kiss your jolly brown bride,
And let our sister alone.'
15 'If I do kiss my jolly brown bride,
I do but what is right:
For I made no vow to your sister dear,
By day or yet by night.
16 'Pray tell me then how much you'll deal
Of your white bread and your wine:
So much as is dealt at her funeral today
Tomorrow shall be dealt at mine.'
17 Fair Margaret dy'd today, today,
Sweet William he dy'd the morrow;
Fair Margaret dy'd for pure true love,
Sweet William he dy'd for sorrow.
18 Margaret was buried in the lower chancel,
Sweet William in the higher;
Out of her breast there sprang a rose,
And out of his a brier.
19 They grew as high as the church-top,
Till they could grow no higher,
And then they grew in a true lover's knot,-
Which made all people admire.
b, d. 9[4] thy bride-bed. — b. 10[1] called his. — d. 11[3] And who so ready as her. — b. 12 [1] Then he. 12 [4] she looks both. — o. 12 [1] Then he. — Chappell 13 [2] my kin. — b. 14[1] the seven. 14 [3], 15[1] brown dame. — c. 14 [1] the seven. — d. 15[4] I neer made a vow to yonder poor corpse. — b. 16[2] of white.
d. 16
'Deal on, deal on, my merry men all,
Deal on your cake and your wine;
For whatever is dealt at her funeral to-day
Shall be dealt tomorrow at mine.'
c. 11[4] W. dyed. - b, c. 18[2] And W. — b. 19[3] there they. 19[4] all the — c. 19[3] there they. 19[4] Made all the folke. - d. 19[1] They grew till they grew unto the. 19 [2] And then they. 19 [3] they tyed. 19 the people.
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44 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
20 There came the clerk of the parish,
As you this truth shall hear,
And by misfortune cut them down,
Or they had now been there.
c, d. 20[1] Then.
B. 1 Sweet William would a wooing ride,
His steed was lovely brown;
A fairer creature than Lady Margaret
Sweet William could find none.
2 Sweet William came to Lady Margaret's bower.
And knocked at the ring,
And who so ready as Lady Margaret
To rise and to let him in.
3 Down then came her father dead,
Clothed all in blue:
'I pray, Sweet William, tell to me
What love's between my daughter and yon?'
4 'I know none by her,' he said,
'And she knows none by me;
Before tomorrow at this time
Another bride you shall see.'
5 Lady Margaret at her bower window.
Combing of her hair
She saw Sweet William and his brown bride
Unto the church repair.
6 Down she cast her iv'ry comb.
And up she tossd her hair,
She went out from her bowr alive,
But never so more came there.
7 When day was gone, and night was come.
All people were asleep,
In glided Margaret's grimly ghost,
And stood at William's feet.
8 'How d'ye like your bed, Sweet William?
How d'ye like your sheet?
And how d'ye like that brown lady,
That lies in your arms asleep?'
9 'Well I like my bed, Lady Margaret,
And well I like my sheet;
But better I like that fair lady
That stand's at my bed's feet.'
10 When night was gone, and day was come,
All people were awake,
The lady waked out of her sleep.
And thus to her lord she spake.
11 'I dreamd a dream, my wedded lord.
That seldom comes to good;
1 dreamd that our bowr was lin'd with white swine.
And our brid-chamber füll of blood.'
12 He called up his merry men all,
By one, by two, by three,
'We will go to Lady Margaret's bower,
With the leave of my wedded lady.'
13 When he came to Lady Margaret's bower,
He knocked at the ring,
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 45
And who were so ready as her brethren
To rise and let him in.
14 'Oh is she in the parlor', he said,
'Or is she in the hall?
Or is she in the long Chamber,
Amongst her merry maids all?'
15 'She's not in the parlor,' they said,
'Nor is she in the hall;
But she is in the long' Chamber,
Laid out against the wall.'
16 'Open the winding sheet,' he cry'd,
'That I may kiss the dead;
That I may kiss her pale and wan
Whose lips used to look so red.'
17 Lady Margaret [died] on the over night,
Sweet William died on the morrow;
Lady Margaret died for pure, pure love,
Sweet William died for sorrow.
18 On Margaret's grave there grew a rose,
On sweet William's grew a briar;
They grew till they joind in a true lover's knot,
And then they died both together.
C. 1 As Margaret stood at her window so clear,
A combing back her hair,
She saw William and his gay bride
Unto the church draw near.
2 Then down she threw her ivory comb,
She turned back her hair;
There was a fair maid at that window,
She's gone, she'll come no more there.
3 In the night, in the middle of the night,
When all men were asleep,
There walkd a ghost, Fair Margaret's ghost,
And stood at his bed's feet.
4 Sweet William he dremed a dream, and he said,
'I wish it prove for good;
My Chamber was full of wild men's wine,
And my bride-bed stood in blood.
5 Then he calld up his stable-groom,
To saddle his nag with speed:
'This night will I ride to Fair Margaret's bowr,
With the leave of my lady.'
6 'Oh is Fair Margaret in the kitchen?
Or is she in the hall?
. . . .
. . . .
7 'No, she is not in the kitchen,' they cryed,
'Nor is she in the hall;
But she is in the long Chamber,
Laid up against the wall.'
8 Go with your right side to Newcastle,
And come with your left side home,
There you will see those two lovers
Lie printed on one stone.[1]
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1 Parsons wrote to Percy: 'The ballad of Sweet William was the same as yours in the stanzas I have omitted.'
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46 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
The Ballad in the Douce Collection is 'to an excellent new tune.' The music is given by Chappell, Popular Music of the Olden Time (1855, p. 383; 1893,- II, 131).
On comparison it will be evident that the first quotation in The Knight of the Burning Pestle agrees in general meaning, if not in exact wording, with stanza 5 of Aa, stanza 7 of B and stanza 3 of C. The first line, though the import is the same, is differently worded :
A When day was gone, and night was come.
B (same)
C In the night, in the middle of the night.
B & F[1] When it was grown to dark midnight.
The second line differs slightly:
A And all men fast asleep.
B All people were asleep.
C When all men were asleep.
B & F. And all were fast asleep.
B & F. agrees with A in the use of 'And', and with B and C in the use of 'were'.
In the third line is a rather important difference:
A Then came the spirit of Fair Margaret.
B In glided Margaret's grimly ghost.
C There walkd a ghost, Fair Margaret's ghost.
B & F. In came Margarets grim(e)ly Ghost.
B & F. and B agree in the use of 'Margaret's grimly ghost', and in the use of 'in' to introduce the sentence, but they differ rhythmically. B & F. agrees with A in the use of 'came'. There can be little doubt that the form of the line with the archaic adjective 'grimly' is the older. The fourth line gives little scope for comment.
A And stood at William 's feet.
B (same)
B & F (same)
C And stood at his bed's feet.
There is of course every probability that B & F comes nearest to the original. The date of the play is 1613, that of the Douce ballad about 1685.
Let us now turn to the second quotation which Murch, as we have seen, thinks to have been erroneously connected with this ballad. In my opinion Child is right when he remarks: "the first half of stanza 2 is given, . . . with more propriety than in the broadside, this:
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1. Beaumout and Fletcher.
