Lord Bateman- Patterson (NS) pre1950 Creighton E
[Fragment from Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia; Creighton and Senior, 1950. Creighton's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2014]
Young Beichan
[ Child 53 ]
'The variant of this well-known ballad, as Mr. Hartlan sings it, is almost identical with one in Sharp's English Folksongs, vol. 1, and another in Professor Child's collection from a vagrant in London. Miss Karpeles' Newfoundland version is similar, too. On the other hand, Mrs. Ada Tanner, while singing the same theme, has put the story differently, and her text agrees almost word for word with MacKenzie, 5. The ballad, if not actually founded on the story of Gilbert Becket, father of St. Thomas the Martyr, has evidently been affected by it. Our Nova Scotia variants give no motive for Lord Bateman's travels. He may have suffered in the Holy Land for his Christian beliefs, or perhaps for love of the lady. It is noteworthy that in three of these variants her name was changed at the end of the ballad, suggesting that she was baptized. Lord Bateman's marriage may have been forced upon him since in all cases he was overjoyed when the Turkish lady appeared. Child suggests an affinity here with the ballad of Hind Horn. For further discussion, see Child, 53. A similar story is found in Norse, Spanish and Italian ballads and in the Gesta Romanorum, No. 5, Bohn edition.
Lord Bateman [E] Sung by Captain Edward Patterson, Five Islands.
There is a lady stands at your gate
And she does weep most bitterlee,
I think she is the fairest creature
That ever my two eyes did see.
Ask him to send me a loaf of bread
And a bottle of his wine so strong,
And ask if he forgot the lady
That set him free from iron chains.
She's got more gold about her clothes
And around her waist diamond strings.
O where are you going?