| A. |
Burden. Song xix of Forbes's 'Cantus,'
Aberdeen, 1682, 3d ed., has, as pointed out by
Motherwell, Minstrelsy, p. lx, nearly the same
burden: The gowans are gay, The first
morning of May. And again, a song in the Tea
Table Miscellany, as remarked by Buchan,
There gowans are gay, The first morning of
May: p. 404 of the 12th ed., London, 1763.
Burden. The song in the Tea-Table Miscellany
and the music are found in John Squair's Manuscript, fol. 22,
Laing collection, library of the University of Edinburgh,
handwriting about 1700. (W. Macmath.) |
| |
| b. |
No doubt furnished to Motherwell by Buchan,
as a considerable number of ballads in this
part of his manuscript. seem to have been.
32. Then in.
81. kind sir, said she.
102. That we may some rest before I die.
111. the near.
132. to them ilk ane.
1 is given by Motherwell, Minstrelsy, p. lx,
but apparently to improve metre and secure
rhyme, thus:
Lady Isabel sits in her bouir sewing,
She heard an elf-knight his horn blowing. |
| |
| B. b. |
Buchan's printed copy differs from the manuscript
very slightly, except in spelling.
43, 63. Aft times hae I.
53. And sighing sair says.
73, 93. And sighing says.
142. Till she swam.
143. Then thanked.
144. she'd. |
| |
| c. |
Like A b, derived by Motherwell from Buchan.
41, 61, 81. wade in, wade in.
143. And thanked.
Dixon, Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads,
p. 63, printing B from the
manuscript, makes one or two trivial changes. |
| |
| d. |
is only this fragment.
| 43 |
Mony a time I rade wi my brown foal
The water o Wearie's Wells, |
| |
'Leave aff, leave aff your gey mantle,
It 's a' gowd but the hem;
Leave aff, leave [aff], it's far owre gude
To weet i the saut see faem.' |
| 5 |
She wade in, an he rade in,
Till it took her to the knee;
Wi sighin said that lady gay
'Sic wadin's no for me.' |
| |
* * * |
| 9 |
He rade in, and she wade in,
Till it took her to the chin;
Wi sighin said that ladie gay
'I'll wade nae farer in.' |
| 103 |
'Sax king's dochters I hae drowned,
An the seventh you sail be.' |
| |
* * * |
| 13 |
'Lie you there, you fause young man,
Where you thought to lay me.' |
|
| |
| C. b. |
The printed copy follows the manuscript with
only very trifling variations:
Colvin for Colven;
131, up then spak;
164, ere day;
172, almost worried. |
| |
| c. |
21,2. he 's courted.
23. Till once he got.
Between 2 and 3 is inserted:
| |
She 's gane to her father's coffers,
Where all his money lay,
And she 's taken the red, and she 's left the white,
And so lightly as she tripped away. |
31
3 |
She 's gane down to her father's stable,
And she 's taken the best, and she 's left the warst. |
| 4 |
He rode on, and she rode on,
They rode a long summer's day,
Until they came to a broad river,
An arm of a lonesome sea. |
| 53,4 |
'For it's seven king's daughters I have drowned here,
And the eighth I'll out make with thee.' |
| 61,2 |
'Cast off, cast off your silks so fine,
And lay them on a stone.' |
| 71,2,3 |
'Cast off, cast off your holland smock,
And lay it on this stone,
For it 's too fine.' ... |
| 93,4 |
She 's twined her arms about his waist,
And thrown him into |
101,2
3
4 |
'O hold a grip of me, May Colvin,
For fear that I should'
father's gates
and safely I'll set you down. |
| 11 |
'O lie you there, thou false Sir John,
O lie you there,' said she,
'For you lie not in a caulder bed
Than the ane you intended for me.' |
123
4 |
father's gates.
At the breaking of the day. |
| 134 |
yestreen.
Between 13 and 14 is inserted: |
| |
Up then spake the pretty parrot,
In the bonnie cage where it lay:
'O what hae ye done with the false Sir John,
That he behind you does stay?' |
| 153,4 |
'Your cage will be made of the beaten gold,
And the spakes of ivorie.' |
| 171,2 |
'It was a cat cam . . .
I thought 't would have ' . . . |
|
| |
| D. a. |
21. Colin.
b. Buchan's copy makes many slight changes
which are not noticed here.
12 , west countrie.
After 1 is inserted:
| |
All ladies of a gude account
As ever yet were known;
This traitor was a baron knight,
They calld him fause Sir John. |
After 2:
| |
'Thou art the darling of my heart,
I say, fair May Colvin,
So far excells thy beauties great
That ever I hae seen.' |
32. Hae towers, towns twenty three.
72. five hunder.
73. The best an steed.
83. fatal end.
84. Binyan's Bay.
122. rich and rare.
124. sea ware.
After 12:
| |
Then aff she's taen her jewels fine,
And thus she made her moan:
'Hae mercy on a virgin young,
I pray you, gude Sir John.' |
| |
'Cast aff, cast aff, fair May Colvin,
Your gown and petticoat,
For they 're too costly and too fine
To rot by the sea rock.' |
134. Before her.
144. to toss.
183. her steed.
233. What hast thou made o fause.
283. Charlestown sands.
Sharpe thinks Carline Sands means Carlinseugh Sands on the
coast of Forfarshire.
After 30:
| |
Ye ladies a', wherever you be,
That read this mournful song,
I pray you mind on May Colvin,
And think on fause Sir John. |
| |
Aff they've taen his jewels fine,
To keep in memory;
And sae I end my mournful sang
And fatal tragedy. |
|
| |
| c. |
Motherwell's one stanza is:
| |
O heard ye eer o a bloody knight
That livd in the west countrie?
For he has stown seven ladies fair,
And drownd them a' in the sea. |
|
 [1] |
[1]
|
| E. |
32. of the.
172. But so. |
