P. 4. I am now able to give the unprinted copy, referred to in
the Border Minstrelsy, in which the Elliots take the place
assigned in the other version to the Scotts. This I do by the
assistance of Mr. Macmath, the present possessor of the
manuscript, which was formerly among the papers of Charles
Kirkpatrick Sharpe. The hand "is a good and careful one of about
the beginning of this century, with a slight shake in it, and
probably that of a person advanced in life." Be it observed that
the title, in this case, is 'Jamie Telfer in the Fair Dodhead,'
signifying, according to Scottish usage, that Telfer was tenant
simply, whereas 'of' would make him proprietor.
Hogg, writing to Sir W. Scott (Letters, vol. i, No 44), says
that 'Jamie Telfer,' as printed in the Minstrelsy, differs in
many particulars from his mother's way of giving it. Mrs. Hogg's
version may very likely have been a third copy.
In this version, Telfer, after the loosing of his nolt and the
ranshakling of his house, runs eight miles to Branxholm, to seek
aid of Buccleugh, who refers him to Martin Elliot, to whom, and
not to himself, Buccleugh affirms, Telfer has paid blackmail.
Telfer, as in the other version, runs up the water-gate to
Coultart Cleugh, and invokes the help of Jock Grieve, who sets
him on a bonny black to take the fray to Catlock Hill, as in the
other version again. Catlock Hill Mr. R.B. Armstrong considers to
be probably Catlie Hill, marked in Blaeu's map as near Braidlie.
It was occupied by an Elliot in 1541. At Catlock Hill Martin's
Hab sets Telfer on a bonny black to take the fray to
Prickenhaugh, a place which, Mr. Armstrong observes, is put in
Blaeu's map near Larriston. Auld Martin Elliot is at
Prickenhaugh, and he orders Simmy, his son, to be summoned, and
the water- side to be warned (including the Currers and Willie o
Gorrenberry, who in the other version, st. 27, are warned as
owing fealty to Scott; but an Archibald Eliot is described as "in
Gorrenberrie" in 1541,[foot-note] and Will Elliot of Gorrombye was
concerned in the rescue of Kinmont Willie in 1596, Sim Elliot
takes the lead in the pursuit of the marauders which Willie Scott
has in the other version, and like him is killed. Martin Elliot
of Braidley had among his sons, in 1580, a Sym, an Arche, and a
Hob,[foot-note] and was, during a portion of the second half of the
sixteenth century, says Mr. Armstrong, perhaps the most important
person of his name.[foot-note] This Martin Elliot would fit very well
into our ballad, but that he should be described as of
Prickenhaugh, not of Braidley, raises a difficulty. Braidley, at
the junction of the Braidley burn with the Hermitage water, is
well placed for our purposes; Prickenhaugh, down by the Liddel
water, seems rather remote.
5, 582. See more as to Dodhead in The Saturday Review, May 20,
1893, p. 543.
| 1 |
It fell about the Martinmas,
When steads were fed wi corn and hay,
The Captain of Bewcastle said to his lads,
We'll into Tiviotdale and seek a prey. |
| 2 |
The first ae guide that they met with
Was high up in Hardhaugh swire,
The second guide that they met with
Was laigh down in Borthick water. |
| 3 |
'What tidings, what tidings, my bonny guide?'
'Nae tidings, nae tidings I hae to thee;
But if ye'll gae to the Fair Dodhead
Mony a cow's calf I'll let ye see.' |
| 4 |
When they came to the Fair Dodhead,
Right hastily they clam the peel,
They loosd the nolt out, ane and a',
And ranshakled the house right weel. |
| 5 |
Now Jamie's heart it was right sair,
The tear ay rowing in his eye;
He pled wi the Captain to hae his gear,
Or else revenged he would be. |
| 6 |
Bat the Captain turnd himsel about,
Said, Man, there's naething in thy house
But an auld sword without a scabbard,
That scarcely now would fell a mouse. |
| 7 |
The moon was up and the sun was down,
'T was the gryming of a new-f a'n snaw;
Jamie Telfer has run eight miles barefoot
Between Dodhead and Branxholm Ha. |
| 8 |
And when he came to Branxholm Ha
He shouted loud and cry'd well he,
Till up bespake then auld Buccleugh,
'Whae's this that brings the fray to me?' |
| 9 |
'It's I, Jamie Telfer i the Fair Dodhead,
And a harried man I think I be;
There's naething left i the Fair Dodhead
But only wife and children three.' |
| 10 |
'Gae seek your succour frae Martin Elliot,
For succour ye's get nane frae me;
Gae seek your succour where ye paid black-mail,
For, man, ye never paid money to me.' |
| 11 |
Jamie he's turnd him round about,
And ay the tear blinded his eye:
'I'se never pay mail to Scott again,
Nor the Fair Dodhead I'll ever see.' |
| 12 |
Now Jamie is up the water-gate,
Een as fast as he can drie,
Till he came to the Coultart Cleugh,
And there he shouted and cry'd weel he. |
| 13 |
Then up bespake him auld Jock Grieve,
'Whae's this that bring[s] the fray to me?'
