The Wind Hath Blown My Plaid Awa'- Webster 1824; Child 2 Elfin Knight; Version B
[From ESPB volume 1, as taken from "A Collection of Curious Old Ballads, etc.," p. 3. Child says it's "Partly from an old copy in black letter, and partly from the recitation of an old lady. Reprinted from A Collection of Curious Old Ballads and Miscellaneous Poetry. Edinburgh. David Webster, 1824."
Child 2. Version B. 'A proper new ballad entitled The Wind hath blawn my Plaid awa,' etc. Webster, A Collection of Curious Old Ballads, p. 3
The "old copy in black letter" used for B was close to A, if not identical, and has the burden-stem at the end like A. 'The Jockey's Lamentation,' Pills to Purge Melancholy, V, 317, has the burden,
'T is oer the hills and far away [thrice],
The wind hath blown my plaid away.
This is the Pepys broadside with minor changes from tradition. The opening stanza is given as a burden or refrain and is not numbered.
R. Matteson 2011/2018]
The Wind Hath Blown My Plaid Awa'- Webster 1824; Child 2 Elfin Knight; Version B
My plaid awa, my plaid awa,
And owre the hills and far awa,
And far awa to Norrowa,
My plaid shall not be blawn awa.
1 The Elphin knight sits on yon hill,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
He blaws his horn baith loud and shrill.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa.
2 He blaws it east, he blaws it west,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
He blaws it where he liketh best.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
3 'I wish that horn were in my kist,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
Yea, and the knight in my arms niest.'
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
4 She had no sooner these words said,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
Than the knight came to her bed.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
5 'Thou art oer young a maid,' quoth he,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
'Married with me that thou wouldst be.'
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
6 'I have a sister, younger than I,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
And she was married yesterday.'
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
7 'Married with me if thou wouldst be,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
A curtisie thou must do to me.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
8 'It's ye maun mak a sark to me,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
Without any cut or seam,' quoth he.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
9 'And ye maun shape it, knife-, sheerless,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
And also sew it needle-, threedless.'
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
10 'If that piece of courtisie I do to thee,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
Another thou must do to me.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
11 'I have an aiker of good ley land,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
Which lyeth low by yon sea strand.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
12 'It's ye maun till't wi your touting horn,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
And ye maun saw't wi the pepper corn.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
13 'And ye maun harrow't wi a thorn,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
And hae your wark done ere the morn.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
14 'And ye maun shear it wi your knife,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
And no lose a stack o 't for your life.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
15 'And ye maun stack it in a mouse hole,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
And ye maun thrash it in your shoe sole.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
16 'And ye maun dight it in your loof,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
And also sack it in your glove.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
17 'And thou must bring it over the sea,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
Fair and clean and dry to me.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
18 'And when that ye have done your wark,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
Come back to me, and ye'll get your sark.'
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
19 'I'll not quite my plaid for my life;
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
It haps my seven bairns and my wife.'
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa
20 'My maidenhead I'll then keep still,
Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba
Let the elphin knight do what he will.
The wind hath blawn my plaid awa