Lord Roslin's Daughter- Buchan pre-1828 Child B c.
Child provides this information about Buchan's MS in his sources:
Peter Buchan's MSS., about 1828. Two volumes, folio. British Musenm, Additional MSS., 29408-9. For a description, see Mr Ward's Catalogue of Romanees, etc., I, 537. Mr David Scott of Peterhead possessed a volume entirely in Buchan's writing " which contains all [the ballads] that Buchan ever collected exeept some 'high-kilted' ones in another volume." These two volumes are now in the Child Memorial Library of Harvard University. The "high-kilted" volume is entitled 'Secret Songs of Silenee,' and its contents are not properly called ballads.
Lord Roslin's Daughter- Child Version B c, Captain Wedderburn's Courtship; Child 46
c. 'Lord Roslin's Daughter,' Buchan's Manuscripts, II, 34. [My footnotes]
1 The Lord of Roslin's daughter walks throw the wud her lane [1] ,
And by Captain Wedderburn, a servant to the king.
He said unto his servant man [2], Were't na agen the law,
I wad tak her to my ain bed, and lay her next the wa.
2 'I'm walking here my lane,' she says, 'amang my father's trees;
And ye may lat me walk my lane, kind sir, now gin ye please.
The supper-bell it will be rung, and I'll be missd you know;
Sae I'll na lie into your bed, at neither stock [3] nor wa.'
3 He said, My pretty lady, I pray lend me your hand,
And ye'll hae drums and trumpets always at your command;
And fifty men to guard ye wi, that weel their swords can draw;
Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and thou's ly next the wa.
4 'Haud [4] awa frae me, kind sir, I pray let go my hand;
The supper-bell it will be rung, nae langer will I stand.
My father he'll na supper tak, gif [5] I be missd you know;
So I not lie in your bed, at neither stock nor wa.'
5 Then said the pretty lady, 'I pray tell me your name.'
'My name is Captain Wedderburn, a servant to the king.'
Tho your father and his men were here, of him I'd not stand in aw,
But should tak ye to my ain bed, and lay ye neist [6] the wa.'
6 He lighted [7] off his milk-white steed, and set the lady on,
And held her by the milk-white hand even as they rode along,
He held her by the middle so jimp[8], for fear that she should fa;
Saying, 'So I'll take ye to my ain bed, and lay thee at the wa.'
7 He took her to his lodging house[9] , his landlady looked ben[10] ,
Saying, Monie a pretty ladie in Edinbruch I've seen;
But such a pretty face as thine in it I never saw:
Gae, make her up a down-bed, and lay her at the wa.
8 'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray ye lat me be,
For I will not go to your bed till you dress me;
Dishes three you must do to me, gif I should eat them a',
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.
9 'O I must have to my supper a cherry without a stone;
And I maun hae to my supper a chicken without a bone;
And I maun hae to my supper a bird without a gaw[11] ,
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'
10 'When the cherry is into the bloom I am sure it hath no stone,
And when the chicken's in the shell I 'm sure it hath no bone;
The dove it is a gentle bird, she flees without a gaw;
Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'll be at the wa.'
11 'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray ye give me owre,
For I will not go till you answer me questions;
Questions four you must tell me, and that is twa and twa,
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.
12 'You must get to me some winter fruit that in December grew;
And I maun hae a silk mantil that the wraft was neer ca,'
A sparrow's horn, a priest unborn, this nicht to join us twa,
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'
13 'My father has some winter fruit that in December grew;
My mither has a silk mantil the wraft was neer ca'd throw;
A sparrow's horn you well may get, there's one on ilka pa,
And twa upo the gab o it, and ye shall get them a'.
14 'The priest he is standing at the door, just ready to come in;
Nae man can say he eer was born, nae man without he sin;
A hole cut in his mother's side, he from the same did fa;
Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'se lie at the wa.'
15 'O haud awa frae me, kind sir, I pray don't me perplex,
For I'll na lie in your bed till ye answer questions six:
Questions six ye maun answer me, and that is four and twa,
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.
16 'O what is greener than the gress, what's higher than thae trees?
And what is worse than women's voice, what's deeper than the seas?
What bird craws first, what tree buds first, what first does on them fa?
Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa.'
17 'Death is greener than the gress, heaven higher than thae trees;
The devil's waur than women's wish, hell's deeper than the seas;
The cock craws first, the cedar buds first, the dew does on them fa;
Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed, and ye'se lie neist the wa.'
18 Little did this lady think, that morning whan she raise,
That this was for to be the last night o a' her maiden days.
But now they both lie in one bed to be found a blither twa,
And now she's Mrs. Wedderburn, and she lies at the wa.
Footnotes:
1. her lane= alone
2. servant man= has livery-man in B a.
3. stock= outer side. The 'stock' of a bed is the outer side, and the wa' (=wall) the inner. Ancient beds were made like boxes with the outer side cut away.
4. haud= keep
5. gif= if
6. neist= next
7. lighted= leapt
8. jimp= slender (waist)
9. lodging= B a. has quartering-house
10. ben= within
11. gaw= gall. It is an ancient superstition that the dove or pigeon has no gall, the fact being that the gall-bladder is absent. See Sir Thomas Browne's Pseudodoxia Epidemica, iii. 3.
______________
c closely resembling b, the variations from b are given.
c. 1. came omitted, v. 2; unto, v. 3.
2. into your bed, v. 4.
3. guard you ... who well, v. 3; into ... thou'lt, v. 4.
5[1,2. Then says; v. 1.
6. lighted from ... this lady, v. 1; middle jimp, v. 3.
7. pretty fair, v. 2; as this, v. 3.
8. dress me, v. 3.
9. unto, vv 1, 2; O I must, v. 2.
10. in the bloom, v. 1; we both shall ly in, v. 4.
11. will give oer, v. 1; to your ... you tell me, v. 2.
12. You must get to me .. . that waft, v. 2; bird sings first ... on them does, v. 3.
13. sings first, v. 3.
14. in your ... you tell me, v. 2; I'll ly in, v. 4.
15. What is ... woman's, v. 2; I 'Illy in, v. 4.
16. Death's greener than the grass, hell's deeper than the seas,
The devil's worse than woman's voice, sky's higher than the trees, vv 1, 2; every paw, v. 3; thou shalt, v. 4.
18. the lady ... rose, v. 1; It was to be the very last, v. 2; they ly in ae, v. 4.