False Knight- Bella Higgins (Perth) 1955 Henderson
[My abbrev. title (The False Knight Upon the Road) from Collection at School of Scottish Studies; Original Track ID - SA1958.64.A3 from two recordings. Scottish School notes follow:
R. Matteson 2018]
Summary - In this ballad, a boy on his way to school encounters a knight [the Devil in disguise] and they enter a dialogue in which they try to outwit each other by trading insults. The boy succeeds in matching the knight's cunning, and ends by willing him to Hell, showing that he is aware of the true identity of his interlocutor.
The contributor learned the song when she was very small, but does not recall from whom.
The False Knight Upon the Road- sung by Bella Higgins (b. circa 1890) of Perthshire when she was 65, learned when she was a little girl (st. 10 years old) about 1900. Recorded in 1955 and 1958 by Hamish Henderson. She sings the first strain of "Rose tree' as melody.
1 O whar are ye goin' said the false knight on the road,
I'm goin' to the school said the wee boy and still he stood.
2 What's that upon your back said the false knight upon the road
My bannock[1] and my books said the wee boy and still he stood
3 Oh will gie me a share said the false knight upon the road,
Oh that's a deal a crumb[2] said the wee boy and still he stood the road.
4. If I had you at the sea said the false knight upon the road
And a gude ship under me said the wee boy and still he stood[3].
5 If had you at the well said the false knight upon the road
And you'd be bund in hell[4] said the wee boy and still he stood.
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1. round bread made from grain (his meal)
2. As best I could decipher (he gives the Devil a crumb :)
3. From 1955 recording
4. bund=bound (could be "down"). "And you down in hell" (1955 recording)