| A. |
"Some traditionary copies of the ballad have
this stanza, which is the 19th in order:
And four and twenty milk-white swans,
Wi their wings stretchd out wide,
To blaw the stour aff the highway,
To let Fair Annie ride."
(Motherwell's Minstrelsy,
p. lxviii, 19.)
Compare 'Lord Ingram and Chiel Wyet,' C 22. |
| C. |
63, 103. silk.
131. The maidens. |
| D. a. |
A Tragical Story of Lord Thomas and Fair
Ellinor. Together with the downfall of the
Brown Girl.
34. And bring.
91. many of your.
94,, 121. Thomas his.
104. Thomas's his.
153. But betwixt. |
| b. |
A Tragical Ballad on the unfortunate Love
of Lord Thomas and fair Ellinor, together
with the Downfal of the Brown Girl.
13, a fine.
23. marry with.
31. land.
34. Bring me.
41. As it.
42. many more did.
64. for thee.
74. bridegroom.
91. many that are.
94, 104, 121. Thomas's.
102. And if.
113 . through.
114. to be some.
131. Ellinor said.
132. wonderful.
133. mightst.
142. now wanting.
153. And.
163. Thou us'd to look.
184. he wanting.
193. There never were three lovers met.
194. That sooner did. |
| c. |
13. a fine.
28. marry with.
32. And wanting.
33. thee on.
34. To bring.
54. For wanting.
64. for thee.
74. bridegroom.
91. many that are.
83, 94, 104, 121. Thomases.
103. or betide.
113. through.
133. You might.
142. now wanting.
153. And.
154. She prickd.
162. wain. |
| d. |
32. she 's got land, she says.
42. many more do.
52. at the pin.
84. I shall let it alone.
92. foes.
102. If a thousand were our foes.
103. me life, me death.
104. To Lord Thomas's I'll go.
122. at the pin.
After 12:
He took her by the lily-white hand,
And led her through the hall;
He set her in the noblest chair,
Among the ladies all.
152. both keen.
161. now save me.
163. usest to look as good a colour.
After 17:
'O dig my grave,' Lord Thomas replied,
'Dig it both wide and deep,
And lay Fair Eleanor by my side
And the brown girl at my feet.'
184. And flung.
193,4. There never were three lovers sure
That sooner did depart. |
| e. |
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 293,
from the recitation of Widow McCormick, February 23, 1825;
learned of an old woman in Dumbarton, thirty years before.
| 1 |
'Come riddle me, riddle me, mother,' he says,
'Come riddle me all in one,
Whether I'll goe to court Fair Helen
Or fetch you the brown girl home.' |
| 2 |
'It 's many's the ones your friends,' she says,
'And many's the ones your fone;
My blessing be on you, dear son,' she says,
'Go fetch me the brown girl home.' |
| 3 |
He dressed himself all in green,
Thorough the road he went,
And every village that he came to,
They took him to be a king. |
| 4 |
Till that he came to Fair Helen's gate;
He tinkled low at the ring;
Who was so ready as Fair Helen herself
To let Lord Thomas in. |
| 5 |
'You 're welcome, you 're welcome, Lord Thomas,' she says,
'What news have you brought to me?'
'I've come to bid you to my wedding,
And that is bad news to thee.' |
| 6 |
'It's God forbid, Lord Thomas,' she said,
'That sic an a thing should be,
But I for to be the body of the bride,
And you to be the bridegroom. |
| 7 |
'Come riddle me, riddle me, mother,' she says,
'Come riddle me all in one,
Whether I'll go to Lord Thomas' wedding,
Or mourn all day at home.' |
| 8 |
'Many's the ones your friend,' she says,
'And many 's the ones your fone;
'My blessing be on you, dear daughter,' she says,
'And mourn all day at home.' |
| 9 |
'Many's the ones my friends, mother,' she says,
'And many 's the ones my fae,
But I will go to Lord Thomas' wedding
Should I lose my life by the way.' |
| 10 |
She dressed herself all in green,
Thorow the road she went,
And every village that she came to,
They took her for to be a queen. |
| 11 |
Till that she came to Lord Thomas' gates;
She tinkled low at the ring;
Who was so ready as Lord Thomas himself
To let Fair Helen in. |
| 12 |
'Where have you got this brown girl?' she says,
'I think she looks wonderful brown;
You might have had as pretty a bride
As ever the sun shined on.' |
| 13 |
It 's up and starts the brown girl's mother,
And an angry woman was she:
'Where have you got the roseberry-water
That washes your face so clear?' |
| 14 |
'It's I have gotten that roseberry-water
Where that she could get none;
For I have got it in my mother's womb,
Where in her mother's womb there was none.' |
| 15 |
She took up a little pen-knife,
That was baith sharp and small,
She stuck Fair Helen fornents the heart,
And down the blood did fall. |
| 16 |
'What ailes you, Fair Helen?' he says,
'I think you look wonderful pale:
...
... |
| 17 |
'What ailes you, Lord Thomas?' she says,
'Or don't you very well see?
O don't you see my very heart's blood
Coming trinkling down by my knee?' |
| 18 |
He took up a little small sword,
That hung low by his knee,
And he cut off the brown girl's head,
And dashed it against the wall. |
| 19 |
He set the sword all in the ground,
And on it he did fall;
So there was an end of these three lovers,
Thro spite and malice all. |
82. foe in the margin.
194. All thro spite and malice
is noted as if it were what was recited. |
| f. |
From Miss Clara Mackay, Woodstock, New Brunswick, 1881,
derived from her great grandmother.