'It's I, Jamie Telfer i the Fair Dodhead,
And a harried man I think I be. |
| 14 |
'There's naething left i the Fair Dodhead
But only wife and children three,
And sax poor calves stand i the sta,
A' routing loud for their minnie.' |
| 15 |
'Alack, wae's me!' co auld Jock Grieve,
'Alack, alack, and wae is me!
For ye was married t' the auld sister,
And 1 1' the younges[t] o the three.' |
| 16 |
Then he's taen out a bonny black,
It was weel fed wi corn and hay,
And set Jamie Telfer on his back,
To the Catlock hill to take the fray. |
| 17 |
When he came to the Catlock hill,
He shouted loud and cry'd weel he;
'Whae's that, whae's that?' co Martin's Hab,
'Whae's this that brings the fray to me?' |
| 18 |
'It's I, Jamie Telfer i the Fair Dodhead,
And a harried man I think I be;
There's neathing left i the Fair Dodhead
But only wife and children three.' |
| 19 |
'Alack, wae's me!' co Martin's Hab,
'Alack, awae, my heart is sair!
I never came bye the Fair Dodhead
That ever I faund thy basket bare.' |
| 20 |
Then he's taen out a bonny black,
It was weel fed wi corn and hay,
And set Jamie Telfer on his back
To the Pricken haugh to take the fray. |
| 21 |
When he came to the Pricken haugh,
He shouted loud and cry'd weel he;
Up then bespake auld Martin Elliot,
'Whae's this that brings the fray to me?' |
| 22 |
'It's I, Jamie Telfer i the Fair Dodhead,
And a harried man I think I be;
There's naething left i the Fair Dodhead
But only wife and children three.' |
| 23 |
'Ever alack!' can Martin say,
'And ay my heart is sair for thee!
But fy, gar ca on Simmy my son,
And see that he come hastily. |
| 24 |
'Fy, gar warn the water-side,
Gar warn it soon and hastily;
Them that winna ride for Telfer's kye,
Let them never look i the face o me. |
| 25 |
'Gar warn the water, braid and wide,
And warn the Currers i the shaw;
When ye come in at the Hermitage slack,
Warn doughty Willie o Gorrenberry.' |
| 26 |
The gear was driven the Frostily up,
From the Frostily into the plain;
When Simmie looked him afore,
He saw the kye right fast driving. |
| 27 |
'Whae drives the kye,' then Simmy can say,
'To make an outspeckle o me?'
'It's I, the Captain o Bewcastle, Simmy,
I winna lain my name frae thee.' |
| 28 |
'O will ye let the gear gae back?
Or will ye do ony thing for me?'
'I winna let the gear gae back,
Nor naething, Simmy, I'll do for the[e]. |
| 29 |
But I'll drive Jamie Telfer's kye
In spite o Jamie Telfer's teeth and thee;'
'Then by my sooth,' can Simmy say,
'I'll ware my dame's calfskin on thee. |
| 30 |
'Fa on them, lads!' can Simmy say,
'Fy, fa on them cruelly!
For or they win to the Hitter ford
Mony toom saddle there shall be.' |
| 31 |
But Simmy was striken oer the head,
And thro the napskape it is gane,
And Moscrop made a dolefull rage
When Simmy on the ground lay slain. |
| 32 |
'Fy, lay on them!' co Martin Elliot,
'Fy, lay on them cruelly!
For ere they win to the Kershop ford
Mony toom saddle there shall be.' |
| 33 |
John o Biggam he was slain,
And John o Barlow, as I heard say,
And fifteen o the Captain's men
Lay bleeding on the ground that day. |
| 34 |
The Captain was shot through the head,
And also through the left ba-stane;
Tho he had livd this hundred years,
He 'd neer been loed by woman again. |
| 35 |
The word is gane unto his bride,
Een in the bower where she lay,
That her good lord was in's enemy's land
Since into Tiviotdale he led the way. |
| 36 |
'I loord a had a winding sheed
And helpd to put it oer his head,
Or he 'd been taen in's enemy's lands,
Since he oer Liddle his men did lead.' |
| 37 |
There was a man in our company,
And his name was Willie Wudgspurs:
'There is a house in the Stanegarside,
If any man will ride with us.' |
| 38 |
When they came to the Stanegarside,
They bangd wi trees and brake the door,
They loosd the kye out, ane and a',
And set them furth our lads before. |
| 39 |
There was an auld wif ayont the fire,
A wee bit o the Captain's kin:
'Whae loo[s]es out the Captain's kye,
And sae mony o the Captain's men wi[t]hin?' |
| 40 |
'I, Willie Wudespurs, let out the kye,
I winna lain my name frae thee,
And I'll loose out the Captain's kye
In spite o the Captain's teeth and thee.' |
| 41 |
Now on they came to the Fair Dodhead,
They were a welcome sight to see,
And instead of his ain ten milk-kye
Jamie Telfer's gotten thirty and three. |
P. 5 a first paragraph. However, "in the list of Border
thieves made in the year 1552, William Patrick, the priest, and
John Nelson, the curate of Bewcastle, are both included": Denham
Tracts, I, 150. This shows that the society was homogeneous.
