A lady who is expecting the return of her lord from sea goes down to the strand to meet him. The ship comes in, but the sailors tell her that she will never see her husband; he has been slain. She invites the men to drink with her, takes them down to the cellar, makes them drunk, locks the door, and bids them lie there for the bad news they have told; then she throws the keys into the sea, to lie there till her lord returns. After these efforts she falls asleep in her own room, and her dead lord starts up at her feet; he brings the keys with him, and charges her to release his men, who had done their best for him and were not to blame for his death. The lady, to turn this visit to the more account, asks to be informed what day she is to die, and what day to be buried. The knight is not empowered to answer, but, come to heaven when she will, he will be her porter. He sees no objection to telling her that she will be married again and have nine children, six ladies free and three bold young men.
The piece has not a perceptible globule of old blood in it, yet it has had the distinction of being more than once translated as a specimen of Scottish popular ballads. 'Monie' in 22 may be plausibly read, or understood, 'menie,' retinue; still the antecedent presumption in favor of nonsense in ballads of this class makes one hesitate. 73,4 is unnatural; no dissembling would be required to induce the young men to drink. In 83, 'birled them wi the beer' is what we should expect, not 'birled wi them.'
Translated by Rosa Warrens, Schottische Volkslieder der Vorzeit, p. 57, No 13; by Gerhard, p. 154.
This page most recently updated on 26-Apr-2011, 17:22:20. Return to main index