The title is 'Lord Thomas.'
12. The keeper of our king's gear.
4, 7 are wanting.
112. Her merry maids all in green.
After 12:
He took her by the lily-white hand,
And led her through the hall,
And sat her in a chair of gold,
Amidst her merry maids all.
152. both clean and sharp.
After 17:
'No, I am not blind,' Lord Thomas he said,
'But I can plainly see,
And I can see your dear heart's blood
Runs trickling down your knee.'
182. It was both keen and small.
184. And flung.
After 19, as in d:
'Oh dig me a grave,' Lord Thomas he said,
'And dig it both wide and deep,
And lay Fair Ellinor at my side,
The brown girl at my feet.' |
| g. |
Recited to me by Ellen Healy, 1881,
as learned by her of a young girl living near
Killarney, Ireland, about 1867.
22. come riddle me oer and oer: so
82.
24, 34. the pretty brown girl bring home.
After 3:
| |
He dressed himself up in a suit of green,
And his merrymen all in white;
There was not a town that he rode through
But they took him to be a knight. |
| 9 |
'Lord Thomas has got company enough,
Fair Ellinor, you have none;
Therefore I charge you with my blessing,
Fair Ellinor, stay at home.' |
| 11 |
She dressed herself up in a suit of white,
And her merrymen all in green;
There was not a town that she rode through
But they took her to be a queen. |
After 12:
| |
He took her by the lily-white hand,
And by the waist so small,
And set her at the head of the table,
... |
After 13:
| |
Up spoke the pretty brown girl,
She said ...
'Where did you get the water
That washed your skin so white?' |
| |
'There is a well in my father's land,
A place you'll never see,
...
... |
14 wanting.
19. Imperfectly remembered.
Lord Thomas he stabbed the pretty brown
girl, and then he stabbed himself; and
he said, Bury the pretty brown girl at
my feet, and Fair Ellinor in my arms.
A red rose grew out of Fair Ellinor, and
a sweet briar out of Lord Thomas's
grave, and they grew until they met. |
| h. |
An Irish version, recited by Ellen Daily,
Taunton, Massachusetts.
22. Come riddle me all at once.
24. Or the bonny brown girl.
4. He dressed himself up in a suit of fine clothes,
With merry men all in white;
And there was not a town that he rode through
But they took him to be a knight.
52. very low at her ring.
103,4. 'Let the wind blow high or low,
To Lord Thomas's wedding I'll go.'
11. She dressed herself up in a suit of fine clothes,
With merry maids all in green;
And there was not a town that she rode through
But they took her to be a queen.
122. very low at his ring.
After 12:
| |
He took her by the lily-white hand,
And led her along the hall;
He handed her to the head of the table,
Among the ladies all. |
After 13:
Then out spoke the bonny brown girl some
words with spirit, saying:
| |
'Where did you get the water so clear,
That washed your face so white?' |
| |
'There is a well in my father's yard
That is both clear and spring, |
| |
And if you were to live till the day you die
That doon you never shall see.' |
14 is wanting.
After 19:
| |
'Bury my mother at my head,
Fair Ellenor by my side,
And bury the bonny brown girl at the end of the church,
Where she will be far from me.' |
| |
...
...
Out of Fair Ellen there grew a red rose,
And out of Lord Thomas there grew a sweet-briar. |
| |
They grew so tall, they sprung so broad,
They grew to a steeple top;
Twelve o'clock every night
They grew to a true lover's knot. |
|
| i. |
Communicated by Mr. W.W. Newell, as
recited by an Irish maid-servant in
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1, 4-7, 10 are wanting.
After 12:
| |
He took her by the lily-white hand,
And led her through the hall,
Until he put her sitting at the head of the table,
Amongst the gentleman all. |
13, 14. 'Is this your bride, Lord Thomas?' they said,
Or is this your bride?' said they
'O 't is better I love her little finger
Than all her whole boday.'
The stanza which describes Lord Thomas's
dress and the effect he produced occurs in
e, g, h; that in which Lord Thomas
leads Ellinor through the hall and conducts
her to her place is found in d, f, g,
h, i; the colloquy about the water which
washes Ellinor so white in e, g, h;
Lord Thomas's directions about the burial in
d, f, h; the plants growing from the
grave in g, h. None of these are in the
English broadside.
A fragment in Pitcairn's Manuscripts, III, 35, is
derived from the English broadside. |
| F. |
The copy in Kinloch Manuscripts, V, 339, b,
seems to be a revision of the other. The two portions
of that which is apparently the earlier, a,
became separated by some accident or oversight.
For stanzas 18-37 I have not the
original, but a transcript. After 1, b
inserts Jamieson's second stanza, E 2.
4. ye merry twice.
58. altered to What 's metter, son Willie,
to conform to 63: b,
And what 's the matter.
121. Ye'll tell her to come.
123. Yer bidden come.
131. Yer forbidden. Anticipating
14, 15. Corrected in b as here, and partly
in a.
182. a, gold engraved, b, golden graved:
cf. H, 16, 20.
223. Oh is it: corrected in b.
253. She has by far struck out and Fair Annie
written above: b, Fair Annie hes oer. |
| G. |
The division of stanzas and of verses has in
some cases required regulation. The handwriting is in places difficult,
and I cannot be sure that the spelling in every case is what
the writer intended.
74. mann?
163. Willie.
202. fett?
213. ser brunt (?)
214. faett?
231. Whan.
253. perhaps dreams.
281. deal illegible, a conjecture.
293. grave? |
