False Knight on the Road- Frank Quinn (Tyrone) 1958
[From the 1961 Topic compilation, "The Child Ballads I." According to collector Sean O'Boyle, Quinn learned it from his father who in turn learned it from his father, who moved from Scotland to Coalisland as a boy. Quotes for O'Boyle's liner notes follow,
R. Matteson 2018]
About the ballad Quinn remarked, "Sure everybody knows that if you stand in the one place without moving when the devil meets you, he'll do you no harm. And the wee fellow had the faith of a Christian, you see, the staff for the land and the boat for the sea." The staff is found similarly in
An old fisherman told Quinn this about his ballad, "the knight was some kind of emissary of the devil, some sort of a spectre or ghost like, that inhabited a certain part of the road. It was fatal for a person to move confrontin' this thing and this dialogue was a test of the child, to see if he was well fortified for the ultimate end."
"The False Knight on the Road" from the singing of Frank Quinn, Coalisland, Ireland, 1958.
“What brings you here so late?” said the Knight on the road:
“I go to meet my God,” said the Child as he stood,
And he stood and he stood and 'twere well he stood;
“I go to meet my God,” said the Child as he stood.
“How will you go by land? said the knight on the road.
"With a strong staff in my hand," said the child as he stood.
And he stood, and he stood, and 'twere well he stood.
"With a strong staff in my hand," said the child as he stood.
"How will you go by sea?" said the knight on the road.
"With a good ship under me,' said the child as he stood.
And he stood, and he stood, and 'twere well he stood,
"With a good ship under me," said the child as he stood.
“Methinks I hear a bell,” said the knight on the road.
“It's ringing you to hell,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood and he stood, and 'twere well that he stood.
“It's ringing you to hell,” said the child as he stood.