Jamie- Sullivan (VT) 1932 Flanders A
[From Ancient Ballads III, 1963, Flanders. Their notes follow.
R. Matteson 2013, 2016]
Huntingtower
(Laws O23, possibly related to Child 232)
Child, IV, 299, quotes Aytoun to the effect that "Richie Story" (232) was recomposed as a romantic ditty "Huntingtower." "Huntingtower" (or "When ye Gang Awa, Jamie" as it is frequently entitled) was widely printed in books of Scottish songs and on British broadsides. It has gone into oral tradition and had some circulation in New England and the Maritime Provinces. For example, Helen Creighton and Doreen Senior, Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia (Toronto, 1950), 217, print a text quite like the two from Vermont below.
The Child ballad, "Richie Story," is based on the love affair of Lillias Fleming, daughter of the third" Earl of Wigton, who eloped with one of her father's footmen, Richard Storry, in 1673. The song tells its tale in two forms: one in which Richie is a real footman, and one in which Richie is a nobleman in disguise. Historically, it is clear that Storry was no nobleman in disguise. His wife resigned her portion after her indiscretion, and the Fleming family subsequently procured their former servant a post in the Custom House. "Huntingtower" has only the remotest connection with all this. The final stanza of a version like Flanders A is similar to lines such as these from Child 222 B*:
Hunten Tour an Tillebarn
The house of Athell is mine, Riche,
An ye sall haa them a'
Fan ever ye inclen, Riche.
and the "nobleman's disguise" is in the traditions of both songs. But beyond such trivialities there are few points for comparison. Laws, ABBB, 286, prints a discussion of "Huntingtower" with a brief bibliography.
Jamie- Mrs. Ellen M. Sullivan remembered, this song in Springfield, Vermont, as sung by a girl at Lord Jackson's in County Cork, Ireland. H. H. F., Collector; July, 1932.
"When ye gae awa, Jamie,
Far across the seas, laddie,
When ye gaen to Germany,
What will ye bring to me, laddie?"
"I'll gie a bran noo goon, Jinnie,
The brawest in the toon, lassie,
And it will be a silken goon
With valenceenes acroon[1], lassie.
"When I come back again, Jinnie,
Far across the seas, lassie,
I bring wi me a silken goon
With flounces all acroon, lassie."
"That ny give to va, Jamie,
That ny gif to va, laddie,[2]
For there's not a goon in all the land,
I'd like when you're awa' laddie."
When I gin back agaen, Jinnie,
Far across the seas, lassie,
I'll bring wi me a gallant gay
To be yer ain gude mon, lassie."
"Be my ain gude mon, yersel, Jamie,
Be my ain gude mon, yersel, laddie,
An' take me o'er to Germany
At hame with ye to dwell, laddie."
"I dinna know how that would do, Jinnie,
I dinna know how rhat would do, lassie,
For I've a wife and bairnies three,
An' I'm sure you'd not ugra", lassie."
"Go on back to yer wife at hame, Jamie,
Go on back to yer bairnies three, laddie,
An' I will pray that nane can tell
A broken heart like mine, laddie."
Your ee was like a spell, Jinnie,
More braw than I could tell, lassie,
An' ah, the way you me bewitched
I could-na help mysel', lassie.
"Dry the tear from yer ee, Jinnie,
Dry the tear from yer ee, lassie,
For I've neither wife nor bairnies three
An' I will wed nane but thee, lassie."
"Think well before you rue, Jamie,
Think well before you rue laddie,
For I have neither herds nor lands,
To be a match for you, laddie."
"Larrance Fells is mine, Jinnie,
Sheriden's Fells is mine, lassie,
Johnson's towers and Hunting's Bowers
And all that's mine is thine, lassie."
1 Valenceenes acroon: Valenciennes (fine laces) around'
2 That ny give (gif) to va: that's no gift at all'