US Version: 176. Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas
[The single fragment is from George Edwards of Vermont (not the George Edwards from NY- Cazden). It appears in Flanders' Ancient Ballads, 1963. Notes by Flanders/Coffin follow.
R . Matteson 2015]
Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas
(Child 176)
The Earl of Northumberland, after the failure of the Rising in the North, fled to Liddesdale, where he was surrendered
to the Regent Murray and turned over to the custody of Douglas of Lochleven. The countess of Northumberland had offered Douglas a large sum of money for her husband, but after much political wrangling the amount was matched by Queen Elizabeth's agent, Lord Hunsdon, and the Earl was put in his hands. The informant, George Edwards, refused to sing the song, because he said it reflected dishonor in his family, but in the course of his remarks the stanza printed below was transcribed. It is stanza 9 from the Child text.
George Edwards of Burlington, Vermont, remembers this fragment as sung by his grandfather, William H. Edwards
of Seaton, East Riding, Yorhshire, England. His grandfather spent three years in the army but he took again to the sea,
which had been his livelihood. Late in life he came to Quebec and gave up being a sailor. H. H. F., Collector; 1934.
The Earl of Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas
Now haud thy tongue . . .
And let the talking be.
For all the gold in old England
Would not . . .me.