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 47
You are no love for me, Margaret,
I am no love for you."
By the side of this, A, with its insipid, irrelevant:
I see no arm by you, Margaret,
Nor you see none by me
looks uncommonly like a corruption.
B gives sense, for in answer to the father's question:
What love's between my daughter and you?
William replies:
'I know none by her,' he said,
'And she knows none by me.'
Again there cannot be the slightest doubt that B & F gives an older and better text. Evidently, in the original version, William had made love to Margaret, perhaps with the result usual in the ballad, and now takes leave of her before marrying auother
girl, a lady of higher rank than Fair Margaret. Hence his cruel words in the second stanza.
Thus far the result of this investigation is, that B & F represents an older and better version; that A, B and C are versions which had suffered in the course of about seventy years, and from popular ballads had deteriorated into broadsides. As Child points out the opening stanza of A has been taken from Lord Thomas and Fair Annet:
Lord Thomas and Fair Annet
Sate a day on a hill;
Whan night was cum, and sun was sett,
They had not talkt their fill.
As we have seen the second stanza is corrupt; perhaps the opening stanzas of B are nearer to the original. The "brown bride' of A 14, 15, and the 'brown lady' of B 8 have slipped in from the same ballad (4 the nut-browne bride, 10 the browne bride). On the connection between our ballad and Lord Lovel compare Child (No. 75, vol. II, pp. 202 ff.); as he points out the catastrophe is the same.
The next development in the complicated history of this poem is afforded by W. Chappell's publication of a hitherto unknown copy of the old ballad in the third volume of the Roxburghe Ballads, in the Ballad Society Edition (1869 — 1875). As this publication is scarce and difficult of access on the continent, I shall give the whole of the Appendix in which Chappell prints the poem (Vol. III, pp. b()7 ff.), with a few entirely unimportant omissions.
. . . "In taking a present farewell of the members, I beg their indulgence for adding one ballad which, although not iiicluded in either of the two large collections, is in a detached volume of the
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48 Fair Margaret and Sweet William [Chappell]
same Library. Not only is it one of the best of our old ballads, but also there is literary interest attached to it, the authorship having been claimed by David Mallet in 1723, and this edition refuting that claim.
The volume containing it was purchased for the British Museum by Mr Boone, the bookseller, in 1871, consequently siuce the publication of my "Popular Music of the Olden Time", in which it would otherwise have been included, because it supplies the long forgotten tune. By a singular coincidence, after the lapse of a hundred and fifty years, a second copy of the same edition of the ballad has been brought to light, it having been sold by Messrs Puttick and Simpson only last year. It was Lot 314 of the library of the late Sir Alexander Spearraan, and was brought to the hammer on the 9th of January, 1878 (sic!). It is thus described in the auctioneer's catalogue: 'William and Margaret, an Old Ballad of seventeen verses, set to Music, black letter, with the original half-penny postage stamp, circa 1680'. I had small faith in a 'half-penny postage stamp, circa 1680', but attended the auction on the day of sale, without having sufficient time to examine the copy before it was under the hammer. Mr J. Harvey purchased it for eleven Shillings, and by his permission, I submitted it to a careful scrutiny. The supposed postage stamp proved to be one of the Inland Revenue stamps for the halfpenny duty on newspapers, imposed in Queen Anne's reign, and bearing the usual motto of a regnant Queen, 'Semper eadem'.
The tune of the ballad is printed in what is now termed the soprano clef, properly the C clef, set upon the lowest line. Any one wlio has the privilege of a reader's ticket at the British Museum can see the copy from which it is taken, by writing for 'William and Margaret, an Old Ballad', giving the reference '1876. f. 1. p. 107 — London, n. d. folio'.[1] The Act of Parliament for stamps upon newspapers passed in 1711 (10th of Anne, cap. 19, sect. 101). Scotland was exempt from stamp duty until 1806. The Act was not intended to apply to ballads, and they were speedily excepted from its Operation. An instance of this will be seen by referring to fol. 70 of the same volume: 'The Weeping Church-men, Being a Mourning Copy of Verses on the departure of our late Soveraign Queen Anne, who departed this Life, August the first, 1714. Tune of Troy Town.'
It presents a portrait of Queen Anne, with her crown on her head, and the motto, 'Semper eadem', in capital letters round the top of her dress. 'London : Printed for Tho. Norris at the Looking-
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1. This ref: should run "1876. f. 1. (107)" for the 107 does not generally mean a "page". S.
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 49 [Chappell cont'd]
Glass on London Bridge.' That has no stamp, and it is indeed quite a rarity to find a ballad which has one.
Public attention was first drawn to the ballad of William and Margaret by Aaron Hill, the dramatist in 'The Piain Dealer', No. .XXXVI. on Friday, July 24, 1724. Within the same year it was published with Mallet's alterations by Allan Ramsay in his 'Tea Table Miscellany'. In the next year, 1725, it was reprinted from the older copy in vol. .iii. of 'Old Ballads', 12mo; which, on the authority of Dr Farmer, were edited by Ambrose Phillips, the pastoral poet and dramatic author. Phillips's version could not have been copied from Mallet's, because it omits all his alterations, and agrees with the Queen Anne copy here reproduced. It is, in fact, a reprint from the old ballad quoted by Fletcher, which was supposed to have been lost.[1]
Allan Ramsay was not one who would scrutinize too closely a claim which would add to the reputation of one of his countrymen. In fact, Ramsay set the example of making unfounded Claims, having himself appropriated, among a multiphcity of other English productions, his friend Gay's ballad of 'Blackeyed Susan', and printed it as Scotch. Therefore, when he addressed 'Mr David Malloch, on his departure from Scotland,' [Poems by Allan Ramsay, .ii. 169, edit. of 1751), he did not hesitate to give him the credit of the ballad he had claimed. Malloch changed his name to Mallet only when he anived in England. At the time when Allan Ramsay thus addressed him, Malloch had never left Scotland. He was then a Student in the University of Edinburgh. It would have puzzled Mallet to say who made that tune for him, and wrote it out in antiquated notation. It is in the ancient reciting style, of the Chevy Chase order, and very unlike a Scotch tune. It was never printed to his words, and seems to have been little, if at all, known in Scotland. Not quite so in England, for, without going beyond the volume already quoted, we find at fol. 160, 'Wonder upon Wonder; or the Cocoa tree's answer to the Surrey Oak. To the tune of William and Margaret.' It is a parody upon the old ballad and begins:
"Twas in the dark and dead of night
Hard by St. James's Square,
Where many a Squire, and many a Knight,
Brimful of wine and care.'
This is dated in pencil, 1756.
The tune has the appearance of being much older than Queen Anne's reign. It is not of the dance order, but one eminently suited for recitation, as an old minstrel would have chanted it.
----------------------
1. This statement is incorrect; cp. p. 57 S.
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50 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
William and Margaret. — The old minstrel tune.
From a black-letter ballad.
