Recordings & Info 246. Redesdale and Wise William
[There is one known recording of this ballad.]
CONTENTS:
1) Alternative Titles
2) Traditional Ballad Index
3) Child Collection Index
4) Summary from: Two English Ballads and Their Greek Counterparts (see attached article)
ATTACHED PAGES: (see left hand column)
1) Roud No. 243: Redesdale and Wise William (11 Listings)
Alternate Titles
Wise William and Redesdale
Roudesdale
Traditional Ballad Index: Redesdale and Wise William [Child 246]
DESCRIPTION: Redesdale tells William that he can win any woman's favor "wi ae blink o my ee." William bets his head against Redesdale's lands that Redesdale cannot win his sister. Redesdale courts the sister, fails to win her (though he burns down her house)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST_DATE: c. 1818 (GlenbuchatBallads)
KEYWORDS: courting sex gambling virtue wager
FOUND_IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber,Bord))
REFERENCES: (3 citations)
Child 246, "Redesdale and Wise William" (3 texts)
Bronson 246, "Redesdale and Wise William" (1 version, properly associated with "Johnnie Cock")
GlenbuchatBallads, pp. 132-135, "Wise William and Redesdale" (2 text)
Roud #243
CROSS_REFERENCES:
cf. "The Fiddler's Bitch" (plot)
cf. "The Twa Knights" (plot)
Child Ballad 246: Redesdale and Wise William
Child --Artist --Title --Album --Year --Length --Have
246 Chris Coe Redesdale and Wise William A Wiser Fool 2001 3:47 Yes
246 Chris Coe Redesdale and Wise William Old Songs & Bothy Ballads - Grand to Be a Working Man 2008 No
Summary from: Two English Ballads and Their Greek Counterparts
In "Redesdale and Wise William" the story runs thus:
The two men are one day drinking wine together (with others also present). All fall to boasting of their hawks, their hounds, and their ladies. Redesdale boasts that he can gain the favor of any lady with one glance of his eye. Wise William retorts that he cannot win the favor of his sister with three glances.[13] Redesdale wagers land; Wise William stakes his life. Redesdale has Wise William put into prison so that he cannot communicate with his sister, but the latter has already informed her by letter of the wager. Redesdale attempts to seduce the sister, offering her money, jewelry, lands, etc. To all offers she replies that
she already has these things. Finally Redesdale threatens to burn the house and eventually does so. However, the lady and her maids cover themselves with wet mantles and escape. She then sends William a message informing him that he has won the wager. Redesdale pays it willingly, vowing that if there is a good woman in the world it is Wise William's sister.
13 Cf. "The Two Knights," in which the husband boasts that the challenger could not succeed in nine months' time instead of the six he asks.