Recordings & Info 161. The Battle of Otterburn
[There are two articles:
1. "Hunting of the Cheviot" and "Battle of Otterburn" (see below)
2. Otterburn: A Battle and Two Ballads
attached to the "The Hunting of the Cheviot" Recordings & info page.]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection Index
4) "The Hunting of the Cheviot" and "The Battle of Otterburn"
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 3293: The Battle of Otterburn (31 Listings)
Alternative Titles
The Battle of Otterbourne
Traditional Ballad Index: Battle of Otterburn, The [Child 161]
DESCRIPTION: As armies under Earls Douglas of Scotland and Percy (aka Hotspur) of Northumberland battle, the dying Douglas asks Montgomery to conceal his corpse under a bush. Percy refuses to surrender to the bush but does yield to Montgomery
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1550
KEYWORDS: battle borderballad death nobility
HISTORICAL_REFERENCES: 1388 - Battle of Otterburn. Scots under Douglas attack England. Although Douglas is killed in the battle, the Scots defeat the English and capture their commander Harry "Hotspur" Percy
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES: (8 citations)
Child 161, "The Battle of Otterburn" (5 texts, 1 tune) {Bronson's #1}
Bronson 161, "The Battle of Otterburn" (2 versions)
Percy/Wheatley I, pp. 35-51+notes on pp. 53-54, "The Battle of Otterbourne" (1 text)
Leach, pp. 436-446, "The Battle of Otterburn" (2 texts)
OBB 127, "The Battle of Otterburn" (1 text)
Gummere, pp. 94-104+323-325, "The Battle of Otterburn" (1 text)
HarvClass-EP1, pp. 88-93, "The Battle of Otterburn" (1 text)
DT 161, OTTRBURN*
Roud #3293
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Hunting of the Cheviot" (subject)
NOTES: Needless to say, despite texts such as Child's "A" and "C," it was not Harry "Hotspur" Percy who killed Douglas at Otterburn. It is likely that Douglas's raid would not have been so successful had not the English been divided; as often happened, the Percies of Northumberland were feuding with the other great border family, the Nevilles (of Raby and Westmoreland).
Scottish sources are not really clear what was happening here. Stephen Boardman, in _The Early Stewart Kings_, notes that the Scots and French were creating a semi-coordinated attack on the English, with the inept government of Richard II not really able to do much about it (John of Gaunt had recently conducted a very damaging raid on Scotland, but the war in France was going badly).
It appears that the Scots sent down two armies, one into Cumbria toward Carlisle and one toward Northumberland.
It has been theorized that the two Scottish armies were supposed to meet for an attack on Carlisle. But Douglas decided to go his own way. Without Douglas's troops, the western army ended up turning back. Possible, but hard to prove. For that matter, it might have been the other way: The western army might have been intended to turn east; Boardman argues that all our Scottish sources are biased by a political quarrel in Scotland between pro- and anti-Douglas factions.
Indeed, the death of Douglas almost certainly caused Scotland more harm than his victory gained them; apart from pushing Richard II of England to try harder to defeat them, the Earl had no son, and the quarrels over the Douglas succession led to many political difficulties.