[music w/ stanza of text]
When Malloch first gave the ballad with his alterations to Allan Ramsay, it can hardly be supposed he had read Beaumont
and Fletcher's plays. They woiild not have been included in the curriculum of University education. But he afterwards claimed
that he had done so, and that he had founded his ballad upon the lines quoted by Old Merrythought in "The Knight of the Burning Pestle", which are as follows:
'When it was grown to dark midnight,
And all were fast a sleep,
In came Margaret's grimly ghost
And stood at William's feet.'
If he had so intended, why did he alter those very lines?
There is another way of accounting for this. He had the ballad in the printed copy before him, but changed these first lines to
avoid detection when he passed it off as his own.
Mallet's first version, given by him to Ramsay, begins:
"Twas at the fearful midnight-hour,
When all were fast asleep,
In glided Margaret's grimly ghost,
And stood at William's feet.'
He here takes the word 'glided' from the printed copy, and not from Fletcher.
When Mallet afterwards published it in his own name, in his Poems, 8vo, 1743, and again in 12mo edit. of 1759, he changed it to:
"Twas in the silent solemn hour,
When night and morning meet.'
This is more unballad-like than the first. Instead of the characteristic conciseness, and the simplicity of expression, in the old
minstrel ballad, he took half a line to express 'midnight', as 'When night and morning meet'.
It is equally clear that Aaron Hill, although a writer for the
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 51
stage, had not noticed this quotation from the ballad in Fletcher's play. He says: 'I am never more delighted than when I meet
with an opportunity to unveil obscure merit, and produce it into notice . . . My having taken up in a late perambulation, as I stood upon the top of Primrose Hill, a torn leaf of one of those Half-penny Miscellanies which are published for the use and pleasure of our nymphs of low degree, and known by the name of Garlands ... I fell unexpectedly upon a work, for so I have no scruple to call it, that deserves to live for ever! and which (notwithstanding its disguise of coarse brown paper, almost unintelligible corruptions of sense from the blunders of the press, with here and there an obsolete low phrase which I have alter'd for the clearer explanation of the author's meaning) is so powerfully filled throughout with that blood-curling,[1] chilling influence of Nature working on our passions (which Criticks call the Sublime), that I never met it stronger in Homer himself; nor even in that prodigious English genius, who has made the Greek our Countryman. The simple title of this Piece was, 'William and Margaret. A Ballad'.
Hill then goes on to spoil the ballad by his modernizations.
One stanza will suffice as an example:
'When Hope lay hush'd in silent Night
And woe was wrapped in Sleep,
In glided Marg'ret's pale-ey'd Ghost,
And stood at William's feet.'
'I am sorry,' says Hill, 'that I am not able to acquaint my Reader with his name, to whom we owe this melancholy Piece of
finished Poetry; under the humble title of a Ballad.'
It is to be regretted that the Garland of which Hill speaks has not yet been found; we will therefore turn to the simple ballad
as it Stands in the black-letter edition of Queen Anne's time."
From: "The Roxburghe Ballads"
Ballad Society Edition, 1875.
Vol. in. Part. I. p. 671. Appendix.
"With Short notes by Wm. Chappell. F. S. A."
"William and Margaret." "An Old Ballad."
1. When all was wrapt in dark Mid-night,
And all were fast asleop,
In glided Margaret' s grimly ghost,
And stood at William's feet.[2]
-----------------------
1 Sic. but probably a misprint for "curdling".
2. Having already [in the Appendix, see p. 50 of this article. S.] referred to the changcs Mallet made in the first Stanza, the following are upon his other deviations from the text."
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 51
2. "Her face was like the[1] April Morn,
Clad in a wintry cloud,
And Clay cold was her Lilly band,
That held the [2] Sable Shrowd."
3 "So shall the fairest Face appear
When Youth & Years are flown;
Such is the Robe that Kings must wear
When Death has reft their Crown."
4 "Her Bloom was like the springing Flow'r,
That sips the Silver Dew;
The Rose was budded in her Cheek,
And opening to the View."
5. "But Love had, like the Canker Worm,
Consum'd her early Prime:
The Rose grew pale, and left her Cheek;
She dy'd before her Time."
6. "'Awakel' she cry'd, 'thy true Love calls
Come from her Midnight grave;
Now let thy Pity hear the Maid,
Thy Love refus'd to save!'"
7. "'This is the mirk and fearful[3] Hour
When injur'd Ghosts complain.
And dreary[4] graves give up their Dead,
To haunt the faithless Swain.'"
8 "'Bethink thee, William, of thy fault,
Thy Pledge, and broken Oath;
And give me back my Maiden -Vow,
And give me back my Troth."
9 "'How could you say my Face was fair,
And yet that Face forsake?'
How could you win my Virgin-Heart,
Yet leave that Heart to break." [5]
------------------
1 "an April."
2. "her sable."
3 "Mallet changes 'mirk and fearful' to 'dumb and dreary'. 'Mirk', signifying gloomy darkness, as of a dungeou and as imagined of hell, is a good Ä. S. Word, whieh continued in use down to the time of Spenser and Holinshed. It was perhaps first changed into 'murk' in Shakespeare's time, but the older and more correct spelling is still in use. Mallet must have had but an imperfect knowledge of English when he made his deteriorating change."
4 " 'And dreary' changed to 'Now yawning'."
5 "Mallet transposes this stanza for the next."
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 53
10 "'How[1] could you promise Love to me,
And not that Promise Keep.'
Why did you swear mine Eyes were bright,
Yet leave those Eyes to weep?"
11 '"How coiüd you say my Lip was sweet,
And made the Scarlet pale.'
And why did I, young witless Maid!
Believe the flattering Tale?"
12 '"That Face, alas! no more is fair;
These ups no longer red;
Dark are mine[2] Eyes, now clos'd in Death,
And every Charm is fled."
13 "'The hungry Worm my Sister is;
This Winding-Sheet I wear:
And cold & weary lasts our Night,
Till that last Morn appear."
14 '"But hark! The Cock has warn'd me hence;
A long and last Adieu!
Come see, false Man, how low she lies,
That dy'd for Love of you!'"
15 "Now Birds did sing, and Moming smile.
And shew her glistering Head; [3]
Pale William shook in ev'ry Limb,
Then, raving, left his Bed.''
16 "He hy'd him to the fatal place
Where Margaret's Body lay,
And stretcht him on the green Grass Turf,
That wrapt her Breathless Clay."
---------------------
1 "How changed to 'Why' in this and in the next stanza."
2 ''Mine changed to 'my'."
3 "Mallet here rejects 'glistering head', though glistering and glittering are the same: so he changed the two lines to
'The lark sung loud; the moming smil'd
With beams of rosy red.'
In his Allan Ramsay version he had —
'The lark sung out, the morning smil'd,
And rais'd her glist'ring head;
Pale William quak'd in every limb.'"
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54 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
17 "And thrice he call'd on Margaret's Name,
And thrice he wept full sore;
Then laid his Cheek to the cold Earth,[1]
And Word spake never more."
"The broadside has no printer's name to it, but in its place, the following: 'N. B. — This Ballad will sing to the Tunes of Montrose's Lilt, Rothes's Lament, or the Isle of Kell.'"
