NOTES THE LORD OF LEARNE This story of the young Lord of Learne (also called the Lord of Lorne, under which title the ballad is often referred to by the Elizabethan dramatists) and the false steward, is derived from a romance known as Roswall and Lillian, which must have been popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and continued to be recited in verse form in Scotland until early in the nineteenth century. Sir Walter Scott remembered a person who "acquired the name of Roswall and Lillian, from singing that romance about the streets of Edinburgh," circa 1770. The best-known of similar stories is the Goose-girl in Grimm's Fairy Tales. The version of the ballad printed here is derived from the Percy Folio MS. (see Introduction, pp. 11-12), and was therefore written down about 1650. 24. that. This insertion of an apparently redundant or unnecessary that occurs often in this particular manuscript, and may be due to the dialect in which it is written. Cf. in this ballad 11. 30, 56, 278, 288, 393, &c. but notice that in many instances it is used in an optative sentence, exactly as it is used in Ireland to-day to express a wish (see the plays of J. M. Synge). 42. and then. This, again, is a redundant phrase. Cf. the and in early literature: "When that I was and a little tiny boy," in the song sung by the Clown at the end of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. See 1. 110. for 82. lend, grant. 89. Do thou me off: do off (otherwise contracted into doff, as do on into don) = take off. The me is called the ethic dative, as in "Kill me this knave," implying for me. 91. cordivant, made of leather from Cordova in Spain; also cordwain. A cordwainer is an old name for a shoemaker. Will Stewart and John, 195. See 91-2. Note the omission of the relative which. Cf. ll. 147—8, 375-6. 107. him fro, from him. 115. Disaware is the name adopted by Roswall in the romance. see, protect. So often in this phrase. 122. 130. 141-4. This kind of remark in the first person is of constant occurrence in ballads, in places where a dramatist would simply mark a change of scene. 156. A proverb, meaning that too much may be given even for valuable things. 168. Unseemly; it was held to be not proper that those of low birth, like the steward, should sit at meat with the nobly-born. 172. mend, increase. 221. fee, wages. 238. i-wis, certainly. 266. gelding, a kind of horse. 4. let, stop. ). We must understand that the steward had exacted an oath he Lord of Learne that he would not reveal the truth about if to anybody. He avoids doing so by speaking to the horse, ing, of course, that the lady overhears him. This trick is a urite one in folk-tales. 348. Wroken, avenged. 369. 393. light, alighted. Cf. 1. 178, plight=plighted. quest, jury. 12. sod, soused; lead, a cauldron. A large pan or vat, used salting meat, is still called a salting-lead. 16. I-wis; see note on 1. 238. curstly cumber, savagely torture. 127-8. These and several other lines, it will be noticed, are too for the ballad-metre; but this is no reason for altering them. long information, see my Popular Ballads of the Olden further For YOUNG BEKIE There is a great number and variety of stories similar to this in many countries of Europe; but the English- —or rather the Scottishversion has undoubtedly been grafted on to the legendary story of Gilbert Becket, the father of St Thomas. He is said to have been captured and imprisoned by a Saracen prince, named Admiraud, whose daughter set him free and then followed him to England, knowing no English save the words 'London' and 'Gilbert.' After much wandering and trouble, she found him and was married to him. But it must not be rashly imagined that 'Bekie' is derived from 'Becket'; the similarity of the names may account for the joining of the two stories, but 'Bekie' was probably the name of the hero of the ballad before contamination with the Becket-legend took place. 4. fee, pay, money. 10. Burd=maiden. Cf. Fair Helen of Kirconnell, 7. 12. mane, moan. 13. borrow, ransom, buy off. 20. Linne, an imaginary place, the stock-locality in ballads. Here we must suppose that it is young Bekie's home. 21-2. but...ben, out...in. The two words were originally prepositions, equivalent to be-out and be-in, the be- being identical with the prefix in behind, beside, before, &c. They then were used, especially in Scottish dialect, as adverbs both of rest and motion. Later they became substantives, so that a but-and-ben house means a house with an outer and an inner chamber. They are constantly used in conjunction in Scottish ballads. 27. stown = stolen. 31. but an' and. rottons, rats. 38. royal bone. In early poetry, most saddles are described as being made of roelle bone (rewel, rowel, and other corruptions are found). It is not known exactly what roelle means, but a derivation from the French rouelle has been suggested-implying that the peak of the saddle was made of bone, rounded and polished. 55. the Billy Blin (= the Blind Man), the name of a benignant domestic spirit or demon, who appears only in a very few h There are German and Dutch references to a similar st similar name. 63. marys, maids. 64. thinking lang, thinking it long, or tedious. Observe that burd Isbel would be bored, had she not 'twa marys' to keep her company and divert her. 85. gid=gaed, went. 101. he is the proud porter. 113. bierly, stately. 116. We's be=we shall be. 135. ilka, each. 137. This of course is spoken by young Bekie to the parents of the 'bierly bride,' who in the next verse naturally resent his jilting of their daughter. See my Popular Ballads, First Series, 6. THE TWA SISTERS OF BINNORIE The story in this ballad has long been popular not only in England and Scotland, but in all Scandinavian countries. The name of the place or river Binnorie (which should be stressed on the second syllable to rhyme with 'story') has nothing to do with the ballad; it is part of an attached burden. Several Scottish versions have quite another burden. 1. bour (= bower) should be so pronounced as to rhyme approximately with wooer. 31. jaw, wave; i.e. threw her into the river. 43. twined, parted: my world's make, my earthly mate. 55. garr'd me gang, caused me to go. 61. We must suppose the miller's son to be speaking; he is actually mentioned in one version. 75. bra' braw, brave. 93. syne, afterwards. See also my Popular Ballads, First Series, 141. KING ESTMERE This ballad was rewritten by Bishop Percy from an older form reserved in his Folio MS., but he tore out the pages on which it was My written, so that they are now missing. her, brothers; cf. brethren. ne...tother, i.e. the one...the other. 1, beautiful. |