Sir Philip Sidney, in his _Apologie for Poetrie_ of 1595, write, "I neuer heard the olde song of Percy and Duglas (sic.), that I found mot my heart mooued more then with a Trumpet." It is not possible, however, to tell whether this is a reference to "The Battle of Otterburn" [Child 161] or "The Hunting of the Cheviot" [Child 162]. - RBW
Child Collection- Child Ballad 161: The Battle of Otterburn
Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
161 Alex Campbell The Battle of Otterbourne Traditional Ballads of Scotland 1977 7:15 Yes
161 Archie Fisher Otterburn (The Battle of Otterburn) The English and Scottish Popular Ballads - Digital Child Companion CD 2003 7:48 Yes
161 Colleen Raney Otterburn Lark 2011 4:11 Yes
161 Gaberlunzie Otterburn Brave Words 'N' Fightin' Talk 1969 No
161 Graham Pirt The Battle of Otterburn Fyre and Sworde - Songs of the Border Reivers 2000 5:56 Yes
161 June Tabor The Battle of Otterburn An Echo of Hooves 2003 5:54 Yes
161 Katrina of Coventry The Battle of Otterburn <website> 2007 3:38 Yes
161 Mad Jocks & Englishmen Lammas Tide One Too Many Mornings 1976 No
161 Max Dunbar The Battle of Otterbourne Songs and Ballads of the Scottish Wars, 1290-1745 1956 4:40 Yes
161 Scocha The Lammas Tide Bordering on .. 2001 3:08 Yes
161 The Corries Lammas Tide Those Wild Corries + Kishmul's Galley 1996 2:53 Yes
161 The Corries The Lammas Tide The Dawning of the Day 1982 3:10 Yes
161 The Corries The Lammas Tide The Compact Collection 1987 3:10 Yes
161 The Corries & Ronnie Browne The Lammas Tide Scots Wha Hae - The Battle Songs of Scotland 1993 3:45 Yes
161 The Wolfhound The Battle of Otterburn Ireland Boys Hurrah! 1976 3:17 Yes
161 Tony Cuffe Otterburn When First I Went to Caledonia 1988 5:29 Yes
"The Hunting of the Cheviot" and "The Battle of Otterburn"
by David C. Fowler
Western Folklore, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jul., 1966), pp. 165-171
OF THE FEW CHILD BALLADS PRESERVED in manuscripts of the sixteenth century, two of the most interesting are "The Battle of Otterburn" (161) and "The Hunting of the Cheviot" (162). These two ballads should be considered together, not only because they appear to describe the same event, but also because the relationship between the two has never been satisfactorily explained. That Child regarded "The Battle of Otterburn" as the earlier ballad is evident from the lower number he assigned to it, though he admits that the grammatical forms of "Cheviot" are older than those found in "Otterburn." After pointing out the resemblances between the two texts, Child gives his opinion as follows:[1]
The differences in the story of the two ballads, though not trivial, are still not so material as to forbid us to hold that both may be founded upon the same occurrence, the Hunting of the Cheviot being of course the later version, and following in part its own tradition, though repeating some portions of the older ballad.
Although Child never really explains why he thought that "The Hunting of the Cheviot" was "of course" the later version, his view seems never to have been seriously questioned.[2]
It is generally agreed that from a literary point of view "The Hunting of the Cheviot" is the better ballad, and that its language is more archaic than that of "Otterburn." To this I would merely add that "Cheviot" is, in fact, the earlier and "Otterburn" the later ballad. Believing firmly that "it would be against the nature of things that there should not have been a ballad as early as 1400," [3] Child undoubtedly attributed the greater historical accuracy of "Otterburn" to an oral tradition going back almost to the time of the battle (1388). But while this is indeed a possibility, it seems more reasonable, in view of the linguistic evidence, to suppose that "Otterburn" owes its historical accuracy to written records ("The cronycle wyll not layne," 161 A35) and that the more unhistorical ballad is in this case the earlier.
Not only is "The Hunting of the Cheviot" earlier, but it is also, I believe, the source of "The Battle of Otterburn." That the two are related is put beyond dispute by the presence in both of stanzas that "correspond," as Child phrases it.[4] The dramatic encounter in battle between Percy and Douglas is thus described in the earlier ballad (162 A31):
At last the Duglas and the Perse met,
lyk to captayns of myght and of mayne;
The swapte togethar tylle the both swat,
with swordes that wear of fyn myllan.
And in "Otterburn" we read (161 A50):
The Perssy and the Dowglas mette,
That ether of other was fayne;
They swapped together whyll that the swette,
Wyth swordes of fyne collayne.