"The notice 'This Ballad will sing to the Tunes of Montrose's Lilt, Rothes's Lament, or the Isle of Kell', tells the story of the
edition. The ballad was reprinted for the Chapmen who travelled into Scotland, to seil their iDOoks and ballads. The proper tune is printed with the words, but, it being unknown in Scotland, three others are indicated, to any of which the words may be sung. Mallet's acquaintance with the ballad was undoubtedly owing to the purchasing of a copy from one of these Chapmen.
Black-letter printing continued in favour to a later date in Scotland than in England.
There was a considerable trade in English ballads carried on by these Chapmen, both in Ireland and in Scotland.
Dr Percy considered 'William and Margaret, one of the most beautiful ballads in our own or any language', and it cannot be
Said to have gained from Mallet's changes. Percy was mistaken in supposing the other two lines quoted by Old Merrythought, in the play of 'The Knight of the Burning Pestle', to have ever formed part of 'William and Margaret', although the distich is:
'You are no love for me, Margaret,
I am no love for you.'[2]
This is part of the other ballad which he has printed under the title of 'Fair Margaret and Sweet William', having derived it 'from
a modern printed copy. picked up on a stall'. He could not have hit upon a more obviously incorrect version. The reason that he
did not recognize it is because, in his copy, the very two lines quoted by Old Merrythought are corrupted into:
'I see no harm by you, Margaret.
And you see none by me.'
This foolish alteration deprives the ballad of the very subject of its story, which might be defined by the title of an old play, as 'The Miseries of inforced Marriage'. It is on the last meeting of two lovers, and is told with true ballad conciseness.
----------------------
1 Mallet changes 'the cold earth' to 'her cold grave'."
2 Chappell is wrong here; as we have seen stanza 2 — to which he refers — is corrupt in A. Evidently he did not know B and C. Child's collection did not appear till 1886.
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 55
With Old MerryThought's restoration. the opening stanzas will be:
"'As it fell out on a long summer's day,
Two lovers they sat on a hill;
They sat together that long summer's day,
And could not talk their fill."
"['I am no love for you, Margaret,
And you are no love for me;]
Before to-morrow at eight o'[the]clock,
A rich wedding you shall see.'"
"Fair Margaret sate in her bower-window
A combing of her hair;
There she espied Sweet William and his bride
As they were a riding near.'"
"Down she laid her ivory comb.
And up she bound her hair;
She went away, forth from the bower,
But nevermore came [she] there."
"When day was gone, and night was come,
And all were fast asleep.
Then came the spirit of fair Margaret,
And stood at William's bed-feet."
This fifth stanza is the one which has seemed to connect the two ballads, but they are obviously distinct. This ballad had the more enduring popularity, if we may judge by the uumber of editions. Perhaps it was owing to the idea expressed in the eighteenth and nineteenth stanzas, so often copied in recent days:
"Margaret was buryed in the lower chancell,
And William in the higher;
Out of her breast there sprang a rose,
And out of bis a briar.'"
"'They grew as high as the church top.[1]
Till they could grow no higher;
And there they grew in a true lover's knot,
Which made all the people admire."
Chappell discussed the subject also in the Antiquary, No. 1, January, 1880 and in Notes and Queries, 7th S. II. 1886, pp. 4, 410 and 490. [2] As W. L. Phelps has pointed out in The Beginnings of the English Romantic Movement, p. 179, Chappell's argument that Mallet can hardly be supposed to have read Beaumont and Fletcher as early as 1724, by trying to prove to much, proves nothing. The astonishing thing, however, is that Chappell
------------------
1 "'Church top", quere 'steeple top'. The metre indicates it."
2 The writer of the article on Mallet in the Dictionary of National Biography refers to Chappell's article in Notes and Queries and yet says: "he composed the ballad of 'W. and M." which was published first anonymously in black letter"!
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56 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
considers the poem printed by him to be 'the old ballad', in spite of its evident eighteenth-century tone, and in spite of the fact that he himself made such a successful attempt at restoring the original form of the poem, basing on the very ballad he condemns as 'an obviously incorrect version'. It must be stated here, very expressly, that the fact on which Chappell lays so much stress, viz. that the broadside, described by him, bears a Queen Ann stamp, does not necessarily prove that the ballad was printed in the Queen's lifetime, for as late as 1725 newspapers were provided with exactly the same stamp. For instance, the 'London Gazette' of January 1714—15, the 'Evening Post' of July 7, 1724, and the 'Monitor' of August 21, 1724, all bear the identical registration stamp. This accounts for the fact that the British Museum dates the ballad as '?1723' in the Music Catalogue, and '?1725' in the Literary Catalogue. Chappell's discovery has only value if he is correct in his unproved statement that 'the Act was not intended to apply to ballads, and they were speedily excepted from its Operation' (Supra, p. 48). The mere fact that a ballad does not bare a stamp (Supra, p. 48) is not sufficient proof, for newspapers also, sometimes bear no stamp! Chappell's remark holds good only if it can be proved decisively that ballads were formally excepted. Any one can convince himself that there was a good deal of irregularity in the application of the newspaper registration stamp in the first quarter of the 18th Century, by a visit to the Reading-room of the British Museum. I cannot attach much value to Chappell's discovery as a proof of Mallet's false claim. I believe that the fact that, the ballad was sung to three Scotch tunes is much more important. Turning to the text published by Chappell, we shall find that it belongs to a group entirely different from A, B and C, for convenience we can combine these into division I, and Chappell's text with others like it into division II.
Whether the next form of the ballad is that in Ramsay's Tea table Miscellany, or that in The Flain Dealer is uncertain. The difficulty is in the uncertainty about the date of the first-named collection. Allan Ramsay published the ballad, signed 'D. M.', in the second volume of the Tea- Table Miscellany. The Dictionary of National Biography gives the date of the first edition as 1724—7: the Cambridge History of Literature gives '4 vols. 1724 — 5 — 7 — 32'. The probability that the volume of the MisceUany containing the ballad appeared in 1724 is very slight; it is much more likely that it came out in 1725 or 1726. The early history of this collection is wrapt in obscurity. Copies of the first edition are extremely scarce: even the British Museum, the Advocates' Library and the University Library in Edinburgh possessing none. An appeal to the readers of Notes and Queries was made in vain. If the date
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 57
of Ramsay's dedication to the 'Dear Lasses' is correct (January 1st, 1724). and if it is attached to the first edition of Vol. I — and I know of no reason to doubt it — the second volume must be of later date than the Piain-Dealer. The fact remains, however, that Ramsay knew Mallet in 1723 as the reputed author of our poem. For this reason the text of the Plain Dealer, which is exactly dated, follows in this place. A most extraordinary and hitherto unnoticed fact is the publication of the ballad on July 25 of the same year (1724) in The Weekly Journal with a letter to the editor in which the writer says that he has heard it highly recommended and that it is an example to young men.
For convenience's sake I add a list of the principal periodicals and collections in which the ballad, ascribed to Mallet, was published in the course of the IS^** c, up to 1765.
The Plain Dealer, 24 July, 1724.
The Weekly Journal, 25 July 1724.
The Hive, London, 3 vols., vol. I, 2nd ed. 1724, p. 169: 3rd ed. 1726, p. 159. The 4th ed., 1732, p. 161, contained only the amended version of The Exeursion.[1]
A Collection of Old Ballads, London, 3 vols. 1723, &c.: vol. III, 1725, p. 218; same Version as in the Hive (1724).
