Lord Banner - Merrill (NH-QB) 1931 Flanders F
[From Flanders' Ancient Ballads; 1961. Notes from Coffin follow. Also printed in BFSSNE. Barry calls this the second type of Little Musgrave ballad, related to Maine A and I.
R. Matteson 2015]
Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
(Child 81)
This ballad has a vigorous American oral tradition but, in spite of the fact that Phillips Barry, British Ballads from Maine, 173, reports his H version to have been learned in Scotland, seems to have died out in Britain. Here it is known everywhere, from Nova Scotia to Jamaica and west. Barry, op. cit., 180 f., and Helen Pettigrew, University of West Virginia Studies, III philological papers, II, 8 f., both spent much effort on the American heritage of Child 81. Barry feels there-was a pre-American split in the tradition of the ballad, one form featuring the "away, Musgrave, away" lines and the "bugle-blowing" scene, the other retaining mention of King Henry. The Henry type he believes to date back to the time of Henry VIII and to be the progenitor of almost all the American texts. The "away, Musgrave" type, he feels, gave birth to the Anglo-Scottish texts and a few late American arrivals. Pettigrew attacks this thesis vigorously, among other things, attributing the visit to King Henry to romanticization and citing a host of American texts, such as the Flanders ones below, that retain "bugle-blowing" scenes. Whoever is right, one thing seems sure: Barry was nor far wrong in stating the song has been in America a long time and that the texts here are more vivid and generally better than those in Child, some of which are pretty old.
The Flanders texts demonstrate Barry's two types. Flanders A includes a strong "bugle-blowing" scene, the "away" lines (stanzas 18-20), and opt"s with a church-gathering like Child A, C, H, and many of the southern American texts. This version is similar to the one in Belden, 58 (also printed in British BaIIads from Maine, 177), but is unusual for the New World in its inclusion of Lady Barnard's effort to bribe the page as in Child C-F, H-L, and O. Edwards it should be noted, wanted to leave these lines and some of the "bugle" material out (see the letter below). The Flanders B-J series is more typical of the northern tradition of the ballad and starts like-Child D, E, K, L with a "ball-playing" scene. The "bugle-blowing" is presented, but briefly, and there are no "away, Musgrave" lines.
See Coffin, 84-86, for the bibliography of the American texts and summaries of the scholarship done on the song. It is interesting that American versions do not mention any past relationship between the lovers, although Musgrave needs no encouraging when the Lady flirts with him in one Southeastern text. He embraces her at once. PMLA xxxlx,4ssf.,contains a report on the Jamaican tradition of Child 81. The ballad as known in the West Indies is closer to Child A-C than it is to the American material. In Act V, scene 3, of Francis Beaumont's The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Merrythought quotes lines from the song.
The seven tunes given are related except for the Edwards tune, which seems separate. The rest fall into two related groups: 1) Colsie and Walker, and 2) Syphers, Merrill, Finnemore, and Burditt. The following runes show general relationship to the second of these related groups: Sharp I, 166 (D), 181 (L); and BES, 150. The New England tunes seem more closely related to the second group, while those in the collections from the southern United States seem largely to belong to another family exemplified by the majority of the tunes in Sharp I.
F. Lord Banner. Recorded in Charlestown, New Hampshire, snumshire District, from the singing of orron Merrill, as learned, from his mother, Mrs. Hattie Main Merrill of Quebec. printed, an BFSSNE, III, 6. Compare this to G below. H. H. F., Collector February, 1931; Structure: A1 A1 A2 (4,4,4,4); Rhythm B; Contour: pendulum; Scale: major
Four and twenty ladies fair, all being at a ball,
Lord Banner's wife, she being there, the fairest of them all,
And Young Lagrue from Scotland as fair as the rising sun,
He looked at him and he looked at her, and the like it was never known.
Says she, "Oh, will you take a ride, oh, will you take a ride?
You shall have servants to wait on you and a fair lady by your side."
"Oh, no, oh, no, I dare not do it, I'll not, for all of my life,
For by the ring on your forefinger you are Lord Banner's wife."
"What if I am Lord Banner's wife: Lord Banner is not at home;
He has gone over to Convention to take Young Henry's throne."
But one of his pages being there, which heard and see all that was done,
He swore that his master should hear of this before the next rising sun.
He ran till he came to the river's side and he ploughed[1] to his breast and swam;
He swam till he came to the other side and he took to his heels and run.
He ran till he came to the castle there; so loud he rapped at the door;
And who[2] was there so ready as Lord Banner to let him in.
"Oh, is there any of my towers down nor any of my towers three,
Or has there anything happened unto my fair lady?"
"Oh, no, there's none of your towers down, and there's none of your towers three
But Young Lagrue from Scotland is in bed with your fair lady."
"If this be a lie you tell to me, which I suppose it to be,
I will rig a gallows and hang-ed you shall be."
"If this be a lie I tell to you, which you suppose it to be,
You need not rig a gallows, but hang me on a tree!"
And he called by one of his merry, merry men, by one by two, by three,
Saying, "We will ride over to old Scotland this fair couple for to see."
"What's this I hear so loud in my ear that sounds so loud and drear?
It is Lord Banner's bugle, and he will soon be here!"
"Lie still, lie still and keep me warm and keep me from the cold,
It's only Lord Banner's shepherd boy a-driving the sheep to the fold,
They huddled and they cuddled; they both fell fast asleep,
And when they woke in the morning, Lord Banner, he stood at their feet.
"How do you like my blankets fine, and how do you like my sheets?
And how do you like that fair maid that lies in your arms asleep?"
"Quite well I like your blankets fine, quite well I like your sheets,
But I like this fair maid better that lies in my arms asleep."
"Rise up, rise up, put on your clothes as quick as ever you can
I'll never have it said in old Scotland that I fought with a naked man.
"Oh, no, oh, no, I dare not do it, oh, not for all of my life,
For by your side you have two broadswords while I have nary a knife."
"What if I have the two broadswords- they cost me deep in purse!
You shall have the very best one, and I will take the worst,
And you may strike the very first blow and strike it like a man,
And I will strike the second blow and I'll kill you if I can."
Young Lagrue he struck the very first blow, that wounded Lord Banner sore;
Lord Banner struck the second blow and laid him in his gore.
Then he took his fair lady by the lily-white hand and he gave her kisses three,
Saying, "Which of the two do you love best: this Young Lagrue or me?"
"Quite well I like your rosy cheeks, quite well I like your chin,
But I'd ten times rather have Young Lagrue than you or all of your kin!"
He grabbed her by the hair of the head and he split her head in two;
She sank upon her bended knees by the side of Young Lagrue.
Then he put the heel of the sword to the floor and the point unto his breast,
Saying, "Was there ever three lovers more easily laid at rest?
Go dig my grave, go dig my grave, go dig it both wide and deep,
And place my fair lady by my side and Young Lagrue at my feet."
1. Usually "bent" see article The Bent Bow by Blanche Sly, 1921 attached to Recordings & Info.
2. Usually "none"