False Knicht on the Road- McPherson (Scotland/OH/OK) c1877 Moores
[From Moore's Ballads and Folksong of the Southwest; 1964, English and Scottish Ballads. According to the Moores, "Born in Inverness, Scotland, McPherson moved to Ohio in 1867 when he was six years old and he came to Tulsa in 1895." I've set a date of 1877 when he was 16 years old but surely he learned this earlier and through his parents (relatives) it would go back to the 1830s in Scotland-- so this is an old version!
The last verse is similar to the last verse of Child C.
Moore's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
The False Knight upon the Road
Professor Child found only three texts of this ballad (Child, No.3). They were all from Galloway, Scotland, and were included in Motherwell. (See Child,I,20-22; the music is recorded in V,4L1. Motherwell, TI,282, also gives a fine tune.) In 1933, Reed Smith, in Journal, Vol. XLVII, wrote of the North Carolina variant which Professor Frank C. Brown of Duke University had in his unpublished collection. For other American texts of oral tradition, see Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, 11-14; Belden, 4; Brewster, 29-30; Creighton and Senior, 1; Davis, 61; Journal, Vol. XXIV,344 (Barry), Vol. XXX, 286 (Kittredge), Vol. LIV,208 (Brewster); and Sharp, I, 3-4.
The Fause Knicht on the Road was recited by James McPherson of Tulsa. Born in Inverness, Scotland, McPherson moved to Ohio in 1867 when he was six years old and he came to Tulsa in 1895. He served for many years as night watchman at the Tulsa Community Chest Building until his death in 1949. Ballad collectors were always welcome, for he liked people and the hours were long. His Scotch burr waxed thicker as he recited songs and talked of his beloved Inverness. It is unfortunate that if he knew tunes to his songs, he would never sing them. "Ha, awa' wi' ye, ma guid ladie," he once said, "an ye maun ask till a-twal' o'clock this nicht, but ye dinna'get an auld man t'mak'a fool o'himsel'." Consequently, this fine variant, like his others, goes without music.
"Whaur are ye gaun?" said the fause knicht,
Said the fause knicht on the road.
"A'm gaun t'schule," said the child,
But still he stood.
"What ha'ye got in your hands?" said the fause knicht,
Said the fause knicht on the road.
"I ha' bukes in ma hands," said the boy,
But still he stood.
"Wha's sheep are those?" said the fause knicht,
Said the fause knicht on the road.
"Ma mither's and mine," said the boy,
But still he stood.
"Whaur is ma share?" said the fause knicht,
Said the fause knicht on the road.
"All those that ha' blue tails," said the boy,
But still he stood.
"I wish ye were in the deepest well," said the fause knicht,
Said the fause knicht on the road.
"I wish ye were in the bottom o' Hell," said the boy,
But still he stood.