Ramsay's Tea- Table Miscellany, vol. II; date uncertain, published before 1727; ed. 1729, p. 144: 9th ed. 1733, p. 148. In this collection the poem was headed: 'W. and M., an old Ballad' and signed D. M. Ramsay, A New Miscellany of Scots Songs, London, 1727, p. 148.
Orpheus Caledonius, 1733.
The Nightingale, a Collection of English Songs, London. 1738.
Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, 1765.
In March 1728 Mallet published a poem in two cantos, 'The Excursion. This was thus advertised in The Daily Courant, London, Feb. 22, 1729: "Lately printed, The Excursion, a Poem: to which is added William and Margaret, a Ballad, now first printed from the author's copy. The reason for its republication is thus stated: 'N. B. The Little Poem that follows this (i. e. 'The Excursion'), is added here, only because it was printed formerly from an incorrect Copy." Dinsdale informs us that the publisher of The Excursion was also the publisher of The Hive.
Some slight alterations were made in the ballad as printed in Mallet's Poems, 1743, and two more alterations (XV, 2, 'With beams of rosy red'; XVI, 4, 'spoke') in the author's Works 1759.[2]
------------------------
1. Dinsdale, p. 74.
2 yide infra pp. 63—65.
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58 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
From:
"The Plain Dealer", No. 36. Friday, July 24, 1724.
"William, and Margaret." "A Ballad."
I. "When Hope lay hush'd in silent Night,
And Woe was wrapp'd in Sleep,
In glided Mary'ret's pale ey'd Ghost,
And stood at Willinm's Feet,"
II. "Her Face was like an April Sky,
Dimm'd by a scatt'ring Cloud:
Her clay-cold, lilly Hand, Knee-high,
Held up her sable Shroud."
III. "So shall the fairest Face appear;
When Youthful Years are flown!
Such the last Robe, that Kings must Avear,
When üeath deprives their Crown!"
-------------------
I. Hive, 1724: When all was wrapt in dark midnight.
And all were fast asleep,
In glided Margaret's grimly ghost,
A Collection of OM Ballads 1725, vol. III, p. 218: When all was wrapt in dark Midnight,
And all were fast a-sleep,
In glided Marg'ret's grimly Ghost,
Edition 1728: 'Twas at the silent midnight hour,
When all were fast asleep;
The Tea- Table Miscellany : Or, a complete Collection of Scots Songs. 1729, vol. II, p. 144:
'Twas at the fearful Midnight Hour,
When all were fast asleep,
Edition 1743: 'Twas at the silent, solemn hour,
When night and morning meet;
II. Hive 1724: Her face was like the April morn,
Clad in a wintery cloud.
And clay-cold was her lilly band,
That held the sable shrowd.
Old Ball.. 1725: Her Face was like the April Morn,
Clad in a wintry Cloud,
And Clay cold was her Lilly Hand,
That held her Sable shrowd.
Edition 1728: same but: like an April Morn
Tea Table, 1729: same but: like April Morn,
III. Hive, 1724, When Youth and Years are flown;
Old Ball., 1725, Such is the Robe that Kings must wear,
Tea-Table. 1729: When Death has reft their Crown.
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59 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
IV. "Her Bloom was like the Morning Flow'r
That sips the Silver Dew:
The Rose had budded, in her Cheek
Just op'ning to the View."
V. "But Loue had, like the Canker-womn,
Consum'd her tender Prime:
The Rose of Beauty pal'd and pin'd.
And dy'd before its Time."
VI. "Awake! she cry'd, Thy true Love call?,
Come from her Midnight Gravel
Late, lat thy Pity moum a Wretch,
Thy Love refus'd to save."
VII. "This is the dark, and fearful Hour,
When injur'd Ghosts complain:
And Lovers Tombs, give up their Dead,
To haiint the faithless Swain."
VIII. "Bethink thee, Wülianil of thy Fault,
Thy Pledge of broken Truth:
See the sad Lesson, thou hast taught
My unsuspecting Youth!"
-----
IV. Hive, 1724, old Ball, 1725:
Her Bloom was like the springing Flow'r,
That sips the Silver Dew;
The Rose was budded in her Cheek,
And opening to the View.
Tea- Table, 1729: Same but: Just opening ...
V. Hive, 1724, Old Ball., 1725, Tea- Table, 1729:
Consum'd her early Prime:
The Rose grew pale and left her Check;
She dy'd before her Time.
VI. Hive. 1724: Now let thy Pity hear the Maid,
VII. Hive, 1724: This is the mirk and fearful Hour,
Now dreary Graves give up their Dead,
Old Ball: idem
Edition 1728: When yawning graves give up their dead,
To haunt the faithless man.
Tea- Table. 1729: This is the dumb and dreary Hour,
When injur'd Ghosts complain.
And aid the secret Fears of Night
To fright the faithless Man.
Edition 1743: To haunt the faithless swain.
1725: idem.
VIII. Hive, 1724, Thy Pledge, and broten Oath,
Old Ball, 1725, And give me back my Maiden Vow,
Tea Table, 1729: And give me back my Troth.
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60 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
IX. "Why did you, first, give Sense of Charms,
Then, all those Charms forsake?
Why sigh'd you for my Virgin Heart,
Then left it, thus, to break?"
X. "Why did you, present, pledge such Vows,
Yet none, in Äbsence, keep?
Why Said you, that my Eyes were bright,
Yet taught 'em first to weep?"
XI. "Why did you praise my blushing Lips,
Yet make their Scarlet pale?
And why, alas! did I, fond Maid!
Believe the flatt'ring Tale?"
XII. "But, now, my Face no more is Fair;
My Lips retain no Red:
Fix'd are my Eyes, in Death's still Glare
And Love's vain Hope is fled."
IX is X in Piain Dealer, Tea-Tahle, Hive of 1732, and edition of 1743.
X is IX in Plain Dealer, Tea-Table, Hive of 1732, and edition of 1743.
IX. Hive, 1724, How could you say my Face was fair,
Old Ball., 1725, And yet that Face forsake?
Tea-Table, 1729: How could you win my Virgin Heart,
Yet leave that Heart to break?
X. Hive, 1724: How could you proraise Love to me,
And not that Promise keep?
Why did you Swear mine Eyes were bright,
Yet leave those Eyes to weep?
Old Ball, 1725: idem.
Edition 1728: idem (my eyes — — — those eyes).
Tea-Table, 1729: "Why did you promise Love to me.
And not that Promise keep?
Why Said you, that my Eyes were bright,
Yet left these Eyes to weep?"
XI. Hive, 1724: How could you say my lip was sweet,
Old Ball, 1725: idem.
Edition 1728: Why did you say.
Tea-Table, 1729: How could you swear, my Lip was sweet.
XII. Hire, 1724; Old Ball., 1725; Tea-Table, 1729: these Lips.
Hive, 1724; Old Ball.. 1725: mine Eyes. — Edition 1728: those lips.
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61 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
XIII. "The hungry Worm my Partner is,
This Winding-Sheet my Dress.