Later on the ferocity of the battle is generally described in an excellent stanza common to both ballads. I quote first from "Cheviot" (162 A47): Ther was neuer a freake wone foot wolde fle, but still in stour dyd stand, Heawyng on yche othar, whylle the myghte dre, with many a balfull brande. The same stanza occurs in "Otterburn" (161 A58):
Ther was no freke that ther wolde flye,
But styffely in stowre can stond,
Ychone hewyng on other whyll they myght drye,
Wyth many a bayllefull bronde.
Perhaps it could be argued that stanzas like the one just quoted, and like the later stanza about the widows coming to the battlefield (162 A57 and 167 161 A67), are floating commonplaces, part of the minstrel's stock-in-trade, and hence are not evidence of a direct connection between the two ballads. The same cannot be said, however, of the following stanza which occurs in the passage naming those slain in battle (162 A56):
Ser Charls a Murre in that place,
that neuer a foot wolde fle;
Ser Hewe Maxwelle, a lorde he was,
with the Doglas dyd he dey.
Here is the same stanza in "Otterburn" (161 A61):
Syr Charlies Morrey in that place,
That never a fote wold flee;
Syr Hewe Maxwell, a lorde he was,
Wyth the Dowglas dyd he dye.
Evidence like this supports the conclusion that the two ballads are definitely related.
The nature of this relationship will be apparent when we realize that "Cheviot" tends to favor Douglas and is probably of Scottish origin, while "Otterburn" extolls Percy and hence is definitely English in its outlook. This can best be seen in a direct comparison of the two ballads, keeping in mind that we are looking, not for evidence of historical knowledge, but for indications of the slant given to events and the qualities assigned to the two major personalities, Percy and Douglas.
In "Cheviot" Percy is represented as the aggressor, expressing his determination to hunt in the Cheviot hills in such a way as to make it an obvious and swaggering challenge to Douglas (162 A1-9). In "Otterburn," on the other hand, it is Douglas who issues the challenge by burning Northumberland, to which Percy gallantly responds in a scene which displays Percy's dignity and courtliness to advantage (161 All-17). Here our sympathies are obviously meant to be with Percy, not Douglas.
Immediately before the battle, each ballad uses the device of describing the approaching forces from the enemy's viewpoint.[5] Thus in "Cheviot" a squire of Northumberland sees Douglas and his men, whose columns are impressively described (162 A10-12). The squire then tells his English comrades (I assume) to prepare for battle, in words full of awe and wonder at the spectacle of the approaching Scots (162 A13):
'Leave of the brytlyng of the dear,' he sayd,
'and to your boys lock ye tayk good hede;
For neuer sithe ye wear on your mothars borne
had ye neuer so mickle nede.'
In "Otterburn," on the other hand, it is a Scottish knight who spies the approach of the "noble Percy," and informs Douglas of the fact with a similar tone of excitement and wonder in his words (161 A21-22):
He prycked to hys pavyleon-dore,
As faste as he myght ronne;
'Awaken, Dowglas,' cryed the knyght,
'For hys love that syttes in trone.
'Awaken, Dowglas,' cryed the knyght,
'For thow maste waken wyth wynne;
Yender haue I spyed the prowde Perssye,
And seven stondardes wyth hym.'
Douglas answers proudly and summons his men (161 A23-28), but we are clearly meant to feel a patriotic excitement at the approach of the English forces and Percy's seven standards.
The exchange of words between Percy and Douglas before the battle provides the opportunity for another interesting and illuminating comparison of the two ballads. In "Cheviot" the heroic initiative is clearly with Douglas. It is Douglas who challenges Percy's right to hunt, Douglas who speaks the noble line "one of us shall die" (162 A17), and Douglas who proposes a single combat between the two leaders. Percy, of course, comes in on cue, saying that he will hunt in spite of the Scots, and agreeing eagerly to the single combat, but the poet obviously wants us to admire Douglas more than Percy. The exchange is, in fact, so one-sided that the author, whose partiality never overrides his poetic judgment, restores the balance between the English and Scottish viewpoints with the dramatic refusal of the English squire, Wytharyngton, to stand idle while his captain fights (162 A22-23).
