'The Bent sae Brown' combines the story of 'Clerk Saunders' (No. 69) with that of another ballad, not found in an independent form in English, but. sufficiently common in Danish and Swedish (Kristensen, No. 80, etc.); whence the non-tragical conclusion, for the killing of a certain number of brothers is not regarded as a very serious matter by the heroine, whether in English or Norse. The introduction and conclusion, and some incidental decorations, of the Scottish ballad will not be found in the Norse, but are an outcome of the invention and the piecing and shaping of that humble but enterprising rhapsodist who has left his trail over so large a part of Buchan's volumes.
Stanzas 21-34 contain the substance of the Norse ballad referred to. A youth has passed the night with his love, either in her bower or in a wood. When they are about to part in the morning, she begs him to be on his guard against her seven brothers, on his way through the wood and over the heath. He makes light of the danger, and in the wood meets the seven brothers. They demand how he comes to be there, and he feigns to have been out with his hawk and hounds. No, they say, you were with our sister last night. He makes no denial. They ask whether he will fly or fight. He has no thought of flight, kills all seven, and goes back to his love. She will not forsake him for killing her brothers; nor would she, in some versions, had he killed her father too.
This page most recently updated on 08-Dec-2010, 19:59:53. Return to main index