A long, and weary, Night must pass,
E'er Heaven allows Redress."
XIV. "But, hark! — 'Tis Day! — The Darkness fliee:
Take one long, last Adieu!
Come, see, false Man! how low She lies,
Who dy'd for pitying You.'
XV. "The Birds sung out; the Morning smil'd;
And streak'd the Sky with Red;
Pale William shook, in ev'ry Limb,
And Started from his Bed."
XVI. "Weeping, he sought the fatal Place,
Where Marg'ret's Body lay.
And stretch'd him o'er the Green-grass Turf,
That veil'd her Breathless Clay."
-------
XIII. Hive, 1724, "The hungry Worm my Sister is;
Old Ball, 1725, This Winding-sheet I wear;
Tea-Table, 1729: And cold and weary lasts our Night,
Till that last Morn appear.'
XIV. Hive, 1724, But hark! the Cock has wam'd me hence:
Old Ball, 1725, A long and last Adieu!
Edition 1728: Come see, false Man, how low she lies,
That dy'd for Love of you.'
Tea-Table, 1729: A long and late Adieu!
XV. Hive, 1724, "Now Birds did sing and Morning smile,
Old Ball, 1725: And shew her glistering Head;
Pale William shook in ev'ry Limb
Then raving left his Bed."
Tea-Table. 1729:
Edition 1728:
XVI. Hii-e, 1724,
Old Ball, 1725,
Edition 17.28:
Tea-Table, 1729:
The Lark sung out, the Moming smil'd,
And raised her glist'ring Head :
Pale William quak'd in every Limb;
Then, raving, left his Bed!
The lark sung loud; the morning smird,
He hy'd him to the fatal Place,
Where Margaret's Body lay,
And stretch'd him on the green Grass Turf,
That wrapt her Breathless Clay.
(»'er the green Grass Turf
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62 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
XVII. "Thrice calld, unheard, on Marg'ret's Name,
And thrice he wept her Fate:
Then laid his Cheek on her cold Grave,
And dy'd — And lov'd, too late."
XVII. Hive, 1724, And thrice he call'd on Margaret's name,
Old Ball, 1725: And thrice he wept füll sore
Then laid his Cheek on the cold Earth,
And Word spake never more.
Tea- Table, 1729: Then laid his Cheek on her cold Grave
And Word spoke never more.
Edition 1728: Then laid his cheek to her cold grave.
In The Tea-Table Miscellany, 1729, the poem is signed 'D.M.'.
In the 1733 edition Chalmers has written "by David Malloch" [or it may be "Mallet" for there has been a slight correction at the end of the "Mallot"]. Then as a footnote Chalmers has added "Written when he was Janitor of the High School of Edinbr. By the last 2 verses [XVI and XVII] he has written — "Qy these added by Ramsay, see Ritson's Scot. Songs, v. 2. 204."
Aaron Hill, the editor, added a number of criticisms from which I copy the following. They should be read after the quotation in Chappell's note given on p. 51:
. . . ("I am sorry I am not able to acquaint my Reader with his Name, to whom we owe this melancholy Piece of finish'd Poetry, under the humble Title of a Ballad.) . . . Yet, the Common Fate of Merit is so unequal to its Claim, that one might almost venture to conclude, that this great Genius, whoever he was, lived poor, and died unknown: in Want, perhaps, of Ease and Comfort, while he had Excellence, that merited a Nation's Gratitude, for the Honour he might have lived to do it.
From an Air of impressive Earnestness, that is distinguishable through this Piece, I am of Opinion, that it was founded on the real History of some unhappy Woman of the Age the Author liv'd in, who had the Misfortune to die untimely by her Lover's Insensibility; or, rather, By his Ingratitude." ...
In the Piain Dealer, No 46, August 28, 1724 Aaron Hill writes: "In my XXXVIth Paper I published some Remarks on an excellent Old Ballad, called William and Margaret. I was charm'd with the Strength and Beauties of its Masculine Simphcity; and really took it to be, what it appeard, the Work of Some Old Poet, long since dead, but I have been agreeably undeceiv'd: the Author of it is alive, and a North-Briton. I congratulate his Country on the promise of this rising Genius: For the Gentleman, it seems, is very young, and received his Education in the University of Edinburgh. Among many fine Qualities which adorn him, he is
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 63
SO unconscious of his own Merit, or possesses it with so sincere a Modesty, that he declines being publickly nam'd: But as he has oblig'd me with a Letter, containing the short History of an unhappy Accident which gave Occasion to his Ballad. it will be an
agreeable Entertainment if I publish it as the author sent it me, . . . The Author's Copy, which he inclos'd to me, is different in several Places from that which feil into my Hands; but the Sense of both is exactly the same; and the Variation in some Expressions not considerable enough to make it necessary to republish that excellent Ballad."
Although Chappell gives the principal variations of Mallet's version, I reprint the text as it was finally adopted in that author's Works in 3 volumes 1759, from F. Dinsdale's excellent Ballads and Songs by David Mallett, London 1857.[1]
William and Margaret.
I. Twas at the silent, solemn hour,
When night and morning meet;
In glided Margaret's grimly ghost,
And stood at William's feet.
II. Her face was like an April morn,
Clad in a wintry cloud:
And clay-cold was her lily-hand,
That held her sable shroud.
III. So shall the fairest face appear,
When youth and years are flown:
Such is the robe that kings must wear,
When death has reft their crown.
IV. Her bloom was like the springing flower,
That sips the silver dew;
The rose was budded in her cheek,
Just opening to the view.
V. But Love had, like the canker-wonn,
Consum'd her early- prime:
The rose grew pale, and left her check;
She died before her time.
VI. "Awake!" she cried, "thy True Love calls,
Come from her midnight grave;
Now let thy Pity hear the maid,
Thy Lore refus'd to save.
------------------
1 Dinsdale seems to neglect the capitals characteristic of 18th century texts.
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64 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
VII.
This is the dumb and dreary liour,
When injur'd ghosts coraplain;
When yawning graves give up their dead,
To haunt the faithless swain.
VIII.
Bethink thee, William, of thy fault,
Thy pledge and broken oath:
And give me back mj- maiden-vow,
And give me back my troth.
IX.
Why did you promise love to me,
And not that promise keep?
Why did you swear my eyes were bright,
Yet leave those eyes to weep?
X. How could you say my face was fair,
And yet that face forsake?
How could you win my virgin heart,
Yet leave that heart to break?
XI. Why did you say my lip was sweet,
And made the scarlet pale?
And why did I, young witless maid!
Believe the flattering tale?
XII. That face, alas! no more is fair;
Those lips no longer red:
Dark are my eyes, now clos'd in death.
And every charm is fled.
XIII. The hungry worm my sister is;
This winding-sheet I wear:
And cold and weary lasts our night,
Till that last morn appear.
XIV. But, hark! the cock has warn'd me hence;
A long and late adieu[1]
Come see, false man, how low she lies,
Who died for love of you."
XV. The lark sung loud; the morning smil'd,
With beams of rosy red:
Pale William quak'd in every limb,
And raving left his bed.