When we look at the corresponding passage in "Otterburn" the picture we have of the two leaders is quite different. Here it is Percy, not Douglas, who does the challenging, Percy who speaks the noble line "one of us shall die" (161 A30), and Percy who makes the heroic gesture (corresponding to Douglas' single combat offer) of dismounting and driving away his horse so as to make flight impossible. A more complete reversal of roles here is scarcely imaginable. Douglas, of course, answers Percy "with great words," but there is little else he can do. Percy clearly has the initiative. To this the author of "Otterburn" adds another episode designed to dramatize Percy's heroism, namely, the incident in which Percy refuses to wait for reinforcements promised by his father (161 A36-44). This underscores his courage and daring in view of the twenty-to-one odds boasted by Douglas in rather unheroic fashion (161 A31).
The actual fight between Percy and Douglas as described in the two ballads shows the same contrasting viewpoints we have observed in earlier episodes. In "Cheviot" Douglas seems on the point of overpowering his opponent, but he is so greatly impressed Percy's fighting ability that he offers him an earl's wages if he will yield (162 A33-34):
'Yelde the, Perse, sayde the Doglas,
'and i feth I shalle the brynge
Wher thowe shalte haue a yerls wagis
of Jamy our Skottish kynge.
'Thoue shalte haue thy ransom fre,
I hight the hear this thinge;
For the manfullyste man yet art thowe
that euer I conqueryd in filde fighttynge.'
Percy, of course, refuses to yield, but at this crucial juncture an arrow pierces Douglas, so that we never learn what might have been the outcome of the contest between the two men. Douglas dies heroically urging his men to fight on and Percy magnanimously pays tribute to him in the justly famous lines (162 A38-39):
The Perse leanyde on his brande,
and sawe the Duglas de;
He tooke the dede mane by the hande,
and sayd, Wo ys me for the!
'To haue savyde thy lyffe, I wolde haue partyde
with my landes for years thre,
For a better man, of hart nare of hande,
was nat in all the north contre.'
Admirable as is the balance of heroic virtues here achieved, it is important to note that the poet's partiality toward Douglas is never absent for a moment. In spite of his magnanimity, Percy serves mainly as a means of extolling Douglas. Furthermore, when he has performed this function Percy is then slain, contrary to historical fact, by the Scottish knight Sir Hugh Montgomery (162 A40-46). Whatever the chronicles might say, Douglas' death had to be avenged.
On the other hand, in "Otterburn" the situation is quite different. To be sure, Douglas does indeed call on Percy to yield, but without the generosity and admiration for his opponent expressed in the earlier ballad. Instead he merely says that he deduces from the quality of his armor that Percy is a man of high rank. As before Percy refuses to yield, and the two men resume fighting. But this time it is made clear that Percy himself overcomes and slays Douglas (161 A55-56):
The Perssy was a man of strenghth,
I tell yow in thys stounde;
He smote the Dowglas at the swordes length
That he felle to the growynde.
The sworde was scharpe, and sore can byte,
I tell yow in sertayne;
To the harte he cowde hym smyte,
Thus was the Dowglas slayne.
Thus ends the account of the fight in "Otterburn." Gone are the heroic last words of Douglas, the magnanimous tribute of Percy, and the unhistorical slaying of Percy by Montgomery. There follows merely a general description of the battle, and thereafter a roll-call of the slain on both sides. The capture of Percy by the Scots, which is historically accurate, is merely alluded to in the concluding stanzas, since to dwell on this would detract from the glorification of Percy and the English which is the main purpose of the "Otterburn" ballad.