XVI. He hied him to the fatal place
Where Margaret's body lay:
And stretch'd him on the grass-green turf
That wrap'd her breathless clay.
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 65
XVII. And thrice he call'd on Margaret's name,
And thrice he wept füll sore:
Then laid his cheek to her cold grave,
And word spoke never more!
Mallet added the following note:
'N. B. In a comedy of Fletcher's, called The Knight of the Burning Pestle, old Merry-Thought enters, repeating the following verses:
"When it was grown to dark midnight,
And all were fast asleep,
In came Margaret's grimly ghost,
And stood at William's feet."
This was, probably, the beginning of some ballad, commonly known at the time when that author wrote; and is all of it, I believe, that is anywhere to be met with. These lines, naked of Ornament and simple as they are, Struck my fancy; and, bringing fresh into my mind an unhappy adventure, much talked of formerly, gave birth to the foregomg poem, which was written many years ago.'
This note was a slight alteration of a passage from an interesting letter addressed to the editor of the Piain Dealer, and printed in N° XLVI of that periodical (Aug. 28, 1724). The letter ran as follows:
"Sir, — Your Plain Dealer, of July the 24th was sent to me by a Friend. I must own, after I had read it over, I was both surpriz'd and pleas'd to find that a simple Tale of my Writing had merited the Notice and Approbation of the Author of the Plain Dealer.
After what you have said of William and Margaret, I flatter myself that you will not be displeas'd with an Account of the Accident which gave Birth to that Ballad.
Your Conjecture, that it was founded on the real History of an unhappy Woman, is true. A vain young Gentleman had for some Time prpfessed Love to a Lady, then in the Spring of her Life and Beauty. He dress'd well, talk'd loud, and spoke nonsense with Spirit. She had good understanding. but was too Young to know the world. I have seen her very often. She had never been address'd to by a Man of Sense; and, therefore, knew not how despicable and unsincere a Fool is. In time he persuaded her that there was Merit in his Passion. — She believ'd him, and was undone.
She was upon the Point of bringing into the World the Effect of her ill-plac'd Love, before her Father knew the Misfortune. Judge the Sentiments of the Good Old Man! Yet his Affection Outweigh'd his Anger. He could not think of abandoning his Child
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66 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
to Want aiid Infamy. He applied himself to her false Lover, with an Offer of Half his Fortune; but the Temper of the Betrayer was savag'd with cruel Insolence. He rejected the Father's Offers, and reproach'd the Innocence he had min'd, with the Bitterness of open Scorn. The News was brought her, when in a weak Condition, and cast her into a Fever. And, in a few Days after, I saw her and her Child laid in one Grave together.
It was some Time after this, that I chanc'd to look into a Comedy of Fletcher's, called The Knight of the Burning Pestle. The Place I feil upon was, where Old Merry-Thought repeats these Verses:
'When it was grown to dark midnight,
And all vere fast asleep:
In came Margaret's grimly ghost,
And stood at William's feet.
Which, I fancy, was the Beginning of some Ballad, commonly known, at the Time when this Author wrote.
These Lines, naked of Ornament, and simple as they are, struck my Fancy. I clos'd the Book, and bethought myself that the unhappy Adventure I have mentioned above, which then came fresh into my mind, might naturally raise a Tale, upon the Appearance of this Ghost, — It was then Midnight. All round me, was still and quiet. These concurring Circumstances work'd my Soul to a powerful Melancholy. I could not sleep; and at that Time I finish'd my little Poem, such as you see it here. If it continues to deserve your Approbation, I have my Aim; and am,
Sir,
Your most obliged, and most humble Servant, &c."
Dinsdale, adds: This touching tale is said to have originated in the seduction of a daughter of Professor James Gregory, of St. Andrews, and afterwards of Edinburgh, by a son of Sir William Sharp, of Strathyrum, who had promised to marry her, and heartlessly deserted her. The young man was a nephew of Archbishop Sharp, of St. Andrews; and bis base and inhuman conduct in this instance added greatly to the odium in which the name of Sharp had been previously held in that vicinity; and no doubt the Impression was the more deep and painful in consequence of the universal respect which had long been entertained for the Gregory family, from which so many men of the highest scientific eminence had Sprung.
The tragical story is thus alluded to by Dr. Irving : — " A daughter of this Professor, a young lady of great beauty and accomplishments. is said to have been the victini of an unfortunate attach-
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 67
-ment, and to have furnished the subject of Mallet's bailad of William and Margaret." [1]
After this statement of the facts connected with the appearance of what is called Mallet's ballad, we must turn our attention to
the mention of that author's name, in connection with 'William and Margaret', in contemporary writers.
Perhaps first in time are the following lines:
"But he that could, in tender strains,
Raise Margaret's plaining shade,
And paint distress that chills the veins,
While Wiliiam's crimes are red;"
taken from Allan Ramsay's Stanzas to Mr. David Malloch on his departure from Scotland.[2] To the second line Ramsay adds the following note: ''William and Margaret, a ballad, in Imitation of the old manner, wherein the strength of thought and passion is more observed than a rant of unmeaning words." In August 1723 Mallet came to England. He was then eighteen years old, for the probable date of his birth is 1705. If Ramsay wrote these lines immediately after Mallet left Scotland they would mean that Ramsay knew the poet's claim to the authorship of the ballad, before it appeared in print in the Plain Dealer. In that case Mallet had probably entrusted the poem to Ramsay for publication. This would, however, not mean that Mallet need necessarily be the author. For he may have become acquainted with the ballad in Scotland. As a matter of fact, we know that some version of the ballad as printed by Chappell must have been known in Scotland, nay even popular, for the note attached to the broadside published in the Roxburghe Ballads says that 'this Ballad will sing to the Tunes of Montrose's Lilt, Rothes's Lament, or the Isle of Kell'. That is to say the old ballad had become populär enough in Scotland to be sung to three different Scotlish tunes. It did not come across the border with its English tune, for very expressly the printer said that it 'would sing' to three national tunes one of which was very popular. For, what is called by the publisher 'Montrose's Lilt', is undoubtedly the same as 'Montrose's Lines', a song written by the Marquis of Montrose — probably about the middle of the 17th Century, at all events after 1640 — to the favourite tune of I will never love thee more.
The next mention of Mallet as author of the ballad is, as we have Seen, in the Plain Dealer and from that time onward till
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1. Dinsdale's Note: Lives of Scottish Writers (1850), vol. ii. 266. — See Ritson's Scottisli Songs 1764, ii. 205; Dr. Huttou's Dictionary (179 'i), vol. i. 555; also Stenhouse's Illustrations of the Lyric Poetry of Scotland (1853), j.]). 471, 51'J.
2. Vide Poems. 1728, p. 257.
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68 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
1778 nobody doubted bis authorship. Thomson, the author of the Seasons, alludes to Mallet as the author in his Preface to the second editioii of Winter, 172fi. In 1725 Mallet published the ballad under his own name together with The Excursion.