In view of the contrast between the two ballads just described it is difficult to understand how modern scholars can speak of "Cheviot" as distorting history to glorify the English, when precisely the opposite seems to be true. But there is one passage near the end of the ballad which perhaps explains this interpretation. I refer to stanzas describing the reaction of the Kings of Scotland and England to news of the battle (162 A59-64). King James mourns the death of Douglas, commenting that there is not another captain like him in all Scotland. The English king, Henry IV, on the other hand, pointedly remarks that although he has a hundred captains as good as Percy, he will nevertheless avenge his death, which he then proceeds to do in the battle of Homildon. But as Child remarks, this battle was fought fourteen years after Otterburn; moreover "the occasion of Homildon was really another incursion on the part of the Scots, and the same Percy was in command of the English who in the ballad meets his death at Otterburn." [6] Surely, as Child implies, this is a distortion of history designed to favor the English. But it is important to remember that the death of Percy depicted in the ballad takes liberties with history for precisely the opposite reason.[7]
The contradictory nature of the historical evidence in "The Hunting of the Cheviot" leads me to conclude that the stanzas giving the reaction of the English and Scottish kings are a late interpolation. None of the "borrowed" stanzas in the later "Otterburn" ballad come from this pasage, in spite of the fact that its English bias would have fitted quite harmoniously into "Otterburn." Hence, I conclude that "Cheviot" in its original form probably ended with stanza 58, or, at least, that stanzas 59-65 were not a part of the original.
Possible confirmation of the theory that stanzas 59-65 were a later addition to "Cheviot" can be seen in the metrical form of the ballad. Over half of the sixty-eight stanzas of the text as printed by Child have the rhyme scheme abab, and I suspect that this was its original metrical form, before the eroding effect of oral transmission perhaps obliterated some of the rhymes, especially in lines one and three.[8] Furthermore, in light of the relationship between the two ballads proposed above, it is interesting to note that of the seventy stanzas of "Otterburn" only twelve rhyme abab, and four of these are the stanzas "borrowed" from "Cheviot." This is precisely what we might expect if, as I have suggested, "Otterburn" is the later ballad, and hence that much farther removed from the original metrical form.[9] But it is especially interesting in the present connection to observe that the abab stanzas in "Cheviot" cease abruptly after stanza 58, the point at which the supposed interpolated passage begins. While this in itself might not be con- clusive, it nevertheless fits in well with the inferences we have already drawn about the Scottish viewpoint of the original ballad.
University of Washington
Footnotes:
1. Francis J. Child, ed., The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. 5 vols. (Boston, 1882-1898), III, 289 ff. The quotation is from p. 304.
2 The most thorough study since Child is Karl Nessler, Geschichte der Ballade "Chevy Chase," (Berlin, 1911). D. S. Bland has published two notes, "'Macbeth' and 'The Battle of Otterburn,' " Notes and Queries, CXCIV (1949), 335 f., and "The Evolution of 'Chevy Chase' and 'The Battle of Otterburn,' " Notes and Queries, CXCVI (1951), 160 f. Friedman says, in The Viking Book of Folk Ballads (New York, 1956), p. 276, that "Otterburn" is the older ballad and "tells the story with reasonable accuracy;" but adds that "Cheviot," in addition to being later, "follows local legend and partisan traditions rather than the chronicles and warps history badly in order to glorify the English, especially the House of Percy." [165]
3 Child, op. cit., III, 293.
4 Ibid., III, 304.
5. Adopting the enemy's viewpoint is a device used effectively in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, where the devils' point of view is used to describe the approach of Christ in the "Harrowing of Hell."
6 Child, op. cit., III, 304.
7 It is possible, I suppose, to argue that mere ignorance is responsible for unhistorical details in the ballad, but I believe the characterization of Percy and Douglas argues that history is being manipulated.
8 Stanzas of 162A with abab rhymes are 4-8, 11, 14-16, 19, 21, 23, 26-31, 35, 38, 40, 42-44, 46- 47, 49-50, 52-58. Those without this rhyme scheme tend to be metrically irregular. To the above list should perhaps be added stanza 12, assuming lines one and three rhyme guid/Twyde ("guid" for "good"). Cp. stanza 26, where Scottish "wouche" rhymes with "yenoughe." Stanzas of 161A with abab rhymes (excluding stanzas common to both) are: 1, 7, 15, 33, 48, 54-56.
9 "Otterburn" also introduces an occasional stanza with a line having internal rhyme: 161A2, 40-41, 48.