For the next development I must quote Dinsdaie.[1] "In a publication entitled The Friends, &c., London, 1773, 2 vols. (in the first volume, p. 71), is inserted a copy of William and Margaret, which it is stated was copied from an old Manuscript Book, and which the editor of that work contends was the original, and that Mallet adopted it for his own and altered it. On this, the first charge of plagiarism, Bishop Percy[2] has recorded his opinion in defense of Mallet. It is unfortunately a very superficial opinion. On this same pretended original another writer coincides with Bishop Percy." From that time onward doubt has again and again been expressed, sometimes hesitatingly, sometimes decisively. It is unnecessary to cite the opinions of the various critics. Most of them recognized or denied Mallet's claim without investigating the matter. An exception must, however, be made for Professor W. L. Phelps, who has given a very clear resume of the State of things in Appendix II of his English Romantic Movement (1893). His conclusion is:
'We know that Hill published his disfigured version in July, 1724. Mallet saw it in print and noticed that no one claimed its authorship. Having the true copy in his own possession, he made a radical change in the first line, with trifling verbal alterations in the other stanzas, trumped up a story of the circumstances that led him to compose the poem and sent both story and poem to The Plain Dealer, taking care to withhold his name from the public. With great cunning he himself quoted the passage from the old drama, thus forestalling future criticisms on that score. Hill published Mallet's unsigned letter, but refused to publish the enclosed version of the ballad, probably because he liked his own improvements too well to have them superceded. Then Mallet, wanting a publisher for his own copy, handed it over to Allan Ramsay — who was thoroughly unscrupulous in matters of authorship[3] — and it appeared in Vol. II of the Tea- Table Miscellany, signed 'D. M.'. As no one put up a counterclaim to Mallet, he grew bolder, and in 1728 published the ballad with his full name in a volume of his own verse. Such seems to be a natural and probable account of what he did, why he did it, and what the results of his action were.'[4]
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1 p. 75.
2 4th ed. 1794, vol. III, p. 336.
3 Mr. Phelps forgets that as early as 1723 Ramsay considered Mallet to be the author.
4. p. 181.
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 69
This theory has beeh accepted, amongst others, by Beers in A History of Romanticism in the XVIII"' Century (p. 283). Prof. Saintsbury in the chapter on the Lesser Verse Writers in Vol. IX of the Cambridge History of Enylish Literai/ire appears to adhere to the old theory that Mallet is the author. Child rejects the claim of Mallet. G. G. S., the writer of the article on Mallet in the Dictionary of National Biography, says: "his early ballad of 'William and Margaret', and the claim set up on his behalf to the authorship of the national ode of 'Rule Britannia', alone give him any title to posthumous recognition. But 'Rule Britannia", which appeared in its first form in the Alfred of 1740, although ascribed to Mallet, is probably by Thomson."
In an investigation into a man's claim to the authorship of a literary work, his personal character is not a neglectable quantity, nor is the quality of his other work unimportant. Mallet was not a scrupulous man, as is abundantly proved by his behaviour in the notorious Marlborough case and by his acceptance of money from Bolingbroke to libel Pope after his death. His claim to the authorship of Rnle Britannia has been forcibly combated by Chappell and others, and his attitude in the case of Admiral Byng is not beyond suspicion. A man of Mallet's character would hardly scruple to claim as his own a poem which he had altered according to the taste of his day; especially not — and be this Said in exoneration of the accused — in an age when literary forgeries were rife, when literary property was hardly recognized, and when a derelict ballad would most certainly not be regarded as any one's property.
After carefully weighing all that can be said for and against Mallet, I have come to the following conclusions: Mallet knew the fragments of the oldest version when he became acquainted with the broadside text. He made a few changes in this broadside version and read it to his friends or circulated copies of it among his literary acquaintances. In this manner Ramsay became acquainted with it and referred to Mallet as the author of the ballad. When Ramsay published the second volume of the Tea- Table Miscellany he inserted the ballad as Mallet's work. I quite agree with Mr. Phelps that much depends on the exact date of the Tea- Table Miscellany, but I think more depends on the date of the Stanzas To Mr. Malloch on his Departure from Scotland. Though there is still some uncertainty I believe we may date the former after 1724 (probably 1725), the latter before 1724 (probably 1723).
Meanwhile the editor of the Plain Dealer had somewhere picked up a copy of the broadside, in which another hand had made some alterations. Then Malloch - now resident in England — stepped in, and claimed the ballad as his own. The fact
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70 Fair Margaret and Sweet William
that it appeared on two consecutive days — July 24 aud 25 — in two periodicals would seem to point undeniably to the fact that a version, altered to suit the taste of the day, was published in that year, or, more probably, some time before Ramsay's stanzas. This Version soon attracted the attention of literary men. There can be little doubt that this was Chappell's broadside, sold by Chapmen, in England with the English tune,[1] in Scotland with the Scotch tunes. If Aaron Hill's statement is true — and I see no reason to doubt it — it had soon found its way into one or more garlands.
If it can be proved with absolute certainty that the broadside was printed in 1711, or at all events, long before 1723, Mallet's authorship is out of the question; if it was printed in 1723 or 1725 I see no reason to doubt that authorship, everything depends on this.
I think we must leave out of account two facts, viz. that Mallet was only eighteen in 1723, and that, if he is the author of the ballad, that poem is his only production entitling him to the rank of a poet. As regards the first point, several cases could be cited of very young poets producing excellent work; and as regards the second point, we should not forget that many a reputation is based on one poem or one novel. Besides The Birks of Endermay, which Mallet wrote certainly, is by no means despicable.
With regard to the two divisions I and II, I must repeat most decisively that, although connected, I is a real old ballad, II an undoubted broadside bailad of the latter part of the 17th Century or perhaps the beginning of the 18th century.
Those interested in the music of this ballad, I refer to Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time (1855, pp. 382—4; 1893, II, pp. 131, 2), and to Dinsdale's Ballads and Songs by David Mallet, pp. 129 ff. The fact that the ballad would 'sing to the Tunes of Montrose's Lilt, Bothes's Lament, or the Isle of Kell' makes it improbable that Mallet was the author, for we can hardly believe that his version had become so populär (if we are allowed to speak of Mallet's version) in the few years that elapsed between 1722 or 1723 and 1725, if this latter is the approximate date of Chappel's ballad.
The only things that can be said with absolute certainty are:
1. that Ramsay, when he wrote his farewell lines to Malloch (which must have been in 1723) knew, or believed, that the latter was the author of the ballad.
2. that in 1724 and 1725 the ballad was repeatedly printed, and became widely known.
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1. Presumably.
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Fair Margaret and Sweet William 71
3. that the ballad was sung to various Scotch tunes.
4. that the ballad was sold as a broadside between 1711 and 1725.[1]
5. that apparently during Mallet's lifetime his authorship was never questioned.
6. In favour of Mallet's authorship is Ramsay's farewell poem.
7. Against his authorship would be the early date of Chappell's ballad, if it can be undeniably fixed at 1711 or shortly after.
8. Against his authorship is the remarkable fact that Chappell's broadside exists at all, and is written to three Scotch tunes.
9. Against his authorship is the fact that he pretended the story was based on a real event.
Thus my final words must be: non liquet.
Amsterdam. A. E. H. Swaen.
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1 The authorities of the British Museum consider 1725 a reasonable date and 1711 absurd.